Tuesday Tidbits...

Big news today...

* You are currently reading the 300th post on this blog! Holy Cow! I mean, that's a lot of blogging. So yeah, I guess we should all celebrate or something! Congrats everyone.

* Happy Avett Brothers Day! Their new album, I and Love and You is out today and you should buy it. In honor of the album being out, I've undergone the "Avett Brothers Experience" at work today. I'm on The Second Gleam and it looks like the new album will get a spin as soon as I head home. Woo Avetts!

* The CrapBags lost again this weekend and looked a whole lot like actual bags of crap while doing it. The team needs a shake-up somehow, but I can't put my finger on what's wrong. I'll keep you posted.

* Today's weather in Louisville is about as picture perfect as it gets for me. It's like 58 degrees, it's cloudy and grey...it's amazing. I think a porch nap is in my near future.

* It was brought to my attention that my 1/2 birthday just recently passed. Thanks for the card...none of you! But yeah, 23 and 1/2...that's another reason to celebrate today.

* Don't look now, but you might want to get out your foam tomahawks because the Braves are making a late season push for the playoffs.
Just when I thought Baseball was about over, it managed to peek my interest a bit. They're 2 back in the wildcard with 6 to play. Go Braves! Boo Rockies! (Because I mentioned this, the Braves won't win another game this year.)

* For all you Centre folk out there...here's a nice picture of Old Centre that fits the season. I found it on Centre's website and then edited it a bit to make it look cooler.
I love that place...I really really do.

* Paste.com has a great article about their 10 favorite Arrested Development moments. You can have a laugh with it here.

* Finally, I know most of you think I'm a dork for my weekend bender of Beatles Rock Band...but check THIS out. Yeah, that's Alyssa Milano playing Beatles Rock Band! She can be my Ringo any day.


That's all for today gang. Enjoy the wonderful Fall day.

Song of the Day: The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Beer of the Day: Dogfish Head - Punkin Ale

Weekend Recap

Good Monday blog readers, how were your weekends? Restful I hope.

Here's a recap of mine.

The biggest thing about this weekend was my GRE test. I laid low Friday night and studied and such. Then, I awoke on Saturday ready to roll. I got to the testing site a little early and was able to go on in and start my test. While I felt I was doing well the whole time I was bothered by two things: The heat and the annoying lady next to me. Honestly I think it was 85 degrees in that room, I was sweating from the get go. Then, a lady sits down at the cube next to me and proceeds to "whisper/read" all of the directions and questions out loud. Plus, she would groan and such whenever she was faced with a question that made her think...which was all of them. They give you these mega noise cancelling earphone things to block out the sound...but those made me sweat even more. Needless to say, I had some distractions.

The good news is that, even with those distractions, I still got a good score on the test. I surpassed the score needed to get into the Sports Admin. program and I missed my "goal" score by a measly 10 points. So, things are looking up in regards to grad school.

So with the GRE out of the way I went about the rest of my Saturday as a free man...which meant hours and hours of Beatles rock band.

Lautaro was at his dad's so I knew I would have to tackle Beatles Rock Band alone...so I stopped at the Doo Wop Shop and bought a microphone stand so I could sing and play guitar at the same time (because I'm a total stud and I'm not dorky at all). Then I proceeded to go home and drink beer while beating Beatles Rock Band! Yup 45 songs, all sung by me at the top of my lungs...alone. I'm awesome. For the record, Beatles Rock Band is amazing!

Later on Saturday I went to my Mom's with Ben and Megs for some Chili and UofL football. The Chili was good, the football was awful. Steve Kragthorpe is a moron.

After a long awesome Saturday I headed to the Marra family reunion on Sunday with my mom. Family reunions are generally lame, but I always have fun at this one and yesterday was not any different.

So, now it's on to another week and as we move into October there is a lot on the horizon:

* Dude and Melissa's wedding this weekend, which will be made especially awesome for me because Ben and I get to play guitar at the wedding. It's our first gig.

* Wedding planning. Taylor and I are doing as much as we can via the phone route. Luckily she'll be in town in a few weeks to scope out some venues. Holy Crap, I'm getting married! It's pretty awesome.

* Finishing my grad school application

* Getting ready for Centre homecoming

* Celebrating Sherwood Forest's 1 year anniversary

* Enjoying the fall (today is gorgeous in Louisville)

So yeah, lots of busy and fun times in the near future. Glad the GRE is out of the way and looking forward to seeing some close friends and loved ones in the coming weeks.

Woo-hoo Fall!

Also, no more GRE Words of the Day! Back to Beers of the Day instead, all is right with the world!

Song of the Day: Josh Ritter - To The Dogs or Whoever
Beer of the Day: O'Fallon - Pumpkin Ale

GRE

24 hours from now I'll be finished with the GRE...it will be nice.

I'm not really nervous about the actual test, I've been studying off and on for like 3 months now so I feel like I'm prepared properly. I'd say I'm more anxious than anything.

The biggest reason for my anxiety is the fact that I haven't taken a test in about a year and a half. It shouldn't hurt me too bad, but I'd feel more comfortable if I was coming fresh off a school year or something.

Another reason for my anxiety is the fact that they give you your score as soon as you finish. Now I'm not saying I'd want to wait 3 months for my results, but maybe a few days. I'm gonna be super pissed if I don't do as well as I would like and then I don't even get to enjoy being finished.

Luckily, I don't get too worked up over this stuff. It's an important test, sure, but if I don't do well I'll pick myself up and move on...no big deal. I tried my best and that's all I can ask of myself.

So yeah, I'll do some more practice questions tonight, get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast and give it my best shot. It's a just a test.

Plus, as soon as I'm done...I've got a fresh copy of Beatles Rock Band sitting at my apartment...courtesy of my wonderful fiance. She sent it to me hoping it would get here on Saturday, but it came earlier. She told me I could play it tonight if I wanted, but I'm gonna stay strong and wait until after the test...then I'll unleash my inner Beatle.

Alright, have a good weekend gang. Wish me luck!

Song of the Day: Monsters of Folk - Baby Boomer
GRE Word: Erudite - Scholarly; displaying deep intensive learning

Modern Family...

Last night ABC's new sitcom Modern Family premiered. I had decent expectations going into the show and it was 100x funnier than I expected.

I would try to give you a brief summary of what the show is about, but I'll just let this video do the work for me...


After seeing the preview I originally thought that it might be one of those deals where the preview contained all of the funny parts...not even close. I think I laughed out loud at least once at every character.

I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to get your hopes and I don't want to spoil the episode for those who may want to watch it...but I just wanted to let you know that this is a show that you should watch...it's 100% LoB approved (after 1 episode at least).

They're replaying it on Friday at 9 (I think) or you can watch it online right now

If nothing else...watch it because Julie Bowen is and always will be a hottie.
I've had a thing for her ever since Happy Gilmore.

Have a good Thursday people.

Song of the Day: Monsters of Folk - His Master's Voice
GRE Word: Fervent - Greatly emotional or zealous

Top 5: Albums to Listen to in the Fall...

There are many things to love about the Fall, but one of my favorites is the fact that certain music just sounds better in the fall. Here are 5 great albums to listen to as the leaves change.

5.) Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
I was going to put an Avett Brothers album here, but I couldn't move this album out of the top 5. Band of Horses' first album is great for Fall too.

Two to listen to: "No One's Gonna Love You" and "The General Specific"


4.) Neko Case and Her Boyfriends - Furnace Room Lullaby
It takes about 2 seconds for this album to get good...because that's how long it takes for Neko to start singing. Her voice is so good it's unfair.

Two to listen to: "Set Out Running" and "Twist the Knife"


3.) Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest
This isn't actually an album, it's the soundtrack to the DVD of the same name. The DVD comes with a free download. I bought this on impulse Junior year of college and it is now perhaps my favorite Wilco related material. It's just outstanding from start to finish.

Two to listen to: "Radio King" and "One by One"


2.) Neil Young - Harvest Moon
The song "Harvest Moon" is the greatest fall song of all time. It's also the first song I learned to play on the guitar. It's also one of my 10 favorite songs of all-time.

Two to listen to: "From Hank to Hendrix" and "Harvest Moon"


1.) My Morning Jacket - Acoustic Citsuoca
While I love MMJ's more rockin' side, their softer/acoustic side has always been my favorite. Jim James' voice shines on this 5 song-EP, which was recorded on Halloween in 2004 (if that doesn't scream "FALL" nothing does.)

Two to listen to: "The Bear" and "Golden"


There you have it my 5 favorite albums to listen to in the Fall. Now, go grab a Pumpkin beer, bourbon or Pumpkin spice latte (those things are amazing) and put on one of these albums as you take in the greatness of Autumn.

Have a good one.

Song of the Day: Neil Young - Harvest Moon
GRE Word: Specious - Seeming true, but actually being false; misleadingly attractive.

Tuesday Tidbits...

Hold out your hand, say please...

* Happy Monsters of Folk day everyone!
Not only does the album drop today, but also they are going to be on Conan tonight. Seriously, go buy this album...you won't be sorry. Here's a video to give you a taste:


* In some other really awesome music news...The Avett Brothers' new album, which is out a week from today, can now be streamed for free on NPR. I gave it a quick listen while working today and my initial review is positive. I had some fear with this album that it wouldn't sound "Avett" enough, but I think it's going to be just fine. I need to listen to it again before I make a final decision.

* The CrapBags moved to 1-1 on the season with a big win over the Rickety Crickets. Tom Brady was extremely poor this week, but luckily Frank Gore and Andre Johnson were in total beast mode. Go Bags Go!

* So I need to get a new cell phone. I'm eligible for a free upgrade so there are several phones that I can get without any charge. However, all the phones these days come with like crazy slide-out keyboard things. I'm not sure that I want one like that because I'm not a ninja and I'm not sure I can handle it. Any advice or help with this crazy phone upgrade dilemma would be appreciated.

* Have you guys seen the new ESPN commercial with, my favorite anchorman, Scott Van Pelt (shout out to Da Kaizah)? It's hysterical...here it is:

Shaz-Bagl!

* 3 more days until the GRE, let's get that sucker over with.

* Finally, today is the first day of Fall! Woo-hoo! Fall is the best season, by far, hands down, no question. Expect a fall blog celebration sometime soon. Also, fall doesn't really begin in my mind until October 1st, but who's counting?

That's all the tidbits I've got in store for you, have a great rest of the day.

Song of the Day: Monsters of Folk - Whole Lotta Losin'
GRE Word: Salubrious - Promoting health or well-being

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday gang, you guys doing well? Good to hear.

Overall my weekend was pretty good. Here are the highlights.

* Yes the Cards failed once again to beat the Cats in football. I went in the game not thinking we'd even come close and I had hopes that no matter the outcome...I'd still be in an ok mood. I was wrong. The problem was that we actually played better than UK. We made big plays on defense, we showed emotion, we were flying around the field. However, we have a coach who continues to do things that are inexcusable. a 4th and 1 option pitch to the back up running back...to the short side of the field? Boo! Wasting timeout after timeout...boo! But here is the thing that really bothered me, Victor Anderson ran the ball 19 times and ended up with 110 yards and a TD...he was unstoppable. Bilal Powell ran the ball 7 less times for 108 less yards....yup 12 rushes for 2 yards...TWO! So on our last drive, WHY THE HELL WAS BILAL STILL GETTING THE BALL? I firmly believe that if you gave me the playbook (or anyone who has played Madden more than twice) UofL wins that game by 2 TDs.

But hey, I thought we were going to get drilled by 30+, so I'm more optimistic about the rest of the season then I was before.

* The rest of my weekend was spent studying GRE crap. I had to pass on a chance to hang with some good friends in Lexington, but I did get a lot accomplished on the GRE front and after Saturday all of this garbage will be over and done!

* Here is a list of other activities that occurred this weekend:

- Practiced Guitar with Ben for Dude and Melissa's wedding...we're starting to sound pretty good.

- Made some Chili last night. They didn't have my usual Chili seasoning so I went with a different brand and I got "hot" instead of medium. Also I had to use Busch light instead of PBR. It actually turned out to be pretty good, the hotness really kicked it up a bit. I'll have to have another bowl before I decide if it's better than the other recipe.

- Watched the series premiere of "Bored to Death" which stars Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis. It was pretty good. I think you can download the episode for free off i-tunes right now...it's worth 30mins of your time. Also, Ted Danson is on the show and he's hilarious.

- Witnessed Frank Gore and Andre Johnson be awesome at football.

- Saw a gusto-less Tom Brady for the first time ever.

- Still refrained from buying Beatles Rock Band...although it was very very close.

- Determined that the weird fish smell in our apartment is coming from either the "Falls City" or the "Old Style" beer light.

- Played sand volleyball in the pouring down rain.

- Ate Qdoba 3 cheese chicken nachos and got annoyed with the massive amount of teenagers that loiter in front of Ear X-Tacy.

So yeah, overall...a decent weekend.

Song of the Day: The Avett Brothers - Gimmeakiss
GRE Word: Tyro - Beginner; person lacking experience in a specific endeavor