Randy Jackson

I'm realling feelin' you dawg.

Winter Karma

Sunday night while we were watching the girls slumber party classic, Now and Then, we could hear someone struggling to get their car out of their iced over parking spot. Gears shifting and tires spinning are a very familiar sound to anyone living in the Midwest during the winter.

Mike and I threw on our shoes and coats and with one big push we were able to get his car out of his spot. As soon as he was unstuck he got out of his car and practically hugged us. He was very thankful and told us where he lived and mentioned if we needed anything to just stop on by. As we were walking back in Mike said, "well, that should bring us some good karma the next time our cars get stuck."

Sure enough. It snowed last night and all the snow from the previous weeks had been frozen under the freshly fallen snow. I got in my car this morning and tried to get out of the small space I was already crammed into, when my tires just started spinning. I tried rocking back and forth for about 15 minutes. I even e-mailed work to let them know that I might be a little late due to my dilemma. At one point I got frustrated and got out of the car even though it was in drive. It didn't go anywhere which just made me even more frustrated to be outside of the car and watch the tires spinning on the ice. After another minute or so of rocking, two guys helped me push my car out of the spot toward freedom! I was just as excited as the guy who we helped Sunday night and I got out and shook both their hands.

They definitely have good karma for the next time either one of their cars get stuck in the snow. I know I am going to rack up all the car-pushing-karma I can get because there is still a lot of winter left which only means more snow.

G1

Google has a fairly new cell phone out available through T-Mobile called the G1 and I am considering switching to one when my current plan is up in a few months.

Overall, I am a huge fan of Google and all the applications they have to offer (Picassa, Gmail, Analytics, Blogger, etc.). I am very intrigued by the Android operating system and I can only imagine the type of applications that will be available in the future as a result of it being open source. The full QWERTY keyboard seems to be a huge plus for me. Coming from the Sidekick 3, it looks to have the same set up, but with the addition of the touchscreen for everything but typing. For some reason I can't get over typing on the screen itself which is probably why the Blackberry Storm has very little appeal to me.

I am still debating between the Apple iPhone and the G1 and having only used each very briefly, but having read various reviews of each, I am leaning toward the G1. I am beyond ready for a full-Internet capable phone.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Margie's Candies

For dessert on Sunday night, we decided to venture to the "Chicago legend" known as Margie's Candies. This quaint little restaurant, ice cream parlor and chocolate candy store opened in 1921 at the corner of Western Ave. and Armitage Ave.

At first it smells terrible, but only for a second. I'm not sure if it's only by the front door or if you just get used after a few seconds, but it goes away eventually. Although, at some points during your visit you may get a waft of garlic bread even though it's not on the menu. All smells aside, this place is full of history and delicious ice cream. It's always ridiculously crowded and everything on the inside looks like it has been colored with decades of cigarette smoke. The walls, tables, and booths are yellowish-gray and even the paper place mats have a yellowish-gray design on them.

There is a good amount of history including visits from Al Capone, The Beatles, and several other famous people that can all be read about on the Wikipedia page.

Cait ordered the cleverly named "Grandpa's Turtle".

She shared some of the amazing turtle with me.

I figured I'd go with the standard chocolate milkshake. It did not disappoint.

They are all set up for the Valentine's Day rush for boxes of chocolate.

I think someone special might be getting one of these this year, but only if she'll share! This is definitely a destination that needs to be frequented much more often.

Kitten Whisperer

Our very good friends Mike and Giselle adopted some very cute kittens from PAWS on Sunday. Being the crazy cat people that Cait and I are, we had to come over and play with the little beasts.

The black kitten is a girl name Lolla (after Lollapolooza and/or Mike "Lolla" Peluso). She's probably about 12 weeks old and really enjoyed being buried in Cait's hoodie. The orange tabby is a boy named Archie (for now). He's a closer to 6 months old but still pretty small. He thoroughly enjoyed being swaddled in a fleece blanket. The both fell asleep on us a couple of times which was great because of how warm they get.

Someone also happened to like my delicious McDonald's fries and McCafe iced coffee.

We need to have a playdate with all five of our cats and watch the madness that will surely ensue. If everything goes right it should resemble the kitty halftime show during the "Puppy Bowl" on Animal Planet.

Fondue It

After an unsuccessful attempt of the white chocolate / dark chocolate ying-yang combination, we got it right with some chocolate chips from Ethel's. I'm stuffed.

The Best Part Of Waking Up

Freshly ground Starbuck's coffee with French Vanilla creamer, sugar, and two ice cubes. This is how I start every Saturday morning.

The mug is my favorite part. It has several paintings of San Francisco landmarks done by Michael Schwab. He also did all the artwork for the 2007 MLB Allstar Game when it was in San Francisco and six collectible posters of Giants players that they used as give-aways during that season. The art is clean and precise and uses very minimal colors but seems to capture all the necessary details of each unique place.

www.michaelschwab.com

Working For The Weekend

It's 4:30pm on Friday and the longest hour and a half has yet to come. I'm anticipating a "date night at home" with Cait. The plan is to watch Forest Gump and The Truman Show while eating some potstickers and veggies!

Then I need to rest up for our basketball game tomorrow at 1:00pm. Mike, Tom, and I won last week and we are hoping to stay undefeated this week. The competitive league is much faster and exciting which makes it more fun for me. It should be a good time!

Nothing else too adventurous planned so we'll see where the weekend takes us.

Top 10 Albums of 2008

I know we are a full month into 2009, but it took me this long to finalize my top 10 albums of 2008 list. Plus, very few albums come out in January so there hasn't been anything to sway my opinions of 2008's releases.

#10: Misery Signals - Controller

Melodic as it is heavy. Produced by Devin Townsend. I still miss their old singer and I was bummed when they all had bronchitis later in the year which caused them to cancel their Chicago date. Very solid Milwaukee metalcore.

#9: Veil Of Maya - The Common Man's Collapse

This release should have come out on Victory Records. We showcased them a while back and they certainly delivered on this album. Production value has increase tremendously for them on this release., especially compared to All Things Set Aside.

#8: Emmure - The Respect Issue

Fantastically brutal sophomore release for them. It was a pleasure working everything about this record and it was an experience to actually meet Kurt Angle when he came by the office to do the photo shoot. I got to see them live quite a bit in 2008 and I only hope to see them more in 2009.

#7: United Nations - United Nations

Thursday + Glassjaw + Converge. Enough said.

#6: Sigur Ros - med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

Completely opposite from the majority of the music I listen to, but that's what makes me like them so much. I got to see them outside in Berkley, CA on our honeymoon which was very fitting considering how we used their music in our wedding this past September.

#5: Whitechapel - This Is Exile

Again, another release that should have come out on Victory Records. This album is heavy all the way through and it does not let up one bit. One of my favorites to blast in the car with the windows down.

#4: Radiohead - In Rainbows

I always had OK Computer, but it wasn't until recently that I started appreciating everything that Radiohead has done. I know a lot of people got this album in 2007, but it was physically release the first day of 2008 so I am still counting it.

#3: Anathallo - Canopy Glow

This release sort of came out of no where for me. I have been a huge fan of the band for a long time, but they sort of disappeared for a while after Floating World. This is another amazing release from them and they put on the most amazing live show!

#2: The Acacia Strain - Continent

Collectively, my favorite band right now and this concept album about the end of the world stole my whole fall from me because this is all I listened to. It still hasn't convinced me that it's better than The Dead Walk which is why I put it at #2. Plus I pre-ordered the album an got it on this great color of green which actually has two bonus track which I still have yet to hear because I don't own a record player.

#1: Above This Fire - Last Ones

I had been waiting for this album forever and it absolutely blew me away. The vocals on this are outstanding. This whole CD is the perfect blend of hardcore style music with metal riffs. It came out in late November so it had the chance to sneak in just before the end of the year. Now all they need to do is tour.

Other notable releases: After The Burial - Rareform, Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV, and Meshuggah - ObZen.

Baseball Stadiums

It is a collective life goal of my wife and I to attend a home game for each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. We am currently 6 for 30. Unfortunately, there will be some stadiums we will never be able to visit as a result of new ones being built and the old ones being torn down, so we decided to choose the teams rather than the stadiums themselves.

Here's our progress thus far:
U.S. Cellular Field [The Cell]


Wrigley Field


Busch Stadium (New)


Miller Park


AT&T Park


Oakland Coliseum


Coming in May, Cait and I will be visiting some friends in Seattle and we are planning to attend a Mariners game. That'll bring us up to 7!

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I'm testing some Google Analytics stuff to see how all that works.