call out the instigators

i wanna be your dog

christmas time is here

and in the spirit of christmas, i watched the star wars christmas special. you can watch it on youtube in little clips, like 15 of them.

it was, without a doubt, the worst thing i've ever seen. jefferson starship? wookie porn? what is going on here? life day? why does luke look like he's 10 and why is leia singing? why is bea arthur singing in a cantina on tatooine? the worst.

i highly suggest everyone take time this holiday season to watch this mammoth travesty of entertainment. and happy life day!

do it again

the beach boys are back baby! brian wilson, mike love, al jardine, bruce johnston and david marks are planning on recording a new album and doing a tour. now, i know. the last album by the beach boys was, to put it nicely, a big pile of crap. but, brian is involved this time and brian has been on a tear as of late. 'smile' and 'that lucky old sun' were really great albums. in fact, i was shocked how good 'that lucky old sun' was. of course, when you throw in mike and bruce, things could get dicey quick. but i'm keeping my hopes up for one last great beach boys album.

what would my ranking for greatest beach boys albums look like? i'm glad you asked. here is my list for greatest beach boys albums:

1. pet sounds
2. the beach boys love you
3. sunflower
4. today
5. surf's up
6. friends
7. summer days and summer nights
8. 20/20
9. all summer long
10. holland

those are the top ten greatest beach boys albums. they range from the early stuff in 1964 to about 1977. stay away from these albums:

1. miu
2. beach boys 85 s/t
3. keepin the summer alive
4. 15 big ones
5. carl and the passions/la light

these are pretty bad. carl and the passions and la light are good in spots, but between blonde's additions and a very well intentioned, but ultimately misguided attempt at beach boy disco, those two albums are the worst of the 70's after miu, which is probably the worst beach boys album ever. most of these are post-1977 when things went sour. one thing though, the best solo album by any beach boy is 'pacific ocean blue' by dennis wilson. it's incredible. dennis was the hidden talent in the band. he's the reason why 'sunflower' is so good.

any beach boys questions can be directed to me. i've been a scholar for more then ten years now. world-renowned expert people. i've met mike love. i've won tickets in a beach boy song name-off with old dudes. i know, impressive. thank you.

my study buddy pt. 2

looking good study buddy. i had to add one with her eyes open. and you can see why.

sign o the times

best protest signs of the year.

sonny feeling

jeff tweedy does the 7 day forecast on wgn. pretty good stuff.

my study buddy

she's working hard.

handshake drugs

i'm out of the initial surgery window. i'm up and moving. a bit. still up on crutches, but i'm up and down on my own. and i can lift my left leg on my own. i can almost tie my shoes on my own. that's a big day that's coming soon. i took the dressing off the other night to shower. i have about five holes around my knee. i have an incision about two inches long right under my knee. it all looked good. i cleaned up and dried off and felt great. i have never taken a shower on a cooler before, there is a first time for everything. see, i can't stand up on my own. so i had to sit. and a cooler was, crazy enough, the most logical choice. i think we're going to take it back to the store. so think about that the next you buy something, never knowing if someone sat naked on it and then took it back.

i also slept in my normal bed last night. i had been staying on the couch. i'm trying to get back to normal sleeping hours. i was sleeping and waking up and watching tv and then falling back to sleep. one night i was up at four in the morning watching 'how i met your mother'. is that dude ever going to end that story? i'm really ready to find out how he met his wife. and then we can move on the spin-off, 'how i met my third cousin rosie'. anyway, i need to get it together sleep wise.

i think i'm ready for my top ten for 2011. here it goes:

1. destroyer- kaputt
2. thurston moore- demolishing thoughts
3. my morning jacket- circuital
4. m83- hurry up, we're dreaming
5. fleet foxes- helplessness blues
6. wilco- the whole love
7. girls- father, son, holy ghost
8. panda bear- tomboy
9. real estate- days
10. radiohead- king of limbs
11. kurt vile- smoke ring for my halo
12. pains of being pure at heart- belong
13. a.a. bondy- believers
14. the low anthem- smart flesh
15. bon iver- bon iver
16. the strokes- angles
17. washed out- within and without

albums that i have a feeling are good, but i haven't heard:
1. ryan adams- ashes and fire
2. wye oak- civilian
3. ladybug transistor- clutching stems
4. the roots- undun
5. the smith westerns- dye it blonde

pretty good year for music this year. the radiohead album was a bit of a disappointment. wilco's new album was really a great welcome back from the band. the strokes rode the 80s wave and knocked a few tracks out of the park. i didn't see a lot of concerts this year: my morning jacket, the avett brothers, fruit bats, vetiver, noah and the whale and guster.

what else in 2011? travelled quite a bit: salt lake city, atlanta, kansas city, san jose, seattle. i stole a pizza in kc. i saw guster in salt lake city and ran into the starbucks guy out walking his dog on a random street in slc. that was awkward. got picked up and dropped in atlanta in a karoake bar. nothing exciting in san jose or seattle. got back from seattle and tore my acl. that weekend. way back in october. that was the last time i could run. never thought i'd miss running.

i usually have big even years. see below:
2010: moved to denver, got a job
2008: graduated and got married
2006: got engaged and moved in
2004: wrote a book and at the peak of my hotness

big stuff. now, see the odd numbered years:
2011: tore my acl
2009: moved into a cave
2007: nothing happened at all
2005: actually this was a good year, but you need an exception always

good stuff ahead.

good morning spider

i am alive people! i think that's probably where i should start. but the story begins earlier than that. actually, that's not true, because that's probably the beginning to all of my stories if you want to get technical. so i won't start there. instead i'll start thursday morning in the great city of denver:

9:15 a.m. i woke up and started getting ready for the big day. it had snowed the night before, so demitria had to wake up and snovel the driveway and sidewalk before we could go. there was probably about six inches of snow on the ground. i couldn't eat or drink anything before the surgery. bummer. i really wanted a glass of water. or some coffee. instead, i made sure my out of office reply was working for my work email.

10:15 a.m. i signed in. i had to fill out all kinds of paperwork saying i was notified of this and i was notified of that. took about 15 minutes to get through all the paperwork. and i didn't know at the time, i had more paperwork ahead of me in the pre-operating area.

11:15 a.m. they called my name. i went back and they took my blood pressure and asked me questions about my lifestyle. i said no to the questions about body piercing and tattoos. i said no to the hardcore drug questions. the nurse told me a story about one of her friends and how he found out his wife was cheating on him. good story. took my mind off the surgery.

11:30 a.m. i changed into my gown and got into bed. the nurse, the one with the good cheating story, shaved my knee and scrubbed it clean with iodine. she was having a hard time finding an adequate vein in my right arm, so she switches and finds a nice vein in my left hand. that's where they put the iv. now, i want to interject here that i heard several comments about how redheads are genetic mutants. i had heard a similar comment from my surgeon prior to the surgery in my last doctor's visit. he said that redheads had loose joints. the nurse said we have bad veins and bleed a lot of easier. all in all, the main topic of both conversations was that redheads are genetic mutants as already mentioned. i found that fascinating that doctors and nurses had these ideas pertaining to redheads and they were pretty commonly held among the medical community. interesting.

12:10 p.m. the doctors and the anesthesiologist came by and made sure i was ready. made sure we're doing the left knee and made sure we're using my own hamstring. the nurse had mentioned that since i was nervous i could ask the anesthesiologist for something before i go into surgery to calm me down. so of course, i did. and as they're wheeling me away, it starts to kick in and i yell to demitria that i can feel it kicking in. it felt like i'd just taken about 5 shots of alcohol at the same time. whoozy, but still hanging in there.

12:25 p.m. i'm in the operating room. it's cold. there's music. i start asking the doctor if i can get out of the house to watch the texans game on sunday. and that's it. i don't remember anything.

12:30 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. i don't remember anything. didn't have a single thought. no dreams while i was out. time gone from my life that's basically erased.

2:15 p.m. i'm out and awake. i don't remember much here either, but i do remember a nurse asking me how much pain i was in. and offering me cookies, which i accepted.

2:50-6:00 p.m. the rest of this time was waking up and getting moving. lots of breathing and making sure i wasn't nauseous. finally i got into a wheelchair and they wheeled me out and i was home.

that was the day. the big surgery day. woke up, got knocked out, got cut up and finally got home. it's amazing that this kind of stuff is even possible.

sister morphine

i'll be out of commission starting tomorrow around 11am for a few days. big day. pretty nervous. big week for me and tj yates.

every teardrop is a waterfall

the new coldplay album came out about 3-4 weeks ago. i heard a few tracks here and there, on the radio, on the web. i watched them perform on the colbert report. i have bought every coldplay album. from the beginning with 'parachutes' to the most recent album, 'viva la vida'. i even thought a real argument could be made that viva la vida was their best album.

but when the new album came out, i felt nothing. i had no desire to buy it, burn it or acquire it in anyway. i was done with coldplay. it was not a conscious decision. it wasn't something i had thought about and considered and finally acted on. i was just done. i had divorced coldplay.

but why? why would i divorce a band who's last album i thought could have been their best one? so i started thinking about why a person divorces a band. it wasn't the first time i had done it. after supergrass's 'road to rouen', i stopped buying their albums. of course, they only had one more left, but that's beside the point. after the white stripes 'get behind me satan' i didn't buy another one of their albums. i think they only had one left too. after 'jacksonville city nights', i stopped buying ryan adam albums and i think we all know he's released a few since then.

i think you reach a saturation point with a band. either a point where you think they're done or a point where you just don't ache for that sound anymore or a point where they don't feel like your band anymore. the relationship between a fan and a band is complicated and often times, ridiculous, but it is real. you do feel affection and love towards this group of people you've never met, but who's music has contributed to your life immensely. and just like a friendship or love has run its course, sometimes being a fan can run its course too.

coldplay, i will cherish what we had. i will cherish listening to 'yellow' and all the songs on 'a rush of blood to the head'. a girl once used one your songs to win my heart. you've achieved great success and adoration all over the world. but i have to move on. i can't be with you and 'mylo xyloto'. it's over, coldplay. goodbye.

happy thanksgiving!

in the spirit of thanksgiving, i thought i would post a clip that perfectly encapsulates the current state of our spirited economy. and for that, we should give thanks.

what's happening brother?

i think when marvin gaye sings, "and tell me friend, how in the world have you been?", it's one of the sincerest moments in music history. it's just saturated with empathy and a kind of tiredness that only someone who has traveled that long road can feel.

i just love it.

written in the snow, pt. 1

i have winterized the music choices in the living room. out with the summer and sunshine, in with the cold and lonesome. here is what is currently in rotation:

1. the autumn defense- circles
2. van morrison- astral weeks
3. neil young- after the gold rush
4. frank sinatra- in the wee small hours of the morning
5. marvin gaye- what's going on

lots of singer-songwriter type stuff. there's more down there. as noted in the blog title, i will be revisiting my winter music rotation throughout the season. please try to keep your excitement in check. any emails asking for advance notice will be rebuffed. harshly.

the abandoned hospital ship

my surgery is scheduled for december 1st. that's a week after thanksgiving to the day. i received two opinions telling me the same thing: torn acl, partially torn mcl, surgery on the acl, no surgery on the mcl. that was good news. if one guy said torn acl and the other said bananas, we would have an issue.

the surgery will take one hour. i will have a new acl put together with a clamp and two screws. i think one of the screws is more of a bolt. not sure on that. i get to hang around the hospital for a couple hours and then they send me home. that will be it. in the morning i have a bad knee and in the evening i have a bad knee with the potential to be good in several weeks.

"we can rebuild him. we have the technology."

in other news, i went to physical therapy last week and got some tips on how to strengthen my knee in the meantime. it was a big help. i can already feel my leg getting stronger. basically he said my quad has shutdown and i have to get blood flowing back in there. i've been trying to do that in the gym, but i haven't been successful. now i can feel a difference. it's funny how i'm doing all this work to get it better right before surgery, then i have surgery and then i have to do all the same work again to get it functioning after surgery. lots of work. for volleyball.

in other, other news, we're getting ready for thanksgiving. we had a feast year and we said we weren't going to that again but it sounds like we're going to do it again. i enjoyed it. i helped with a lot of the cooking last year. it was really fun. the only thing that would make it great is if it snowed. it hasn't snowed since before my birthday.

i went nuts at twist and shout the other day. i spent my birthday gift cards. bought the following:

1. lou reed- berlin
2. spiritualized- live royal albert hall
3. real estate- (new album)
4. m83- hurry up, we're dreaming
5. warren zevon- excitable boy
6. super furry animals- phantom power
7. sparklehorse- good morning spider

i think that's it. i have a soft spot for the super furry animals. good stuff. and i think sparklehorse is one of the most underrated bands of all time. so good.

last night

i'm not sure what i saw last night. i think there was a football game of some sort. it didn't really look like one. lots of bad throws. bad plays. three and outs. i was confused and disoriented. then, out of nowhere, it was crystal clear. there was noise. crowds cheering. people excited. we had won the game.

that's what it's like watching the denver broncos and tim tebow. lots of confusion. lots of ugliness. and then, madness, chaos and a win. it's really amazing. they're running the option! the option! we ran that at channelview high school! the option! and they're winning with it!

it's really amazing.

and how about two whammies for houston sports in one week. matt schaub out for the rest of the season and the astros moving to the AL west. wow. matt leinert is our new quarterback and i have to love the DH. don't know if i can swallow it. don't know if i can take it. i guess i'll get over it. i guess i'll use the glow and aura of tim tebow here in denver to keep me warm and safe at night. thank you tim tebow for looking out for us and protecting us from the harsh reality of the sports world.

king of snails

i'm 32 now. i had my birthday but didn't really consider my age in the whole discussion of the event. i guess age is something that will play less and less of an important role in the birthday scheme. when you're young, each age brings some new level of importance/independence: 16- driving, 18- voting and smoking and military action, 21- drinking, 25- renting a car. and there's some other stuff thrown in there too. but 32? not much different from 31 or 30 or 29.

way back in the yesteryear of 2006, i came up with a plan. i was tired of my life. i was tired of the direction it was going. i was tired of everything i thought i had wanted. so as previously mentioned in the prior sentence, i came up with a plan. the plan was as follows:

1. go back to school for a marketable skill/degree
2. propose to my girlfriend who i wanted as my wife
3. get a new job
4. get married
5. graduate
6. pass the cpa exam
7. move to colorado or oregon, which was my other top candidate

i have done all those things with the exception of passing the cpa exam. as you've seen in my last brilliant post, i did pass REG and i hope to finally pass FAR this month, leaving only AUD in january of next year. either way, however it shakes out, i will pass next year. it will be over at some point. that takes care of everything on the list from 2006. hell of list. hell of a lot of progress for five years, i think. so now i need a new list. a new list for 2012 and beyond. maybe another five years. i like to keep it simple. 20 years is too much. you get bogged down in all the stuff you have to do. new list. here we go in no particular order:

1. buy a house in denver
2. hike a 14er
3. get another new job
4. visit a foreign country, preferably ireland or canada
5. buy silver/gold
6. get master's degree
7. listen to every lou reed solo album
8. start a considerably productive garden
9. meet matt taibbi

number seven will be the toughest.

victory dance

in addition to my amazing birthday night i experienced last night, i got my score back for REG.

i passed.

now i have to pass FAR this month and AUD in january. i've already passed AUD once, but i lost the credit.

i cannot believe i finally passed REG. i failed FAR by two points last time and one point the time before. i'm going to be ready to get those points this time.

and then i'm going to land this thing finally.

if you want to feel how i felt when i got my score, check out the song above and crank it.

they say it's your birthday

i had a bad day at work. no matter how hard i try, i always feel like i'm trying to catch up to everybody else. they've gone to great schools and received master's degrees. they pass the cpa on the first try. all four parts. they're studs, these kids. i try and i try and i do okay. they do great. it wears on me. and eventually i'm either going to win this race, get tired and stop or the race will win. each day brings a different outcome for me.

today, the race was rough. i was running all day and i don't think i got anyway. i came home a defeated man as i often do. but my mood my instantly lifted when i opened the door and my wife had the house decorated for my birthday. there were balloons. there were hats. there were inflated balloons and a birthday sign. this is in addition to the dinner and movie we're going to later tonight.

and as a gift, she got me the smile sessions box set which i've been talking about none stop since it came to my attention that it was being released. i'm listening to it right now and loving it.

i came home a defeated man. one leg. hobbling around. and now i feel celebrated. things can change for you. quick. i might come home defeated most nights. but every night i come home to my wife, i win.