kirbypuckett

Oh yeah, Rock Band Fest this weekend!



Let me know if you want to come and I'll run it by JB.

I just saw Kevin Smith. He's filming in the West End, neat.

Anyone want to see Juno with me? It seems to have limited play here.

It's playing on Christmas and the day after at the Destinta if anyone wants to go. Both are good for me.

Here's the IMDB:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0467406/

Michael Cera's in it!

It's also currently ranked #178 in the IMDB top 200! It won't stick, but good early reviews so far.

I was bored and decided to compile a list of my Top 50 Albums of the Year! You're only required to look at the top 10, because I included pretty pictures.


1. M.I.A. - Kala

"There's several ways to choose your #1 album of the year. The easiest indicator is the one that you listened to more than anything. Early in the year the song 'Hit That' was released on the Internet. I listened to it several times in anticipation of Kala. The song never made the record, but it was the perfect track to setup the style M.I.A. would take on her sophomore release. Since its release I have listened to Kala at least three times per week -- some would probably say I'm obsessed. Whatever, she's amazing and this is the most stunning music I've heard in a long time."


2. Kid Sister- Control EP & Pro Nails ft. Kanye West

"2007 was the year of the female for me. My top three records are decorated by all female artists. In fact, 10 of the 50 are female fronted acts. No girl captivated me musically and sexually better than Chicago's star on the rise Kid Sister. This release is just an EP with only two songs (along with a slew of remixes), but those two songs "Control" and "Damn Girl" were breathtaking hip-hop gems. I also decided to include her lastest release, "Pro Nails" which features a verse by Kanye West that he originally added in on his latest mixtape because he fell in love with the song, just like most people will fall in love with them in the near future."


3. Feist - The Reminder

"When I first heard The Reminder I was actually relatively bored by it, with the exception of the brilliant "I Feel It All" which spoke to me on a level music rarely does these days. One day when watching a football game I saw the iPod commercial that featured her single "1, 2, 3, 4" and was overwhelmed with the joy that the tune and video brought. So I dusted off the album and spun it a few more times and everything started to click. She also puts on one hell of a live show."


4. Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim

"Punk music was awful in 2007 (or maybe I'm just getting older). Regardless, no band was better than Richmond, Virginia's Gaslight Anthem on their debut LP. It encompasses everything that made punk rock enjoyable to me as a youth, the compelling/powerful guitars and athem-esque vocals. If facial hair could get drunk and sing it would sound like this."


5. The Fratellis - Costello Music

"The Fratellis derived their name from The Goonies and they write irresitable pop gems -- What more are you asking for? On my second time listening to their debut record I was already singing along. Technically this album was released in 2006, but it didn't make its debut in the States until March of this year."


6. Cadence Weapon - Breaking Kayfabe

"Along with my facsination with female artists this year I was quite fond of hip-hop. Rollie Pemberton the Canadian born rapper was my favorite of the year. Breaking Kayfabe felt like MF Doom with more bite."


7. Against Me! - New Wave

"Everything you can say about Against Me! in 2007 has already been said, so I won't repeat it. I will say that this is a fantastic record that takes them well beyond the punk genre and cements them as one of the most important bands of our generation."


8. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

"I tend to relate music to specic things. I have favorite albums for the beginning of spring, I have ones I listen to when I'm in a bad mood, etc... This is my favorite album to fall asleep too. It's a shame I hardly know what the last few tracks sound like."


9. Lifetime - Lifetime

"It's a new Lifetime album."


10. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

"The Arcade Fire deserve all the hype that surrounds them. I didn't think they would be able to come close to 2006's Funeral, but Neon Bible is as good as a sophomore release you can expect when the premier record features some of the best music recorded during my 24 years on this planet."

Here's the rest of my Top 50:

11. Matt Pond PA - Last Light
12. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
13. Architecture in Helsinki - Places Like This
14. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
15. Rilo Kiley - Under the Backlight
16. White Stripes - Icky Thump
17. Kanye West - The Graduation
18. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
19. Modern Life is War - Midnight in America
20. Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
21. Klaxons - Myths of the New Future
22. Gallows - Orchestra of the Wolves
23. Radiohead - In Rainbows
24. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
25. Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in Between

Take a breather.

26. Lil Wayne - Da Drought Three
27. St. Vincent - Marry Me
28. Daggermouth - Turf Wars
29. Justice - †
30. Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
31. 1990s - Cookies
32. Jamie T - Panic Prevention
33. Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English
34. Three Inches of Blood - Fire up the Blades
35. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
36. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
37. Crime In Stereo - Is Dead
38. Rivers Cuomo - Alone the Home Recordings Of
39. Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
40. Brand New - The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me
41. El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
42. A Wilhelm Scream - Career Suicide
43. Baroness - Red Album
44. KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope
45. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Magic
46. Bomb the Music Industry - Get Warmer
47. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
48. New Buffalo - Somewhere, Anywhere
49. Chuck Ragan - Los Feliz / Feast or Famine / 7-inches
50. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Chambers

1. Kid Sister – Control
2. Feist – I Feel It All
3. M.I.A. – Hit That
4. Gaslight Anthem – I Coulda Been a Contender
5. Architecture in Helsinki - Like it or Not [incredible live version]
6. The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger
7. Paul McCartney - Dance Tonight
8. St. Vincent - Now, Now
9. Jamie T ft. Lily Allen - Rawhide
10. Lil Mama – Lip Gloss
11. Kevin Michael ft. Lupe Fiasco - We All Want the Same Thing
12. Rilo Kiley - Smoke Detector
13. Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
14. Cadence Weapon – Sharks
15. Modern Life is War - Fuck the Sex Pistols
16. Amy Winehouse ft. Ghostface – You Know I’m No Good
17. Against Me! – Ocean
18. Gogol Bordello – Wanderlust King
19. Justice – D.A.N.C.E.
20. Lucky Soul - One Kiss Don’t Make a Summer
21. Dillinger Escape Plan – Lurch
22. KT Tunstall - Black Horse & the Cherry Tree
23. Matt Pond PA - Basement Parties
24. Kate Nash - Mouthwash
25. Gallows – Kill the Rhythm

It’s that time of year again; top this, top that, you know the drill. I still haven’t quite settled on my top 10 albums of 2007, but I have developed a list of my favorite songs of the year. Here they are, why, and a YouTube or .mp3 link if I could find it.

Here's songs 26-50, I'll post the Top 25 later this week. Listen to a few songs, tell me what you like and don't like.

26. The Shins - Sea Legs
27. El-P – Drive
28. White Stripes - You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)
29. Klaxons - Gravity’s Rainbow
30. The Good, the Bad, and the Queen – History Song
31. Motion City Soundtrack - This is for Real
32. Bruce Springsteen – Radio Nowhere
33. Municipal Waste - Born to Party
34. Spank Rock ft. Amanda Blank - Loose
35. Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running [Foo Fighter's cover]
36. Pipettes - Pull Shapes
37. Streetlight Manifesto - Down, Down, Down to Mephisto’s Café
38. Natasha Bedingfield - I Wanna Have Your Babies
39. Dizzee Rascal ft. Lily Allen - Wannabe
40. Macromantics - Scorch
41. The Hives - You Got It All… Wrong
42. Lifetime - Monday Morning Airport
43. Georgie James – Cake Parade
44. The Enemy – Technodanceaphobic
45. O Pioneers! - Punknews is Stoked
46. 1990s - You Make Me Like It
47. Bomb the Music Industry - Save the War
48. Pase Rock - Lindsay Lohan’s Revenge *this is my actual #1 song of the year, haha*
49. Busdriver – Casting Agents & Cowgirls
50. Daggermouth - Hawt Lixx

I just got tickets to the Ice Bowl!

I am stoooooooooked!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMP_NHL_Winter_Classic

I've readied my schedule for the Fest 6! Here is a nicely laid out spreadsheet:

<a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pc1CBTE-PqJE2qbuVkQXnGA">http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pc1CBTE-PqJE2qbuVkQXnGA</a>

The bands that are highlighted are the ones I will be seeing when there's a time conflict. I wanted to put every band on there in case I can't get into a venue or there on time.

THIS WILL BE THE GREATEST WEEKEND EVER!

FRIDAY
Time	Band	Venue
7:00-7:20	Black Tusk	Common Grounds
7:40-8:00	Triclops!	Common Grounds
8:20-8:40	Religious as Fuck	Common Grounds
8:50-9:20	Methadones	The Venue
9:20-9:40	The Swellers	1982
9:40-10:20	Planes Mistaken For Stars	Common Grounds
10:30-11:10	Radon	The Venue
11:20-11:40	The Valley Arena	1982
11:30-12:10	Youth Brigade	The Venue
12:00-12:20	O' Pioneers!!!	1982
12:10-1:00	Baroness	Common Grounds
12:30-1:30	Naked Raygun	The Venue
12:40-1:00	We Versus the Shark	1982
1:20-1:40	Bomb the Music Industry	1982
SATURDAY
Time	Band	Venue
1:50-2:10	Lemuria	Market St. Pub
3:00-3:20	Vagina Sore Jr.	Side Bar
3:10-3:30	Pink Razors	Market St. Pub
3:30-4:00	Dead to Me	The Venue
4:20-4:50	Smoke or Fire	The Venue
5:20-5:50	Look Mexico	Market St. Pub
6:10-6:40	Gaslight Anthem	Market St. Pub
6:10-6:50	Lawrence Arms	The Venue
7:00-7:30	Fake Problems	Market St. Pub
7:10-8:10	Avail	The Venue
8:30-9:30	Dillinger Four	The Venue
9:00-9:20	Shook Ones	Common Grounds
9:40-10:00	Modern Life is War	Common Grounds
10:20-10:50	Circle Takes the Square	Common Grounds
11:10-11:40	Municipal Waste	Common Grounds
12:00-12:30	Paint it Black	Common Grounds
12:10-12:40	No Trigger	1982
12:50-1:20	Savage Brewtality	Common Grounds
1:00-1:30	Against All Authority	1982
SUNDAY
Time	Band	Venue
12:35-12:55	Paul Baribeau	2nd St. Bakery
1:10-1:30	Andrew Jackson Jihad	2nd St. Bakery
1:30-2:00	Armalite	Common Grounds
1:45-2:15	Sundowner	2nd St. Bakery
2:20-2:50	The Falcon	Common Grounds
3:00-3:20	Static Radio	The Atlantic
3:15-3:45	Ghost Mice	2nd St. Bakery
3:40-4:00	Cloak/Dagger	The Atlantic
3:50-4:10	You, Me, & the Atom Bomb	Market St. Pub
4:00-4:40	Grabass Charlestons	Common Grounds
4:05-4:45	Defiance, Ohio	2nd St. Bakery
4:20-4:40	Affirmative Action Jackson	The Atlantic
5:00-5:20	New Mexican Disaster Squad	The Atlantic
5:00-5:40	The Marked Men	Common Grounds
5:05-5:45	This Bike is a Pipe Bomb	2nd St. Bakery
5:10-5:30	North Lincoln	Market St. Pub
6:00-6:30	The Arrivals	Common Grounds
6:00-6:40	The Draft	The Venue
6:30-7:00	The Tim Version	Market St. Pub
7:00-7:40	Lopan Takes Japan	The Venue
7:20-7:40	Blood Bath & Beyond	Market St. Pub
7:20-7:40	Ram & Ox	Side Bar
7:30-8:10	The Ergs!	Common Grounds
7:40-8:00	Landmines	The Venue
7:50-8:20	Tiltwheel	Market St. Pub
8:00-9:00	Small Brown Bike	The Venue
9:20-10:30	Seaweed	The Venue

Attn: Adam, Barb, Niekum, Heisel, Brian, Sickboi, etc...

Some dude on the vinylcollective message board created a color coded Fest Schedule:

http://stnorth.myweb.usf.edu/samsfestschedule.xls

I'm currently making my own, but this one is a big help.

OMFG! Rivers Cuomo frontman for Weezer just announced that on December 11th Geffen will be releasing a demos collecting compiled by the man himself. Rivers said he picked his favorite demos from 1992-2007 for the release!

Chances are something from Songs from the Black Hole will be included!

GREATEST. NEWS. EVER!

It's taken me almost two months, but I finally finished downloading the entire Seinfeld collection! It's a 40gb file that had less than 10 seeders.

Guess what I'll be watching for a few months?

Anyone interested in seeing Feist on Thursday at the Carnegie Music Hall?

<img="http://www.livemusicblog.com/images/feist1.jpg">

Also, if you think that either Kanye West or 50 Cent will throw in the towel bassed on their little 'bet' you're a complete moron.

First off, why am I listening to Natasha Bedingfield? Because she’s from the UK, she’s gorgeous, and the song is called "I Wanna Have Your Babies." The video is horrendous, but you can hear the song if you wish right here (when did I start liking blondes?).



So this weekend has been incredible and it’s going to flow perfectly into next week because I forgot I’m going on vacation then, oops. Let’s discuss…

1. Cleveland Rock City
2. West Philadelphia born and raised
3. JB = Yngie Malmstien
4. Insomniac (not the Green Day album)
5. Patton Oswalt
6. Dumbeldore kills Snape????????????
7. Touchdown Seahawks!
8. I can has musics?
9. Shows

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1. Cleveland Rock City

Thursday I got out of work early and took off to Cleveland with Adam, Dave, and Becky. We went to went to Ohio for Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, and Against All Authority. Adam and I drank the entire way there and I don’t know if I like being in a car drunk, it felt like the trip took forever. We got to the show a bit late and missed Against All Authority, but it wasn’t that big of a deal because I’ll be seeing them at the Fest anyways. I rarely do this anymore, but I was in the crowd for Streetlight and it made their performance so much more fun. It’s nice to put aside my bitterness of being old and relax for some fun. They were flawless during their set, the medley of "Point / Counterpoint" and "Keasby Nights" is easily one of the greatest live songs ever. I think I was bouncing around somewhere in the crowd for a bit of Reel Big Fish’s set, but I mostly watched them from afar with Becky. That band still has it, always a great set, even though their set lists rarely differ. During the tail end of RBF’s set Dave sent me a text message saying we could go backstage. FREE BEER AND HOTDOGS! You can’t go wrong w/ that, ska bands know how to party. We also go to watch Less Than Jake from the side of the stage, which was good because there’s no way I would be in the crowd for that – kids go crazy for them. LTJ have gone way downhill musically, but their life show is still exciting. Everything had a Prices Right theme, with a plinko board and the giant wheel. Kids from the crowd got to play and the game pieces landed on album covers and then they’d play 5 songs from that album. We got a ton of great songs, but it’s a shame that we didn’t hear anything from Hello Rockview. I got a copy of their set list and it seriously has like 50+ songs on it, I’ve got a ton of respect for them knowing how to play that many songs at any given time.

On the ride home from the show, we were still obnoxiously drunk (I stole all of Less Than Jakes beer, what do you expect?) and we started drunk dialing EVERYBODY! We had the radio blasting classics like the Fraggle Rock theme, "Tubthumping," and a ton of other hits I can’t recall and all four of us sung them into the phones at the top of our lungs. I do not apologize for how incredible we are.

2. West Philadelphia born and raised

I don’t know when I got home, but I woke up really early on Friday morning, because I was really excited to go to Philadelphia with Jeffy, P Fresh, and Heather. We were going to the city of brotherly love to see the Bouncing Souls and Lifetime. The roadtrip was great, P Fresh made a good TV shows theme song mix CD and we listened (and quoted to death) a lot of Patton Oswalt (more on him later). The show was at the Electric Factory and I must say it’s a great venue. It’s very large, with a top floor for the over 21 crowd, there’s projectors everywhere so you can’t miss any of the action. The stage was well placed and the view from the back of the venue was still great. They also sold champagne for $85 a bottle…just what I want at a punk show. Static Radio opened and they were pretty good, they’ve grown a lot since I saw them at the Fest last year. The Ergs were next, I’m not too big into them, but they were fun (too bad they didn’t play "Ben Kweller"). Lifetime were up after that and they were so good. I’ve now seen them 6 times since they got back together two years ago. That includes seeing them in 3 different states and 6 different venues, not bad numbers. They played a handful of their new songs, which was good because I think I heard the same set list 5 of the 6 times. The new jams are much better live than on the album, they just sounded more natural for the band. The Bouncing Souls took the stage and Philadelphia went NUTS! In my opinion the ‘Souls have never been a great live band, but they were a lot of fun on this occasion. The best part of the evening was the "Guitarmaggedon!" Near the end of the set Dan Yemin (Lifetime), Dave Hause (the Loved Ones) and some other guy came out and played guitar with the band on "True Belivers" –WORTH THE TRIP ITSELF! First off, that song is one of the best punk rock songs ever and the presence on the stage made it so much better. P Fresh noted that even during a Bouncing Souls show Hause can still steal the show.

After the show we went to Jeffy’s friend Leigh’s apartment where we sat around, drank, and shot-the-shit whilst watching "Saved." Big thanks to her for letting us stay at their apartment. I liked driving through Philly at night; it looked really nice, kind of like how Pittsburgh looks so much more beautiful in the evening. We passed by Drexel a handful of times and I kind of regret not going there. I just wish I would have moved away for school to get that experience. Oh well, I’m not going to complain because my life would be drastically different now and I wouldn’t want a thing to change about my life now.

3. JB = Yngie Malmstien

I got home from Philly (and taking Heather home) at around 7 and quickly showered then headed over to JB’s for the third Guitar Hero Fest. This one was the best…because I won! My teammate Steph with a "PH" beat Big H and Shay in the finals. We won like $60 or something. I don’t know how we won, I haven’t played in two months and I was really drunk at one point.

4. Insomniac (not the Green Day album)

I’m having trouble sleeping again, but falling asleep isn’t the problem – it’s staying in the slumber! I keep waking up after like 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I guess this is a good thing, because I’m not really that tired and that means more time in the day. Hmm…

5. Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt might just be my new favorite comedian. Well maybe not my favorite, because it’s impossible to top David Cross. You really need to download or purchase his new album Werewolves & Lollipops. It’s unlike any comedy album I’ve heard. Sure it’s story style joke after story style joke, but it feels different. I’ve been listening to this one as if it’s an actual album from a band. It’s strange…



Check out this skit about KFC’s "Failure Piles in a Sadness Bowl" (so spot on):



Thank me later.

6. Dumbeldore kills Snape????????????

My weekend is either going to get 100x more awesome or 100x more lame in the next few hours. We’re heading down to the library to see the band Harry & the Potters, the openers? Draco & the Malfoys. I hear this band is incredibly nerdy and the people that will come out to the show are even worse, this should be intense. I think we’re getting Chipotle afterwards, stoked!

7. Touchdown Seahawks!

I completely forgot that I’m going to Seattle this Thursday until Urb brought it up last night. This is kind of my "main" vacation of the year and I’m really excited now. I’ve never been to Seattle, I hear it’s a beautiful city. Maybe I’ll end up staying there, because I’m kind of want a change of scenery. Maybe I just need to move out, but I’ve been thinking of moving away from Pittsburgh lately. I’m sure I’d never go through with it; I’d miss my friends to much. However, I wouldn’t mind living in a different city for a while. This goes back to me being bummed out for not moving out during my college years.

8. I can has music?

This is where I talk about music.

The new M.I.A. album leaked this week. It’s really good, I’m not sure if I like it more than Arular but there’s some really fun songs on here. Including "Jimmy" – I’ve been raving about this track all week, you should listen to it:



Earlier this year I downloaded The Reminder by Feist (Leslie Feist from the Broken Social Scene) and I was into a few tracks, but it was nothing special. Well, until this past week. This record hit me so hard and I don’t know why. There’s this one tune "I Feel It All" it’s so sincere and powerful, I’ve probably listened to it a hundred times this week alone. Here’s a rendition of the song being played live on the Jimmy Kimmel show. They’re playing on a bus, which is kind of strange, but really neat.



I put off listening to the Fratellis for so long, because I didn’t like their name. That was a huge mistake on my behalf. Their album Costello Music has been my most played the last two weeks. It’s a really fantastic pop record with a ton of fun sing-a-longs. There are so many good tunes; it’s impossible to pick a favorite. Listen to the single "Flathead" below.



Eh, here’s a second one, I love the whistling breakdown in this one.



Something sparked in my ears while we were in Philly and now I can’t stop listening to Gaslight Anthem. I’ve liked them since Sickboi played them for me in Virginia earlier this year, but all day yesterday I kept playing their record. Here’s the tune "Drive" which is my favorite one on said album.



I dunno why I listen to Spank Rock, but I do.




9. Shows
Here's a list of shows I'll be going to lately. Let me know if you're going. I need someone to go see Matt Pond PA with though.

Aug 19 Harry & the Potters
Aug 20 Coalesce @ LV Moose
Aug 21 THE RENTALS! @ Mr. Smalls
Sep 8 Against Me! @ Toldeo!
Sep 11 Aesop Rock @ The Rex
Sep 13 Radio Beats / Gito Gito Hustler @ 31st Street Pub
Sep 19 I am the Avalance / Daggermouth @ The house that Manny built
Oct 2 Matt Pond PA @ Diesel
Oct 11 Saves the Day @ Diesel
Oct 14 DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN! @ The Rex
Oct 15 The Falcon / Lawrence Arms / Sundowner @ The Rex
Dec 8 Brand New / Thrice @ AJ Pulumbo
Dec 14 Motion City Soundtrack @ Cleveland


Ok, I’m done…I feel like going shopping, I’m going to go waste a ton of money at Urban Outfitters.

I booked the hotel room.

Arrive: Thursday, October 25th
Depart: Monday, October 29th

The hotel is the main Fest hotel, where registration and all of that jazz takes place. It is basically $130 a night. Here is some more info on the hotel:
http://www.thefestfl.com/main.html

A list of the bands was announced today as well:
http://www.thefestfl.com/bands.html

Here is a short list of notables:

THE FALCON!, Naked Raygun, Dillinger Four, Paint it Black, Bomb the Music Industry, Smoke or Fire, No Trigger, O Pioneers!, Gaslight Anthem, Against All Authority, The Ergs, Fake Problems, Dead to Me, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Avail, and a ton, ton more!

More bands to come.

I did a brief search on flights and it should cost roughly $350.

Total expenses will probably ballpark around $500, not bad for the greatest concert experience of your life and a solid vacation in Florida. We won't have to rent a car this year since we'll be right where all the action happens.

If you want to go please let me know as soon as possible so that we can book the flight and get a cheaper rate.

I just bought my Fest ticket so I'm going no matter what. Adam and Scott are both 100%. Barb has expressed interest and I hope Sarah comes again too. I'm trying to talk Jeffy and P Fresh into going and I'm sure Scott Heisel will be there as well.

See you in Florida!

This shouldn’t take too long; I spent most of my weekend passed out.

1. Bonfire of Doom
2. 7th Inning Stretch
3. Records & Zzzz
4. More than meets the eye
5. Let’s go Bucs!
6. Japan
7. The Beach

1. Friday Jeffy hosted the highly anticipated Bonfire of the Summer or as I called it, the Bonfire of Doom. A handful of us started the evening early with mildly delicious Chinese cuisine. Face it, that lil ‘ol lady totally had a crush on me. Adam and I with our endless artillery of fireworks blew up everything we could find, even my Boobah (R.I.P.). I drank about 4,000 Sparks and had more energy than I knew what to do with. This was my favorite bonfire ever, even if I don’t remember a good bit of it. In the morning we went to Eat ‘n Park, our waitress refused to pronounce her name correctly. I farted on Kurt Angle.

2. I got home Saturday sometime around 1pm and slept until 5pm. Then Scott and I went to the Pirate game. Unfortunately his Cubbies mauled the Pirates, 7-1. Whatever, FREE BEACH TOWEL! After the game we went up Urb’s and watched Beerfest with Moo and JB. I’m pretty sure that movie gets funnier and funnier with each watch.

When are we having a Beerfest?

3. I slept through a good portion of Sunday and when I finally woke up Scott, Moo, and I went to Brave New World to snag some records. I picked up Dillinger Escape Plan’s Miss Machine on 180-gram and Maladroit (keep your comments to yourself), from Weezer. Both records are out of print. We dug around a bit on eBay and I found out my copy of Greased the Less Than Jake cover album is one of only 300! Not too bad. We ate at Lulu’s – I had delicious Asian cuisine three times this week!

Moo and I hung out w/ Urb and JB for most of the evening. Jibbers helped me in Resident Evil 4, which is a fantastic game (my second favorite on the Wii).

I went home, watched one of those Planet Earth documentaries the BBC did while re-alphabetizing my records. Then I passed out whilst watching Curb Your Enthusiasm (my favorite show at the moment).

4. Earlier this week we saw the Transformers movie. Almost everyone I know hated it, but I thought it was a good movie. If you went into this film with any expectations you will be disappointed. It’s a Michael Bay film! I’m not a HUGE Transformers fan by any means, but I do enjoy them quite a bit and the certainly were a huge part of my childhood. The movie was corny at times, but for the most part it was worth my money.

5. The Pirates are playing really well. I want to go to some more games after the All-Star break -- I’ve only been to 3 this year. Anyone want to go?

I was just reading about that magical ’97 season in the Post-Gazette and it’s got me very excited for the second half of this season.

6. I’ve never had Japanese food. We should go sometime – no not GetGo Jeffy!

7. Before I forget, Yee / Heather – when would you like to go to the beach? This month? I look good almost every weekend, just need a bit of advance to tell work I’m taking Friday off.

Yo, back nine of this golf course we call 2007 -- everyone cut the drama!

Urban brought this up last night and I agree 1000% with it!

...wait, Belvedere's is quite the redeemer, as Barb and I decided to let it go and Siobhan and I also decided that dramarama was lame there!

New drama is on the horizon, but I'm ignoring it.

Last year all of us were friends and there were no problems, I think we should return to that point. Especially with The Great Bonfire headed this way.

I'm going to play this blog in reverse.

So, there is discussion brewing about going to the beach some weekend in the near future. I think Ocean City is a safe bet, because it's a decent beach and there's the boardwalk. We're throwing a twist on this one and not getting a hotel, but camping.

Do you have any [close] beach suggestions?

The players so far are Heather [the brainchild], Adam, and myself. I guess we're looking for a fourth or even another carload of folks. Jeffy has expressed interest as well. If you want to go let one of us know. I'm probably going to end up driving, but I really don't want to because I put a ton of miles on my car so far. Our original plan was to sleep in the car and I figured me driving would be better, so who knows how we'll get there yet…

I was doing a bit of research based on my notreallifefriend Felicia's birthday pics at Medieval Times and there is one in Baltimore (which we'd pass to get to Ocean City)! Tickets are $40 I think and that includes the meal and all that jazz. WE MUST GO!!!!!

http://www.medievaltimes.com/

No really, we HAVE to go. Recall that scene from Cable Guy and get back to me.

Here are some pics that a couple took at the Creationism Museum:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/n1c0star/sets/72157600335006271/

The guy that took the pics made this shirt, I want one:

If you honestly believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old, please stop talking to me.

Shawn just sent me this, looks fun (and very well executed):

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo

I fast-forwarded my music preferences this week a bit, but it's still a little old. I bought Cursive's Ugly Organ and The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse. Somehow I've avoided these records even though they're considered seminal pieces in their catalog. Both are fantastic records and if you haven't heard them yet you really should. I also downloaded My Bloody Valentine's Loveless -- another record that I never heard and it was fantastic as well.

I also purchased Amy Winehouse's new album, so that I owned it. I picked up J. Dilla's The Shining on vinyl, a modern hip-hop masterpiece. I've been listening to some older Ben Folds Five / Ben Folds in anticipation of the cruise – February is too far away! Shawn gave me some good records this week too – Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords, something by Bruce Springsteen, the re-mastered Stooges records, Deltron, El-P, Caroline, and some other things I forget. Icky Thump from the White Stripes leaked, I gave it a listen, it's good and warrants another spin or two before I can fully judge it.

My iPod is full and each time I add something I have to delete something else. It's gotten to the point where I'm removing things I really want to keep on there. I need to sell this little guy and upgrade to an 80gb!

As I sit here and type this I'm listening to what may be the most anticipated record of the year, it's soooooo damn good!

Despite the negativity that carried me into this calendar year I think I am having one of the best years of my life. This weekend aided in confirming that.

I got home from work pretty early on Friday and used that time to relax and play the new Pac Man Championship Edition game. This is probably the greatest Pac Man game ever, yes, maybe better than Ms. Pac Man. I won't bore you with details, but if you have an XBOX360 you MUST download this title from the Market Place. After napping Adam and Heather showed up at my house and we were off to the drive-in. We had to go all the way out to the Dependable in Moon Twp. – good 'ol Robert Morris country.

Does anyone know when Twin Highway in Robinson re-opens?

We snagged a pizza for sir Mortimer; setup our lawn chairs and vegged out to Knocked Up and 28 Weeks Later. This was my second time seeing what many are calling the comedy of the summer and I was much more pleased with it this time around. I still think it's too long, but the laughs are a plenty and great. Earlier this week I watched 28 Days Later for the first time and I thought it was a fantastic film. As for the sequel, well you know how sequels are generally terrible – this one fit the mold just fine. In the predecessor you really felt for the characters and became emotionally involved with them. However, the sequel felt cheap and aside from the "helicopter scene" was quite boring. I had a struggle to care for the characters since it was pretty much the kid's fault that the 'infected' returned.

Regardless of the quality of the movie the drive-in rules! It's cheaper than going to a theater; you get a double feature, and can bring your own snacks (and beer)! I say we go as much as possible during the summer.

Saturday had me out of town for what I believe to be the 6^th week in a row. The boys (JB, Urban, Moo), and I took off to Canton, OH to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We had a pretty solid road trip, as it was all back roads going through PA, WV, and OH. The hall was fantastic too, not as great as the Hockey Hall of Fame or the Rock Hall, but still a beautiful place. Tons of Steelers stuff that caught are eyes and got us pumped up for the season to begin. You guys want to go to some of their practices in August?

After we left the HoF we made the worst mistakes of our lives. We ate at the legendary White Castle. The Beastie Boys along with Harold & Kumar may idolize this place, but let me tell you it's not worth the hype. I wasn't expecting gourmet food, but I wasn't expecting to feel like hell either.

On our return home we passed through the panhandle of West Virginia and stumbled upon the world's largest tea pot! WHAT BETTER SURPRISE COULD YOU ASK FOR?!?!

We took some zany pics, check Urban's, JB's, Moo's and my pics section for them.

Once we returned to the 'Burgh we decided to get some drinks and head to bowling in Dormont. At the beer distributor Urban aided in purchasing the greatest beer ever, BUTT MONKEY -- Yeah, it's called Butt Monkey, incredible. It didn't taste half bad either. Our bowling skills declined severely with each drink, but we had one hell of a night. JB's predicted Moo would get some girl's phone number and I guess he was technically right, heh. We were pretty rocked, so thanks to Joe for driving us back to Casa de Urb. We ended up watching Clueless there, man that is still a great teen movie of our time and I never thought about it back in my younger days, but Alicia Silverstone was HOT! Paul Rudd rules too.

Papa's day had me running out last minute to get my dad a gift with Moo and Urban. Bri had to go to Gander Mountain to get his dad a gift card and while we were we found this strange oddity.

MONKEY BUTT

Which means I've come in contact with Butt Monkey and Monkey Butt within a 24-hour period, that's ridiculous!

The air show was going on and I saw a few airplanes, but not too many. Airplanes have always fascinated me as a child and I had a strange urge to watch them.

At home Shawn and I watched the new Fantastic Four movie. HOW DOES HOLLYWOOD CONTINUE TO SCREW THIS STUFF UP?!?!? Everything is handed to them; all they have to do is add some special effects and call it a day.

There were some fatherly things done.

Stef, sorry I didn't come to Fun Fore All, I was busy during the evening and would have got their way late. We can go out to dinner sometime this week hopefully and I'll pay for your meal and/or get the guts to buy you this awesome present at FYE.

Later in the evening I solidified my rankings as the greatest badminton play in history. Even later, Adam, Heather, Dave, Jeffy and I went to [INSERT_NAME_I_FORGET] on Evergreen Road. It was pretty cool; I like going to condemned buildings and what not. However, it is a fact that Dave is wuss.

That's that, see ya.