Well I And We Have Made It To Another Weekend...

There were times this week that I thought we would never get to the weekend. It's around 830pm now I have spent an hour and half or so doing some month-end work work. For the uniniated work work is my day job. Work would be my house stuff. I tend not to be too much of a work guy. I put things off an awful lot. Too late for this tiger to change his stripes I think.

So I got home, turned on my work work laptop, grabbed a beer which lasted about a minute and a half then went to pick Harrison up at his part-time job. Got back home and worked worked for an hour and a half or so.

Emptied the dishwasher. Reloaded the dishwasher. Then decided to make spaghetti for din-din even though the prodigal son isn't Hungary or hungry. I make a pretty decent sauce even though I cheat with some pre-fab tomato sauce. I do add meat, onions, garlic powder, red peppers and a couple more things when I think of looking at my spice rack thingee.

I had a classic rock station (Music Choice) playing on TV and H tried to stump me on a song or two. I surprised him some when Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open The Door" came on. I was able to name artist, song, album and year before Petey Boy sang a word. Like I said to H, I am a fountain of useless information. Darn VH1 no longer carries Rock'n'Roll Jeopardy because I would definitely be there. Sadly Jeff Probst has gone to host Survivor. So sad.

Yes Delmon Young homered off CC Sabathia in the top of the 1st. Go Tigers. Anybody but the Yankees out of the AL. I would like to see Detroit advance. Isn't baseball amazing? Matt Moore of the TB Rays, 2nd major league start ever (EVER) holds the Rangers to 2 hits 2 walks in 7 innings. He pulled a Dryden. LOL. I am crossing sports but I think most would miss the reference.

Time to eat. Back in a few....

Posting While On My Knees...

This is bad. I am typing while on my knees because I am in too much pain to sit like a normal person. Waiting for the pain pills to kick in. Problem with that is my knees are so bony that within seconds I am not very comfortable.

I am listening to the late Irishman Gary Moore playing "Parisienne Walkways" at a Phil Lynott tribute show in Dublin. What an incredible guitar player he was! The world lost a true talent in February of this year. Listening to Gary Moore play is so soothing. Seeing him play is something. The range of faces that he made is incredible. It is almost as if he was in pain and all of sudden in joy. Incredible player. A man that many are not in the know of I think. Kind of sad.

Anyways onto more pleasant things. I left work about a half hour early to go to the Fairview Corners Post Office before it closed. I have registered lettermail from the IRS. That can't be good. LOL. So I leave work early after checking to see what time it closed at online. I thought it was 5 which isn't that convenient. Turns out it is 430. That is even more inconvenient. I wonder why they get so much negative press. LOL. Bachmann. Perry. USPS. Cantaloupes. Hmmmm. Which one gets razzed the most. Probably a toss up. Now I have to figure when I can get to the post office. It won't be tomorrow as I have an Excel 2010 class to take. I probably did not plan that too well. Well it was a Schlewing move. O:)

So in Schlewing's World today is a sad day. This is it for the regular season in MLB unless possible tiebreakers count that may be played tomorrow. Given that my Nats are not playing tomorrow it doesn't count then. My blog my reasoning so there!!! LOL. I love to laugh when I write something that amuses me. Okay sometimes it doesn't take much to amuse me. Is that such a bad thing? I think not.

I have to get my printer hooked up to this desktop. I have tons of pictures that I want to blog on. Lots of memories. Good ones. Seeing pictures triggers good things in my world. In some ways I have had a blessed life. That may not be a Marc word (blessed). It worked there though. In other ways, my life has sucked. That isn't a bad thing necessarily. Having a bad or sad experience often can be used to compare to a good, happy or joyful experience. If you don't have a bad or sad experience how does one measure good or glad? The key I think is that the not so good is not self-inflicted because if it is who else but oneself can be blamed. Dang I may have to erase a couple of sentences here as I am getting too maudlin. LOL. That isn't me.

Okay that's it for now. I need to do stuff before I get H at school. It's trivia night. It used be lots of fun. It isn't the same anymore. The crowd has changed. The music isn't all that good. The quizmaster. Hmmmm. Less said better it is. LOL. Okay roger out. Go Nats. 2012 will be a good year!

Damn Another Blog Today!!!

Okay I have had a few today, tonight! Whatever!! It seems that I am still coherent enough to blog as I just read a headline that pissed me off.

What the eff is what with journalism nowadays that they scream headlines for non-story? Case in point is Michael Vick. That pillar of society! Headline reads "Hit the snooze button on this dream team!"

How did the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles all of a sudden become "Dream Team" status? Was it because of pre-season games? Was it because on paper they looked decent? Surely it wasn't because of Amdy Reid's track record? I sure hope it wasn't due to PETA's best friend! Oh the story came from Fox Sports. Damn I was giving them journalistic credentials. Sorry Angie and Tom. This is a dream team that never was.

Democrats and Libertarians - Consensus No Chance

Okay this is bad! I'm sitting at my computer reading news stories, listening to music and sweating. Geezus I have become a sweat monster. It isn't that warm in the house and I have the ceiling fan in my room going full blast yet I can feel the sweat dripping. LOL. Okay don't picture that please! It isn't pretty.

However this little blog is about a conversation I had with a couple guys this week. I probably would have been a bit more effective in my arguments if I had not had a couple of beers but here goes the recap regardless. LOL.

So I met up with a couple of guys that are libertarians. They are no doubt Ron Paul disciples. They have me scared actually that this individual centred thinking can become more prevalent in our society. I am of the mind that we should try to help out those that are less fortunate and those that have less even if it means that we forego some of our own hard-earned gains. It seems to me that their attitude is "what's mine is mine, don't touch, don't think about it and I am not sharing any of it". They kept on bringing up people that are getting unemployment and food stamps as if this was an enviable place to be in. They kept on referring to them as takers.

They love to blab on about the 5 or 10% richest in our society paying 70% or 90% of all taxes. It is such a ridiculous argument. If one makes $1,000,000 and pays $200,000 are they not better off than someone that makes $50,000 and pays $10,000 or something like that? Their argument is all about self-centredness. Sad.

Then they go on and on about taxes increasing all the time. They have absolute no field of reference. Try comparing your taxes here to what one pays in Canada or in Europe and then come back to me with that argument. LOL.

It makes me think of a certain individual that spends his day writing comments on the Greenville News website. His only argument is that liberals are this, liberal are that ad infinium. I once commented on that and he came back and offered more name-calling in his argument. It's like what's the point. They will never see the light from their caves.

Meanderings In My Head...

So last night I headed downtown to Main Street Fridays and met up with my buddy from back home. I decided as I was driving on 385 to take the Laurens Rd. exit and come up via Richardson St. to get to the free parking lot. Unfortunately with my sense of direction; it didn't exactly work out that way. LOL. I really have no sense of direction. I am not even sure if Richardson crosses Laurens or Stone Rd. I know that Main St. does. Perhaps I was supposed to take that street to get to or near Richardson. I did manage to get there but it took me an extra 10 minutes.

Last night was probably the last time I'm heading down to Main St. Fridays this year as their season is ending next Friday. The bands that they have had the last couple times I have been have not been that great. Both of the them were 60s-70s beach music bands and the repertoires were quite similar. For some reason K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes" is real popular down here. I don't get the attraction at all. I remember K.C being real popular on AM radio (CKGM back in Montreal) but "Boogie Shoes" was not one of the songs that they played. If they did it was immediately forgettable as I don't remember it.

Lots of people downtown last night. Young and old. Great for people watching. The nice thing is that at 9pm it is still super comfortable to be outside.

Heading back home around 9pm or so last night. Didn't do the usual eat out thing. I headed to the Zone for a couple of beers and bumped into the St. Louis Cardinal fan that I had been talking with on Wednesday night after trivia. On Wednesday things were looking good for the Cards in their chase for the wild card slot in the NL. By about 1030pm yesterday that had changed for the worst.

Firstly they blew a 6-2 9th inning lead on Thursday to the lowly Mets. So instead of being 1 game out they were two games. Then last night they lost to the Cubbies while the Braves beat my Nationals. That brought their deficit to 3 games with 5 to play. Luckily for them the Nats won earlier today as Chien-Ming Wang pitched a great game and Carlos Marmol self-destructed in the 9th inning against the Cards. Braves lead is back down to 2 games with 4 games to go. It will make for some scoreboard watching.

It's Sunday morning now as I type. I kind of forgot about the meanderings yesterday afternoon. LOL. I have to ask a question now. Not that I am expecting any answers. But what gives with neck tattoos? Who decided these things look cool? Yesterday I saw Yadier Molina (Cards catcher) at the plate and he had these tattoos on the back side of his neck. Not sure what they were. Not that it really makes a difference. I wonder what that will look like when he is 75 yrs. old? Kind of a like a woman getting something on her boobs I guess. Unless of course the picture gets clearer as gravity goes. LOL. Tattoo technology.

What's on the agenda today? I have to shave. I look like crap. More hair on my face than on my head. Now that isn't much of an accomplishment mind you. Just stating facts. Going to do some work work. Going to do some laundry. Going to grill some chicken for supper tonight. Going to have more coffee! LOL. That is the first thing I am going to do. More coffee!

Best Intentions

So when I left the office tonight I had the best intentions to do this and do that. Well I got home and to paraphase a Pink Floyd song I decided "not now John, fuck all that, I gotta get to a trivia show." Like I said I paraphased somewhat.

Actually before trivia I have to get the young man aka H at GTech where is taking a calculus class tonight. Then I am off to trivia at the Zone. My hump day or evening reward.

What's on my mind? Hmmm. Well I got angry while driving today. Big surprise there. Not! Though today it just seemed worse than usual and that's saying something. I saw an idiot of the young male variety go from the outside lane on the left clear across two lanes to the right as if he was playing snakes and ladders as opposed to driving a car. This occurred on Pleasantburg as I was dropping H off at school at lunchtime.

Then on my way back to the office some young lady who may be related to Palin or Bachmann given the lack of common sense decided to cut across three lanes of traffic from left to right. In a normal world you move from one lane to another. In her effed up imaginary I'm an idiot world what she did was acceptable behaviour.

I just shake my head at times and wonder how shallow is the gene pool down here.

The best one though occured as I was driving H to school on Laurens and a lady at the age of collecting her pension decided to be on the road at the same time as other humanoids.

Picture the scene. Laurens Rd. Rainy misty day. 3 lanes going southbound. 3 lanes northbound. Lane in the middle is a turning lane. This lane is almost 2 cars wide. We're talking a big street. In a trendy place, this would be a boulevard. Here it is Friday night at demolition derby. LOL.

On the roads here I tend not to follow too closely. Other drivers scare the eff out of me. So I'm driving around 45 in the left lane. The speed limit and I am in the correct lane I would think. The Golden Girl in front of me decides that she needs to turn into some strip mall on the left on Laurens. So in her and I use the term loosely mind she decides to slow down to 20mph in the left lane. Then she decides she is going to go into the turning. So here I am behind her and all of a sudden I have to drop speed in half so that I can accomodate whatever thought crossed her mind. So she goes into the turning lane and then notices there is a car stopped to turn to their left in the opposite direction about 40-50 ft. away. So what does she decide to do? Come back into my lane no signal no care in the world because the brain activity is barely registering. I slam on my brakes, bang on the horn and give her the bright lights treatment all the while almost having a nervous breakdown dealing with this accident waiting to happen. Even H took my side there and he rarely does as he thinks all licensed Schlewing drivers have anger management issues. He's probably right. LOL. As I passed her I looked at her and saw a zombie. I'm sure she is one. No doubt about. She was in George Romero's movies. LOL.

Anyways that's it for now. I will be back later to blog perhaps. I have lots of thoughts on other things that amused as well as what the effed me today...

I think the clip art I used is perfect for being on the roads in Greenville and Simpsonville today O:)

Long Day

So you ever notice how some days just seem longer than others? Today was one of those for me. Up and at 'em at 430am for some reason. I'm stressed out a bit I am sure. There are days that I am just waiting for that other shoe to drop and then I am effed or will be effed.

For lack of a better example in symbolism I get that vision of a hamster on that wheel that you often see in their cage. I upgraded that vision to a hamster as there is no way I'm a rat.

So I was up way too early on too little sleep trying to play catch up on work stuff. I really suck at using my time effectively. Okay that isn't the nicest verbage but on 4.5 hours of sleep I just don't think I am too verbose.

I knew I had chauffeur duties for H at 715am, 11am and 10pm today plus a full day's work and trying to meet my objectives for my weekly one on one. Just too many things that I had to do. Fortunately my one on one was pushed back to the end of the day which allowed me to be better prepared and take care of some other work things.

I pass by one of my banks and realize darn I didn't bring my chequebook and car payment thingee. Just another thing I need to remember for tomorrow. I know I will now as I put all of that next to my money stash. Okay it isn't quite a stash. LOL. I found the car payment thingee. Now I need to find my chequebook. I am a walking lost and lost and found department. Yes I meant to double up on the lost part.

I need to set up the time to get myself to an optometrist. I definitely need a new prescription. Everything is blurry it seems with these glasses. Schlewings tend to be tall as a rule which is a good thing but our vision absolutely sucks.

Dang, effed, effed, sucks and sucks; I'm thinking that a Nobel Prize for Literature is not in my near future!

Cool song. Frankie Goes to Hollywood on a mix CD with "Welcome To The Pleasure Dome". I love this song. No clue what it means. "The animals are winding up". WTF are they watches? Are they pitching off a mound? "Shooting stars never stop even when they reach the top". Top of what? Hill? Bill? Window Sill? Someone help me and explain this song to me. Please pretty please. LOL. Okay I know it makes no sense. That's okay it has a great beat!

So what else happened today? Our governor Nikki Haley admitted she was wrong. LOL. That should be a daily occurence actually amd twice on Sundays! What was she wrong about? Well a little while back she stated that half of the applicants for jobs at a nuclear plant facility failed their drug tests. What can one say about that statement without being sued for slanderous commentary? Actually whatever I would type could not be considered slanderous given the total lack of intelligence that was used in uttering that statement. Her defense was someone on her team told her this. Well it must be fact then. Effin Einstein. I am so proud that she is there in the corridors of power defending my interests. Can you detect sarcasm there? Gawd I sure hope so.

On a more pleasant note my Expos / Nats won in the first game of revenue-grab doubleheader by scoring a run in the top of the 10th. Drew Storen picked up his 39th save. Roger Bernandina hit a 3-run homer. I would love to see what this guy could do in a full year of ABs. His numbers aren't terrible. .245 BA, .307 OBP. 16SB 2CS. Pretty solid numbers as a 4th outfielder. He does need to cut down on the KOs though. After all who do we have in the outfield? The Beast (Morse) and the Rich Dude (Werth). Roger Dodger fits there perhaps if the rich man is in CF. At least until Bryce Harper is ready for the show in 2013. Why the heck not?

Okay enough typing for now. Time for din-din. Penne Pasta with hot Italian sausage in a white sauce. Yum.

Argh It's Still Monday

So I have a theory about Mondays. There is nothing good that ever happens on a Monday. Okay it isn't like I have all kinds of empirical data to back this up but I strongly feel that Mondays effing suck. I think that because of this one should never ever make any decisions of consequence on Monday because the wiring in one's brain is just not functioning correctly.

Earlier today I was talking with one of my colleagues who is involved in this scanning and electronic data project that we were both assigned to work on. She mentioned to me that she needs to go back to Ohio in three weeks for her niece's after the wedding wedding reception. Yes I know I put wedding twice in that sentence. It makes perfect sense even though it isn't nice to look at. Her niece is getting married the week before in Colorado and will have a wedding reception there but then she will have another a week later for the people that can't make it to the Colorado event. LOL. Complicated huh.

Anyways back to the Monday effing sucks theory; she then told me that she has to go to the Ohio reception even though she will be going to the Colorado event the week before. The reason that she has to do this is to meet up with her brothers to pre-plan their mother's funeral arrangements because her mother's health has taken a serious turn for the worse. Her eyes started tearing up as she told me that and then my eyes started tearing up as well.

When her Mother lived in Greenville, I would take the two of them for breakfast every once in a while so that they could get out of the house on the weekends. Her mother had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to drive and they were dependent on friends to get out and about. Her Mother loved or loves IHOP so on the odd Sunday mornings we would head over to the IHOP location on Wade Hampton. We would always make sure that we would go there while most people were at church to ensure that we would be able to get a seat right away at the restaurant. IHOP breakfast plates are massive and her tiny Mom would devour all of it. She would out-eat me. LOL.

Sunday brunch time here in Greenville after church services makes me think of Friday nights way back when on Crescent Street. Line-ups everywhere to get inside a bar. Here we get the line-ups after the 2nd church service on Sundays. I think that per capita the most sweet and unsweet tea is consumed in restaurants in Greenville, SC between 11am-1pm every Sunday of the month. LOL.

So back to my theory. More bad news on a Monday. Quelle surprise! What a surprise! A little over 9 years ago I found out on a Monday evening that my Mom had suffered a massive heart attack and that I needed to get myself up to Nova Scotia where she was living to say goodbye. I remember that phone call as if it happened yesterday.

So I don't have much back-up for my theory but I'm standing by my findings. Give me all of the other days of the week and y'all can keep your Mondays to yourself!!!

Hockey On Its' Way...

So in between watching the Rays-Red Sox game on TBS, the Mets-Braves game on SportsSouth and the Panthers-Packers game on Fox; I started reading some stories on the upcoming hockey season.

Sadly the first story I read about was about the funeral service held yesterday in the Detroit area for the ex-assistant coach of the Red Wings. Like many a hockey fan I was in shock the day that the deadly plane crash occurred. Reading the names of those that passed in that tragic accident made me think even more how fleeting life can be. I can't pretend that I knew any of the people on that flight. I had seen several play hockey on TV or live. I had seen Brad McCrimmon play and coach. I had seen Pavol Demitra in the last Olympics. I had seen and heard of many of the other players that perished in that flight. When you read of the ages of these people it just makes you think. A few months ago, Brad McCrimmon was behind the bench and Ruslan Salei was on the ice as the Red Wings were trying to extend their conference semi-final series against the Sharks. Less than four months after, they and others passed in a tragic accident. I think there is a lesson of sorts to be learned there by us. Be thankful, be grateful and be happy.

I then read about an open practice that the returning Winnipeg Jets had yesterday afternoon at the practice facility. it's great to hear and read about a team that has relocated to hockey country. Maybe now the NHL will understand that hockey south of the Mason-Dixon line is a tough sell. After all this is the 2nd time an Atlanta franchise has had to move north of the border. I've been to Atlanta to see games in the last couple of years including games with my Habs, with the Red Wings as well as with the Maple Leafs and for all of those games plenty of seats were available and the visiting team fans easily outnumbered the Atlanta Thrashers fans. It almost seemed like the fans were more interested in the contests being run at commercial breaks and intermissions than being at a hockey game. The Thrasher ownership didn't help matters much either though. Made me think of the Brochu and Loria years with the Expos. Oh well I am sure that the Winterpeggers will love their team. They do have some decent hockey players. December 17th will be a special night. Teemu Selanne and the Ducks will be in town. Pretty damn sure that the rafters will be rocking that night. I just saw that the Jets are playing in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. About the only time that Winnipeg feels southeast is the 3-4 weeks in the middle of the summer. Rest of the time it probably feels like the Arctic tundra.

Now what about my Habs? Did they make the changes that will bring them deep into the hockey playoffs? Will the old Scott Gomez come back to the rink or will it be the older Gomez that has lost his touch? Have the Habs continued in that tradition of getting players that are quickly getting to the other side of their prime? Is the 32 yr. old Erik Cole the same player that totally took over games when he was with the Hurricanes versus the Habs a few years ago? Or will he be like the Denis Savard that we got from Chicago years ago? Is Andrei Markov going to be there for most of the season? Will the coaching staff give the ice time and freedom to the Lars Eller that showed up in the playoffs? Will the coaching staff give lots of power play time to a young gun like Yannick Webber? What about the physicality of Alexia Yemelin? Will he be given a chance to play regular minutes ahead of some of the older guys? There aren't many other intimidating players on the roster. There are tons of questions to be answered I think. The road to the Stanley Cup finals in our conference looks to be running through Boston and Philadelphia.

Less than a month til the season starts...

Hmmm...when does a week start anyway?

So I just dropped H off at work and will start on laundry soon. I've tons of it to do. I made myself a pot of coffee and am working on mug number one. I just realized that I didn't have a single cup yesterday. My body must have been overtaken by some strange alien lifeform for me not to have a coffee yesterday. That just isn't right. Mind you I have dropped my caffeine intake since I stopped smoking. I need to drop some of my caloric intake now. LOL. Sure hope that StopaMinit sells MGD 64 for cheap. Ha!

Anyways when does a week start? In my mind it starts when my weekend ends which would mean Sunday night is the end of my week and Monday is the beginning of my week. For normal people who pay attention to calendars I would hazard the guess that Sunday is the start of the week. Why is that an issue in my mind anyways? Does it really make a difference? Probably not. I was just wondering as I was driving back home from Food Lion listening to "Sister Moonshine" by Supertramp in the car. Strange what pops into one's mind at times.

Earlier this week as I was walking back to my car in my work parking lot, I noticed a bumper sticker that said "when the rapture comes, this car will be empty". I just shook my head. My first thought was that I wouldn't see that up north on a bumper sticker. My second thought was which of the raptures will this be? Didn't we just have one? My third thought was how Christian of an act would that be assuming that a rapture would happen and said person would be driving this car with the bumper sticker and then disappear as he or she was driving leaving this car unattended or driverless possibly wreaking havoc on the roadway? Trying to get past that third thought. Doesn't work. I'm curious to see whose car that is. I noticed that it was parked in the handicapped area.

Starting mug number two. Yum. Don't get me started on handicapped parking spots. Okay they are needed. There are some people that truly have mobility issues and they need to have the option to park close to where they need to be. My issue though is that it seems here in SC you get a handicapped parking sticker for a three year time frame if you have stubbed your toe. It is unbelievable how many people have the stickers and when you see them get out of the car you don't notice any real physical infirmity. It seems that if your spouse has an issue you can get a sticker too. Now if you are a two car family you can have two stickers. This implies that the able-bodied spouse can use the handicapped sticker even if the other person isn't in the car. I have seen this over and over near handicapped parking spots. Maybe they need to come up with another pictogram for handicapped people. You have one for the mobility impaired and you have one for the brainwave impaired. For the latter you can a picture of someone's head and have a For Rent sign super-imposed where the person's brain should be.

Okay that felt good. It has bugged me forever. LOL. Okay I should get busy with stuff around the house now. Jinx/Jynx doesn't seem to want to help with the laundry. That darn cat!

More Musings....

So here I am on this quiet Saturday evening having a couple of Milwaukee's Best Ice and winding down my day. I was pretty quiet today and tonight. Made burgers on the grill. Picked H up at work. Watched a bit of the Navy-SC game. Watched a bit of the Cards-Phillies game. Sorted through more paperwork. More shredding in the garage.

I almost feel like I am making progress in eliminating the clutter in my life. For years and years I have been like a packrat with paperwork and I guess clothes as well. My mission in the last little while is to go through this stuff. Shred what isn't needed. Keep what is needed. Wash the clothes that still fit H and I and wash and sort the stuff that doesn't and bring it to a place where the needy can get it if they want.

About 15 minutes ago my sciatic issues popped up again. Dang that is annoying. Popped another pill just to get through the next couple of hours relatively pain-free. I am looking forward to my next massage. The massage therapist should loosen up my calf and hamstring nicely. I need to start doing more stretches as she pointed out. I am sure that it would help. Losing weight would also help I would think. I got on a scale earlier this week and I took my glasses off just to verify if what it said was what it actually was. Much to my chagrin it was.

Been spending the last hour or so listening and kind of viewing videos on YouTube. Trying to find songs that I haven't heard in forever and a day. Been listening to England Dan and John Ford Coley, Manic Street Preachers, old Paul McCartney and Wings, The Payolas, Max Webster, Kim Mitchell, Strange Advance and The Spoons.

I can't imagine a world or my world without music. It's been there for me to identify with, to understand things better, to bring joy and peace (okay that does sound a bit much but it is true), to calm me, soothe me and keep me company. Happening upon a song that describes what you think or what you feel about something is amazing. I instantly identify songs with key moments in my life. It's amazing how certain songs are so closely identified with a time, a place or a person in my life. I think that would make a great blog topic or two. Perhaps that will be the focus of my next blogs. There sure is lots of material there...

Mixed CD meanderings...

So when I last left off I mentioned that I was going to write about the CD that I am listening to tonight. Let me preface all of this by stating that is just after midnight here and I am wide awake after sleeping a couple of hours on the couch earlier. I haven't slept a normal night's sleep in months. I mention this because sometimes when I'm blathering on here it seems to make perfect sense as I type but it may not to the typical person. Oh well I am stating a disclaimer as they do for drug ads on TV. At least reading my blogs do not lead to instances of death and/or strokes. LOL.

Onto the music we go. I think I am going to this in numerical form. Track by track. Here we go...

1. "Strange Dreams" Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush (1982)
I added this song to the CD that I burned way back when as I always have to have Canadian music on my CDs. Often these were burned to bring along on my rides up to the Great White North. Why this song? It has a cool synth line in the background. At least it sounds like a synth. LOL. Simple as that.

2. "Resurrection" Moist (1996)
Okay this song just rocks. At times it seems like David Usher is speaking or talking rather than singing but it is just the way the song goes. It's just an out and out rocker from an alternative rock band from Vancouver. I always thought of them as being from Montreal. Weird. The song comes the band's 2nd album. LOL. Showing my age here referring to albums. Hey I have the cassette version of this album. I am allowed.

3. "The Fly" U2 (1991)
This came off "Achtung Baby". The sounds on this album were completely new for U2 I think. The song has a great beat. Bono sings it normal and sometimes he goes falsetto. It showcases Edge's guitar playing and the different sounds he can get. I hear the song and it gets me moving in my chair. It is a chair dancing song! LOL.

4. "This Could Be The Right One" April Wine (1984)
Hmmmm I like this song. It is by far not the best song by April Wine. Another Canadian band. However it kind of has a catchy beat. Kind of formulaic at times. That being said though I am pretty sure that I may be one of the few that has this song playing loud in my car in Simpsonville. Hey at least it isn't Lynyrd Skynyrd for the millionth time. I do remember the video being kind of cheesy. I think the band members were wearing what was considered stylish at the time. Funny looking boots 20+ years later. Ha.

5. "Sledgehammer" BTO (1974)
Imagine that another Canadian band. This song is best listened to as loud as possible. Like the title of the song, the sound never lets up. It will never be confused with the Peter Gabriel song that has the same name. Starts out hard. Continues hard. Ends hard. Has a slow part right at the start but then batten down the hatches. You're like a sledgehammer! Randy Bachmann and Fred Turner take turns singing. It will never be mistaken for a love song!

6. "Trashed" Black Sabbath (1983)
The Ian Gillan version of Black Sabbath. This man has pipes. Another balls out rocker. This song does not let up. Bill Ward on the drums plays this song like he is possessed. One of the fastest and hardest beats I have ever heard. Turns out Ian Gillan wrote this song after getting drunk and taking Geezer Butler's car for a spin.

7. "Precious Declaration" Collective Soul (1997)
A song from one of my favorite bands that just happen to have originated about 150 miles of where I am sitting right now. Starts off with drums, then one guitar and then another guitar and here comes Ed Roland. For some strange reason I see this song as a hip preacher at a pulpit giving a real cool sermon. This song has religious connotations to me. That is too funny! It really isn't but some of the lyrics give me that imagery.

8. "Time Of Our Lives" David Usher (2003)
Well another Canadian rock song. This one is from the former lead singer of Moist who appear on this CD on track two. This is the first mellow song on the CD. The song has a nice acoustic sound to it and David's lyrics aren't run of the mill. It is a thinking song to me.

9. "Lust For Life" Iggy Pop (1977)
Co-written by David Bowie along with Iggy. Starts off with a 1m15s instrumental that just has you tapping your toes on the floor and your fingers on the table. Any song that has you dancing like hypnotized chickens can not be bad.

10. "All We Are" Kim Mitchell(1984)
Ah back to Canadian music from the former frontman of Max Webster. I always think of the best place to listen to this song is on a warm, cloudless, star-filled night laying down with a glass of wine or two staring at the sky with this song playing in the background. It is one of those atmospheric sounding songs. To me it is also a song that we question ourselves about our place and reason for being here. Isn't staring at the sky a perfect time and place to ask those kinds of questions? I think so.

11. "Stayed Awake All Night" Krokus (1983)
Okay with a name like Krokus, it has to be a hard rock song, doesn't it? When you think of Switzerland you think of chocolate, clocks, mountains and yodeling. LOL. Well I do. You don't think of a hard rock / heavy metal band that was very popular in the early 80s. Krokus often had covers of other popular rock songs on their albums and this is one of them. The song was written by Randy Bachmann and recorded originally with the Guess Who. This version is actually not much different than the original version. Perhaps the background sounds and echoes are a little more modern sounding than the original. One of those songs that if playing in my car, it is on loud and chances are my head is going up and down to the beat of the song. LOL. I am nearly 50 yr. old head banger. Hehe.

12. "Gasoline" Moist (1996)
The second song on this CD from the band Moist. This song is from the same album as "Resurrection" and the sound is completely different. It's a ballad. A sad ballad. I never really understood the lyrics or meaning to the song. It seems like a song where someone is hurting someone else. It just seems so sad.

13. "Woman In Chains" Tears For Fears (1989)
A beautiful song featuring the vocals of Oleta Adams along with Roland Orzabal. While the meaning behind the song points out that unfortunately man seems to hold the balance of power in many facets of life it also point that if woman did perhaps things would be a little calmer, a little nicer,a little serener. I think that the video to this song is too blunt. You tend to focus on the aggressivity of man vis-a-vis woman. The song ends on a high note with the refrain of "so free". Is it because man chose to look at his feminine side? Is it because the woman has left the man? It is in the thoughts of the listener I would think.

14. "Why Can't We Live Together" Steve Winwood (2003)
A beautiful remake of the Timmy Thomas one-hit wonder by the most soulful white man ever. The diction, the phrasing, the sound of Steve Winwood's honeyed voice is perfect for this song. Musically it isn't all different than the original. I believe that it is a homage to the original. A way of pointing out the greatness of the song originally released way back in 1972. I hear this song and I think of rippling waves or undulating shoulders. LOL. Don't try undulating shoulders if you have no rhythm like I. You can poke your eye out.

15. "Ahead By A Century" Tragically Hip (1996)
Ah more Canadian music. This song was on my summer playlist of the summer of 1996. This song brings back memories of my being on Melmerby Beach (NS) with Harrison spending time with my Mom and Blaine. On this beach I would bring a radio/ tape player and I would be able to pick up a top 40 station from across the water in Charlottetown, PEI. This song was in heavy rotation then. It is a pretty song. A song of memories and thoughts. "No dress rehearsal, this is our life". Great lyric.

16. "One" U2 (1991)
Off Achtung Baby as well just like track 3 on this mix CD. Much like the Moist song choices; this U2 song is the complete opposite of "The Fly". I saw U2 perform this live at the old Montreal Forum and the "Zoo TV" tour. This song like many U2 songs was a total sing-a-long when played live. It is simply a beautiful song. In latter years it was used to raise funds for AIDS research, it was used by Bono along with Starbucks to help in Africa. How many songs are there out there that have that kind of power? The remake done in 2006 with Mary K. Blige is pretty as well. This song is one of those bring tears of joy songs I think.

17. "Good Vibrations" Beach Boys (1966).
Isn't this song amazing? It is 45 years old and sounds as fresh as ever and it doesn't sound dated at all. Brian Wilson is and was an absolute musical genius when he came up with this song. I think that this song if listened when totally depressed has the power to erase all of those feelings at least for 3m37s of running time. It is that powerful! Praise the Lord for this joyful sound!

So that's it for this CD. Pretty darn eclectic. It was nice to write about as well as listen to it as it was played. I think it is time to search out some of these songs on YouTube.

This and that...

So this is going to be a this and that blog as I wait for the ibuprofen to kick in to help alleviate the pain in my right hamstring and buttock. Getting older has not been easy for me especially since I packed on the pounds after quitting smoking almost a year and a half ago. My sciatic nerve is killing me.

Not smoking has been great. The one sense that really has returned is my sense of smell. While this is a good thing when around a nice or pleasant aroma; it really bites when that isn't the case though. I've realized how bad smokers smell. I never ever noticed when I smoked what I smelled like but I can now imagine what it was like. Everytime a smoker gets on the elevator at work I have a holy eff moment. LOL. That used to be me I think as I edge as far away as I can inconspicuously. Ugh.

Don't get me started on restrooms smells. LOL. Okay that is not the most intellectual comment that I have ever made. Far from it. Though it is very valid. Publc restroom smells are hmmmmm gross! Trying to think of a better word but I couldn't.

"Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys just came on my CD player. Man that is an amazing song. The beat. The sounds. The harmonies. The weird lyrics. The electro-theremin. The electro-theremin you say. That was a trivia question this week. Didn't get that answer right. I knew what the trivia guy was referring to but I had no idea what the instrument was called. Here's a good did you know question. Who played guitar on the original version of the song? Hint #1. He was involved with Tanya Tucker for awhile. Hint #2 for those that don't know Tanya Tucker (LOL). He sang about cowboys that liked gaudy jewelry. Hint #3 is that he had a show on CBS I believe back in his heyday with the "good time" hour in the title. Okay the last hint really sucks as it may not even be factually correct. That almost sounds like everything that is stated at a GOP debate in 2011. Strike down hint #3. Hint #2 should have identified Glen Campbell. If it didn't I could have mentioned that annoying "Southern Nights" song. Southern nights, oh southern nights. Oh STFU song. Dang that song is annoying. "Good Vibrations" on the other hand is simply effing amazing. Pardon my French. Hehe. Darn that song came out in 1966 when I was 4 years old. Simply effin amazing. Hmmmm. Are we going to be referring to Bruno Mars songs in the year 2056? Somehow I doubt that. Tell you what though. When I am 94 I will write a blog about a Bruno Mars song. I just hope that in 2056 my sciatic nerve won't be hurting anymore. Typing 2056 as a year is really really weird. Those ibuprofens have kicked in! LOL.

The CD that I am listening to is great. It is one of my mixed ones. I'm going to blog about that next. I already have in the past when I used to blog on MySpace. Why oh why didn't I keep my 250 blogs saved somewhere? I could have replastered this space with my blatherings about this and that and the other thing. Oh well I can rewrite most of those I guess. O:). That is supposed to be a smiley face. Doesn't quite look that way.

Damn my Nationals lost toinght to the Marlins. They could lose to any other team; just don't lose to Loria's team. Grrr. Don't get me started on that man along with his son-in-law that played a large role in the disappearance of my beloved Montreal Expos. They got shut out for the 14th time this year. Tied for 2nd most in MLB. Probably tied with the Padres and behind the Giants. Padres another 1969 team. They made it to a World Series though at least. My Expos slash Nats still waiting.

Oh wait Black Sabbath "Trashed" just came on the CD player. WTF is that song about? These lyrics are weird. I have to find them online now and blog about this CD that I am listening to tonight. Back in a few with a new blog.

This and that. Over and out. I think the ibuprofen have kicked in. I am not making too much sense am I?

A Tale of Two Rickards Pt.II...

So I got home and logged on my work email to check my flight details and saw that my flight was at 630am to Atlanta. That was a holy eff moment. LOL. It's 535am and I am supposed to be at the airport for a 630am flight. I am effed!!! I haven't even packed. Nothing like waiting to the last possible minute to take care of things that could have easily been taken care of the day before. So anyways I find a suitcase and do a whizbang job of filling it up. When I got to Toronto I discovered that I forgot a toothbrush, nail clippers, long sleeve shirts and a belt. Made sure that I had enough underwear with 8 pairs for a 4 day trip.

It is now 555am and I'm back on the road to GSP for my 630am flight. This is not going to work. I wonder how much this will cost me to get a new flight. Pretty sure that I drove as fast as I could to get to the airport without getting nabbed for speeding. Fortunately I was able to park closer to the terminal at the new sky-level at $6 a day.

So now I am at a Delta kiosk feeding it my credit card to get my boarding passes and lo and behold my flight really was at 730am and I am actually there an hour and ten minutes early. LOL. Calmness descended upon at that time. I actually had time for breakfast and another coffee. Yay!

I had a decent breakfast and got some much needed caffeine into me and proceeded to board my plane. Okay not my plane, Delta's plane. Turns out I have a window seat (ugh) and my aisle of three seats is filled and the guy in the middle seat is not exactly tiny and has staked his position for this flight. This is not going to be a good flight. I pretty much spent the flight leaning forward as I could not lean back as my shoulders wouldn't fit into that space. Thank goodness this was short flight. I love air travel when one is 6'5" something and weigh 270lbs. I really need to slim back down to my normal 225lbs. It's great that I quit smoking a year and half ago but did I really need to get that 7 months pregnant look going. LOL.

Anyways made it to Atlanta and promptly had to pop a back pain pill just so that I could walk to my next flight. I had close to a 2hr. layover for my flight to Buffalo so more coffee is required pronto. I've come to the conclusion that being in an airport especially one as busy as Atlanta's is not my cup of tea or better yet cup of joe.

The flight to Buffalo is uneventful and I had an aisle seat so that was a little more comfy as I could actually put my legs in the aisle at times. Had another coffee on the plane along with those biscottis that they give you. Damn those cookies are good. I could eat those all day long I think. Yeah right that would do wonders for my weight.

It is now past 1pm when I get to the National rental car counter and get my relatively new Nissan Sentra. Kind of a small car but it does afford me more leg room in the driver's seat than my Sorento. Surprisingly so. Only thing I didn't really like is that after driving a crossover for close to 4 years, I felt like I was on the ground when I was driving this car during my 4-5 days there.

So I get my car and get out of the airport and promptly get lost. LOL. Even with the garmin that was working at this time. Turns out I was following signs for the American Niagara Falls and not the Canadian one that is right next to Buffalo. I was going out of my way by about 15 miles it seems. Anyways I made it to the Canadian border via a different route and paid around $5 in tolls which I had never done in my previouse border crossings.

I do the customs thing and then get myself on my way to Toronto which is 90 minutes or so away. I then discovered that when I tried to enter the airport hotel address into the GPS thing it wasn't working once I crossed into Ontario. Wonderful I am going to spend the next week getting lost if I don't get that going. I have zero and I mean absolute zero sense of direction. This will be fun.

I noticed a visitors centre (Cdn. spelling haha) and I was able to get a couple of maps to get me to the hotel. I managed to get myself to the Four Points Sheraton next to the airport after dealing with the QEW, 401 and 427 traffic. People drive these highways every day. Holy eff Batman, that must not be fun!

I checked myself into the room and then unpack so that I hopefully won't have to iron anything and that is when I discovered what I forgot to bring. Great now I have to find a pharmacy to get the much required supplies.

Before I do that I decide to stop into the hotel bar lobby and grab a good old Canadian beer. I get myself a Rickards Red draft and that went down right quick. I got engrossed into the news coverage of Jack Layton's passing which had happened earlier in the day and called out for a refill. I didn't know much about Jack Layton but from what I saw in the coverage, I saw that he brought a lot of hope in the average Canadian. Kind of the effect that Barack Obama had on many of us a couple of years ago. That was a letdown though. More on that on a future blog though. The ongoing GOP leadership or lack thereof is stoking my political thought processes once again. Anyways back to facts Jack. I asked for my bill and then nearly fell of my chair when it came to $19.04 for Two Rickards. $9 a beer plus 13% tax. OMG. This is insane. WTF. Who pays these prices? That is absolutely crazy. $9 for a regular homegrown beer. I was going to have find a place to buy a six-pack for the rest of my trip as I can't expense that anyways and if I am paying for it, I am not dropping $57.12 for a six-pack at the hotel bar on this trip.

This my tale of Two Rickards!