coming out of my shell

i haven't been blogging lately and i'm sure my reader(s) realize it's due to the new baby.

i'd blog about the great things i've discovered about fatherhood and how wonderful it is to see new life that is half you and half your spouse... but i've been away too long to blog something serious.

so in true form and to share something that brings it back to the title of this entry, here you go.

in all it's glory - turtles with a half chub... turtle power!



and there's more...

chrome

i think i'm in love with the newish google chrome web browser. it's really just a new twist on what already existed, but the top search/url bar is nice and i love the tab use where it shows your most visited sites as thumbnails.

i will admit, i am a bit biased since i have long been professing my love for google and its many products... many of which i use, such as gmail, picasa, documents, and this blog.

i recommend people at least try it out for themselves and see how it looks.

on a side note... i recently went rock surfing/fell on my butt off some loose rocks near mt.

bachelor. the result was a deep gash in my knee that allowed me to see more of my actual kneecap than i ever wanted to and a sunset photo.

was it worth the tumble?

... curiousity may have killed the cat... but all i got was a bloody knee and a bruised ego.

the eug

after a stint of not visiting eugene... i am back for a weekend wedding for my cousin. in my return i noticed some things i'd forgotten. things i glossed over in my rosy memory of eugene but now remember. like when you break up with someone for very good reasons but a week later you miss them and only think of the good times.

it's like that with moving to salem. there are much fewer places to hang out... almost zero nightlife... a 10th of the running/biking trails... and hardly any local restaurants that aren't just fast food chains - so of course i miss eugene and want to come running back into its open arms of live concerts... unique cuisine... great night clubs... and outdoor escapes.

but the illusion has begun to wear off.

this trip... i was reminding of the absolutely terrible radio stations (nickleback... really?)... the counter culture that's so prevelant that it's really just culture... the ongoing competition for most hip hipster... and the ever-present passionate person with the clipboard for me to sign on.

this is by no means to say i don't still love the eug... because i always will. i just finally see more clearly some of its flaws and that salem isn't so bad either - they are afterall just places and it should be the people i surround myself that make where i live home.

planes are dumb

i recently headed to virginia for a military class and noticed some dumb things about plane trips. i've noticed them before... but this latest trip brought them more to the forefront.

1-why do most airlines load from the front to the rear? then when you're in aisle 400 you have to squeeze past everyone who's still loading their 80 pound "carry on" into the overhead compartment. Loading from the rear to the front would work much more efficiently and would maybe help more flights make their takeoff times. i think for fairness, in the case of an accident we should exit in the same order. sorry first class... us nose-bleeds get to exit first.

2-will using a cellphone during takeoff or flight actually do anything harmful to the plane or ground control? according to the FCC and FAA, there isn't any sufficient evidence showing the use WON'T effect ground communication or the plane's instruments so it has kept the ban. i'd try it out you know turn my phone on and order a pizza or something just to see, but who really wants to challenge that. it's not like pop rocks and soda where you're the only one to lose, but in a plane... if that actually effects it... everyone potentially loses.

new found beats

i'd heard of rjd2 before... but never really heard rjd2.  andrea and i have been watching the show 'mad men' off amc and the title theme is by rjd2 and it pretty much makes the show.  here's some clips of his music and some cool videos.

enjoy...

top 10

i heard about some facebook thing where you list the top ten music albums that shaped your life/listening choices. i thought it sounded pretty cool, but since i don't like posting notes on facebook, i'm writing them here. something to keep in mind is that i didn't buy a cd until i was about 17, so there isn't a whole lot representing my earlier years.

enjoy and feel free to make fun of me or agree that some of these would maybe be on your list too.

in autobiographical order-of course:

1-wayne's world soundtrack
first cd i ever owned. it began my taste of "modern" music. plus it gave me a taste of several generations of music from jimi hendrix to cinderella... great stuff for a sampler.

2-collective soul (blue album)
first cd i bought and listened to over and over again. i made a tape of it since my car didn't have a cd player. this influence was direct from erick banks. i ended up buying almost every album by this band. the world i know is one of the best music videos ever.

3-nirvana (nevermind)

i'd heard nirvana before but hadn't known what to think at first listen. after a second listen or two i was sold and this began my grunge/alternative music phase, of which i still am a part of.

4-everclear (sparkle and fade)

this is another cd that rocked my world. while most of the guitar licks are very similar or basically the same but in a different key, i still to this day love this album. every time i listen to santa monica i think of cruising around in my 1980 subaru hatchback. and when i listen to you make me feel like a whore, i chuckle at the thought of the video we were going to make senior year highlighting various girls in our school.

5-weezer (blue album)

great album even though i discovered it only once pinkerton came out. i was pretty much behind the power curve here, but this album and the buddy holly music video are both fantastic not to mention it's one of those albums you can listen to front to back loving it the whole time.

6-soundgarden (superunkown)

while i discovered this later, it is still one of my favorite albums of all time. i started listening to this and down on the upside my senior year. a bunch of us went to the concert at the salem armory in 1996 or so with the announcement coming that next spring (1997) that they were disbanding. it was a sad day.

7-led zeppelin (physical graffiti)

kashmir began my love affair with this english band, which has since become my favorite band of all time. i have yet to find a zeppelin song i don't like... short of the overplayed stairway to heaven... still good just overplayed. every album is like an orchestrated score that i just love.

8-radiohead (the bends)

i got to know of radiohead first through their song creep off pablo honey, but the bends was the first album i got to know how much staying power radiohead would have and how much i would grow to love them. minus thom yorke's weirdness and how he looks like clay aiken's 'special' brother, radiohead is pure genius. while the bends at first seemed like a downer cd i still love popping in this cd rain or shine.

9-wilco (yankee hotel foxtrot)

this was the album that go me listening to what's referred to as indie music. it lead to so many other band discoveries that have since shaped my musical taste. great album.

10-derby (this is the new you)

they're local and even though i'm biased because i went to high school with some of the band members, this cd is my latest love and i have to say it's the album andrea and i listened to quite a bit while we dated and eventually fell in love to. pretty much a lot of bias going on here but who cares it's my list.

runner ups or cds i thought about putting up there but decided against it for one reason or another (not in any particular order):

no doubt (tragic kingdom)

foo fighters (the color and the shape)

beck (odelay)

dandy warhols (13 tales from urban bohemia)

snow patrol (final straw)

the cars (the cars greatest hits)

aerosmith (greatest hits)

stone temple pilots (purple)

pearl jam (ten)

beatles (sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band)

death cab for cutie (plans)

cake (fashion nugget)

Easter

here it is another Easter and i find myself thinking about all the other Easters that have come and gone. as i think about them, i have to categorize my top 3.

autobiographical of course...

1-my 21st birthday fell on Easter sunday in 2000.
while i wasn't a Christian at the time... i still didn't feel it was a good idea to get blasted on Easter sunday. plus, where do you go on a sunday in salem after 6pm for something like that. come to think of it, make that any night of the week. i should also mention i shipped off to army basic training the next day.

2-spain with paul in good old 2006.
we had communion on the roof top of our villa/hostel within eyesight of morocco in the small town of tarifa. after reading from the book of John and doing our Easter "service" abroad, we finished our bottle of communion wine and went to the market for two more bottle of communion wine. we then walked/stumbled about the small town discussing where we wanted to be and do with our lives only to collapse in our room before 9pm when the locals began their celebration. we felt good, but also felt like losers since we passed out way before the real party began.

3-coming home from iraq for leave in 2008.
andrea, scott, my parents, and my in-laws took a weekend of my r&r to go to bend/sunriver and hang. after a year in the sand-box it was great to spend Easter with family and hit the reset button on life. we spent Easter in a church that met at a local high school.

this Easter was great as well. it's still far too soon to know if it will make a larger top 5 list one day, but great nonetheless. church was fantastic, especially since my dad came with us. and the night was topped off with a much needed guy-time with mr. banks as we shared a bottle of wine and a long awaited cigar. i even tried to not slobber too much on the cigar. thanks banks for a great night.

happy Easter ya'll!