Ben Folds

I bought a ticket to see Ben Folds at Stubb's on Friday. I'll have to miss the Mad Cowboys, but oh well. Maybe I will stop by and catch a song or two before moving on downtown. I started listening to Ben Folds in 1997, when they were playing "Battle of Who Could Care Less" on the radio when I lived in Georgia. I'm not sure if that came out before or after his mega-hit "Brick," but it doesn't matter cause every real Ben Folds fan hates that song and he hates to play it too. I don't think I've seen him play since his Ben Folds Live tour in 2001 or 2002, so it's been too long!

Burnet Road Challenge 2006

I wasn't feeling 100%, but I took up the Second Annual Burnet Road Challenge anyway Friday night. 7 bars, 14 beers, and one whiskey shot. Last year, even though I ran the whole way, I fell behind and don't think I had any beers at Billy's. This year, I quite unexpectedly ran the whole way and had the required two beers at each bar. I'm out of drinking shape and running shape, so this was quite a surprise. I hadn't planned on running the whole way, but Retard did and I ended up keeping pace with her. Thanks for keeping me running and good job! I tried to get a photo at each location but it looks like I might have missed La La's.

Pictures

Resting Up

I thought I might stay home from work a day this week because I was tired. I took a sick day today, but not because of tiredness but because of sneezing, sore throat, etc. I have a cedar allergy but I don't think we're into that season yet, so who knows what this is. I could be allergic to something else, or it's a cold or whatever. I slept until 1:30 and feel a little better.

Week of the Walking Dead Continues

I did manage to enjoy class tonight, however, and practicing tomorrow with the new band ought to be fun. Tomorrow morning will not. Hmmm I still have one floating holiday left this year...

Stay Away

from me this week. The trip yesterday was fun but has put me at a serious sleep deficit. I was grumpy at practice last night and continue to be grumpy today, and my time is booked until Friday evening. At this point I don't know if I'm going to make it to the Burnet Road Challenge or just fall asleep.

Tuesday & Thursday

Work offered me the opportunity to go tour a power plant near Dallas tomorrow. The only catch is I have to be at work at 6:30 am tomorrow to get a ride, which means I need to leave for work before 6. Since I'm temporarily bored with what I'm doing now, I accepted. As I also have band practice tomorrow night, it's going to be a long day.

Another band needs me as a substitute keyboard player, and after a quick meeting with the lead guy last week I decided to do it. This band gave us the Erwin center gig when they couldn't do it, and their guitar player has subbed with us before, so in a way we owe them. I'll practice with them this Thursday. The exciting thing about them is that they play a few more songs with good keyboard parts, and have male and female lead singers. Should be fun. The gig is mid-Novemeber, and it's a private party so sorry y'all.

Free Burrito

I popped the double backwards F at Freebirds tonight. Free burrito!

After Practice

Just when I think I've kept to myself so much that no one should remember me, I'm proven wrong. Last night, after band practice, I went to get a beer but I went somewhere I haven't been in ages. As I wandered around the parking lot with my IPA, someone called out my first name and it was someone I didn't recognize. It was someone I met through friends at grad school, but I can't imagine I met them more than once or twice in the last year or two. I was amazed they rememebered me by name. I wonder what I did to leave such a strong impression? I wish I was so good with names. Anyway, it was nice to have someone to talk to.

A corgi was running around and when his owner called him back I learned his name was "Ben." Then, later, I learned that was short for "Ben Folds." I asked her about the dog and it turns out his full name is "Ben Folds DC Rivers Grohl." It's too bad she's married, cause it appears either she or her dog likes a lot of the same music I do.

My Poor Motorcycle

has not been used in some time. I think I rode it around the parking lot a couple of weeks ago just to make sure it still worked. This morning, I was running early so I started it up and let it run for a few minutes, again, just to make sure it still works. It didn't start up easily but I did get it going. The commute to work is a little far for my tastes for me to ride to work regularly, and immediate committments after work make using it a rare occurrence because I don't want to have to tote my jacket everywhere with me. If I had some lockable storage, I might use it more.

Bowling

Tonight is week 8 of 16 of my bowling league, and I'm already getting tired of it. I got to miss last week because of my trip. Unfortunately, we didn't find a sub so I have to pay for it anyway. The last couple times I've been trying to develop a hook shot to keep it interesting. I'm not getting very far and my team isn't too happy because they think I shouldn't be trying something new during our league games. Right, like I'm going to bowl extra some other time of the week!

I Am An Idiot

This is the first thing I think when I wake up in the morning. But it's not so bad, at least I know it unlike most everyone else in the world.

What I TiVo

Here is what I'm TiVoing now:

MythBusters

This is my favorite show. I've been watching 2-3 reruns on the weekends to catch up and the new ones each week. If you haven't seen it, what they do is test urban legends, which involve all sorts of fun things like remote controlled cars (full size), ballistics gel, crash test dummies, guns, etc. Jaimie and Adam are a good onscreen duo with Jaimie being the quieter, reserved type and Adam being the obnoxious, crazier type.

The Office

All of us with stupid office jobs can relate. I started watching this last year. I don't think it's as good now that the Pam/Jim thing has more focus and is headed towards resolution, but it's still really good.

My Name is Earl

I think I started TiVoing this one at the same time as The Office. I didn't think I'd like this show when I first saw it, but it is clever and has grown on me.

Doctor Who

I watched this BBC sci-fi series a lot on PBS in the 80's. I think the BBC format back then was four 30 minute episodes to a story, but PBS would show them all back to back making it more like a movie. Now it's back with brand new episodes in an hour long format. This week's episode brought back a couple of characters from the old shows which was really great to see.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge

Yep, I still enjoy watching these characters fight, complain, struggle to complete a half mile run, and get drunk. It was a nice surprise to see this back on last week. Now they don't even have to "serve their time" on a series of Road Rules or Real World. I bet that pissed off the veterans.

Best Week Ever

Keeps me up to speed on what pop culture to make fun of.

Pardon the Interruption

I don't watch this one as often anymore but still TiVo it daily. Good to keep up on sports and, more importantly, sports gossip.

Heroes

I just added this one having seen an episode last week. Looks interesting.

Midland Uneventful

I don't have much to say about my short trip. We left Austin around 1:30 Sunday afternoon and got there around 7, got a steak dinner and turned in. Got up early Monday, drove to the test, had lunch, and took off for home. I might've explored a little Sunday night, but the hotel wasn't really near anything and I didn't have a car. The test itself was somewhat interesting, I got to see a control panel that reminded me of my Navy days, but I didn't get to see anything other than that (like the actual generator). Oh well, back to work.

Midland

I'll be way out in Midland, TX early next week for work. This will be the first work related trip I've taken since... geez, the last millenium. I know nothing about Midland, but I'm assuming there's not much going on. Not that it makes much difference, it'll be a short trip. Anyone been there?