Voice of the Wind.

For me, the crappy winter days are always the most reflective. There's nothing like an unexpected snow storm to set my mind down a path in 2 opposing directions at the same time. I'm not all about expressing my goals and aspirations because it's unfair to the reader. I mean today I may tell you I'd really like to be an igloo architect then tomorrow I'd express how I can't stand cold weather.

There are, however, somethings I've always wanted to do, but never did and now feel its too late. So I can accept those things and share. I always wanted to be in a band like Chris & Thomas. The problem is when it comes to writing songs with words I lack all the necessary qualities. When writing lyrics I lack creativity, vision, direction and confidence. This all goes back to me not having many interesting thoughts. Or at least not being able to organize these thoughts. This is not to say I don't believe I can write. I feel good about the poetry, prose, and prayer I write, but those forms or expression don't really interest me. I like music and want to be able to sing and play my own work one day.

Once, my good friend Grey made a point to the effect that poems written as poems should remain poems and not be adapted into song. And the same goes for songs and prose I suppose. I agree with that, too much gets lost in translation.

This reminds me of a song by Sonic Youth:

In yr mouth a wad of cashMoist roll of hundredsFingers thru yr hairSilver quarters dropTo yr pleated skirtCannisters of whipped creamIn yr sweater pocketsA look of space and total lifeReady or notThe plan is to go to dc and hang outGo see girls rockHow long's the tour?What time you guys playing?Where you going next?What comes first,The music or the words?

Nope, there was no real connection to what I was saying about music and lyrics. Yet, this sticks out: What comes first,The music or the words?. If there is an answer to this question I do not know what it is, but I'm sure its personal and different for all people.

Anyway, this has been all about me. So what do you think? What comes first?

Uncle Nelson, Béla Fleck is wearing your greasy coat

I'm not really all that observant so the fact that I'm writing a blog about my observations may not be all that relevant. I know when it comes to music I'm always way ahead of the pack or at that point far behind where it's no longer cool, but not far enough to be vintage yet.

Either way, when did banjo become such an integral part of new indie-folk music?! No, I'm not talking about your grand daddy's claw hammer banjo. It's claw hammer sounding but super slowed down and lots of one line parts. I've never heard banjo played like that until these recent artists started putting into their saddest of sad songs.

All this came about when I was listening to the Bon Iver station on Pandora and 4 songs in a row featured some one line banjo stuff. Jesus, Etc. by Wilco, It Wont Happen Twice by M. Ward, some song by Iron and Wine and another from Papa M. I thought I'd do a little post about it.

Who knows, I may be hearing mandolin sometimes and confusing it for banjo, but either way its there. What do I expect though really? It's new indie-folk music after all. The old indie folk music, indie folk music, and folk music all featured banjo so it makes sense. I only wish it was a little more uplifting and not so, "ooo i'm so sad and artistic and adorable." More like this....

So after I posted my orinial post I went to the bathroom and realized the music i'm listening to isn't exactly all that new. However, there are some post neo new indie-folk that also use banjo. So i'm not completely out of the hip music loop. By the way, my position: I like it. And this isn't a knock on the bands or music mentioned just an irrelevant observation.

ok.

I'm on the radio.

From the moment I get to work until I leave I am listening to something on the radio. I'll either have on talk radio in the morning and music in the afternoon, but no matter what it is I am usually completely turned off to what's happening in the office around me. Sometimes papers appear on my desk behind and I also wonder if the person who dropped it off saw me picking my nose.

Just Curious.

Moving Forward and Band Beard Observations

The change is going to happen today and the risk will take place sometime in July. Today marks the first day of the semester for both me and Dee. For Dee, and most students, this means schedules get tighter and fun becomes a rare treat. Tension and anxiety will grow and time for personal endeavors gets limited to almost nothing.

For me this day is the beginning of 15 weeks for personal development. While my classes do, and will, demand a great deal of attention, I have the luxury of taking online classes and completing many assignments at work. This frees up nights and weekends and since Dee will be on overload I am often alone in my extracurricular activities.

Today I've decided that, over the next 15 weeks, I am going to seek to build myself a more spiritually sound foundation. I am hoping to develop a more balanced state of mind so that I can create more opportunities for myself. I believe that by tuning in to my own spiritual signal I will be able to express myself in more creative ways. I am happy about beginning the effort and glad it's a rainy cold day because I feel that on sunny days everyone is optimistic, but it's mostly superficial. An optimistic person on a rainy day is far more sincere.

The journey begins with Fleet Foxes. Since the Jets lost in the AFC championship I've turned my attention from sports talk radio and have reconnected with meaningful music. Fleet Foxes was first on the list today. I find their music to be mature and guided. Their vocal harmonies are often haunting in a curious way. Much of their music has a medieval, almost Gregorian quality which, for me, is uplifting and encouraging.

As I was checking out videos of Fleet Foxes, I realized that the front men of almost every one of my favorite bands have large beards. So I started to analyze 3 of them in particular. First is Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. I love the color of this beard. I can't identify color too well, but I describe his as regal. The mustache is strong to the beard and the trim is perfect. To me he has the best of the 3 beards because it's the most natural. What I mean by that is, some faces are meant to have beards, they just look better with them. Other faces are on people who want beards and they look forced.

That's my major criticism of Ben Bridwell, singer/guitarist for Band of Horses. To me it looks like an Abe Lincoln costume beard. If he had a killer stache to compliment the bulk then his grow would have a bit more substance, but as is it looks a little forced. Overall, the length is awesome and the consistency is amazing considering it doesn't look like he does any touch ups. I like it, just looks a little planned which really there's nothing wrong with.

Lastly, is Alex Ebert from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. If there ever was an award called Best Facial Hair Makeover, this guy would win hands down! I mean check out the transition from the Ima Robot days to today. You can tell a lot about a person from their facial hair and I can see this guy knows where his priorities are. He looks like a man who's been inspired and found love in many places. As far as the beard goes, it's a weak stache and poor growth, but has magnificent presence which goes a long way. I had the pleasure of seeing ESMZ this year and briefly meeting Alex and he couldn't have been a nicer guy in a great beard.

Hahaha, that was a fun post.

Do anything other than going to see live music.

So about 2 years ago my band, ANIMAL CINEMA, was playing a show. So on Our Myspace, in the little blog section thing I posted a post titled, "Watch More Television Instead of Going to See Live Music." The contents of the blog post was the information for the show. I didn't exactly think it was all that clever and I didn't think anyone looked at our myspace either.

This afternoon I discovered I was wrong. As I was checking out another band's myspace, also a CT local, I noticed they stole my damn blog post title. Theirs reads "go lay on the couch instead of seeing live music."

I mean if you're going to steal something like that, at least steal something that's clever or at least makes sense. I'm not mad at Sneaky Castro though. We played our first show together at Cafe9 a few years ago and now we are local band soul mates.

Let me introduce myself.

Let’s finally get down to introductions. I’m 25 and live in my Dad’s house with my girlfriend Dee. I have a dead-end job at a shitty company. While I’m at work I write this blog because I don’t do a lot of actual work. All this free time isn’t available because I’m lazy, I’m just bored. See, my job is so easy for me that can I complete all my assigned tasks in about an hour. I’m not saying it’s because I’m all that bright or that the work is brain-dead, but a little of both. Once I took an IQ test and scored a 113 meaning I have an above average IQ. Yet, I don’t find myself to be too creative so I don’t invest much in the accuracy of that result. However, I like the score so I won’t take another one.

Anyway, I went to college for 5 years and didn’t get very much accomplished. I attended the University of Connecticut mainly because it was really pretty in autumn. In fact, the most common reason I wasn’t in class was because I was sitting outside the museum or by the pond convincing myself I’d go to class tomorrow. While I feel I learned quite a bit, none of my new knowledge helped me in any way on my exams. I left Uconn with little more than a sophomore’s number of credits and now I take classes at Community College. Though I still have very little direction I think I just want to research things for a career.

I don’t yet know what this blog is about, but am confident I will figure it out eventually. Whatever posting I do now is going to be themed around things I eat, read, or do at work. I’m a health freak on the weekdays and a vegetarian all the time so perhaps these topics, based on my daily activities, will carry this blog throughout the course of its lifetime. However, due to the nature of routine, I doubt the blog will last longer than 3 months. I do the same things everyday and this causes a great deal of anxiety. Documenting such event things may only bring them to the forefront of my mind and drive me into a deep state of depression. I can’t have that.

Well, that’s all I care to share now and perhaps someone may find it interesting, but I’m sure they won’t. I’ll just keep on posting and if you’d like to introduce yourself I’ll gladly stick that up on the page. Beside that, keep checking in for great 30 minute exercise routines, grilled cheese sandwich recipes, and rants on mostly meaningless and old news.

Bye.

The Pizzza Cheese Grilled.

This is one of my favorite grilled cheeses. It is made exactly how you'd expect.

-2 Slices of wheat bread
-1.5 slices of mozzarella cheese
-2 thin slices of tomato
-mayo
-oregano
-garlic powder

Spread some mayo on the outside of your bread slices (only the part that touches the pan). Put 1 piece, mayo down, on a pan over medium heat. Lay down the cheese, then tomato then use the spices at your own preference. Put that other piece of bread right there down on top, mayo side up.

Let it get all crispy and flip over until the sides are equally crispy.

There you go, Pizzza Cheese Grilled. You can even dip this in some marinara sauce if you're feeling greasy.

Use wheat bread, don't mess around.

I know why the fish in a fish tank lays on the gravel and you think its dead but then you move the bowl and it starts swimming around.

For the first year and a half of working here I used to listen to music while I worked. All kinds too. I learned a ton of information on bands I already loved and I was introduced to a whole bunch of new bands. I became interested and familiar with delta blues. Then something horrible happened.

I became inspired....


Man, and then I sat up and I was in a grey fluorescent lit hallway. I started to think about what the floor of this building looked like if there were no cardboard walls. There is nothing inspiring about an office where everyone is working the same dead end job.

Now I listen to talk radio. All day, every day. Right now I'm biding time, finishing my degree and it's a slow process, but worth it.

www.wfan.com

Now, why would you want or need to know this? Maybe inspiration.

Why cats are smarter than dogs.

The Fast Break - Shedding Holiday Pounds.

I gained a bunch of unwanted weight in the month of December. It all started with finals since I wasn't running on breaks needing that time to work on papers and whatnot. After finals, I was just lazy, but I got back to the gym and brought my spare tire along. The worst part about all this is my abs were very flat and very defined before this all happened. It just goes to show you how hard you have to work to achieve the level of fitness you want and how fast it can go away.

The past 2 weeks, I've been running a lot and doing to strength training. I figured I'd lose the weight first then rebuild muscle.

That all ended today. For my workout I did about 10 minutes on the Elliptical. 5 easy 5 intense. Then worked out chest and triceps. I don't do conventional sets and I don't exactly do circuits either. I like to mix it up.

I learn most of the elements of my routines from Scooby. His website and awesome and free and really helpful. I don't know this guy personally, but despite is massive and defined upper body, he seems to be more about being healthy than being a monster in the gym.

First chest, and I do this exactly the same way:


I do the Chest Workout 2 times in a row with 1 minute rest in between. I use a 15 lbs dumbbell. Then I do a triceps "circuit." I start out with 25 dips. I use the arms of 2 side by side treadmills but you can use, chairs, or a dip station, or even lean back on a bench.



Then I do the rope pull downs and then the behind the head dumbbell press. I Do as many of each as I can and go from exercise to exercise with no rest. After all 3 I rest for 1 minute and do the whole thing again.

For the rest of the workout I stretch and shower. I'm tired

My Nalgene bottle has a 7 on the bottom. Must be lucky!

I was flipping through Backpacker Magazine today while at work. I was researching food containers, mostly water containers. Well, it wasn't hard to determine what's the hot trend in water bottle these days. Plastic bottles has gotten everyone going crazy! It's the BPA that has everyone running to their local EMS for the latest aluminum water bottle. But MAKE SURE it's got an epoxy lining!

I can't get into the science and the studies because I don't know about all that. Personally I just don't buy in to the hype about plastic bottles at all. So, I'll give you my opinion from a "no facts" viewpoint.

1. If you watch the local news, ever, you're probably already cursing me out and compiling all the evidence that supports the BPA hype. That's because if you watch the local news you'll believe any line of bullshit that someone will feed you. This stuff is all over the news which leads me to believe it's bullshit.

2. Going along with my first point about local news, every so often a big scare comes out that has everyone running out to a retail store. That's where the bulb should turn on. The motive for, mostly, all of these big media scares is to break new products onto the market. Genius, scare people into buying more crap. Its perfect and free.

3. Water is hot! Everyone is getting natural and fit. People are buying less carbonated beverages and drinking more water. SO how do you make money off something that's free like water? Well first you tell everyone that their water is dirty. Then you convince them that if you don't put, your clean water, in these trendy new bottles it will become dirty.

4. Manufacturers can make Jonas Brothers aluminum bottles whereas those plastic bottles only come in assorted translucent colors. How boring.

My bottom line is that sure there's lots of studies and facts, but it's all too vague for me to believe. This is just the toxin of the year and next year we'll be told that banana peels can lead to blindness. The best article I've read on the subject, made a great analogy.

Remember the joke about the drunk who was walking back and forth below a street lamp? What did you lose, he was asked? My keys, came the reply. Did you drop them here? No, he answered, but this is the only place where there is light! Right now, the light is being cast on bisphenol A, while numerous hormone-like substances lurk in the darkness.

WE HAVE A LOT MORE TO WORRY ABOUT THAN BPA. There's a lot of horrible stuff out there and I'll bet there's not enough BPA in my water bottle to hurt me any worse than the exhaust coming out of your SUV. So I'll continue to use my Nalgene bottle forever. Why? Because it's really big and has measuring lines on it. It's virtually indestructible and it was cheap because of the recall. I'm not worried.

To everyone out there still rocking the Nalgene, don't give it up. You probably don't watch the evening news, like the Yankees, or believe the streets are unsafe. I'll bet you're not a racists either and for those things I salute you. Next time you see me and my green Nalgene say hello. We'll microwave some Tupperware and smoke a cigarette together.

Woman goes wild in McDonald's - Burger Rage

I am a vegetarian so I'd never do this....



Take care of your health and the health of others. Don't eat at McDonald's and don't throw cash registers.

The Fast Break - stretching

I left my desk at 1:10 p.m., filled my water jug with water and headed to the fitness room. The usual 3 business dudes were on in the zone so I changed in peace and got in the middle treadmill. I ran hard for about 10 minutes and by the time I was done they were all showered up and gone. The room was mine!

I like exercising alone so much better, I always find a good grove.

For the rest of the time I was down there I stretched. I'd say it was a good half hour. It was a great stretch and I really needed it. Stretching is my favorite part of fitness. I do a good blend of traditional positions and yoga poses. The key to stretching is holding for longer than you think.

I was back in my seat by 2:00 p.m.

Incarcerated Bob

So 2 days ago it was announced, unofficially, on the Boomer & Carton show (Wfan) that long time, popular caller Incarcerated Bob was dead. It was reported on his twitter, by his "sister", that on his way home from Atlantic City on New Years Day he was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

The news made me pretty upset as Incarcerated Bob is very knowledgeable of sports and his calls were are well thought out as well as hillarious. Also, according to his twitter, Bob had saved $1,500 to donate to The Boomer Esiason Foundation for cystic fibrosis. The news deeply touched co-host (the legendary) Boomer Esiason who claimed it was the saddest moment in the shows history. At the moment it was...

Tweets to follow the announcement commemorated the caller's life, to the effect of, "Bobby you will be missed & now you fly with the angles... Your sister will always remember the good times & your memory will never fade." The Huffington Post ran an article on Bob's death.

Turns out, Incarcerated Bob is NOT dead and someone hacked into his twitter account and was playing a joke. Not a cool joke, but when I heard Bob's voice today I almost died myself, with laughter. On Wfan this morning with B & C, Bob said he was visiting his father and when he got home his phone was "goin off the hook with messages." And "real NYPD detectives" were trying to contact him. Upon hearing the news of his death, he reacted, "You tryin to put me out like that?!" And despite the claim about having $1,500 saved up for BEF was false, Bob did say he was going to donate the money anyway.

The best line from Bob was "I don't even have a sister that's the funny thing man. "
If you go to The Boomer and Carton website you can listen to the whole call. Just click on "Incarcerated Bob Lives!"

It was awesome to hear his voice today and I'm really glad it was a joke cause Incarcerated Bob is the man.

The Fast Break - Treadmill Intervals

Today I left my desk at 1:11 p.m., filled my water jug with water and headed to the bathroom downstairs. I could see on the walk that the fitness room was pretty busy, but that did'nt stop me from heading in after I washed my hands.

All the business dudes were working out so I changed in peace and made it to the far treadmill and switched up my dance today. Speed Intervals are probably the best way to use a treadmill because it minimizes the amount of time on the machine, but maximumizes the benefits. Basically, what you do is run at 2 different speeds for rigidly timed intervals. This is how I do them.

I do a warm up jog for about 5 minutes, really slow. I do intervals of 1 minute. So I run for 1 minute (intense), then jog for 1 minute (recovery). My jog speed is usually around 4.5-5 and my run speed is around 8 or 8.5. I change these depending on how I feel that day. Today I did intervals for 15 minutes total. So 1 slow 1 fast 1 slow 1 fast...Our machines have a button to set intervals so it's easy, but you can do it manually. Just make sure you do a cool down run for about 3-5 minutes at the end.

Everyone has a different way to do these, you'll find what feels best. This video is a really great instruction for this, just block out the dude explaining it and listen to the information.


I did some strecthing and showered and was in my seat at 1:55 p.m.

Beer I tried and liked: Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout

I couldn’t wait all day to drink a Brooklyn lager on tap. When my order came to the table it was all dark and had a thick cream colored head. They gave me the Black Chocolate Stout because they switched out the lager for the winter. Whatever, I tried it and really liked it.

Now, I don’t know much about beer so I’m not going to claim to give you a pro critique just my honest opinion. It was really hearty and aromatic in the glass and at first taste. I could sense some strong malty flavors and the aftertaste was a good mix of chocolate and coffee. I’d drink it again.

My Grade: 9/10

Medium: On Tap
Alcohol: 10.1% by volume.

Brooklyn Brewery Website

Good Grilled Cheese Recipes #2

The Mexican Grilled Cheese AKA The Quesadilla

Lets face it, you come home and don't want to make a grilled cheese sandwich so you break out some tortillas and nacho cheese and bang out a quesadilla. Well, guess what?... You ate a damn grilled cheese.

I, myself, dabble with this form from south of the border and now I'll tell you how to make it right:

-1 whole wheat tortilla. Try to buy the largest you can find.
-1 handful of low fat or fat free cheddar cheese.
-some canned black beans, drained and rinsed.
-1 jalapeño pepper, a big one though.
-fat free sour cream (optional)
-salsa (optional)

Heat up a skillet on low flame or 4 if using electric. Heat the tortilla for only a minute. Don't let it get all crispy or you'll be in trouble later on. Flip that thing over and quickly spoon some beans on one half of the tortilla. You gotta imagine a line down the middle or this just wont work. Don't go crazy with the beans either, just a single layer. Next lay down the peppers and cover all that with the cheese. Be liberal with the cheese but remember you gotta fold this thing. Now fold the tortilla in half over the filling and press down pretty hard with a spatula.

Once its crispy, flip the whole thing over and heat until both sides are equally crispy. Cut into 3 triangles with a pizza cutter and serve with some salsa or sour cream.

There you go, the Mexican Grilled Cheese. Authentic?...nope. Delicious...Yes!

** Sometimes I get wild and put salsa inside.

It's Monday

I may not have a chance to get into the 5W's. Maybe tomorrow.

The Fast Break

Today I left my desk at 1:10p.m. I filled up my water jug with water and headed down to the fitness room. I was greeted in the locker room by 1 naked man just showered, 1 naked man in the shower, and 1 partially clothed man minutes after a shower. Actually, I wasn’t greeted at all because my presence in the fitness center is a burden on their routine. I used to choose 1:10 to go exercise because no one was there, but as time went on, that time period became more crowded. I used to think it was because of how good I looked, as if people were coming to see me.

I put on From Monument to Masses, hopped on the elliptical, and set the timer for 30 minutes….

Do they actually change anything? They change my mood for sure. I’m perfectly happy just going by this way, but really where am I going? What am I really doing? I think I’ll need to take more risks, but I have to wait. August 1st I’ll take a major risk. I will make a major change in my life, I mean major, and through a series of events that follow I will have changed the world. The origin of this great change will be known to no one but me and that makes it even greater.

10:00 I was getting really tired and couldn’t believe how fast the first ten minutes went by. One mistake I always make is not looking at the actual clock before I run. I just set the machine and go. I’ve never been late to my desk though.

It was 2 years ago that I started setting goals for playing guitar and actually began to achieve them. Everything changed in May. Or was that 3 years ago? Shit, that was 3 years ago. I haven’t learned anything new, actually I think I just keep forgetting. Why don’t my writing hand and my memory get along? They have a horrible relationship. One is brilliant and the other is typical and undeveloped. One is realistic and the other is an idealist. If only I could teach my mind to write, just cut out the middleman. I wouldn’t have high expectations of its grammar. I’d just be grateful for its honesty. Unfiltered.

18:08. The hit in the song is 3:55 (on the album version not the video), what a powerful statement. I associate some vivid imagery to it. A stained glass ceiling and everything falling upward very fast until it smashes right through the ceiling. Then, at that moment, floating undamaged stained glass orbiting the object.

Do your hands always hang that way? I’ll bet they don’t and I’ll bet you never realized how your hands hang naturally. As soon as you notice, you tense them up. First, half circles almost like meditation pose but your legs keep moving, and I can’t see your face. Next, almost a fist and I know you are capable of a fight I could see it on your face, but not today. Here’s the hit. You looked at the clock, thanks! I didn’t, once I sensed your head turn I knew how long you had been contemplating looking up the time, I was in your way and you didn’t want to give me the impression you were looking over as to initiate some conversation. Don’t worry it happens all the time. I wanted to look too, but if I did It would have exposed the conversation we were having without the other knowing.


I think your better now than ever, honest. Now, across your chest with great balance you eased into a job just for a second. Looks akward back and forth, whatever. You pay too much attention to where your hands are. Back at half circles, I know because I notice them too. Once I was sitting with my hands in fists and someone in the back seat said, “I’ve never seen anyone sit with clenched fists.” People only notice when you do. The next time I see your face I’m going to smile and see. Hands are always the first thing I notice.

I ran for 30 minutes with the cool down and stretched for 5 whole minutes. Stretching is always my favorite part of exercise. I can get lost in the breathing. If you strech properly, a good hour of stretching is far more beneficial to your body than any workout. There was a woman in the room finishing up a session. I stayed in my pose until she was gone, to avoid eye contact. I was back at my desk at 2:00pm.

What the hell is this anyway?

On Monday I'll explain why I write this Blog and introduce myself a little. You can also expect the posting to be slow on the weekends. Stay tuned...or watch this

Tips for owning a pizza joint.

After a long year you finally have a day off for no real reason. For the last 2 weeks you've been shopping, cooking, and traveling. And every television channel's programming is either college bowl games or movie marathons. However, you can't order a damn pizza ANYWHERE. I understand that it's nice for restaurant owners to give employees the day off and all, but why not close down the shop on the following Wednesday rather than January 1st. Especially when its on a Friday. Think of all the business they're missing out on. Coming from someone who's worked in a pizza restaurant and who likes to eat pizza, I give you...

Tips For Owning a Pizza Joint.

1. Stay open on January 1st

2. Close on Tuesday or Wednesday or have a crazy special. I bet pizza shop owners spend more money on wages on these days than sales so they might as well give the day off or have a crazy special to pump up business

3. Make the larges larger or take the medium pizza off the menu. Really for the price difference the medium is just a waste of your money and the consumers time.

4. DON'T advertise: everyone wants to believe they discovered the next great unknown pizza place. Mystery is what sells pizza.

5. Never cut pizza in squares.

6. Actually eat a pizza in New Haven before you claim to make "New Haven Style" pizza.