Wednesday, November 30, 2005

jolly good show

Monday, Gretchen and I attended the Ween show in Lawrence, Kansas.

And it was epic. I don’t just throw that word around either. It was their first show of the winter tour, so they must have had a lot of energy to play.

Three hours and forty minutes. 44 songs total. Ten song encore. It was worth missing a couple hours of sleep. A massive show. My favorite band played for almost four hours. It was great.

Unfortunately, I didn’t end up going to the Omaha show last night. I didn’t feel like making the drive three hours each way, and I couldn’t nail anyone down to use the second ticket (Gretchen said she would, but I couldn’t drag her to another three hour show along with a six hour drive. She was dragging ass Tuesday, because she was a trooper Monday). After deciding not to go, I tried to at least get rid of the tickets. Online, I got a message from a guy who said his friends might drive from Omaha and get the tickets, but I think I responded too late, because they never gave me a call. No worries.



In other news, I played some roller hockey with Ron and his NorCo (North County) friends last Friday when I was back in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. I was worried about my skills, since it had been at least four or five years since I had played last.

Honestly, I did alright. I wasn’t used to roller blades without a heel brake either, but it wasn’t as hard as I had feared. I broke a thorough sweat, which I usually do, and Ron and I held our own in the informal two-on-two tournament. It’s rekindled my interest in rollerblading and roller hockey now too. Gretchen and I are going to get new pairs of rollerblades (for Christmas perhaps?…wink wink) and start exercising that way. And, I might look into roller hockey leagues in the area, since I consider myself, and I’m usually pretty modest, an average roller hockey player. We’ll see what happens.

Also, in my current fervor about roller hockey, I have been surfing around looking at websites on the topic. One of the most intriguing I’ve come across is the NCRHA website. That stands for National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association. Though it’s only a club sport, there is a large amount of participation. There has to be a couple hundred teams involved. I was surprised at its popularity. I also enjoyed the informal nature of some of the teams. Like K-State’s, for example, who are currently 0-8 on the season: “Practices will be held from 7-9 Pm on all Mondays (except Holidays) at the Junction City Roller Rink. The travel team will be chosen from those who attend these practices. The practices are open to all students at K-State.” So, you or I easily could have made the team and played on any given week. Perhaps. Maybe I’m underestimating the talent our team possesses. Anyway, check it out. www.ncrha.org. Not to be confused with www.ncrha.com, unless you want to learn about riding horses or their upcoming silent auction.


One of the guys we played with last Friday supposedly played for the Mizzou club team. If anyone's wondering, I scorched him.

Have a good rest of the month.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Thanksgiving entendres

Two days from Thanksgiving. Love it. Especially since I eat a lot, though I'm getting fat now and that means I'll have to start watching how much I eat. I'll start the day after Thanksgiving, of course. Man, do I love stuffing.

The funny thing is how much Thanksgiving can change from year to year. I'm sure some of us have had the same Thanksgiving at the same place with the same people every year. And it's great. It was like that for me and my family for a while. The past few years, though, it's been different. My grandma passed in 2001, and that made for a different crowd. For several years, it had been, me, mom, dad, brother, aunt, uncle, grandma, and at some point my brother and sister-in-law with kids (they have a busy schedule on holidays and arrive when they can). The next year, my aunt and uncle separated and eventually divorced. So, the uncle was gone. Then, in 2004, my dad died. That was what threw us for the biggest loop.

That's the double-edged sword that is the holidays. You get together with the people you love and it's a good time. But you can't help but remember the people that aren't there this time around. And you reminisce and you all still have fun, but it's a little sad deep down. This year, I know several people who will be having "different" Thanksgivings because a close family member has died, or a recent breakup has occurred. But, and I usually don't like to get too "mushy" as I call it, that's what is good about holidays. They help you realize that you're lucky to be with the people that you're with, and you can be reminded of what really matters in the end. Those first holidays where someone isn't where they usually are can be hard to handle sometimes, but I think they make everyone stronger in the end.

To even out this post, I shall transcipt a e-mail forward I received this morning, which I find to be hilarious. I rarely forward things, unless I find them truly funny. This is to get everyone through the short workweek to turkey time. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Things you can only say on Thanksgiving:
1. Talk about a huge breast.
2. Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.
3. It's Cool Whip time.
4. If I don't undo my pants, I'll burst.
5. That's one terrific spread.
6. I'm in the mood for a little dark meat.
7. Are you ready for seconds yet?
8. It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it?
9. Just wait your turn, you'll get some.
10. Don't play with your meat.
11. Just spread the legs open and stuff it in.
12. Do you think you'll be able to handle these people all at once?
13. I didn't expect everyone to come at once.
14. You still have a little bit on your chin.
15. How long will it take after you stick it in?
16. You'll know it's ready when it pops up.
17. Wow, I didn't think I could handle all of that.
18. That's the biggest one I've ever seen.

Friday, November 11, 2005

M.A.D.D.

Drunk driving is one of the most talked-about automobile-related crimes in the United States. Listening to a radio show earlier this week helped me to realize how there are two radically different ends to the opinion spectrum. They all make interesting points, and I’m not here to express my personal opinion.

MADD stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. They are a non-profit group design to spread awareness of this activity that results in thousands of deaths each year. Some say, though, they have overstepped their bounds in recent years. They’ve turned their attention to promoting the abolition of all underage drinking. Again, I’m not say underage drinking is acceptable or not, but it seems to be a lack of focus on their original goals and efforts. This is coming from their staunch critics, of course. These critics also present cases of how MADD uses skewed and extrapolated statistics (but then again, who doesn’t when they’re trying to promote a cause or make a persuasive argument one way or the other?). For example, it has been reported that when they produce numbers for “alcohol-related accidents,” this can include an incident where a driver runs up onto a curb and strikes someone sipping on a beer.

I’m not saying this is fact or not. My main criticism toward MADD do not deal with the use of supposedly falsified statistics, but that they are promoting other agendas under the guise of being Mothers (which I think adds an element to the whole organization, mommies dedicating their time to the cause) simply being Against Drunk Driving.

Another interesting and not wholly disputed aspect of the whole drunk driving debate deals with police and their “crackdown” on drunk driving in the past ten or twenty years. This is a noble cause to be sure. Drivers are stupid enough as it is; we need to get more of these sots off the streets, I agree. But, it’s a fine line, no matter what MADD or SADD or RADD (I would say GLAAD, but I don’t think their main ideologies deal with drunk driving) say, between spending all night at the bar versus having a beer or two. This is of course where BAC, blood alcohol content, comes in. The flaw of BAC, unfortunately, is that it doesn’t necessarily correspond to the “drunkenness” of the individual. Number of drinks isn’t the most effective indicator either. People, in general, are physiologically different to an infinite degree. So, this generalized test is the best we can do at this point.

What I’m getting at is that as the battle wages on to stop drunk driving, revenue is an integral part of the equation. (I almost sound liberal here, ugh.) A DUI or DWI usually ends up costing the offender ten times more than another type of ticket, say speeding or running a red light, for example. That means the money is flowing as we get all these drunkards off the street. That presents a unique question. What are the end goals of someone proposing a lower legal BAC limit to be passed and become a law? (Right now, it’s .08 in the USA. Some politicians, MADD, and other groups want it lowered to .06 and downward.)

Is it so that we can save even more lives each year? Yes, there will be more arrests, which will inevitably have helped to avoid more accidents and deaths. Is it so the governments will create even more revenue by taking advantage of the lower BAC limit? Quite possibly. But is it at the cost of the guy who had two beers visiting with his friend he hadn’t seen for ten years, then heading home at 9:30 to go to bed? Maybe.

It’s just interesting to get a broader perspective on the whole situation. Yes, drunk driving is stupid and ridiculous, and I do not condone it. But, it would be enlightening to know how much the crackdown has to do with saving lives and how much it has to do with increasing revenues. The hard part is trying to get unbiased information on the issue itself.

Check out www.madd.org and www.getmadd.com for differing viewpoints on the issue.

Clutch

Wednesday was what some would call a hardcore day. I attended a concert in St. Louis that evening. Clutch was the band. If you haven’t heard of them, I’d describe them as a hard rock band with blues and funk influences. I enjoy their music and had heard their live show was a sight to be seen.

Of course, working and living in Kansas City made this a time-consuming proposition. (Gretchen suggested I go to their Lawrence show instead, but I don’t really know anyone who would like to attend this show with me here in KC. Not that I don’t have friends though. I just don't know anyone here in town who enjoys this particular genre of music. I have TONS of friends. Really. I’m not a loser….[quiet sobbing]….) In all actuality, I went with three friends who are living in St. Louis and I couldn’t go with them the last three or four times Clutch had swung through this part of the country.

Obviously, since I had work to attend on Wednesday and then Thursday, it proved to be an intense twelve hours or so. I departed KC at 2:30 and, with the drive being approximately four hours (for me anyway, sorry I’m not a maniacal speeder. When I hear things from people like, “FOUR hours? It’s that far? Grandma,” it makes me want to see these people make the drive. They think they’re hardasses, and they aren’t), I arrived at 6:30.

The show was at 7, but Clutch hadn’t arrived yet. Eventually, the show began at 8:30 with an opening act. Finally, Clutch is on stage at 9:30. And they rock hard, of course. The exciting thing about the show was that it was a two-set show, so they played one, for about an hour, took a break, and then came back and played for an hour and 15 minutes. They were an excellent live band indeed. Neil Fallon, the studly vocalist, was very animated in his delivery. The mosh pits were intense, and though I occasionally indulge in a pit for a song or two, I passed at this concert. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I saw this huge guy walk out of crowd with blood literally pouring from his mouth.

The show ended around midnight. I was ready to crawl into bed, except that I had a four hour drive ahead of me. Off I went at 12:20 AM, across the great state of Missouri. I stop at Jack in the Box for a late-late dinner, filled up my tank at QuikTrip, and forged onward. Thankfully, my friends Rooster Booster and Donkey Kick kept me going. (Take that, Red Bull.) I pulled into the garage at 4:20 AM, precisely four hours later. Nothing like two hours of sleep before work the next day, but who hasn’t been there before, right? Although, I can’t choose to skip work if I want to, unlike in previous instances. In the end, though, it was eight hours of driving and two hours of sleeping well worth it.

Friday, November 04, 2005

glimpse ahead...and behind

What’s happened the past week, and what is to come this weekend, you ask? (Well, maybe you didn’t, but you’re here reading anyway, so carry on)

Just another day at the office today. I’m holding down the fort because Bob is out of the office, traveling to South Bend for the Notre Dame game. Luckily, I’m big enough for my britches. It’s hard to be motivated though because: A) it’s Friday, B) Bob and Tim are gone, making me wish I was gone, and C) all my tasks for the day aren’t immediately pressing, making it harder to complete them. This week, though, I’ve switched to listening to radio on the computer instead of the stereo, because I recently came to the realization that Kansas City radio is mindless, repetitive crap. (Some would say that’s how all radio is, and to an extent, I agree, but that’s for another time and place).

Lately, I’ve been on a talk radio kick. My rough schedule has been Mancow in the morning. He’s a “shock jock” of sorts. He’s easy to listen to, if that makes sense, though I find his prank phone calls annoying and ridiculous. I usually follow that up with some Rush Limbaugh (yeah, I consider myself conservative, wanna fight about it?), who is also an intriguing listen. In the late afternoon, it varies. I’ll either hook up some KMOX action (AM talk station back in STL) or just surf around to find another station. www.radio-locator.com is a solid site. It lists thousands of radio stations all around the country, and also lets you know which are capable of being listened to online.

The weekend looks to be slightly eventful. Gretchen and I are heading to Wichita for the weekend. We’ll visit with her family, and also attend the wedding of a couple of losers we know. Brad and Bekka, best of luck to the both of you. I’ll be sure to enjoy the leisure time that the weekend brings as well. Perhaps take a jog, hit the tennis courts, play a game of Scrabble or two. That is one conflict this weekend to mention: I’ll be missing the semimonthly Overland Park Scrabble Club meeting, but I’ll take it to the house next time I’m there.

Ooh, the boss just gave me a project to handle. That gives it the official “pressing” tag, so I better scorch it. Have a nice weekend.