Star Star Teach Me How to Shine

New Years Eve 2005 landed in Shiner, Texas, with a bunch of singles. One could look at this year as a disappointment in comparison to the excursions of previous years. Shiner doesn't compete with London or NYC, or even the crowds of ATX, on paper. How do you compare London to Shiner, and is it better singing Costello with a bunch of English blokes, or yelling Tenacious D tunes at the top of your lungs in your own backyard. Both are equal, both are ends in themselves.

When you get past what's on paper, you don't ask when are we going fun while you are having fun. You bring the fun with you, and understand that having the doc, the beast, the drizzle, Ashley B and G/V, John, Mandy, Tiff, and and other 'victims' of the stars not aligning to share the turning of the calendar with, you realize you are kings, and if anything 2005 taught me, it's all about attitude, and having a good attitude.

A big resolution for 2006 is to not be an intense, slightly paranoid, hard to please, moody, gruesome bitch as much. I want to employ a more go with the flow attitude, and take the situation for what it is, and not put my negative / twisted spin on everything. I want to put the hallmark cards words 'grant me the power to change what I can, accept what I can't, and acknowledge the difference in them' to use. I want to stay agile and adaptable for the new year, the older my balls get, the harder that is to do. I want to find the balance between hanging my balls out there for something that's significant and worth fighting for and setting myself up for disappointment.

OK -- had to put all that in there, now for the pictures, the night belonged to the drizzle and the 151, Mr. Too Much to drink for the evening.

The beast and the drizzle dressed in party attire, don't ask me what was going on, it was a very very strange night in so many ways.

When Mike D gets a little boozed up, he decides to wander around, finding his way on stage, doing a GQ pose with all the ladies.

Strange thing happened, Mike D finds a new friend, and dances some hip hop with her. Did you get those digits drizzle? bahabhahbahbhahbhabbahbhah! WHEW!

The driz, mr star of the evening even took on some country music dancing. The photo opps were just flying left and right with this guy tonight.

The Beastmaster also had to get in on the action and decided to dance with out new friend. My god the stares from the rednecks were priceless! My GOD! hahahahaaha

I appreciate a bunch of drunk text messages as the clock strikes 12, for the quote says 'a drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts.' Blake, we missed you bad buddy, but understandable the effects of booze, we'll hit up those canepoles next time, but hurry, they are laughing at us right now.

The sentimental Russian tunes of Gorky Park , give 'Try to Find Me' a spin to hear the lonely, empty sound of the big country, and perhaps the only good ska on the planet, The Specials are what are rining in my ears as I type the blog.

So may the new year bring a slew of possibilities and opportunities for everyone, maybe even a sentimental russian with a mohawk who likes ska.

Old 97's - La Zona Rosa - Austin, Texas

Curse the rain that turns the dust to mud! Let's see, how do I give these boys a proper writeup. First I suppose I can share an idea or two that came for the chick beside me who I conversed with later in the night. Rhett is a 'sexy dork', full of charisma, he seems to be loaded all the time, but in a good way, and Murry, the 'rock' of the band sorta keeps it all together. Rhett, born in ATX, now resides in the Hudson Valley, but he assures us it's in the country.

If you are looking for subtle tunes, you're not going to find that, but you will find a good times band with heart and substance, which are lyrically sound and timeless.

Favorite song of the evening was Nightclub, in which Rhett tells tales of the nightclub that stole his youth, and maybe he will get drunk and burn the nightclub down, and how telephones make strangers out of lovers. The rest of the night was packed with priceless words of wisdom, lots of videos, I'll just take it song at at time, and if you don't watch any vids, watch the first one and watch the legs swagger, priceless!

Barrier Reef (2.7 meg) - The opener in which, in which describes him mackin' on a chick, "My name's Stewart Ransom Miller, I'm a serial lady-killer." Also, being an born in Austin lots of local flavor 'Trip the Lights Fantastic', which is the light store over on Burnett road. Classic!

Wish the Worse (12.1 meg) - A highly vindictive song, in which says, "I hope you crash your mother's car, I hope you pass out in some bar, I hope you catch some kinda flu" and bordering on neuritic and obsessiveness "Why aren't you here, it's almost 4 am, I finished off all of your beer, now I'm starting on your gin."

Rollerskate Skinny (10.8 meg) - Brings you the line, "I believe in love, but it don't believe in me." nuff said.

Salome (5.66 meg) - A page out of Sandler and The Wedding Singer's book, you know when he wrote half the song with the chick and half without. Linda was her name, and Rhett sings it with as much passion, an occasional violent jerk and he shrugs off memories of lost loves.

Question (6 meg) (French Version) - He said the Frenchies wanted him to record the song in French because it did so well in their country. Say what you want about the French, but they do have bada$$ taste in music.

Question (12.2 meg) (English Version) - Just a damn sweet song, that gives a rush to every female in the building.

Valentine (20.6 meg) - When a song is a masterpiece, everyone can sing along with ease and joy.

Valium Waltz (7.08 meg) - Speaks of a girl from Marble Falls who goes to Nuevo Laredo and discovers pills.

Designs on You (45.7 meg) - Talks about a pickup artist on 6th street trying to convince a chick for 'one last hurray' in the sack before marriage. Such a great tune!

I'll leave everyone with Mr Cool Lip, singin' songs about west Texas, playing a wicked bass, and holding like a gun, pullin' the trigger with the strings.

A night of music that leaves me high on life, but damn, the back sure does start hurt when you have to fight weirdos to get to front row. And for the teenies who I pissed off who stared at my bald head the entire night, General Admission = General Admission, get over it.

My heart wasn't in It, Not for one Single Minute, I went through the Motions with Her, Her on Top, and me on Liquor

It sounds like you can be a thinker, 'playa', sentimental and sincere yet devious at the same time. The dynamic personalities of the Old 97's absolutely intrigue me, to the point where I've spun their catalog to the brink of complete memorization and saturation.

Why the post, they play tomorrow at La Zona Rosa, a handful of friends and I will be in the front row, perhaps blitzed out of our minds, enjoying the show.

Last time attending at Gruene Hall, it was hot, damn hot, but the music was bada$$. Just ask Nate Dogg and I, we were doing to three legged jam or something like that together in the picture. Bob and Doc seemed to enjoy the previous show too.

So come one come all to the show, $25 buckeroos, but well worth it. Listen to Rhett, Murry and the boys play Texafied pop that would give the average cowboy a heart attack.

All is Quiet on New Year's Day

I find myself at Odds on how to celebrate the coming of the New Year.

For pictures sake, the last few years have been spent on London and NYC respectively. Last year the blokes from England provided the entertainment in the form of a 'school theme party.' Take a gander at Tiz in the middle, he has the dangliest swingers on the planet.

Ashley, Mike D, Mike P and others spent a few years back on Times Square, the majority of the night bar hopping on 8th Avenue. It's amazing, NYC that is, so much to do, so much to see.

We went ice skating at the famous skating rink, Ashley and I are great skaters, Mike D on the other hand found the ground quite a bit, Mr. Icy Butt. Mr. Cold Bald Head in the middle of the picture giving Ashley a whirl.

Memories Memories, this year may find me doing what I did from age 4 to 18, rockin' in the New Year with Dick Clark. First Night Austin is a possibility.

------------------------------
"For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."-- T.S. Eliot

"Every new year begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with things that move us toward progress and peace."-- Ronald Reagan

Mr Thinker / Mr Gay Jammies

Just what is the Beastmaster thinking in his jammies, 'Hangin' with the snowman as he says. I bet the beast is thinking the same thing I am, why in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks do we have to work in this lull week between Christmas and New years Eve.

It's fun co-authoring this blog posts with the beast, as he tells me he's got a good 'gaze' on this picture.

I don't know how I feel about sleeping so closely to Chilian Rosehair tarantula and a African Black Emperor scorpion, if those things ever get out of those cages there will be hell to pay. That's all I need to be laying in bed and a scorpion bytes (I mean bites) me the a$$.

The beast is going to teach me some martial arts moves, so the next time devil lady Janak puts me in a headlock, I'll be able to defend myself.

Fah who foraze! Dah who doraze!

Hmmm, All the photo opportunities were exhausted last week, so just imagine all kinds of kids running around, making a lot of noise, and fighting with light sabers.

New addition to the family is my 17th niece, Alissa, from Krysi and Alex, big time congrats! Glad you are back from Iraq Al, look forward to hanging out soon. **Stupid for not snapping a picture**

So Josh and I throw up the deuces every year, so we should keep the tradition alive. Notice the festive colors, I actually DID plan that. hahaha

A trip back to Shiner for MORE xmas activities in Shiner to round out the whole Christmas thing. Yea, I'm about Christmas'ed out.

Take a letter to God. "Dear Sir: I'm Dissatisfied"

I guess you could compare me to Lieutenant Dan on the shrimp boat around Christmas time, as the existentialist debate rages on in my head. Perhaps not a read for the weak at heart, and family, you may want to turn around at this point, or skip ahead to the Bernie MTV Cribs post.

Preface, I think it's absolutely ridiculous how the masses get so worked up at your local shopping areas to find the 'perfect gift.' In my brief venture out to the land of retail shopping, people are stressed and frantic. Is this what Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, the three kings meant when they went to see the Baby Jesus with gold, frankincense and mur? Doubt it.

Going to Church, I acknowledge that Christianity is a peaceful loving religion that sets a sort of moral 'bar', and give people a mantra to wrap their spirituality around, its good for kids and it's a good message, and it really is good people. I sit there and church and I get pretty freakin sad to think that ever so slowly but surely, with the influx of information available, security will come in the form of wisdom and less in the form of a deity, therefore making it harder to defend this 'good' thing.

So what Christmas means to me is spending time with my family, who provides me the tangible love that everyone needs, and pretty much nothing more. It reminds me to be good to my family all year around, try not to be a dill-hole, and reward family with not the perfect shirt that doesn't fit, or the gadget that you didn't want, or something that you won't use or need, but rather the gift of practicality in the form of Wal-Mart gift certificates. Hell, go nuts with it, buy toilet paper or tooth paste.

As for the whole spiritual meaning of Christmas, I still pray because I've always believed in 'maybe', and as a just in case mechanism.

MTV Cribs - Bernie S - Shi-town

It's been a tradition for at least the past 5 years to congregate at Bernie's house for Christmas Eve, @ 1:30 A.M. to enjoy fine spirits, cheese and crackers, and of course John's chili concoction.

The Beastmaster did the 'introduction' the house, as we tried in vain to get Bernie to say 'Welcome to my Crib, B*tches', instead we had to settle for a modest 'Welcome to my Crib, Homies'

Every year we pick out an ornament on Bernie's massive tree and try to find it the next year. It's getting a little old, so we decided to do the find the pickle on the tree and win a prize tradition from here on out. This year included John, Bernie, Mr Waxtad, Bob, and the trusty Shimek's and others popping their heads in for joyous yuletide.

5 a.m., a bit earlier of a night that usual Chrismas Eve, but in anticipation of the drive to Houston in the morning, it was time to hit the sack.

Christmas Eve - SATX

A trip to Uncle Benny's crib in San Antonio for the night before Christmas found us landed at a church in to boondocks. O how the guitar player was jamming 'Go Tell it on the Mountain,' and O how did my niece have the perfume caked on.

Running into remote members of the family is always great, like Carey, who lives in Iowa for the time being. He keeps learning and learning and learning....... We seem to be the only ones in the family doing our part to ensure the extinction of the human race. We vowed to meet up in Chicago some time this summer. Austin has now a 'value jet' airline that has insane cheap flights to Chi-town and NYC.

Just look at Mr. Shirt Tucked In for the occasion.

Late night Church, and an insane late night drive back to Shinertown for the insane insane late night excursions at Bernie's.

Christmas Cheer - 101 X-mas Years Back

Stumbled on an old Christmas compilation produced by 101x, back in the day the radio station was cool, now it just plays generic rock to the 'cool' kids.

Gibby of the Butthole Surfers used to be a DJ, along with other brilliant personalities. I once called in to Gibby's show and asked him to play 'Lump' by PUSA (Presidents of the USA), he chuckled (gotta understand his typical program to see the irony). Don't ask me how or why good things, like a great radio station can't last.

Anyway, here's a few tunes off the CD, amazing compilation, too bad it's a bit scratched up, especially Dah-veed doing Jingle Bell Rock.

Wammo - Christmas Cheer -- (A dreadful / evil Christmas jingle)
Mojo Nixon - Sleigh Ride -- (Just Bizarre)

The happy touchy feely Christmas spirit type stuff to come, but for now enjoy Charlie Brown and Snoopy cramming insurance down the masses.

New Year's Eve Prayer - Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley did a New Years Eve Prayer, recited it New Years Eve at Sin-E in New York City before his life was taken. It is on the live in Chicago DVD, an amazing video for those of us who never got to see him.

This year I am going to come up with my best attempt at a New Year's Eve prayer. No, It won't be "Have You Prayed for Our Troops Today", as billboards depict in Houston. So tune in after the New Year for the results.

Walking thru cubes at work a certain individual had this to say. Definitely my New Year's Eve plan will include this! Hahahaha, maybe not.

--------------------
Well here's Buckley's Prayer, a brilliant one at that, seeing it live sends shivers up my spine.

New Years Eve Prayer - Jeff Buckley

you my love are allowed to forget about the Christmas you just spent stressed out in your parents house

you my love are allowed to shed the weight of all the years before like bad disco clothes, save them for a night of dancing, stoned with you lover

you my love are allowed to let yourself drown every night in bottomless wild and naked symbolic dreams

you my love in sleep can unlock your youth and your most terrifying magic and dreaming is for the courageous

you my love are allowed to grab my guitar and sing me idiot love songs if
you lost your ability to speak, keep it down to two minutes

you my love are allowed to rot and to die and to live again more alive and incandescent than before

you my love are allowed to beat the shit out of your television, choke it's thoughts and corrupt its mind kill kill kill kill the motherfucker before the song of zombified pain and panic and malaise and its narrow right winged vision and its cheap commercial gang rate becomes the white noise of the world (turn about is fair play)

you my love are allowed to forgive and love your television

you my love are allowed to speak in kisses to those around you and those up in heaven

you my love are allowed to show your babies how to dance full bodied, starry eyed, audacious, supernatural and glorified

you my love are allowed to suck in every single endeavor

you my love are allowed to be soaked like a lovers blanket in the New York summertime with the wonder of your own special gift

you my love are allowed to receive praise

you my love are allowed to have time

you my love are allowed to understand

you my love are allowed to love

woman disobey

little man believe

you my love are a rebellion

New Years Resolution 1 - Eliminating Odor

Work is slow, and as I anticipate our 'pizza dinner bonus' in appreciation for all the hard work we've done this year, I start to think of new years resolution, I think the biggest one is eliminating odor from the household.

I've done my part, xmas shopping at Bath and Body Works the other night, I decided to get stuff for myself, gay, maybe, but would you rather smell like a garlic ball of stink all the time or some nice cucumber melon or country apple. I'm going to try the apple stuff.

As miserable as Benny looks, he's going to get a bath at least every third day. Look at Mr Pathetic sitting there.

Bath and body works and baths in general will ensure a fresh smelling household.

\\-----------------
Ooh, ooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell?

37th Street - Christmas - Austin, Texas

Thirty seventh street, Austin Texas, eclectic Christmas decorations. Lots of spectators, a trumpet player, flame thrower, and I think we just missed the live band.

Here are some pictures of our trip down the short but bizarre Christmas highway.

Birth Control Tree, the tree had empty birth control containers with catchy slogans like 'God Bless New Orleans' and things of that nature. Hmmm, don't really understand.

Crazy Vacuum Cleaner

This fish was made from CD's

Pumpkins in the trees

Lights hung out, but not taken out of the plastic thingies

Medicine bottles, lights

Medicine bottles, tick tack containers, shampoo bottles, etc

Film reels with lights

Bottles filled with lights on the back porch

Collages of 'stuff', bubble bottles, Starbucks shot glasses, Easter eggs, etc

The power meter at the main house, in the 5 seconds I watched, 50 cents of electricity was used.

Mike P and Laura in front of the pumpkins

Sara B / Mike D in front of big Bevo

Motorcycle all snazzed up

Strange looking backgrounds and flamingos

Stove with Griswold lights

Advertising for a gambling website, come on!

Buddha

Flame thrower

I Hear the Wolf Howl, Honey - TSO 2K5

Transiberian Orchestra -- An evening with Brandon and Brandy is always charming, the food was great, and as we head to downtown Houston, we gaze at the marvels of humanity, in the form of the tall buildings.

My mind quickly went to "I wonder how many people are getting it on in those buildings?" Weird, I think there's more than one would think? Perhaps a promotion in the works?

On to the show, going into the show I had mixed opinions from my peeps, and I leave with the same sentiments.

To set the atmosphere a bit better, there was this old bag going ape shit over the tunes all show, I seriously wanted to backhand her a few times, but hey it's Christmas, so I opted out of the idea. Speaking of Christmas, I don't like it much, never have, maybe never will. It's all good in 'pure' form, maybe one day it will mean something again. Point being conveyed is I'm not 'gaga' over sentimental Christmas tails, I'd rather have Henry Rollins recite the Xmas story to me.

First off, the light show is amazing, it marvels that of the Pink Floyd laser light show and the Kid A under the Big Top tour of Radiohead. Any technogeek would be amazed at the light contraption hovering about, changing color, blowing smoke, lasers, and even snow! The pyros were for lack of better words badass, only paralled by Kiss's farewell farewell tour. The axes used, a vintage Strat, and a Les Paul that even Slash would have lifted up his hat and raised an eyebrow at. Fast cock rock scales being jammed in Christmas fashion, reminded me of Whitesnake.

The bad, the cock rock solos can fall into the good AND the bad. Once in a blue moon it's good to take a trip down 80's amnesia lane, OK, but the theatrics of the band were simply loose, awful, and full of cheese. I couldn't decided if the violin chick in the short skirt was hot, or kooky. The banter appealed to an adult contemporary audience, the Christmas story lacked cohesion, and the old bag beside me loved it when they did a ZZ Top medley of all things. Also another low point, even though it sounded good, they totally ripped off Lord of the Rings battle scene music!? I was waiting for Frodo and Sam to frolic out on stage and be devoured by some orks.

The guys were really humble, but damn, 15 bucks for a commemorative book, and 7 bucks for a 12 ounce beer? Cough Cough Bullshit.

Sorry for the bad review Alissa / Ronster / BDR, I'm glad I saw the light(s), more literally than anything else. An a+ night, just wish I would have brought some acid along --- hahaha

Birthday Greetings Bottle of Wine!

Happy 64! O wait, I mean the "BIG 50" to my wonderful brother Ronnie. I used to hang out with this dude everyday from age 4 to 10. We used to watch GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), along with any movie I'd want to rent. He taught me how to play baseball and football, and to throw rotten tomatoes at things we didn't like. In the later years, he taught me the guitar, and lately he's been tasked with the impossible mission of keeping the accordian legacy in the family, saying to me 'It's going be hard for you to get good.'

The sis's and I chipped in a bought Ronster a Fonzie leather jacket that he's sportin' in the picture.

The master party planner / scrap booking queen plastered the house full of old school Ronnie pictures, sentimental times, I love that dude --

The battle raged on with the nieces and nephews outside, as the computer geeks won the dog pile session. Take a gander at Grant's face, looks like he's in pain, second to the bottom. I mean, wouldn't you be in pain too if Kamala the wrestler was on top of you?

The entire immediate family came for the occasion, we are getting older but more beautiful ---- hahaha. Even Jr. has a smile on his face, don't know how we were able to pull that one off.

The nieces and nephews lookin' all niece and nephew like. Corey is getting so strong, he's going to be able to kick my butt before it's all over.

Keep Truckin’, Like the Do-Dah Man

When I received a call at 8am from my Iowa cousin Todd, saying he was in Missouri now, but will be in Shiner by the night time, I high tailed it down home for some family fun.

Mom and I see eye to eye on a lot of things. Getting to the house, we decorated the tree, the way we like it done. Pull that bizzo out of the box and plug her in, DONE! Fiber optics rule, I could stare at it for days!

Later on, Timmy, made a cauldron of stew in his garage. We tore into it, and it tore into me later in the evening. Timmy gave words that his dune buggy was crashed a few weeks before, as the throttle got stuck. Timmy wrecking the dune buggy, man I hear stories like this all the time and I'm really sad I can't partake in the mischief.

Todd covered 800 miles to make it home, so we showed him a proper Shiner evening complete with bar hopping and pool at the Shimek Residence. We also took the big rig around town, I didn't get to drive but I did some shifting, very crazy stuff being that high above the ground. A festive truck, a cool dude, and fun times.

K-Man was checking out the truck too. I bet the little dude was thinking "Damn, this is a big ass truck!"

---------------------------

-- Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been" --The Dead

The Human Resource Club has Two Cigarettes and Back to Work

Jessica's birthday celebration, the ravishing redhead, and the master planner doc heading up the celebration details. The night brought us to "Little Woodrows.' I hate the place and the clientele, but all negativity aside, it turned out to be a fun night, and since my lovely coworkers love the pictures, I'll slap a bunch of em out there.

**Insert picture of typical suburban dwelling happy hour crew.

Don't ask me what's going on here, but the crowd was 5 beers deep when I arrived at the strip center bar paradise.

I usually don't take pictures with cowboys, but this dude Tim was an excellent conversationalist. Tim and Dawn said they want to find and hook me up with an intellectual chick that's good in bed. Haha, hmmmm, I don't know about that, but I appreciate the thoughts.

Jen and Jessica, two peas in a pod, talking about girly stuff. Blah blah blah blah blah --

The doc gets on the phone to call all of his ladies, telling them to meet us downtown. On a scale of 1-10 on drunken-ness for the evening, doc said he weighted in at an 8. Doc, Doc, Doc

First stop on the downtown tour brought us to Lovejoys, which I hear is 'going out of business.' Yea, I guess I'm lucky living with two 'hot chicks' and two beasts (one canine, one human). It's much better walking into establishments with girls instead of a bunch of dudes.

Let the festivities begin! After a few 'big ones' at Logans, a night of white boy dancing was in order at Bar Austin. It's cool being the geekiest dude there, sportin' the Google shirt, making all the 'cool' people feel a little bit less cool dancing to the bad pop, but easily danceable to music.

We spotted a 'drizzle sandwich,' Mike D in the middle of that group of ladies, brings on new meaning to 'Pussy Control.' It's funny watching Mike D and Jenny dance, because Jenny is about 2 feet taller.

Garth and Stephani, man I love these two new additions to the crew, they are up for anything, positive and upbeat. We even started singing this bizarre song walking down 6th, causin' a scene and shit.

What about this pop princess, and the docta in the background. Jenny was certainly in pure form for the evening. I don't recall the song, but Jenny loved it, just look at her move!

Against my wishes, but as per the wishes of the drizzle, he wanted this picture to make blog real-estate, since it's a rare find for me to be on 'the stage' dancing. Jenny was lovin' it, can't you tell!? haha-haha

Memoirs of 2005

A whirlwind of memories throughout the year culminates relaxing on the couch. January – April isn’t catalogued, but it was a hell of time, more of the same through the year. Lots of travel this year, starting out in London new years, in addition to drives to Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. I discovered the power of the blog, and can keep everyone up to date in what’s going on in my life and mind. For avid readers of the escapades on these pages, it seems as though I’m a party animal with music, booze, and wild times on my mind. This is what people like to read, and what is easy to digest, after all, the day to day grind is not that easy to make sound eloquent, but here’s a very brief recap of the not so jovial side of life, the parts of life that build character, herein highlighting two of the biggest.

Work, it’s been a busy year. What do you do at work? Basically I’m a bona-fide project manager. I’ve found that you can’t demand the respect of co-workers, but you can earn it. If you do this, in addition to showing a genuine interest their lives, you gain great friends, potential is maximized, and your little bubble of work environment is harmonious. It is true that 90% of the work is done by 10% of the people. Legislation consistently makes misinformed decisions, it’s difficult to find blips on the radar that get the job done, and bureaucracy doesn’t reward on time, under budget projects, rather projects that require more resources, more money and longer timelines. The stuff empires and cliques and political careers are made of. I’m at the top of the food chain in my current job, and the next move has to be out, despite the extremely challenging environment and the bleeding edge technology I get to dabble with everyday. The music foundation has seen growth, what can be considered a big shift in how information technology will be used in business analysis.

Love, I fell in love with a girl this year. A girl who made me feel good about myself, made me feel understood, someone I could have a genuine laugh with, enjoying the moment, no matter how mundane. Love is strange and ironic, and thru the course of it all, I may never know what happened in that blink of an eye. I do know that my virtue was tested, and what I draw from it is that who you fall for transcends what is ideal, logical, and appropriate. I’ve come to the understanding that the opposite of love isn’t hate, rather apathy. The best I can hope for is that what comes from the bottom of my heart, finds its way to another heart.

Random Comments of the year: The key to life I try to embrace is to lead as real of a life as can be. It makes things both harder and easier at the same time. I don’t want to wake up one day to see any form of free expression as a threat. The last couple months show me security and stability help aid in leading a healthy life and normalcy. Life is dynamic, a constant balancing act. This year I’ve come to the realization that I’m comfortable in my own skin, and I’m confident that whatever goals I set for myself I will be able to achieve. A hell of a year, the memories archived, so if you just tuned in, search the archive, I’m a complicated dude looking for a rewarding complication.

Memoirs of 2005

Still Coming, In the meantime, how bout tonight's fortunes.......

Yasu -- You will become better acquainted with a coworker.....in bed
Aya -- Generosity and perfection are your assets and they show.....in bed
Me -- You will be called upon to celebrate some great news......in bed
C-Dog -- You create your own stage, the audience is waiting.....in bed
Tomomi -- Time makes one wise, Ask advice from someone older than you....in bed

*In Bed, can be appended to any fortune cookie fortune, and it makes for great laughs, at least it did for us.

Top 10 Albums of 2005

Music reflects the mood of ones thoughts and feelings. One could say if you have bad taste in music, you have bad taste in life in general. Imagination coupled with judgement and critiques on judgement ran rampant this year and the albums chosen to represent reflect. As it pertains to life, I worked in a narrow construct this year, but explored it fully and gained tremendous insight, and one day will look back at this and be able to put this chuck of life in its proper place in the big picture of things.

This year Pandora was born, the end all be all of streaming audio, check it out, read about it, and you won't be disappointed. Greenday's 'Bullet in a Bible' album reflects the coolest name for an album, in lieu of all the political tensions and fascists leaders. Without further a-do, here's a list of noteworthy albums for 2005.

Honorable Mention – Calexico / Iron and Wine EP, American Analog Set – Set Free, and be on the lookout for the Mystery Jets album coming early 2006. The singles thus far are amazing.

10. Supergrass – Road to Rouden – Starting off with Tales of Endurance, this band is extremely talented, I’ve liked them ever since I seen them open for Radiohead on the Amnesiac tour. Amazing sound for a 3 piece job, and lyrically are getting better and better. Another no frills album, just good old fashion rock and roll.

9. Spoon – Gimmie Fiction – I can’t explain why I like it so much, but it’s a great album, very tight. Lyrics you can take away as much as you want or as little as you want, your choice. Very eclectic, dynamite to see perform live.

8. The Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations – An album amazon.com describes as ‘devastatingly somber’, I agree. How’s about that track ‘Theme for a Pretty Girl that Makes You Believe God Exists,’ or my personal favorite ‘Ugly Love,’ – which brings the lyric ‘I dream about so much it is absurd.’ puts a smile on my face and a tear to my eye, using a George Strait lyric to describe the inner dementia of the singer / songwriter.

7. Echo and The Bunnymen – Siberia – My opinion their best efforts in their very long history. No frills, no surprises, just a damn good rock album. Extremely clean, well produced, yet not sacrificing any integrity. From the opening track ‘Stormy Weather’ to the end ‘What If We Are,’ a no bullshit album you can pop in and let play, Cool? Who cares?

6. Blackalicious – The Craft – Chris Rock once said it’s getting harder and harder to defend the integrity of hip hop or rap music when there are songs out there like Little John’s ‘To the Window to the Wall.’ Well he can use The Gift of Gab and his posse for firepower. If you think rappin’ is so easy, listen to him and try to sing it at a karaoke bar one day. Furthermore, wordsmiths out there, try to come up with something better. How bout instrumentation better than rhythm sticks?

5. Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman - It’s hard to match his charm. Sings angry white boy music with pansy voice, writes tribute songs to kids, covers Dre songs (Bitches Ain’t Shit), sings duets with gay dudes (Rufus W) of songs (Careless Whisper) written by gay dudes (George Michael). Sings about hypocrisy in modern day religion in Jesusland, speaks out people getting married out of family pressures ‘Maybe they knew more than we knew, as they danced and drank as we jumped off the deep end.’ How’s that for balancing a plate full of perspective and admiration?

4. Stephen Fretwell – Magpie – Let’s see how deep the wormhole of human emotion gets. If you like the depressing undertones of Radiohead, it can get worse. If you think Seether is full of angst, you have no imagination and poor judgement, if you think Kelly Clarkson is good, there’s no hope for you. Fretwell is sitting at the bottom of the barrel looking up at nothing but darkness in this album. ‘And the whiskey and the lines….’ Brrrrrrr……Depressing but amazing.

3. Brendan Benson - Alternative to Love – Cheer up Emo boy, yea, but damn, can it get any better than this. This is a straight forward album exploring the ins and outs of involvements with women, clear and digestible content. ‘Cold Hands Warm Heart’ also got love from Nissan in a recent TV commercial. A Detroit boy, album produced by Jack White of the White Stripes, great harmony on the guitars, and voice manipulations only done with the best pro tools by an excellent producer.

2. Old 97’s – Live and Wired – I’ll throw the these guys in at any battle of the bands competition and they’ll kick your ass, outsmart you, outwit, out jam you with their sincere / cynical tunes. Spans the discography of Old 97 hits with few exceptions, recorded live on a night of intense heat in the oldest dance hall in Texas. One favorite lyric in the album is ‘Then you'll try to find a doctor who can prescribe an elixir That'll make everything better, except your late wife and her lover.’ They are strong and empowering boys, a transitional band for me, meriting lots of praise. What can you say about ‘Valentine’ and ‘Question,’ songs wrote for the wives of bass guitar / lead singer respectively, and also the lyrics from Valium Waltz, ‘spirit her off when the music’s too loud’ are touching and provide hope for us hopeless romantics.

1. Babyshambles – Down in Albion - The mastermind behind The Libertines is back, telling us ‘What Katy Did Next’, as well as getting Kate Moss to sing backup in La Belle et la Bete ‘Is She More Beautiful Than Me.’ Then there’s the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ of England, ‘Fuck Forever,’ a tragic tale of purgatory and no happy families. Pete Doherty is the most talented Brit to come around in ages, tunes are timeless and meaningful. Can't say anymore about it, just that it's my number one of the year, and worth every ounce of praise it gets. There is a landmass over the pond Pete, you know that right?

Memoirs of 2005 - The Players

I never said I was the man, but I’ve always said I’m the man who knows the man, and through them I’m had lots of laughs and learned a tremendous amount of ‘stuff’ on a lot of different subjects. I’ll share my ‘props for friends’ and follow up with ‘what I’ve learned from them’ with another long and boring post, when I’m at another long and boring work seminar tomorrow, as the year went by in a flash.

Props for Friends - Here they are in no particular order, I’ve highlighted the name so you can just skip to your part, if you’re family skip entirely and I’ll mention y’all fine folks later.

Mike P – Funny I should mention you first. We seldom do anything fun, you are the person that swims thru the mud and muck of life with, and make it bearable. Damn brotha, you push me hard when it comes to keeping up with you in the tech world. A person that reinforces that it don’t really make a flying flip of what sort of ‘organized education’ you have, for he works circles around even the most ‘educated’ individuals. He is a person who gets it done, period. A person who volunteers his time with me for philanthropic causes. A person who exemplifies that anyone can love a dolphin, how bout loving a nice plague rat? We both like unconventional things is what I’m saying. My maven for computer geek, great friend, but, even if you were hot and fit, I still wouldn’t ‘do’ you. Laura, look forward to hanging out with you more and more, you are a great gal, keep that guy in line!

Mike D – The ambassador of helping me figure out the questions of “Standin’ on the corner of the 6th and where do I go’, and importantly in 2005, aiding with the question of ‘Standin’ on the corner of 6th and how to forget’. A guardian angel for me, very responsible, fun, and can name any song that has a beat, and drags me along to many things I’ve never heard of. Always up for a Plucker’s run, I can drag you to any shitty indie white boy band I want to test out, and most importantly you mesh well with other people, a very diplomatic individual. Biggest thing in 2005 is the easy nicknaming convention of ‘Mr. *Insert name here*.

Jenny J – Behind that evil exterior is one of the most kind, caring, compassionate females I know. She’s not there for you when you are looking for someone to expound a woe is me story to. She lays down the hard truth for you, but is always there when you need a friend. Great taste in music, always up for a good time, can drink me under the table, and still a hardcore type A personality, who is kicking some ass at her trade of being an RN. We walk a lot, we talk a lot, and we talk a lot about the overlap of genders and how to embrace the tough questions.

Doc Love (Chris) – Man what can I say about this guy. If anyone in 2005 needs a serious pat on the back in my mind for ‘understanding’ is the Doc. A man who, has been there done that, as it pertains to the spectrum of human emotion. Almost everyday the doc and I will walk a mile in the afternoon and have a nice ‘brain dump,’ to clear the pipes, and get monkeys off my back I didn’t even know where there. A very fun guy to hang out with, a predictable person, which is a good thing. Emotional intelligence is an important thing for me, and he’s the buddy that helps me explore this. He’s a big influence in keeping me what I think to be a ‘sentimental guy’ for the year 2005.

Ashley G – Man o man, what can I say about you my friend since age 3. You seldom break shit into 30 second digestible chucks, but I still love you. I’ll get a call saying this is going on and you should attend, blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, it’ll be good for you. Usually it is. Ashley hasn’t left a stone untouched in Austin, and introduces me to interesting and unique places (John finds some great Mexican food dives too). Up for anything, a true Shiner-ite at heart, who can drink her weight in beer and still run the tip jar around the building for the band. A friend who’s been there thru thick and thin with me, probably knows my history and origins and players in my life better than any other.

Rolando – My ambassador for outside perspective, making a home in Los Angeles. He shows me that any and everything is possible, coming from small town Texas, and making a home in a ‘strange and foreign land.’ He plays tennis, does computer stuff, plays guitar, loves music, drives a European car, hey I do all of that! An ambitious and adventurous man he is, all it took was a ride to class from a stranger one day in college, and it developed into what we have now. Little does anyone know, but 3-4 years ago, I was a moody bitch (well I still am), I didn’t call people, and didn’t stay in touch with them, in many ways could care less of the world around me, oblivious to external entities. Roland single handedly kept our friendship alive with empathy, concern and consideration. For that, I can’t thank you enough, for always being there, and tell Brittany Spears I said hi at the next party.

Bob and his Better Half – When I’m in need of some good ol’ down home honest to goodness honesty and integrity, I have to look to Bob. Making BBQ is his specialty, but he’s definitely a good person to have around if a brawl breaks out. I suppose he could whip my ass with just his forearm. Through him I can bring obscure indie albums on long country drives and listen to them in a big ass truck and an amazing sound system. A computer geek by nature, someone who will ‘dumb’ me down a lot, for the sake of progress and ease. You can seldom pull a fast one on Bob, and his knowledge base from cars to computers to home interior design help every day in practical living. Melanie is cool too, she is going to take care of my teeth sooner than later, and she’s always there for a messenger conversation.

Jamie C – Speaking of messenger conversations, no matter if she’s in Chicago, New York, Houston, Scotland, London, or the lower EU, she’s always there for me when I’m having some sort of paranoid panic attack shit to give calming soothing advice. A friend who’s been there since about 6, shared a lot of history, and same for 2005. A nice Shiner pub crawl and a few times hanging out in the big city of Houston. When great communicators hang out, a few times a year is all you need to catch up with the necessary overhead of life, and still have time for banter and beer. Damn, how can you handle the Strongbow all the time?!

Beastmaster (C-Dog) – You may think this guy is here for comic relief, yes most of the time that’s what we do. Our collaborative IQ drops significantly when we hang out, but it’s all good. Behind the co-founder of The Love Band and collaborator for Two Lovers and A Brother, is a heartfelt, mindful soulful person. Did I mention he could probably kick the average ultimate fighting champion’s ass, and he gets more love from the animal kingdom than anyone I know. You should see him with animals, what he teaches me is that I don’t like animals very much, although Benny is a great dog. I mean, who else will let me record them singing ‘Away in a Manger.’ I’ll spare the sentimental mumbo jumbo for you since I see you almost everyday.

Manuelabor / Lacinator – Who would have thought that working with a dude doing manual labor over the Christmas holidays would have garnered a friend like this. Lacy and Manuel, peas and carrots, a cute couple who can keep dogs and plants alive and happy. Manuel is a dude that’s not on ‘speed dial’ but merits a call under special circumstances and special times in life. Always a great time, I connect with this guy on some deep level, so words aren’t necessary, as a solid foundation has already been established. He’s like the phone Gotham City uses to call Batman, and he comes running to the rescue in times of need. Rock on in 2006.

Internationals -- This year added a slew of international people to the list of people who are close to my heart. Meghan, a clearly Canadian girl, who came along and provided a breath of fresh air, opening the door to a world of opportunity, and reminding me to look beyond the curtain to see there is more to life than meets the eye. A smart, talented, good taste in music girl, who is hard working and dedicated. A person who helped re-kindled my musical spirit, many miles in the car, many words spoken, lots of laughs, and we did attend a concert or two this year! Nights with music, especially a cold night with Feist I hold dear in my memory. Toshi, a Japanese Zenmaster, who taught me a lot about food, taught me how to play squash, hung out a lot, taught me how to speak a little Japanese to boot. We went on a trip to Vegas in the car, which is the ultimate bonding experience, 28 straight hours in a car. Toshi climbed the ladder of importance in my life in a very short time. The presence, influence and perspective of both of these individuals are missed dearly. Yasu, the memories will continue in 2006, and I’ll give you a better write-up next year. Definately can't forget Hiro and Sam either.

The Catchall – The friends that are always there for me, just don’t see as often are equally important, for who knows when you will need a friend, or a friend needs you. Ashley B, who started the year out with me in Londontown, I adore our tennis outings and our walks and talks and doing crazy stuff only you would do. Marty and Julie for all the support and kindness, as well as a great time whenever I see y’all. Ryan, who pops his head in every now and then with something profound. I’m going to look for your advice if I’m ever a daddy. I hope to hang out more in 2K6, and sorry for the numerous ‘dog outs’ of 2005. Tiff and Mandy, always provide a great time when I’m down home, and look to y’all in the new year to provide entertainment and friendship in the new year. Brandon and Brandy, my Houston crew, similar to Manuelabor, who’s miles and silence mean nothing but a mere, “I understand” and I’m always there for you, and when the timelines line up, we’re going to have a kickass time. Blake in Washington, I’ve been to more concerts with you than any other person known to man, a number that would make the average Ruben Studdard fan sick, literally sick. CP42659 in Chi-Town, I will make it up there one day, I miss you, and I still use jargon that you introduced to me long ago. Kevin King, wherever you are, you’ve had a profound impact on my life. All my co-workers, Lee and Tam especially, help me to make work bearable, cheers to not only great boss and great co-worker, but great friends as well. Jessica for the smoke break banter, wish you worked on the same floor still. Jennifer / Joe, who I look forward to hanging out with more in 2K6. Dawn for her basketball skillz. Braggie (which is Brad and Maggie combined) for all their support and friendship and great BBQ and place to stay, etc, etc, etc. Toby, good luck with that jump off the deep end, and I’m always there for you dude, and thanks for being a surprisingly good listener. Jenny K for the talks and the walks and the spontaneous eats and treats. Alissa, Ron, Nikki, Brittani, Colin, Amy, Sarah and Glenn, my AMF buddies that further make me into a refined musical snob. To Nate Dogg, who’s is one of the most talented guitar players I know personally. John Baird who introduces me to people like Kid Rock, and a bizarre interesting guy to say the least. Sarah B, who I look forward to concerts in 2006 Abbey who lives in crazy world in which she invites me to and keeps me in the loop. Orlando in Houston, Erin who I want to go see more gigs with in the future (move to Austin!), Jessica in Ohio (move to Austin too!), Mr. Anderson in Londontown (move to Austin too!), Franzi in Deutschland, Manuel II in Deutschland, Mos in Thailand (who we will mail a Christmas tribute to this year), Shannon in Ohio, T-Dog in Shiner, the Waxtad, who contributes much to my life, Steve Berg and Chad, my Verizon buddies who together escort MILFs and rich spoiled kids to the VIP seats while the true fans sit in the nosebleeds.

Holy shit, I feel like I just won a grammy or something. I know a lot of you read this, more probably don’t, and for non-internet savvy people, I’ll give you a mention when you hop into cyberspace. Thanks for molding me into the person I am, sorry for not mentioning who I left out, you know you are important to me, and I look forward many great times in 2006.

The memorable music, events and Life’s Little Lessons Learned to come.

Running an IT Shop on Shoestring Budget

Once upon a time.....there lived a non-profit organization named The Austin Music Foundation who lived for the sole purpose of helping artists refine their trade. As the organization passes puberty, it needed bigger shoes to handle its growth.

With bigger building facilities above Bookpeople, it's time to feed the IT infrastructure some spinach, or Tech Soup located in the lovely bay area. Techsoup gives non-profits insane discounts on any and all sorts of software.

With any network, here are the core components. In this case 4-port router, a 16 port switch, and a business class cable modem. Bandwidth is donated, Cost - router 40 bucks, switch 80 bucks.

Then there's 'Future', our mighty DNS / File / Exchange / Group Policy / well you get the point server. Donated, running about 800 mhz with a gig of ram. Cost 0$

Then there's our print server 'Firestarter', weighing in at 350 mhz with a whopping 98 megs of ram. Ask and yee shall receive, not one but two new printers to ease a major printer crisis at the foundation. Cost - Donated or dug out of the garbage can .

Next we have our powerhouse box, 'Fuel', boasting a powerful 1.8 gig processor and 512 meggers of ram. Notice the mushrooms, a Robert classic desktop wallpaper when loading a fresh copy of Winders and and MS Office. Cost - Donation

**Note: not pictured are Mr Wireless, and the 'wall of shame 2', a group of haggard computers in the intern room. Duck tape anyone?

Then there was this little thing called an ISP, one in which is packing a punch, Brinkster is what they call it, just flexin' sayin' yea bring it on.

Why flexing? Here's why, currently hosting 9 domain names under the 'developer package.' On top of that, the content management system is written in php with a mysql database, the membership enrollment system written in ASP.net with SQL Server 2000 as a database relying heavy on transaction based stored procedures. Don't forget the old crusty COM+ verisign component in the .net solution, or the personalized digital certificate for 128 bit SSL for keeping all those lovely credit card numbers safe.

Did I mention that the package (haha, package) has 400 pop email accounts at 50 mb each, which measures out to a measly 20 gig. SMTP, well how about support for sending up to 1,000 email messages per day! For our Incubator application, which bands upload their mp3's and such, 5 gigs should do the trick, that is what's included. All that for a grand total of 20 bucks a month!

I like to think of it as a Chevy Nova moving a 3 bedroom house. So go out and tell all your friends that brinkster is a great ISP, and go out and find some of the dorkiest people you know, and tell them to come join the crusade to give better support to the people who support the music.

-----------------------------------
"O---O We're half way there!"

American Analog Set - The Parish - Austin Texas -- Twilight Twilight Show

Walking sixth street with the smoking ban is interesting. You see a pack of smokers outside almost every club. Serious kudos for the girls walking about in tube tops in the 50 degree weather. They must be going to a hip club or something, wanting to look pretty for all the hot guys.

What can you say about a night of inspiring music? It's amazing how thru the course of a gig you can go from shitty mood to great mood, if the music is right. You can't really describe brilliance, or figure out how to promote it higher than the next, brilliance speaks for itself, and that's just what was on tap for the evening.

Chris Brokaw, the opener, amazing guitarist from Boston to Austin, sitting there with his Martin guitar and tambourine strapped to his foot, keeping rhythm and playing the easiest I can describe as 'complicated' music. A great melody he played about 'a city in East Germany that we bombed to hell one night', I'm assuming Dresden, in which 135,000+ were killed in one night of firebombing. After his set, I could only imagine what the likes of American Analog Set would be.

Voice, first thing recognized. I don't know what type of mic's are used, but the soft melodies allow even the inhale of breathe to be heard over the drums. Talk about subtle undertones, a tight and technical band, this is AmAnSet.

Audiophiles would go ga-ga at this gig. Loads of interesting sounds, but you can't see an effect pedal anywhere. I suppose a few reasons they are dubbed analogue are the use of Fender Rhodes, a close cousin of the Xylophone, lead singer's guitar looks like a bass, but it isn't a bass, and other old looking equipment.

Watching AmAnset and their sincerity, I wanted to be in a rock band. Watching them shows me that I have an affinity towards a rock star attitude. I also have videos if anyone wants them.

Serious props for the boys in the band not 'selling out', staying true to the their trade, producing a sound that isn't easily digestible to pop culture, but I suppose I like it better that way.

Hopefully they WILL be like KISS, and keep 'going away' but not really going away.

Austin Music Foundation Christmas Party

Why have a party on Sunday night? So all the magicians, no mugicians, I mean musicians can attend. Most of the time I don't post pictures of people I don't know, or have gotten their 'express written consent', so here's what I can post.

The Yule Log, something I never knew existed until last year's AMF party. Talk about fun was last year's party when we attempted to make Sal eat a significant chunk of the log for approximately 50 bucks. Well we strolled down memory lane this time around, asked him to do it again, but to no avail, said he almost puked last year from the log.

Nikki, leader of the pack, also has a pool, and brilliant new pool in the backyard, full equipped with accent lighting, waterfalls, and numerous fire pits. This year, no lighters were thrown into fire, but the Taco Deli and the keggers seemed to keep all the starving artists happy.

For any of my techie friends who read this, please help, join the foundation, its a lot of work, but it is rewarding work. You'll get some cool perks, work with cool people, and can drink all the Izzy and eat all the Taco Deli you can handle!

The Cokes are in the Icebox, Popcorn's on the Table

House Party 2005 -- Eggrolls, 'Doctails' (coctails made by Doc Love), and lots of friends and fellowship

Funny thing about blogging is that you really don't know who is reading what you are posting. For instance when I blogged that I liked 'Sparkle Plenty' and the rollergirls, Sparkle Plenty actually emailed me from the post! Saying that one of her friends found the posting, and passed in on! YEE HAW!

With that being said, first picture features the lovely Jennifer and Jessica, two who say the are weekly readers (weekly readers, haha) of the blog, and they were sad that Jen's never been on, and Jessica's only been on once. There's Jessica (red head) and Jen (non-red-head) in the middle of the smoke crew as they little Mike D's balcony with cigs. I hope to hang out with y'all more often so y'all make the blog more often! Welcome the lovely Laura again to Austin, Mike P's sane half. hahaha

The list of defectors grows at DPS, as Mike P, Mr Downtown pulls Mike D into his world at TEA. Hell, a 7% raise or something like that, I guess I'm stupid for hanging around and need to find something sooner than later.

The DPS crew circa early 2005, still hang out with the core group, Tam looking like a model in front of everyone, Lee trying to hide from the picture, and Mr. Steele, who recently took a dive off the deep end. Don't forget the doc, and yours truly, truly packin' on the pounds.

Two to people in the trenches left to steer the ship, the deal here is no one wants to be the last person to jump ship. Tam is the ambassador of SQL.

There's Jenny and Ashley, the polar opposite females, shortly after Jenny puts me in a headlock and busts my lip open. She was 'tired'.

Then there's the driz, Manulabor and I, chillin' out recapping some world travelling memories. Doc's cocktails were delicious and strong thru the course of the night, and Mike D, Mr Great Host stocked the fridge with plenty of wife beater. He didn't like the idea so well when I went in the middle of the living room of his new condo and said "Hey Guys, Let's Trash This Place!"

And finally there's the beastmaster, our new roommate who recently parted with his ex, as the beast's ex, well, mamma would say it's not fit to print.

Exit Review - Texas State Bobcats

Insert cheesy picture of two Texas State Bobcat Alumnists shooting their school sign in 'Showdown' as the Bobcats lose the Division II semi-final game to northern Iowa in overtime. What a downer!

Abbey showed her creative stuff in this big fancy ballroom. I saw a few ladies look at me as if I was a neanderthal, heading to the fruit and veggie table.

What trip to San Marcos would be complete without a visit to Yasu and Aya. Our tradition is goign to Valentino's on the Square for some pizza, wings, and booze. Here are the two lovely folks. Yasu informs me he will be in the states till next December, before he goes back to Japan, therefore he doesn't have to find me a 'Japanese Replacement Friend' till then! Yippie!

Toshi, if you are reading this buddy, I miss you lots, can't wait to visit, and I'll have a nice care package sent with Yasu for you and Hiro.

For Some People It's and Easy Choice, But for Me There's a Devil and An Angel's Voice

An evening with the nuclear family (sorry for the impersonal words my wonderful sister :-), I just like that phrase), Jeannie, Rob, Kman, Collin produced a tree to be placed in the living room and decorated with a skirt, garland, and some presents.

Here's the tree boy is slapping our prize on top the minivan.

-----------------------

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." -Larry Wilde

and a brilliant one hanging on Mike P's fridge:

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." -William Jennings Bryan

-----------------------
Come One Come ALL! -- Ring me or email me if you would like to join any of these festivities, all open ended stuff.

Friday - PSB/TOL Bulk Processing Finish-Up Work Party Afternoon / Evening / Abs of Steel Exit Review -- looking at 'creative' peoples stuff --

Saturday - Austin Music Foundation labors / Day, Evening / The MIKE DRIZZLE HOUSE PARTY, help me with the DJ efforts someone, I have 180 gigs AWOL.

Sunday - the twilight twilight show of the American Analogue Set for 10 buckeroos at The Parish (man these guys are getting as bad as Kiss with their farewell shows)

Ice Ice Baby -- Too Cold Too Cold

Thousands cursing, cars aslidin', and bums hiding in their caves. Me and Robert set forth upon a new adventure tonight. So we put our coziest socks on our hands, and thew on a couple shirts, a poncho, and our beanies and headed to Iceland. Here's a little quote from yours truly...The Mutha Fuckin' C-Dog.

I was so cold.....(wav) or how bout that shizzle Barry White style, I was so cold.....(wav).
------------
Now that C-Dog got the intro out the way, here's the site, I-35, as Texans just don't know how to drive in the ice (this is traffic @ 10:30 at night by the way). C-Dog lookin' like an Arabian prince freezing his butt off.

The difference lighting makes, in the dark it looks like Arabian C-Dog, in the light, with his poncho blanket he looks like Senor C-Dog. Good thing I have fat cheeks to keep me warm.

Thoughts turn to 'Snow', who's hit Informer back in the day I put on a cassette tape about 10 times in a row and would jam, so knowing the lyrics "Trail me down 'cuz I'm hangin' with the Snowman" and also the cherished Joni Mitchell who says "I wish I had a river, I could skate away on."

Tomorrow C-Dog and I will attempt in vain to make an 'Iceman.'

Trim up the Tree with Christmas Stuff, like Bingel Balls and Who Floo Fluff

Mele Kalikimaka, tonight we put up a tree, the judeo christian thing to do to celebrate the holidays and warm the house, as we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, funniest damn Christmas movie ever (except for the Sinus Xmas Show).

There's the tree, there's the lights. A rather pretty tree I must say. I can't put down to words what I think about hanging balls on a tree, but the mind goes everywhere.

Jenny, Benny, me and our new kinda roommate Kristin pimped out our door with some Griswold lookin' lights. We are expecting the freeze on Thursday, me being such a retard I have a huge pail of water put outside so I can see it frozen when I wake up. Maybe I can konk someone over the head with it.

Well as Eddie is draining his toxic green RV shitter into Clark's septic system, time to take some sleepy pills and head off to the subconscious. I'll leave you with the classic Clark Griswold speech given when he didn't get his Xmas bonus, he works himself to a frenzy and its hysterical, and if you want to hear the soundbyte, check out this place . (not funny if you've never seen the movie)

--------------------------------------
Clark Griswold:

Uh-huh! Ehhhhhhhhhhhh!
Hey!

If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one.
I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight.

I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head.

And I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is!

Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?

----------
meanwhile, Eddie's RV rolls off to meet the demand! BHAHAHA

Begin The Day with a Friendly Voice With Companions Unobtrusive

Pandora - The Music Genome Project - It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like. (according to the website) --

My take, awesome streams 'calculated' by a bunch of different criteria. I think it's pretty complicated.

Last.fm - Catalogues the tunes you listen to, and keeps track of the 'soundtrack of your life.' It's a plugin for the media player of your choice that broadcasts what you are jammin in real time (or batch) to the mothership. So you could say, I listed to the Old 97's 186 times the first week in June, etc. You can also 'tag' your tunes and create playlists from them via the web. Awesome stuff!

Here's what's being scrobbled from the Janak / Bruns place ----
Robert's Last FM -- Jenny's Last FM (Jenny keeps her's on all the time / numbers are stacked)

The World is Cold but I Don't Care, Good Things Happen When You're Around

From end to beginning, a shiny happy day, covering a lot of ground and a lot of faces.

Who can be after hearing such a soft voice, which is that of Warren Hood, with his upbeat swing, and sentimental yet cynical lyrics. Sounding a lot like Sondre Lerche, in his tunes, in my opinion, he articulates 'yea, the world is sometimes bad, but I got it under control, and good things will happen.' General, when life hands you a lemon make lemonade type sentiments. Covers a Dierks Bentley song, 'Good Things Happen', of all things, and actually pulls off making this song 'cool' with his tender vibes.

You are my new five-dollar-momos-sunday-night-hero, and great way to say bon voyage to the week, and preparing you for the manic Monday.

Day starts with a visit to the 'moms', hanging out, eating BBQ, watching the Cowboys lose with the family, and actually not being 'plugged in' to a computer for the first day in 6,000 years. We went to the Shiner Walters Museum for an open house. What a great smile my mum has. :-) -- makes me smile too.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Bernie, he's expanded himself as much as anyone can in the construct of Shiner, Texas. If he doesn't know the answer about Shiner, no one does. Every year he decorates a bunch of murdered pines (I mean Christmas Trees) and shows them first weekend in December. We also have a round of banter at his big ol house on Christmas Eve. A very colorful eclectic crew usually attends.

I especially like the retro silver trees with the alternating light colors making the tree look different colors. As Lutheran history goes, Martin Luther invented the Xmas tree in a forest, looking thru a pine tree and seeing stars thru the tree, hence giving the idea of putting lights on the tree. Hmmm, maybe a bit sketchy.

Well, back in the olden days, they used to put candles on the trees before the advent of the 'E'lectricity word. Talk about a serious fire hazard!?

The there's John, the local electronics / history expert acting as if he's locked up in the old Shiner jail. Yea, that would be the pitts hanging out in that thing.

Violins, Mandolins, BBQ, Football Americano, Trees, Jails -- O My--

Texas Rollergirls - Playland - Austin, Texas

Good Family fun, The Texas Rollergirls, Lonestar, and Playland, and a sinister opposing team in The Tucson Saddletramps.

First and foremost, the hip of the hip attend these events, there was only 1 dude there that I was cooler than. It brings out the trendy indie people in the masses.

Playland reminds me of the days when I skated to The Bangles -Walk Like an Egyptian when I was a kid, and roller rinks all have the same musty smell.

Sparkle Plenty and Lucille Brawl are my favorites, as Mike D and I had 'ringside' seats for the occasion, not to mention some chicks getting body checked and landing nearly in our laps. I've condensed this video to under 5 meg, watch this insanity! hip checks flying and girls flying into the crowd.

A crazy cool place to go, I had a smashing time! The after party at Emo's was a little too much for me, although I would love to get Sparkle's autograph one day. One could describe it as the poor man's wrestling, but the girls can skate, they are all cool looking, and killer live music from Winelord and Sons of Hercules.

The verdict, I'm sold, best time I've had in ages. 5 Jalapenos
-------------------------
'You're pretty as a penny, roller-skate skinny
Pretty as a penny, roller-skate skinny' -- Rhett Miller

All That Summer We Enjoyed It, Wind and Rain and Shine

When you are tired of 'partying' with the cool kids, and there isn't a show in town, what else can you do but create your own entertainment by inviting your buddies over and have a sing-a-long!

Mr Red back there, the Beastermaster, gruesome looking Jenny and Mike P and the lovely Laura entertained the neighborhood, especially the dogs with their voices.

The brew of the evening was Kostritzer, an intense little keg I picked up in Solvang. Smooth and potent, that's for sure.

Later in the evening the Beastmaster had fun with the webcam. We used to call ourselves 'The Love Band', and for a brief stint I went out with his sister, he called us 'Two Lovers and a Brotha', which is funny in context.

Webcam Fun Recording for the evening --- Music when the Lights Go Out -- by C-Dog and RB, an entertaining clip -- just watch the C-Dog's expressions and his whistling and chuckle at my panzy lispy voice.

Hey Little Freak with the Lunch Pail Purse

While Tom Petty is singing to me about the Zombie Zoo, Abbey is making Zoo Keeper cards for the San Antonio Zoo to show with MY NAME on it! Holy Toledo! I do recall the Lincoln Park Zoo (somewhere I want to go to BAD one day) commercials were brilliant, back in the day watching the Cubbies on the super station.

So if the computer geek stuff doesn't work out for me, I suppose that's where I'm going to go, hell I got the cards already.

Yea, then there was the time Abs dragged me to Lucy in Disguise and dressed me up like an army boy and took me down to UT to take pictures on a white backdrop for her 'Marine Masquerade' or whatever. I don't know, I think I look like a perfect army man, killer instinct and all! haha, whew, I shouldn't even joke about that.....

Well supposedly she put me on a poster and put some camouflage to the picture and jazzed it up with a title and such, but here's the raw print.

Abbey is also on the job market and is super-talented, so hire her -- Abbey Creative.

------------------------
"Well I thought about the army / Dad said, son you’re f*cking high" --BF