Unburied, not in a ditch, ready to go

Eastern Iowa was pounded by a snowstorm for the past day or two, leaving upwards of 16 inches of snow. My brother's vehicular situation is not a good one at the moment (his car is in Iowa City with a bad transmission), so I've been giving him rides to work in the morning. Yesterday morning, that was not happening. We tried, but the snow was up to the doors, the streets were unplowed, and my car was handling like a brick. He decided he could do some work from home. Good choice.




Once the snow finally stopped, sometime in the afternoon, we got out the shovels and attacked before we got too lazy. We both realized how out of shape we are when we both felt like vomiting after about 10 minutes into the shoveling. We finished, but it took a lot of bitching, and a lot of breaks. The rest of the day was spent playing Advanced Wars: Days of Ruin on my DS. It's a freaking awesome game. Everyone should go buy it if they have a DS, if they don't have a DS, they should go buy one of those, and then buy the game.


In my last post, I had mentioned something about using the New York Giants' season as a metaphor for my year so far. You see, the Giants, like myself, had a rough start to their year, losing the first two games in spectacular fashion, and seemingly in total disarray. Much like the way my year has started out (I didn't lose any games per se, but still, I think an almost total disarray is pretty apt). Their third game was looking the same, down 17-3, but then they came back in the second half, and kept the Redskins out of the endzone when they had 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line. For me, things started to look bad (with the tire and all), but since then, I feel like they've turned around a little bit, I can feel the momentum shifting. From there, the Giants went on a 6-game winning streak, pulling them back into the playoff picture. That obviously means that I will get a great job and meet the love of my life and all will be well. Sure, there might be a rocky spot or two (the Giants were 4-4 over their last 8 regular season games, including a real stinker vs the Vikings), but that happens. And once that passes, it'll make things that much better. Although I think it means that I'll find eternal bliss with less than a minute remaining in 2008. But hey, it might be worth the wait.

Bust out the champagne -or- You got no fear of the underdog, that's why you will not survive

I just made it back to Cedar Rapids after a pretty intense drive from Davenport. I went to D-port to watch a football game with my dad, and while I was there, a blizzard sprung up and dumped about 6 inches of snow, 8 inches in Iowa City. So, I thought it'd be best if I stayed the night and left early enough the next morning to miss freezing rain that was supposed to come today. As luck would have it, I left just in time to be driving through the worst of it. Nothing like going 30 on the interstate during a thunderstorm, lightning and all, with rain, sleet, and snow falling concurrently. Falling very hard. Add in semis passing, doing about 70 and throwing even more shit onto the windshield, and you have an adventure. I understand that they're getting paid to get stuff to its destination on time, but when there's a nasty-ass storm, and EVERY CAR ON THE ROAD is going about 40 mph below the posted limit, I think you gotta be a little more mindful of others. Then there are the SUV drivers that think their vehicles can ignore the road conditions. It's strange how those types of vehicles were the ones I most frequently saw in the ditch (I counted around 34 cars in ditches. Although I gave 2 pointsfor a semi I saw, and another 2 points for watching an SUV that had just passed me go in). I made it, though, for all the troubles my car has given me, it's never had any problems in the

As some of you may have heard, there was a little bit of a football game last night. I may go as far as to say it was one of the greatest NFL games I've ever seen that didn't involve the 49ers (the All-Time #1 football game of any level for me is still, and always will be, Iowa's 30-25 victory over LSU in the 2005 Outback Bowl). The only way it would have been better is if I actually liked the Giants. But, my dislike of the Patriots was enough to overcome that.

It was a defensive game, I loved seeing Tom "There's no Way We're Scoring Less Than 17 Points" Brady getting leveled time and time again, and then missing wide open receivers. But, what I liked even more was watching former ISU Cyclone defensive back Ellis Hobbs getting absolutely torched on the game-winning touchdown by a Big-10 player, Plaxico Burress, who had made a prediction that the Giants would win 23-17. Brady had laughed at that, saying that he wasn't giving the Patriots enough credit, that he should've said something like 45-42. Look who's laughing now! (I've always liked Plax, from when he basically single-handedly beat Florida in the Citrus Bowl, then I got him on my fantasy team his rookie season). Plus, it was great to see Eli Manning outplay Brady. His play on 3rd and 5 on the last drive will go down as one of the biggest plays in NFL history, and will probably have its own nickname (like The Immaculate Reception, The Catch, The Catch II, The Music City Miracle, and 4th and 26, to name a few). Maybe The Escape. That's what I'm going to push for. If you missed it, turn to ESPN any time this week, you'll probably see the play within 45 seconds.

I'm sorry Charczuk, I know this is all probably pretty painful for you. I wouldn't really know, since my team has never lost in a Super Bowl. And the year they went 18-1, they won the Super Bowl. I did think it was hilarious that in ESPN's crawl across the bottom of the screen, it said something like "Patriots - 3rd team in NFL history to finish 18-1 (49ers 1984, Bears 1985)." I wish it would've said something like "49ers and Bears both won the Super Bowl." Last night just proved my thinking that this year's Patriots weren't the best team in NFL history. I still give that to either of the other 18-1 teams, but I would say the 9ers team was the best. They lost one game (by 3) and DESTROYED the Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Plus, they had the real best-QB and best-WR ever, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.

One last quick thing, my interview went well this past week, I'll find out in the coming weeks if I'm hired or not. I'm excited about things, I even thought of a good metaphor using the Giants' season this year, but I'll save that for the next post. Until then, stay safe in this winter weather Midwesterners! And hey, why not everyone else stay safe, too!

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!

5-year-old Flenker loved his movies

I just finished watching the Hallmark Channel's presentation of Flight of the Navigator. A good damn movie. I remember loving it when I was younger, and can see why. It's funny, it's got Pee Wee Herman as a voice, and it had a spaceship. I'm pretty sure those were my main qualifications for liking a movie back then. Plus, I seem to remember having a little crush on Sarah Jessica Parker's character in it (which would be the first and last time that I ever found her attractive). I got to wondering if there was a better movie from 1986. So I did a little researching, and found that 1986 was a solid year for movies. A great year, even.

Here are the top grossing films of '86


176,781,720 Top Gun (1986)
174,803,506 Crocodile Dundee (1986)
137,963,328 Platoon (1986)
115,103,979 The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
109,713,132 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
91,258,000 Back to School (1986)
79,817,937 The Golden Child (1986)
77,632,096 Aliens (1986)
71,624,879 Ruthless People (1986)
70,136,369 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Those were some entertaining movies. And that doesn't include The Fly, Hannah and Her Sisters, Blue Velvet, Hoosiers, The Color of Money, Stand By Me, An American Tail, Short Circuit, F/X, and probably a lot more that I didn't find in my brief search. So 1986 was a good year for movies, at least ones that I like(d) a lot.

You may be able to tell that I'm kind of bored right now. So, I'm talking about movies.

For this year's Oscar Nominated films for Best Pictures, I've only seen Juno and No Country for Old Men, but I really want to see There Will be Blood. The other two (Atonement and Michael Clayton) don't really interest me for whatever reason. I think the award will probably go to either No Country for Old Men or There Will be Blood. I'm really happy and excited that Juno was nominated, I loved the movie, I just don't know if it really "fits in" with the other two. I wouldn't be upset or disappointed if it wins, in fact, I'd be ecstatic! I would also be extremely surprised. Everyone's saying how it's this (I guess last) year's Little Miss Sunshine, which I can kind of see in that it's a smaller budget movie that's well-liked and doing pretty well, critically and otherwise. But I think I liked LMS more. I think it had a little more heart, and funnier parts. I love both movies, though, and am proud (is that the right word/emotion for a film?) of them both for doing so well.

I haven't seen too many of the other movies to comment on other categories (Actor/Actress/Director), but I'll be rooting for Javier Bardem, Daniel Day Lewis, Ellen Page, and both the Coen brothers and P.T. Anderson. I've liked both of them for quite some time, so either way I'd be fine.

One last category, Best Animated Feature Film, really interests me. The only nominee I saw was Ratatouille (and liked it a lot), but I've read the graphic novel on which Persepolis was based, but never got around to seeing this adaptation. The novel was excellent, so I really believe that the movie would be just as good. As for the other film nominated, was Surf's Up really that good? From the previews, it looked okay at best, but maybe I'm missing out. Maybe they needed to throw a third movie in there, just to appease everyone. Who knows!

So, any film buffs out there that care to comment/make predictions/tell me that Surf's Up is a cinematic masterpiece? Let me know! And tell me if the movies I've missed are any good

It's your birthday darling! And we love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much!

One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post, today is Ms. Marin's birthday! I wanted to take the time to thank her again for my wonderful birthday present from her (the trip to NYC), and for putting up with me! Even when my car is full of crap, like it usually is.





Happy birthday Marin! You're still one of, if not the best friend I have, and I appreciate everything you do for me! Thank you!

pictures from the east!

Things are going a bit better today. It's snowing, which always improves my mood. At least it was snowing, but now it appears to have stopped. Oh well, it already helped. I'm all showered up, with some clean clothes on, something that also usually is an immediate upgrade. Now if I could just get some good sleep, I may be in business!

Anyways, I thought I'd share a few photos from my recent trip. These are just some taken with my camera, Marin has some more, so when she uploads them, I'll pass them along.

Me and Marin in Times Square

A couple of cool airplanes in the Air and Space Museum

The Capitol Building

The National American Indian Museum (I was feeling artistic here, obviously it worked)

Another shot of the NAIM, this time from entrance, looking up

And, for your viewing pleasure, a mini-themed meal I had when I got back to Iowa

Mini tacos and mini cream puffs, both from Schwann's. The cream puffs are amazing, you don't do any cooking, just let them come to room temperature. mmm mmm

And of course, the perfect thing to top off my mini meal

Have a good weekend everyone!

It's been one of those years

Well, I'm still waiting for the New Year to stop shitting on me. Really, any time now would be nice.



Tuesday night I went to my Erin and Travis' place for some delicious soup and beer and fun board games (isn't that redundant? I've rarely played any un-fun board games) and some PS2. Good times, with some good people. I stayed there, since they live in North Liberty, and I was meeting up with my mom the next day in Iowa City (for those of you unfamiliar with the area, North Liberty is between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, closer to IC than CR by about 10 miles, so instead of backtracking to CR and then back to IC, I just made it easier on myself. So I thought). Plus, I was a little drunk. The plan was that I would get up the next day, hang out a little bit, then meet up with my mom.

Here's the thing about plans: they're nice to have and all, but when one little thing throws everything off, I get pissy. That one little thing yesterday was a flat tire. Flat flat.

Travis was kind enough to drive me to Iowa City where he joined us for the lunch buffet at Old Chicago. Then he took me back, helped me take my tire off (since he had coveralls, I wasn't going to get my jeans and sweater dirty!) in the snow (did I mention it was snowing and balls cold?? It was) and then drove me to the tire shop. They said that they'd call me if there was a problem with the tire that they couldn't repair, otherwise I could pick it up sometime before 5.

Of course you know they called me about 20 minutes later. We had barely finished the front 9 on our game. Tire ruined. Bad. They could get a new one, but it wouldn't be there until the next morning. Plus, there's the whole thing about paying for it ($100 for the tire alone), and, as some of you more dedicated readers may know, I have no job, just moved, and ergo, have no money. Like none.

After some calls were made, the plan was to put on the spare, drive to Muscatine where my mom would help me out with a tire, and I would stay for the weekend. I was going to be coming down anyways to help watch the dogs, so it kind of worked out.

Apparently I should stop making plans, because they just give me flat tires.

As I was leaving North Liberty, after picking up my rim and old tire, I noticed that my car was feeling a little funny as I was driving. I pulled off into a shopping center, and wouldn't you know it, my spare was a little low on air. Since there were a few gas stations in the area, I figured I'd try to make it to on and then air it up. After 3 gas stations with no air pumps, I found one in working order, and started pumping. With no results. My spare was absolutely flat by this time, and not taking any air. Yeah.

More calls were made, this time I found a place that had one of my tires in stock (p205/55 R 16 tires aren't easily accessible, I guess, and expensive. Also, I will not say the name of the place that I got them, because I don't want to admit to spending money there. But it was cheap, so I don't feel too bad. And it wasn't my money). Then I called upon my gracious, amazing sister to pick me up, take me to the place, pay for the tire until she can be paid back, drive me back to my car, then stand outside with a flashlight while I changed out the flat spare with the brand new tire. At least it wasn't 0 degrees out. It was 6. And dark.

Finally back on the road, I head towards Muscatine, to sort of collect myself and lick my wounds. While driving, I realized that I didn't really have anything with me for my weekend. No phone charger, no clothes, no toothbrush, no deodorant. I had picked a car charger for my phone when I was waiting for the tire, but it was missing a part, and was useless. Did you expect any different?

Today, though, I'm a little bit back on track. Still in Muscatine (I'll give you a call soon, KP), I got a new car charger so my phone is functional after dying last night at a very inopportune moment, my tires are looking good, I'm warm, I'm well-fed, and only a little stinky. It turns out I had some clothes in my car, so those are being washed and soon enough, I'll have something to change into after a shower. I even had a pair of underwear in there! Don't ask me why.

Thanks for putting up with all of this bitching. I promise I'll be back soon, this time with some interesting and entertaining posts. A couple of landmark posts will be coming in the near future, so don't miss out on those!

My birthday trip out east, part 2 (DC and food)

I've decided to combine these two, to keep myself from writing about every little thing I did, no matter how insignificant, and to talk about the food, which was amazing.

When we got back to DC on Saturday night, we just took it easy. We found out that the Hawkeyes beat #6 Michigan State, played some Mastermind (a birthday present for Marin), made Scotcheroos, and just sort of hung out. It was a good night.

The next morning I met up with one of my friends from Muscatine and her boyfriend, and the 4 of us went out to for a delicious brunch (more below), and a little catching up. I had just seen her around Christmastime, but a lot, as you know, has happened since then. It was nice to see friends, though.


More friends came by later that evening, for my (soon to be) World Famous Pizza. I make a mean pizza, my friends. We played some Settlers of Catan (awesome game, for anyone who likes fun and has a few friends that like fun, and have like an hour, get this game and play it!!). Good times!



The next day was a Chris day, since Marin was at work. I went to a few museums, including the postal museum (more interesting than you'd think!), the Air and Space Museum (always fun for me, I like planes), the National American Indian Museum (my favorite, the architecture is beautiful, I have a little Cherokee blood so I've always loved learning about them, and the cafeteria is amazing. Seriously, if you're in DC, on the Mall and looking for food, go there), and the Holocaust Museum (very good, but sobering). I felt good about how I spent my day.

Later, Marin and I had reservations at Ceiba, as part of DC's restaurant week. Two weeks a year, a bunch of nice restaurants offer a smaller menu for a little cheaper price, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner, including an appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert. And it usually happens that it occurs during my twice a year visits. It's like I planned it or something. Again, this will be covered in the food section.

I left on Tuesday, and spent A LOT of time in airports. I took the MARC back up to BWI, and got there a few hours early. No problem, I started reading Love is a Mixtape (excellent!) and napped a little bit. The flight was on time, and trouble-free. Then I arrived in Detroit. For 3 hours. I ate a chili dog (and accidentally forgot to leave a tip. I felt pretty bad about that), finished Love is a Mixtape, and read a few short stories from books I had. And still had some time. My flight was delayed about 45 minutes for whatever reason. Tends to happen to me. Oh well!


Now, onto the food.


First night (Thursday), we went to some place that had Burrito in the name. I don't remember. Anyways, I got some Mexican dish. It was alright, but as you can tell, it didn't make a big impression on me. Especially compared to the meal that we had Friday night.

John's Pizzeria was amazing. It could have been because we hadn't eaten since the expensive Burger King, but it was seriously some of the best pizza I've ever had. It was a simple sausage and mushroom pizza, but everything tasted so fresh and delicious. Plus, while we were waiting for a table, we sat at the bar and I got the most delicious gin and tonic I've ever had. I don't know what they did, but it was amazing. Marin even thought so, and she doesn't like that drink normally. Same thing with her and sausage. She normally doesn't go out of her way to eat it, but she enjoyed the pizza. The building is an old cathedral, so they have a pretty awesome stained-glass ceiling. Check out some photos on their website. The prices were pretty good, too!


Breakfast the next morning was provided by the hotel, and like I mentioned in the last post, it was good. I'm a sucker for waffles, so that may have put it up a couple of notches in my book. We had a snack in Little Italy at a coffee shop, that was probably about the Starbucks equivalent of coffee shops in Little Italy, but it was still good. I had an espresso, Marin had a hazelnut coffee (that didn't really taste that hazelnutty), and we split an eclair. It was sweet and good. Our lunch on Saturday was the prosciutto and fresh mozzerella sandwich, assembled in meat shop in Little Italy, and eaten at Central Park. One of my favorite meals, it was so simple and so delicious, and in a wonderful setting. Dinner was back in DC, and was leftovers. A couple slices of pizza from Friday, and some tacos that Marin had made a few days earlier. Yum!

Brunch at the Banana Cafe was good, very tasty, and came with unlimited mimosas for just $4 more. What a deal! They had the usual eggs and potatoes and some great pound cake, as well as some rice and chicken, and beef. I liked it all a lot. Maybe the mimosas had something to do with it. That night we made my pizza, with Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and onions. I was very proud of how it turned out!

Monday I had some leftover pizza, and a Mexican hot chocolate at the American Indian museum. DE-licious! Dinner at Ceiba was good, but for me it peaked with my appetizer - a Cuban black bean soup. It had some ham and manchego cheese, mmm mmm. The main dish was pretty good, grilled shrimp, but there's not a whole lot that can be done with it. And I was jealous of Marin's dish, pork shank with black beans. For dessert I got flan, which was good, but not overly impressive. I would still recommend the restaurant. They had an amazing sangria, and the food was very, very good!

So that's my trip! It was a great time, I'm glad I was able to do it, and very glad I have such great friends! I really like having friends to visit in different places. I'll visit anyone that wants me!

the politics of lonely will return to its regular posting soon. Oh, and pictures will be shown when they arrive.

My birthday trip out east, part 1

My trip to DC started pleasantly, with a trip to the coffee shop on the way to the airport, courtesy of my step-mom. I got there in plenty of time, sat and did some crossword puzzles, and just relaxed. Both of my flights were on time, no problems, no rushing through airports to get to the right gate or anything. It was nice. I had made a (slight) mistake when purchasing tickets, I had been slightly tipsy and bought tickets into Baltimore instead of DC. I seem to remember there being a large difference in price, though, so of course I went with the cheaper option. Plus, there's a train that goes from BWI to Union Station, which is about 5 blocks from where Marin lives. And at $6, it was a bargain!

I made it into DC with some time to kill before Marin got off of work, so I just sat around and finished up What is the What by Dave Eggers (very excellent book, I'll get around to talking about it sometime in the future). Marin got off work, we met up, went for some dinner, then hung out the rest of the night.

The next day we left for New York. Of course it rained on us most of the way, and there were a few navigational errors, but we made it in pretty good time, even with stopping for the most expensive "cheap" burger I've ever eaten (here's a tip: if you're ever driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, don't stop for food whlie still on the turnpike. It's like airport prices. I think it was $7 for 2 cheeseburgers, a small fry, and a small drink between the two of us at a Burger King.) Our hotel was in Jersey, an excellent find by Marin. I highly recommend the Comfort Suites in North Bergen, New Jersey. Our room had a bedroom area with a large bed and tv, then a sitting area with a pull-out sofa, and a lot of extra space. And the breakfast was pretty good - eggs, ham, and a waffle iron to make your own waffles, in addition to the normal continental breakfast fare.

By the time we got unloaded and headed to the park-and-ride for the bus, I was getting stressed that we wouldn't make it in time to see the screening of Conan. I had pictured our bus ride to Manhattan taking much longer, like maybe an hour or more, but it ended up being around 10 minutes. Amazing! Of course, I had forgotten to look up directions from Port Authority to the NBC Studios, but a police officer pointed us in (basically) the right direction. He was off by a couple blocks, but once I knew where we were, I figured it out.

We made it with plenty of time, and then began the process of getting into the studio for the taping. It was a long process. And a hot process. First, we got a wristband and a ticket, both of which had to be displayed for most of the time. Then we were told to meet at a certain place at exactly 4:15, no earlier, no later. After we all gathered at the precise time and place, were taken through a metal detector, then to a hallway, then sorted out by numbers and letters that they had given us, and then counted, and recounted, and recounted again. Then we stood there for about half an hour. That was a fun time, especially listening to the douches in the line near us. We finally were taken into the studio after that, and seated by some dudes.

The studio was nice. Smaller than it appears on TV, but pretty cozy, with some nice HD TVs spread throughout, which were playing old clips from the show, and were also used during the taping to show any of the clips that they cut to during the show. A warm-up comedian came on for a few minutes, then the man himself, Conan O'Brien came out and talked a little bit (maybe a couple minutes), then went right into the taping. The guests for the show were Brian Williams from NBC Nightly News, a dude who wrote books on and studied cocktails, and Doyle and Debbie, a country-parody duo. (If you missed the show, you can watch it here (ok, if that doesn't take you there, the address is http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/episodes.shtml, just copy and paste the whole thing. I don't know why that's not working. Oh well)! Just select the January 11th episode.) It was pretty fun to see how everything is done, and see how things are run during the commercials and whatnot. My favorite parts, actually, were during the commercials. The band plays the whole time, and Conan sits at the desk. You know how the host is always talking with the guest when they go to commerical? Well, that lasts about 3 seconds after the camera goes off, then they sit there awkwardly for the next 2 minutes. I thought it was hilarious. All-in-all, though, it was an awesome experience.

After the show, we wandered around a little while, and found a pizza place that I had seen featured on a Travel Channel show just a few days earlier. It was amazing. But again, that's for another post, when I tackle the foods of the trip.

That was it for night one in NYC. We headed back to our room, and fell asleep watching TV, until Conan came on that night, and of course, we had to watch. It was kind of a strange feeling, watching an episode that I where I was in attendance.

Day 2 in New York was spent just checking things out. We went to Chinatown and Little Italy, got a prosciutto and fresh mozzarella sandwich made at a shop in Little Italy, then went to Central Park and ate. An awesome day. We left for DC later in the afternoon, but still had a wonderful, albeit short time in Manhattan. And once I get the pictures from Marin, I'll put them up here!

Come back soon, when I'll go into the DC part of my trip. I promise it'll be informative, if not entertaining. I'll work on that a little bit too.

It's like the song "Two Of Us," only by myself - or - I'm on my way home

So I'm back. Back in Iowa. Yes, Iowa. Things sort of fell apart in Texas, I ended up unemployed and homeless. Basically the place where I worked didn't let me have the days off that I needed for going home over the holidays, and didn't tell me about it until I had already missed a day, which they took as a no call, no show type of thing. Which was awesome. I went and talked with them and explained things, so they got over it. But then I wasn't going to be able to get the days off for my trip that I took this past weekend, so I had enough and just left. The best part is that I told them about both trips when I was hired, they said it wouldn't be a problem. Good business practices. It's no wonder they constantly have signs up looking for new hires. So, that was a determining factor in my move back north. There were other things, too, but not having a job and being really frustrated with things there anyways made up my mind.

I drove back in a couple of days, with a car full of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff.

I stopped along the way a few times. First, this rest-stop to call Captain Crab and tell him my sails were taking me north:

All I know is that this was somewhere in Kansas. I drove through Oklahoma while it was dark, so I didn't have many opportunities to take pictures. I was afraid I had taken a wrong turn when I came across this watertower:

I walked around a while to try to find Jad, but apparently, there's a different Ottawa!

I made it to Kansas City in the afternoon, where I stayed with Charczuk and Rhiannon. There will soon be video evidence of this. Should be exciting stuff!

The next morning I got back on my way, but not before stopping for a delicious breakfast:

And in case you were wondering, yes, that is my passenger seat, full of stuff. The XM Radio reciever, shown in the bottom right corner of the photo, was a life-saver on this trip. I heard so much good music, but that's a post for another time. It saved me the trouble of digging for CDs every hour, especially since the CD cases were somewhere on the passenger side floor area.

I made good time, made it back to the Iowa City area right in time for my mom's shift meeting (a.k.a. a bunch of paramedics get off of work and go get drunk). I stayed a night or two in Muscatine, before heading up to Cedar Rapids, where I'll be staying with my brother for the time being. I knew it was a good place to be when I saw this off of the front porch the first morning I was there:

Such a pretty sight. Then, later in the day, I was searching for something to eat for lunch, when I came across the ultra-rare cabinet dwelling cat!

I only had a few days at home before I left for my trip out east, but it was definitely a huge improvement in attitude (and lattitude, ha!) for me. And my trip was wonderful, but that'll wait for another day. Or later today. We'll see. I think I'll break it into a few parts: NYC/Conan, DC, and food (which includes the best gin and tonic I've ever had). It was a good time.

Just to let you know (or - I'm 27 now, but I won't be for long)

I am, in fact, still alive. Things have been kind of hectic around me, lots of changes. But for now, I'm in DC for another hour or so, then we make the trip to NYC to see my identical twin. When I head back to the Central Time Zone, I'll fill everyone in on the stuff going on. It's a doozy!

should old acquaintance be forgot, yada yada yada

I hope everyone had a good holiday season, and that the New Year is treating them well so far. After a little bit of a rocky end to 2007, I'm ready for the new year. I always liked even-numbered years better anyways.

New Year's Eve was less than great. I got back to Austin around 5:30, then had to wait for my luggage, then took a bus home. After walking for nearly a mile from the last stop to my place, I made it into the apartment around 8:30. I was a grumpy Flenker. I actually ended up going to be at like 11:15, then woke up when my brother called at 12:05, then I got a couple of text messages, and another phone call at 2. Happy New Year. Had I actually known anyone in Austin, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it more. But I've never been a big fan of the holiday. You would think I would be, seeing as how it's basically an excuse to stay up late and drink, then do nothing but watch football the next day, but for some reason, it just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that I've only had a midnight kiss once ever. Who knows.

My trip home was excellent, though, I got to see a couple of decent snowfalls, and was lucky enough to get go shovel and use the snow blower!

The view of my house from the back, during one of the periods of snow. It was great. Also, this was the only picture I took the whole time I was home. Oops.

Christmas treated me well, I got some clothes, lots of books, and, maybe best of all, XM Radio. I'm way pumped for it, I just installed it into my car today, and drove around for a little while, just to listen to it. (Something I didn't get was a laptop. I wasn't really expecting one, seeing as how I didn't really ask for one. But, I thought that it could be a good gift for my loyal readers to all chip in to get for me! I don't want a fancy one, just one in the $300-400 range for now. So if every loyal reader chipped in, it would probably only be about $100/person! What a deal!)

It was so nice to be back in Iowa, even if I felt like I needed another week to do everything and see everyone that I wanted. I was able to make it to a Hawkeye basketball game, against Southeastern Louisiana University, a team which features two players at 5'5". That entertained me, even while the Hawks were losing. They ended up coming back and taking control of the game, but it was a little frustrating for a while there. Of course I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. But our (Marin accompanied me) seats were awesome, right at center court, row 14. Maybe the best seats I've ever had for a game at good old Carver-Hawkeye. Afterwards, we met up witha couple of my friends at the Fieldhouse. Now, if I had to make a list of bars I would go to if I had one night to go out in Iowa City, the Fieldhouse wouldn't be last, but it'd probably find its way into the bottom 5. (off the top of my head, Vito's and the Summit would be fighting it out for the last spot, with Old Capitol Brew Works possibly taking the top spot.) But, since my friends were there, with free beer, I felt alright going there.

The rest of my time was basically spent with family. KP stopped over for a little while, with beers in tow, which was nice. And any time that was not spent talking or traveling was spent eating. I ate a lot of food. A lot. It was awesome. But now I'm pretty sure I've gained a few pounds, so now it's back to not eating a lot. Which is not awesome. Oh well.

My flights all went smoothly, if sitting around waiting for a pilot for 3 hours can be considered smooth. I don't quite understand how we can sit there for that long with the plane sitting just outside the window, looking in, mocking us, while there's no pilot to take it. Then, once that flight left (going from Dallas to Moline), I had the worst trouble with my ears not popping. Or not popping. I don't remember, but whichever it was, sucked. I've never had a problem with it before, but I think since I was in the middle stages of a cold, it made things worse.

All in all, though, it was an awesome trip. I'm back in Texas for the time being, but a week from Thursday I'm taking off again, this time for the east coast. I'll be going to DC to meet up with Marin, then we'll be taking a bus to New York City on the 11th, which just happens to be my birthday. I will be celebrating the 27th anniversary of my birth by going to a taping of Conan O'Brien. I am super excited for this. Then, it happens to work out that I'll be in DC for their "Restaurant Week," a biannual event where all sorts of fancy restaurants have special menus made up for those who go, where a 3-course meal can be had for $30 a person. Not a bad deal. I'm really excited for the whole trip.

That's all I got for now. As you can probably tell, I'm still a little disjointed from the past week, and haven't gotten my thoughts straight, but I felt like I should do some sort of summary of the goings on around Flenker. More (potentially big) news will come soon. Until then, I'll be out enjoying the perfect weather here. And watching USC absolutely throttle Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Another Festivus Miracle!

Happy Festivus everyone!



From one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld, not only does it have the Two Face, but Kramer's strike, and Kids in the Hall alum Kevin McDonald makes a guest appearance. He's not shown in the above clip, but trust me, he's there.

I'm about to go off and tempt fate by shopping 2 days before Christmas. Then tomorrow, after my brother picks me up at the airport, I may go shopping with him. But don't worry about us, us Flenkers are built to withstand crowds and frenzied masses. And to provide a beatdown if needed. I don't usually do the day after Thanksgiving shopping, but I'm experienced in the Christmas Eve shopping. So this will just be a walk in the (North)park (Mall).

This will probably be my last post for a while, maybe until the new year. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for Iowa, and will most likely be making a whirlwind tour of friends and family. So you'll have to forgive me if I don't have enough time to blog. We'll see, though, I may crank one out in some free minutes. And also, sorry about not posting a song up yesterday. I woke up late, had to work all day, then didn't feel like writing one last night as I polished off a few beers. I hope you understand. To make up for it, I give you "A Very Flenker Christmas."

Tracklist:

Jolly Old St. Nick - various
Winter Wonderland - Winton Marsalis
Silver Bells - Bright Eyes
Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Good King Wenceslas - various
We Three Kings - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Baby, It's Cold Outside - Sammy Davis, Jr. & Carmen McRae
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Frank Sinatra
A Mad Russian's Christmas - Trans Siberian Orchestra
Mele Kalikimaka - Reel Big Fish
The Christmas Waltz - Harry Connick, Jr.
Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Blue Christmas - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Midnight Clear - Trans Siberian Orchestra
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Bright Eyes
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Nat King Cole
O Holy Night - from Studio 60
Let it Snow - various

zip file

I would take the time to put song up individually, but I'm too lazy to do that right now. Check out Jad's blog, where he cares about his readers, and listed both the individual links, as well as the zipped file! This was one of my mixes that I sent out in the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange, but I thought that it's appropriate to share with everyone!

I wish a Merry Christmas to all. I hope everyone has a wonderful celebration, safe travels, fun times, and an overall enjoyable and fulfilling next week, doing whatever you do to celebrate. Me? I see this as a time for family and friends to get together, and show appreciation for each other. So from me to everyone out there, all of your families and friends, happy holidays! I'll see you soon!

A few things I want to get to before the Christmas tune

I just got back from a midnight showing of Juno. I loved it! Of course I would, it's got Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, two of my favorites from "Arrested Development." Plus, it was written by a University of Iowa graduate, so it had a lot going for it before I even saw the opening credits.



Quick synopsis: it's the story of Juno McGuff, a 16 year-old girl that gets pregnant (insert Britney Spears' sister joke here! Nothing but witty, cutting-edge social commentary here at tPoL!), and decides to give her baby up for adoption. Hilarity, and touching moments, ensue.

I liked this movie, even if the theater was full of hipster kids! I liked it even if there was a girl crying and retelling the entire movie to her boyfriend as they walked out of the theater, about how great it was, how cute it was, etc. The soundtrack was great (2 songs by Belle & Sebastian included), the acting was well-done, and the story well-written. Go see it! Preferably not by yourself in a theater full of couples. That's just a kick in the old ball. Not the victory ball, the other one.

This gets 4.5 Flenker Thumbs Up. It would've gotten that extra half if I would have had anyone watch the movie with me. Maybe it'll get bumped up in a subsequent viewing, but this is still a solid score.













This seems as good a time as any to tell a kind of funny story, about going to a "couple" movie. I'm sure many of you are probably familiar with the movie Amelie, the French film that came out a few years ago. Well, I was really excited to see it, and talked Jimbo to go to it with me. We both liked it a lot, but noticed that we were the only pair that was just made up of two guys. I'm being totally serious here, I think everyone else in the theater that night was a part of a "boy-girl" couple. Though, to be fair, it was a great movie experience, here's a picture of us as we left the theater:

notice the glee in our faces. We were gleeful.



Another thing I'd like to mention quickly is that according to Thom Yorke in this article, Radiohead's In Rainbows did extremely well for the group. Awesome. I hope this has some influence over future releases, and shows the RIAA and record companies that the internet isn't evil.



Now, time for the Christmas song! I like the video thing, so I'm going to do that again. This time, I'm going with one of my favorites (these all are my favorites, who am I kidding?), with Mr. John Lennon and Ms. Yoko Ono

Pa-rump-a-pum-pum

I'm going to stick with the video theme for today's Christmas song, going back a few years



I remember seeing this on TV when I was younger, and knew who Bing Crosby was, but not that other guy. I didn't get out much, I just watched "White Christmas" over and over again. But I liked this a lot, I hope you do too!

Christmas greetings from Motown

Today's Christmas song is another video, a very special and rousing rendition of "Jingle Bells."



Thanks 'Sheed!

Smiling's my favorite!

Today's Christmas song from Flenker comes in video form!



I saw almost this whole movie a few weeks ago while I was waiting to apply for a new social security card (lots of fun, waiting for over an hour just to turn in a form and get a copy made of my ID, which took all of 4 minutes, then I have to wait a couple more weeks for them to send me my little piece of paper), and forgotten how fun it was, and how much I liked the clip shown, maybe my favorite part of the whole movie. That and Zooey Deschanel. She's cute.

Check back tomorrow for another song, enjoy your day!

Here we are, as in olden days

It was almost feeling fall-like around Texas the past few days, the lows overnight were below freezing, and the highs only into the lower 50's! Of course now it's going to warm back up and stay in the 70's for the next week, so Austin's streak of non-white Christmases will extend. Since records have been kept in 1926, there has never been a white Christmas here.

I will be having a some snow on my Christmas, though. I'll be heading back north to Iowa one week from today, and sticking around for a week. I'm really looking forward to it, to see family and friends, and to sleep on an actual bed. I've even almost got some Christmas shopping done! I'm having a couple issues, though. I've been looking in used book stores for a few books, obviously, but can't seem to find any that I want, at a price I'd want to pay. I mean, it's awesome to find a first edition copy of Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, but if I'm at a discount book store, chances are I'm not wanting to spend $25 on a single book. Although, I was able to overhear some guy telling a girl the differences between Eastern and Western vampires, their eating habits, how they slept and hunted, and all sorts of stuff. That was pretty awesome. As well as informational! Then, at another store, I saw a kid carrying a handful of books by the author I was looking up, effectively cleaning out the store of his books. Thanks a lot jerkoff! I hope you get a paper cut.

Some shopping was accomplished, though. I won't list the gifts I've purchased on here, since I'm not sure who will or won't be reading between now and the unwrapping, but I'm pretty happy with how things are going so far. If I could only figure out what to get a 19 or 20 year-old girl, I'd be set. It was a while ago since I was that age, and when I was that age, I didn't talk to girls, so I don't remember, and probably never even knew what they liked back then, let alone these days. I'm sure I'll come up with something, even if it's a bottle of barbecue sauce, straight from Texas!

I'm going to try to do something this week, being the week before Christmas and all. I'll put up one of my favorite Christmas songs each day, since I love Christmas music (those of you in the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange should be finding that out!). I've already had a couple up, first Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song," then "O Holy Night," as featured on Studio 60. The song I'm putting up today comes from the Midwest, Omaha specifically, from Conner Oberst and crew.

Bright Eyes - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Enjoy it, and check back for tomorrow's song!

WHY? videos. Why not?

Here's a couple of videos from a band that's becoming one of my favorites, WHY?. I've talked about them a few times on here, but have never put up any of their videos. It's kind of funny, neither of these videos were made by the band, they were both made by fans, and the band has sort of adopted them as the "official" video for each song.

First up is "Dumb Hummer," with a really fun video:



Next it's one of my Vital Flenker Tracks, "Gemini (Birthday Song)." I love this song, and this video fits it so well, it's incredibly well done. It almost makes me want to cry.



Enjoy! I'll be back Monday with a post.

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.

1 post, 4 parts, all fun!

Good news: those involved with the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange will be getting something from me very soon. Well, soon after tomorrow, when I get the packages in the mail. You all better like it, I spent way too much time on it, as well as too much money. But, it's a small price to pay to delight everyone, you're all worth it! Plus, I really like the way things have turned out, and I had a lot of fun doing it.

I've been impressed with the mixes I've gotten so far! Derek, Marin, feisty, and KP have all sent theirs out, and they've all been very, very solid mixes. I think all of them have had at least one song on them that I considered using, but any doubling has been averted.

* * *

The weather took a turn for the colder yesterday, and will last until about, oh, tomorrow. It was near 80 yesterday, then a cold front came through, and the temperature dropped by about 30-25 degrees. This happened literally in the course of an hour, of course the hour while I was sitting on the outside patio of a restaurant, enjoying some enchiladas, in a t-shirt and sandals. Pants, too. (I'm still looking for an establishment that will let me frequent them without trousers. Believe me, you'll know it when/if I find it.) I thought the logical choice would be to continue sitting outside as long as I could, so in order to prolong the meal, I ordered what I thought was a slice of tres leches cake. What was brought to the table, however, was best described as a slab of tres leches cake, seriously about the size of my face. I think they did it on purpose, to rub in the fact that I was eating there alone. Well I showed them, and ate the whole damn thing. After my tears of loneliness subsided, I paid the bill, and went back inside, stopping by the bar quickly to see what the scores of any football games going on were. As luck would have it, I was just in time for the very end of the Cowboys game, and stuck my head in just as they were scoring the game-winning touchdown with only seconds left in the game. I don't know if many of you know this, but the citizens of Texas like the Cowboys, a lot. I don't like them especially, so I turned and started for the door. As soon as I took my first step, the bartender, apparently in a stupor from such an ending announced that there would be free shots for everyone. I'm not really sure exactly how it happened, but before he had finished his sentence, I found myself perched atop a stool at the bar. Weird, huh?

* * *

I'm pretty sure people who see me in a grocery store think I'm losing it. I don't know how many times I've caught myself talking to myself, trying to figure out what I do and don't need to buy. Like earlier this evening, I discussed with myself, aloud, if I needed to buy cookie dough (yes - macadamia nut with white chocolate chips), make tacos and lasagna this week (yes and yes), buy frozen pizzas (no), and get a bottle of Mexican Coke (yes). I would also have conversations with other people I would see in the same aisle, only both parts would be played by yours truly. And for some reason, I would always use a goofy voice, not just for the other characters, but for my own voice as well. I think I need a hobby or something. Or at least a friend or two.

* * *

In this post, I mention that The Christmas Song, as done by Nat King Cole, is one of the best Christmas songs, ever. Well, here's another contender for the title.

O Holy Night - from Studio 60


(Again, this claim only relates to this particular version.) I first heard this recording last year, on the Christmas episode of the unfortunately now canceled show Studio 60. The lead trumpet is played by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, of New Orleans. In fact, the group performing the song is made up entirely of musicians who are survivors of Hurricane Katrina, in one of the more moving (at least to me) moments in network TV history. I loved this song from the moment that I heard it, and the back story made it mean so much more. Basically, on the episode, there were a group of musicians from New Orleans in LA, looking for jobs so they could send money home for Christmas. The guys running the SNL-like show on the show (how meta!) wanted to help out, but since these musicians didn't have SAG cards, they couldn't put them on their show, or something like that. Anyways, the regular band members call in "sick," allowing these guys to get on and what not. I did a terrible job of paraphrasing everything, sorry. Here's a little better synopsis, from this site:

Andrews plays a displaced New Orleans trumpet player subbing for a member of the house band on the show-within-the-show. When a producer discovers that Andrews' character is working because L.A.-based musicians have been surreptitiously calling in sick so that relocated New Orleans musicians can earn some extra cash near the holidays, he cuts a sketch and replaces it with a performance of "O Holy Night" by a band of the trumpet player's hometown peers.

The episode-concluding sequence, in which the band performs in front of projected photos of post-Katrina flooding and snapshots of recovery, struck an appropriately emotional chord with many fans.

It was a feel-good moment, one that really reverberated for me. So do yourself a favor. Check out this song. It's nearly perfect. And, if you have the means, do something to help out in New Orleans. I know it's been a few years now since the tragedy, but there's still a lot to be done. I have some things planned myself, but I'll get into that at another time. For now, enjoy the music!

Yep, seems about right.

Today started off innocuously enough, I was able to sleep in, then lounge around a little while before I had a job interview. I made it there on time, missed the turn the first time but had enough time to loop around and find the place. I was looking like the money, wearing a decent button-down shirt and tie, some slacks and nice shoes. The interview was fine, just the preliminary stage of their hiring process. I'm not sure it's a job that I want, but it would be a start. And who knows, I may not get hired anyways, so whatever.

Anyways, I turned in a couple applications, changing from the shirt and tie to a sweater over the shirt, sans tie. A little more casual, if you will. This fits in later.

I decided to stop by a bookstore, both to turn in an application (because I think working in a bookstore would be amazing), and to buy a new crossword puzzle book. After the transaction, I headed to my car, making plans to stop and get some sushi, kind of enjoying the dapper look I was sporting. Then, much to my chagrin, I realized that my keys were not in my pocket. They were sitting on the passenger's seat. I called everyone that I knew in Austin, and when she didn't answer (get it? I only have one friend here! Ha!), I started walking. Luckily, this place is only about 2 miles from my apartment, so it wasn't too bad. And also, it was a beautiful day, around 77 degrees. Stupidly, I left my sweater on for most of the walk, not realizing that I could take it off and carry it with me. I guess I was too engrossed with my Jamba Juice that I got to cool myself off (with the energy boost, of course) and the copy of The Onion that I had picked up. When a couple drops of sweat hit the paper, I wiped my brow with the sleeve of my sweater, the one I was still wearing, not connecting the two at all.

I made it back to the apartment, got a spare key from the office and got my spare car keys that I miraculously remembered to bring with me to Austin, and made it to the bus stop with perfect timing to catch a ride to the Arboretum, where my car was parked. Why didn't I take the bus to the apartment in the first place? I'm pretty sure it would've taken about the same amount of time, since the bus would have to make almost an entire loop before getting back to my apartment, it just seemed really inefficient to me. Plus, the exercise was nice.

So, this just adds to the past month I've been having: with my bank screwing up one check deposit - not once, but twice; working at a job that I don't really like, not being able to find a job that I do like, having computer issues, and just being in a generally grumpy mood.

As stupid as it sounds, I think the weather is having an adverse effect on me, it's too nice. I see the weather back home getting snowy, and I miss it. I want big flakes of snow to fall here. I want the ice storms. I miss them. And ever since I've gotten here, Austin has had unseasonably warm temperatures. When I first got here, everyone was saying that it was such a mild summer, it never reached 100 degrees. But then, there have been record highs each month that I've been here. And I can't find it now, but I thought that I heard the average temperature for each of the past 3 months (September, October, and November) have all been record highs. Guess when I moved? Yep, early September. I bring the hotness. On the news, they always say how a "huge cold front" is going to be coming through, then the temperatures drop to the mid-60's. Which is almost perfect for me, but people here freak out. Or it misses us entirely. (we have another "front" coming through this weekend) I know all three of my readers, who all happen to be extremely, extremely far north of me, are cursing my audacity to be pissed about warm weather. H has many times, each time that I bitch to her about it being too warm here, when she's wearing gloves while she's inside her office, working.

Wow. Sorry, I didn't mean to make this a diatribe on the weather. But be sure to tune in next week when I bitch about how the Dr Pepper here tastes too good.

Quick edit/addition:

I almost forgot the best part to the whole story!! While I was walking home to get the spare set of keys, I got a call from a place to which I had applied earlier in the week! I explained that she had caught me "out on a walk," but talked with her a little while. It was for an elementary music "permanent sub" position (I think covering maternity leave), which would've been fun. By the time I had gotten home, I had already received an email from her, saying that she had found someone else with more experience. I thought I should throw this in, just to add to the mood.

Jose Gonzalez, cont'd

Here's a photo and a couple of videos from last Thursday's concert. As usual around these parts, the videos were "borrowed" from others on youtube. The photo from my friend Becky's camera. It gives you a good idea of the setup, and of the douche's head that was in the way. I took this while sticking my arm in the air, to get a good shot. And the dude's head is still in the way! You see that head, near the middle of the photo? Yeah, trying looking around that for a whole concert.



And here are a few videos. The first one has pretty decent sound, but doesn't have the whole song:

Jose Gonzalez - Down the Line

This second has about a song-and-a-half, but gets kind of loud and distorted at parts, totally not indicative of the actual sound:

Jose Gonzalez - How Low

And I have to come clean. Before, I wasn't a huge fan of his. I mean, I liked his songs fine, but wouldn't really consider him to be one of my favorites. I think it's because of the multiple vocal tracks he uses on the albums. But all of the performances I'd seen, from Conan and what not, have been pretty good, so I was convinced to check out the show. And I'm really glad I did. He puts on a great show. While there wasn't a ton of interaction with the crowd, just a few words between songs here and there, it never felt like he was being cold or indifferent towards us. He was just a dude playing his guitar, keeping the show moving along at a nice pace. If you're a fan of his music in the slightest, catch him in concert if you have the chance. You won't be disappointed. I promise!

This is what happens when I feel passionately about something

Jose Gonzalez was in town last night (Thursday), at The Parish Room. I had never been to that venue before, but I'll definitely be going back. The sound was excellent, the room was a nice size, larger without losing intimacy, which worked incredibly well for the show last night.

Gonzalez played a great set, not too long, not too short, about half the songs totally solo, the other half with a "percussion section," which was made up of a girl that shook something and maybe played keyboards, and a dude that played the congas and occasionally a woodblock. I actually like him better in live performances, by far over the studio work. I like hearing just his voice, not a multi-layered effect on it. And his voice was pretty amazing last night, as was his guitar playing. The lighting was good, and the general vibe during the whole show was great. I'd write a glowing review of it, but while I was at the show, I got to thinking about things. Like, the reason that I'm not exactly sure if the girl was playing a keyboard was that there was some 6'4" dude was standing in the very front, right in front of her. Standing straight up. In the very front row. WTF? Come on! Don't do that. Which got me thinking, this is the perfect time to unfurl:

Flenker's 10 Simple Rules for Going to a Show!!!!
(small venue edition)

1. You make a better door than a widow - If you're 6'2" and above, it's ok to stand near the front. If you want to, go right ahead! But if you're in the very front, at least make some sort of effort to minimize your stature and the amount of vision blocking from less vertically gifted concert goers. Stand off to the side, maybe, or bend down, or, you could be really kind and let some shorter people in front of you. You don't have to let some 6' dude in front of you, because fuck him, he can see around you. But if there's a girl or guy that's kind of short, I'm sure you'd make their day to not have to have their noses stuck firmly near your armpits. It's just a common courtesy, man.
   
2. Don't be That couple - I've been to concerts with a girlfriend (yes, I've had a girlfriend! A couple actually! You may only need to use one hand to count them, but they're there, I promise! KP can back me up on this one.), it's a common thing to do, concerts are fun! It's totally ok to hold hands or give a quick peck on the cheeks, or maybe even real kiss! But do not, under any circumstances, let your mouth open. No tongue action. No one, I repeat no one wants to see that anywhere, let alone in a concert with hundreds of sweaty people around you, most likely a high number of them perpetually single guys (at least at the concerts I'm going to. Sad bastards abound). Especially if your girlfriend looks like Tori Spelling plus 60 pounds, give or take, and if you look kind of like you belong in that family that grows hair all over their face. And take off your stupid fucking hat. (sorry, I've been wanting to say that since the show) Also guys, don't stand in front of your girl. That's just tacky. Unless she's more than 5 inches taller than you. In which case, ummm, good for you?
3. Leave the fedora to Indiana Jones - This applies to not only fedoras, but any other wide-brimmed hat, unless it's appropriate (I'm sure there's some "You might be a redneck" joke here, but I'm above that). Not only does it block the vision of the people behind you, there's also a good chance that you look like a tool. And, it'll contain body heat, so you'll get warmer in an already hot environment. Plus, if you have to comb the hair on your face and are clinging onto your tubby girlfriend, you're gong to need all the help you can get to keep your body temperature at a life-sustaining level. Leave your hat in the car, wear it to the bars with your hipster friends so they can reassure you how awesome you look. (really, I'm just bitter that this dude had a cool hat and had the ability to grow facial hair, two things I could never pull off.)
4. The floor is not for empties - I know, the empty bottle is heavy, it's cramping your style, and you can't comfortably hold more than two bottles at a time. You don't have to. Find a table or use a trashcan to dispose of your bottle. Don't set it on the floor. Because it will invariable be kicked, and roll around, and hit my foot. Then I'll be paranoid that I'm going to step on it and break it, so I'll have to run the risk of bending down in a crowded area to pick it up. Not good times.
   
5. No smoking - I know it's, like, awesome to get stoned and stuff. Whatever. Especially in a smaller, inside venue, don't be rockin' the ganj (do kids still say that? have they ever said that?). I honestly hate the smell of it, and get a headache. You can wait another 20 minutes, or go outside or something. Just don't do it in the middle of a crowded floor. Same with cigarettes. In a crowded place, someone is getting ashed on, and someone else is getting smoke in the face.
   
6. When I'm in the pit - At some concerts, mosh pits happen, there's no avoiding them. A ska concerts, skanking will occur. It's natural. Just go with it. Don't assume it's your responsibility to protect your girlfriend by unnecessarily throwing 'bows at nearby moshers. Moshing should be confined to a specific area, so just avoid it if you have a problem with it. And moshers: don't go out of your way to shit-stomp people that have no inclinations on being shit-stomped. Really, you shouldn't be shit-stomping at a concert. You don't need to fuck up shit, no matter what Reel Big Fish tells you.
   
7. Surf's down - It's not really that cool to body surf. Sorry to break it to you this way. It's one thing if you need to, if you're getting overheated or can't take the crowd, let people know around you, and they'll pass you back (this actually happened to me once, without me knowing. I somehow got way too overheated and blacked out for a minute. The next thing I knew I was being passed backwards. Definitely a weird set of events). And guys, if there's a girl crowd surfing, don't grab her ass or boobs. Not cool.
   
8. Sing it proud - If you know the words, it's ok to sing along. Sometimes even asked of you by performers (see: Ben Folds Live, on the songs Army and Not the Same. It's something that he's done every time I've seen him). One of the coolest experiences I've had was seeing Thursday, with the crowd singing the back-up vocals on some songs when the lead singer Geoff wasn't able to (he did all of the vocals, I think and there were some multi-layered parts that he obviously wasn't able to do live). If you don't know the words, though, please, please do not try to sing along.
   
9. Move! - It's ok to dance, it's ok to feel the beat, and it's ok to move with it. Do it naturally. If you're like me and have absolutely zero dancing ability, that's OK! Bobbing your head is fine, bouncing in place it a good start, and just letting yourself go is the best. I've come to learn, it doesn't matter. You're having fun, go with it! It shows the performers that you're enjoying what they're doing for you. Of course, if you're seeing a band like Kind of Like Spitting or Low or Mojave 3, it's not really appropriate to be frantically jerking your body around. But you can close your eyes, let the music envelope you, nod your head, enjoy it, take it all in.
10. And this is by far the most important rule for me - SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!! - You paid $15 or $5 or $30 for a ticket or cover to get into the club and hear a band play, not to have a conversation with your friend about what you're going to do tomorrow. More importantly, everyone else around you paid that same amount to hear the band play, and not to try to hear them over your shouting about how you don't really like wheat bread but feel like you should be eating more of it anyways. NO ONE CARES. Show the band some respect, listen to what they're doing. This is much more than just a show to them. It's their livelihood. It's their life. They've invested so much into practicing and touring and pouring their hearts into their songs, the least you could do is shut the hell up for an hour and really appreciate it. Nothing bothers me more than to hear the din of conversations going on in between songs, unless I can hear it during songs. Show some fucking respect. If you have to say something, do it as quietly as possible, to as few people as possible. Turn your ringer on silent. And don't have text message conversations. One is ok, if done inconspicuously. But don't send 5 or 6 messages back and forth with someone about how you hate your boyfriend that is AT THE SHOW WITH YOU and how you are thinking of breaking up with him, especially if you're standing right next to me and the light from your phone is annoying as shit while I'm trying to watch Loney, Dear (true story, ask H!).
    

There you have it. It may sound like a lot, but really, following the rules will lead to such a great experience. And it's all basically common sense stuff, just use your heads, people! I'm sorry if you break the rules and don't think it's a big deal. It is. I mean, it's on my blog and everything.

There's only been one concert that I can remember where all of the rules were followed by everyone: when Jeff Tweedy played in the Iowa Memorial Union on February 19th, 2006. It's been the show to which I compare other shows. There was such a good crowd, they were quiet and listening, with such positive energy, that, as Mr. Tweedy stated, "it feels like everyone in the room is working towards the same goal." It may be the best show I've ever been to. It'll definitely be very hard to top. (I do have a, uh, how you say, bootleg of it, if anyone is interested. . .)

So what are some rules that everyone else has? Of course, there are different circumstances. If the band playing is some crappy frat band, who cares. Or a tribute band. They're on the low end of the totem pole, barely qualifying as "bands." Then there's the opposite end, the arena shows, where everyone not on the floor is seated and eats $7 popcorn while the Red Hot Chili Peppers "thrash." (I have seen them in concert too. . . That was actually the show during which I blacked out! I'm not sure if it was from the heat or from what was coming out of the speakers) And festivals are something completely different altogether. But I'm talking about shows at places like First Ave in Minneapolis, or Emo's here in Austin, or 9:30 Club in DC, or the Metro in Chicago, or Zaphod's in Ottawa (probably the bar with my favorite name ever), or Gabe's/the Picador in Iowa City.

And yes, if it hasn't been painfully obvious for a while now, I am a music elitist. That's who I am. And these are my rules.

The newest girl I have a crush on but will never meet!

You may not recognize the name, but I'm sure almost everyone recognizes the song, by Ingrid Michaelson.



It was between this video from Carson Daly's show or the actual video for the song. I went with this one, because the other video not only has some other dude kissing her, but also clowns. The Flenker digs neither. (Though if it were more than 13 seconds of Carson Daly, it would've been a tough choice.) In spite of the fact that the song is used in an Old Navy commercial, I really like it. It's a nice little ditty. And her other songs are pretty solid, too. Plus, from what I've read, she's releasing everything on her own, without the help of a record label, which is admirable. Though I'm not sure if she'll be able to do that for much longer, with as much publicity she's been getting. And she's pretty cute. A cute musical girl (in addition to singing she plays guitar and piano) will be my downfall.

Stuffed like a . . . well, you know

I hope everyone had a great past few days, I know I did! My Thanksgiving was very filling, and spent with some good company. But, there were tinges of homesickness, when I was on the phone with everyone at my mom's place (mom, uncle, aunt, grandpa, sister, mom, brother, step-dad, mom - in that order), they had already broken out the wine (it was 1 in the afternoon, what can I say, my family knows how to celebrate!) and I think they were feeling it a little. My mom made me promise that I'd never be away for another holiday, that she had too much food and I needed to eat some of it. Then she made a rule that none of her children could ever move away from her again. I'm not sure if I'm grandfathered in under that one yet, I'm still checking. And a comment was made about me moving closer to home when grandchildren are on the way, so I thought for a minute that she had forgotten that she was talking with me. Any of her grandchildren coming from this Flenker are (hopefully) a ways off. A long ways off. I'm pretty sure you have to have another interested party to do that, so a long, long ways off.

I didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving, though, partially because it's my first away from home, but mainly because I had no mashed potatoes, and no pumpkin pie. I will give my hosts credit, though. They're Italian, so this isn't exactly their gig. And they had other extremely delicious food, and plenty of wine. I felt I needed to do my part for my family, and did some catching up. I'm pretty sure some text messages were sent to H at the height of my celebrating. And for the first time, I had chestnuts that were roasted on an open fire. Since this is the subject of my favorite Christmas song ever, I thought it was a travesty for it to have taken so long for me to experience this tradition. They were excellent. I'm not even joking. Big Texas and I were even sent home with leftovers, which are already gone. It was a nice diversion from beans and rice while it lasted.

Now, of course, I'm in the Christmas mood. I even think I saw a few flurries this morning! So, I'll leave you with Mr. Nat King Cole, and The Christmas Song. (His is the best version of this song, there's no discussion. And, one of the best Christmas songs of all-time. This is something that I will eventually get to.)

GBMCDE - A look back

Today in Austin, TX, we had a temperature drop of a little more than 40 degrees. We set a record high today at 89, while currently it is 48, and dropping. Finally, it's feeling like fall. I dig it.

Anyways, a few days ago, I posted the mix that I sent out for the initial Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange, and promised to at least mention the mixes that others had sent out. This is that post!

Now mind you, these aren't in any particular order, I'm not going to show preference to one over the other. I'm extremely pleased with how it went, all of the mixes were solid, and all got some good playing time in the car, while I was messing around on the internet, or just hanging around my place.

Lucy made it easy to decide when to listen to her particular mix. For starters, she went all out and made a different mix for each person. Most impressive! The one she created for me was titled "Rainy Day," and had "a mellow compilation to accompany the soggy days we know and love." It served its purpose well, with songs from Imogen Heap, The Shins, Joni Mitchell, Natalie Merchant, The Flaming Lips, and more. Definitely a fine CD to throw on during those precipitation-filled days.

Going with a theme on the other side of the emotional spectrum was Marin's offering, "Keep a smile on -or- Face the surmounting frustration of a traffic jam." The songs that Marin assembled fit the theme perfectly, starting the day (and CD) with an upbeat ditty from Melanie Horsnell (starting off with the line "Every mornin' I get dressed for work"), one of my favorite songs from the GBMCDE comes a couple of songs later with Forever Thursdays' "How Can it Be", then a few wistful tunes from Regina Spektor and Loney, Dear, mounting angst from Of Montreal and Bright Eyes, and ultimately ending up with David Bowie's "Queen Bitch." Need I say more?

Continuing my theme (I've decided I'm listing these in geographical order, starting with Lucy in Georgia and heading north. Marin's in DC, which leads us to. . .) Krazee Eyez Killa, from Chicago, comes up next with a great mix, one with a cartoon guy holding his heart, saying "It's nothing special" (I loved that). Any time someone can go from Jars of Clay to Cypress Hill to Snoop Dogg to Dashboard Confessional with Michael Stipe to Ghostface Killah to Willie Nelson and end up at Pearl Jam (with sprinklings of his fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy thrown in the mix) is impressive, even more so when the CD flows this well. KEK, you are my caucasian.

H gave us a mix spanning three decades of rock and roll, "The Essential H," starting with Bob Dylan in 1962, hitting the essentials of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, two of Eric Clapton's groups (Cream and Derek and the Dominoes), her favorite song ever, then stopping in '78 for a while before ending up in 1991 with Pearl Jam. (Interestingly enough, KEK's and H's mixes each ended with Pearl Jam!)

And last, but only because he hails from the Great White North, is " Three Pints Mixtape Vol. 1: Music For Your Mom," put together by Jad. This collection of "mostly Inoffensive Music That You Can Safely Share With Your Mother" is listed in its entirety here, so check it out. I listened to this with my mom, and she gives it her approval. This mix contains another song that could be in contention for my favorite song of the exchange, with Julie Doiron's "I Left Town." (Don't let it fool you like it did me, I thought there was a kitty cat in my apartment the first 3 or 4 times I listened to it. Just wait for it, you'll see what I mean.)

There you have it! This second round of the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange should be even better, if you can believe that to be possible! There's a few more people involved, so everyone will be getting even more tunes! I've even received one already, from Derek, one of my new Canadian friends! So be checking your mailboxes, and get to burning! I know of at least one more heading your way as we speak! Not mine. My envelopes will be going out in the next week. once the cover art is finished, and the track listings are finalized.

For my friends in the US, I wish you a safe and very happy (and filling) Thanksgiving holiday! For my Canadian friends, I wish you a safe and very happy (and fulfilling) Thursday! And here's to everyone , hoping that you'll celebrate Buy Nothing day!

This will actually be my first Thanksgiving away from home, but fear not! Big Texas and I have graciously been invited to the home of one of his coworkers, and with this turn of the weather, if I close my eyes, I may just think I'm back in Iowa!