My First '08 Endorsement

Vote for an honest man you can trust.

More Cowbell.

(Drink more) Gin Hahn,

T

Don't breathe this...

From the folks who make the worlds most amazing blender.

I dare you to try this with your iPhone.

Gin Hahn,

T

Tech Review: Universal Swivel Search

Still don't have a TiVo?

Here is yet another reason to get one. Universal Swivel Search.

Here's how it works, you pick something you like, then you find out about it. You can see What it is, when its on, who is in it, the director... But what's really cool is that all those things are related, so say you like Grey's Anatomy (I'm a guy, so obviously I don't, but say you do) You can then click on the "If you like this... " and see a list of similar shows. (You can even download and buy them from Amazon Unbox)

Say you like one of the actors, when you click on them, it shows you other things they've been in, and so on, and so on...

It works with directors and producers too, so its real easy to find those Mark Burnett productions we all know you still watch.

Did you know? Your TiVo also plays music from your iTunes, shows pictures from your computer on your TV. Lets you find movie times and buy tickets (I know so does your computer or cell phone, but I did it this morning without getting out of bed... its nice once a year) And maybe coolest of all- you can schedule it remotely - someone at work tells you about a cool show they saw, you can go to the web, find the show, and tell your tivo to pick it up. Last time I checked you can't do any of that with the cable companies box.

Gin Hahn,

T

Coming soon to a club near you

Because there is nothing better than some goofy white guys singing girl power pop songs.

Never again will I feel bad for singing "You make me feel like a natural woman" in the shower.

The Dan Band .

They have a video you can rent, or an album you can buy. If you get the chance you should see them live.

Gin Hahn,

T

PS- No, I know, this isn't new - they we're in Old School, and I saw the special on Bravo a few years ago... But one of their tunes popped up in my iTunes, and I thought, you know what, people should know about them, and... people read my blog, so... now you know.

Wuh?

Came home from work today and the house next door to me was gone. 

By gone I mean a all that was left was a pile of rubbish, a dumpster, and a digger. I guess my neighbor is getting a new house.

My trip to LA was good, but that town is a god forsaken wasteland. MyICE arranged a play date for me with one of her friends, which was really fun, we had a few nice drinks and chatted about how cool myICE is. Not only that, it meant I didn't have to have dinner and drinks with my vendor. As I text'd S during my stay, spending time there helps me to understand why those celebutards are the way they are. 

From a business standpoint- it still is fun sometimes going on press checks, unfortunately I was at the plant 6 (i think, maybe more) times in a day and a half. Good thing my hotel was 5 min away.

My Ice reminded me today that 3-10 would've been nice, but is really more like 4-17, so apparently neither of us will be all-star's this year. However next weekend we're going to PTown. K if you are reading this, I hope you can join us for a beer or something.

Speaking of All Stars, GO AJ! Win State! I hope you aren't one of my loyal readers though, most of my posts are definitely NSFS.

Grease monkey report - bike is running like a dream, but I was so excited for one of my 4-17 days last night that I left the key in it... Now I have to buy a battery charger for it. Sure the bike was only $800, but soon I'll be hitting $800 worth of gear and accessories for it. :)

Oh, and I haven't shaved since last Wednesday, so I think this weekend M and I may play the shaving game... maybe we'll post some pics'.

Gin Hahn,

T

99 Bottles of Beer on the wall

Someone had way too much time on their hands.

Counting Down.

Gin Hahn,

T

The Week That Was 7/7/07

Say what you will about Al Gore... Forget that he put together the whole Live Earth concert, and all that. ( Here's the deal on that. from my perspective- I tivo'd all 22 hours, and honestly- if they would have cut out 3/4's of the PSA's about how we were fucking up the planet- I could have saved so much energy.... and disk space.)

The fact is, his kid Al Gore III was arrested last week for possession, and you know what? I'm voting for that MF'er. His kid got a Prius to go 100mph. That is AWESOME!!! I'm voting for his dad- again.

Lets see, what else happened this week? There was that Diana concert, it was cool. P-Diddy was allegedly making out with Sienna Miller backstage. I wonder what they'll call that celebrity couple? Sieddy? Puffienna? Pee-iller?

I bought and installed saddelbags on my motorcycle. 

A fellow blogger almost got drunk, and I may or may not have been mixing the drinks :)

I in know way, shape or form got to spend enough time with my ICE.

BTW- the previously mentiond blogger told me that I should marinate my steak in canola oil before I grill it. I'm trying it, but I gotta say, it broke my heart to try it. I'll have to post and let you know how it went. 

The M's are still playing well- so far it looks like the new manager isn't a bad thing.

The very early results say Durant was a better pick than Oden. But that's only after one summer league game.

I'm growing a beard.... at least for another day or so.

I'm going to LA.

While I'm there, I think I'm going to have dinner or drinks with one if ICE's BFF's. That's cool, she's a cool girl. Her B'day party rocked. it may be pretty interesting, because I found out today that the day we are supposed to have our visit- she is supposed to get laid off. That could be fun. good thing I'm a good listener, and a good drink buyer.

Speaking of things I buy. My mom inadvertantly reminded me this weekend that not only do I give that crazy bitch half of my income for the next few years--- until the oldest T gets out of high school (at the time, I felt like it was the right thing to do for my kids, so their lives wouldn't have to change any more than they would have too.) But that I also pay almost $500 additional a month for her insurance. Damn! It's good to be my ex wife.

The odd for me thing is that money is one of the things that she uses against me with the kids, and it works, because I don't feel its appropriate to discuss finances or divorce settlements them, and so I ride this high road, for no reason, all by myself, never really setting the record straight. Which in her world means she's right. Desperately clinging to the notion that someday, they will see the truth, and appreciate or respect me for it. Hopefully, it won't be too late- although I fear that with D, it is.

Anyway- enough rambling-

Gin Hahn,

T

Real New Old School R & B

I love so many different types of music. I really don't have any favorite genre's. 

That being said, I long for real solid sounding, not overproduced (raw if you will) new, Old school R&B. I love the old Stax sound. That Booker T and the MG's  rhythm section that played on so many of the hits from the 60's. I even love the Blues Brothers, not because they made a great movie, but because the music was real. It had a gritty sound to it that made you actually feel it.

I wore out the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary records. I wore out my Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Aretha, etc...

In the past few years I've been teased by up and coming artists that might be able to make that genre come alive again.

Joss Stone had it for a while. (Actually she probably still does, but I haven't followed her as much as I should. The Soul Sessions were amazing though- and to think, she was like 14 or 15 at the time.)

I thought that maybe Tony Rich or D'Angelo were promising. (Okay- they had more of a Marvin Gaye vibe- but still, I thought it could hold up.) At any rate, they both failed to make the cut.

They both made me think of Maxwell, another Marvin Gaye type who really has put out some amazing stuff, but it is on a super slow drip. His last album was in 2001.

Anyway, back to my topic at hand. A few years back I thought that Ricky Fante would be able to cut the mustard, and while I loved his voice, I have to say after a few listens, the record sounded way overproduced. It's probably impossible for a new artist to get the record company exec's and producers to lay off and just let the performance come out. I know the sound will never work out 100% right, but I don't think you can ever beat having all the musicians play at the same time and recording it. There is a certain magic that happens "live".

Anyway this all leads me to the fact that I may have found a new R&B guy. I'm going to wait for a live show or two, and hopefully another record, but at first listen, this guy is good and has potential. Unfortunatley some of the songs are pretty short- in fact, a few are under 2 minutes, but iTunes is offering an "Next Big Thing" deal, so you can download his album for $6.99. Ryan Shaw.

Gin Hahn,

T

PS- Of the Next Big Thing special, I also bought the Brandie Carlile  and Great Northern albums, I'll stick them all on my iPod for this trip and let you know what I think.

6-4-3

There is a nasty rumor that going around that says I have more tennis shoes than Imelda Marcos. (For you young bucks out there, Ms Marcos, before she became a politician in her own right, is famous for saying "I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty. ")

Now, I won't confirm or deny that, I'll just say that considering Ms Marcos tastes, I probably do have more sneakers than she had. And yes, I have a pair or two of jeans for every day of the week (if only I had the same amount of underwear.) But my biggest recent weakness (aside from a certain tall blonde who will go unnamed) is T-Shirts. I find they go well with my new motorcycle persona.

Actually, I've always been a fan, but lately I have been a bigger fan. And I'm pretty sure I have more T-Shirts than kicks. Anyway this is a really long, long way for me to mention this local (Seattle) company that is actually some cool t-shirts for M's fans. And since this year, the M's don't suck - it's cool to have a shirt that doesn't too.

And if you still are confused, yes 206 is the area code... but 6-4-3 is a double play.


Here's the link 643 Nation .

Gin Hahn,
T

PS- Keeping the baseball theme, and that of a certain weakness I have, we're in a stretch of 10+ days, we only get to see each other 3 times. In baseball 3 for 10 is an all star, but in this particular case, it sucks. So ICE, if you are reading this just to be close, I miss you too. I hope its not to hot where you are. Stay out of trouble. I'll do the same.

PSS- for those of you who think that myICE and I actually use my blog as a communication vehicle- In the words of that super fat guy from that band that was really popular a few months back "I think you're Crazy". She does read, (quite well I might add) but we talk. Its healthy. You should try it.

Bob Barker's New Career

Thanks to my friends at ESPN... or no thanks, because they didn't hire him for the job. I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming about the legendary in my mind team of Stuart Scott and Bob Barker. Can you imagine if they would then kick over to Kevin Colabro for some NBA analysis?

Dude, that would rock... Only thing that might rock more would be KC doing the play-by-play for the Beyonce/Shakira tape. I know my man would be up for it. (Of course after typing that line, now in my head I hear Chris Berman doing the play by play... Shakira goes back, back, back, back...)

Bob Barker Sports Center tryout

Gin Hahn,
T