Monday chatter

What's good everybody?

So I'm back home now and things are beginning to settle down. Here's a quick recap of the past few days.

Taylor and I had a great time this weekend in Asheville. We went to the Biltmore mansion (pretty cool place) and we wondered around Asheville and ate at some good spots. It was really a great weekend, the perfect mix of sight seeing and relaxing...sadly just not enough time with Taylor. But, she'll be home in like 10 days so....BYAHH!

While Asheville did prove to be a good place for us to meet for a weekend, one thing about the town was really bizarre....the amount of hippies.

I mean when you go to Cumberland Brews on a Friday night you expect to see a good deal of 20 - 30 year old hippies who are craving a local brew. When I went to Bonnaroo I knew abundant amounts of hippies were to be expected. But, this was an entire hippy town. The old folks were hippies, the babies were hippies...they had hackey sacks for sale all over the place. It was truly bizarre. I have nothing against hippies, they're a tad lazy and smelly sometimes...but in my book they're ok. It was just so weird to realize that the entire town was just a bunch of Zeppelin fans and their Phish loving children. I really felt like I was in an episode of South Park...especially when there was the circle of hippies playing some music on the street...two guitars...11 strings between them...and one guy playing a saw with a violin bow. It was pretty wild.

The other important thing that happened this weekend was the fact that I became closer with my car. Now a while ago I asked you guys to help me name my new ride...but then I realized it was just too soon to name it. However, after 12 hours of one on one time with the Liberty...I think a name is in order. I mean if you met someone and just talked to them for 12 hours alone...wouldn't you want to know their name? So, later this week I'll post the top 5 names for the car and see what you guys think.

One last thing, Shaq is and always will be the most entertaining basketball player of all time. In case you missed it, here is his dance with the Jabbawockeez at last nights all star game.

Shaqtastic indeed!


Also, Pitt and Uconn on Big Monday tonight at 7 on ESPN...should be a good one!

Song of the Day: Black Keys - All You Ever Wanted
Beer of the Day: Highland - Gaelic Ale

Lame

Alright, there's no beating around the bush here...the blog has been a little lame the past few weeks. The number of posts are down, the number of visitors are down, the comments are non-existent...it's just kinda dragging along. Also, with me leaving town again tomorrow...things are looking bright for the rest of this week either.

Here is the problem, the blog is best when my life is kinda lame. When my life is just moving along I tend to notice little odd things that happen and then I can write a riveting blog entry on random things like the beauty of sweat pants! However, when I'm out of power for 12 days, out of town two weekends in a row and currently fearing that today's wind storm will knock my power out again...I just don't really get enough time to sit and think about the crazy things that go on in this world.

So, here's my promise to you remaining LoB fans. My power is back on, I've got cable, I'll get to see Taylor this weekend, March is just around the corner...basically all things are pointing to a calm, stress free, very happy Brian after this weekend.

While this post may have been a waste of your time to read and the Tidbits may not have been quite up to par yesterday...I'm going on a blog break until Monday....then you'll see a return of the annoying, ranting, sarcastic Brian that you guys and gals have all come to love.

Sound good? No? Well just deal...it's only a few more days.

Have a good rest of the week/weekend LoB fans. I'll see you guys on Monday.

Side note: I hope this weekend/time off/things getting back to normal will help improve my blog mojo....otherwise one of my friends is going to have to act like a stalker again in order to gain some interest.

Song of the Day: Paul McCartney - Another Day
Beer of the Day: Rogue - Mocha Porter

Tuesday Tidbits...

Here we go...

* So the Mini-Marathon training...it's not going great. The darn ice storm and New Orleans trip really put a damper on it...but I'm going to get after again tonight. I'm running that stupid race, if it's the last thing I do (it really might be)...I'm running the race.

* The always awesome Paste magazine has made a huge mistake. I was recently browsing their list of "The 17 Best Romantic Comedies of This Decade"...I agreed with some ("About a Boy", "High Fidelity") but I went from 17-1 and realized...NO "LOVE ACTUALLY"! I just don't know what to say....it's clearly a typo.

* I found this sweet soccer celebration on a blog...thought I'd share.

Hooray Choreography!

* So I mentioned the Grammys yesterday...but I didn't mention the performance of Lil' Wayne, T.I, Jay-Z, Kanye West and M.I.A. It was a pretty cool performance I must say, although I wish Kanye wasn't such a bastard. Anyway this is what M.I.A. wore:
Bizarre, right? Well as it turns out M.I.A. is 9 months pregnant and was due on the day of the Grammys. I'm not a doctor, but I would guess hopping around on stage, singing and dancing, when you're baby is due any minute, is probably not the safest thing in the world. I mean maybe it's all good, but I'm just saying if that baby comes out with only one ear....I think we know what to blame.

* Do you know how much TV I watch? It turns out I watch it a lot. Not having cable is just crazy. After basketball last night I took a shower and then read a book and played guitar...I wanted to watch tv...but ohhh no. I mean it's not horrible not having tv...but I sure would like it back.

* Apparently some 9 year old created an I-phone application and now everyone thinks he's the next Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. While it's pretty cool that he did this...I would like to think that if I-phones had been around when I was nine...I could have done something like that. I mean I was really good at doodling in "Paint" on our first computer. Also, where are this kid's parents? I mean, why does he have so much knowledge about an i-phone at age 9? All I know is that kid better start lifting weights because he's going to have to go to high school in a few years and I would imagine that even in Singapore being fluent in 6 programming languages is a recipe for an ass-kicking.

Actually, he'll probably go straight to Harvard...who am I kidding, that kid's awesome.

* Big news from UofL's football program. Head coach Steve Kragthorpe has fired our old offensive coordinator and replaced him with....himself! Really? Seriously? At least he finally showed a little emotion though...as you can see in this picture from his press conference...Steve's pretty jacked up about having full control of the Cardinals' offense next year:
Yeah...he's stoked. Or maybe he's pissed? Or maybe we just scored a touchdown? Or no...I think we fumbled? He's hungry? Sad? Gassy? Hell I dunno, it's really hard to get a read on a guy who only ever makes one facial expression. Anyway, here's to 4 yard out routes on 3 and 9 for another year!

* Hair cut in less than 90 minutes...Hopefully I'll come out of it alive.

That's all today buck-a-roos! Have a good one!

Song of the Day: Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
Beer of the Day: Fuller's - ESB

10 Monday Thoughts

So I'm back in town, it's warmer in Louisville....things are looking up. Here's 10 thoughts to round up the last few days.

1.) New Orleans is a wild city. I had a pretty good time down there, saw some cool places, ate some good food, drank some weird drinks, saw two cowboys walking ponies down the middle of the road...you know same old thing. It was fun, but I'd like to go back and see the things I didn't get to see (read: "the things I don't remember).

2.) My apartment totally has power! WOO-HOO! It only took like 12 days, but damnit...we've got lights. We do not have cable or Internet...and it could be another week till that gets fixed...baby steps.

3.) I'm heading out of town again this weekend as I'm going to Asheville, NC to see Taylor. I've never been to Asheville....but it's about halfway between Charleston and Louisville...so let's hope it's really awesome.

4.) I met up with my long lost buddy Tom while in New Orleans. He's living down there while working as an assistant horse trainer. I think it's safe to say he's enjoying his time down there...but his karaokeing (totally a word) could use tons of help. It's all about song selection Tommy boy!

5.) The Cards won yesterday in what can only be described as the ugliest basketball game I've seen in a while. It looked like a pickup game...a bad one...but Jerry made sure the Cards didn't lose as he played Michael Jordan for us down the stretch.

6.) Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids today. My reaction? "No way? A star baseball player on roids? That's preposterous!" I hope you can sense the sarcasm. Bottom line, steroids are bad, but you can't go back and catch every player who ever did them. Stop worrying about things that happened 5 or so years ago...just focus on making the games more entertaining now that 90% of the players are performing under their career averages.

7.) My Morning Jacket didn't win a grammy last night...John Mayer did...it's just not fair. I actually like John Mayer as a person, he had like a 2 episode tv show on VH1 like 5 years ago and it was hilarious. He's really funny and he's really good at guitar...but he writes songs just to make money and most of them aren't very good (I own one John Mayer album...you got me...damn you 15 year old Brian!) I just don't think it's fair that he gets to date Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Love Hewitt AND win grammys, somethings gotta give....I bet he's on steroids.

8.) If you've seen The Office or 30 Rock from this past Thursday...please refrain from talking to me about them...I still haven't seen them.

9.) I have to move my guitar lessons from Thursdays for a while because Craig has to teach at UofL during my regular spot this semester...it's throwing my life for a loop. I just thought you guys should know that.

10.) I have an appointment to get my haircut tomorrow at Fritz's Man Salon at 5:30...all I can say is:
Song of the Day: Llama - Close to the Silence
Beer of the Day: Abita - Oatmeal Stout

Nawlins!

Ladies and Gents...I'm headed to the Big Easy!
Dad has to go down to New Orleans for a conference and Michele decided to stay home...which left an unused ticket...which led to me getting to go. Hells to the Yeah!

I'll be flying out tomorrow morning at the butt-crack of dawn and returning on Sunday morning.

I've never been to New Orleans, but it seems like a sweet town. Let's go over what I know about New Orleans and whether or not I like those things.

* They have great food: Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, etc.
- Yes, I like all that stuff...However, I'm going to need to carry around a towel though because with the spiciness of their food...I'm sure to start sweating as soon as I get off the plane.

* There are tons of bars and such down there.
- Abita beer, Hurricanes....I think I can handle all of that.

* The music scene is great: Dr. John, Louis Armstrong, The Neville Brothers, Allen Toussaint.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes. Hearing some New Orleans Jazz is on the top of my list of things to do.

* They have this thing called Mardi Gras...the party has already started.
- I like to party and I'm not ashamed to show my chest for free stuff. Byahh!

* They have a really high crime rate
- I'm not such a fan of this part...but I have a beard, hopefully I'll be ok.

* My good friend Tom (a fellow LoB reader) lives there
- I haven't seen Tom in like a year or more. I'm sure we'll get together for a drink or 6.

* It's a totally badass city.
- I've always wanted to go to New Orleans. It sounds like my kinda town...hopefully I'm right.

Well that sums up my knowledge of the city...I think all signs point to a good time. I'll give you guys a full recap on Monday.

Song of the time from now until Monday: Dr. John - Iko Iko
Beer of the time from now until Monday: Abita - Restoration Ale

Tuesday Tidbits...

Swaaahhh!

* Hey guess who still doesn't have power? Yeah good guess...it's me! I love snow days...but this is a mess...I'm tired of it. I WANT MY POWER BACK!!!

* Alright let's just get it out of the way...the Cards got their asses kicked last night. I'm not afraid to admit it. UCONN deserves to be #1 in the nation. T-Will was great last night, the rest of the boys need to sack up and play. There's a long way to go until the tourney...I still like the Cards chances. Also, I would rather play anyone in the nation besides UCONN again...dem boyz is rough.

* So I think yesterday was Groundhog day...yeah? I'm willing to bet it's going to be a long winter...which is great for me since my apartment has no heat!

* Update on Mini-Marathon training...it's not going great. With the ice covering the roads and the power being out for so long...I haven't ran in over a week. I'll get back after it tonight...but I'm not looking forward to it.

* So I thought I was a pretty sweet blogger, until I read this. Apparently Erykah Badu thinks that the birth of her child is so important that she needs to blog while in labor...that's insane. However, I don't like to be shown up so I promise that whenever I go into labor with my first child...I'll blog every step of the way! That's a promise I know I can keep.

* You knew it was coming...Shankapotamus.


* Also, this is the best idea since the Bud's "Wassupp"


* M Ward has a new cd coming out this month. He's a LoB fave and if you go here, you can hear "Never Had Nobody Like You" off the new album. I'm excited.

* Have I mentioned I still don't have power? It's not fun.

* February is and always will be my least favorite month. It's boring, it's cold, if it didn't have college basketball I would just sleep through the whole month (read: "If UofL gets blown out again I'm sleeping till March). At least it's short.

That's all! Get your Tuesday on Boys and Girls.

Song of the Day: Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
Beer of the Day: Left Hand - Milk Stout

10 Monday "Super Bowl" Thoughts

* So I'm on day 6 now without power...it's pretty fantabulous.

Friday and Saturday I stayed at Ben and Megs'. Megs' brother was in town so it was like one big sleep over. We ate, drank, played the wii...it was all good. A big thanks once again for letting me crash for so long.

I'm at my Mom's now since she has electricity. The move from a couch to a bed for sleeping arrangements was pretty nice.

* The SuperBowl has come and gone (woo-hoo). It was a pretty good game, here are 10 random thoughts about last night.

1.) How can the refs not review Warner's last fumble? It may not have been overturned...but you have to at least look at it. Sweet miss by the refs on Holmes' Lebron James celebration too. Using the ball as a prop for a celebration is an automatic 15 yard penalty...apparently that rule doesn't apply to the Super Bowl. Also, apparently two hand touching Ben Roethlisberger a split second after he lets go of the ball is not allowed either. Great game, poor officiating.

2.) Why do some companies waste money Superbowl commercials? I'm looking at you, MacGruber Pepsi ad.

3.) Did Bruce Springsteen really "power slide" his crotch into the homes of millions of people? Yes, he did.
I bet there are tons of cougars out there who would have given anything to be the cameraman on the end of that crotch slide.

4.) Two great additions to the E-Trade Baby catalogue. I think the golf one was a tad better then the singing one...but not much.

5.) A pretty good "Office" last night, but what was the point of having Jack Black and the other celebs on there? That seemed like a big waste of money. Also, Andy Bernard....easily the best character on the show.

6.) The Doritos "crystal ball" commercial was pretty funny...but I think the Bob Dylan/Wil.I.Am Pepsi ad was probably my favorite...not counting the E-Trade Baby and the 1 second Miller High Life commercials.

7.) I was pissed for about 2 minutes last night when I thought they were going to give Ben Roethlisberger the MVP. While he made some big plays (How do you pump fake like that and not lose the ball?), Santonio Holmes was unbelievable on that final drive.

8.) No one on that field last night is a better football player then Larry Fitzgerald...except for maybe Troy Polamalu.

9.) I am totally pumped to see, "The Year One". Jack Black + Michael Cerra = Brian paying money to see your film....remember that.

10.) I'm glad the NFL is over so now we can focus on really important things...like College Basketball. Who am I kidding, the NFL draft is only a few months away...I'm going to need to know the breakdown of every pick before then. God, I hate NFL coverage.

That's all for my SuperBowl wrap up. Your first dose of tidbits in 2 weeks will be coming your way tomorrow.

Song of the Day: Wilco - She's a Jar
Beer of the Day: Dogfish Head - Chicory Stout