tasty spam/random thought

Well, someone has figured out how to get me to read the junk mail that gets sent to my Hotmail account.

Subject:
Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Warm Biscuits on us

Turns out it was an attempt to solicit my address for KFC gift certificates. I think I'll pass, but I know what I want for lunch now.

pour some sugar on me/music

This Friday is going to be very interesting.

Last Thursday I heard the "World Tour" sounder on 93.7 KLBJ. I didn't know what the trip was, but in the past they've sent people to cool concerts both in and out of the U.S. I figured I'd call in and find out what the show was afterward.

I was the ninth caller and was told to listen in at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday for the drawing to select the winner. After I got off the phone, they ran the promo for the trip. I learned I was in the running for a limo ride to the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater in San Antonio to see Def Leppard. Sweet. I even get to hang out with them on stage at some point.

Once I realized that the show was the 30th, I knew I would win. That date conflicted with the Miss Saigon performance we were planning on attending. I had just changed the tickets for it the previous day.

Despite my confidence, I managed to forget to listen this morning after getting to work. I blame the combination of the Memorial Day holiday and not having a radio in my office. Fortunately, Mary Alice's friend Mikey called her to let her know he'd heard my name and that I had three minutes to call in. She called me with the hotline number, and I got right through.

I made a few of my patented bad jokes on the air and was told that I would be contacted with further details...I'm still waiting on that call. I'm betting the concert will be like none I've ever been to before.

new songs/music

Check the sidebar at left.

Old songs will probably be retired after a month or so. Get 'em while you can.

bye bye brunching/link

The Brunching Shuttlecocks

This is disappointing. I've been reading Brunching for at least the last five years, almost since their beginning. Löre's sense of humor always cracked me up.

I'm not all that surprised to see them call it quits, the updates had slowed to a trickle over the last year or so, and it seemed that it was getting harder and harder for them to stay up to date.

It looks like they'll be keeping the archives up, and the Book of Lists and Self-Made Critic will have their own sites before too long. Still gonna miss my weekly Shuttlecocks fix, though.

two great shows/music

After a 4+ year hiatus from Stubb's, I've now been to two shows in two nights.

Monday was Robert Earl Keen's concert for Cielo Wind Power's WindPower 2003 conference. Mary Alice managed to swing a pair of tickets. The concert was great, we were only about 40 feet from the stage. The crowd was small enough that we weren't packed shoulder to shoulder, which is what happened the time we went to see him at the Backyard. I got to hear two of my favorites off of Gravitational Forces: "Wild Wind" and "Walkin' Cane". The set was a little short, but understandable since it was free and pretty freaking hot. This guy has some pictures.

Last night's Nickel Creek appearance was even better. A cold front came through, making the weather perfect. From the first song it was obvious the band really enjoyed playing to the crowd. We (Tate, Eric, Sarah, Mark, Sara and myself) got there early and secured a spot up front. Seeing their talent up close was amazing. Being near the stage paid off even more at the end of the show - the second encore was largely acoustic, closing with the hymn "Be Thou My Vision". I'm really glad to get the chance to finally see them live; they were scheduled to play Shady Grove 9/13/01, which was scrapped due to travel difficulties. Given the attendance last night, there's no way Shady Grove could have held all their fans.

I'm slow/random thought

I am an access log freak. I derive way too much pleasure from seeing who's seen my site and how they found it.

It looks like a ton of people are hitting my galleries of travel photos, most of which are incomplete and none of which match my current layout. I especially need to finish scanning and uploading the Mexico, Hawaii, and house photos. The problem is finding time and motivation. If you've come here looking for them, bug me. Post a comment. Send me an email. Get me off my lazy ass.

If I'm not pleasing the masses, what do I really have to offer?

dessert thoughts/random thought

When I was sitting at Lindy's in Times Square having my coffee and cheesecake, I had a bout of reverse culture shock. Or something. Reverse culture shock is as good a description as any.

There I was, watching the masses walk through what's likely one of the busiest intersections in the world. I was surrounded by skyscrapers and bustle. Just a few days before, I'd had chocolate meringue pie in a 40-seat restaurant in the Hill Country after a trip to the lake. The settings were wildly different, but they had two things in common.

I was there. And the desserts and coffee were darn good.

catching up/random thought

<Jim Anchower>Hola, amigos. What's up? It's been a long time since I rapped at ya, I know, but I been real busy these days. </Jim Anchower>

I seem to be in a trend of half-finished posts that never make it up. Monday I started one here that was lost when IE died, and there's a month old landscaping update that I still haven't managed to post to Kaspar Family.

Anyhow, the short version:
Went wakeboarding again, saw the first half of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria!, went to New Jersey for work with a side trip to Manhattan, did some more yardwork, and learned my dog is recovering from hip surgery really well.

It's really been a crazy few weeks. It doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

5/3

Weekend before last we went out to Horseshoe Bay for some wakeboarding. The water was much warmer than Lake Travis was...a combination of a smaller lake and being about three weeks later into the spring. The waves were a lot higher, so we ended up spending most of our time running the length of the dam and back. Hopefully I can get some of the pictures from Darren to post here.

On the way back from the way back from the lake we stopped at R.O.'s Outpost on Hwy 71. Damn they make some good pie. Brian and I got the chocolate meringue while Mary Alice and Darren had the apple. I think if they'd ordered ice cream with the apple pie it would have been supreme, but as it was I think I made the better choice. They even brewed a fresh pot of coffee for us, which was great.

5/4

I have learned (but will still forget again) to never pack the morning of a trip. I was frantically stuffing my suitcase 20 minutes after I needed to leave for the airport. The whole morning was rushed; we went to Harvest at EV Free, then back to the house to grab my car. I drove to the airport, checked my bag, then Mary Alice picked me up and we went to Alegria at the old airport. We had to leave at intermission since I didn't want to miss my flight. The show was good, but I could have done without the strongman segment.

Flying was an adventure as usual...I was scheduled to go from Austin to Newark via Chicago O'Hare. That was no big deal, but the weather in Chicago was. We boarded on time in Austin, then sat on the runway for an hour until we got clearance to leave, as O'Hare was trying to limit incoming flights until the rainstorms subsided. Once we finally arrived (10 minutes before my connection was scheduled to depart), we sat on the runway for another 30 minutes until the lightning ceased and the baggage handlers etc. could approach the plane.

Once we finally made it into the terminal, I discovered that my 8:45 p.m. departure was pushed back to 11:00. Good because I wouldn't miss my flight, bad because I'd land in Newark at 2 a.m. local time. I decided to try to find some food, but the Chili's in terminal B is staffed by jackasses. They have a sign that says they're open until 10:00 p.m. every day, but when I tried to sit down at 9:25 the waitress told me the kitchen was closed, as well as the seating area. I still need to write my complaint letter.

5/5 - 5/8

I finally made it to my hotel in Jersey at about 3:30 a.m. It was a brain-dead Monday for me.

I won't go into the work details from the trip, but it was a productive visit. I'm hoping to go back sometime later this year...hopefully we'll reach a point where that will be mutually beneficial.

A word of advice: DO NOT EAT AT CHARLEY'S RESTAURANT ON HWY 36!. I paid $30 for the worst steak and shrimp combo I've ever had in my life. The only redeeming quality of the meal is that I was introduced to Flying Fish ale.

On Wednesday I had wrapped up at the office, so I took a day trip into New York City. Apart from a ferry schedule incident, it was a really fun day. The ferry landed right on Wall Street, so I took that toward Broadway, getting a cart dog with sauerkraut along the way. I finally gave up and bought a map after wandering around aimlessly and wondering where the heck Times Square was. During my walk I stopped by the World Trade Center site and was moved by the steel beam cross that is still mounted inside the pit. I also made it to Times Square where I had a piece of cheesecake at Lindy's and watched the kids looking up at the MTV TRL studios, saw a very impressive exhibit on "Bronzeville" in Chicago at The International Center for Photography, meandered through part of SoHo, and sprinted back to Pier 11 to catch the ferry.

The flight back was somewhat easier than the flight out, except for boarding in Newark and then immediately being told to deplane as a tire needed to be changed.

5/10

Eric organized the second annual trip to San Antonio (this time including Fiesta Texas) to celebrate his birthday. It was my first time to do FT, and we had a really good time. The rides were solid, especially Scream. I'd like to manage the park for a week and try to get rid of some of the inefficiencies, but that's just the engineer in me. Dinner at Casa del Rio on the Riverwalk was tasty, although I wish I'd been able to have another margarita. The drive home was tough enough as it was, though.

5/11

Mary Alice wanted to make sure Mother's Day was special, so she took care of inviting everyone over to the house for a lunch/brunch. She made a ton of food, and I tried to get the yard in shape. The cherry french toast was a hit yet again, and I'm still holding out for a piece of baklava.

I spent the entire afternoon up on the hill putting in some plants and cleaning up brush. I need to try to crystallize my vision for what it should look like when I'm done. There's a ton of space to work with, but I can't decide exactly how to deal with the slope.

--

One of the things I learned while I was gone is why Bear has gotten so much more destructive, grabbing things off of the kitchen and coffee tables. It turns out that his hip has healed so well that he can now stand on his rear legs, with no front support. I was really surprised to find he wasn't propping himself on the table or anything. I'm glad he's feeling so much better, but he's going to need some training reinforcement.