HIGH FIVE

While in the car returning home from Christmas vacation I popped in the blue Weezer CD. Then I realized it was 14 years old. Over half my life I have enjoyed that blue Weezer CD. All of it, every song. That got me thinking about my favorite all time CDs. In the age of being able to easily put together a mix Cd I want to explore the CDs that I love front to back. What are the five CDs that I can sit down and listen to throughout and enjoy every second of. In no particular order:

The previously mentioned blue Weezer CD.
Dave Matthews Band "Before These Crowded Streets"
Phish "A Story of the Ghost"
Andrew Peterson "Behold the Lamb of God"
Ben Folds "Rockin' The Suburbs"

TSO

Last night Erin and I went to a Trans-Siberian Concert at FedEx Forum. They rock. We are not exactly fans of Christmas music, but they jam out in a way that makes it entertaining. The string music goes great with the electric guitars. The string music was provided by the Memphis Orchestra. The concert was kind of broken up into two sections-the Christmas story and non-Christmas music. However, they ended with my favorite song of theirs, "Carol of the Bells".
We decided that long dark hair is necessary to be a guitarist in the band. They were some serious head bangers. We were very impressed with the band's musical talent.
Overall it was a great night, we found free parking, although it was kind of far away the temperature was perfect to walk in. Only negative of the night is that we had to take our camera back to the car after been checked at the front door.

SNOOZING THE DAY AWAY

Christmas break is a time when relaxing is possible for some of those in the education world. I am currently on Christmas break and I do not have any morning responsibilities. So that got me thinking, what constitutes sleeping in. One friend I talked to yesterday acted as if my time of awakening at 8:45ish was late. Later that day another friend said, 8:45 is sleeping in for you? That got me wondering. What is sleeping in?

HORNS

Driving around Memphis I hear lots of horn honking. Most of the horn honking that I hear is unnecessary; the honking is only for the purpose of showing displeasure of someone pulling out in front of you, etc. By honking for that reason the purpose of the horn is lost. Car companies did not install horns for drivers to show anger to another driver. Rather, horns should be used to let a car know that they are there so they shouldn't back up and things of that nature. But since horns will not stop being used in that way, I have a suggestion for car companies. Multiple horns. One horn could be one that communicates "come on out" as someone is waiting to pull out in traffic. Another horn could be "don't back up I am here". One horn could communicate "hey, I know you". This would save a lot of confusion and immediate defensiveness when a horn is blown.

W, X, Y, AND ZAMBIA

Erin and I are going to Zambia this summer. We are very excited. Sycamore View Church of Christ (the church we attend) supports mission work in Zambia and take a trip every summer. This mission trip we are going on will be of the medical sort, so I have been searching around Wikipedia on how to perform major surgery. I am sure there will be more bloggage about this event in the future. For those of you who are not familiar with the location of Zambia-which would include me if Sycamore View was not involved-there is a circle drawn around the country on the map above.

MY FIRST ADULT PARTY

That title is a real attention getter. But all I mean by that is a party in which people dance, drink alcohol (don't worry my friends, I did neither), and there is no charge to enter. This party also had live entertainment adding to it's party atmosphere. What makes this adult is that adults were there. Last time I was at something of this nature was in college at a frat party. So you may be wondering why I would attend something so unlike me. Good question. It was a thing for Erin's work. The live entertainment was good, although a little loud. A little loud? I am an old 24 year old. The entertainers were very interesting as you will notice in the picture.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR...

There are some subjects that I would like to take the time to blog about but:
a. I don't really have the time.
b. I am tired of writing stuff.
But I have just brainstormed some ideas, so keep your eyes open in mid-December.

YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME

You have to be kidding me. Words that I noticed Tony Dungy mouthing numerous times last night. He was on camera saying it two or three times but I am sure it had to be at least ten. I figure he said one for each interception (6). Probably two for injuries (8). Maybe add one when he noticed that when the game ended he had 15 eligible players for offense and several were third string (9). Definitely one after "clutch" kicker Vinatieri missed a 29 yard field goal (10). Most coaches would probably insert some type of vulgar verb before kidding on this one. I think one came out when the Colts were originally awarded a first down with 1:47 left in the game only for it to be overturned by inches (11).
Back to Vinatieri. He is not the same kicker he was last year or years prior. First, his range is down dramatically. Evidently "field goal range" is somewhere around 25 yards out. The first extra point this season hit the crossbar and made it in. The ball is making some knuckle rotation off his foot, which probably has a lot to do with his inaccuracy. I don't think he has kicked a touchback all year. He used to appear as if he owned the field when he lined up for a field goal. Now he looks like he has never been there before and is not sure if he is really supposed to be kicking.
Peyton can have an off night. Especially since he put the team in position to win the game. Albeit, with some great defense. (Luckily they were up against Phillip Rivers rather than Juice Williams--Bob). They didn't give up much of anything, special teams was horrendous, though. Vinatieri gets no sympathy. He has one job to do. Kick the ball.
I still love Peyton, but Vinatieri... you have to be kidding me.

THE NAME IS POTTER...HARRY POTTER

Harry Potter=Me. Ginny Weasley= Erin. Tonks=Rachel Steele

Fall Fest 2007. I also made an appearance as Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry performed stand-up comedy and was a soup judge.

THE CONVIENENT TRUTH: YOU CAN GO GREEN

I have not seen Al Gore's work that earned him a Noble Peace Prize. I do know that many of the earth's resources can be preserved by the simple rule-reduce, reuse, recycle.
Erin and I have began our journey to "go green". Some simple things can be done like turning off your lights when you are not using them. Pay attention to the heat and air conditioning used. For those of you who live in Memphis, there are recycle opportunities. I know of spots by Wild Oats and a center near Cooper-Young in Midtown. There are great ways to learn how to go green. A website I recommend is www.treehugger.com

Help the environment. Peace.

I WON'T STOP BELIEVING

I promise I will not turn my blog into strictly YouTube videos. But I could not pass up posting this video. This video is further proof that people outside Cubs Nation will never understand what being a Cubs fan is all about.

THE IMPRESSION ABOUT NOTHING

Starring: Frank Caliendo, Frank Caliendo, Frank Caliendo, and Frank Caliendo

GO CUBS GO

The Cubs finished the year with 85 wins. I predicted they would win 85. You may be waiting for a postseason prediction. You aren't going to get one. All I will say is that although I am not superstitious, I do believe in the Law of Averages, and the Cubs are due. Unfortunately I also see some merit in Murphy's Law.

The title of this blog is in reference to a song that is played at Wrigley after every home game victory. There is a pretty cool story behind the song, but that is a different blog for a different day.

IS THERE ROOM ON THE WAGON?

I am wondering what the rules of bandwagoning are. I never really grew up watching college football. It has not been much of an interest of mine until the past two or three years. Even now I am just more than a casual fan.
The University of Kentucky has a good football team this year. This is much unlike years past-which is probably why I have never kept up with them. They have sort of emerged out of nowhere this year unless you live in Lexington, in that case you knew they were going to take down UofL for months. The 'Cats are 4-0 and have moved up in the top 25.
I figure everyone has a reason to be a fan of the team you root for, it could be proximity, or a favorite player. I have some good reasons to be allowed on the UK football bandwagon. First, I am from Kentucky. I root for the UK basketball team. My brother attends UK. I figure those are good enough reasons to start following the team. Until they start losing again.

VERY un-SUPERSTITIOUS

I have come to the conclusion that I have no control over the outcome of Chicago Cubs baseball games. For that matter, I have very little control over many things by wearing the same socks, wearing a lucky shirt, etc. I used to be quasi-superstitious, but no more. It is difficult for a Cubs fan not to be superstitious for one reason.; the Cubs lose a lot. It has nothing to do with a goat curse or anything like that. They just get outplayed. In fact, in some systemic way believing in superstitions may actually cause lower performance. If you are unable to perform a superstition then you may feel like your chances of success are lower. By thinking this you may actually perform worse, blaming it of course, on the superstition.
I am not just applying this to sports. I have no problem walking under ladders (except for the whole danger aspect). If I break a mirror, so what?
So, unfortunately, no matter what I do -save preventing Moises Alou from catching a fly ball-I cannot change the outcome of a Cubs baseball game.