This week has been nutz for me so far. I've been having to get up at 3:30 am (more like 3:44 after hitting "snooze" a couple times.) I'm getting up so early in order to attend a class that's being taught virtually on-line, in real time. Talk about living in the future! Ahh the sweet (in)convenience of technology.

So my coffee free month is almost over. I feel fine. Actually, after the first couple weeks I feel better in the morning now and am debating if I even want to start drinking that stuff ever again (I'm sure I will). It's all about self-discipline. I almost caved in a couple times. I'm glad the coffee at my works sucks, otherwise I wouldn't have made it.

Finches show



The Finches sandwich was great last weekend. I could have done without the Mantles in the middle... the midddle...the the the...middle. Nice folks and all, but for me, live, they sound like a bunch of high-school kids just forming a band, who write songs while "jamming", but they are most likely in their mid/upper 20s, so I have no patience. Sorry.

Luckily the Finches were in full form, playing two sets and selling the new CD. I picked that up and the LP version of their last album which contains an extra song from the CD format, and a cool silk screen print hidden within'.

The Fools Foundation finally seemed to have gotten a clue about their lousy acoustics and put up some drapes around the perimeter to prevent the notorious echo...the notorious echo... notorious echo... echo... echo...

Next weekend will be a live show extravaganza. Knock Knock at Delta Venus and Sic Alps at Fools Foundation...all on Saturday. I bet I could catch both bands!

(sorry I've been up since 3:0am)

PB & J



peter bjorn & john are going to be on conan tonight!

Rad show tonight!



The Finches and The Mantles at Fools Foundation! Tonight (1/26)

The Finches are simply the best band around right now in my humble opinion. Don't believe me? Check out some of their tunes on-line. Yeah, If you've never heard them before, you might just go "well the singer's voice is really good an all...", but I'm telling you, their shows are always a treat, and I wouldn't ever miss a finches gig. Always a top priority. I hope they are selling the new album tonight.

Second up are The Mantles, who I saw once when they first started out. I hear they are really good now, so good that Matt Roberts, who knows good music (aka music I like), is putting out something by them. Virginia, their drummer, is probably one of the coolest people you'll ever meet.


Oh look at that. Time to make some more tea. Have a nice weekend!

Tea-time



It's been 21 day now since my last cuppa joe. I actually feel fine, and I'm now hooked on tea. Nope, not that expensive stuff you get at the coop or special(tea) shops, not even some of that exotic green tea you can get at the Asian markets. Right now I'm hooked on Bigelow Constant Comment. What is in this stuff? It's soo friggin' addictive!

My current favorite beer in all of Sacramento



Captain Ron’s Imperial IPA at Brew it up!

inspired by the nautical mis-adventures of a vagabond sailor, this hugely hoppy “XX-IPA” will leave you looking for your eye patch!

For the horde!!!



Hey. In case you missed it (which is easy to do, since all the good bands in Sacramento think it's wrong to self-promote), The Four Eyes just released a 6 song EP via iTunes. Five of the songs are about video games. The other is about 90210 or something. Get it!

Family Tree




Last night my mum found the genealogy records for her side of the family dating back to the early 1700's. My Dad's side only goes back to my great grandparents, and it gets really iffy after that.

Luckily Niki's cousin has been putting together a family tree for her dad's side of the family, so we can get this party started.

I've looked into software to record all this, and it turns out there is a website that helps out, but it seems a bit slow and buggy, but the idea is that you fill out as much as you can, and you can easily share it with your relatives, and they can fill in as much as they can..and so on..and so forth... cool.

Here is the site

Once they work out some of the kinks (it's in beta) I think this site is going to take off. Seriously user friendly!

(update)
looks like the site went down already...the power of code monkey! (yea right)

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So I heard somewhere that cingular will soon be AT&T. Will someone make up their mind already?

bro2000: man there's something wrong with that kid
bro2000: the one in back, on the far left
bro2000: whats up with him
bro2000: that boy AINT RIGHT
meee: he's got a CLAW!!!!
bro2000: its like he's trying to throw some kind of kindergarten gang sign
meee: "yo G what grade you claim fool?!?!"
bro2000: "short bus repraZENT!"
bboy meee: drive by finger paint assualt
bro2000: "yo i'm gonna eat yo PASTE, and aint nuthin' yall can do about it! HOW YA LIKE ME NOW!"
meee: "TAG... YOU'RE IT FOOL!! WHAT WHAT!!!!"
bro2000: "check me out, i'm gonna ghost ride my tricycle!"
meee: "don't hate the playa..hate the game..you got cooties!"

Siberian Freeze



It's going to be a cold one this weekend, and by "cold one" I don't mean an icy cold Corona with a slice of lime. No. It's going to be super cold in Sacramento.

Weather advisory


Last night, in order to celebrate staying indoors and warm, and to commemorate my Russian/Hungarian/Romanian heritage, I made a huge pot of Borscht...just like grandma never made. It took forever to chop up all the vegetables (beets, potatoes, parsnip, carrot, celery root, onions) but it was sooo good, and I made so much I'll be eating it for the next week or so.

Sorry...slow news day



Looks like I'll have to resort to one of those "what [famous fictional/non-fictional character] are you?" quizzes. Unless you want me to go into great detail about having MSG trigger the gout yesterday after lunch.

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 80% Iron Man 80% Superman 75% Green Lantern 75% Catwoman 65% Hulk 65% Supergirl 55% Robin 47% Wonder Woman 45% The Flash 40% Batman 40%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

That really funny guy in the Megacools

That really funny guy in the Megacools
Originally uploaded by bugbiteme.

Just wanna give a shout out to midtown monthly for using my picture of C.A. (even thought they didn't bother giving me a shout out as contributing photographer...don't they know I have a huge ego that needs constant nurturing as an aspiring band photographer?)

anyhooo...

Happy new year!

Resolutions that I'll try not to break for the '07

• loose weight (duh)
• become a better cook (and invite more people over for dinner)
• hike 100 miles (I logged slightly under 80 in the 2006)
• not drink coffee in all of January (I'm in detox mode)
• make at least 10 gallons of beer (for when I get off of detox)
• see more live shows.

Favorite albums of '06

• Belle and Sebastian - The Life Persuit
  
• Peter Bjorn and John - Writers Block
  
• The Roots - Game Theory
  
• J Dilla - The Shining
  
• Love is All - Nine Times The Same Song
  
• Pipas - Sorry Love

Top songs of 06' (this would make a great comp btw)

• Television Personalities - My Dark Places
  
• Love is All - Trying Way to Hard
  
• J Dilla - Nothing Like this
  
• Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
  
• The Roots - Long Time
  
• Long Blondes - Christmas is Cancelled (not sure if it's an '06 song)
  
• Futureheads - Worry About it Later
  
• caUSE co-MOTION - Which Way is Up?
  
• Pipas - Riff Raff

I uploaded these songs for your listening enjoyment:
LINK

not too bad.