this is the first installment of a little something i have dubbed ‘heavy rotation’. you may ask – “what is ‘heavy rotation’?” well it is all about music. over the years i have learned that we all have different tastes in music – some like jazz – some like hip hop – some are partial to the classics – but what we all have in common is that music is a big part our day. whether it be listening to your ipod on the train, going to a show, or fighting over the next track while playing PS2 (or x-bis’ox for those on the dark side), music is a constant. so i thought that the d-triz would be a perfect forum to share what i was listening to and more importantly see what everyone else had in their play list.

so what have i had on repeat lately…?

<%image(cache/20050712-DJX122_3x3_300dpi.jpg|203|199|hell's winter)%>

Artist: Cage

Album: Hell???s Winter

Release Date: Sept 20th, 2005

Label: Def Jux

i got an advance copy from marc. incidentally he is making good use of his wedding website. he is using server space for select album uploads for the picking. don’t tell kristin. i am sure she wouldn’t be too happy to know that one of the pages on her wedding website is …wedding.com/cage.zip.

anyway, about the album. the production is precise; El-P and Camu Tao handle most of the beats along with Blockhead, paWL, RJD2 and DJ Shadow. to me it is one of those addictive albums that gets better with each listen. it is kinda dark and may seem a bit harsh at times, but it Cage is a insightful storyteller, with ill timing, speaking about his experiences. the album is mainly autobiographical, but is also political, spiteful (against his former label: eastern conference), and funny. following is the track list:

Good Morning
Too Heavy For Cherubs
Grand Ol Party Crash
The Death of Chris Palko
Stripes
Shoot Frank
Scenester
Perfect World
Subtle Art of the Breakup Song
Peeranoia
Left It To Us
Public Property
Lord Have Mercy
Hell’s Winter

you can find all the track samples at the def jux site

well, this post may not be of particular interest to most of you because it isn???t your type of music, but it is more of a conversation starter. reply with what you are listening to now. i find the best way to find new music is recs from people you know (i am digging the J5 ‘live at bonnaroo/bananaroo’ that ltj gave me). so no matter what it is, throw it out for the group. you may just discover something you like.

It wasn’t always this way. I can remember those hot summer days after little league, we’d go to the concession stand and get FrozenFruit Pops. I have fond memories of chasing the ice cream truck down Varinna Drive, when his distinctive bell signaled that he was in the neighborhood. But something has changed, and I can’t pinpoint when, exactly.

I’ve always had a propensity to dislike using wooden utensils, but it was never this bad. I certainly remember as a kid in elementary school, getting the little dixie cups of ice cream and eating it with the attached wooden spoon, but I never enjoyed it. Something with the consistency.. but I would always eat popsicles. Bomb Pops, Creamsicles, Fudge Pops, I loved them all.

The first time this aversion became something more substantial must have been sometime before college, as I can remember being a Freshman at Northeastern going to the Cambridge Side Galleria. I couldn’t bear using the Starbucks wooden coffee stirrer. I’d stir my coffee, sure, but I wouldn’t lick it off. I definitely prefer the Seven-Eleven Red swizzle sticks to a wooden stirrer any day of the week.

In a recent entry I mentioned the trip into Central Park for the first time. I failed to mention that this was also the first time in a many years that I’ve had a popsicle on a stick, due to my distaste for the wooden instrument inserted in the middle. The thought of taking a bite out of a popsicle and hitting the stick sends shivers up and down my spine. I feel as though I can often taste the wooden stick in the popsicle much before I’ve gotten anywhere near it.

When I brought up my little “problem with wooden sticks,” Jamie had said that it must have had something to do with my childhood. I’ve heard of people not drinking a certain alcohol, after having a bad experience — but wooden sticks? Since that day, however, I’ve been stretching the limits of my memory to try to remember what it could possibly have been that caused this objection to the most basic cooking utensil in existence.

Then it hit me.

It was sometime in the 5th, 6th, or 7th grade. All those days in the basement that I had spent practicing clarinet. Now, you may be asking yourself, what does wooden sticks have to do with a musical instrument? Plenty. The clarinet is a wood wind instrument, which requires wooden reeds. Anyone who has played one of these instruments knows that before you play, you must suck on the reed to moisten it in order to play.

I specifically remember HATING the taste of these things, and even now, the thought makes my mouth cringe, just as opening a bag of Sour Patch Kids makes your mouth water in anticipation. I recall having to go to a music store — on Monroe Ave in Pittsford (I can’t rememeber the name. Guitar Center, maybe?), before having to go to practice. I was sitting in the back of the Green Chevy Astro Van, reed in mouth, to get it prepped for practice. It was this specific memory that triggered it.

So, now that I have found the root of the problem is there anything I can do? Is there something that I can take or do to relieve me of this detestation? If I go out and buy a pack of Vandoren Bb Clarinet V-12 Advanced Reeds will I be cured of my ails? Or has Miss Possomato’s evil instrument damaged me for life?

I guess I’ll never know. Suggestions are welcome, as I long for the day that I can once again enjoy the delicious goodies offered by The Ice Cream Man.

LTJ absolutely despises shopping for apartment stuff. I can’t really blame him. It’s not exactly a guy thing to do, poking around stores looking at lamp shades, pillows, window treatments, and decorative accents. And I don’t exactly like going all the way to the mall by myself. Don’t get me wrong though. He’s been a trooper. I dragged him out a half a dozen times and he only whined about every 5 minutes… uh, I mean every 5 seconds.

Anyways, our options are fairly limited. There’s a mall in Jersey City, but the Sears and J.C. Penneys are severely lacking. We did shop the heck out of the Bed Bath and Beyond. But there’s only so many times you can go to the same store, before you’ve bought everything you could possibly ever want to buy there.

We still needed several key items: a trash can, front door mat, bathroom rug, lamp shade, salt and pepper shaker, etc. Thus began my massive foray into online shopping. I shopped for hours and hours online looking for the perfect feng shui things. One night I was up until 4 a.m. I went to Amazon, Froogle, Crate and Barrel, Pier One, you name it. I ordered from a bunch of places and over the past weeks the boxes have been trickling in — all and all probably about 10-12 boxes.

Let’s just say that this foray did not go over so well. I’d say I have a 50% return rate, which frankly is just a huge pain in the ass.

Box #1 to return: Lucky Frog Fountain

So I ordered a fountain with a frog on it. I bet you’re thinking I returned it because it was cheesy and ugly. But no, it was actually quite nice. The only issue was it was chipped and broken when I received it. I’ll have to re-order. Frogs bring wealth and prosperity in feng shui.

Box #2 to return: 2-bin Recycling Can

Our current kitchen trash can comes from LTJ’s old room in Somerville. It’s pretty small and fills up quick.

I was really excited about the trash can I found online from Overstock.com: a two bin trash can, so you can use one bucket for recycling and the other for trash. You step on a lever to open it. It’s chrome. It looked like the perfect solution to our garbage disposal needs.

When the box arrived, we knew we were in trouble: the box was incredibly small. The can turned out to be even smaller than our current one. I went back to Overstock only to realize that the measurements were listed in centimeters not inches. So when I used the measuring tape to figure out how big it would be, it seemed a lot bigger than it really was. Those tricky bastards!

Box #3 to return: Salt and Pepper Shakers

I found these beautiful salt and pepper shakers on Target. When the box came, it was rather large. When I opened it, we almost died laughing. Where the trash can was too small, these were fricken gi-normous. I’ve never seen such large shakers in my life. I didn’t look at the measurements when I ordered, but going back now, they are listed as 8-1/2″. Who the hell needs foot-long shakers? I mean seriously! Back to the store they go.

Box #4 to return: Double 8 Couple Sculpture

Now I know you’re already laughing at me, but let me explain. In feng shui, the number 8 is a very positive number and in your relationships corner it is a good idea to have pairs of things, ie. like a couple standing together. If you are single and can’t seem to find a partner, you might want to check if you have single items throughout your room rather than paired items, especially in your relationships corner. For instance, you have a picture of a lone tree, or a single statue. If you just get a picture of two trees or two statues, according to feng shui, this will promote relationships within your life.

The idea was good. I mean look at it. Doesn’t it look serene and whole? But the actual statue when it came looked chintzy. It didn’t look as nice as the picture online. But now looking at the picture again, maybe I was just up too late and my eyes were bleary. Back to the store with you!

Box #5 to return: Blue Lampshade

When we first moved here, we made this amazing tag sale find: a unique lamp that fits with the colors in our living room perfect. The price: free (we went back post tag sale and it was on the curb for the trash man. We grabbed it).

The only problem with the lamp is a shade that’s too small. I found one that I thought would be bigger online, but alas I read the measurements backwards and it turned out to be smaller. Though, it did help us to realize that if we get a smaller harp for the lamp, then we’ll probably be ok with what we’ve got. So something positive came out of another return!

Moral of the story: When shopping online, pay careful attention to measurements, especially units.

Maybe online shopping isn’t the answer to all my woes. It just didn’t turn out to be the miracle solution to finishing this apartment. Oh well. What’s next? A trip to Walmart?

Friend and future roommate of Cool Jesus, Petro, keeps it real (KIR).  He gives me props in his blog (http://jkir.blogspot.com) on a regular basis, yet I fail to reciprocate.  I must atone for this.  Anyway, I come across random things from time to time and I kick them his way.  For instance, since Petro is all about Mr. Belding and Saved by the Bell, I forwarded him an excerpt from an espn.com article stating that Dennis Haskins, aka Mr. Belding, received the loudest cheers as he stepped onto the red carpet at Wednesday’s ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.  Petro hasn’t used this gem, but I’ll keep working as a special contributing reporter to his web log.  If I can get half of my contributions posted, then I’m doing alright.

I once tried to post a day-long email thread between Petro and I.  He used to work with me at Company X, and since he left, we’ve enjoyed time-passing, random, and often hilarious emails nearly every day.  There was one day in particular that superexemplified the absurdity and banality of our minutae.  The post didn’t work out, but I’ll try again sometime.  At any rate, I’m rambling.  Here’s the latest entry from Petro’s web log, which started our Day 5/5 email thread this morning.  I kept it real.  Mother f-ing real (KIR MFR).

Friday, July 15, 2005

For the first time in about 4 months, I headed back to the gym. No, not Ballys. Instead, I opted to join the closer, more convenient, Empire Fitness located just a few blocks from my house. First off, the reason that I still have to go to Bally’s is because I live within 20 miles of the nearest one. Because I live in Hoboken, as a bird flies, Manhattan is less than 20 miles and thus I must fulfill my last year of my three year contract.

I decided that if I actually want to use a gym and work out, I’m going to need to go someplace else. That’s when my NY Times check came, giving me the option to pay my way out of my last year of the contract and sign up for Empire Fitness here in Hoboken.

Like I said, today was the first time in quite a while that I worked out, and it was magnificient. Not only do they have plenty of free machines — but get this — the machines had TVs built in. YES. Built in, that you could plug your headphones into and listen to them. AMAZING. (Keep in mind that I’m only paying a few $ more per month than Bally’s).

But, let’s take a minute to look at all the things I hated about my Ballys in Porter Square:

- The constant waiting. Sometimes 15+ minutes for an elliptical machine or Treadmill or the consistent waiting for weights, benches or machines.
- Dark Dingy Basement gym that reeked of old sweaty gym socks, and a locker room that always smelled of clorox bleach.
- The Ab Man
- The ever-present personal trainers, getting in your way.
- The staff’s ego and regulations that present any member from using any of the workout or medicine balls.
- The unbearable fact that there was no air conditioning — only a few fans cooling down the establishment.
- The scary guys lurking in the Whirlpool (according to Maria).
- The three year required contract.
- The Snow Storm policy — Snowing in the middle of the winter. I call to see if they’re open, they say yes and they’ll be open all day. I trek out there, only to find that they’re closing in 5 minutes. They tell me to come back tomorrow, they’ll be open they promise me. SURE.
- The 3 TVs that don’t have sound, and require you to read closed bad closed captioning to follow what’s going on, while you’re using the cardio equipment.
- And how could anyone forget… The Towel Eater.

So, let’s just say I really enjoyed my workout today and look forward to my next trip over to Empire.

PS: Sox up 6-5 with Ortiz’ 22nd home run of the season!

On Monday evening, I went miniature golfing with Swedish Girl.  I used to go all the time as a kid during the summertime.  It was a Jesus family tradition.  Mini golf and then milkshakes, onion rings, and ice cream at the shack across the street.  Good times.  This continued through high school with old friends and girlfriends, but I hadn’t played in nearly 10 years.  Hard to believe.  So, on Monday we drove out to Holliston, which is out there.  If we had gone any further, we’d be standing at the starting line for the Marathon.

The golf course is called The Water Hazard.  Talk about false advertising!  There wasn’t one single water hazard.  In fact, there wasn’t much of anything.  As we pulled into the parking lot, I wondered aloud where were all the people?  Shouldn’t this place have been mobbed on a gorgeous summer evening?  It seems like the smart folks stayed away.  Most of the holes were named for local high schools and their mascots, like Marian Mustangs, Medway Mustangs (negative points for lack of originality), Holliston High Panthers, and Franklin Panthers (seriously, how about a little imagination, people!).  My favorite mascots on the score sheet were the Ashland High Clockers and the Keefe Tech Unicorns (Unicorns!). 

As we stepped up to the first hole, I asked Swedish Girl, "There are no windmills?  No clowns?  Nothing to make things more difficult and fun?"  I think whoever designed this course was either devoid of all imagination or was on the verge of suicide.

The third hole was called Mirage Hole (par 3) and the notation read, "Please be careful, things are not always as they appear…or are they?"  What the hell were they talking about?  I thoroughly inspected this hole, expecting to find false bottom cups, a see-saw-like incline/decline, quicksand – anything.  Nope.  Nothing.  Nada.  I showed my disdain for this sham of a hole by using only two strokes.  Take that, Mirage Hole!

My line of work as an editor bleeds over into my out-of-the-office life.  I bought some light cream at the corner store the other day and almost passed out when I saw the price sticker, "$1.89¢."  These things might not bother laymen, but each time I see one, it’s the equivalent of having smoked a cigarette.  In other words, it knocks about 5 minutes off my lifespan.  Which brings me to hole #5, the aforementioned Franklin Panthers.  The notation read, "With 4 choices to make, this should be a peice [sic] of cake!"  I almost had to sit down, until I realized that would result in a one-stroke penalty.

The front nine was a par 21, yet I was so distracted by the spelling errors and lack of advertised water hazards, that I shot a 31.  Swedish Girl was narrowly better, at 28.  The first two holes of the back nine were either the funniest or the saddest, depending upon your perception.  Hole #10, Dover Sherborn Raiders – "Do your best to put this hole to rest!" (par 2, my ass!) was a concrete slab.  All the astroturf had been torn up and placed to the side.  Before taking our first puts, Swedish Girl and I walked around in bewilderment.  Was this done on purpose?  Was this their idea of a hazard?  Did someone forget to reseal the astroturf to the concrete?  Am I in the Twilight Zone?

Next, hole #11, Water Trap - "Did we mention, if you don’t pay attention it’s a sure bet that your ball will get wet!" (par 2), was the confusing highlight of the course.  To be blunt, where the fuck was the water?!?  It took me a few moments to realize that the aqua seafoam green eyesore off to the side was supposed to be a little pool.  It looked like a miniature version of the swimming pool at a cheap motel that has been in disrepair for 17 years, except this little gem at The Water Hazard had a layer of sand at the bottom.  Classy.

The final hole was inexplicably called Water Glass – "With only one hole left to play, we at The Water Hazard hope you enjoyed your day!"  In lieu of flipping them off, I fired a hole in one, giving me a 21 on the par 20 back nine.  Swedish Girl needed two strokes on Water Glass, giving her 25 for the back nine and making Cool Jesus the slim winner, 52 to 53, on the par 41 course. 

Next up – the rare and difficult to execute triple date!

take me out to the ballgame……

hey all, what the deal. i am trying to execute my first post so forgive me if i screw up. i was thinking about what to write about and something that came up at ang and larry’s 4th of july soiree hit me – tarot. by the way it was a lot of fun. as usual angela made more great food than we could eat. props to brandon for the marinated steak and kim for all the skewer treats. felt a little bad as we bought nothing other than a bottle of wine, but we will hook it up next time. anyway tarot – the great card game from europe, especially the french version. for those of you who have not played tarot, it is a trick taking game that is a mix between hearts, euchre, and a variety of other cards games, that combined, is like nothing you have ever played before. it is even more fun than card games involving money (you know how i like a good wager). another side note – kim is possibly a hustler – took all our money playing hold em’.

tarot is played with a special deck that has a seperate suite for trumps. the cards look something like this:

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you can’t really find the cards in the US, but if you ever want a deck there is a really good site with a ton of variety.

the guy who runs it, r. somerville, is really chill.

i wanted to set up a game for all the heads in the nyc. everyone seemed to express an interest in playing. it is a somewhat of an addictive game. everyone that i have ever known to try it, loves it. i have introduced it to both jamie and my families’ and it is now present at most family gatherings. we can set up a night when everyone is free. maybe dinner at our place as i feel i need to do some cooking for everyone. if you want to do some research before game time, go to rules

as i was thinking of tarot today, i remembered france. that time in our life that formed a patchwork of friends that has resulted in many of the ties we know today. would angela and larry be getting married if france didn’t happen? would doctor dupe and ltj be friends? would james be as sketchy? strange to think of it, but everything happens for a reason – glad it worked out the way it did.

i was reminiscing over playing tarot at the bde’s underground lair. the place of university sanctioned drinking and debauchery. i have fond memories of the tarot tournaments…..
- 5 man team play
- brandon winning the champagne
- calling “roi coeur”, not to be confused with “walker” texas ranger

it also started thinking of all the fun we had…..la fin du monde, l’apostrophe, <%popup(cache/20050710-bde cesem.jpg|846|666|CESEM %>, <%popup(cache/20050710-bar2text.jpg|360|216|friends %>, <%popup(cache/20050710-apostrophe-soireesfr18.jpg|538|287|Piscines %>, and the <%popup(cache/20050710-bal de noel.jpg|801|556|bal de noel %>. until next time…

holla’