BrewBlog

Kiss This Guy

kissthisguy.com is the Archive of Misheard Lyrics.  It's a fun little Web site where anyone can submit examples of lyrics they had wrong in their heads.  It's pretty funny.  One personal example of mine is "Panama" by Van Halen.  When I was a kid I thought the chorus was "bad enough" instead of "panama".  Stupid.  There are some classics on this site. 

http://www.kissthisguy.com

Too Slow

In an attempt to get a family picture we set up the camera on a stool and used the timer to snap the picture.  On our first attempt, I didn't give myself long enough to race across the room and get situated.  This first picture is that failed attempt.  As you can see, I was just spinning around to sit when the picture was taken, resulting in a picture that makes us laugh.  It looks like I'm trying to fart on Jackson or something.

Break My Fast on Honeydew

The arrival of our little bundle of joy has stirred things up quite at bit to the point where most of our routines have either changed or outright gone away.  We've pulled some all-nighters staying up with Jackson, usually taking turns during the first few weeks when we were both home with him.  Now that I've been back to work, my wife does a majority of the all-nighters.  Staying up late or even all night has opened up for watching television outside my normal schedule.  I took the opportunity to watch some movies and music DVDs I've had but haven't had a chance to watch.

A few months ago I bought R30, which is a Rush concert based on their 30th anniversary tour.  In my late teens through early twenties I was a big time Rush fan.  I have all their music and have seen them in concert a dozen times.  Rush was one of main reasons I started playing the drums when I was eighteen.  My music taste has always evolved and Rush became an "old favorite" and I would only occasionally listen to them once in a while.  I still buy their new music even though their new stuff to me is just okay.  R30 sat on my shelf for a few months before I finally broke it out and gave it an honest viewing. 

Overall, I liked it a little better than Rush in Rio.  Watching it reminded me of all the things I really like about Rush.  Watching the performances of their older stuff was a lot of fun.  I even sat through all the bonus stuff on disc 2 because I had nothing better to do with Jackson kicking it in my lap.  The following week I dusted off some of my Rush music and listened to it in the car for several days.  Since then, I've been getting out some older favorites and am loving them all over again.  I highly recommend getting out some older music and past favorites and giving them a good listen.  For me, much of it stands up surprisingly well, which is a sign of good music

Zillow

Zillow offers instant, free home valuation.  This is a great example of how useful the Internet can be, especially when different services and technologies are integrated and used for different purposes.  It's fun to poke around familiar neighborhoods and look at the value of homes.  Check it out!

http://www.zillow.com/

New Music Please

I've been slacking in discovering new music.  My top methods of discovering new music in past were opening bands, reviews comparing music, hearing something good playing at the music store, the occasional recommendation and others.  These days, concerts I'm willing to go to are fewer and farther between, which is mostly and age thing I suppose.  It would be unlikely to maintain my old concert going pace anyway.  The other methods of discovery have yielded less than usual lately.  Satellite radio (We have XM Radio) has been wonderful and worth it too.  Satellite radio has introduced me to some winners.  And the Internet has been great for music in so many ways.  New stores and services are popping up all the time and I think it's time for me to look into a few of them.

One of my magazines (can't remember which one) had a short article about finding new music and that got my attention.  I'm looking to visit the mentioned sites, set up profiles and do some digging when I get a moment of free online time here and there.  So before I do, I thought I would share the sites (below).  I'm curious to see if anything good comes of my effort.

http://www.pandora.com/

http://www.soundflavor.com/Pages/

http://www.musicstrands.com/

http://www.last.fm/

Mobile Phone Rules

I'm not in any position of power so this is just a wish list.  If I was in a position of power, things would be very different.  Anyway, I'm compelled to quickly post a wish list regarding phones while this annoying lady sitting near me babbles on and on and on and on as though she is in her own private location. 

1. Voice modulation and control.  Whatever someone is flapping their gums about is not important and NOBODY CARES, most likely not even the person on the other end of the line.  It's noise pollution.
2. Ring tone management - Phone rings should be quiet in public and should be turned down.  Nobody wants to hear a stupid phone ring, regardless of the theme.  The Chariots of Fire theme song is as annoying as the default ring tone.  Vibrate the sum bitch. 
3. Pay attention while driving.  Most people cannot drive worth a shit as it is.  Give them a phone and it's a miracle they can drive at all.  If someone sucks at driving (consult driving record and accident history), then they shouldn't drive and talk on the phone at the same time.  Lawmakers actually agree with me on this one.  That said, if someone is a decent or good driver, they should talk all they want while driving, it's the perfect place to do so.  I talk on the phone while driving sometimes but you can bet I'm not going to be in your way and I won't run into you. 
4. Keep moving - When people are in public and insist on being on the phone 24x7, because they have soooooooo much to talk about, they need to keep moving and stay out of the way.  There  are billions of other people and a few of them need to be where they are standing for no reason at all.
5. Human interaction should trump phone interaction (applies to non-business scenarios).  If someone has the attention of another in a conversation and their stupid phone rings, they should think about the other person's time for a second before they anxiously reach for their phone.  It's not an emergency.  No it isn't.  Once they answer, the other person is getting older, waiting for you now.  It's rude.  Oh, and mouthing "sorry" is bullshit.  They are not sorry.  They knew what they were doing when they answered the phone.
6. When engaging in a transaction (i.e. grocery store, bank, etc.), people need to hang up the phone, complete the transaction, then move on.  People are waiting and the person at the register is trying to get you through the line.  Talking on the phone, about nothing important, is a waste of time and forces everyone else the wait.  Society will not survive at its current rate of growth if people are not more considerate and apply common sense in everyday situations. 
7. The plane lands and half the passengers frantically get their phones the second they are allowed.  This is harmless but it's annoying.  With no choice in the matter, I often overhear these urgent calls and they go as follows:  "Hi.  I just landed.  Yeah.  I'll call you when I get to the hotel.  Bye". 
8. The movie theater.  This one is so obvious.  this is a favorite among the teenagers.  Fire up the mobile phone and text message during the movie.  More than once I've heard phone conversations while the movie is playing.  Why?  Why do we need to put a request on the big screen in the movie to turn off the phone.  Shouldn't this be obvious.  So stupid.  The mobile phone ban in some theaters have brought out the brilliance of some where they argue, while being interviewed on a slow news day, that doctors need to be reachable so you can't ban phones.  Well, you're not a doctor, so what do you care.  Something tells me that a doctor getting an emergency call makes up a very small percentage of phones ringing in theaters.  Of course, doctors should be allowed to use their phone wherever they need.  Cracks me up that this is the big argument from the gang banger beotch on the news.  Yeah, you're a doctor with that concern.  I'm the pope. 
9. Restaurants are one of those places where a mobile phone is inappropriate.  I've seen people at a table with one other person, talking on their phone while the person they are with is just sitting there.  Also, everyone around them had to listen to them because they talk louder when they are on the phone.  Maybe they should have went to dinner with the person they are on the phone with.
10. The abandoned ringing phone is a no no.  This one is office place specific.  A few people that sit near me at work leave their phone in or on their desk when they are not there so when it rings.  So all the people in nearby cubicles get to listen to the phone ring until voice mail kicks in, which feels like an hour.  It's so loud as well.  Either turn off the ringer or carry it with you.  Is it that hard? 

Maybe I'm too tightly wound but I'm sure many would agree with me about this out of control dependence on the mobile phone.  It's like a drug or something.  People at work use the Blackberry and they refer to it as the crackberry because it's so addicting.  Mobile phones seem to be similar. 

State of the Village Report

This report has some very interesting population statistics, factoring down the worlds population to 100.  I've seen this before in an e-mail but here is the host site.  It's a quick read.

This does attempt to communicate something, almost as though I'm supposed to feel sorry for everybody or something.  I say that because of the propaganda-ish nature of the message.  The fact that I have two nickels to rub together means that I'm rich is communicating what exactly?  Am I lucky or am I an asshole for hoarding.  Anyway, maybe I'm looking at the "something to ponder" section in the wrong way.

Finally, the statement at the bottom in bold type would make for a good debate topic.  The stats paint a gloomy picture and that education, acceptance and compassion are the keys to progress.  Education, definitely.  Acceptance and compassion kind of threw me for a loop.  Maybe I'm thinking about it too much but is this saying that because I'm so wealthy and healthy that I role model such values OR is that I should be more compassionate and accepting so that others can be as blessed.

http://www.odt.org/popvillage.htm

It's A Cartoon...A Cartoon

Deadly rioting because of a cartoon?  My buddy Matt sums it up quite well so I'll simply refer his comments and get back to work.  It's madness.  The more I read about this the more it makes me realize how misguided people are.  You shouldn't dish it out if you can't take it.

Songbird Takes Off

Yesterday, Pioneers of the Inevitable, led by the Winamp guy, have a proof of concept release of an open source desktop media player.  So what?  We'll now have a specialized web browser for music, giving everyone an alternative to iTunes and Windows Media Player, which both have tons of limitations because of their proprietary nature.  Still so what?  Basically, this should help drive the industry even further into allowing choice, fair competition and innovation.  I guess we'll see where this goes.  When I have some time I'll definitely be checking it out!

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

Batman Begins

Batman Begins was really good.  I just caught it on PPV this past week and was pleasantly surprised at how good this movie was.  I'm late on the draw in seeing it so I'm a little bummed to not see it on the big screen.  Nolan was on the mark in my opinion.  The cast was strong.  The story was probably the biggest surprise in that the origin was thorough and easy to connect with.  Of course the effects and sets were top notch but I was expecting that.  The whole thing worked really well together.  Let's have another one like this!