Half Birthdays

At what age do you stop caring about the "half birthday". It's really not about the actual date of the half birthday as much as it is about adding the "and a half" on the end of your age. I guess when you're 4 that extra half year makes a big difference. Anyways, I am 27 and a half today. So for the 3 or so of you that read this you should buy me half a present.

Eli

This is Eli. He is my nephew. He is 5 years old. He has already been taking guitar lessons for a year and wants to learn to skateboard. I think he's going to be pretty cool. He also likes strawberries which you can see him eating here.

A minister, a rabbi and a priest ...

Is anyone else's favorite reality show "The Real World"? It should be. I'm really excited that this season is taking place in Austin. It's cool to see a city I used to live in and love on television practically every night of the week. Although I'm anxious to see the upcoming episodes I definitely have some questions about this season after watching the premier. First of all, where is the homosexual roomate? What in the world is wrong with MTV? Did they think they could leave that position vacant because they doubled up on last season? It's sad because they used that empty spot to add another moronic frat boy jock. These two act like they've never seen a hot chic before. Act like you've been there boys. After the first episode it seems that this cast is planning to party hard and often. I wonder if it will rival Las Vegas at all. I think every season from here on out should have Trishelle come live at the house for a week. How great would that be? I heard the cast's job will be to make a documentary during SXSW. I wonder if they'll also have a job that actually helps people. Like last season when they worked at the children's home that Bon Jovi's football team sponsored. I thought that was a great use of time and publicity.

Right now I'm watching the first episode again (you know how MTV works) and Wes and Danny are about to get mad at Nehemiah and blame him for Danny getting the crap beaten out of him. Why can't they realize they got beat up because they were punk A B's out in the street with a bunch of cameras around. Haven't they seen this show before? Of course that's going to get you beat down.

Back to the wildness of this cast ... two of the girls made out big time in the hot tub on the first episode. Enought said.

The house seems to be pretty cool but is nowhere near the best I've seen. That house in Seattle was a force to be reckoned with. I mean they had a trap door in the floor for fishing in the water below the pier.

I think those are all the useless thoughts I can come up with about the Real World so far. Expect more as the season progresses. Time to see who hooks up tonight.

Rollercoaster

The hills of Cow Gap stood rugged and awesome
But you have to have fill dirt when you're building a road
And the hills of Cow Gap, they weathered the ages
Got wiped off the map at 12 dollars a load
Uncivilized pagans drank untreated water
Right out of our rivers back in their day
Now those streams bubble with clean treated sewage
While they sit in their hot tubs and drink perrier.
They call it the hill country, I call it beautiful
I'd call it progress if it could be saved
They call it the hill country, I call it home.
But what will they call it when it's leveled and paved.

I've had a sort of weird history with country music. I was more or less raised on it. The old stuff though. The kind of music that was called "country" or "western" because that's what it was ... not the crap you hear a lot of these days that is only labeled country because it's made in Nashville. In reality you are seeing an industry full of pre-fab songs spit out by the machine and snatched up by the next aspiring singer willing to put on a pair of boots and cowboy hat and hop on the stage. I mean, I'll hand it to them though. The people eat that crap up and it's almost always the "people" that set music trends on a collision course with mediocrity as I personally think has happened in Nashville. On a sort of side note, did you know that of the over 50 #1 hits from George Strait he wrote exactly zero of them.

So there are a couple different areas of the all encompassing genre of coutry music that I find appealing and personally I feel they are what country music really is. First of all I was raised on a combination of western swing (from its creator Bob Wills) and "Texas" country from guys like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. There is a sense of purity in what these guys created that is hard to find these days. In the past 10 years or so there has been a sort of resurgence of country music in Texas by people from Texas like we saw in the '70's. (I didn't actually see it then because I wasn't born yet. But you know what I mean.) A few months ago I went with a good friend of mine to see a guy do a small acoustic show with only a guitar and fiddle in a little bar over in Lewisville. His name was Randy Rogers. I was so excited to see a guy my age on stage playing the fiddle. I mean isn't that one of the first instruments you think of when you think about country music? And yet it is used so little in popular country. So anyways, I liked the show and several weeks later picked up the guy's newest record to see what the entire band sounded like. And now hear I am presenting "Rollercoaster" by the Randy Rogers Band as the latest edition of "Record of the Week". This guy has that singer/songwriter blood in him and joined forces with guys like Cody Canada and Radney Foster to create what I think is some of the best contemporary Texas country out there right now. The song "Tonight's Not The Night" has been on the radio for a couple months now and I believe I heard the first track "Down and Out" on radio as well. This is the kind of record with the kind of voice that makes you feel like you're in a little smoky bar watching live even though you're on your way to work at 7:00 in the morning. It creates more than just music. It creates an atmosphere and evokes familiar emotions. Song #3 is a great up tempo song and then #4 slows it down so you can dance with your girl without getting rid of your bottle of beer. Apparently resting it against her hip is the cool move. The above lines are from song #9 called "They Call It The Hill Country". Great song as well.

So check it out at:

www.randyrogersband.com

or

www.randyrogers.com

If you're into that kind of stuff I would recommend a show or picking up the record. If not, stay tuned. There will be more rock 'n roll to speak of soon. For now ... sit back, pop open a 16 oz Lone Star and enjoy a little Texas country. Until next time ...

Passing the Hat

So I was in this lady's office today with some paper work in front of me. Long story short ... initial here, initial there, sign the last page and I walked out of that place with my very own house. I literally got back in the car after leaving the office and thought, "holy crap, what have I done?" I think I may have to start taking love offerings everywhere I go. You know, "give what the Lord leads you to give ... as long as He leads you to give a lot."

Anyways, thought I'd share the news. I close in about 4 weeks and then there should be a nice little party for those of you in the area soon thereafter. You can check it out here.

http://www.realtor.com/Prop/1047870869

Rear Window

That movie is called "Rear Window" and it stars Grace Kelly alongside Jimmy Stewart. By the way, as a person who wasn't alive in the 50's or 60's I've heard a lot of hype from old people about Grace Kelly. Turns out they were right. So this is my movie suggestion to you all. They are releasing a lot of Hitchcock's movies on dvd now so it's easier to get your hands on them.

Another media suggestion for those of you in the DFW area is to tune into 95.3 The Range. I rarely listen to radio because I think they play awful music most of the time. That goes for rock and country which are the two general genres I enjoy. For instance, I was listening to the local alternative rock station here in Dallas the other day and noticed they were playing most of the same songs they played when I listened to that station in high school. It wasn't that flashback lunch thing either. Anyways, the point is I usually listen to cd's but unfortunately my beast of a van does not have a cd player so I'm forced to entertain myself with radio all day long. I've been listening to a lot of talk radio but need some music from time to time. A good friend suggested 95.3 and I'm hooked. They play really old traditional country mixed with contemporary Texas singer/songwriter country. They play songs other than the "singles" released to radio which also allows for variety. Today I heard Willie Nelson singing a reggae song with Toots Mayhal (I think that's how you spell the lastname). How many times will you hear that on any other station? So for some a change move it over to 95.3.

Speaking of radio, I mentioned I listen to some talk radio but it usually is FM talk radio so it lacks a little substance. Any suggestions on good AM talk radio in the DFW area? I get a van with a cd player in 3 months but until then I must be entertained by radio. Might as well make the best of it. (Crap ... I was trying to make it all the way through this post without ending a sentence with a preposition. I hate bad grammar.) Okay, MTV time.

Hitchcock

Anyone ever see that Alfred Hitchcock movie where Jimmy Stewart (or was his spelled Stuart?) lives in Greenwich Village and due to an injury he sits in his apartment all day long watching everyone in the apartments around him? He learns about bits and pieces of each persons life without actually speaking to them. Anyways ... I sometimes feel this way at my apartment. I know what all the people around me look like and have been able to figure several things about each of them but we don't really talk so much. I kind of like it this way. I think one of Jimmy Stewart's neighbors was planning to kill his wife. Hopefully that doesn't happen here. When I remember the name of the movie I'll tell you. And then you should watch it.

flugtag

Copeland at The Door

Saw Copeland at The Door lastnight with my friend Jaime. Question ... what's with all the cell phones. I saw so many people getting video footage on their cell phones and digital video cameras. It seemed like the girl in front of me was watching the show on the screen of her camera instead of just watching the actual people playing the music who were only 10 feet in front of her. So here is a camera phone picture for you to make you feel like you were there.

Blurry picture of Copeland from Jaime's camera phone

My 3 Favorite Drinks

In no particular order ...

-sweet tea
-chocolate milk
-beer