Monday, October 31, 2011

The Bills are 5-2, here's some of the soundtrack

Since I'm not a Halloween person, here's the first of the month What I've Been Listening to project, a day early.



This may be my favorite Venezuelan metal band. Ok, screw the maybe, it is! Thanks once again to the Music Alliance Pact for this rocker!



These guys have been doing some touring, previewing some new material for their upcoming February release. I'll never see them for $12 again.



She's released her follow up to Lungs and I'm a bit on the fence. There are a couple of strong cuts on it, but too much of it sounds the same.



White Curtis Mayfield is back. I like this kid. The video for this song has a lot of bad marksmanship. Seriously. A lot of bullets do not find their target.



I think this is the best album of the year.



Will 2011 be the breakout year the Explorer's Club deserve? They have some free music previewing their efforts at Amazon that is worth checking out.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

No Blue Jackets Rant

Working with ceiling tile in the kitchen today was a bad idea. Not as bad as the attempt I had with the toilet earlier this year though. There is a bad bracket that I cannot seem to fix right and cutting a piece of tile to fit in a spot was a small disaster.

Later, instead of raking, I tried mowing down the leaves. It started raining about a third of the way through. At least the load of laundry I did went well.



We went to dinner at one of the newer pizza places in town. It was ok. Not as great as some of the reviews. A bit over priced and not enough mozzarella in the pie. I like the cheese spread around, not in a quarter sized splotches on each slice.

In better news, the fan on the laptop has been replaced properly. Seems the old fan blades fell apart and while the new fan was being installed some of the pieces hid. After the laptop was reassembled the pieces moved and jammed up the new fan. Regardless, it's back now and in good working condition. The repair only took five days, should have been two and was still returned faster than the two weeks I was told by another local repair shop.

Friday, October 28, 2011

The night stars are shining in my eyes



I had no idea this was a potential Eurovision entry from 1982. It was a part of the contest for the UK and came in sixth. This is a day maker. I'm being flooded by eighties memories now.

Oh man, the orbital be-bop!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I oppressed that muffin

The Writers' Block Halloween show last night was another evening of mayhem and poetry. The was a nun, Rapunzel, Princess Leia, Nacho Libre (and steel chairs) a mad hot pirate and so much more.

The highlight for me was a pimp and a mime doing a duet to Shel Silverstein's 'Boa Constrictor'

A guy dressed like Garth from Wayne's World won the scream contest, but he was not in costume. The mime came in second.

There was the usual coy racism. Jake and my wife sparkled as hecklers. Somewhere in there was an inappropriate joke about Roger Ebert.

Maybe I will wear a costume next year.

Got the laptop back from the shop. When I brought it home I tested it. Same damn problem. Not pleased. Called the shop and questioned what kind of testing they did with the new fan. Even asked if they actually replaced it. We shall see if they make good on their work.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Back in the shop

The laptop fan quit over the weekend. One local repair shop told me the fix would take two weeks, another said five days.

Two weeks? Really?

So I'm typing this out on the iPad, which is not as troublesome as I'd have thought. The keyboard is a decent size. The font is tiny though. Maybe by the end of the week, or early next, this first world problem will be solved.

The IDPF finally arrived in email yesterday. It is the death file of my great uncle, who was killed in WW2. It is a 35mb PDF file and I have not had much time to look at it. Need to transfer it from work on a flash drive or disc as it is too big to email. Plus. No laptop. At first glance there is nothing.too revealing other than my grandfather and his sister had a tough time getting his personal effects back. Seems the army sent them to an old address of his and they were returned, then lost. Looks like it took a couple of years to resolve that situation. I see a few letters from my grandfather asking for assistance. He was more polite than I would have been.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pop-up political art

Vinchen is a street artist based in Columbus who really needs to work on his/her website. Over the weekend what is said to be the first exhibit of Vinchen's work was shown at a local gallery. The exhibit's location was announced just a few days in advance of the event and was only shown for a night and a day. I was able to head over to the gallery and get a look at the art.









Vinchen's work is obviously inspired by Banksy. I was kind of hoping one of those rocks would be handed out as party favors. Sometimes I think I know who Vichen is. Most of the time I'm wrong about guesses though. Kudos to the Invisible Gallery for putting together a very cool show.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Is that Peter Forsberg banging a stick?

This marks another in the series of occasional posts about Eurovision, which I know little about, but it seems to be great fun.

This one's from the year 2000. I have no idea who Roger Pontare is other than he is Swedish. Wikipedia does not have much on him either. Is that for the best?



Fabulous costumes. Splendid.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Medical terms and no pictures - for your protection

The 1990's were wasted in a series of bad job decisions, with bosses who were crazy, suicidal or dead. While the marriage failed, the wine was excellent. Alcohol was better than the music the decade provided.

Writing and reading has been slow going. Distractions come easy, and there is work being done.

Been trying to tone down the onychophagia again. Tried it five years ago and it lasted for many months. Since then, it's been hard. The compulsion is there, too easy when absorbed in a book.

Since returning from Scotland, I've been dealing with a raging case of tinea pedis. Painful, hard to stand up, functioning was difficult. All the walking in Glasgow, combined with the sweat and dampness formed some angry beasties down there. Nasty looking, then the toes swelled. Thought it was chilblains, the digits on my feet looked like Vienna sausages. That plumpness has thankfully gone down.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

The big story in Central Ohio today is happening about an hour east. Seems a guy keeping a lot of wild animals on his property was shot to death yesterday. Many of his animals, which included lions, tigers, bears, cheetahs and wolves, were set loose and have been roaming the area. About 25 of the suspected 48 animals released have been killed. Schools have been closed, twitter accounts have been activated. Just hope this has a safe conclusion. I'm still wondering if the guy shot himself after he opened the cages, or was shot by someone who opened the cages. A sick mind has caused some major chaos in the Zanesville area.



When I took my son to the doctor's yesterday, I found one of those phones in the cushion of the chair I was sitting in. Did not turn it on. Did not make a call or look at any of the pictures. Simply turned it in at the reception desk. Hope phone and owner get reunited.



Toilet training my son is a trying experience. Had him on the toilet, iPad within reach and in sight. Told him all he had to do was pee or poop, something, and he'd get the iPad. Did he?

No.

Stubborn.

There is much work to be done.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Not even Sophia can help this team

After five games the Blue Jackets finally broke an 0 for 20 streak and scored a power play goal. It was not enough as they lost 2-4 to the Dallas Stars. The team is off to an 0-4-1 start to the new season, the worst start in franchise history.

In fact, if you go back to last season and include this year's start, the team is on a 3-16-8 run, with only one win in regulation.

Why even question what is going on anymore?

Despite the additions of new defensemen, a trade for a number one center, and a new goaltending coach, the results have been the same. Loss. Defeat. With little hope in sight.

I can't put the woes on Steve Mason alone. He has not been the sole reason for the team sucking. Being 1 for 21 on the power play this season, not managing to score more than two goals in a game, getting only one shot on goal in the third period in one of the games - these all add up to a completely inept offense. No goalie can compensate for this ineptitude. Is Mason playing well? No, but he has four lines of offense and three pairings of absent defensemen who are contributing to some serious futility.

Nationwide Arena was at less than half capacity for the last home game. I cannot expect it to get any better. Why should it? Who in their right minds will pay to see this team deliver another defeat?

I'm at a total loss for answers. Do you fire coach Arniel this early in the year? And who do you bring in to replace him? Ken Hitchcock? Please, no. Who do the Blue Jackets have to trade? Anyone?

Is there a lack of leadership in the locker room and on the ice? I see nothing wrong with taking the captaincy from Rick Nash and giving it to Umberger. As a friend said last night, it's been the one constant in the last few seasons of loss - other than team president Mike Priest.

Just when you think the franchise has hit its lowest point, it finds a way to dig deeper. It's a very sad culture around this team, and I no longer have a clue, as a fan, what to do to stop the bleeding.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Farewell to a trusted tool

When my parents were here a couple of weeks back we ordered some pizza and I opened a bottle of wine with the Screwpull I've had for about twenty years.



It had opened thousands of bottles in its life. The bottle of shiraz it opened would be its last as one of the prongs cracked. The Screwpull was a wine opener I recommended when I worked in wine retail. It was easy to use and super reliable. The Teflon coated worm always got inside the cork and pulled it out with little chance of the cork breaking. With a reverse twist, the cork came off. Simple.

I received another Screwpull type corkscrew as a gift several years ago that I used as backup. It's my main corkscrew now. Somehow I do not think this one will last as long.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Starts tonight

The Individual World Poetry slam is in Cleveland this week. I won't be going, but wish all the poets luck. Two Columbus poets will be in the mix, Vernell Bristow and Ellie White. Show them what Columbus poetry is about ladies!



in other news, I've been sick. Another case of strep throat. Ugh.

Until next time.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Airports take you around the world

Five years ago today New York Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his plane into a New York City apartment building. There were tornado warnings in Columbus. The woman I just met at the airport for the first time and I watched this from a restaurant that burned down two months later. Early the next morning, our neighbor died.

Thus began the craziest year and a half of my life, and hers. Nothing was supposed to happen. but it did.

She called me a dick the other night. Her accent makes it sound so sexy.



When we first met, the Blue Jackets sucked. Some things never change.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

I feel for you, you little horror

Last night was the fourth time I had seen Richard Thompson live, the first time without a band. Without the additional musicians you know the show is going to be different but Thompson is his own band out there. He often sounds as if there are two or three guitarists on stage.

Looking at the setlist shows the depth of his catalog. I knew about half of these songs. He did Persuasion, which is one of my favorites that I'd never seen him do before. Also The End of the Rainbow, one of the most intense and bleakest songs ever put to tape. There were some extremely dark songs in the set, which is part of the Thompson package.

Of course he did that motorcycle song. This picture is a 1949 Vincent Black Lightning, from the old Glasgow Museum of Transport



A great concert, and a more than solid performance. As always, he handles the crowd like the pro that he is. Had great seats high up in first row of the third balcony. Here's a snippet of one song.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Slept through Celtic failure

What's exciting? Well, we bought a new dryer that gets delivered tomorrow. The motor died on on it last week. Thought about repairing it, but remembered the toilet tragedy. It's at least eight years old, and hiring a repairman would be cost close enough to buying a new one. So that's what we decided.

We headed up to the Bills Backers bar in Dublin to watch the Bills lose on a late field goal yesterday. Part one of Ken Burns' Prohibition started last night and runs through Tuesday.

But the dryer.



Fluffy towels again!