An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, I'm on the dark side of the road

Instead of blogging I could be listening to the timeless wisdom of Bob Dylan in concert, but I'm old. Yea, I can hear you saying, you're only as old as you feel......well, I'm OLD. As much as I want to bash the festival like a true cynic, I can, this festival is hands down perfect.

Here's the view from the cheap seats, I just couldn't be bothered to get closer. View from Ben Kweller, right next to the port-o-potties, and the little dude runnin' from the cops b/c he was smokin' some week in one of them. Go little dude go!

View from Lucinda William, a nice spot that avoids the mass of humanity traffic between two stages. I found myself here often. Lucinda on the left, Regina on the right, what a combo.

View from Common, man he's good, damn good.

Mike P's lovely Laura and I with our sweet leaf tea bandana's. Those and my nephew Collin's baby sunscreen did the trick. The head is only one shade pink this evening.

Finally, I forgot the name of the place, but its a posh restaurant in Austin that had ACL grub. Here's a nice chicken advocado cole slaw wrap fried wonderfulness.

She Came All the Way From America, Had A Blind Date with Destiny, And the sound of Te Awamutu, Had A Truly Sacred Ring

More ACL pictures, the little amount of shade reveals humans looking like cows scrounging for any area to rest from the sun. The migration patterns of people are fascinating here, find a tall hill and watch it all unfold.

The Gibson guitars which are about to leave town, this one was rhinstone'ish, looked pretty cool.

Don't know if its the 'cool' thing to do at every festival, $2 dollar water, but its an amazingly love attribute of the festival.

Sunburnt foot, buckets of sweat pouring from me the entire day.

County Line BBQ with some old co-workers, Lee, John, Garth and pregnant Steph, Tam and Houng. Great to see you guys again!

A picture couldn't be complete without Mike D and Mike P. Check out Mike P's pecks!

Things Ain't Cookin' In My Kitchen, Strange Affliction Wash Over me

Thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Crowded House from the second row.

A brief rundown, Queens - OK, Spoon - Good, Gotan Project - AMAZING, Kaiser Cheifs - great, Crowded House - wonderfully nostalgic, Killers - should have kept their 'Sams Town' stuff at home.

I was by a bunch of Aussies the entire time! Twas a touch of class, the band that is.

Don't dream it's over

Weather with You (while a few drops of rain started coming down)

Fall at your feet

Mean to Me, The opener

Catholic School, As Vicious as Roman Rule, I Got My Knuckles Bruised by a Lady In Black

Cable modem one step closer to being fixed in the meantime, wifi enabled pub FINALLY and Bob and Mel's place.

Tomorrow I see Crowded House, why do I keep bringing this up? Well imagine a little zit faced Robert with hair back in the 80's listening to the only rock radio station that bleeds into Shiner, jammin' CH, then buying the cassettes, then just listening to the pure simplicity and honesty in Neil Finn's songwriting.

It also holds what I used to think, well, if I got married would be my 'wedding slogan.' It's always in the back of my mind, that next evolution in life that is, it's what fascinates me these days, how people make it work, and how many people live functionally dysfunctional lives in love.

"There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost, but you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me."

It makes me happy thinking about sweating in the 100 degree weather tomorrow, all kinds of bands and people around me.

It makes me think of the simple things in life, things I wish I could train myself to wake up and feel every morning. Thinks like a freshly cleaned restroom after a pound or two of Rudy's BBQ, like tonight en-route to Bob's house.

My ping pong record for the evening, 5 wins, 1 loss. How did I lose you ask? Well, all that BBQ.

Long Before the Astronauts, The Soviets and the Science

Anyone want to know my schedule for ACL -- well, after I see Crowded House, I can die and go to heaven :) -- They were actually playing in MSP the night I left, damn the timing. Check out their greatest hits album, and I can't help but play the song 'Better Be Home Soon,' over and over in my head, because despite all the 'i hate san antonio' jargon in my head, I feel like I'm finally doing something right in life.

Friday

Paul Green School of Rock (got little buddies playing)
Crowded House
MIA
Queens of the Stone Age
Gotan Project
Killers (will kill me, but just to get it off the list)
Bjork (listening to weird mumblings for a while)

Saturday

Willy Mason
Sound Team
Paolo Nutini
Steve Earl
St Vincent
Andrew Bird
---Go downtown point
(do i really have to pick b/w artic monkeys and damien rice? how bout death?)
Muse

Sunday

Yo La Tengo
The National
Ben Kweller
Common
Lucinda Williams
Regina Spector
My Morning Jacket
The Decemberists
Bob Dylan

Damn what days! -- Sure to cure a music drought :)

You Don't Need A Law Degree, To Set your Mind and Spirit Free

Lots to say since last post, will do it in bullet format in order of importance, and promise to elaborate more soon. I'm hanging out at six dollar internet an hour starbucks b/c inner city Esse don't know what a wireless coffee house is and Road Runner can lick....well.

• Had a charming weekend in Minneapolis
• Road runner sucks, I hate em, I'm really not diggin' San Antonio AT ALL -- not a good vibe here
• Swimmin' in sin, that's what the cadillacs were doing a few weeks ago in Shiner at their booze fest to fund the church, hence splitting the towns resources in half
• trying to figure out how to bring the long tail to the small town
• observations on two humble people stumbling into elegance
• wanting to pay of debt and use surplus to go back to masters school, diploma to wipe my ass with, and something to slop on the resume
• going from place to place around here looking for internet connection and finding NOTHING
• I like 'The Pig Stand' here, and 'Sam's Burgers' -- The rest, mamma taught me not to say it.
• Speaking of mamma, she's doing good, last treatment of the 'rough ones' this Friday. I had lunch with her tonight, good times, and good spirits (figuratively)
• lots of thoughts on how shameful it is that foreign policy is dictated by american political cycle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hitler lovin' facist, but this country could stand to do with less lawyers and politicans and more engineers.

More to come on all these topics when internet connectivity is available. I have a gazillion pictures in queue.

And I Won't Go, and I Won't Sleep, and I Can't Breathe Till You're Resting Here With Me

Why in the world am I quoting Dido? Roswell is the answer, its the theme song to the series that came out years back. With sketchy Internet access, I head down to have price books and pick up the six DVD series for 19.99, what a deal.

Series starts out great, packed full of great irony, 3 kids are aliens, 2 human kids know, an as the circle of speculation expands, the more 'roswellian' it gets, and boy golly its wonderful.

The aliens and humans start to date and 'make out' and all this, and there's the 'I saw stars when he kissed me' line, and is it really stars, or is it just the way it rolls when you like someone. Lots of this sorta thing.

It integrates old Indian culture well, the great land of enchantment known as New Mexico is there, and they even spill into Texas every now and then.

I love Roswell, even though there isn't anything to do there, except the alien festival in July a WILL attend before I die.

So family and friends, check out the story, the irony will captivate you until you can be captivated by the characters, all in all I'll give it an A-.

Slayer / Manson VWA

Steve, epic for the tickets. Ron and Alissa, great seeing yall!

Slayer is amazing.

Manson is a phony masquerading as a masochist but really a pure exhibitionist. I can just hear two stupid kids debating, one saying Manson 'makes sense' and the other saying he's crazy. They're both right, and sadly both wrong and more sad for society. Damn parents, where are you?

Here's my defense on doom metal, which has plenty religious undertones. Slayer portrays the violent side of religion, for better or for worse shining a spotlight on the darker side of humanity motivated by religious causes. Interesting enough, the first religion to be secular and fundamentalists, the Christians.

In a world of balance, if you believe in Christ, there must be the Antichrist. What if these 'two beings' are the same thing, energy in the form of ideas. Energy, and where you go with that energy is up to you. How does each and every human satisfy their lust for power, and do they work in God's name with him on their side?

Religion splinters off in so many factions of sub-factions of this and that, and people seldom take a step back and say, 'well gee, what DO I believe in, the easter bunny and santa' or something divine and beautiful? People like Slayer aren't there to disreguard your belief in the divine, but rather to re-inforce it.

Slayer knows what they believe in, its the dreaded 'spirituality but not religion' thing, with an emphasis on the 'dark side.' It's essential to shine a light on this, and the balance that angels and the devil are the same, makes the Slayer message relevant and intelligent. The capacity for both 'good and evil' are inside every one of us, might as well be exposed to both. Understanding makes the 'evil' not so evil.

Which leaves me up at night thinking, Is it easier to smile and be happy and accept all things have the capacity to be good, or is it easier the question all that is. Either way, if you devote brain cells to your quest, I can respect it.

At any rate, there is an amazing metaphysical study to be done on the roots of death metal.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and CRACK!

As mundane as I think baseball is to watch, I find myself at the ballpark more often than I'd like. I sat near some idiot savants who could rattle off mission stats and still blow the annoying air horn.

The San Antonio Missions, lead by their mascot 'Ballapeno' beat the team from Midland in a thriller. Here's their new jumbotron.

Here's the stadium, I used to see it all the time on 'KSAT 12' growing up, yippie, I'm there in real life now.

Don't let that fridge full of healthy food fool you down there, today was a great day full of frito pie and pizza and a miller and bud light or two.

Let's see how it rolls next season for the missions. There are 5 of them in San Antonio in case yall didn't know, and there's a bike ride that goes to all of them.

You're as Cold as ICE

I once lived with a gal named Queen Bee, one of the most strong willed females I know. Well, once I thought about it in my head, what would happen if I said to her, 'bring me a beer b*tch', and then shortly after that the thoughts to me pulling shards of glass out of my face. haha

Shopping day today = full fridge = 1- sixer of spaten, 2- sixer of carlsberg, 3 - sixer of stella, 4 - dodgy heb sushi, 5 - wheat bread, 6 - sandwich meat, 7 - lunchables, 8 - carbonated water (it helps me burp), 9 - Yogurt, 10 - juice, 11 - Fresh Fruit, and 12 would be the stick of toblerone I am currently munching on.

Let thy belly be gone.

SA, Esse

More pictures of San Antonio.

Maybe the scariest road I've ever travelled down. Alamo street under a convergence of roads.

Feels a bit international here, with the soccer. I like it.

An old Lone Star facility, I wish they'd all go out of business. I've learned to stick a lime in em' if i have to drink em. haha

Bienviendos Los Estados Unidos.

I've got a bumper sticker on my chest that says, No Regrets, No Regrets

The Internet to me has always been a strange and wondrous land. Lots of money has been made by just pure hype, and it is often hard to decipher what is over-inflated and what is the real deal.

One thing for certain, when companies like google start playing with money like its monopoly, arguing over private jets, and serving lobster for Monday lunch, it's a sign of a company I'd like to stay away from in terms of investments.

What's his name, I can't think of him offhand, talks of a coalition b/w Facebook, techmeme, and Mahalo to create a new platform of aggregation based on friends recommendations and the whole social networking thing, and how it stands to gain tremendous ground in there future, and I couldn't agree more, here are some of the reasons and thoughts.

As the Internet gets bigger so does the noise, and the filter (the search) isn't going to be able to keep up with this noise, or it will have a more difficult time being an objective search and a money maker at the same time, hence money wins.

It is a time when google has tons of 'labs' that have an empty bottom, money is getting thrown into them with not ROI, eventually this HAS to catch up.

You look at business models that can be copied, google brought the long tail to advertising, and that's what made them popular, but guess what, yahoo got it figured out, and they have a bigger base to work from.

I SCOFF at google for CHARGING for 6 gigs of Gmail when yahoo has free unlimited. Google invented the free large sum of space, what in the bejesus are they doing charging for it now? I'm disgruntled about this, it seems to be a weird move on their part, and they possibility of disillusioning their fan base is high.

In the end, if more people would contribute to content aggregators like facebook, that's where I would get my news from, instead we're still in the realm of pokes, pictures of you dancing on tables, and 'where I've been applications.'

There is a World Inside the World that you See, And It's OK to Count the Minutes 'Cause How Many Could There Be

There is a phrase in the computer geek world called 'the impedance mismatch.' Tight meaning means something like when you take 'relational databases' and 'object oriented business logic' and make them work and play together. It's a big time challenge to organize and integrate these two areas of programming, and in my days of programming, I've never seen it done efficiently, effectively yes, efficiently no. I always thought that if you understand the philosophy behind this mismatch, the rest is just details.

I looked up impedance mismatch and courtesy of wiki I got a loose definition. It is "choosing impedances that work well together" instead of "making two impedances complex conjugate."

This got me thinking about humans, and how they certainly don't manage the conflicting layers of life well. This leads to the 'state of the union' today, one in which based on your bias on what you are hearing on the news, what your buddies are talking about, or any other sound bytes you here. This trains you to hear what you want to hear, and do what you want to do, because the integration of ideas and personalities becomes too difficult.

Finally finished, 'A Brief History of Islam.' This is a classic example of an ideology that handles impedance mismatch extremely inefficiently.

What happens next is human beings are true to their thoughts, and they 'fight for what they believe', instead of fighting WHAT they believe. In the ever changing world, I find it essential to adapt with the changes, and re-evaluate your stance on all things that you believe.

Why do human beings box themselves in? And why do I feel like everything and everyone tries to 'box me in.?' Is it because it makes me easy to understand for their digestion? Why does this happen in politics, economics, family affairs, and the other big platforms of thought?

It makes me ask myself, what are the questions that stir in my mind, and what do I believe in? I believe in change, the concept 'if it's working, it's broke.'

There are so many things BROKEN in modern day society, because the world is changing rapidly, more rapidly than ever before, and people aren't changing with them. The 'dinosaurs' are trying to maintain power as the options for everyone in the developed world are growing.

The last thing I ever want to do is box myself in, and in having that attitude, I feel I've lived in a difficult mindset of impermanence, while having and discovering ultimate flex room. The impedance mismatch of life is what I want to devote my brains cell to as the future rolls on.

Every Shore They're Gonna Touch Is Gonna Turn to Solid Gold

My long time great friend Marty and his lovely wife Julie are set to have a baby, and tis' the time for baby showers.

Marty is person I grew up with, a person I was a wide receiver with in football, a guy I spent numerous evenings with in college watching Bevis and Butthead, and one of my old friends who takes a genuine interest in my life. O hell, what am I trying to say, he's the man.

Offspring still scare me b/c I couldn't handle them, but these guys, they're set!

Get on the same train and he wants to talk, But there is too much history, too much biography between us

Me and the Major, a song by Belle and Sebastian describes the status of my emotions these days, I'm living in a world where I don't fit in, but like what any survivor does, they survive (wow, did that last sentence sounds like GW Bush or what?)

Every night I come home while I live a tame life. I live a tame life because I want to pay for the life of excess I've had the last 10 years of my life. I want to come out of this scenario clean, with a fresh start, and it's my NUMBER ONE priority, ahead of anything else I can possible think of in life. And it feels good like that, It feels good for me to be on the path of responsible living.

What is the residue left behind one may ask? Well, every evening when I come home, part of my feels like the little puppy dog that took a wicked steamer in the corner of the room. I kinda know I've done something wrong, and parts of me have regrets. Yea, that 12 man toast at O'Neils in London was fun, that ticket to the Prado in Spain was worth it, that 900 dollar Martin guitar that I just salivate over all the time is cool, and many other things, great stuff, but the consequences of that is the game of 'where is he now?' Well the short answer, he's paying for it, monetarily, and in some cases emotionally and physically.

Tis a city where the life blood (no pun intended) is military, soldiers and spurs, at least that's the dominate presence as I roam around, talk to people, and make attempts to engage in the society and culture. I've never seen citizens of a city boastfully turn their back on downtown, proudly proclaiming, 'the burbs,' that's where it's at. I hear this at least once a day from different entities. Head down south, I'd say every third building is for lease. I don't understand it, and I hope my time here will help me to understanding what is playing out in my mind as a fascinating cultural dynamic.

I ate lunch with some rather interesting people this evening, conversations revolving around SA being the 'soul' of Texas, and unarguably the first city in Texas, and fascinating parallels to Guadalajara and Monterrey.

I'm also able to vaguely read between the lines of what happens to a city, or inner city when 'the money' turns it back on it. Something certainly creeps in to fill that void. This dynamic, at least the way I see it is extremely intriguing.

Loads on my mind right now, I have no earthly idea how to catalogue. I have loads of pictures in the queue, and I'm excited to bring my bike up next week to venture farther into the urban wilderness. (dont be afraid family, when I see gangs hangin' by cars, I know it's my cue to turn around, don't drown (in my own blood that is)).

Summer and Winter, Winter and Springtime, You Heard the Birds Sing, Everything will be Fine

Lots of crazy antics today, and even more pictures.

JR, Today the birthday boy, 47 candles on that cake, looks like it's gonna set the house in flames, boy we had to light those suckas quick!

Here's all the hoodlums that showed up, great times, check out that expression on Gavin's face. Only one not pictured is JOSH, you the bomb dude, thanks for takin' the picture!

Corey and I always roughin' each other up, pretty soon he's gonna be able to take me, I just know it. I'm intimiated already.

JR and I, we sure do like throwing around that Frisbee thing! JR was 'the man in black' today.

Gman and his crazy elephant ears, boy those things are lookin' good. So much rain, plants everywhere are happy :)

Me and Ashton throwing up our antlers, always good fun picking on Ashton. Let the walrus jokes roll on all day.

Here's a very reluctant mummy as Ashton and I try to teach her the 's3x, drugs and rock and roll' sign. Just check that look on her face, she's thinking, are you crazy?

After some persuasion, she worked it out like a champ!

Here's the brothas, with mutha, all from the same mutha too.

The hero of the day was Derwin for bringing his pressure washer to give a spray to my tired front walkway. Lots of pecan sap lining the sidewalks. This brings a new place for the phrase 'wash me.' It was actually hard to do this b/c when I'd 'open her up' , the machine that is, it would burst me back a bit.

In the middle of the process, insane I tell you, we could have used this as an example on a commercial.

Finally, here's Ronnie and his Okra, he said to put on the blog that this stuff gross better with some kinda moss fertilizer, but I forgot the actual name.

Love ya Jr, hope you had a great time, I hope you enjoy watching first season episodes of Lost In Space, and hope you had as great of a time as I did today.

Pool Nights at Shimek Residence Shiner Texas

Always epic nights at the Shimek residence, Casey, Mr Marty Shimkek, and Dustin.

EXIT LIGHT, ENTER NIGHT *with a cheese head bang*

The more I push San Antonio, the more it pulls away. I had a great morning I intend to blog about soon, I met some local color, and was humbled in a lot of ways.

However, entertainment value thus far has been covers of Metallicock, Seven Mary Three, STP, Three Doors Down and other alt-rock fossils.

The Margarita Pour, a staple SA event, held at Sunken Gardens, in itself, it used to be a good live music venue. At one point I saw Bush there back in the day, and also a killer Eve 6 / Third Eye Blind gig.

I like the road in the back of the venue, kinda interesting layout.

A toast to Jose -- 20 to get in, and all you get was 10 sippy cups of margaritas and you have to BUY the rest? What the hell is this all about?

There's me and my ten sippy cups of margaritas, with my pathetic KISS swag, god I'm a hater.

Not quite like hipsters who crowd the stage at 'real' bands, and not cover bands. The only hardcore dude up front appeared to have too much acid.

Highlights of the afternoon were Mohon's antics. Here a picture of him grabbing a master cylinder of Butt-Wiper off the ground and pretending to take a big swaller.

Mahon loved the show, just look at that facial expression. Boy we are dorks!.

Laura P was doggin' on shaggy Mike P. We see the $5 dollar haircuts, and it was on! Inside, all Spanish, kinda cool, kinda trippy -- I was reading a some sort of trash magazine in Spanish. Good times.

Finally, with it being about 100 outside, its at least 10 degrees hotter inside the porto, hence, I long pee produced tons of sweat, not the best way to look coming out of the pot. Kinda reminds me of when Bevis and Butthead were drinking those big gulps at that rock concert and Bevis knocks it over with Butthead in it, if Mahon would have done that to me, that would have been a text book ending a signature margarita (festival) gone sour.

All in all, wherever you go there you are, and with the P's there, I had a great time nonetheless.

Backbeat the Word was on the Street That the Fire in Your Heart was Out

Stevie Ray in the backdrop didn't come to visit, but Mike and Laura P did, and I'm just as happy to see them. I can't tell you how excited I was to see them roll up into my roach infested apartment.

Cover band shitty, that's what it's all about. On the night we heard to E. John and Oasis covers, and we also got some San Antonio street credit for downing the Johnny Walker Red. Been there, done that, will be a while before I go back, and I'm not getting the T-shirt.

Mike and Laura P, thanks a bunch for coming up. :)

I'm a Travellin' Man, Make a Lot of Stops, All Over the World

70% of America has lost it's aesthetic value. In riding through the states, its as if you're still at home. Best Buy, Circuit City, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Cracker Barrel, Chili's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Target, Holiday Inn, Best Western, and the list goes on and on -- these places have a dominant presence in American society. It has it's ups and downs, just like this book 'Good Capital Bad Capitalism' on my Amazon wish-list.

These are the medium to large places, these places consume the roadways and hearts and minds of the average traveller. Why? Because of ease of accessibility, and the lack of spontaneous behavior in the hearts and minds of people on the road. Few people these days want to just roll up into a place and say, look at that hotel, it looks cool and it costs a bit more, lets stay there. Instead it's expedia and predictability. I'm not knocking it, I do it all the time, but sometimes I wish I didn't have that option.

Europe, old stuff everywhere, and with old stuff comes old ways, at least for now. That's what I kinda like about that side of the pond, you're forced to improvise (except with the expedia factor again.) However, left to your own devices and no Internet, its fun, exciting and spontaneous.

With the advent of the big box / big commercial institutions, it's interesting to see what will balance that out and what conventional culture will become. What is the long tail of culture going to bring us, and how long do we have to wait for it?

There are Places I Remember...

Sitting here with a Carlsberg in hand, I remember as if it was yesterday downtown Liverpool, where the beer is popular.

I remember the barmaid pouring a glass from the tap, I remember the beer, looking at the tiny bubbles, the taste of it being ice cold. I remember going to the disco that had 80's night, drinking two for the price of one, I recall the atmosphere, the greasy fish and chips, and all in all, the wonderful vibe of the harbor city.

This is what my steadily and significantly declining balance of 12,000 dollars on my Visa card has bought me. Memories, VIVID memories of me being in places and circumstances that are surreal to a Shiner boy.

Enter world flatten-er #11, people who like to travel AND don't find excuses not to. Kudos to you people!

When You Hear Twin Fiddles and a Steel Guitar, You're Listening to the Sound of the American Heart

Mr George im-a-sucky-actor-and-I-don't-write-my-own-songs-and-I-just-hold-that-guitar Strait (but I still like him) lives somewhere in San Antonio, I think in a posh part of town called 'The Dominion.'

Biggest differences thus far STX from ATX:

1 -- While walking around here in SA, it feels like DEFCON 1, no a soul in site, even in the smaller parks, its very quiet. It's a lot different, Austin has 25,000 hipsters per square mile. I kinda like it here, not nearly the amount of social pressure.
2 -- The 3 places I've had breakfast tacos from aren't nearly as good as ATX surprisingly, but I'm sure I'm going to hit the jackpot sooner or later here. However, you can get them on the cheap with a Capital C.

On with the show, here's a park one block away from my crib, heading west on New Braunfels Street east. I like the 'wildflowers at work.'

I can't wait to try the salsa and chips, guac, enchilada and taco sweetness of some of these places on Broadway, heading east towards downtown.

Architecture, reminds me of Tijuana, I'm really actually diggin' it.

Mad scientist houses all over the place. I appreciate the aesthetics of old verses new in housing. I'd love to have that upstairs apartment with all those winders.

Everything is cheap here, maybe I'll get a wax, like the 40 year old virgin.

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They Say the Neon Lights are Bright on Broadway, They Say There's Magic in the Air On Broadway

That's right, on Broadway, San Antonio, this is right down the road, a hop, skip and a jump. My nightly jog walk jog walk. I jog when someone else is going to come by so I can look all cool and fit, and walk a bit later when I'm about to die.

The Witte museum, don't know anything about it, but i plan on finding out what's up up in there.

Incarnate Word college, I know my child prodigy friend who is working in the senate building went here at an early age, don't know what it's about, but I'll find out more. Perhaps I will eventually take some masters classes here.

Right behind here is ATT, SBC, whateva big a$$ building.

Wanna talk about local pubs? Well here's my new one, The VFW converted into a pub. Interesting local color as I poked my head in the door.

Finally, yea, the troops, I feel for them, I wish them a safe return. Let's look at the services. I agree, we need to carry the big stick, but we also have to know how to use it. Like my old buddy Colby used to say, 'its not the size of the wand, but the magic in it.'

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