Confessions of a Ferris Wheel Junkie

Grady, Are the lights on yet?

Dearest Mother Nature,
Just wondering when the joke ends and summer begins. Not sure we were told of this monsoon season ahead of time, and we'd pretty much like it to slow down and or stop. Leaking roofs, power outages, lower seventies for temperature, wind and driving rain are not our idea of late July weather.. mmkay. Little less rain every week and a lil bit more sun and heat.
Thanks bunches.
Yours Truly,
The "fair-weathered" residents of upstate New York

Bringin Back that ol NY Rap

I just wanna take this moment to personally thank the Beastie Boys for making the world a better place with their latest cd.
I don't care who you are, or what your tastes are, you need this cd. Go Buy it. Now.
I'd also like to take this moment to thank Circuit City for keepin music prices few buckaroos lower than the rest.
That is all.

concerts and consumerism

So I'm convinced double headliner concerts are a bad idea. Last year it was the utter shock that the Counting Crows would actually be opening for John Mayer. This weekend it was the complete dismay that the Barenaked Ladies went on before Alanis Morrisette. Booooo. Though I gotta say, Barenaked Ladies was too much fun. They truly do put on a great show. And who would have thought you could actually sit and chill on the lawn at a show?

This weekend also found me in the Palisades Center for the first time in a few years. Dined at Stir Crazy and spent some time browsing the would be junior mall of america.

Cooperstown

As promised, I give you pictoral detail from our lil family excursion to Cooperstown, NY. Most famous for being the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, it is also home to several other musuems, much of the coastline of Lake Otsego, and many many things one can label 'too cute'. Having only the better part of one day there, I had to pick just two places to visit. Naturally that meant the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the other choice was the Farmers Museum. The Baseball Hall of Fame was fantastic, a bit awe inspiring - and I must go back next year when they finish the renovations! The Farmers museum - well who doesnt love cute animals and people dressed as pilgrims? I gotta tell ya, too much cuteness and too much baseball love in the picture file this time around, choosing these was hard.

Excited Because:

- I did this* last night. It's pretty well known that O.A.R. is easily my favorite band and I'm a sucker for a good pre-order package, and this defines good. My limited edition package will include: one booksized version of the new live double cd and bonus dvd release, a free t-shirt (quite a nice one, if I do say so), and entry in a contest to win two free tickets to see the band in NYC this coming November. How hot is that deal? I mean I'm excited enough for the double cd itself, but now I get the dvd, and all the extras, in my mailbox on the day it gets released to to stores. I may or may not see my lil self in the dvd too (I was front row the first night they filmed). Basically this makes me giddy and happily anxious for August 6th (when I see em live again) and then the 24th, when I get the happiest mail ever.

- I finally figured out how to change the sound system in my car so that the music only plays up front. This comes one day after it would have been ideal to use.

- Tonight is the All-Star game in Houston. One thought: Lets go National League!!

Spent the day touristing it up in Cooperstown yesterday. Pictures to follow soon.

* this is one of the few pop-ups I'll ever ever endorse... but given the fact that I couldnt stop staring at it, and it plays the intro to the first song from the show I was at, I can't not share it either.

I love the 90's

Increasingly I'm becoming a fan of Vh1. Admittedly I wish I had more hours in my day to sit around and catch their various forms of commentary shows. I managed to catch the first episode of I love the 90's a day ahead of it's scheduled debut today, and so went to check when I could catch more of this goodness... and found that my other favorite Vh1 classic Best Week Ever, has a blog!

Now, are we all picturing the same thing? eight or so years from now, When I love the Millenial years is being aired and all the pretty half baked stars sit and commentate on how everyone got a blog and we all had these giant sized self-analytical lives showcased on the internet through pithy paragraphs and megapixels.

Right, so all forms of pithy comentation aside here, I gotta give Vh1 two snaps and a bag of chips for staying on the ever present pulse of our waxing analytical generation.

A 'Fankaztic' Fourth

Well I hope everyone found as much pleasure in their holiday weekend as I did. Did I have grand travel plans? no. Did I see crazy fireworks displays? no. Did I cookout? no. Matter of fact, I worked two of the four days and infact was dealing with conflict at work while fireworks were going off down at the Empire State Plaza. Where's the joy in a weekend like that? Twas found in my two loves: baseball and live music.

Friday July 2: the Mets Spanked the overtired Yankees, 11-2. Granted, the Yankees came off of an extra inning intense game the night before, and what a game it was. I can respect that highly... but I gotta take the moment to be joyous at the fact that our bats came alive. It was about damn time.

Saturday July 3 (afternoon): Holy crap what a game! The first 5 innings that I got to watch on television were crazy. The rest of it that I listened to on the radio in the car was intense and kept me in my car glued to the radio in a parking lot full of tailgaters. One of the best sounds in the world is the roar of the crowd and yells of announcers at the end of a big win like that "Mets Win, Mets Win!"

Saturday July 3 (evening): Holy crap what a show! This was the third time I've seen Dave Matthews Band live and oh man is the third time a charm. I wasn't so much a fan of the insane people on the lawn, but I had a nice view and decent dancing room all night. The setlist was unbelievably good. The band was ubelievably happy up there, and the jams were intensely good. I considered an open letter to Dave, Boyd, LeRoi, Fonz, Carter and Butch, but I just don't have all the words, let alone adequate ones for the superb-ness they brought me last night.

Sunday July 4th: Well happy birthday to America. Another intense back and forth baseball game was had in Queens... and METS WIN, METS WIN! Mets SWEEP Yankees for the first time in history. Mets win the season cross-town series for the first time. I could go on for days on each game, and what the highlights of them really mean. I won't bore my small enough already audience with that. However I do want to note the importance of the coming weeks. If we can show our spirit and talent against the most successful team in baseball, we should be able to stand tall against the real competition in our division. Needless to say I'm quite excited to watch my team show themselves in the next few weeks.
Again I feel like I could write a thousand open letters to baseball heroes, managers who frustrate me, and the players that amaze me...
Perhaps I'll throw my wit that way another day (soon..) but for now this recap entry was brought to you by the letters S-W-E-E-P.

Mr. Moon and his stars

Tonight there was/is an absolutely gorgeous full moon. Silhouetted against a few wisps of clouds, it looked just majestic.
So admittedly, I'm a big horoscope reader. It's sometimes a method of reviewing, focusing on things you want to do with your day, or simply the morning joke, all depending on whats really going on for you. I think at their best they can serve as an extra friendly voice to your psyche every day. Well I have to tell you about this site cainer.com, that really is all of the above. The wacky part is that it is based on British time, thus making the predictions for my day a day ahead. There are times when it's off a bit, but still on right on the button, For example- the thing I was hit with the day earlier appears in the next days scope with exactly what I need to refocus my thoughts on it. There are times when it's just what I want to hear, but not really close to the truth at all. And I think that's sometimes the best horoscope anyway, you have to make your day, not some guy in England with a website...
Anyways, point being... if you like reading your horoscope regularly... you should check that site.