Hand claps and wry smiles

Looking into the past

2009-04-01T13:02:00.004-05:00

Cool pics via my newest bookmark, like cool

How Appropriate

2009-03-27T13:13:00.004-05:00

Clem Snide is coming to Off Broadway Saturday and in preparation for the show I downloaded the new album. I feel it's important to stress the word ALBUM. This is not just a collection of songs thrown together on a CD. This is a story with highs and lows told from beginning to end. In an ADD age where we can only concentrate on one thing for roughly 2 minutes at a time , it''s refreshing for a band to recognize the way albums were meant to be made, and not just chopped up into 3 or 4 singles. Hungry Bird is epic. It will probably see little to no airplay, but this album is captivating in its heartfelt sarcasm.

A couple of songs doesn't do them justice, but maybe this will wet your beak.

Me No

With All My Heart

1,2,3 Hello

2009-03-20T13:28:00.002-05:00

I haven't come across much to be thrilled about in the way of music lately. I've been on the lookout recently for a sound like the National, that is completely solid and rich. Alas the music segment on NPR did a feature on Elvis Perkins and it was love at first listen. I feel obliged to share it with my friends

123 Goodbye

Doomsday

End of the Road

2009-03-13T07:56:00.003-05:00

The trip is now over. I'm a couple days removed from it and still battling the jet lag narcolepsy. I still haven't been able to string together 8 hours of sleep consecutively.

On one of the final nights we had a grand dinner with a factory owner. Everyone customarily spent the whole dinner making toasts to each other. As we neared the end of dinner the toasts became more " friendly." The owner of our overseas office at one point told me I "will be the hero of my generation." That was a very flattering compliment. When I made a toast to everyone in thanks for a great trip, I was told I had to fill my wine glass to the brim and chug it, because after all I am a "healthy young man" and I can take it.

All in all it was a great trip, and it was actually pretty relaxing considering I worked or traveled every day. There were no worries about gas, or groceries, or what I'm going to do tonight. That being said I am happy to be back on American soil, where a double cheeseburger is never more than a block away.

Colder than a well digger's...

2009-03-09T05:58:00.002-05:00

I've been pretty worn out by the end of the day, so I haven't really been up to for the blogging.

I managed to snag some DVDs while we shopped, so tonight I'm watching Revolutionary Road.I'm excited.

It's been cold as all get out here lately. It's been in the 40s for the past couple of days and all I brought was t-shirts because it's normally 75 this time of year. I'm certainly glad to have brought the North face coat just in case

I did add a few more pics to the flickr account. Check it out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

I'm sure I'll have more to add tomorrow. this trip is getting pretty long.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

Delaying the Inevitable

2009-03-06T00:54:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I mentioned what I thought might be a minor airport delay. It turned out to be 6 hours. We spent 3 of those hours sitting in the plane and on the tarmac, motionless. About an hour into it, mayhem ensued. Everyone was yelling at the top of their lungs people were freaking out and flight attendants were crying. What made it worse was that it was all in Chinese and I had no idea what was going on. We finally took off and made it back to the hotel at midnight.

Today I feel terrible, as if the late night awoke my jet lag.

Tonight we get wined and dined by a factory owner.We seem to be in very good graces here so it should be fun.

More pics updated from the crap delay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

Sitting on G, waiting on O

2009-03-05T00:48:00.003-06:00

As I type this, I am stuck in an airport in Shenzen. Our flight back to Putian has been delayed due to a storm. It's been over an hour and there isn't the slightest update on our status.

Last night was we went to the KTV again. I think I'm bored with that now. The whole language barrier holds back most of the fun that could be had there.

Before KTV we ate at a Korean restaurant. I've never ate Korean food before last night. I'll probably never eat it again. The food had great flavor, but it was far too spicy for my sensitive tongue. Most of the dishes are based around cold cabbage as well. I'll try anything once but not always twice.

Today we are just traveling. We said our goodbyes to the great people of the Donguan office and now we're headed back to Putian to clean up the mess that happened yesterday. I'm already thinking about when I can get in bed.

Random observations of the day.

As we walked around downtown DG yesterday I noticed several women walking around holding hands. It struck me as a little odd, so I asked about it. I was told that women often walk the streets holding hands and men walk with arms around each other mostly for safety.

I just remembered when we had pizza the other night for dinner, it was served with plastic gloves. Everyone was expected to wear them to keep the grease off of your fingers. Of course the Chinese one size fits all doesn't necessarily apply to my american sized hands . I made due.

2009-03-03T23:03:00.003-06:00

Today is a crappy day of work. The main project I traveled here to look after was screwed up and no one is very apologetic.

Last night I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a Japanese Hibachi restaurant. I let one of the foreign office managers take the reigns on ordering and it came out very well. As each plate came to us I thought to myself, "I would never order this" and each plate turned out to be delicious. I even tried Sashimi (big chunks of raw fish) for the first time and it was wonderful!

Tonight I think we are going to enjoy the evening as a local would. We'll start with drinks at someone's apartment and go from there.

I'm starting to feel comfortable here. My coworker is now itching to get home, but i feel like I could spend another month here.

Observation of the day: Everyone on the street likes to squat. It apparently helps with circulation and digestion. People are perched on ledges like birds...

Only a couple of photos for this update

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

Groundhog day

2009-03-02T19:12:00.004-06:00

After a full days work we went out to eat and shopping last night. The downtown shopping district is centered around a mall that is anchored by a (cringe) Walmart. We first went to the DVD store where I managed to pick up several new/early releases. I didn't think the quality would be great considering i was paying the equivilant of $2 US combined with the fact that most of them are still in theaters. I was pleasantly surprised that all of those I purchased are perfect quality DVDs. We hit up a few more shops and headed home. The day was pretty uneventful.

I've discovered that I am getting lost in my own imagination while sitting through some of these meetings. Obviously I don't understand anything that is being said in the exchange of conversation around me, so I started making up sitcom scenarios in my head for the people around me. I struggled to keep a straight face the rest of the day. I think I'm going crazy

Day...It doesn't matter

2009-03-01T22:51:00.005-06:00

Time is a blur. I've given up trying to figure out how long I've been here and I've also given up on trying to remember what day/ time it is in the states.

Saturday nightwe went to a KTV, which is very difficult to explain if you're never been. Simply put it's a private karaoke party where you sing and play drinking games with random house Chinese girls that don't speak a lick of English. It was interesting, but fun.

I spent yesterday traveling from Putian to Dongguan. Dongguan is a much bigger city, and more advanced.

Today I'll work in the office, and go shopping in the evening. should be fun.

Some random notes:

Chinese seem to serve hot water with every meal, they don't drink anything else when they eat. Apparently it aids in digestion. They also serve hot water as just a snack.

1 fried egg is served with many meals. All of my meals at restaurants here have been served with one fried egg on the side. I had a room service cheeseburger last night at the new hotel, and of course there's a fried egg on the plate with the fries. Weird.

I haven't taken too many pics lately, but I did update flickr with some new ones. I'll take more when I go shopping tonight

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

Day 3...I think

2009-02-27T17:34:00.002-06:00

After going to be at 8:00PM for thesecodn consecutive night, I woke up this morning to feel like I've been hit by a train. This is supposed to be my last day of feeling jet lagged, and I'm sure the combination with the cold has not helped. I can barely keep my eyes open right now.

Yesterday we worked in the office and traveled to a couple of nearby factories. I didn't take any photos because I wasn't sure if it was okay, I'll try today. We toured through the first factory yesterday with a feeling of unwelcomeness. The factory supervisor wasn't very friendly and the workers seemed to give us 1 of two extreme vibes; The men looked like they wanted to stab us, and the women fluttered their lashes like they wanted to marry us.

Our second stop was a factory that produced mostly Puma shoes. After the tour we sat down for tea, which seemed very ceromonial. I can't tell you how much green tea I drank, but I was pretty buzzed and at some point I think the fish in the aqarium were talking to me.

We ended the day with another great dinner with some great fish back at the office.

Today we will visit several factories an hour and a half away. I'm going to try and catch up on some Zs in the car.

Day 2

2009-02-26T17:59:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I woke to relentless horn honking and firecracker expolsions. The honks were nothing out of the ordinary for the city. It seems like there are no traffic laws whatsoever and the only way to survive is to lay on the horn. The firecrackers however marked a special occasion. There seemed to be a celebration of prosperity in the new year. No one at the office could explain it to me in English, and I tried to look it up to no avail. Nonetheless it was pretty cool to be a part of.

I worked in the sample room for most of the day to clear of the problems I'm having with color on my MLB promo shoes. I can't tell you how difficult it is to battle the language barrier, even with those that speak pretty good English. We worked through it though.

The food here has been great so far. While I have not been out to a restaurant yet, the bfreakfast buffet here at the hotel as well as the HUGE meals at the office have been wonderful. Nothing too bizarre or gross...yet

I put my photos on flickr now because it is easier. I'll be updating those photos throughout the day and I'll add the narration here every morning to explain the pics.

Here's the link, happy flickring

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35793320@N07/

Day one

2009-02-25T16:49:00.005-06:00

I guess this is more like the first 24 of the trip rather than day one. I never thought I would travel so many consecutive hours in my life. It doesn't help that I have a head cold as well.

The flight from Chicago to Shanghai wasn't terrible. The longest flight I've been on previsou to that one was just the 4 hour trip to L.A. So about 5 hours into the Shanghai flight I started to freak out, then I fell asleep, and then freak out again at about hour 11. When we finally landed in Shanghai, I felt like my leg muscles had atrophied over the 15 hours, but I still had some traveling to do, an hour busride to another Shanghai airport, another 1.5 hour flight to Fuzhou and then the 1.5 hour drive from Fuzhou to Putian.

Not much to mention yet, other than I've learned 2 things about the Chinese.

1. They have much smaller personal space bubbles than Americans. They don't mind standing so close to you they are touching, especially in line. Which brings me to No. 2

2. There seems to be little concept of lines or taking turns here. This pretty much amounts to bottlenecking, and me about to pee myself waiting in line for the restroom, because people have no problem jumping in front of me.

I'm going to go work on my boxing out skills now.

Some pics.

Shanghai Airport

My bed. I'm pretty sure it has a sleep number of 1000

You can see into the shower and bath from the bed, how.....interesting

Place to drink tea

Nee How

2009-02-18T08:30:00.002-06:00

I am making my first trip to China on Monday. I will try to update the blog everyday while I'm there. I'm also considering setting up a flickr account. Stay tuned

Bright Idea

2009-02-18T08:21:00.003-06:00

I would love to meet the dim wit person who came up the current concept for lightbulb packaging. I would punch that person in the mouth....

Last night I went to Home Depot and purchased among other things, a 6 pack of lightbulbs. As I walked toward the checkout counter the bulbs slid out of the packing and shattered onto the floor. The cashier just stood there and shook her head.

Why isn't there some strip of carboard or something there to prevent such a disaster? I'm not talking action figure style packaging, but a little more protection for something so fragile....

Apartment Therapy

2009-01-29T07:50:00.007-06:00

This is a pretty great idea for keeping your floors dry in the winter . I hate walking around the house in my socks just to step in a sludge puddle and get them wet.

It's just a tray with some decorative rocks. Your shoes drip dry and the water drains to the bottom of the tray.

I wish I knew

2009-01-27T15:11:00.002-06:00

I wish I knew what draws me to this shoe. I don't think I would ever wear it, but it is strangely beautiful in its simplicity.

Add this to the list decorating ideas I'm stealing...

2009-01-26T15:08:00.003-06:00

2D/3D Coat rack

Off the chain!

New Tees!

2009-01-26T10:44:00.003-06:00

I know I've neglected this sweet little blog lately, I promise I'll be better.... Please don't break up with me!....

I completed couple of t-shirt idea recently and they'll both be going to print next week. get at me if you want one.

Go Cards!

Samsung Triumph

2009-01-14T11:07:00.006-06:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I think this is very worthy of the comeback.

I recently purchased a sweet Samsung 40" lcd TV, the ln40a550 to be exact. I got a great deal on it from Amazon for $929 shipped with white glove delivery.

The first thing I wantedto do was hook it up to my Sony Laptop so I could stream movies from my hard drive.

I followed the instruction in the samsung owners manual to the letter, but the television didn't recognize the PC source.

After reading many posts in multiple forums on this problem I thought i was doomed. This seems to be a specific problem with linking Sony laptops with Samsung TVs.

I messed around with the computer's settings for about 2 hours and finally stumbled on the solution.

FN F7, that's all it is, hold down the function key, and hit the F7 key a couple of times until the monitor icon is highlighted. Then go back to the televison The PC source should now be available for use. Voila! PC on your TV.

I hope this saves someone a ton of time down the road.

HO HO #2

2008-12-18T10:11:00.005-06:00

I went to see the Pointe's Ho Ho show #2 last night at The Pageant featuring Eagles of Death Metal, Cold War Kids and Scott Weiland.

While I can't stand the cheese that oozes from EDM I actually think they were the top performers last night. They brought the most energy to the stage and evoked the most emotion from the crowd. I even jumped in on the moshing!

Cold War Kids were close runners up. Nathan Willett banged on the piano and roamed the stage often running into band mates. I really dug the short set, but the crowd didn't seem to respond similarly.

Last and certainly least was Scott Weiland. First of all the man looked anorexic, literally skin and bones. His movements; slow and almost scripted. He made an attempt to croon like Morrisey, but the result was not flattering. His solo stuff was just noise. While the crowd begged for STP, he pacified them with only Interstate Love Song. Weiland was a disappointing end to a slightly above average show.

Reading Test

2008-12-10T11:52:00.001-06:00

I'm officially a cliche

2008-12-01T20:10:00.002-06:00

You know that old guy that knows when the bad weather is coming because his knee aches from an old high school injury? I'm now that guy, but it's the ankle, not the knee. I've been in throbbing pain the past 24 hours in the very ankle I had 2 operations on in high school. Sadly the only thing I can attribute it to is age, and the weather.

On a lighter note, after forcing myself through "808s and Heartbreak" a few times over the weekend, I think Kanye might be on to something. I'm starting to like a few of the songs.

Especially this one
Amazing

On the other hand, The Killers 3rd album "Day and Age" still sucks. I mean it. I can't find one bright spot. It sucks

Sonny Landreth

2008-11-20T07:26:00.003-06:00

Sonny Landreth opened the Crossroads festival in Chicago a couple of years ago. He forever earned a spot in my heart. The bayou blues man sparked my love for the slide guitar. Since then I've also grown to love Derek Trucks.

Tonight Sonny's playing at the intimate Duck Room of Blueberry hill. I'm pretty geeked to see him play a full set in such a small venue. It will also help that I haven't been up for 24 hours straight this time.

Sole without Soul

2008-11-14T13:49:00.004-06:00

I doubt anyone reading this has been with the blog from the inception, but my first post was an article I was mentioned in, regarding the release of the Air Jordan XXII. I'll give you a quick recap.

The Jordan release was a limited edition of only 529 pairs. 23 stores were selling 23 pairs each. R Sole a sneaker shop near me was on of them. I rallied some friends down there for the raffle to be able to purchase the shoes the morning of the release. When we showed up they made it known that the shoes were being sole for $500 per pair, more than TWICE as much as the MSRP of $230. Nonetheless, I knew I could turn a profit. 3 of us won the right to purchase the kicks and we sold them on ebay for a profit of about $3000.

Needless to say many people were very upset with the gouging price that R Sole released. And Sporting news wrote an article about it. They asked me to supply my receipt as evidence and I gladly obliged.

That being said, I still liked R Sole. Those were some shady business practices, but I still enjoyed the sneaker displays.

I walked in R Sole today, almost a year later to a chirp of "traitor" from one to the female sale chicks, and when I tried to make small talk with the manager Joe Wilson, his only reply was, "Are you going to put this in your blog?"

What's with the attitude? Did you just discover the internet and see the SN article? Why am I being persecuted? I shelled out $270 above retail for their sneakers, and I've still brought many customers to them. Not to mention the fact that one of my friends that bought a pair of the Jordans STILL doesn't have the serial number tag that was supposed to accompany the sneakers He even after called the store several times, but received no help whatsoever.

I'm not sure I'll be back to R Sole Oh well, it seems they aren't doing that well anyway. Most of the shoes were marked with discount stickers and an entire men's wall is dedicated to Creative Recreation. I won't even mention the hideous denim lining the back wall.

It could have been so much greater, and so much different, but alas R Sole turned into the same mainstream boredom I can see anywhere else. I guess it was only a matter of time.

The Man

2008-11-14T13:23:00.003-06:00

Joshua Budich is an artist I recently stumbled upon. He does prints in a very similar style to Shepard Fairy whom I love. Joshua has had several prints for sale on his website at very reasonable prices, and they inevitably sell out quickly. His latest release is “The Man” depicting Johnny Cash. It's an 18″ x 24″ screenprint, has an edition of 50, and will be $35.

Check out some of his other work at JoshuaBudich.com

Hausbootbau

2008-11-04T09:00:00.006-06:00

This is the kind of stuff I daydreamed about in 4th grade. Zee Germans have developed this green houseboat, complete with a sodded roof. This will actually go into production in the future, and I won't be able to afford it then either.

Kanye is just Okay

2008-11-03T11:17:00.006-06:00

The tracks that have leaked from Kanye West's new album 808s and Heartbreak are nothing short of disappointing. It seems like he's just trying to cram as many crappy effects into one song as he can.

Kanye, you're trying too hard

Listen for the ridiculous robot sounds in the background of "Robocop"...It's almost as if all these leaks are a practical joke.

Robocop

And this track had promise, but again turned out to suck

Anyway

His shoes suck too.

Halloweeny

2008-11-03T08:41:00.002-06:00

The lego man was well received.

Vans Custom

2008-10-28T07:50:00.003-05:00

I will wear holes in these next summer.

Can it stop the little bastards from texting and driving?

2008-10-27T15:07:00.004-05:00

Ford has developed a way for parents to have more control over their child's driving habits. I personally don't have children, but I would certainly like to have this feature added to my child's first car. Heck I wouldn't mind having this feature for my car right now. I hate to sound like a nerd, but this is a great step in safety.

MyKey, which debuts next year as a standard feature on the 2010 Ford Focus, lets parents program speed and audio volume limits. When the MyKey is put into the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip in the key and immediately enables certain default driving modes.

Ford’s Beltminder chimes at regular intervals and the audio system is muted until your kid clicks their seat belt. the speed limit can be limited to 80 mph , a speed alert chimes at 45, 55 or 65 mph, traction control system, which limits tire spin, cannot be deactivated , and stereo volume can be topped off at 44 percent of total volume.

All Day I Dream About SNEAKERS

2008-10-20T09:09:00.007-05:00

The folks over at Lifelounge have teamed up with Adidas to publish a limited edition book featuring sneakers as art. Check it out.

Spelunking with the Cave Singers

2008-10-15T09:36:00.003-05:00

The Cave Singers have been my most listened to band as of late. I'd call it a cross between Cold War Kids and Conor Oberst. Check it out for yourself.

Dancing On Our Graves

Helen

If it ain't broke..

2008-10-13T13:46:00.003-05:00

Mizzou shit the bed Saturday. I blame Chase

He shose the wrong week to change things up. I understand wearing AO's number, it's a great tribute, but why not do that against Nevada? Why would you change your jersey for your second conference game?

I don't even think I need to elaborate on the ridiculousness of the faux-hawl and pencil thin mustache.

Although I was definitely disappointed in the game, I'm confident EVERYONE will show up in Austin for gameday. This is a season making or breaking game.

If Only They Had This For Texting....

2008-10-07T10:15:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post to mention a silly (or is it?) experiment that Google has released to the public: Mail Goggles. This feature is designed to prevent you from sending stupid e-mails in the small hours, when you're most likely to be inebriated and at risk of making a complete idiot of yourself.

Don't drink and e-mail.

When enabled, Mail Goggles kicks in at the time you specify (default is between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday), and throws five math problems up on the screen when you press "send." You have a limited period of time to solve them. If you can answer the questions, presumably you're of mind sound enough to tell off your boss, or pour your heart out to your ex-lover.

If you can solve simple math problems even when under the table, there's an option to ramp up the difficulty of the questions, but sadly they remain in the mathematical realm and don't drift into interesting algebra or calculus.

To activate Mail Goggles, go into Gmail's settings, and turn on Mail Goggles in the "Labs" tab. Then adjust how and when it works in the "General" tab.

Seriously? I'm hoping this feature shows up on cell phones

I can see Alaska from my house...

2008-10-06T08:11:00.004-05:00

I've been keeping up on the Sarah Palin news purely for entertainment purposes. If you watched the VP debate last week, you might just piss your pants watcing this

The Magic Number

2008-09-25T14:26:00.002-05:00

Three is no longer the magic number. It is now 700BILLION!

I can't even fathom that number, it is incomprehensible to me.

The Vael Project

2008-09-24T15:52:00.003-05:00

I stumbled on this website, and from what I understand it's the same group of designers that used to be Medium before they were bought/sold out. I definitely get the same feel from this collection, It's very simple and material interest based. I love the concepts.

This is where my head is...

2008-09-23T16:22:00.001-05:00

Another Way To Die

2008-09-19T15:31:00.002-05:00

A Jack White and Alicia Keys duet doesn't seem like anything I'd have interest in, but I listened anyway and was pleasantly surprised. From what I understand it was done for the James Bond Movie.

Give it a listen.

Another way to die

Like, What's the Problem?

2008-09-18T10:13:00.004-05:00

I've touched on this in the past. I'm not sure I can put it into better words than this...

From the Academy of Linguistic Awareness (fictional)

Loyalty to Loyalty Review

2008-09-16T08:24:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I was a little harsh on Okkervil River, They put out a good album, but I was disappointed because I know how great it could have been. The Cold War Kids should show them how to follow up a great album with another great album. Loyalty to Loyalty is everything I hoped it would be and more. I found myself disoriented, flipping frantically through each track wondering if it would be as exciting and dynamic as the last. I don't think I could make it through 30 seconds of each song the first time through, as I itched in anticipation of the next song.

Loyalty to Loyalty feels like an extension of Robbers and Cowards as The National's album Boxer was to Alligator. The same theme is extended into L2L but the dynamic changes dramatically throughout the entire album. Where as I thought Robbers and Cowards was a bit flat, L2L definitely throws a crescendo on the Cold War Kids Discography

Literally every track on this album is excellent, so it's difficult to pick on track to share, but I did my best. Enjoy! You NEED to go out an buy this on 9/23!

Every Man I Fall For

The Stand Ins, Kind of...

2008-09-15T11:55:00.008-05:00

I listened to new Okkervil River album several times. Each time I came back to it, I hoped that something would grab me, contrary to the previous spins. But each time brought the same result. I'd start the album and before I knew it, it was over. This wasn't because the album was short, but because it just played in the background. It was like static, just constant and unriveting.

I'd still call " The Stand Ins" good , but nothing like what I thought would follow the great "Stage Names"

There were a couple of tracks that stood out. "Lost coastline" which appears to be the single, and these two:

On Tour with Zykos

Singer Songwriter

Sharing these MP3s is for the sake of exposing these bands to the support of the masses. I encourage anyone who likes these tracks to buy the artists music Anyone that would like their copyrighted material removed please contact me and I will fully comply

Pipe or Box?

2008-09-15T10:31:00.010-05:00

The 9th annual Hickert Toss Off hosted by Zach Hickert took place Saturday in Ballwin, MO. This years new location was way out in the burbs, much to the dismay of many city dwellers like myself. Although we had surprisingly good weather, maintaining our undefeated record in the weather category.

There were roughly 50 participants to start the day. Each one received a T-shirt, as well as a food and beer buffet with their entry.

Although we were off to a promising 2-0 start, my partner and I were eliminated losing the next 2 matches. I blame the wind and the slant of the courts.

The beer flowed like wine...and the chili, gumbo, bratwurst combo left everyone sassified

The Championship match

Everyone got an olympics style Tee

One of the many door prizes I left with. A sweet $170 Vestal watch!

Among the others prizes were Cardinals tickets, more watches, hoodys and gift certificates

DTB 9/7/08

2008-09-08T09:02:00.008-05:00

Last night reminded me of why I go to shows. It's for those moments that last maybe 5 seconds to a few minutes where you can just get lost in the music. During the rest of the show all of the worries and thoughts of life still play in the background, but in that short span of time reality is left behind and sounds just washes over you.

I got to the Blue note around 5 to take in the sound check with about 3 other people. Afterward I was able to talk to Derek and have him sign my show poster. He was very laid back and humble.

The show lead off with the Greyhounds, a band whom I had never heard of but I will be researching today. It was one of the few occasions in which I enjoyed to music and didn't just want them to get off the stage as soon as possible to see the headliner. I guess I would describe the sounds as Twang funk ( I know, it's a terrible description.)

The main course brought Derek Trucks and his incredibly energetic band. I can honestly say I've never danced so much at a show being completely sober. The setlist brought my favorite song Sahib Teri early on. Later Greensleeves was twisted far beyond anything I would have imagined.

The entire band seemed to be having loads of fun, while mild mannered Trucks dropped his head , closed his eyes and went for it. He rarely made eye contact with the crowd outside of the occasional brow raise after a solo; as if he awoke from a dream and there was a crowd of people before him dying to know what it was about.

The bassist didn't stop grinning the entire night...I didn't either

The setlist; notice anything wrong here? I didn't realize we were in... Massachusetts?

I got a dollar, I got a dollar !..

2008-09-04T14:45:00.004-05:00

Great news, The Mcdonalds of the greater St. Louis area have finally caught up with the rest of the world and are now offering the double cheeseburger for $1!

Although it is not on the value menu, Mcdonalds snuck the price change into the regular menu within the past week.

P.S. That is not me in the photo

DTB This Sunday

2008-09-02T16:21:00.004-05:00

I will be doing alot of traveling too and from Columbia this weekend. Down Friday to hang out with friends, back Sautrday for baseball and a wedding, and down on Sunday for the DTB show. I'm prepared to have my feet melt into the soles of my shoes.

Here is the poster I did for the show. Limited run

Labor(less) Day

2008-09-02T16:03:00.007-05:00

Labor Day weekend brought more excitement than I had imagined. Not only did the Tigers win in their first step toward a national championship, but my team was triumphant in the flippy cup tournament. The ribs were great, the beer was flowing and the cheese balls were cheesy. I have to wonder how many chances I"ll have left in this world to play in a flippy cup tourney.

It's very important to have a well lubricated table.

These were not your standard size solo cups, they were a bit more tall and skinny and a bit more challenging

Although the boot and rally was allowed this year, it was never used. The only casualty was a sprained ankle suffered during celebration.

Many came, many played, only team deuce deuce prevailed...

My homeless friend

2008-08-27T15:55:00.004-05:00

I don't like cats. Let me say that again, I DON'T LIKE CATS. I don't like their attitudes, i don't like the way they shed and I especially don't like my allergic reaction to them.

That being said, This is Roscoe. She(I named her before I realized she was a female) showed up on my doorstep a few days ago meowing away. I thought very little of it and went up to my apartment. the Next day it was lying in front of my door as I left for work, still meowing. I paused for a second and ran up to get a can of tuna. Once I brought it to her, she ate like she hadn't been fed in days. I've been feeding her daily ever since. She is very friendly and loving, but as I said before I'm very allergic to cats. I'm pretty sure she was left behind in a move or something because although she doesn't have a collar her front claws are gone.

I've been trying to figure out a way to keep her, but I'm afraid that just isn't an option. I'm looking into taking her to the APA, but I'd like to give her to someone personally.

If you know someone who wants a loving cat that's fairly young let me know.

I'm Back!

2008-08-27T15:26:00.005-05:00

Obviously I haven't kept this blog up as well as I would have liked. Life just kind of got in the way and took up too much time. I'm pretty sure that's healthy though.

I've grown to love Kings of Leon as of late. In the past I've been pretty luke warm about them, however I started relistening to their albums and I'm hooked. They have a new album coming out September 23rd I'd look for it to leak in the next week or so.

Okkervil river also has a new one coming called The Stand Ins. This is due out in late September, however there are fake leaks floating around in the Torrent world. I've been told there is a real copy out there and if it's true I'll grab it and let you know how it spins. OR opens a headlining US tour on 9/12 at The Bottleneck in Lawrence,KS. That's as close as they get to me....might have to make a road trip, I know damn well it would be worth it.

Not what Steve Miller was talking about

2008-07-28T13:28:00.006-05:00

I went to see The Dark Knight on Friday at the Imax theater, it was an extra 2 bucks, but well worth it. I got a little dizzy during some of the aerial shots, but it was a good dizzy.

Heath Ledger steal the show in this one. I realize there is a load of hype about his performance, but it's the truth. The Joker is completely creepy! I definitely love Jack Nicholson in the original batman, but it was much different this time, Jack was entertaining, Heath is scary. You must see it to know what I'm talking about.

One thing I really enjoyed about the movie was that it wasn't gruesome, but it was still real. All extreme violence and sex was implied. I saw the joker hold a knife to the guy's mouth and the camera cut away quickly, but I still know the guy got fish hooked.

On a side note. The movie was sold out and I made sure to get there early in order to get a good seat. There was one guy in the middle row saving seats for EIGHT people. I watched several people walk around pissed off and eventually have to sit up front because this douche has inconsiderate friends and he was defending them.

Finally minutes before the previews the seats were still empty and someone got a manager. The douche was told he couldn't reserve that many seats, so a couple was allowed to occupy 2 seats. Douchy ran back out, got a manager, and the couple that sat down were actually asked to move, stating that Douchy actually could reserve EIGHT seats...This is a prime example of why I'm losing hope in society...

DTB

2008-07-10T07:17:00.002-05:00

Sunday, September 7th @ The Blue Note - The Derek Trucks Band

I was just complaining that DTB hasn't toured alone for awhile, and now I'm finally going to see them.

Around this time last year I stayed awake for 36 consecutive hours and slept in my car in Chicago.All that to see the Eric Clapton Crossroads Festival. It was well worth it trust me. Derek Truck was in the lineup that day, and I have to say I have a new found respect and love for the slide guitar thanks to him.

September is so far away...

Derek Trucks Band Website

Peeing my pants

2008-07-08T12:52:00.001-05:00

If you don't think this is the funniest comic you've ever read...I will fight you!

Click on the link to enlarge

ASG

2008-07-07T15:27:00.002-05:00

5 of our Easton footwear clients made it to the All Star squad this year. That's a record number for us. Be sure to check out the kicks from the list below, I have something very special planned....

Hanley Ramirez - Florida Marlins

Aramis Ramirez - Chicago Cubs

Carlos Zambrano- Chicago Cubs

Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox

Cristian Guzman - Washington Nationals

Here's a little taste of what you might see...

Ari Hest, Lucas Schoolhouse 7/1

2008-07-02T09:02:00.000-05:00

Lucas Schoolhouse was lullabied by the smooth baritone voice of Ari Hest last night. The singer/songwriter held a captive audience as he flowed through an hour and a half acoustic set. Hest opened with a crowd favorite “Anne Marie” and meandered his way through a four album archive; Ari’s dynamic vocal range was on exhibition as he peppered in covers from Norah Jones (“I’ve Got You”) and Bruce Springsteen (“I’m on Fire”).

Most of the set, however, were products of a new project titled “52” in which Ari records a one song a week and posts it to his website. After 52 weeks, fans will have the ability to vote on their favorites. The top songs will then be compiled into Hest’s next album.

Ari raved of the warmth and intimacy of the Schoolhouse, vowing to visit early and often. I’m sure St. Louis fans will gladly embrace him.

Where the Light is

2008-07-01T07:57:00.003-05:00

Last night I saw John Mayer's New DVD on the big screen at Ronnie's 20 plex. I have to say that is definitely the way to see a music DVD. Everyone in the theater is a fan and you don't feel silly clapping.

As far as the content is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few songs I didn't expect, including Neon to lead off and the LA Song. The whole set was full of energy, but I have to say, Out Of My Mind was far and away the best song performance of the film. There is just something about JM playing the blues so soulfully I could almost feel the passion oozing through the screen.

On a side note, I did notice that he had a TelePrompter with the words to ever song scrolling as he played. Is it really that hard to remember the words to your own songs? Not a criticism, just a question.

Ari Hest

2008-07-01T07:54:00.004-05:00

Ari Hest tonight at Lucas Schoolhouse. I'm pretty excited mostly because this will be my first time at the new venue.

I enjoy doing posters for his shows everytime he comes through town. Here is the one I did for this show.

Review to follow tomorrow

A Flare For The Dramatic

2008-06-16T07:35:00.003-05:00

I enjoy playing golf, however I do not enjoy watching it. Yesterday though, I was mesmerized by the U.S. Open's final round, in fact I watched the open in pieces all weekend and I'm not sure why. I imagine it's because Tiger has been in the hunt since the beginning and he's gimpy. I almost feel like I'm watching just to see if he really is the best, like MJ in the Finals against the Jazz with the flu. He hit some amazing shots over the weekend, to come from behind and tie it up. Unfortunately the 18 hole playoff is today...during the day. I have go now, and try to figure out a way to watch this on my computer at work.

It's Official, I suck

2008-06-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

Well the t-shirt designing idea pretty much fell through.

The voting was actually ended early because my scores were so bad...Blah

Final average score...1.47 out of 5...

$.10 beer night

2008-06-05T11:46:00.006-05:00

I read an article on ESPN.com's page 2 about a Cleveland Indians promotion of $.10 beer night. I cannot begin to describe or imagine the bedlam that ensued. Check it out for yourself. ( The article is quite lengthy, you should scroll through the history and get into the account of the game)

The night beer and violence bubbled over in Cleveland

Mind Blowing

2008-06-03T13:07:00.003-05:00

I recently learned about Threadless. It's a website that allows you to submit your t-shirt designs and deliberates on if it's worthy of being printed. If it's chosen your get a cash prize and a gift certificate.

They are currently running a Lollapalooza themed contest. Here is my meager submission.

Click on the link below to vote...be nice

Sub Par

2008-06-01T19:29:00.003-05:00

Friday night I went to check out the new bar called Par located at the old Hi-Pointe. The establishment used to be a counter culture bar that played host to many unknown rock bands. Last year it went under. Recently reopened, Par provides a much different atmosphere.

Walking in, the exposed brick and long mahogany bar gives it a very classy feel. However I was there at 8PM on a Friday night and there were about 4 others there including the owner and some kids. Note to the owners, little kiddies running around your bar on a Friday night is not conducive to a fun adult atmosphere.

The drink selection is minimal. There are only 3 wines to choose from, a chardonnay, riesling and a merlot. The beer selection was fine for me, including all the standards, but everything was bottled, nothing on tap. There are a couple 42” plasmas that seem to be nice to watch a game on. One is at the bar, and the other near the back.

As I ventured further in I noticed what seemed like someone’s living room, and not in a cool hipster way either. There were couches with blankets ( to keep warm?) and pillows ( for a nap?) The furniture overall was just very suburban, ugly area rugs and all. When I left I felt like saying “Thanks for having me over!”

All in all I don’t think this place will be around long. There is no buzz about the opening and it’s just not cool enough to develop the clientele by word of mouth.

Headless in the City

2008-05-29T07:49:00.006-05:00

I don't like most graffiti/tagging because it's usually pretty tasteless and just defaces the property that's tagged. I do like when it's done cleverly and in good taste like Banksy

I've never heard of the Decapitator, but I'm now a fan of his as well. I guess he modifies billboards and advertisements to make it look like they've been decapitated. This is a Sex and the City billboard in London.

Centro Great, Sprint not so great

2008-05-28T15:27:00.005-05:00

I successfully switched over to Sprint a few days ago. While it was quite a painstaking process to port my number in, Iit may not have been as hard if I hadn't been using the SERO plan to get the sprint employee discount. I was phoneless for about a week while I waited for my number to be ported over from T-mobile and my billing information to "process".

I love my centro though. I used to have a Treo 650 long ago and I'm a big fan of the palm OS, if nothing else for the calendar. I was happy to find a few surprises, including the sprint mobile program that will handle as many email accounts as you want all on one page making is easy peasy. And I have long missed the full keyboard and threaded messaging putting all texts into conversation.

Today there was a network outage in the area I called to see what was up because my phone was acting weird. All the guy could tell me to do was a hard reset, which erased all of my numbers. It wasn't until I went to the sprint store did I find out everyone was having this problem. The phone customer service sucks, but the store employees are great.

All in all I'm very pleased considering my plan is half the price it was with T-mobile and twice the options.

500 anytime minutes

unlimited mobile to mobile

unlimited web

unlimited texting

$30/month

Shattered

2008-05-20T08:23:00.003-05:00

I play in 2 adult baseball leagues. One of them happens to be a wood bat league, which I'm very excited about because it's the way the game should be played.

A couple of weeks ago I read this article about MLB investigating maple bats because when they break, they don't just crack like ash, they actually shatter. More often than not the barrel goes flying into the field endangering players. This was definitely in the back of my mind when I took the mound last night.

Althought I didn't saw anyone off, I did have to borrow a teammates bat while I'm waiting on the one I ordered come in. It happened to be maple...I happened to be holding a toothpick after the second pitch of my second at bat...The barrel happened to be resting by first base.

I think there might be something to that MLB investigation.

And now to toot my own horn.

5 inning pitched, 2 hits 9Ks 1 ER

Cleats For a Cure update

2008-05-12T11:14:00.004-05:00

A little update on the Mother's Day promo.

Saturday MLB sent a memo out to all clubhouses stating that any player wearing pink cleats of batting gloves would be "disciplined"

I can't imagine why this happened. I can only suspect some ulterior motive coming from Reebok having the MLB license.

Nonetheless about half of our players wore the cleats with pride and without hesitation. In fact Jose Reyes, who has a big time contract with the swoosh decided to wear the cleats I made up for him.

Brandon Backe took a little razzing from his teammates, but ultimately kept in mind the great cause. This is an excerpt from the Astros website

Backe's support extended all the way to his Easton shoes. The company sent their clients black shoes with pink trim and laces, in honor of Mother's Day.

"They thought it would be good to make some that were pink, sign them after the game and donate them to raise money for fighting breast cancer," Backe said. "It's another way to try to add on to the collection of money for fighting against breast cancer."

Backe received some good-natured ribbing from his teammates, who feigned disgust at the pinkness of the pitcher's shoes.

"We all love our moms," Blum deadpanned. "But this is bad. There's a line, and he's crossed it here."

Backe was unfazed by the reactions from him teammates.

"I think they're pretty cool," Backe said. "I'm color blind, so it's tough for me to tell. It's obviously for an occasion and for a good cause. I hope my signature with these shoes will raise as much money as possible."

All in all I'm pretty pleased with how it went, Big Z didn't get a chance to wear them because of the crap weather in Chicago, but he fully intended to, and Pedroia managed to flash them on ESPN. I'll keep an update when the auctions become available.

Cleats for a Cure

2008-05-08T07:44:00.003-05:00

I'm not convinced that anyone actually reads this blog, but in case someone does. I'll let you in on a promotion I worked on with MLB . No tags on this one, just viral.

This is what is happening this weekend

Sunday, May 11 is Mothers Day and in conjunction with that, our top Easton footwear endorsers in Major League Baseball will be wearing pink accented cleats. After the game the players will autograph the cleats and we will auction them off. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Susan B. Komen foundation for breast cancer research.

Be sure to check out some games or highlights on Sportscenter with these players.

Hanley Ramirez - SS - Florida Marlins
Aramis Ramirez -3B - Chicago Cubs
Carlos Zambrano - P -Chicago Cubs
Dustin Pedroia - 2B - Boston Red Sox
Orlando Cabrera - SS - Chicago White Sox
Brandon Backe - P - Houston Astros
Luis Castillo - 2B - New York Mets
Matt Kemp - OF - Los Angeles Dodgers
Andre Ethier - OF - Los Angeles Dodgers
Jason Bay - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates
Carlos Pena - 1B - Tampa Bay Rays
Felipe Lopez - SS - Washington Nationals
Cristian Guzman - 2B - Washington Nationals

Can I Sniff Your Fruit?

2008-05-06T21:06:00.002-05:00

I survived Derby ’08. This was my first derby ever and all I can say is, WOW. Last year I missed out because of mono but there was no stopping me this time. Six of us crammed into Mama Borts’ mini van and drove to Lou- A- Vull. We had the luxuryof staying with a friend who lives close to the downs in a HUGE house.

Friday night we went out to 4th street. The feel was very similar to Austins 5th street. It was a wide open area with outdoor bars and $20 covers, lots of fun nonetheless.

Derby day began around noon. I packed up my alcohol soaked fruit and away we went. I have to admit I thought I was pretty clever with the fruit, seeing as you can bring in food but not alcohol. I felt pretty cocky right up until I got to the infield gate and security asked “ Can I sniff your fruit?” Uhh…sure. The man went on to breathe in what I knew to be nothing but 151 and raspberry flavored vodka. I was actually surprised he didn’t pass out. He then passed it to another man who inhaled deeply and passed it back. The fruit was then put in front of me and nothing said. At this point I was dumbfounded. I just stood there and stared for a second, grabbed my fruit and went on. There is no possible way they couldn’t smell it. I’m still puzzled.

The rest of the day was down hill from there. One mint julep (awful), a bag of fruit(even more awful) and several single barrel jacks later. I was screaming at the top of my lungs that I won three thousand dollars. ( I really didn’t win anything, in fact I never bet but it was fun) Yes , Derby is the place to be for mud fights Port -a- potty racing and a good old farmers tan.

Dislike

2008-04-23T07:50:00.003-05:00

One word is ruining many conversations for me, and it's mostly with women. It's not so much the word, but rather the misuse and overuse of it ...LIKE.

I guess it's used to keep the speech flowing, to eliminate any pause. It bugs the shit out of me when people, paticularly women, use it 10 times in 5 seconds. It drives me crazy to the point where all I can hear is " blah blah like blah like blah blah blah like..."

This is becoming a growing epidemic amongst the female community and for me it's turning very attractive women into blithering idiots. Just think of how ridiculous it would be to use any other word in it's place..."blah blah blah poop blah poop blah blah poop." Ridiculous right?

I'm now begging all of mankind to stop using this word before we all turn into the teacher from Charlie Brown

Rain, rain Get the hell out! And never come back again!

2008-04-01T11:53:00.005-05:00

The sweet smell of fresh cut grass, hot dogs and peanut shells was swapped for the sour smell of a wet dog, mushy buns and belligerant drunks. Quite possibly the worst opening day ever.

I skipped school every year for OD back in Kansas City to enjoy the day with the Royals. Every year brought the same weather; 70 and sunshine. This is the first year I skipped work for St. Louis...Not a good start.

The only bright spot was the Cardinals scoring 5 runs in the first two innings. Unfortunately none of them count.

After they called the game,we headed off to Al Hrabosky's ( it's an establishment) and had a few beers in the VIP area. Some douche whos family owns the Post-Dispatch was drinking grey goose straight from the bottle, and Nikko Smith got lapdances from fat girls. It was entertaining, but I'd rather have my baseball.

Opening Day...Kind of

2008-03-29T12:17:00.004-05:00

Today the Civil war game will be played between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets in some lame ass uniforms ( don't get me started.)

Anyway a couple of days ago Nike launched the Opening Day pack of Air Jordan I to commemorate MJ's attempt to play baseball. Great looking shoes, especially the white. The baseball stitch is a nice touch.

I'll be taking the same pinstripe cues for my Easton cleats in this year's All-Star game in Yankee Stadium...check back in a couple months for an update on that.

Before the Music Dies

2008-03-28T07:15:00.005-05:00

I watched the first part of the indie film "Before the Music Dies" last night. It was absolutely eye opening. The film is mostly about how the takeover of pop culture in our lives has ruined the music industry. No this isn't all about being an indie rock elitist. It is certainly worth checking out for anyone remotely interested in music.

Has Ashley Simpson's music ever inspired you to do something?

Doyle Bramhall is the TRUTH

This is a link to the sight offering it for download. There are several options for purchase and they are all VERY affordable.

http://www.beforethemusicdies.com/blog/own-it

Genuine

2008-03-27T20:46:00.002-05:00

I don't know John Mayer, nor will I pretend to. I love his music. I could listen to his guitar until my head exploded or I had a nervous breakdown from the roller coaster of emotions it put me through. I'm a sneakerhead, he seems to be a sneakerhead. That's where it ends.

There is one characteristic I value most from everyone in this world, friend or not. Genuineness.

This seems to be a man speaking with sincerity.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2008
FROM THE HEART....

I need to write this.

I've been traveling alone in Japan for the better part of three weeks now, and It's been so remarkable an experience for me that I can't book a ticket home yet. I haven't spoken very much out loud these days, but I've been thinking to myself in what feels like surround sound. I can see so many things clearly, and feel so connected to myself and the world around me that I need to share the perspective with you.

I'm already aware that when I sing, say or write anything, 50 percent of the response will be in support of it and the other 50 will want to discount it. This blog, though, is directed to 100 percent of people reading it. If my blog truly does have any cultural effect, then it should be used for more than just pictures of sneakers and funny youtube videos. (If you don't think my blog has any effect, than you can't by definition be reading this right now and therefore don't have to respond to it in any way. Isn't that tidy?)

What I'm about to write isn't about fame or success or celebrity or the media. That's my business.

This is about us all.

This is about a level of self consciousness so high in my generation, that it's actually toxic.

This is about the girl in her bedroom who poses in front of the camera she's awkwardly holding in her outstretched hand. She'll take a hundred photos until coming up with one she's happy with, which inevitably looks nothing like her, and after she's done poring over images of herself, will post one on her myspace page and then write something like " I don't give a f*ck what you think about me."

This is about the person trying out for American Idol, who while going off about how confident they are that they were born ready to sing in front of the world, are trembling so badly they can hardly breathe.

This is about me, the guy who walks through a throng of photographers into a restaurant like he's Paul Newman, but who leaves a "reject" pile of clothes in his closet so high that his cleaning lady can't figure out how one man can step into so many pairs of pants in a week.

This is about a young guy who maintains a celebrity blog that subsists on tearing other people down but who has wrestled with a lifelong battle for acceptance as a gay man.

This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right. And I don't want to act immune to that anymore. I took the biggest detour from myself over the past year, since I decided that I wasn't going to care about what people thought about me. I got to the point where I had so much padding on that, sure, I couldn't feel the negativity, but that's because I couldn't feel much of anything. And I think I'm done with that.

I'm not the first person to admit we're all self conscious, Kanye was. But what I want to do is to shed a little light on why we're all in the same boat, no matter the shape of the life we lead: because every one of us were told since birth that we were special. We were spoken to by name through a television. We were promised we could be anything that we wanted to be, if only we believed it and then, faster than we saw coming, we were set loose into the world to shake hands with the millions of other people who were told the exact same thing.

And really? Really? It turns out we're just not all that special, when you break it down. Beautifully unspectacular, actually. And that truth is going to catch up with us whether we want to run from it or not. The paparazzo following me to the gym ain't gonna be Herb Ritts and the guy he's following ain't gonna be Bob Dylan. It's just a matter of how old you are once you embrace that fact. And for me, 30 sounds about right.

What now, then? I can only really say for myself: Enjoy who I am, the talents and the liabilities. Stop acting careless. In fact, care more. Be vulnerable but stay away from where it hurts. Read. See more shows. Of any kind. Rock shows, art shows, boat shows. Create more art. Wear hoodies to dinner. Carry a notebook and hand it to people when they passionately recommend something and ask them to write it down for me.

Root for others.

Give more and expect the same in return, but over time.

Act nervous when I'm nervous, puzzled when I don't know what the hell to do, and smile when it all goes my way. And never in any other order than that.

And when it's all over, whether at the end of this fabulous career or of this life, which I hope takes place at the same time, I should look back and say that I had it good and I made the most of it while I was able. And so should you.

I'm going quiet now.

John

No Raw Dogs

2008-03-27T12:56:00.005-05:00

Never have truer words been spoken. Its so tempting to wear chucks without socks, but inevitably they will host the most putrid smell known to man and then have to be disposed of. I've never had a pair of chucks that didn't happen to.

Converse teams up with undefeated for this PSA for the feet.

Mark Cuban's circus is coming to town

2008-03-25T10:05:00.003-05:00

A source very close to the St. Louis Cardinals organization tells me Mark Cuban is interested in buying the team...Could make for some interesting promo nights...

2008-03-25T10:02:00.004-05:00

Billy Crystal struck out

2008-03-14T20:42:00.003-05:00

Billy Crystal was signed to a one day contract with the Yankees. In his one at-bat as DH he struck out. Ultimately the Yankees struck out in my book. I already hate them for being the evil empire, but now they are wasting talented prospects' at-bats on aging comedians. At least Michael Jordan still had athletic ability...

See the video below for this pathetic display.

The battle continues

2008-03-10T19:23:00.002-05:00

Nike's big F-You to Under Armour

Even though I think UA is going to emerge as the athletic wear giant, Nike reminds them they have a lot of growing up to do.

My better is better than your better...

Nike spot

Shots from a frozen cowboy hat...

2008-03-10T13:49:00.002-05:00

My Winnings/Takings from the weekend

Merrell The Gatherer

2008-03-10T12:41:00.003-05:00

Outerwear is a highly innovative market and Merrell is offering a new twist. A fresh face to apparel, Merrell will be launching their first line in fall 2008. On the leading edge of that line is their concept jacket, the Gatherer. The ripstop nylon jacket allows the consumer to stuff compartments with the fill of their choosing. The nylon is translucent, so whatever material is stuffed in each zone will show through. This offers a unique opportunity for individual expression and creativity. Fill the jacket with shredded paper, hundred dollar bills, or even live rats if you like. The possibilities are endless. Available in July for $99

Source. Oregon Live: Playbooks and Profits

2008-03-06T13:08:00.004-06:00

...

2008 Grammys not so Feisty

2008-02-11T08:48:00.000-06:00

I watched the Grammys last night from bed after a long weekend. I thought I'd recap some surprises and disappointments.

Feist played live. It was not good...not good at all. I love the sound from the album, and hope this performance isn't a preview of the concert coming to the Pageant.

Foo Fighters stole the show. These guys are awesome and their music continues to evolve more substantially from album to album.

Kanye was controversial...again. I used to enjoy the arrogance, but there's no reason to take shots at the other artists. Saying that Common shouldn't release albums the same year as he does because he'll get beat every time was as tasteless as the fiberoptic vest he was wearing

Vince Gill took a nice little shot at Kanye asking if he'd ever received a grammy from a beatle.

John Mayer performed with Alicia Keys. Alicia is awesome and I'm a huge fan of Mayer, but his part of the performance was a little boring.

Amy Winehouse performed live and seemed to be hopped up on meth or something, she kept making jerking motions and seemed to struggle to remember the words.

Herbie Hancock won album of the year. I haven't heard the album, but I like Herbie, glad he won it.

Squeezing blood from a rock(et)

2008-02-08T11:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I read the news that former trainer Brian McNamee coughed up evidence of Roger Clemens using steroids. He did this in the form of used syringes, bloody gauze and an empty Miller Lite can (the beer choice is the most disgusting). I immediately thought, WTF was this guy doing saving these things? 1 nanosecond later it hit me, blackmail. This guy was seeing dollar signs from the getgo. He was waiting for just the right moment to spring his money maker into action. When Clemens denied claims in the Mitchell report, he jumped up, gave ol' Roger a call and said give me a pile of money and I won't say anything. Roger balked, and here we are. The prick even has the audacity to say he "felt guilty" and knew one day "it would become a scandal." I'm not saying the Rocket was right in what he did, but two wrongs don't make a right, and McNamee is a money grubbing weasel.

My drink and my two step.

2008-02-05T07:48:00.000-06:00

I think my liver has recovered enough to drop a quick recap of Mardi Gras 2008 St. Louis.

Friday night 4 of my friends got in town and we all played poker at my place. We proceeded to get belligerent. I won $13.70 which I soon forfeited after finding out they would leave me 6 of the 12 free cases of beer they brought with them from Columbia.

Saturday morning could have been better, not because we were hung over, but because I lost my damn keys and we looked for them for an hour only to give up, leave the door unlocked and take a friends truck. We were happy to be on the road and I soon forgot about the keys.

As soon as we stepped foot into Soulard we stopped at the first beer stand that crossed our path and bought buckets of beer 83oz of golden goodness. These turned out to be a poor choice because they didn't have a handle and we had to switch hands every 5 minutes to keep each arm from cramping. Those 83 oz were gone by parade start and the plastic bucket met it's demise via a spike to the ground from me.

The hurricanes came next, along with a little help from the trusty flask. what ensued after I doubt was pretty. I began to dance to every note of music I heard with anyone that would put up with me. It brought tears to the eyes of every man woman and child. I also told everyone I saw that " I like to party." We ran into more friends and headed back to the house at dark. The white castle invasion came next, a little more card playing and we were out by 3AM...Oh the memories.

...Sunday morning I woke up wiggled around a little and heard my keys crash to the floor, they were under my covers the whole time...

Super Bowl XLI

2008-02-04T07:52:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of watching last night's Super Bowl on 100 inches of HD greatness in my friend's living room. This was undoubtedly the best Super Bowl I've ever been alive for. Although everyone in St. Louis claims the Rams win with the Mike Jones tackle was better. (surprise surprise)

I was very pleased with BOTH the game and the commercials as this year. I've never seen a more exciting defensive struggle. And "THE PLAY" I'm not sure I've seen a better one in all of football much less the Super bowl. I contribute the Patriots loss to the fact that Belichick changed out his lucky grey sweatshirt for that technicolor red one...

Under Armour previewed their trainers in a new commercial. The shoot was a take from 1984, but someone in our party made an appropriate comparison of the UA campaign to Nazi propoganda

My favorite commercials:

Talking baby with the clown

Will Ferrell Budlight

Mouse Trap Doritos

Band Of BADASSES

2008-02-01T09:24:00.000-06:00

Last night I saw my first show at the Gargoyle, Band of Horses. The venue as a whole was pretty subpar. Don't get me wrong I love intimate venues, the smaller the better, but this place was like a college classroom complete with tile flooring. Also there were no refreshments whatsoever, no beer, no bar, no pop. That didn't bother me too much because I enjoy sober concerts and haven't done that in awhile. Also a warning if you are within 10 feet of the stage prepare to sweat you ass off. The lighting was pointed right at us and that shit is hot. Enough complaining, on to the review.

Tyler Ramsey led off. He's a guitarist in the BOH. Most of his stuff was instrumental and extended. I could have apprecited it sitting in my living room, but not really in a concert setting.

Cass McCombs was the next band and they were absolutely terrible. In fact there is only one band I've ever seen live that was that bad, and that was Dr. Dog. The lead singer was completely tone deaf and the whole band seemed to revel in the fact that they were horrible. I was so pissed off that I was fantisizing about chopping their heads off and beating them with their own instruments. Completely talentless.

The main event. Band of Horses was even better than expected. The had a good mix of the best from their two albums, including my favorite The Funeral. They played every song with a powerful passion. It was as if every word they sang was part of a greater message they were desperately trying to spread worldwide. A Creeedance B-side, "Effigy" was mixed into the set. It was played energeticly although Ben Bridwell was reading from the lyric book. All in all a great set with good length ( that's what she said)

2008-01-29T10:46:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of http://firstcuts.com/

FirstCuts: 67 Starburys Or 1 Air Jordan
By Chris Littmann

Sports don't start and end with a referee's whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.

Exactly one week ago, a post in this same space decried the pricing at some stores for the limited Jordan XX3 release. In particular, I was critical of R. Sole, an upscale shop in St. Louis. The word I had was R. Sole would charge more than double MSRP -- $500 -- for this limited release that consisted of 23 pairs of shoes at 23 stores across the country.

Hours after posting the entry, we received a call from R. Sole manager Joe Wilson. He threatened to sue us over our "erroneous" report.

Today was judgment day, with the Titanium XX3 Air Jordans dropping at select retailers across the country, and look what we came across. A customer, who wished to only be known by his first name and last initial (Mike P.) sent us this receipt copy from his purchase this morning. R. Sole held a raffle to determine what customers would have a chance to purchase the shoes. Now check out the price they were offered -- $500. Interesting.

A call has been placed to Jordan Brand for comment on today's release and the variety of prices, but had not been returned at the time of this post. And of course, I did call Joe Wilson once again today at R. Sole. He continued to insist the store had not received the shoes last week when our story went up and offered us no comment at this time. We're still gathering information on other locations from today's release because it sounds like there was some funny business at one or two other stores. Those reports are unconfirmed. If you were at a participating retailer today, let us know how it went.

$500+$500+$500= $4500

2008-01-29T08:18:00.001-06:00

Most people that know me are aware that I'm almost always trying to do two things:

1) Collect more shoes

and

2) Turn a quick buck

When the two marry, it's a beautiful thing that brings a tear to my eye.

Long story short I knew about the new Air Jordan XXIII being released in only 23 stores around the countrywith only 23 pairs at each store for $230 a pair. R-sole at the Loop was one of them. I made some phone calls and emails with the guys at the store to find out they'd be raffling them off the morning of the release.

I rallied a few co-workers to skip some work and stand in the freezing cold with me to get a raffle ticket. The raffle tickets were passed out and we were also notified that they were going rape us on the price and swell them for $500. Oh well a little less profit. The raffle came, my number got called as well as 2 of my co workers.

The result is $3000 worth of profit after flipping these on ebay...I Love you ebay!

I spent the rest of the day drawing Poo with sneakers on...I'm weird

Band of Horses ride through The Lou

2008-01-17T19:12:00.000-06:00

I finally managed to get a Band of Horses ticket for the show at The Gargoyle. The show was sold out before the tickets even went on sale to the public. The policy with the Gargoyle is Wash U students get free tickets. So of course all the little rich pricks got their free tickets and are now selling them on ebay for about $100 a pair. I got mine for $31 which I'm not terribly upset about because I'm so excited to see them at a small venue. But the tickets were originally supposed to be $9..NINE DOLLARS. And these little bastards got them for free and want to make a profit. I guess I've been on the other side of the fence before. I pulled a pair of free tickets to the Cardinals world series celebration and sold them for $300...so I just hate being the victim. I guess what goes around comes around...I think I'm still ahead though.

New Pornographers with Okkervil River at the Pageant, Saturday, April 19

2008-01-17T08:41:00.000-06:00

This show is confirmed, but not on the pageant site yet. I can't tell you how excited to actually get to see Okervil River live. AND Neko Case will be with NP too!

Keep checking http://thepageant.com/ for updates.

Applebum - Kicks Box Allstar Collection

2008-01-16T12:47:00.000-06:00

I'm not usually into the loud all over print fad, but I would definitely wear this hoodie from Applebum, too bad it's only in Japan

Taking an image pretty pertinent to the sneakerhead crowd, Applebum took their Kicks Box concept to the max throwing it on anything and everything in sight. Within the collection you'll find backpacks, messenger bags, hoodies, track jackets, skate decks, tees, pillows and an ottoman.

Cardinals fans take it in the Pujols

2008-01-16T12:29:00.000-06:00

I'm a big baseball fan, so when I moved to St. Louis I was excited because from what I'd heard Cards fans are the best in baseball. That year the new Busch was built and it was impossible to find a ticket. Nearly every game fans stayed in their seats until the end. Of course the Cards won the World Series that year. ONE season has passed and the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs. From the way everyone talks around here you'd think they lost 100 games. Oh the Cardinals are doomed for the next ten years, they are so awful, blah blah blah. After seeing a championship season and believing the hype, I've come to realize that's all it is. St. Louis are the most fair weather of any city I've ever experienced, and that goes for all sports. It isn't realistic to expect a team to win a championship every year. I'll take a Royals or a Chiefs fan over a Cardinals or Rams fan ANY DAY, regardless of how well either is playing.

For a little humor I turn to a very entertaining man, Rick Majerus, coach of the SLU basketball team

Air Jordan XXIII Low

2008-01-14T13:39:00.001-06:00

I Love the mid version of the New AJ23, this is the low version, doesn't turn me on as much, but I really dig the big "basting" style stitch and the hurricane outsole pattern

pics courtesy of theshoegame.com

Okkervil River

2008-01-14T08:53:00.000-06:00

I can't stop listening to this band lately. The lead singer has a similar voice to the Arcade Fire...Well I guess it's not that similar, but I can't really compare it to anything else. Their Latest album "The Stage Names" is bitchin, Check it out!

Myspace pages I find are the best for sampling music. As Erin from VH1's Rock of Love 2 says " I've learned alot about what's goin on in the world from Myspace."I wouldn't take it that far.

http://www.myspace.com/okkervilriver

Face Melting

2008-01-14T07:59:00.000-06:00

I'm a huge fan of John Mayer. It started with the song "comfortable" and has now evolved into all I want to do is listen to him play electric guitar until either my head explodes or my ears bleed. I'm not going to keep up on the gossip, but if I find something musically relevant I'll post it here.

Courtesy of his latest blog entry

I Think That She Knows Interlude

Starting to get back into production head, searching for new sounds on a Sunday afternoon... My (anticlimactic) take on "I Think She Knows Interlude". It's probably not all that close to the actual recording. I'm too lazy to learn it for realz.

Heard this in the car today, wanted to try it out... Collings I-35 through a Roland Space Echo pedal, Cornish NG-2 Fuzz and Fender '64 Vibroverb... Looped through a Boomerang pedal.

Morning Drunk

2008-01-11T09:56:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd give this blog thing a try. It seems like it makes everyone sound more witty. I want to be more witty in 2008 so this will be my avenue for that.

I'm at work, doing less than 50% of the workload I'm capable of, which is becoming more of a common occurance.

Last night I went out with a friend and I woke up this morning and experienced one of my favorite feelings on earth. The morning drunk. Its better than the night before because your overall mood is enhanced and you are mostly coherant, able to link sentences together without slurring. AND I always seem to have the "fuckit" lever turned up to full blast. I'm aware enough to notice problems but if it's not life threatening I generally chuckle at it and move on. I would imaging it's similar to taking a xanax...