AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

Yesterday, I woke up and didn't really have anything breakfasty around the house to eat and I wanted something breakfasty, so I hopped in the car and headed over to Dunkin Donuts. I waited in line until it was my turn to order and when it was I told the clerk that I wanted an extra large number five combo on a croissant with black coffee. For those of you who do not have the Dunkin Donuts menu committed to memory, a number five combo is, according to the picture on the wall behind the cashiers, a Supreme Omelet Sandwich on a croissant with bacon. I thought that I had given all of the information required for my order to be filled successfully. Apparently not because the cashier had a few questions for me.
"What kind of meat do you want?"
"Shit," I thought to myself, I knew I got a choice of bacon, sausage or ham, but the picture has bacon so I assumed the sandwich came with bacon by default. Oh well, in the picture the sandwich is on a croissant and I felt it necessary to specify that part of the sandwich, right? "Bacon," I told her.
"Do you want that on a bagel, croissant or English muffin?" I was a little taken aback by this question.
"Um, I'll have it on a croissant, I guess."
"Cream and sugar in your coffee?"
"Yeah, I think I'll have my coffee black today, thanks for asking," I mean, I always try to be polite to people who are waiting on me, I'm a server and I can't stand when people talk to me like I'm an idiot or a machine without feelings. Maybe she didn't actually hear ANYTHING I said. Apparently this was the case because I watched her start to pour my coffee in the smallest possible cup that isn't made especially for espresso. "Um, I think I asked for an extra large," I said, finally asserting my rights as a consumer.
"No, you didn't," she wasn't being intentionally rude, she was just stating what was, in her mind, a simple fact. I hate to say this but I think it might actually be time to replace fast food workers with robots.

Haven't Posted in Awhile...

Haven't really felt like writing anything I guess, I'm a pretty lazy guy sometimes and definitely not what you might call a self-starter. I did see Ween a couple of weeks ago in Rochester, NY. I've liked them for quite a while but this is the first time I've been able to seen them play live. I expected an amazing show based on what people have told me and I was not disappointed, not even a little bit. They must have played for two hours plus and the energy level from the "Nan" opener to the "Mollusk," "Big Jilm" and "LMLYP" encore (My brother and I called the last two on the way to the show!) was as about as high as you can get. Having never seen them before I can't say for sure but it seemed like they were really feeding off the energy of the audience. The crowd was intense. Ween fans really like singing along with the band, apparently. Sometimes, almost always, I find this to be really annoying but there is something endearing about the sound of a bunch of fanatics singing along with "Sketches of Winkle" or "Piss Up a Rope." They played some new stuff too: the infectiously catchy instrumental "Fiesta" and the slow soul of "The Party." This was easily one of the best live concerts I've ever been to in a club.
This weekend I'm going to the Syracuse Jazz Fest to see Dave Brubeck, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, all for free! Maybe I'll get around to writing about that sometime before summer is over.

Knocked Up

No, I'm not pregnant. I finally got around to seeing Judd Apatow's latest project and follow up to The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up. I know, it takes me longer than most people on the internet to see movies; I wish I could see every good movie on opening weekend, unfortunately, I don't get paid to do this, I get paid to do other stuff so the other stuff has got to come first.
After seeing this movie I am pretty much convinced that Apatow can do no wrong. I'm sure I'm not alone in this belief, the guy has been involved in brilliant comedy writing for years going back to The Larry Sanders Show. I first became aware of him through the brilliant, Freaks and Geeks. Like Freaks and Geeks and Virgin, Knocked Up manages to be hilarious, sweet (but not saccharine,) and real all at the same time. The relationship between stoner/slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) and up-and- coming entertainment reporter Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is refreshing and believable. The supporting cast, mainly consisting of what has become the Judd Apatow repertory company of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared veterans provide most of the laughs. There should be some kind of special achievement award for Paul Rudd, practically everything that comes out of his mouth is comedy gold. His chemistry with Rogen (which also was evident in Virgin) has the makings of some kind of buddy movie, maybe a remake of Midnight Run or...actually, I'm sure Judd Apatow has something brilliant up his sleeve.

Hodgepodge Lodge

I watched a lot of PBS when I was a kid (I still do actually.) Everyone remembers shows like Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and the Electric Company. Here is clip of a show that I had forgotten about until recently called "Hodgepodge Lodge." It was a show about appreciating and learning about nature featuring Jean Worthley, a naturalist known as Miss Jean to the children on the show and the audience at home. Now Maryland Public Television, where the show originated, is naming an award after her: The Miss Jean Worthley Award for Service to Families and Children. Here is a nice article about the award.

We Could Have Fun Just Groovin' Around Around and Around

I was listening to a mix CD tonight in the car and I have come to the conclusion that David Bowie's remake of Let's Spend the Night Together is better than the original by The Rolling Stones. I was gonna put up a Rhapsody play list with both versions but the Bowie version is for purchase only.

Night Terrors

There was a period of time when I was a little kid that I suffered from night terrors. Night terrors are different from nightmares. While nightmares occur during REM sleep, night terrors occur during what is called slow-wave sleep. Also night terrors are not about specific events like nightnmares but instead are associated with more of a panicky, horrifying feeling. I can actually remember having one at least once. I remember being aware that my parents were both there talking to me, trying to calm me down but I also remember being truly horrified almost as if I were being chased by something indescribable that was going to do me harm. When I've talked to my mom about these she always points out that she was reading The Exorcist at the time and my screaming in horror at something that wasn't there freaked her out a little.
So the other day I was driving to work listening to our local NPR affiliate and a show called Radiolab came on. The segment I caught was at first talking about how most animals (other than land mammals) are able to be literally half asleep: while one hemisphere of the brain is asleep, the other half is awake. This actually, is tangentially connected to night terrors. Anyway, here is a link to the episode. It's very interesting whether or not you've ever woken up screaming.

Tony Levin

Today is Tony Levin's birthday. For those of you who don't know, Levin is an amazing bassist who has played with not only his own band but incarnations of King Crimson, Peter Gabriel's band and many other bands and artists. He is also known for playing the Chapman Stick, a stringed instrument played by tapping the strings with one's fingers and helped to invent Funk Fingers, extensions attached to the bassist's fingers allowing him or her to tap the bass strings for a funky sound.
Here is video of a guy playing the Chapman Stick:

Fisherman's Blues

Back when I was in high school, a friend of mine got me into The Waterboys, I especially enjoyed their album, "Fisherman's Blues." If you've heard anything by them it would probably the title track from this album as it is used in pretty much every, single trailer for every single movie that takes place in Ireland or has some kind of Irish subject matter. So anyway, I just found myself a copy of the album and it holds up. Besides the title track I especially like the Hank Williams tribute, "Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?" as well as the sweet "And a Bang on the Ear" and the haunting "The Stolen Child," which has lyrics by William Butler Yeats. There is also a good cover of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" which, I am ashamed to say, I didn't know was a cover until a least a few years later.

Rhapsody Link