In have a discussion with Mr. Shumway (see blog links at stage left) about a mutual past acquaintance, I wrote a line of which I'm mighty proud. So before I fall under the weight of my own pride, allow me to present the catchphrase of August 2007:
He certainly has jumped headfirst into the empty concrete pool of liberalism.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Increase Your Gas Mileage By 9%!
I just increased my gas mileage by 9% by switching to GEICO!
Or by fixing a collapsed brake line that prevented my right rear brake from fully opening. Since I don't drive all that much I estimate I just saved myself about 2.25 gallons of gas a month, or a whopping $6.75. While fixing this it was necessary to replace the brake pads, the rotor, the bracket, the caliper (maybe didn't need to on that but I was on a roll trying to figure out what was wrong), and the line. Doing the math I found that I'll make my money back in just over two and a half years. After that I'll be rollin' in dough and plan to put that extra $6.75 per month to work for me, possibly by investing it in pinto bean futures.
Or by fixing a collapsed brake line that prevented my right rear brake from fully opening. Since I don't drive all that much I estimate I just saved myself about 2.25 gallons of gas a month, or a whopping $6.75. While fixing this it was necessary to replace the brake pads, the rotor, the bracket, the caliper (maybe didn't need to on that but I was on a roll trying to figure out what was wrong), and the line. Doing the math I found that I'll make my money back in just over two and a half years. After that I'll be rollin' in dough and plan to put that extra $6.75 per month to work for me, possibly by investing it in pinto bean futures.
Friday, July 27, 2007
yeah, yeah, yeah... more music talk.
So my pea brained one-track-mind was wondering what my favorite albums were a decade ago. Since I'm such a music dork (and a dork in general) that I have all my music cataloged on a handy-dandy database (plus ratings to prove I am an ultra-dork) this was an easy task. Until I discovered that either 1996-1997 were bad years for music or that it existed but I've yet to find it. Sure, I owned quite a few albums from those years but only a few were decent enough to rate a nine or ten... and none achieved the lofty rank of 11.
PFR put out a best of album which made the list. The Choir, at the end of their touring days, put out Free Flying Soul, an excellent albeit dark album. They Might Be Giants released the excellent Factory Showroom and Ben Folds Five issued Whatever and Ever, Amen. Sir McCartney also graced us with Flaming Pie, which was about as consistent as he is able. One final great release was The Neverhood Soundtrack by Terry Taylor and friends.
Ten years ago seems like forever. Rich Mullins and Gene Eugene were still alive and musically active. Kevin Gilbert had just passed away. King's X and Galactic Cowboys has just moved to Metal Blade records and were learning how to make great albums without a great producer. Ben Folds was still part of Ben Folds Five.
One wonders what bands will still be around, what cherished musicians will still be alive, in 2017.
To go along with this nostalgic and morose post, kindly enjoy the live video of a strange but thoroughly enjoyable band Black Moth Super Rainbow. Listen once and find yourself confused. Listen twice and find yourself hooked. In case you are wondering, they are singing "I want to be with you in the summer time" and "We miss you in summer time."
PFR put out a best of album which made the list. The Choir, at the end of their touring days, put out Free Flying Soul, an excellent albeit dark album. They Might Be Giants released the excellent Factory Showroom and Ben Folds Five issued Whatever and Ever, Amen. Sir McCartney also graced us with Flaming Pie, which was about as consistent as he is able. One final great release was The Neverhood Soundtrack by Terry Taylor and friends.
Ten years ago seems like forever. Rich Mullins and Gene Eugene were still alive and musically active. Kevin Gilbert had just passed away. King's X and Galactic Cowboys has just moved to Metal Blade records and were learning how to make great albums without a great producer. Ben Folds was still part of Ben Folds Five.
One wonders what bands will still be around, what cherished musicians will still be alive, in 2017.
To go along with this nostalgic and morose post, kindly enjoy the live video of a strange but thoroughly enjoyable band Black Moth Super Rainbow. Listen once and find yourself confused. Listen twice and find yourself hooked. In case you are wondering, they are singing "I want to be with you in the summer time" and "We miss you in summer time."
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
8 MEEEEELLION
Our local school system just asked for, oh, half a BILLION dollars for repairs and enhancements. The taxpayers collected signed petitions against the irresponsible proposal by three to one. Of course instead of backing politely off after seeing the huge tidal wave of response they insisted that the city count and verify (and pay for the counting and verifying of) all 40,000+ signatures. So now it's back the drawing board for the school board.
One thing they are considering is actually looking at trimming the fat from their budget (GASP!). The below is from the WANE TV web site:
Next, is looking at the capital projects fund, which is what the school district normally uses for improvements, and figuring out how to get more maintenance money from it, possibility by reducing the $8-million used for racial balance.
"If the capital projects fund is so drained, we need to look for another source or reduce the budget. That $8-million will go a long way to fix buildings without any borrowing," said school board member Jon Olinger.
FORT WAYNE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SPENDS EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS ARE YEAR ON RACIAL BALANCE?!?!?!?
What "racial balancing" can cost eight million a year? Forced busing? It really makes you wonder what other pork is crammed into the budget that could be used for, oh, teacher salaries, air conditioning, or any of the other things the school board said they desperately needed.
Since our schools are failing so miserably in math (and English and science and...) how about I help them out a bit. They wanted to tax the taxpayers 500 million and pay it back over thirty years (to the total tune of about $840 with interest). Hmmm... $8 million per year for thirty years is $240 million! All they need to do is find another "racial balance" in the budget and they're set!
One thing they are considering is actually looking at trimming the fat from their budget (GASP!). The below is from the WANE TV web site:
Next, is looking at the capital projects fund, which is what the school district normally uses for improvements, and figuring out how to get more maintenance money from it, possibility by reducing the $8-million used for racial balance.
"If the capital projects fund is so drained, we need to look for another source or reduce the budget. That $8-million will go a long way to fix buildings without any borrowing," said school board member Jon Olinger.
FORT WAYNE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SPENDS EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS ARE YEAR ON RACIAL BALANCE?!?!?!?
What "racial balancing" can cost eight million a year? Forced busing? It really makes you wonder what other pork is crammed into the budget that could be used for, oh, teacher salaries, air conditioning, or any of the other things the school board said they desperately needed.
Since our schools are failing so miserably in math (and English and science and...) how about I help them out a bit. They wanted to tax the taxpayers 500 million and pay it back over thirty years (to the total tune of about $840 with interest). Hmmm... $8 million per year for thirty years is $240 million! All they need to do is find another "racial balance" in the budget and they're set!
Monday, July 16, 2007
New TMBG
For those of you not "in the know" TMBG stands for They Might Be Giants, who just released their 12th album this past Tuesday. Sure, I could have bought it online about a month ago but this band, once cherished at the top of my fanboy list, has lost quite a bit of footing.
It's my theory that TMBG does albums in thematic pairs, perhaps unconsciously but it makes sense in my twisted little mind. The Pink Album and Lincoln were both very heavy on the experimental/Greenwich Village angle - good, slightly underdeveloped, but very enthusiastic. With Flood and Apollo 18 they removed the "underdeveloped" while keeping the enthusiasm and adding loads of guests in the studio to give their keyboardy sound a more organic rock feel. Also while touring for these albums they realized that they needed a band and so went out and bought one. John Henry has TMBG in full rock mode, feeling their oats with this new power behind them and pretty much gleefully flying through loads of great songs. Factory Showroom is also solid and full of rock but with a bit more whimsy.
Then bassist Graham Maby (one of the most inventive bassists on the planet) left and the Giants brought in "The Band of Dans" and started working on soundtracks and stuff, taking a break from studio albums while Linnell worked on his family. With Mink Car, their first album in five years, the band turned in a bunch of lame ducks surrounded by a few inspired tunes... and even those has been previously released on an EP. Three years pass and The Spine comes out and it's little more than a bad caricature of themselves. Eight years is a long time to wait for two mediocre albums. Around this time, however, the band puts out two very good children's albums. And it should be noted that their EPs, with the exception of any Dust Brothers remixes, are always in excellent form.
So we've got two experimentals, two developed, two rock, two stinkies, and two great childrens albums. Their latest, The Else is playing for the second time for my ears so it's too early to tell if it's any good. My fingers are crossed. I'd really hate to demote this much-cherished band from the "buy anything they put out without listening" to "check it out first" status.
It's my theory that TMBG does albums in thematic pairs, perhaps unconsciously but it makes sense in my twisted little mind. The Pink Album and Lincoln were both very heavy on the experimental/Greenwich Village angle - good, slightly underdeveloped, but very enthusiastic. With Flood and Apollo 18 they removed the "underdeveloped" while keeping the enthusiasm and adding loads of guests in the studio to give their keyboardy sound a more organic rock feel. Also while touring for these albums they realized that they needed a band and so went out and bought one. John Henry has TMBG in full rock mode, feeling their oats with this new power behind them and pretty much gleefully flying through loads of great songs. Factory Showroom is also solid and full of rock but with a bit more whimsy.
Then bassist Graham Maby (one of the most inventive bassists on the planet) left and the Giants brought in "The Band of Dans" and started working on soundtracks and stuff, taking a break from studio albums while Linnell worked on his family. With Mink Car, their first album in five years, the band turned in a bunch of lame ducks surrounded by a few inspired tunes... and even those has been previously released on an EP. Three years pass and The Spine comes out and it's little more than a bad caricature of themselves. Eight years is a long time to wait for two mediocre albums. Around this time, however, the band puts out two very good children's albums. And it should be noted that their EPs, with the exception of any Dust Brothers remixes, are always in excellent form.
So we've got two experimentals, two developed, two rock, two stinkies, and two great childrens albums. Their latest, The Else is playing for the second time for my ears so it's too early to tell if it's any good. My fingers are crossed. I'd really hate to demote this much-cherished band from the "buy anything they put out without listening" to "check it out first" status.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Nipabuse
My dad just gave us some fresh catnip for our cat, Dippy. As this cat is an unusual beast, full of social inclinations with other felines and fond of chewing the heads off chipmunks, I was curious to see how this tough-guy would act "under the influence."
But I think our cat has a past he hasn't disclosed. When offered the stuff he took one sniff and walked away. Again I lured him in, a single sniff, and off he went. It's almost like he's had his problems with The Nip in the past, gone through detox, and now knows enough to stay away from it. Or maybe he's on Nipabuse and fears the side effects.
But I think our cat has a past he hasn't disclosed. When offered the stuff he took one sniff and walked away. Again I lured him in, a single sniff, and off he went. It's almost like he's had his problems with The Nip in the past, gone through detox, and now knows enough to stay away from it. Or maybe he's on Nipabuse and fears the side effects.
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