no sleep till...

Today a co-worker referred to me an article in last weekend's Wall Street Journal. It is about how music is used in torture. Not surprisingly, the government often uses heavy metal music, or at least what they call heavy metal music, to get terrorist suspects to confess to crimes. The music is constantly on repeat until they can't take it any more. Apparently people from the Middle East are more likely to buckle to heavy metal (they cited Nine Inch Nails in the article) because that style of music is so foreign to them that it causes them to buckle under the pressure.

Interestingly enough, Barney's "I Love You" theme song was also cited in the article.

It reminded me of my freshman year of college, when I was living in the dorms at Boston University. I had a real douche bag of a next door neighbor. We didn't like each other. I don't even remember why, but regardless my dorm experience was not a good one. I might be able to trace it back to one night in particular.

I was in for the night. It was a week night, and I had a test the next day. Douche-bag neighbor was not going to be in for the night. So he decides to leave his stereo on.

Loud.

He put in a CD. Yeah, that's right - remember CDs?

Beastie Boys. License to Ill.

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn.

Repeat.

All fucking night. He never came home.

It was one of the worst nights of my life. I even used to like the song, but I will never be able to hear it again without thinking of that night.

NO!

SLEEP!

TIL!

...

repeat.

change is coming

It's been too long. I know this. You know this.

You see, I've been....eh, it's all excuses. Too lazy to blog, mostly.

I'm working on it.


Anyways...

In case you needed another excuse to drink the Obama Kool-Aid or anything, we're finally seeing some of this "change" coming our way!

My wife is from Connecticut. It's charming. Very quaint. Everything is very old, and usually on every building or signpost there's a landmark that says "This is the first place that _________."

But when it comes to snow and any bad weather they're really all just a big bunch of pussies.

This article from the Huffington Post points out that President Obama noticed the same thing about the D.C. school system.

After his daughters had their first Washington D.C. snow day, he says, "I'm saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."

That's what I'm talking about, yo.

the best wedding present ever

I was married over the summer, and we were fortunate enough to get quite a few lovely wedding gifts from all of our friends and family. We now have enough bowls and platters to host a party every night for the next three months and never use any of them twice.

Storage of said bowls and platters is another issue unto itself.

However, best gift of them all goes to my brother-in-law's good friends, Jeff and Maureen: the egg mcmuffin maker.

I now have the ability to wake up in the morning, break an egg into a small four-inch pan, and turn it into a perfectly poached egg that would be suitable for a McDonald's commercial.

"Thank you" just isn't sufficient enough to express my gratitude.

who knew?

Little did I know how much joy a third lane can bring into my life!

The funny part is that it's going to be no better than it was before the construction, but after a full year of gridlock it sure feels sweet.

why didn't i think of that?

I went to the movies last week with my family. We saw the new Indiana Jones movie - a bit of a family tradition.

We're in line for concessions and I see my brother standing over at the butter station. It's always bugged me that about ten years ago movie theaters everywhere stopped buttering your popcorn for you. When you do it yourself you end up only getting butter on the top of your popcorn, and by the middle of the tub it's run dry. Otherwise, you put too much butter on the popcorn and then you have a big greasy pile of heart-attack-in-a-tub.

Thanks to aforementioned brother: Problem Solved.

In a maneuver that could only be matched by MacGyver himself, I see my brother standing at the butter dispenser with a long, movie theater concession stand straw attached to the nozzle. Where does the straw lead?

Straight to the middle of the tub, baby!

Patent pending.

shameless self-promotion

I'm pretty sure that most people who read this blog are aware, but today is the the day that my band's album comes out. It's been a long time coming - lots of blood, sweat, and beers went into the making of the album. We've got our release show tonight at Wise Fools Pub, and I've probably never been more excited for a show. It's looking like it's going to be a packed house, so the band will be giving it everything we've got. It's nice to put so much effort into something, and to be able to celebrate its completion with so many people tonight will be very gratifying.

I don't know how many copies we'll sell, or if anything will ever come of it, but I know we've made something that we're all really proud of.

the urban cougar

Today, three blocks from my house, City of Chicago police officers killed...a cougar.

No joke. A cougar.

Read about it here.

I just got home from band practice at 10 PM. I had to walk a block from the car to my house. It's dark out. Just imagine turning the corner, guitar in hand, and seeing a cougar staring you dead in the eyes. One on one. Man vs. beast.

I would shit my pants.

That's not just an expression, either. I would literally shit my pants.

A cougar?!

Well, I can cross one more thing off my list of shit to worry about: getting mauled by a cougar on a Roscoe Village side street.