Happy New Year

2009 is going, and 2010 is almost here. It promises to be a humdinger of a year. Yessir, a humdinger.

Sorry, I have no idea what that was.

Valerie and I have learned that the twins we are expecting are fraternal-one boy and one girl. This is probably the best combination, especially for Tessa. Also there's virtually no chance of mixing them up like with identical twins. Which is good for all of us.

So needless to say it's going to be quite a challenge. We are already getting their room together slowly but surely. We are also doing our best to prepare Tessa for what's about to happen to her little world. It's hard to explain to a 20 month old, so we're just getting her used to the idea of 2 babies in the house (and in Mommy's tummy). For Christmas we got her twin baby dolls whom she promptly named Princess and Chicken. She's off the naming committee. But it's cute.

And as if that weren't enough, it appears that the Blue Tattoo CD will finally see the light of day this coming year, which means a lot of work to get it into people's hands and some gigging to promote it. On top of new babies, one very cute toddler, and a full time day job. I am going to be busy. Looking forward to it though-who needs sleep, right?

Anyway, I'm kinda glad to see this new year approaching. I've never been much of one to do the whole New Year's Eve thing. I don't like dealing with the drunks on Amateur Night (it's only slightly better the rest of the time), and midnight on the 31st of Dec. in any year doesn't mean much to me. Sure, the calendar moves but I don't feel any different. My new year begins on my birthday (July 18th-mark your calendars now people) and yours starts on your birthday too. But still, I understand the hype and since I am a member of society I accept the convention-if nothing else just for organization's sake.

So happy new year everybody. I'm hoping it's a good one for my family-and for yours too.

Your pal,
Dave

P.S.-Best of 2009 year in wrap up coming soon.

Have Yourself A Groovy Little Christmas

Hi. My name's Dave and I'm a Christmas Music addict. I'm not proud of it, but I am. Eleven months out of the year I'm a musical elitist, focusing on rock and roll (all types), outlaw country and whatever else comes my way that's got some integrity to it. But round about the end of November I spaz out and get lost in fa-la-la-la-la-la land. Fortunately my wife does the same thing so we're all good over here at the Brink household.

Between the two of us, Valerie and I have amassed roughly 40 different Christmas CDs, and we're not done yet. Of course, some get played more than others as we each have our favorites. Which got me thinking...what are my all time favorite Christmas songs? An almost impossible question, as there are only a handful I don't like. Besides, favorites change year to year.

So I can't make a list of favorites (not an honest one anyway) but I can make a playlist. Now, I've made many Christmas comps over the years, most of which have the same title mentioned above. I'm not doing one this year (just did some last year and I need more new stuff to choose from until I do another), but if I were to make one tonight here's what it would be.

1.Step Into Christmas-Elton John
2.It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year-Andy Williams
3.Holly Jolly Christmas-Burl Ives
4.Sleigh Ride-The Ronettes
5.Silent Night-Elvin Bishop
6.Please Come Home For Christmas-Pat Benatar
7.Fairytale Of New York-The Pogues w/Christy MacColl
8.Christmas Is Coming-The Payolas
9.It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas-Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters
10.Jingle Bells-Frank Sinatra
11.Home For The Holidays-Perry Como
12.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
13.Here Comes Santa Claus-The Mills Bothers
14.Run, Run Rudolph-Dave Edmunds
15.Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)-The Alarm
16.I'll Be Home For Christmas-Aimee Mann
17.Silver Bells-Dean Martin
18.O Come All Ye Faithful-Nat King Cole
19.Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-Robert Goulet
20.The Christmas Song-Tony Bennett

And put that sucker on repeat.

I know, there's lots of cool stuff I missed. And I used some odd versions there, but I stand by them all. Y'know now that I think about it, these might be my favorites. Well, at least for right now. I guess I could've put some more country songs on "Pretty Paper" springs to mind...and one of those Rev. Horton Heat songs would be cool...maybe The Kinks...okay see, that's how it works. I could do this for hours. So let's just leave it how it is for now, okay? There's always next year.

Feliz Navidad!

Damn, forgot that one too.

These Halls Could Use Some Deckin'

The lights are hung outside. Presents are being bought. Carols are being sung. The decorations are out (though not all up yet). This means only one thing. Christmas is fast approaching.

So is Valerie's birthday (Dec. 12th). It is tradition in the Brink household that we buy our tree on her birthday, or as close to it as possible. That's right, we're real tree people.If you've ever been in our house come December, you've been near a real honest-to-goodness Christmas tree. Just as God intended.

Okay, I know some of you are fake tree people and I'm sorry. Not that I may offend you, but that you're all cheaters. No, only joking. I would like to discuss the matter a bit though. Let's look at the arguments for and against the real trees.

1.The most recent argument is from the environmental crowd who claim that it's wrong to kill a tree for decorative purposes, and harmful to the environment to boot. Phooey. A real tree can be reused. Some small trees can be replanted and take root again if done properly. Larger trees are generally ground up and used for mulch. From the earth back to the earth. Artificial trees are usually made of plastics and other materials which are non-biodegradable. So once they've lived out their usefulness, these things just sit in a land fill taking up space. Forever.

2. Artificial trees are easier. Granted, finding a tree, putting it up, watering it, caring for it and decorating the real tree can be laborious. But, with the fake trees you still have to put them together and decorate them each year. Plus, after a few years the "branches" begin to loose their shape and you have to fluff each one up individually (virtually guaranteeing a mouthful of dust). We'll call this one a tie.

3. The smell bothers my allergies. Okay, I'll give you that one, although many trees have a very light scent. Also, we have had people with severe allergies over to the house during Christmas and no-one's ever complained or felt poorly. Besides, I have winter allergies but I take a pill daily and I'm not bothered. So come on over-I've got extra Claritin.

4. Real trees are messy. Yes, they are. So wear gloves when you move it, vacuum the needles and quit whining. The points go to the real trees on this one because only sissies and lame-os make this argument.

And the last argument to be made is for Tradition. With a capital T (which rhymes with P and that stands for presents. Sorry.) Anyway, tradition. That's a big part of Christmas. A real tree decorated for Christmas dates back to the 16th century in Germany and 1851 in America. How much more traditional can you get? Real trees can be a wonderful tradition for families. I used to love going out with my father to find the perfect tree-whether we cut it down ourselves or found it on a lot. It was a bonding experience at Christmas time. As a child, I was always in charge of checking on the water each night and helping to fill the stand when needed. Caring for the tree combined with the fragrance in the air made me feel good all month long. And that's how we should all feel when we see our trees. An appreciation for nature, family and love at Christmas time.

So, have I changed any minds? Gonna stick with your artificial tree? Or are you ready to make the plunge and get a big awesome tree this year? How about a raggelly ol' Charlie Brown tree?

Well, either way, enjoy your tree. Make sure it looks really nice, and maybe sing some carols and make some popcorn or eat candy canes while you decorate it. Make it a special part of your Christmas celebrations. Deck them halls people. Deck 'em.

Back soon with a Christmas music post. And maybe I can use the word "phooey" again. That was fun.

Thanksgiving Wrap Up-Come On Christmas

Another Thanksgiving is in the books. Or blogs. Whatever. Anyway, as usual we (meaning my wife, child and brother) went to Cape Girardeau for the family Thanksgiving. It's kinda like a family reunion for my mother's side, except it only lasts one day and we don't play any retarded games.

Anyway, it was a good turnout this year, a few no-shows but a good sized crowd nonetheless. The best news was that my great aunts Stella and Marguerite (or Deet as we call her) made it this year. As I've mentioned before Stella had a stroke earlier this year and Deet has Parkinson's disease. They've both been in and out of hospitals and rehab for months now and them showing up was a question mark. Stella appeared to be doing well, though a bit weak. I realised after we left that I don't think I actually spoke with her. I meant to, and feel bad that I didn't, but I know she was able to see Tessa for a little bit, so that's good. Sometimes when you're in that situation with so many people you just don't get to visit with everyone like you should. I will rectify my error next chance I get...even if that's next Thanksgiving.

I'd heard that Deet wasn't doing well and was having trouble focusing in on conversations. In fact, my brother said that when he spoke to her she was almost incoherent. Fortunately my brief conversation with her was perfectly fine. It felt good to see her again. Deet got to hold Tessa from her wheel chair, which would have been a great picture had I been able to find the camera. Oh well, still a nice moment.

Then there was Uncle Bob (who I like more and more as an adult). He decided to get my wife Valerie, and cousins-in-law (if that's a thing), Julie and Jennifer to stand together in a picture. Because they're all pregnant. His exact words were "Maybe we can figure out what's causing all this." Which is funny. I mean, I can't speak for the others, but I'm pretty sure I know what happened in our case.

In all, it was nice to see everyone and of course the food was awesome. Rich, home cooked Southern comfort food can't be beat. It was a good day. And Tessa argued with the prayer.

Let me explain that. We have been teaching her to pray at home, but we don't shush her if she talks during the prayer. Well, in public she needs to shush. So as we were trying to get her to sit still and pray, she kept saying "no" and it sounded like an argument.

Here's pretty much what it sounded like when my brother began to pray:

Derek: Lord, we're so grateful to be here today...
Tessa: No.
Derek: If you were to ask anyone here what they're thankful for, the first would be your son...
Tessa: No.
Derek...And the second would be this family.
Tessa: No!

And that was my family's Thanksgiving.

Valerie's family celebration was last night. The food was good (though not like Cape-sorry), and everyone seemed to have a good time. My evening started off questionable when Glen thought I called him Mike which I didn't (I was saying "hi"). No big deal, but always a weird feeling when that happens.

My Brother and Sister-In-Law Ron and Stephanie brought us an old crib they're not using so we can get a head start on preparing for the twins. My trunk didn't exactly stay closed on the way home but we made it. Thanks guys!

The Seibert family (our hosts) have a Wii system and the "Rock Band" game. Tessa was fascinated with the drum set. She probably played it on and off for an hour...with sticks! Johnny, you've got competition. Kidding!!! It's nice that she has such an interest in music though.

So now that Thanksgiving is over we can move on to my favorite holiday...Christmas. I am a Christmas guy. I'm a sucker for it. I love the music, the decorations, the shopping malls (and I don't mind the lines either), the T.V. specials...all of it.

I guess I just never lost the magic of Christmas. You know how you felt about it all as a kid? I still have that. But there's even more to it now.

You see, Christmas is what you want it to be. If you choose to focus on the headaches and stress involved you won't enjoy the holiday. I choose to focus on the fun stuff, the whimsical side of the secular, and the peace of the religious side. We sing carols in my house. We decorate. We tell The Christmas Story. We watch "A Christmas Story." And we give gifts to show our love for one another. We also give to honor Christ in this season. We put money in the kettles and participate in our church's Christmas programs. It really is my favorite time of year-except for the cold and snow which I normally can't stand, but even that's acceptable. Until Jan. 2nd, at which point I want it back in the 60's. Unlikely. but a man can dream, right?

Anyway, the season's upon us and I'm sure I'll talk about it some more, along with whatever else pops into my head. See you soon, have a good one.

Dave.

P.S. For those it concerns, Valerie now has my list and you should get it soon. Sorry for the delay-been a bit busy.

A Pox On My House

There's a lot going on in the Brink household these days.

First and foremost, Tessa has Chickenpox (that's what we said, "Chickenpox?!!"). We noticed it first on her chin last weekend and thought it was just a break out due to teething. The next day it was all over her body and she was clearly not feeling well. So off to the doctor we go and it's Chickenfoot. Pox, sorry.

Valerie and I were under the impression that with all the vaccines out there that the disease was not nearly as prevalent as in the past. We were wrong. According to the doctor it's still quite common. Which is why they still vaccinate for it I suppose.

Anyway, my girl's got it. She's lucky in getting it so early, but she's still kind of miserable. She goes from being her sweet self to being a screaming, crying terror. Completely understandable of course. Her fever comes and goes, as does her coughing and runny nose, and she's obviously quite uncomfortable. Fortunately we should only have a few more days of this, so we're looking forward to the weekend.

In other news, I've gotten three estimates on my crack in the basement. That came out weird but you know what I mean. Hopefully we'll be able to get it repaired in the next week or two and can get our basement family room back before too long. There's a little more drywall to be removed (which I can totally do now, thanks Ron) but it should be fairly painless and not nearly as expensive as I originally had feared. The problem will be getting drywall put up, but we want to leave the crack exposed for a while (heh) just to make sure everything is okay, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

On top of all of that the dishwasher started acting up. I think I've got it fixed now, but that's all we need is for the dishwasher to go out too. I mean we just bought a new dryer a few weeks ago, and with the basement to fix and Christmas coming up there's not much more that we can handle here.

But there's good stuff too. Valerie had another ultrasound today and the twins are doing well. Thanksgiving is around the corner and it appears as though my great aunts Stella and Clara are going to be able to come after all, even though most thought that the health issues surrounding them would prevent it. So that's good news. And as I said before Christmas is coming which is always a happy time in our house. We might have to watch the budget a little more than in years past, but we will still make it a great holiday.

That's all for now. I'm tired. G'night.

A Few Things

Haven't blogged for a while so let's catch up.


First and foremost, it seems as though as of Sunday the basement will be a step closer to having the basement fixed. My brother and sister in law are coming over to help tear down the drywall. Apparently it's grown into a family gathering as Valerie's parents and her other sister are coming as well. I never knew drywall was so popular. Since Ron's taken down drywall in his own house, he and Stephanie graciously offered their help to Valerie last week on the phone, and we of course took them up on it. It will, after all, save us some money and maybe I'll learn me a thing or two. All I really needed was an extra pair of experienced hands, but now it appears I'll have more hands than I'll know what to do with. That's okay though , I appreciate everyone's willingness to help. Besides, maybe we'll get done a little earlier and have time for a visit too. Pizza's on me!

*****

Anyone who's been following knows I promised a horror movie roundup for Halloween. Didn't happen, and if I know me it probably won't. However, I do have a recommendation. For those who maybe didn't get their scary movie on last week, or who aren't ready to make the transition into Christmas yet, fire up the Netflix and get a movie called Trick R Treat.

Tick R Treat is a horror anthology film with a twist. There are four main tales, all happening on Halloween night, and they intertwine with one another. The timeline of the film is also done out of order, which is normally a device I can't stand but here it works to great effect. Characters that seem unimportant fade out of the picture only to show up later in a big way. Small clues and references to the other stories are dropped throughout the movie, almost begging for a second viewing to play "Spot the tie-in".

Nothing is as it seems in Trick R Treat. Not only do characters change, but situations do as well. And it's all monitored by a creepy little guy named Sam. Sam looks like a little kid with a Charlie Brown head in a raggedy costume, but he is more. He is the protector (embodiment?) of Halloween who makes sure that people are following the Rules Of Halloween. Don't feed them after midnight, never get them wet...no, wait, that's Gremlins.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this flick. It's what I call fun-horror. Not much in the gore department, dark humor and fantastical ideas. This is the type of movie that can be a lot of fun in the right circumstances and with the right crowd. There are a few scenes that some may find objectionable(dealing with kids and the mentally disabled), but the intent is not negative or derogatory. Plus, it's only a movie so get over yourselves. The movie may lose some of its Halloweeney magic after October, but it's still a treat. And it deserves to be a seasonal classic. Like It's A Wonderful Life.

*****
Watched bill Cosby receive the Mark Twain prize for American humor last night on PBS. Pretty entertaining. The Cos may be a little older and grumpier but he's still pretty funny. As the first African American comic to really hit it big, all accolades are deserved. And he did it all without addressing race in his routines. By focusing his comedy on universal matters, he made race almost a non issue, thus furthering the civil rights cause without shouting, insults, or violence.

So what the f--k, Dick Gregory?

*****
Going to a reception on Friday at Church for all volunteers. It's a desert buffet. Yay desert. And yay volunteering for the Church. And yay desert.

*****

According to all sources, things have stabilized with my Great Aunts in Arkansas. Stella is getting better after her stroke, slowly but surely. Marge's Parkinsons disease is getting worse, but she seems to be over her bout with pneumonia, so that's good. It's a bummer that they most likely won't be at Thanksgiving this year, but we'll be thinking of them and wishing the best.

*****

The twins seem to be doing fine. Tessa's still cute (she went as a duck for Halloween-though some mistook her for the Dirt Cheap Chicken). So everything at home is good. hope it is for you all too.

Halloween Songs

I promised a Halloween movie post tonight, but scheduling conflicts have made it impossible to view some of the movies I planned on blogging about and I want to do this properly (even if it shows up in November!). So as a substitute, here's my idea for a Halloween playlist along with a few words about the selections. I'm doing it as I go along but I think it'll be fun.

DAVE'S HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST 2009

1. Science Fiction/Double Feature-The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
-How else would it start? Fun mood-setter, and more socially acceptable than Sweet Transvestite.

2. The Number Of The Beast-Iron Maiden
-A classic song. Contrary to popular belief the band are not devil worshipers, they just throw in a little dark stuff in from time to time along with their history and literature based songs.

3. Welcome To My Nightmare-Alice Cooper
-The master of Shock Rock with one of his signature songs, and a quintessential tune for All Hallows Eve.

4. Halloween-Misfits
-The premier horror rock/punk band. Almost any song would do (Ghoul's Night Out and Skulls come into mind), as it's all required Halloween listening.

5. Fire-The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
-Alice's predecessor. Freaky song, especially that intro.

6. Boris The Spider-The Who
-Creepy crawly. Also funny. Dig that voice from Entwhistle. Cool.

7. A Ghost To Most-Drive By Truckers
-Okay, so it's got nothing to do with scary, but there are ghosts and skeletons mentioned. Besides, any chance to get some DBT into a playlist.

8. The Legend Of Wooley Swamp-Charlie Daniels Band
-More of a true horror story than Devil Went Down To Georgia, but that one is certainly an acceptable alternate.

9. The Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash
-What's scarier than the Apocalypse and final judgement?

10. Night Prowler-AC/DC
-The scariest character on the Highway To Hell.

11. Nasty-The Damned
-A celebration of scary movies, and it was on The Young Ones T.V. show. Awesome.

12. My Girl Wants To Be A Zombie-The Briefs
-More great pop punk, and it's the only Zombie song I can think of that's not by Rob Zombie. Wow, that's a weird sentence.

13. Murder By Numbers-The Police
-Inside the mind of a killer. Surprisingly dark stuff.

14. Black Sabbath-Black Sabbath
-Genuinely creepy song, don't listen late at night with the lights off.

Okay, I think that's enough. There are certainly more I could list here but I think that's a good little mix of fun and slightly scary stuff. Maybe we'll do this again next year and I'll actually think it through next time.

And yes, I know that Monster Mash isn't listed. Too easy...and I'm sick of it before I even hear it. Sorry. Have fun with it if you gotta, but I'll stick to what's above. And Midnight Rambler by The Rolling Stones. That should've been on there too.

Quick Updates

Here's a quick update as to what's going on lately.

1. Valerie's grandmother passed on last week. Condolences go out to all of the family. I only had the privilege of meeting Grandma Garvin on a few occasions but she always struck me as a kind, generous, intelligent woman with a good sense of humor and pleasant outlook on life. I know she will be missed by many but she will still be with us in our hearts, and once again in Heaven. I plan to have a cherry/vanilla Dr. Pepper in her honor (even if I have to make one).

2.. My basement is leaking again. The water seems to be coming in from the same place as it was last Spring, so apparently building up the grade of the yard didn't do it. My yard just holds water, so I suppose sooner or later it would find its way to a crack in the wall.

So I have to get someone out here to look at the problem and give me an estimate on fixing it. Here's the thing though, no-one will come have a look until I take down the drywall. I'm not sure why...must be an insurance thing. What I want is for someone to come to the house, take down the drywall, fix the crack and put the drywall back up. I am not giving up on this idea, as all I've talked to are waterproofing/crack repair specialists. My next step is to try a basement remodeling company and some general contractors.

However, the possibility of having to do most of the work myself looms large. I have never worked with drywall before, nor have I wanted to. All I know is it requires special tools and requires goggles, gloves and possibly masks. Doesn't sound like fun to me. I may need some help on this one, but let's see if I can't hire a guy first.

3. On a lighter note, I've been watching the six hour documentary "Monty Python:Almost The Truth" on IFC. Still haven't caught it all but that's what DVRs are for, and I'm sure I'll get the DVD when it comes out. I've been enjoying it immensely. I've been a fan for years, and it was nice finding out a little bit of information I didn't know (us Python geeks already knew a lot of this stuff), and being reminded of sketches I haven't thought of in quite a while. For some reason I haven't been watching as much Python as I used to, I'll have to remedy that.

4. As an addendum to my list from last time, I've also seen Extreme and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Oh, and Manda and the Marbles, and the 45s and probably more.

6. Just realized I promised a Halloween themed post, but I haven't been catching up on my scary movies like I should have been because of all the Monty Python stuff. I'll get to it on Wednesday.

That's it, and that's enough. Going to bed.

Bands I've Seen Live

Okay, so my brother totally sniped me and printed a list of bands he's seen. I had been working on my own list for a while now, completely without knowing that Derek was doing the same thing. So not to be outdone I present my list of bands I've seen live. I've tried to include only national artists (obscure some of them, but national!), and bands that I remember clearly seeing. I know I've forgotten a few, and there are some bands not on here because I can't actually remember if I saw them or not-now that's a guy who goes to too many concerts! Many of these artists I've seen multiple times. Some I've only seen as headliners, some as openers, some at festivals. A few of them I've been drug to kicking and screaming...but for the most part I've gone to by choice...and overall I've had a really good time!!!

The List:

AC/DC
10,000 Maniacs
Aerosmith
Alabama Thunderpussy
Alice Cooper
Alice In Chains
Allman Brothers
Anthrax
April Wine
B*Witched
Bachman Turner Overdrive
Bad Brains
Bad English
Bare Jr.
Betty Blowtorch
Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Billy Joel
Black Crowes
Blues Traveller
Bob Seger
Bon Jovi
Bongzilla
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Charlie Daniels Band
Cheap Trick
Cinderella
Corrosion Of Conformity
Damn Yankees
Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds
David Bowie
Def Leppard
Dio
Dog's Eye View
Dokken
Doobie Brothers
Dream Theater
Drive By Truckers
Drivin N' Cryin'
Dropkick Murphys
Eddie Spaghetti
Elton John
Enuff Z'Nuff
Eric Johnson
Ernie Isley & The Jam Band
Fates Warning
Fear Factory
Fight
George Jones
Georgia Satellites
Gin Blossoms
Glenn Tillbrook
Glimmer
Great White
Gretchen Wilson
Hayes Carll
Hank Williams III
High On Fire
Hurricane
Iggy Pop
INXS
Iron Maiden
Jackyl
James Taylor
Jamey Johnson
Jason Mraz
Joe Cocker
John (Cougar) Mellencamp- under both names
John Fogerty
Johnny Lang
Judas Priest
Kenny Wayne Sheppard
KISS
Lars Fredericksen & The Bastards
Little Jimmy King
Living Colour
Los Infernos
Loverboy
Lynrd Skynrd
Mastodon
Metallica
Monster Magnet
Motorhead
Mr. Big
Murder By Death
Murray Hammond
Nasville Pussy
Neil Young
Night Ranger
Nine Inch Nails
Old 97's
Page/Plant
Pearl Jam
Pink Floyd
Power Of County
Power Station
Primus
Puddle Of Mudd
Queensryche
REO Speedwagon
Reverend Horton Heat
Rolling Stones
Roxette
Rush
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Sammy Hagar
Scorpions
Sheryl Crow
Soul Asylum
Spice Girls
Spin Doctors
Spineshank
Stray Cats
Supagroup
Supersuckers
Swampass
Testament
The Commodores
The Damned
The Eyeliners
The Hacienda Brothers
The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Lost
The Marshall Tucker Band
The Pretenders
The Tragically Hip
The Who
Tower Of Power
U2
Unband
Union
Van Halen
Vince Neil
Whitesnake
Widespread Panic
Wilco
Will Dailey
Willie Nelson
Yes
Yngwe Malmsteen
ZZ Top

Interesting Call

So as most people know I spent about six years or so performing stand-up comedy. I stopped in 2001, roughly the same time I got serious about being in a band. I'm not sure if the two were really related or not, but I do know that the frustrating parts of being a comic were becoming much bigger than the fun parts. And if I wasn't having fun on stage telling jokes then I didn't see much point in continuing. I was angry when I got out.

I was angry at bookers who would bump comics off of shows with no warning, even when the comics traveled for the gig. I was angry with the promoters who completely misrepresented themselves and the shows they booked, be it financially or otherwise. I was angry at the audiences for only wanting to laugh at the easy jokes-and by this I don't necessarily mean dirty jokes or blue humor (I never minded that)-but lazy comedy. I mean, if I'd have heard one more comic say "The difference between men and women is...", or do any type of airline humor ("Why do they have to call it the terminal?") I would have gone ballistic. And these hacks were getting the biggest laughs while I saw tons of really inventive and genuinely funny comics die a horrible death at the hands of a brain dead drunken public. It got to me and my sense of integrity,

Most importantly though, I was mad at myself for letting this stuff sour me on this artform that I loved and harden me to the point of not wanting to do it anymore. Sure, I punked out, but I was miserable and I made the only decision I could at the time. I still beleive it was the right one.

As a result of all this, I didn't set foot inside a comedy club for about three years after I quit. When I did go back it was because some friends wanted to go, or because a comic I used to work with (and enjoyed) was in town. Over the past few years, though, some "edgy" stand up comics (meaning offensive to prudes and requiring a brain to appreciate the jokes) have gotten big enough to make me pay attention again. Mitch Hedberg (RIP), Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifinakis, Maria Bamford and Steven Lynch are among those who are making me laugh and making me feel that there is still some good left in the whole comedy thing after all.

I mention all this because I had a message on my machine tonight from Jim "The Dad" Keith, a local open-miker I used to work with back in the old days. He said that Art Vieluf (comedy club owner/booker and all around swell guy) was back in town and had reopened Comedy Etc. in Fairview Heights Il., my "home" club where I worked consistantly. Tonight was the first open mike night and Jim was calling a lot of the old gang, thinking it would be a hoot to get us all back together again. Nice thought.

My first thought was that it sounded just like Jim, not only the sentiment but also the last minute info. I thought it was interesting and I hoped it worked out well for all involved, but I have passed that point in my life. And I have.

But, y'know, in the back of my head I started to wonder if I could get five minutes together to do onstage. Hey, I've got the Library story, right? And there's gotta be something that's not totally dated and still funny from the old act...but...no...not now anyway. It would be nice to see Art again, and if I ran into any of the old crew it'd be fun to catch up. I'd even be up for trying to top one another's jokes offstage again.

I called my good friend and old comedy partner Tim Heeley and he kind of had the same idea that I did. We'll probably go out there one night here soon, but I'm not sure either of us will get onstage. Maybe just for the heck of it, for the challenge of seeing if I could do it again. I don't know that I could get back into it, I'm not sure I could go through all that again. To be fair, a lot of the same problems listed above exist in the music world too, but it's different somehow when you've got your band around you, like a gang. The responsibility, the disappointments and the victories are all shared. In stand-up, it's all on you. So be in a band, have a day job, be a father to a one year old and soon twins, be a responsible husband and get back into stand up comedy? Probably not gonna happen. But I still might go.

Completely Unrelated Stuff:

1. The debut record from Monsters Of Folk is really good. Not entirely folk, but not anything else either. Great for morning drives.

2. Halloween movie based posts coming up. Stay tuned, kids, oooh, it'll be scary! Heh. Count Floyd reference.

3. There is an organisation that I think we should all be aware of. Go here to support FSITO. Be sure to click on the media section to see all the PSAs. They are worth your time, trust me.

4. If you didn't understand that link, you weren't supposed to. See? that's the attitude that kept me out of comedy.

Later.

P.S. Spellcheck not working. Apologies.

Two Eggs Are Better Than One

For those readers I may have who don't already know, my wife Valerie is pregnant.

With twins.

That's right. Twins. And we have an 18 month old with Tessa. That makes three kids under three. Three in diapers-at the same time. Conventional wisdom says "never let your kids outnumber you." Oh well.

I went from looking at Mustangs to looking at Mini-vans overnight. Useful, but not cool.

We are both excited about this, though a little daunted by the changes that are coming. At first it just seemed overwhelming (especially to Valerie-can't blame her, she's carrying them!). The big questions all hit at the same time. How can we afford this? Who will watch them while we're at work, and can we afford a sitter? Will anyone babysit three kids under three? Is our house going to be big enough? How do we get the extra cribs, high chairs and other furniture and supplies? How can we send three kids to college a year apart? Can we have a full term pregnancy physically? How about mentally? Do we really have to get one of those big ugly strollers?

We quickly calmed down, however, and began to get a grip. We totally can do this. It's actually pretty cool when you think about it. Having twins is special. Twin births are on the rise (I believe it's something like 1 in 300 births) but they're not the majority. It's a whole new way to look at parenting but I believe we are up to the challenge. And it's a nice feeling to know that your kids will always have one another-twins are like that. Also, since Tessa will barely be two years old when they come along, she won't remember ever being without her siblings. They'll all be close and that's a good thing. It's going to take a lot of work, patience and love. It's something that one never sees coming, but it's amazing what you can do (and what you want to do)when it's in your heart and all about family.

Now, at this point it should be stated that there are some areas of concern. The biggest concern is that although the ultrasound did show two fetuses, only one registered a heartbeat. The plus side to this is that due to Valerie's doctor having vacation scheduled the tests and ultrasounds were done about a week or so early. As a result the confirmed heartbeat was quite faint, which means it had just started. With twins, it's possible that the other is a little younger, possibly as much as a day or two, and the heartbeat just wasn't there yet. We have another appointment in a week and a half to confirm both heartbeats and it is highly probable that we'll do just that.

But there are no guarantees. We are confident that both twins are in there and are growing, but we would still like to ask for any prayers and good thoughts you can send our way. Healthy, strong and full term. That's the saying around our house these days. Make it one of yours, too, we'd appreciate it.

There are also health risks for Valerie involved. No risks that aren't there for any pregnancy but with a multiple pregnancy the risks are higher. Please keep her in your prayers as well.

So that's the big news. Things seem to be falling into place fairly well already. We've got lots of people willing to donate furniture to us, and our sitter has already expressed her delight in the pregnancy and is more than happy to watch them. We've received lots of love and support already from family, friends and co-workers and we are looking forward to sharing our joy with you all.

Oh, and as long as we're on babies-congratulations to Chris and Amy Teague on the birth of their son Mattingly. And congratulations to Mike and Bridget Wildscheutz. Glad you were finally able to bring Faith home.

That's all for now.

Farm Aid

Farm Aid was yesterday. As with most festival type gigs there were ups and downs, but all in all it was a good experience, and I'd like to think we did a little good for the cause (I think Valerie said that the T.V. news said it raised a million dollars, but I don't know if that's official).

Here's a bunch of random thoughts from the show.

The Good:

-Wilco put on the most surprising set of the evening for me. I've never been a fan of theirs, a few songs here and there but nothing that got me too excited. After hearing their set though, I may have to take a closer look.

-Nobody got booed. Sometimes at these events the artists go on tirades that start off about farming and then get political. John Mellencamp and Neil Young have both been booed from the stage before. Nice to see them both stay on topic, though a little disappointed that they didn't rile up the neo-cons, prudes and squares. (Why do people go see artists who are very vocal about their opinions if they don't agree with them? Do they want to get mad? Are they that clueless? I've never understood that.) However, that wasn't why we were there and they both stayed on topic so fair play to them.

-Speaking of Mellencamp, his set was great. Bookended by hits with a few new songs and a rather challenging acoustic number in the middle. Exactly what a festival gig should be. I've always been a closet fan of his, and now I can officially go public (still don't like "Hurts So Good " though).

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson.

-Thought the earlier bands made the most of their limited time and may actually check out some stuff by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Will Dailey.

-Neil Young did a country set, and I'd actually heard some of those songs. Nice set.

-Willie Nelson rules. Even with a set that was clearly off the cuff the guy delivers.

-Apparently my brother and I were on channel 4 news in a crowd shot. So that's cool.

The Bad:

-Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis still sucks. It's much better than it used to be, but still not good. The show started at 1:00. We got there before the doors opened at 12:30, and stood in line for over an hour to get in, missing the first three acts. Don't you think somebody there would have the sense to realize that a sold out show with lawn seating (where people bring backpacks and blankets that need to be checked) would require an earlier door time?

-Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews. Both completely boring and terrible. I thought very briefly(and foolishly) that Matthews might deliver a decent acoustic set and that maybe I just didn't like the sound of the band. Nope, still sucked. And Jason Mraz sucked harder. as I've always said, never trust a soccer mom when it comes to music.

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson. She was actually fairly entertaining. Not good, but entertaining. And not country music either. Writing songs about rednecks (and being completely stereotypical while doing it), singing with a slight accent and throwing in a little twang doesn't make your songs country. It's pop with a rock/country sheen on it. You can't open with the main riff to "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and call yourself country. You can't be taken seriously either, but that's beside the point. She also included an instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner" in her show. It's pure pandering to the lowest common denominator and it's insulting to Hendrix and America. Other than that her set was okay.

-The idiot behind us who kept yelling out inane comments all night, and yelling at people in front to sit down. I got into it a little with him because of how rude he was. His arguments were that he paid for a seat and wanted to sit. He claimed not to like the same behavior at sporting events too. Well, first of all, sports are entirely different than a concert. In games you only stand when something good happens and points are scored, so I'll concede that prolonged standing is rude in that situation. But a concert is a different animal. You do what the crowd does. If I'm at an arena show and the crowd as a whole decides to sit all night and only stand after certain songs and during the encore, then fine, in that case the two or three people who insist in standing are wrong. However, if we all decide to stand and there are a few cranks who get pissy about it, I don't care about them at all.

True concert goers know the score. We go to see our favorite bands not because we just like a good tune, but because we feel a connection to the music/artist. It's part of our lives. As such, standing/dancing/headbanging/air guitaring is a logical and natural reaction. Also, it's been my experience that once the crowd starts standing and getting into the show the band on stage begins to give a better performance. I've seen many shows where the band has chastised the audience for not standing. A rock concert is supposed to make you feel good and be a form of release. So no-one should be upset by people standing and enjoying themselves. If someone stands up in front of you, move your head so you can see. Even better, get up and join in. You just might enjoy it.

-Billy Joe Shaver apparently missed his plane or something and didn't go on when he was supposed to. It's okay, things happen, but it was disappointing. It also led to major pauses in the show as the event still needed to stick to specific times for the Direct TV broadcast. Shaver wound up getting in late and Willie Nelson brought him out during his set for a few songs, so it worked out all right in the end.

-All the people who left once it started getting late (as if 10:00 was late for a concert) and colder (as if we didn't know it'd be upper 50's in October in St. Louis). It's stupid to leave a ten hour festival with one act to go, and disrespectful to boot. You morons walked out on a friggin' legend. Shame on you. Willie deserves better. Prob'ly a bunch of Dave Matthews fans. You know, idiots.


The Funny

Quotes from the stage:

"This song goes out to...well, y'all know who you are."
-Ernie Eisley

"This is our second appearance at Farm Aid. Or as my band calls it, Willie Aid."
-Jamey Johnson

"With all due respect to Gretchen Wilson, is there anybody here who's not a redneck?" (Lots of applause)
-Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

"I change my guitar after every song and then play the same thing. It's the same, but it sounds different. Showbiz."
-Dave Matthews

Quote from some random girl:

"Who's the douche bag in the hat?" Said loudly to, and as she passed by, Jason Mraz.

So, a decent day at the ol' amphitheater. Got to hear some good music and see some legends perform. The good stuff outweighed the bad making Farm aid a worthwhile experience, and one I'd repeat if the opportunity came up again.

List Of Ten

Okay, I promised to post something here in between the Farm Aid stuff. There's a big post or two coming up soon but I'm not ready to go with that stuff yet. So instead here's a list.

TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

1. I have globophobia (fear of balloons).

2. My favorite classical composer is Vivaldi.

3. There is a non cancerous lump in my left lung. I named him "Lumpy".

4. Favorite snack: milk and chocolate chip cookies.

5. At age 37 I am still afraid of the dark.

6. When I feel depressed I go and buy something. Got that from Mom.

7. Last year I got very sick and thought I was dying. I asked God to let me live so I could take care of Tessa, and promised I'd read the Bible start to finish and spend more time in the Word. So far I have failed. Reading the Bible is hard for me. Any suggestions?

8. One of my earliest memories is of being driven to the hospital by my father after falling and cutting my head open. I remember being in the backseat yelling "Faster, Dad, faster!"
I'm sure it scared the crap out of him, but I was just enjoying going fast in the car. Sorry Dad.

9. I still think the band can "make it".

10. I have always been a bit of an introvert with low self esteem. I've just been good at hiding it.
However, in the past few years I've begun to be much more comfortable with myself, and I now like not just aspects of me but me altogether. Flaws and all. I credit my wife, child and most importantly God for helping me turn it around. Thank you.

There ya go. Enlightening? Interesting? Waste of time? Whatever it was, it's been a quick peek into this jumble of contradictions and wonderment that is Dave. At least the stuff I don't mind you knowing.

Farm Aid tomorrow!

Farm Aid Preview

Farm Aid is this coming Sunday. My brother and I are taking our father for his birthday, which is cool. The final line up for the concert has been announced, and a lot of people are disappointed in it. Initially, the headliners announced were Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. That's a good show in and of itself. Soon added were Wilco, Jason Mraz and Jamey Johnson. Then...nothing. For like two months absolutely no-one. Finally, last week the remainder was announced. People had been waiting, spreading rumours and chomping at the bit to hear the rest of the line-up. What other top acts would be added? We just couldn't wait to find out.

Well, about as close to major acts as we get are Gretchen Wilson and Billy Joe Shaver. Everyone else are more or less unknowns, at least to the mainstream fan. At first I was one of the disappointed people but then I got to thinking about it. The reason most people are upset is because Farm Aid has such a reputation for bringing on top artists, and I think maybe people built it up too much in their minds. The extra long wait didn't help either. However, if one looks at the different shows over the last 10 years or so, lots of smaller acts have appeared who have gone on to be something. For example, the Drive-By Truckers, Tegan and Sara, The Supersuckers, Los Lonely Boys, moe., and Guster were all bands with a big question mark attached to their names for most people and now they've all gone on to decent sized followings. So in that sense it's kind of interesting to think that I might be seeing some acts that are going to get big soon, and maybe a few who have been around for quite a while who I should have been listening to all along.

The other interesting part of the booking is that it seems to be a bit short. Most Farm Aid shows have about 20 performers or so. I count 15. So does that mean that maybe there might be a special guest or two coming in that we don't know about yet? Knowing the nature of benefit shows (and the nature of Willie Nelson) it's certainly possible. It is also possible that with fewer performers we might get slightly longer sets by the headliners. Or maybe both scenarios are wishful thinking.

Anyway, the whole music discussion misses the point of what's really going on here. The bottom line is that we're all gathered together to help the small family farmer to continue providing good food to our local communities. Our ticket money is also being used to help further the organic food movement that's taking over your local grocers as we speak. Er, type. Whatever. Anyone with kids these days knows the importance of Organic milk. And the eggs are good too.

Farm Aid and its artists are also on the front lines in the battle to get Bio diesel fuel into more cars on our roadways. While I'm not 100% sold on the idea (and I still want a muscle car Mustang), I'm all for cleaner fuel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going all hippie and environmentalist here but I do think we all have a little responsibility towards our planet and our fellow man. Now I may only be dipping a toe into all of this stuff, but it's a start and I'm more than happy to give a few bucks towards the cause.

So there are my thoughts five days out. I'm sure I'll do a wrap up on the concert next week, and I'll try to post something else in between so those of you who aren't interested in this stuff can have something else to read. Maybe Tessa will say another dirty word or something.

'Bye.

Thank God For Earplugs...and Rock And Roll

Last night was the big show...Motorhead and Reverend Horton Heat at the Pageant theater, St. Louis MO. It was everything I expected and more.

The night got underway at 8:00 with opening act Nashville Pussy. I've never been what you'd call a fan, but I was big into the underground scene when they broke through. I'd seen them before and was less than impressed. However, last night's set was pretty cool. I'm not sure if it was my mood or the choice of songs or what, but I thought it was good. Not good enough to run out and buy all their CDs or anything but an enjoyable way to kick things off.

Next up was the Reverend Horton Heat. For those not in the know, the Rev. is a psychobilly artist combining the style of rockabilly with the swagger of punk rock with a little swing and country thrown in for good measure. During their set, the band hit on all these styles and managed to win over a crowd full of metalheads in the process. Onstage, the band is among the tightest and most entertaining units you'll see. From the excellent guitar work of the Rev. himself (real name Jim Heath), to the upright slap bass of Jimbo Wallace and the rock solid drumming of Paul Simmons it's always a good time at a Horton Heat show.

After their set, the Rev. announced he'd be at the "t-shirt place in a little bit". Well, that's all we needed to hear as my brother and I high-tailed it out to the annex of the theater where the merch is sold to meet the Rev. We waited patiently for him to arrive. And waited and waited. Then Motorhead started their set and he still wasn't there. About 3 songs into Motorhead's set he made good on his word and came in to meet the fans. Which was good, because I was about to give up on the guy and go back inside the venue. so while it bugged me not seeing some of my favorite Motorhead tunes, how often do you get to meet one of your favorite performers? So I got a photo snapped (not the best picture of either of us-no offense Derek, much thanks for snapping the cell phone pic), chatted for a few minutes and went back inside.

Me and The Rev.

Motorhead. Wow, what can I say? Motorhead is one of the classic bands in heavy rock. Part metal, part punk, all attitude, and it's all for real. Bandleader Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister is the personification of the rock and roll ethos. He is a walking middle finger to the establishment, a true original amongst all the fake rebellion of your so called rock stars. He is ugly, obnoxious, funny, slightly perverted, surprisingly intelligent, and above all a man who holds honesty and honor above all else. He's exactly what all true rockers wish they could be, except for the ugly part, 'cause dude, the guys just scary looking. And this is not a man crush, thank you, just appreciation of the real deal. I don't always agree with Lemmy's world views or even conduct, but I respect him, and I love his music.

Motorhead's music has been a constant in my life since the mid 80's. Whenever I need a dose of pure, straightforward rock n' roll a Motorhead record will always do the trick, and the live show is phenomenal. The music is intense, but also a lot of fun and a great way to release any built up stress and tension in your life. No matter what line up the band is using (and there have been many over the years) it's always worth seeing. In fact, Motorhead's regular drummer isn't on this tour due to a scheduling conflict and Matt Sorum (The Cult, Velvet Revolver, Guns N'Roses) is filling in. It was still awesome.

And LOUD. Good God it was LOUD. I mean, I've seen probably upwards of 200 concerts in my lifetime and this was possibly the loudest. I have seen Motorhead before, in clubs and theaters both, and they've always been loud but this was a whole new level. I decided to put earplugs in when I could hear the band perfectly well from the annex through heavy wooden doors. Once inside I could feel it in my chest, and that was just the between song chatter. Some songs literally hurt. At one point I decided to pull out the earplugs just to see what it was like, and all I could hear was a high pitched screech. So that's what it sounds like when your eardrum shuts down. Instant tinnitus. The earplugs went back in, and the show rocked hard.

Sometimes you look forward to a show and it's a little anti climactic, or just downright disappointing. And then there are nights like this one, where the music is great, you have as much fun as possible and leave with memories that will stay embedded in your brain forever. The kind of show that makes you feel ten feet tall and makes you believe in the power of rock and roll.

So, how was your Wednesday?

Working

Haven't blogged for a while. Not because I haven't had anything to say, but because I haven't had the energy to do so. I've been pretty wiped out lately because I've been working a lot.

A few weeks ago one of my co-workers, Jennifer, left to go do some student teaching. Good for her, bad for us. Our company does quite a bit of e-bay sales in addition to our storefront and nationwide phone orders. Here's how that system has always worked. John (the co-president) photographs the items, describes them and launches them on e-bay. Then the items come to me and I check the listings, making sure the items are correctly described and all the numbers match, and then I organize them by launch date and stock number. Once the items are sold, Jennifer processes their payment through Paypal, sets up all the shipping info and puts them on the mailing desk where Nikki ships them off.

So clearly someone needed to take over Jen's part of this equation. And clearly said person is me. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing it, and now that I've got the hang of this job (after making a few costly mistakes of course) I kind of like it. But here's the thing. Jen and I had always worked on this stuff independently, yet simultaneously. Now that she's gone I have to find time to do it all.

And that's the key to the whole thing. Time. We launch anywhere from 10-30 new auctions at a time on e-bay, often three days a week. The auctions are, of course all timed, to about a week or so, though sometimes it's a little longer. So as some are going up others are selling and need to be processed. Once an item has been sold, it's supposed to go out within 48 hours. All while double checking the new stuff that just launched. It's a lot to keep up with, and when you add in the fact that I'm also still in charge of watch batteries and repair, and inventory of all of the
.999 product in the vault, oh, and waiting on customers all day, you can see how complex my days have become. My workload has essentially doubled.

So the only way to really get a jump on this stuff is to create more time to complete the tasks. In a business such as ours the open and close times have to be pretty strictly observed for security reasons. So I am now arriving at 7:00 a.m. in order to have an hour to get things done before the doors open. I already stay until 5:00 p.m. when we lock the vault and leave. This happens about 3-4 days a week. The other problem is that I've had to rearrange the morning routine so Valerie and Tessa can leave at the right time too. Therefore, I'm getting up at 5:00 a.m., a good 45 minutes earlier than normal. Needless to say I've been pretty wiped out lately.

So that's why the blogs haven't been coming. Not that there was ever a steady stream of posts here anyway, but I've been trying to be a little more consistent recently. There's lots of events coming up that I'll want to talk about (Motorheat!) and a few opinion pieces I've been thinking of so hopefully there will be more frequent postings, and hopefully better than whatever that last one was. Seriously, I have no idea what that was. Super sorry.

'Bye for now.

09/10/09

Okay, so I've been trying to figure out something to blog about that will top the last one. I have come to the conclusion that I probably can't. Therefore, I'm not even going to try. Here's a bunch of random crap.

*****
I am currently watching the football kick-off game. NBC just used a full three minutes and five seconds to promote Jay Leno's new show. I'm already sick of it and want it to fail-just because of the hype. Then they showed a commercial for Hardee's fried bologna biscuit which is kind of appropriate and made me hungry.

*****
Speaking of television, the MDA telethon was last week. It actually wasn't too bad this year considering. Jerry Lewis was actually in pretty good form for an old guy, and apart from an unusually high number of Beatles songs being ruined by what passes for talent on that show it went fairly smoothly. Well, at least until the last couple of hours when everything kinda slows down and people are too tired to think, much less perform.

A few things stuck out to me:

1. A few hours in, the band WAR payed, who look and sound like this: http://www.wartheband.com/. For about a second and a half I thought Jerry introduced GWAR, who look and sound like this: http://www.gwar.net/. I almost pooped. How much fun would that have been?!!

2. Ric Flair showed up which was awkward. And awesome.

3. There's a guy named Auggie who comes on every year. He suffers from ALS and we have basically been watching him deteriorate over the past several years. He's the guy who started the Club Fitness chain and now he's lost the use of not only his limbs but also his voice. It's a sad story, and each year his wife and son come out with him to help raise awareness for ALS. Used to be he'd do his best to say something to the camera, now he can't even mumble. He just cried. Sad.

Here's the thing, during the Sunday night part of the show, hours before Auggie came on stage, I was inspired to write a song about ALS. After it was written I briefly thought it should be dedicated to the Augster but decided against it. Then on Monday afternoon, they surprised him by premiering a song written for him by the guy from Five For Fighting, who I refuse to link to. I was annoyed by the whole thing. Five For Fighting suck, the song sucks, and so does the guy who wrote it. Auggie deserves better. I'm not saying mine is brilliant (and it isn't even about him actually), but come on, Five For Fighting? Really?

*****
There have been three more commercials for The Jay Leno show since I started typing this.

*****
I vote we change the expression to "Honky Dory." No real reason, it just makes me giggle.

*****
Valerie and I were given free tickets to the Cardinal's game tomorrow night, but can't find a sitter. I'm not a big baseball fan, but Valerie likes it. I like spending time with my wife, and as long as the game isn't too long and I can eat crappy stadium food (and I mean that in the nicest way possible), it can be an enjoyable evening. It doesn't look as though we will be attending unless a babysitter comes through soon. It's okay, the tickets were free, but it seems a shame to waste them. I put in a call to some friends but so far no takers either. And I got them from my uncle (hi Ron!) who also got them for free and can't use them either. Sometimes things just don't work out.

*****
Good Lord, another Leno commercial. This is driving me crazy. I'm gonna go eat bologna and see if the Steelers can't get it done and beat the crap out of the Titans here in the fourth quarter.

Bye.

The Library Story

The thing about sixteen month old children is that they are just learning to talk, and they have no volume control. So when they try to say words, they sometimes come up with something that sounds vaguely like the word they were going for, usually involving the first syllable. And if they're excited, happy or proud of themselves they say it at the top of their lungs. Every parent can attest to this, and they all have a story. This is mine.

Yesterday I had the day off, and took Tessa to the library. She loves the library, she gets to look at books, explore the aisles and play with the toys in the kids section. There are some plush toys that are just about as tall as she is, mostly of PBS and Disney characters. This is, of course, her favorite part.

When we entered the kids section she made a b-line for the dolls, and since she's under 5 she thinks Elmo is the greatest thing ever. So she ran to the toys yelling "Memmo! Melmmo! Memmo!" Which was cute. And then she saw another toy, a giant plush Cookie Monster. Tessa's eyes lit up, she looked at me with the cutest little smile on her face and said, at the top of her lungs...

"COCK! COCK!"

"Um, no honey," I explained, "you mean Cookie. That's Cookie Monster. Cooookieee."

"COCK!"

Daddy's little angel.

She then proceeded to make things worse by running through the library yelling "cock" as loud as possible. And I had to chase her. Being sixteen months old, Tessa is small, and speedier than she looks, which she used to her advantage. And all I could think of was the casual observer who only saw a grown man chasing after a small girl who is screaming something about cock.

All in all, not my proudest moment.

This week

My cell phone broke the other day. I don't mean it stopped working, I mean it broke. Physically. I have a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. The design is a one piece, with a flip down cover. The cover is only over the keys (natch), but also doubles as the control for the Walkman. It is very thin, and if you're not careful, it will fall the hell apart when you open it. Seriously, it just, like disintegrated in my hands.

Not only did it come off, but it broke into pieces. One of the hinges is extremely important as it, well, acts as a hinge, but also sends the signal to the phone that the cover is open or closed. Kinda like the button in your fridge that registers the open door so the light will come on. Anyway, this hinge is now gone. So the phone is always open and I can't use the Walkman function, not that it ever really worked anyway. Worse, since there's no cover, there's no way to lock the keys and I'm pocket dialing. So the phone is pretty much useless, and the warranty is questionable. Wear and tear and whatnot.

Fortunately I still have my old phone. It's seriously out of date, but it works and it'll do for a while. Being on the in-laws family plan, I might be able to switch come spring, so we'll see. Thanks to Elizabeth for advice on switching the phones, and thanks in advance to my mother in law, Janet, for getting the warranty info tomorrow.

So what else?

The T.V. in our living room broke as well. The power does not come on to the television. In the past I'd have looked into fixing it, but I think we spent like 80 bucks tops on it, and it'd probably just about even out. So we're moving the television from our bedroom down. It's bigger than the previous one and really pops out in the room. We'd always said no television in that room, but things change. Now there's no television in our bedroom, but we probably don't really need it anyway, and it sets a good precedent so we don't have to give one to Tessa someday. Of course, by then she'll watch T.V. on her phone or it'll beam straight into your head or something like that, but whatever.

As far as the sleep goes, I suppose it's been getting better. I am still waking up at weird hours, but I seem to be staying in bed, so that's good. Thanks to everyone who asked.

And that's pretty much been this week.

Sleep

I remember sleep. Seemed to enjoy it at the time.

I have not officially slept through the night for weeks. I know other insomniacs aren't impressed, but stick with me here.

Used to be my insomnia was the standard type like my brother has, where you just can't fall asleep (and to his credit, his is much worse than mine). It comes and goes too, so there's hope. Lately, however, it's changed. I do still stay up late not being tired, but I've also started waking up a lot during the night. Sometimes for an hour or so at a time, sometimes for about 10-15 minutes, multiple times a night. I've never done that before.

I've also become a light sleeper, which is weird because I used to be able to sleep through almost anything. Probably that's just because I'm a dad now and you learn to keep one ear out for your child. Tessa is waking up a few times a night herself because she's teething, but that's a quick fix, you just go in and rub her back for a few minutes and she calms down and goes back to sleep.

Okay, so nothing too far out of the ordinary yet, but dig this. Friday night we awoke around 2:30 to a dog barking outside. Kinda sounded like Jake. I sat up and thought I saw him in the closet, but that was just a pile of clothes. He was outside. But here's the thing, he wasn't when I went to bed. Valerie doesn't let him out overnight, that's become my job. So apparently I got the dog up, went downstairs, let him out, locked the door and went back to bed without being aware of it.

And just last night I woke up in the bathroom. I mean I had to go so it was well timed, but I didn't remember going in. Had a book and everything. So logically there's only two explanations. Either I've been drunk (which isn't likely as there's currently no alcohol in the house), or I'm sleepwalking. Again.

I had a brief period of sleepwalking as a child. I remember waking up in the living room a few times. And then there's the story my mom used to tell. She awoke to find me in the master bathroom adjoining my parent's bedroom. I was busy emptying a full tube of toothpaste into the sink. Mom quite rightly asked me what the hell I was doing. I chuckled at her (as though she were the weird one) and explained that I was looking for a place to put the mayonnaise. And then I went back to bed.

So yeah, I'm not having the best nights here lately. I'm going to try to get to sleep early tonight. Who knows, I might have some sort of Grand Adventure tonight, maybe I should rest up for it.

Music One Liners

I haven't really been able to come up with a good blog topic this week, so here's a bunch of one-liners about music and musicians. You don't necessarily need to be a musician to get these, there should still be a few chuckles for you. Here goes.

What do you call someone who hangs out with musicians?
A drummer.

What do you call a guitarist without a girlfriend?
Homeless.

What's the difference between a harmonica player walking down the street and a duck in a taxi cab?
The duck's probably on the way to a gig.

What has 9 arms and sucks?
Def Leppard.*

How do you get two piccolo players to play in perfect unison?
Shoot one.

What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?
Who cares, neither one is a guitar.

How can you tell the stage is level?
The bass player is drooling out of both sides of his mouth.

How many bass players does it take to change a light bulb?
Two, one to do it and one to show him how Entwhistle would have done it.

How many guitar players does it take to change a light bulb?
None, they just steal someone else's light.

What do you say to a drummer in a 3 piece suit?
"Will the defendant please rise..."

What's another name for a gay toilet?
Elton John.

Ever hear the one about the guitar player who was in tune?
Me neither.

What do you throw your bass player if he's drowning?
His amp.

Why are so many musician jokes one liners?
So the musicians can understand them.

How many guitar players does it take to cover a Stevie Ray Vaughn song?
Apparently all of them.

What does a stripper do with her asshole before she goes to work?
Drops him off at band practice.

Did you hear about the keyboard player who hooked up with the hottest chick at the gig?
Of course not, it never happened.

And finally, my favorite...

What did the Grateful Dead fan say when he ran out of weed?
"Man, this music sucks."

I'll do something more relateable next time. Or at least more accessible jokes.

Cheers!

*Actually, as a child of the 80's I like Def Lep, but that's a good one.

Dave's Super Excited List

Here's a list of some stuff I'm super excited about these days:

1. Farm Aid

For those who have been living under a rock, Farm Aid is in St. Louis this year at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. My brother and I are taking our father for his birthday. We got our tickets first day, and it's a good thing too because last I heard there are only individual seats left in the seating section, everything else is on the lawn. We are sitting in the upper right corner of seats, and though certainly not close, it's better than being on the lawn all day.

I'm super excited about this show for a few reasons. First of all, how often do you get to see Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp on the same bill? Wilco has also been added to the line-up, with more artists T.B.A. There are usually about 20 artists on the bill, which is cool because even if half of them suck (Dave Matthews anyone?) you're still getting a lot of music for your money. Now, this does mean that most of the sets will be short, say 20-45 minutes but that's okay, it should still be fun.

Also, I believe in the cause. I'm not necessarily against factory farms, but I do feel that we should help out the family farmer. As Charlie Daniels once sang, "He's the American Farmer/And he's damn hard to beat/You better wake up America/'Cause if the man don't work the people don't eat." Farmers deserve to sell their crops for a fair market price, and deserve a little help when the crops fail due to a bad year. The main sponsor of the show is Horizon Organic Foods, who not only use family farms and pay a fair price, they also have higher safety and environmental standards than factory farms do. And you thought the organic thing was just for health nuts. So not only do I get a good show, I help out some good people too. It's a win-win.

2. Man v. Food Season Two

My favorite show and my t.v. hero Adam Richman are back beginning Wednesday night August 5th. Yay! Food, it ain't your day.

3. Motorheat

Two of my favorite rock bands, Motorhead and Reverend Horton Heat, are touring together this year. Miraculously enough, St. Louis is actually getting this show. You see, this is the type of ultra cool show that normally skips us in favor of Chicago or Kansas City. St. Louis is often deemed not hip enough (by promoters) to get awesome stuff like this. Two legendary(if fairly underground) rock bands, one night. My face is already in pain just to train for how much it's going to get rocked Sept. 23rd.

4. Watchmen

Just saw the Watchmen DVD and I really liked it. I was a bit concerned as I haven't read the graphic novel and had heard from several sources that I would probably get lost. Well, no worries there, I had no problem following it. Valerie could follow it as well, and she was sewing at the time.

So anyway, I thought overall the movie was really well done. It looks absolutely fantastic, and moves quickly. It also rewards you for paying attention, which I love. I don't like it when movies require I turn off my brain to enjoy them (well, unless it's a silly B movie with big dumb rubber monsters or something like that), and Watchmen is just the opposite. Now, that doesn't mean it's perfect. I did see most of the reveals coming a mile away, and some of the casting choices didn't really do it for me. I also could've done without Dr. Manhattan's wang. However, the themes of violence (of which there is much, and it's graphic to boot), justice, political and personal power, psychosis and the nature of time and humankind make for a rich experience.

Even at 3 plus hours, they had to leave stuff out that was in the original comic (it's a big one folks), and they changed the ending for the film too. So now I'm looking to read the original piece and see what all I've missed. Anybody feeling generous can send me a copy. Okay, I didn't really expect that to work, but it's worth a shot.

5. Blue Tattoo

My band is currently recording a bunch of songs for our next project. The form isn't totally decided yet, but it'll probably be a self released CD with 11-14 songs, and I'm sure we'll do something digital on our website as well but we haven't really talked about that yet. So far we've got about 5 or 6 songs in the can minus backing vocals, and have scratch/drum tracks for more. Hopefully we'll get the recording part done in another three or four weeks and then we can start approaching clubs again. We haven't had much luck in the clubs as of yet, but if we can get a little more disciplined and really attack it, I think we'll be successful. A few weeks ago I was feeling kinda down about it all, but here lately I've started to get a lot more excited about the whole thing again. There will be more news soon...watch this space.

6. The Happy Dance

Apparently Valerie and Tessa have their own happy dance they did earlier tonight (8/4/09). It was a happy dance. In the potty. I missed it. I'm not sure what's involved, but I'm already fascinated. The story I got was that Tessa peed in the potty (accidentally, but she did it), and she was so proud of herself, as was Valerie, that a dance broke out. Now don't get too excited, she's too young for potty training to stick, but that doesn't mean we can't dance about it. Perhaps we do the dance of joy as taught to us by Balke from Mepos. Or maybe we do the Time Warp. The Funky Chicken? The Thriller dance? There's so many to choose from!!!

Anyway...

There's your list of what's keeping me excited and entertained lately. Actually there's other stuff too. but I thought these were the most interesting. At least I hope it's interesting. Otherwise, I've wasted your time dear reader, which you probably find quite boring. But either way I'm still entertained. So there.

Smoky Mountain Pictures

A little later than anticipated, but here are some pictures from our vacation.

Road Trip!

Shaking It.

Dig that vista.

Tom Branch Falls.

You call this hiking?

Indian Falls

The Davettes at Laurel Falls.

Let's go wading.

Ooh...cold.

Dancing in the water...and rockin' her D.B.T. onesie.

C'mon, get out of there already!

There ya go. Up next: Farm Aid, I watch The Watchmen and other stuff.

Birthday Blog

Just had a birthday this weekend. Yay! I love birthdays.

Many people, however, do not. I don't really get that. I mean, your birthday is the one day it really is all about you, yk'now, as opposed to the other 364 days of the year when you just think it is.

Most people who don't like birthdays tend to fall into one of two categories. The first one is people who just hate the fact that they're getting older. For some reason our society is youth focused, as opposed to the way many foreign cultures operate in which the elderly are actually looked up to for their wisdom and experience. Anyway, I think it's sad that people are so uncomfortable with their own lives that they can't deal with being a year older. As if it was a crime or an embarrassment of some kind. Age is not an embarrassment until you start crapping your pants. Of course, by then you're too old to care, so where's the problem?

Hey, I miss being able to do some of the things I did when I was younger, but I'm having a really good time right now. I've got a great wife and awesome child, I've got my band, a job, and it's all going well. I'm on the downside of my thirties now and I'm happy. I don't see that changing. But some people are so insecure that the idea of age terrifies them and they don't want anyone pointing it out by doing something so kind as to wish them a happy birthday or buy them a gift. Sad. They also don't want to be a part of your celebration either. Double sad.

The other group I just don't understand at all. That's the "birthdays are for kids" group. Apparently, after you turn 18, you only get birthdays at 21, 30 , 40, 50 and 65. The supposed "important" ones. Well, newsflash for ya sparky, they're all important, because the alternative to having birthdays is being dead. Pass the cake, please.

So anyway, my birthday was pretty cool. My birthday was on Saturday, and I went to see the Old 97's play at The Pageant (great show, really energetic and fun. Plus I got a birthday discount on a t-shirt.) Then on Sunday we had family over to the house to celebrate. Upon reflection, I should have okayed the singing. I decided it could be optional, and we opted not. Turns out I kinda missed it, so next year y'all best get to singin'. Thanks to everybody for showing up and for all the gifts. It's all much appreciated.

Our Smoky Mountains Vacation Part Three-Let's Wrap This Up

Our final two days in Gatlinburg were spent in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

On Tuesday we decided to drive to the North Carolina side of the park to visit the waterfall trails we'd discovered on our last trip. The park in that area is just outside of the Indian reservation town of Cherokee. There are a lot of exhibits of Native American history to visit, everything from an outdoor drama telling the Cherokee story to history museums. As of yet we haven't seen any of them, but I think it would be interesting to do someday.

Once we hit the park our first stop was the Juney Whank Falls trail. Unintentionally, we'd picked the steepest trail to begin our hikes. Good plan. You want a workout? Try pushing a baby in a stroller up a friggin' mountain. On the way up we encountered two people riding on horseback along the trail. Tessa's eyes got huge, you could just see her thinking, "That is the biggest doggie I have ever seen!" The falls themselves are fairly small, but beautiful and seen from a bridge that goes just in front of and over them. Great, but the others are more impressive, so...

Next we went to the trail that goes to both the Tom Branch Falls and Indian Falls. Tom Branch Falls are seen from across the river. It's a popular spot for sitting and relaxing on the many benches, photographs and splashing around in the river. This trip however was much different than our last as in March it's a nice peaceful spot. In the summer though, it's over run with inner tubes and the people who use them.

Okay, I expected the trails to be more crowded than last time, but I didn't expect about a hundred plus tubers glutting the trail wearing swimsuits designed for bodies they didn't have. Not only were they pervasive on the trail, but there were so many people on the river that they wound up getting into clusters of people uglying up the scenery. You see, the river that runs through this part of the park is a little on the small side and it's full of giant rocks. So naturally when one person gets stuck on a rock, about five or six others get stuck too, until somebody can get the first person unlodged. Is it just me, or does this not sound fun? I mean, on a patch of clear river with a few rapid spots I can see where tubing could be an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon but this just seemed like a waste of time.

Also, it kind of made me sad that most of these people are only concerned with the tubing part and not taking in the beautiful scenery around them. In fact, I heard more than a few people being annoyed with, and saying rude comments to the people who wanted to stop and take it in. "Daddy look at that waterfall." "I see it. Let's keep moving." Just sad.

So, having the first falls somewhat spoiled I was kinda down about the day and only going up to the next set of falls out of obligation. Much to my relief we passed a sign that read "No tubing beyond this point" and were rewarded with the last part of our hike to Indian Falls in relative solitude. Best of all, when we got to the falls we were all alone to take in the beauty. If you blink you'll miss the entrance to Indian Falls, but it's worth looking for. I was able to take Tessa to the far side of the falls and let her enjoy playing in the pond a little. I must admit it was worth all the other stuff to get to that place of tranquility and family togetherness.

Wednesday we decided to start the day with a hike to Laurel Falls (we love us some waterfalls in the Brink household!). Sometime on Tuesday I caught a bit of a stomach bug, which hadn't been too big of a problem so far, but that morning I was feeling pretty sick. I didn't want to spoil the trip so I went ahead with the hike. Although the trail wasn't quite as steep as the previous day, it was a little too much for me to push Tessa up the mountain in that state, so Valerie and I pushed her in shifts. They say that waterfalls release negative ions into the air which causes a reaction in people and makes them feel happier. The temperature also drops at a waterfall, which will definitely help a sweaty hiker feel better! Even though it decided to rain on us about halfway up, the Falls were quite enjoyable. Once again, we were all able to play in the water a little, and we even got to bring Tessa right up to the falls and let her touch the cascading water. Pretty cool. And after leaving the falls-I felt fine the rest of the day. Yay ions!

After lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, The Old Mill (where we discovered Tessa likes lemons), we got all spontaneous and decided to head back into the park for the Sugarland Valley Nature Trail. It's a small looping trail, paved, flat and it follows the little pigeon river for the first half. Here's where Tessa had the most fun. We went off the trail to the river banks and let her play for almost half an hour. She loved wading in the water, splashing it on her face, and throwing river rocks. Once again, here we were mostly on our own. This one little off the cuff trip wound up producing the best family moment. We got to enjoy the majesty and beauty of God and his nature as a family-you can't get better than that.

Thursday was back to Nashville for a night, but we left via a detour through the GSM park via the Little River Road. It follows the Little River (duh) and is a slightly winding road, with lots of great scenery and if you roll down the windows, the sound of the rolling river is about as peaceful as it gets.

Did you know wild turkeys can fly? Yep, it's true. We saw three different turkeys on our trip, but as we left the park one flew across the road from one tree to another, like about ten feet in the air. Apparently the farm raised turkeys are too heavy to fly as they're being fattened up for Thanksgiving, but wild ones actually sleep in trees and fly. I googled it. So we didn't see any bears, but a flying turkey is still pretty cool. And less dangerous.

Sorry for writing a novel here, but i wanted to get everything covered. I've kinda been busy the last two days, what with our three year anniversary (thanks Valerie for 3 wonderful years) and watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (thanks Elizabeth for loaning me the DVD). I'll try to get some pictures up here soon of the vacation.

Peace out.

Our Smoky Mountain Vacation Part Two

On Monday it was supposed to rain in Gatlinburg. Therefore, we decided that this would be the best day to visit the Craft Loop. For those who said "what's that?", it's an eight mile loop just a few miles off the main strip full of mountain crafts; quilts, carvings, paintings, knick-knacks etc.
Pretty much anything hand made one could want while on vacation. Clearly, this is one of Valerie's favorite parts of Gatlinburg.

Our first stop was the Brush and Pen gallery. It's an art store run by Mr. Bobby and Mrs. Bobbi Moose, he does sketches of scenes around the area and his wife does wildlife paintings. Valerie has already bought two paintings in the "Bear Pause" series (yep, a painting of a bear by a Moose), which features bears in scenes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Because we'd bought before they had one reserved for us. Unfortunately, the painting was available but not matted or framed. So, the painting is purchased, the frame on order, and we should be seeing it in a few weeks. Oddly, I haven't seen any paintings of Moose in the shop, but then they're not exactly native to the area, But still, you'd think there'd be one...

Next we visited the King Daddy of all shops in Gatlinburg-Alewine Pottery. If you've ever been to Gatlinburg you know this shop, and you know who Robert Alewine is.

In short, he's the man in Gatlinburg. When you turn on television and tune in to channel 20, you will see the logo of the Gatlinburg Arts and Craft channel, which is Robert Alewine making pottery. The channel only shows old documentaries about early mountain life and commercials for Alewine Pottery. The dude owns the channel!!! These commercials not only show the shop, but often the pottery being made, all interspersed with nature scenes and old-tyme music from the house band. That's right, the store has a house band. I told you, he's the man.

By including his family in the commercials, you kind of get the feeling you know them before you even go. Then when you do make the trek (which you will) because you've watched this channel for, like, hours (which you will), everyone there treats you so well you feel as though you do know them. You can watch the pottery being made right in front of you on one side of the store, and then walk through the rest to see literally hundreds of pieces-and no two are alike. The feeling of the shop is exactly what you want it to be and they do quite a brisk business.

Now, I'll admit that when we first saw the commercial a few years ago for "gen-u-ine Alewine" pottery we made fun of it like everyone else. But once you get into the whole relaxed vibe of it all, the Alewine family will win you over.

So, as we were shopping the lady behind the check out counter (whose name I don't remember) was complimenting and talking to Tessa. She liked the pigtail in Tessa's hair, and when you mention the word hair Tessa reaches up and touches the top of her head to show you where her hair is. Well, the lady thought that was just precious (which seems to be what most Southerners say about her), and called Mr. Alewine himself over to compliment the girl's hair.

Now, at this point Valerie was all smiles, thinking it was so cool that Robert friggin' Alewine was talking to her daughter. I could tell that she wanted to speak up, but she kept her cool. I was trying to make sure Tessa performed on cue for a local celebrity. Tessa couldn't have given less of a crap. However, with a little coaxing, she did her cute hair thing and got the appropriate response, and we purchased a few items. But Tessa wasn't done yet.

The aforementioned band have a makeshift stage outside the shop (next to the free freshly popped popcorn) and we stopped for a while to listen. Tessa was given a shaker to play along , which she did with total abandon and lack of rhythm just as she should have. She danced around for a while and was the center of attention. I gave her a dollar to put in the tip hat and we went on our way.

Dinner that night was at the Bear Creek Grill, a fairly new restaurant by the same folks who run Howard's, my favorite steak house in the area. The creek side dining was nice, and Valerie enjoyed her chicken Parmesan dinner, though my grilled trout was a little dry. Tessa's favorite part was the bear shaped salt and pepper shakers and the swing out front which she sat on with daddy. After dinner, we went back to the condo and hit the swimming pool (even me and I haven't been swimming since my teens!) which Tessa loved and I must admit was quite refreshing.

All in all, quite a pleasant day. And it didn't rain a drop.

Next time: Adventures in the park.