my day in nashville

i took some pictures yesterday while i was downtown doing the spot for fsn north (and buying some new skates...sweet). here they are:


you may not be able to tell here, but this dude's painted silver. like the tin man. head.to.f'ing.toe. he's flagging people in to park. "come park with the fat hillbilly tin man!!!"

i almost wrecked trying to take this picture.


unless you're the guy in the picture above this one...


i love stencil graffiti. love it.


these were all on barriers outside performance costume on church.


nip it.


or at least vote independent...


is there any other kind? to be honest, i took this driving home from memphis on christmas day, but i couldn't leave it out.

happy new year, kiddos!!! prom pictures coming next.

a cry for help

i still can't figure out how the hell i messed up my links and sidebar content.

can anyone help a brotha out? i don't mean give me tips, i mean show me how to fix it?

damn this newfangled internet.

how much wood would a gopher..?

here's today's big news. actually, the small news first: i can still taste and smell bleach from last nite's pant-dying activity.

now, the big news. my dear friend muffy knows someone who knows someone who...you get the idea. anyway, fsn north needs someone with some serious axe playing skills to play the minnesota rouser for a spot on the gophers' appearance in the music city bowl. apparently no axemen were available, so they called me!

tomorrow sometime, i'll film a spot at some place downtown or possibly opryland. i think that the spot will probably only be on in minnesota, but i could be wrong. who knows, maybe i'll wind up on espn or something? hopefully i'll at least get a copy of what we're doing. details as they come...film at 11.

prom attire

so i went to the costume joint today to pick out my duds. much to my chagrin, the only burgundy tux they had was a 39r. those of you who know me know that i am more likely to get inside belinda carlisle's pants than a 39r (that might not be entirely true. i can probably get into the tux a LITTLE easier). on to plan b: new wave rocker prom.

i've got my fancy shiny multi colored blazer, my two (yes, two) dress shirts to layer underneath, and i've stunk up my entire house bleaching some old pants for tight rolling. i can't smell ANYTHING, but i've got bleached blues, kids. think shades of say anything, can't buy me love or possibly ferris bueller's day off. i think i'll even do the hair fancy for the hell of it.

now, no one rocked the springsteen beard in 1986, not even the boss himself. so what am i gonna do with all this luscious undergrowth? i think i might shave for the party, but leave a nice 80's 'stache (an updated version of the one sported by my good buddy wooderson).

you guys are gonna want pictures of this...

(in wednesday's update, our local hero gets the chance to do a really cool music performance for the music city bowl...stay tuned to wnwt 27!)

A Picture Share!

blogger party at the quietlife house...

bob villa's back!

10 months of sweat, blood (yes, blood), busted thumbs, chewed up hands and bruised limbs. countless hours spent with ladders, saws (mitre, table, circ, reciprocating, jig, hack, all of 'em), hammers, screwdrivers, levels and measuring tape. thousands of f-bombs. hundreds of trips to home depot, many in the same day. one ruined kitchen floor. one hvac t-pipe converter thing smashed to bits (on sunday). one napalmed ego.

and it's all been worth it, because...drum roll please...

i passed my framing inspection!!! i've been approved to finish this damned room that has consumed most of my free time (and most of my money) since the wife went to pick up the building permit in february.

so, if you drive past my house this weekend, don't be alarmed by the strange weather system you see over the top of my house...it's not snow, babies.

it's drywall dust!!!

white christmas, indeed.

(here's a tip for a last minute gift idea for you procrastinators...)

a little christmas cheer...

doh!!!!!

i had designs on getting the wife some pretty cool stuff for christmas. i'm normally really good at things like that. guess what i'm getting her this year?

a brand new sideview mirror for a '99 toyota camry. how's THAT for romance, dr. phil?**

in a rush to get to the hockey game last nite, i decided to go through rather than around the trash can that i thought had been pulled in from the curb. just in case it comes up in some new version of rock paper scissors, trash can beats sideview mirror everytime. every f'ing time.

she took it pretty well, other than screaming when i hit it (screaming by me, not at me. there's a distinct difference.). she actually was more pissed that i wouldn't quit apologizing than that i smashed her car.

as for the hockey game, preds won 3-2 over the colorado avalanche. the game took my mind off the mirror (and my mirror's on my mind) for a little while. it was the predators' only national tv appearance this year, so it's a good thing they looked as good as they did.

one more day till i get let out of the penalty box (my new name for my cubicle) for a few days. i've got 3 new songs, so i'm going to do my darndest to hole up in the studio for a while each day while the wife has to work. if i can get some stuff done, i'll find a way to get it to you all.



**i have actually purchased some neat stuff for the wife, but the story's much better if i tell it this way.

party like crockett and tubbs

the wife and i have been invited to a new year's eve party - with a theme - prom circa 1986. where the hell do i find a costume/tux that looks like 1986 and, more importantly, should i try to go as someone from 1986?

what about the wife? where's she gonna find a 20 years old looking prom dress?

any ideas, help or fun making would be appreciated. as you'd expect, i'll be sure to post pictures.

hello, pot. it's kettle, good to see you again.

(this post will probably result in my ass being wiretapped.)

an open letter to president george w. bush:

i'm terribly disappointed in you, president bush. if you needed the ability to spy on united states citizens over 30 times (and apparently into infinity and beyond), why wouldn't you just use the FISA to authorize them? i'm no legal eagle, but if what you're doing is so constitutional and necessary, why wouldn't you go through the proper channels to do it? how can you criticize the new york times for reporting on your illegal activity? isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

don't you understand that the nsa is NOT supposed to spy on domestic soil? wouldn't that mean that if one of the parties involved was domiciled in the united states that the wiretap shouldn't be authorized without FISA consent?

where does it stop? first, the patriot act. then, leading us on a wild goose chase for weapons of mass destruction. then (a pattern?), you DON'T keep your word about firing the person responsible for leaking a cia operative's name (who may or may not be your chief of f'ing staff). then, playing dodgeball with the question of a timetable for pulling out of iraq. let's not forget our readiness for hurricane katrina. good thing THAT wasn't a terrorist attack. now this. c'mon, mr. president. if i had the same track record at my job as you do at yours, i'd be packing up my shit and looking for new employment, and not because i got an exciting new offer. nosireebob. they'dve fired my ass.

you'll have to forgive me if i think you're terrible. i can't find any evidence to the contrary. i'm tired of you. i'm tired of your ineffectiveness. by your lack of leadership and responsibility. i'm weary of your spin. sick of your ability to dart and dodge. i can't believe i have three more years of you. maybe we'll get lucky and you'll decide you want to run another baseball team into the ground. you've done a good enough job of that with our country that maybe you'll want a new challenge.

don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. on second thought, strike that. reverse it.

it's gonna be one of those days.

here's how i'm doing today:

-i have a crick in my neck that would make quasimoto weep.
-i have a headache.
-i can barely keep my eyes open.

i can hear you all asking yourselves, "what did newton drink last nite?" nothing, dear readers. all of the above is a result of me sleeping on the couch last nite. "oh," you say. "what'd you do?" nothing. i'm not in trouble with the wife, i didn't fall asleep there watching tv, nothing like that.

i slept on the couch because my dog mugsy had the screamin' shits last nite. and when he gets the shits, he gets gassy. and when he gets gassy he gets scared. and when he's scared, he whines. oh, how he whines.

this happens every now and again, for no known reason (it's not like his diet really ever changes). mugsy (on the left) starts whining that "cocker whine" right after we go to bed. that's his way of saying, "you don't sleep until you fix this." we've tried to resist before, only to eventually cave in and realize that he's created lake doo-doo in the kitchen because we didn't take him out in time. so i took him out and then slept on the couch. with mugsy at my feet. farting. like your grandfather after christmas dinner, minus the leg lift.


so forgive me if i'm a bit slappy and if i fall asleep in conversation. i was on poop patrol all nite.
~~
in other news, here's the funniest picture i've seen in a long, long time.



















who knew you could get so much pleasure out of golf?

how to ruin a good book, the sequel

you guys can HAVE lord of the rings. i'll take the chronicles of narnia any day, hands down.

the movie last nite was fan-damn-tastic. all 2 and a half hours of it. for the first time in who knows, i sat through a whole movie without having to go pee. not because i didn't have to, but because i didn't want to miss anything. (here's an idea, but a bathroom inside the theatre itself with a high def screen in the right spots that way i don't have to have trucker's bladder just to see a movie.)



having never read the book (I KNOW.), i can't speak to the accuracy of the screenplay. but the screenplay is FABULOUS. the cinematography is FABULOUS. the computer generated effects were used in just the right ways and looked very real (and were not overused). the actors were brilliant in their awkwardness and childishness. i just thought the movie was great. best movie i've seen in the theatre in a while.

so you guys can have your frodo and bilbo and blah, blah, blah. give me lions, and witches and wardrobes (oh my)!

how to ruin a good book.

i haven't read this set of books yet. i know, i suck. i just haven't ever gotten around to it. how many you guys have ready zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance or east of eden, huh? (didn't mean to get combative...sorry)

nevertheless, i'm going to see this movie tonite.

i know i'm gonna ruin the book by seeing the movie, but timing's everything, right?

speaking of movies, who remembers this classic? kiss my cons, leroy!

(edit: all this is not to say that i don't WANT to read the narnia books, but just that i haven't moved them up to the top of my list yet. just thought i'd clarify before i'm accused of being lowbrow or something.)

it's true...

this guy's pissed

can't say i blame him.

phphphph.

i had too much weekend this weekend...
i've almost fallen asleep at my desk twice...
i don't get to see my side of the family this year for christmas...
the wife's getting sick, which means i'm going to get sick...
my hair looks terrible...

so you want to get pissy when i honk at you in the target parking lot for not watching where you're going?

f you clown.


(5.45p edit - and to top it all off, i just realized why my blog's looked funny for the past couple of days. i've somehow bumped all my damn links and profile info to the bottom of my site. and i don't know how i did it or, more importantly, how i fix it. f.f.f.f.f.f.f.f.f.f.f.!)

imagine no handguns

here's a few pics from last nite. i hope that those of you who were able to make it out enjoyed all the songs and the spirit of the nite.

you'll notice some of the pics are blurry. funny story there...some lady with bad hair kept telling the wife (who gets nervous when she takes pictures in public because she hates making a scene) that she should scoot up or move there or or or. so, on top of wanting to crawl in a hole, her hands were shaking a little bit. God bless my wife for not enjoying what i was doing so she could take pictures of me enjoying what i was doing.

me and the reason for being there.

don't let the music stand fool ya...i KNEW my lyrics!

bill lloyd and me hitting the good harmonies on "she said, she said"

breaking news!

apparently santa drives a buick...

12.8.80

25 years ago tonite, john lennon was shot (in the back) & killed outside his apartment at the dakota.

somehow this little detail had escaped me in preparations for my rehearsal tonite for tomorrow's tribute/benefit. all of a sudden the songs i'll be playing and the words that i'll be singing tonite are much, much heavier.

"please don't wake me,
no don't shake me,
leave me where i am.
i'm only sleeping"

-i'm only sleeping

"...i know what it's like to be dead,

i know what it is to be sad..."

-she said, she said

i don't know how any of you think of or remember john lennon. frankly, i don't remember him at all; he was killed when i was still a kid. i feel like i'm actually just getting to understand and appreciate him as a musician, father, husband and activist. that's how i think of him really. a man who loved his son so much that he wrote a song just for him. a person who felt so strongly about what he believed in that he wrote it into his music and public persona. an artist who wanted so badly to stay relevant and on the leading edge that he regularly had friends make him tapes of current top 40 music. that's how i think of him. for the most part, those are the things that i strive for.

so tonite, think of the family that john lennon left behind. say a prayer for mark chapman and his family. raise a glass to the working class hero, john lennon.

christmas songs, high fidelity style.

alright people, time to get in the christmas spirit (holiday shmoliday. it's christmas)

my top five christmas songs, in order of preference are as follows:

1. christmas time is here - a charlie brown christmas. i would put this entire album, but it's not that kinda list. best christmas album ever. period. triple stamp.
2. merry christmas, baby - the beach boys, the beach boys' christmas album. you can't put two songs from one album on the same list, and this one edges out little saint nick by a hair.
3. oh, holy night - andy williams, andy williams christmas album (the red one). i get goosebumps and tears well up every time i hear this.
4. mele kalikimaka - bing crosby, white christmas. not the best song on the record, but it makes the list for one reason: christmas vacation. "sorry uncle clark, shittin' rocks."
5. hark! the herald angels sing - frank sinatra, a jolly christmas from frank sinatra. you don't have to explain frank.

that's my top 5 for now. what's your top 5?

i wish i was sleeping

last nite the wife and i went to christ church cathedral (across from the frist) to hear lipscomb's early music consort group's christmas performance. we've got a couple of friends who perform in the group, and i always enjoy hearing new (to me) music, especially when it's older than dirt and uses bizarrely named instruments, like the sackbut - yes, that's it's real name (ancestor of the trombone).

two things: 1) if you haven't ever been to an early music consort show, you should go. they're terribly interesting, if for no other reason than the uniqueness of what's being played. 2) if you've never been to christ church cathedral, go. it's absolutely stunning in it's beauty, even at nite. i'll be attending a eucharist - that's episcopal for worship service for all you baptists out there (yes, that's a joke) - there sometime soon, just for the experience, and to hear the organ.

drinks at jacksons by way of red door and west coast hockey (sharks v thrashers) meant i was up a bit late last nite, so i'm a little bleary eyed. who cares? it was well worth it.
~~
on other fronts, i'll be playing a different kind of church music - the church of the beatles - this friday at mercy lounge, as part of the imagine no handguns benefit/tribute to john lennon (special note to those who accuse me of feigning neutrality: MOST OF THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT REPUBLICAN!!). the proceeds from the show benefit the brady center to prevent gun violence. the house band will include members of the e street band (yes, THAT e street band), dixie chicks, the floating men, and foster & lloyd. performers include (but are not limited to) jetpack, sam ashworth, plastic rulers, tommy womack and jonell mosser. it should be bad.ass. shows starts at 8.30, $10 to get in. if you can make it out, please say hello.

A Picture Share!

my sweet dog lokey. good times on a saturday.

A Picture Share!

My friend brian ritchey being awesome at the sutler...

moving on...

(disclaimer: this post has a political message. if you don't want to hear it, best move on...)

i got a phone call this morning from someone in chicago asking if i could help deliver signed petitions to marsha blackburn, the congresswoman for our district. the person works with moveon.org, a political & civic action group that i support and try to volunteer for whenever possible.

they've created a petition insisting that congress demand a plan for withdrawal from iraq by the end of 2006 from the president. i signed the petition. i'm asking for you to sign the petition (if you agree). there's an old adage that a failure to plan is nothing more than planning to fail. i'd like to think that we're not planning on failing, so let's see the plan.

i often forget that there's loads of people (according to the last election about half the country) who feel the way i feel and believe in what i believe in. we have the ability to be powerful and to cause change, if we all stand up together. here's an opportunity.

a group of volunteers will be delivering the signed petition on december 14. if you'd like to volunteer to be on the delivery team, here's a link. if you can't volunteer, please sign the petition and ask your friends and family to do the same.

like chuck and flav used to say, fight the power.

(ps - the sign in the front of the truck at the top of the post says, "one week a month my ass!" clearly, all the troops want to be over there.)