What of it?

Merry Christmas, everyone! I can't say I'm a big fan of Christmas music, especially from whoever is currently trying to cash in on their cover of a classic or their uninspired original. I guess I would prefer to listen to something tried and true, if I had to. However, I may have found my Christmas music cure. Yesterday, I listened to my regular weekly podcast of Sound Opinions. I've loved this show ever since I discovered it half a year ago or so. They discuss music news and review new and old music. Apparently every year they bring in a guy who spends his time searching for obscure Christmas music. This is his tenth year on the show and his twentieth year of compiling Christmas music, and the mix this year is of the best music from his first ten years. You can find it here. It is all quite interesting, but my two favorites are both at the 11 minute mark of Side A and Side B.

"Santa Loves Rock'n'Roll Music" is on Side B, which I've just now decided is my second favorite. I love what I think is the crazy wah-wah on the clav and the chorus of voices that sound like they have frogs in their throats. And the weak clean lead guitar that tried to convey the "Rock'n'Roll" sound!

My favorite is "Without You". This sounds like a rip-off of "Windy" by The Association, but I love it. The fuzz guitar, quick original I-IV-V switch during the verses, and drums sold me. When I heard the French accent I had to learn more about the singer, Claudine Longet. I can't believe I've never heard of her before! She was married to Andy Williams (who I only know because of his Christmas album we would play when I was young). After her divorce, she allegedly shot and killed her boyfriend while coked up, but only served 30 days for it because the police botched the investigation. Then her defense attorney left his wife and married her! She must've been irresistible. Check out her Wikipedia entry.

Wisconsin vs. Texas

I was hoping for a repeat of last year, which had an awesome last second three pointer for the win by Wisconsin which I saw in person, but it didn't happen. This time I was at LJ's. I almost left to go The Tavern in case I had the occasion to give Lance a hard time on losing a bet on the game, but am glad I didn't in retrospect since Wisconsin lost and I could drown my sorrows that much quicker.

Home

Since you're all so curious, here are a few pictures of my home:

Yay Internet

Finally, the Internet has a useful purpose: watching TV shows. My TV and TiVo have been disconnected for about a week now, which means I haven't been able to watch my regular shows. I was tipped off a few days ago (thanks J) about a once-in-a-lifetime event that happened on TPIR, and I was kicking myself for missing it. Thankfully, you can watch full episodes of TPIR right here on CBS! I watched the episode on my laptop as I cleaned my old apartment bathroom. Knowing how it turned out, I made a guess as I watched the show as to who the big winner was. I was right! It was creepy what happened. The odds are just outrageous. Also interesting that they had to stop taping because they suspected foul play. I suspect the guy is someone who traveled back in time with knowledge of what the showcase price was. I'd also suspect the guy was me, except that I think he's too tall.

Still Moving

Ah, lack of updates. This week has been rough. So far this week everyday I have been going straight from work to moving the remainder of stuff from my apartment to my house. Last week on Tuesday I rented a U-haul and moved all the big stuff (in the snow no less), but still had a bunch of small stuff to go. I was away last weekend so a lot of the work had to wait 'til this week. I own a dolly but for some reason I decided it was too much of a PITA to use on the stairs and thus I've been carrying boxes down two flights of stairs one at a time. After three car trips per night this week, I finally finished that last night. Fortunately, I'm only moving two miles away so the drive isn't that long, but I've been goofing off enough in between trips that I've had to keep at it all night. I've cleaned most of the apartment kitchen except for the fridge, but still have the bathroom and carpets to go. I was supposed to be completely out today, but extended to Saturday. It'll be good to be done and back to my routine of hanging out at LJ's and watching TPIR. I'm not headed north for Christmas this year, but my family understands that I'd rather concentrate on using that vacation time to get things straightened up at the house.

First Night

I slept at the house for the first time last night. It was contingent on my getting the furnace working, which I'd never had running. We didn't test during the inspection because the inspector said it looked so old that I might prefer to get an expert in to look at it rather than have him bill me for more time. I lit the pilot and it worked fine, though I made sure to have a working CO detector next to me in case there were ventilation issues. This morning I realized I didn't fire up the water heater either, so I washed my hair in cold water, lit the pilot before leaving, and should have a hot shower tomorrow. It was great getting into my car 10 seconds after locking the door rather than the 30s or more I'm used to at the apartment. I'm getting to know Home Depot well as I've been there three times already to buy door locks, felt pads, fire extinguisher, CO detector, garage door opener, etc.

And Foreclosure Home Ownership

I don't know what happened, but after I posted that entry last Tuesday my luck finally changed. Bam! Wednesday they reported that the title was clear, and set today as the closing date. I didn't have to extend the contract, and HUD even ended up paying for more costs than we expected. Closing today was... strange... not just to me, but to my realtor as well, but, that's HUD for ya again. Also, we almost managed to flood the house this morning, but we were all lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. I just got back from moving some stuff over and the place has somehow managed to not burn down, collapse, or otherwise cease to exist. I guess I own a home.

Bachelor Party Shopping at Wal-Mart

There is more to the story as far as the entire wedding situation goes, but I'll limit this entry to the events of tonight. More on the rest later!

Around 5:30 pm today, I realized that I was going to go to a bachelor party (of sorts), and that it would be more entertaining (and feel like something other than just wings at a bar) if someone bought some gag gifts. With advanced notice, I could've gone to a XXX store and bought some really embarrassing stuff, but I could only drive so far and only had so much time, so my only choice was to stop at Wal-mart on the way.

I knew I'd do OK as long as this Wal-mart had a pharmacy, and it did. I let that be my final destination in the store. First, I went to the video section to look for a copy of the Tom Hanks classic film "Bachelor Party." I could either give that to the groom or to the "best man" who quite understandably had no idea what a bachelor party was. They didn't have "Bachelor Party," but they did have "Bachelor Party 2: (some obvious but forgettable sub-title)" so I picked that up. Next I went to the toys section. It took me a minute but eventually I found some handcuffs. I was actually relieved to find them, because its been awhile since I'd been in a toys section and I thought that the simple pretending to be some occupation toys may have been completely replaced by the latest whatever is on TV garbage.

The next item I found was exactly the kind of thing I hoped to find at Wal-mart. I don't know how long ago it was that the department stores starting carrying smart-ass T-shirts, but I figured I'd find something stupid for the groom to wear tonight in that area. I was torn between the "I listen to what my wife is thinking" shirt and the "I look like I'm listening to you but I'm not" shirt when I found the perfect shirt--a stick figurish/traffic signish picture of a bride and groom holding hands, a smile on the bride's face and a frown on the groom's face, groom with a ball and chain attached and a caption below the graphic: "GAME OVER." How perfect is that? And how just like Wal-mart to know that their regular clientèle would love to buy shirts like these.

Finally, I stopped by the pharmacy and picked up three other items... you can probably guess a few of those. I headed to the checkout and was going to be particular about which line to go to, but they were all too long so I headed to the self-checkout and unfortunately had to skip a potential amusing conversation, or so I thought. I scanned all the items, but the last item (the DVD) errored out so an attendant had to come over. She cleared the DVD purchase and I told her what I was up to. She said she normally doesn't pay much attention to what everyone is scanning, but was curious about mine as they were being displayed on her screen, because pharmacy item #2 should really prevent the need for pharmacy item #3. She understood once I told her what I was doing.

When I arrived at the wing place, I instructed the hostess give the groom the shirt when he walked in. Then I revealed the other items after every ten wings or so. There was only five people there for the party (the "best man" wasn't there BTW), and it might've felt like a very normal dinner if it weren't for the gag gifts. Thank you, Wal-mart!

When is the next Cold Front?

I gotta remember how good my Monday run felt. Nothing beats 50 degrees! Seems slightly cold at first, but feels great running at a good speed in shorts, t-shirt, and a cap. Two 8 minute miles from the apartment to the gym, .5 mile walk and 1 slow 10 minute mile run at the gym, and two 8 minute miles back home.

Renting Doesn't Seem So Bad

My contract expires December 11, and extending it another half month will cost me up to $375 in extension fees and a bit over $100 for rate lock extension. If I give up now, I'll be out somewhere between $2k and $3k. But, there is no end in sight. No new closing date. The first title company went out of business. I found that out today. That is besides whatever title issues they discovered before they bailed. Everyone has disappointed me through this process. I emailed my realtor today about the contract extension which is due this week. Shouldn't she be on top of that and not need a reminder from ME? I don't think anyone deserves to make any money off this sale. I can't take much more. I'm seriously considering giving up.

By Request

As I was digging through the piles of crap on my apartment floor in preparation for moving, I finally found this oft requested picture: