Still here, still kickin' it

yeah, I haven't done much in the way of blogging lately. I got all moved into my apartment, got the living room area arranged and cleaned up, and should be working on the bedroom. But instead, I decided to play my DS, and now I'm at Charczuk's, watching Top Chef and using the internet. And tomorrow I'll be over here, using the internet again, but more to watch The Office. I don't have cable or internet, yet, so yeah. Hopefully things will get figured out on that front soon, but in the time being, we'll have to deal with this setup. Oh well.

This weekend should prove to be exciting, I'm heading to Minneapolis, and will have a shenanigan-filled time with H, a performance from Kate Nash, a get together with an old high school friend, and a meeting with the ever lovely Whiskey Marie. There's a chance that I won't make it back to Kansas City.

I'm going to clean off my camera card, so there will hopefully be some classic pictures. Or at least some blurry evidence of what happens. There will probably be some memories that will be blurry, too.

I'll try to be back soon, but if not, fret not, my homies. And check my friends' blogs, the whereabouts of Flenker may be reported elsewhere.

LATER

A post a few days in the making. Mostly because I'm lazy.

The powder blue excursion was a smashing success on Saturday! I guess it could've been better, if the Royals won, and if it was about 30-40 degrees warmer, but really, I had a hell of a time. If I would have remembered my camera, there would have been photographic evidence. Since I didn't, I'll just have to paint a picture with words. Damn.

When Charczuk and I showed up, there were already lots and lots and lots of people waiting in line. We didn't have tickets. There were lots of people waiting for tickets. Since the jersey giveaway was limited to the first 20,000, we thought that we were screwed. When we finally got up to the ticket booth, we overheard the four dudes in front of us being told that the game was sold out, they were turned away. So we were looking at not only not getting a jersey, but not getting into the game after standing in the cold for 30 minutes. By some act of the baseball gods, however, we were rewarded with (what we like to think as) the last two tickets available in the stadium. Hurrah.

We were then faced with actually getting into the K (for those of you unaware, the Royals play in Kauffman Stadium. AKA the K). There was a huge line going in the front gate, probably since 2 of the other gates are currently closed, due to construction. Charczuk and I got sneaky, though, and went around the big lines to one of the side gates that is still open. And we were not only able to walk right in without any waiting, but the jerseys were being handed out by Royals manager Trey Hillman and starting pitcher Brian Bannister. That was super-duper awesome.

I'll try to get a photo of the jersey sometime soon, along with the mutton chop progress. Not that there has been much progress, but it's something I've been promising for a while now. I need a new SD card for my camera. For that matter, I need a new camera.

I also might need one of these things. If I can avoid being creeped out by it.

A quick post from Kansas, and some music

Things are going well here in Kansas, I've had two days on the job and am enjoying it! I haven't had much of a chance to post much, but I'm liking it here.

Anyways, here's a band that I've heard about a little while ago, listened to again, and didn't know why I didn't recommend it here. Here is Los Campesinos! from England. These guys are "indie pop," meaning whatever you want it to, I guess. Listening to them, I hear hints of New Pornographers, Apples in Stereo, a little Vampire Weekend, with a few other bands thrown in for good measure. So check them out!

Oh, and don't tell Charczuk that I'm posting while I'm sitting right next to him. It might weird him out.

Don't tell Charczuk

I'm in Kansas City for a few days, a surprise job interview attacked! It's at 3 this afternoon, and I am ready for it. I'm usually pretty good at interviews, for some reason people sometimes seem to like me. As long as I can keep fooling them, I'm alright.

Charczuk has been kind enough to put me up for the couple of days I'm here, like he had a choice. I think this has been the second time in a month where I've called him and told him that I was going to be staying with him the next night. And, like a trooper, he keeps putting me up. So thanks, duder.

The maintenance guy is here right now, messing with the water heater. I think I just heard him swear, followed by the sound of water hitting carpet. Then some hammering, more swears, then the guy asking if he could use the bathroom for a minute. Seems like they know what they're doing. Although, I don't really remember him coming in with those guitars. Maybe he's working on those, too. Oh, I guess the TV's broken, so he just said he'll have to take that with him. Wow, lots of other maintenance guys showed up, apparently most of the things in here are broken and need immediate attention. I guess I should go help them load everything into their conversion van.

Well, they need to take the laptop now, so it's time for me to go! Wish me luck on the interview!

Quocky

I would like to point out a new link over there on the right, one of my good friends Charczuk has started a blog. He's started off in the best way possible, by putting up a picture of me. Sure, he's in it to, I guess. He's barely even started, but already his blog looks cooler than mine. What a jerk. Anyways, check it out. He should have some good stuff to say, even if he's a Patriots fan.

Weekend Videos

It seems like a good time to post some videos. I don't know what qualifies today over any other time, but whatever. Maybe this could be a recurring theme on the weekends, when I'm feeling too lazy to write any actual posts. We shall see.

Far

This is a band I listened to a lot in high school. You may recognize the lead singer, he's Jonah Matranga of onelinedrawing and New End Original. This song, "Mother Mary" is off of the album Water and Solutions, one of my all-time favorites. I was hoping for a video of their song "Bury White", but this will suffice.




Hum

Another band that I listened to a lot in high school, hearing them and Far right now take me back to trips to and from tennis practice. These two bands were about as close to the "grunge" genre as I got.

Their more popular song is probably "Stars", but I always loved this song, "The Pod". Both are off the album You'd Prefer an Astronaut, again, one of my favorites.





The (International) Noise Conspiracy

I'm moving more into my early college days with this group. T(I)NC came from the ashes of Refused (featured in a video post before), so to speak. They share a lead singer in Dennis Lyxzen (who may get my award for favorite last name, after Flenker of course), but this band is a little more 60's-rock influenced, with definite agendas and messages. This is "The Reproduction of Death" from Survival Sickness.





Rival Schools

This is another band from the first year or two I spent at Ames, and a regular contributer to my weekly radio shows. Charczuk and I would totally rock out while this song, "Used for Glue" was playing, doing some pretty intense air-guitaring at around the 2:22 mark of this video (embedding is disabled, so I can't post it here, but definitely check it out. This song rocks pretty hard, and I used to have a crush on the girl in the video.)


The Weakerthans

One of my favorite bands, this was my favorite song from their latest album Reconstruction Site. "Psalm for the Elk's Lodge Last Call" is a slower-paced song, kind of has a reflective tone, but the video always cracks me up. I love it!





Bonus Video!!!

I thought I'd add this Hum video that I just found, a live performance of "Stars". Matt Talbot is wearing a Bix 7 shirt, and that amused me to no end! These (nerdy-looking) guys from Champaign/Urbana get pretty heavy in this awesome version. (They're probably the only good thing to come from the University of Illinois campus.)

A post for the road

I'm in Muscatine right now, using my mom's old computer. I'm pretty sure it's the only computer out there still running that's older than mine. But hey, it works.

Anyways, this will probably be my last post for the next couple of days, since I'll be heading south to Arkansas. I'm looking forward to this sort of mini-vacation, even if I'll be moving a bunch of stuff around. I need a little break from Iowa, one where I don't have to worry about anything or pay for anything (thanks Mom!). Who knows, maybe it'll put me in the mood to actually start packing my own stuff up and getting ready for my move.

Now that I mention my move, Adam and I have a tentative schedule worked out for the big trip to Austin. Everyone's going to be coming here (somewhere) for September 8th, going to see the Iowa Hawkeyes' first home game of the season, and then rocking out Iowa City-style, one last time. Adam's going to be most likely flying up to Minneapolis since it's ending up a lot cheaper to fly in there than anywhere near here, but luckily he'll be able to hitch a ride down with either Haley or Jim, or both if they carpool. We'll hang out here a few days to make sure everything is squared away, then we'll head to Kansas City on either the night of the 11th or the morning of the 12th, catch a Royals/Twins game, and meet up with Charczuk, hopefully crashing at his place. From there, we'll go to Dallas to meet up with some of Adam's friends, stay there, and go to Austin the next day, right in time for the Austin City Limits festival! Perfect timing! At least, that's the plan. We'll see what actually happens.

But alas, I should hit the sack. I'm going to be waking up in about 5 hours, then hitting the road. I hope everyone has a wonderful time, I'll check in if/when I can. Much love to everyone.

4th of June?

Why does the 4th of July have to fall on a Wednesday this year? Doesn't it know that having a holiday in the middle of the week just makes it that much harder to make plans with people who have "real jobs"?

You see, almost every year for the past 6 or 7 years or so, some of my friends from my days at Iowa State get together for a few days of having fun. Last year it didn't happen, because I went to DC during that week. (And let me tell you, if you ever have the chance, to go the fireworks in DC. Marin and I watched them being shot off over the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty incredible scene.) We also play home run derby every year, and last time we played the Trivial Pursuit game that I referred to in the last paragraph here. (It was also when Heinricy came up with the line "We're sleeping in teams!" about our sleeping arrangements. Good times!) This year I'm going to have to figure out when we're getting together, either the weekend before or the weekend after. The weekend before has the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Both weekends have home games by the Swing of the Quad Cities. I guess we'll have to see which works out better for everyone. H has already said that she and Bill won't be able to make it the weekend before, so that may necessitate a move to the weekend after the 4th. It all depends on Jimbo and Charczuk. We'll have to start planning this now, though, since people will be traveling from all around. Hopefully it'll all come together and we'll have a good time. I'm optimistic.

It's anything but trivial to me

Generally, I'm a nice, laid-back, easy-going guy, I really am. Once the board comes out, and the pie pieces are lined up, however, the gloves come off, and I am a cold-blooded killer. I of course am referring to the wondrous game that is Trivial Pursuit. I will yell, I will throw things, I will make people cry. I will show no mercy. If my brother and I team up, we are a nearly unstoppable force, spewing knowledge left and right, occasionally pulling an educated guess out of our collective ass, and usually nailing it. Who's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most claps? Vanna White. On what two NBA teams did Kareem Abdul Jabbar play? Milwaukee Bucks and the LA Lakers. (oddly enough a movie question, not sports & games.) Who wrote Last of the Mohicans? Come on, anyone from Iowa should know this, especially any Hawkeye. James Fenimore Cooper. (our state nickname "The Hawkeye State" is from this book.) What rodeo even used to be called "Bull Dogging"? Steer wrestling. These are all actual questions from tonight's game, all correctly answered by the Brothers Flenker. We rule.

One thing that always seems to happen, no matter how hard I try to stop it, is a team giving hints to another team. Or people answering when it's not their turn. I cannot stand this. I don't know if there's one thing in this world that gets me as riled up as these actions. Seriously. Like tonight, there were a couple of people in the room that weren't really playing, but when they would hear a question they knew, they would either blurt out the answer or give clues to the correct answer. Oh, and people talking over the one asking the questions. I've never dropped the f-bomb so often, directed at a person. (that's not true. I swear quite often, but I've been good on here so far, I'd like to keep it that way for at least a little while longer. But I do have my moments or whole days when I say the "f word" as a noun. Or adjective. Or adverb. Or a period. I kind of like those days.)

Really, it all depends on who is playing. I've had many a game that was all good and fun. But I've also had games where I thought I was going to flip out and just totally scissor-kick someone right in the head.

The most frustrating, but also one of the funniest games I've been involved in happened a few years ago on the 4th of July. Some friends (Bill, Jim, Jody, Charczuk, and Heinricy) were all down in Muscatine for the holiday, cause that's what we did. We had all just gotten out of the hot tub and had a few Coronas, and decided we could get a game of the Pursuit in before bed. Bill and Heinricy ended up on a team together, much to Bill's chagrin. If there's one thing people should know about Adam is that he can fall asleep at any moment if he's laying down, there have been a few instances of him falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. And of course Adam is laying down during the game, only to be nudged whenever it was their turn. Then someone would read the question, Adam would come up with some answer with logic that was anything but logical to the question, and get it correct. The prime example of this involved a question asking for an American Indian tribe, I can't remember what it was exactly. Anyways, Heinricy wakes up, is told the question, and says, "well I had a 'Navajo taco' for lunch today, so let's go with Navajo." And it was correct. Bill and Adam ended up winning the game. I was displeased at the time. I think it's hilarious now.