Virgin Fest 2008, wrap up!

I left for the show a little later then expected, but made it. I hung around the entrance of the race track trying to buy a ticket. Last year it only took like 10 minutes to get into the show. This year it was a bit longer, about 45 minutes. And I paid $50, which was still about half price. That's life. I missed KT Tunstel, the opening act I wanted to see. I did catch the next group Gogol Bordello. I was surprised how good these guys were! They were very energetic and kept the place rockin!

This year I found a spot by the VIP area and stayed there. It had kind of a seat, so I could sit down or stand on the seat to see over the crowd. This gave me a great view to take some pictures. I think the pictures this year came out a lot better then last. Also unlike most concerts, the sun was right onto the stage, which made things very bright and clear.

The next group that came up was Lupe Fiasco. Some of the people around me told me they were good. They weren't very good. They did some kind of hip-hop/R&B thing that really wasn't good. And they kept messing with the stage monitors, which destroyed any pacing that they may have had.

Then came Bloc Party. These guys were okay, if you like shitty music. They were professional and all, but I just didn't like their music.

Finally, The Offspring! I was afraid that they would load up the set list with their new album or the one right before it, NOPE! They played all the classics a couple off of 'Conspiracy of One' that I really liked, and ended with Low Self Esteem!


A mushpit broke out, and all in all, the best time I've had at a show in a while, just rockin' out!
After The Offspring left, the place cleared out, FAST! I guess the kids weren't keen about seeing Chuck Berry. Well, I should have went with them. This is what happen:
The Silver Beats came out first. When I read this on the program, I thought this was Chuck's backing band, but no. This was a Japanese, Beatles tribute band. I guess they played cheap. The music was fine, but it was just the wrong venue for this group.

So Chuck finally came out. I know he's old, and he looked every day of his age. But I was hopeful. Well, it went bad. He started every song like it was Johnny B Goode, and then sing a different song, but destroy the lyrics. This went on for all the songs he did. I was just hoping he would wrap it up and get off the stage. Then it got worse. He said something like, "For the last number I want to let some girls up here on stage! Four on the left, four on the right, and four in the center. Security, help them up here!" Well, it was actually creepier then it sounds. And none of the girls wanted anything to do with it. Finally the rounded up a bunch of them. The song went on, and he left the stage while the band was still playing. What a mess!


Then waited around for the Foo Fighters! They were good. The crowd was into it, the whole bit. I'm just not a big Foo Fan. I watched them for about half an hour and rolled out.



I wanted to beat traffic. So that was my show. The weather was great! And I can't wait until next year!

No Party

Long in short of it, there won't be a Young-fest 2008. There are just too many things going on right around that time of the year. We are adjusting to Rebecca still, and have not been able to get everything up to speed where we want it. So for this year, we are canceling the party. We may still have a small family gathering that day, but nothing major. So that's it.

On the job side, there are so many things going on. I haven't made a decision. Let me bring you up to date.

Library of Congress - It seems like their contract situation is in order. But I am concerned that it really doesn't do anything for my career.

Andrews AFB - I had an interview on site on 8/7. I guess things went well enough. So well that they made me an offer on the spot. It turns out that it is with General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). But it's not major money. And I'm not real keen about commuting down to Andrews AFB when I am in town. I told them I would let them know by Monday.

USDA - They were suppose to be working on an offer, but I haven't heard anything this week.

Census - They got back with me on a low offer. I rejected it out right and told them what I was expecting. I thought that was then end of it, but on Thursday, they called me back to try to convince me to accept a lower amount. They gave me their top amount. I don't think I'll take it.

Another company in the mix - I was contacted by a company that has a contract with Unisys working to secure our borders. This work is all in Arizona. At first I wasn't going to accept it, but they seem to be paying a lot. So I jumped through their hoops to see where it will go.

This whole process is really weird. I go back to the dating comparison. I have a fine steady job now, that pays pretty decent compared to other people in the world. This is list a stable marriage. But it seems like there are better companions out there for me, and I'm not sure if the one I have is so bad, or the others would be so good. This makes my head spin!

The only other thing that I have going on is that Heather asked me get on Facebook. I did. And amazing, its funny to find other people on there that you know. It pulls contacts from your e-mail contact list, and found a bunch of people that way. Also I found a couple of people at work on there.

Saturday, I am off to the Virgin Mobile Festival. I should have a bunch of pictures to share.

I was a Bachelor for the weekend...

...So what! As of late last week I had a decent weekend planed. With Teri out of town I planned to get together with Heather on Saturday, and go to the Black Crowes show with The Donk on Sunday. This got totally messed up!

First off, Heather called me Friday evening to see if we could get together that evening. Well I was in the middle of making dinner, and planned on helping Teri pack so I couldn't. But she said she was going to call me Saturday morning. She didn't call.
Saturday night I ended up going to Hollywood, MD and played poker with Cindy. I didn't win, so it turned out to be a shitty night.

Well at least I had Sunday right? WRONG! The STUPID Donk called and canceled the show. He offered me the tickets, but I didn't want to go solo. It was suppose to be a guy thing. But he is so busy with his messed up marriage, it's not funny. So basically, this totally blew my whole weekend.

I ended up picking vegetables in the garden all weekend. It needed to be done, but I sure would have liked to do something FUN!!!

This has put me in a rotten mood since then. Last night the baby didn't go down until late. And she got up early. I didn't want anything to do with anything, but I eat breakfast, and went up to check on her. She needed to have her diaper changed which I did. I am halfway though doing this when Web comes into the room acting like he is about to puke. I run him out, and Rebecca starts crying. I snapped and yelled, "SHUT UP!!" I didn't need to do this. But I am just so bored with everything going on.
I am seriously considering canceling the party this year. I can care less about seeing any neighbors, I see them all the time anyway. And there isn't anyway else who would come to the party that I care to see. It's just a lot of money out the door for a crappy time.

On the job front:
Progress is being made on the Census job, but they are trying to low-ball me on the salary. Tough, I'm not going to work for scraps. They WILL pay or I don't accept it. 1513: I just got an e-mail, they are stuck on the low ball. Doesn't look good for this one.

The job at Andrews is making progress. I have a face to face interview on Thursday.

I told the folks at the USDA job that I am interested, but understand that there is a funding problem and I need more info. The HR woman said she is working on an offer.

I haven't heard back from the Library of Congress folk. But on my other office phone, it looks like the tried to call last week. They should try to contact me some other way.

Vaca Update:
So the whole Myrtle Beach trip is completely out of control! Originally it was going to be Cindy, Teri, Rebecca, and I. Well then Cindy asked to bring Candice and Tabitha, then little Kurt, now big Kurt. And my poker play is so bad lately that I don't want to play in a cash game on the gambling boat, and be stuck out there for 6 hours!
I told Mary that I don't want to go out on the boat, but would pay for a night for her and Bill in Myrtle Beach. She didn't want to do this. She says its because of all of Cindy's crew. Whatever!

This is why I am in a shitty mood as of late!

Teri and Rebecca go on Vacation

The weekend of August 2-3, 2008 Teri took the baby to Virginia Beach to be with her folks. They had a good time! And Rebecca liked going into the pool!

Interview stuff

See I told you I would try to post more often....

No, didn't break up with Teri, but I have been interviewing a lot. And it sure seems like being on a dating show. Everyone is nice to you, they all tell you that you are great, the smartest person in the world, etc. I'll explain the recent interviews, and give each a grade rating.

On 7/22 I had an Interview at the Library of Congress. This would be a slightly different role then I currently have. This position holds the title of Security Assessment Engineer. It seems okay, but it seems like just the same ole Government Contractor song and dance. And they aren't even ashamed of it. They don't have a contract in place, so we'll have to see how it goes.
** As of August 1, I haven't heard back from the LoC.
B

During this week I was contacted by headhunter that I worked with a couple of years ago. I didn't have a very good experience with the headhunter's company, Convergence, so I was a little leery. The job he is working for the Census Bureau. I'm still a little bitter about this job, but I would a least talk to the people.
I had a phone interview on 7/23. That went pretty well. It's bringing up a new data center that isn't at Census proper, but at a Harris Corp property in Largo. I think I could do the job so I went forward. On 7/28 I went for an interview at the location. Unfortunately the technical people who were suppose to show up, didn't show. This was a major waste of time.
On 7/30 I had a phone interview with the technical people. I guess they were ok, but seemed to be a little bit of a hard-ass kind of attitude. Not sure if I'm keen about them.
At this point if they made me an offer, I would only accept it out of spite, and make them PAY big time.
C+

A few weeks ago I was contacted by this contracting company, Genesis10. We talked about a job, that was a short term contract, like 6 months. If I were to take this job, I would need to make some money out of it. So I gave them a relatively high dollar amount. I didn't think anything would come of it. Well lo and behold, they are making me an offer. I had a bunch of questions, so I had lunch with the Program Manager today. This inspired the title of the post, he was working his best to convince me to join their company! The contract was awarded, but they don't have a start date. This means there are funding issues. The job would be working with the USDA in downtown DC.
B+

Finally, I was contacted by another contractor working at Andrews Air Force Base. At first I thought this may be on of these fly by night companies that aren't around very long. It seems that they are actually decent size. And the job is interesting where I would have to travel overseas a few times a year. I would also be the lead network person, so this makes it more interesting. The problem is having to go to Andrews on a daily basis when I'm in town. But we can see how this works out.
B+

So there you have it. That is what is going on in my job search.

Happenings this month...

Not much...

It's been a little while since I've posted, but there really isn't a heck of a lot to blog about. I'll break it out a little.

Garden

The garden is coming along fine. I've been meaning to take some pictures, but it basically looks like last year. I have had some kind of bug infestation that is really wiping out my squash this year. I have tried pesticide, but no luck. Cucumbers have been coming on pretty well (as usual) and I've been bringing them in for the folks at work. They seem to enjoy them!

Work

Speaking of work, all is going well here. It seems to be a pretty tight knit bunch and that's a good thing. The only problem is that it's God awful boring. I can pretty much come and go as I please, but while I am here, there really is NOTHING to do. So here I am blogging.

On June 30, Teri and I did bring Rebecca in to see all the folks. That was a big hit. This kind of set me up in a situation where I can stay here a long time. The 3 of us also came down on Sunday 7/13. I needed to do some work, and Teri and the baby went to the Portrait Museum. It was right around the corner from Legal Seafood (where we had dinner). All in all, it's going as swimmingly as it possibly can.

Friends (relationships)

It seems like I am the Rock when it comes to my friends. A couple of them are having problems, but they lean on me to keep them going. I don't know how I ended up in this position, but I try to lend as much support as possible. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail and break their trust, but I do try to remain supportive and give the best advice I can.

Concerts and up coming stuff

Well July is a boring month, just like I thought it would be. That's okay, because August looks like a total blow out! I'm now going to do 3 Springsteen shows, and work a vacation into the works too.

On the evening of August 14, Teri, Rebecca, Sister Cindy, Niece Candice, Great Niece Tabitha, and maybe Nephew Kurt, are traveling to Roanoke Rapids, NC to stay with Teri's kin. Then on August 15, we continue down the highway to Myrtle Beach, SC. The night of August 15, Cindy and I are going out on the gambling boat for a poker tournament. The next day, August 16, my birthday, Teri and I go to Charleston, SC for the Springsteen concert.
We have a 'free day' on the 17th, then it's time to head north on Monday, 8/18. When we will see Bruce again in Richmond, VA. Cindy will take Rebecca for the remainder of the trip back to MD, and watch her the next day when we see Bruce the final time in Hershey.
Not 100% sure if all of this will happen, but at least that's the plan at this point.

So that's the news here. I will try to update a little more often, or as near as I can make it.

Summary update...

I haven't updated in a while. June has been a pretty busy month. You can see from a couple of posts below.
Cindy, Mom and I got back from Vegas on June 1 and it's been kind of non-stop all month. I'll hit the hi-lites.
Computer Club Meeting - June 4
This was the final meeting of the season. We are off until school starts back up in September. Everything turned out well. And I'm glad to have a break.

Tom Petty at Nissan Pavilion - June 8
This was a really good show. The only thing was that Teri didn't go because it was too hot (like 95 deg). After having such a cool May, June kicked on like a furnace. The place was PACKED! And Steve Winwood opened! It turned out a few folks at work went to this show, I passed out copies of it, and everyone was that much more happy.

Rush in Philly - June 14
This could have been better. The band was good, just the crowd just wasn't a Rush crowd. First off, it was indoors, thus, the reason I saw them in Philly. The entire upper deck was un- sold. This was kind of odd. And the people at the show didn't seem to be into it very much. Oh well, Heather and I made the most of it anyway.

Orioles Game - June 19
My friend George (from work), Chris, Teri, Rebbecca and I all went for a fine evening outing. This was Rebecca's first baseball game! And I think she was amazed by the whole experience. It was a little loud for her, but she handled it fine.

Pearl Jam - June 22
And as you can see from the posts below, Pearl Jam at the Verizon Center in DC. Great show, place was packed and the band really appreciated it.

There are more details that I am leaving out, but these are the major highlights.

Update from Peal Jam show.

Luke Rusertt at the Pearl Jam show. This is Tim Russert's (from Meet The Press) son. He had a hot blonde with him and was really into the show.

Picture from Pearl Jam show.

Clicking on this picture shows a lot more detail. This is from my cell phone camera, hopefully the guy sitting right in front of me will send some pictures that he took. He got some really good shots. I need to remember to bring my camera to these events, I keep forgetting it.

About 40 bachlarette parties. Zero interest in me :(

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Folies Bergere

Went to Folies Bergere topless show, Mom got tix.

I reminded Mom about how Mary cracked up when she saw these women. Well when Mom saw them, and their small breasts, she cracked up too.

First tourney of the trip

Took 2nd in morning tourny.
I player pretty well. I think there was some luck in there too.

In person interview at Sensys Networks in CA

Sensys Networks asked me to fly to California for an in person interview. This is the third interview with Sensys, and I expect to hear something from them this week if they want to make an offer or not.
My overall impression of the company is that they are a start up that is having some growing pains, but at least they have some actual business which to bank on. I think I would be the first technical person outside of California that they would hire. I interviewed for over 3 hours, and actually missed my original flight.
This is where the adventure began. The original flight was scheduled for fly from Oakland, to Chicago, to Baltimore. The new flight, Oakland, to LA, to Nashville, Baltimore. It got to LA okay, but then there were problems. The plane malfunctioned, and we had to change planes. These are the text messages that I sent:

Update: Fixed plane. Try again..
Actually they didn't get it fixed, and we changed planes.

I'm sitting between a retarded girl and an old porn star.
Yes, real retarded, not like stupid people. You know the great thing about retards? They say what is on their mind, and a lot of times your mind. For an example, before we boarded the plane, they tell you that it's about time to board the plane. She bolted to get on. When we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off, she started to bounce up and down saying, "Lets Go!" I was thinking the same thing.
The former porn star, well, I think the retarded girl was smarter, but she did have a nice rack that she was showing off.

Update: New plane. Leave in an hour...I hope..
It was more like 2 hours, but we got off the ground. And the long flight to Nashville. What was a pain about the who thing is that I got off the plane in LA to get something to eat. The flight attendants told me to hurry back, they were going to load up and take off again. So I just grabbed some McDonalds food. I would have gotten something decent if I would have known I had 2 hours to spare.

Made it to Nashville. They called over the PA for a doctor or nurse. There was both. Paramedics met us at the gate.
A woman in the back of the plane had a medical problem. I don't know exactly what happened, but it's never a good thing when they ask for a doctor. She was able to get off the plane on her own power (all be it shaky). And I was on the last leg back to Baltimore. I was concerned that I wouldn't have my luggage, which had my claim ticket for the parking lot, and the phone number for the bus. As it turned out, everything wen well once I got back.
My luggage was waiting for me, I got the ticket, I called and they came and picked me up, and I went home.

I have to wonder is this isn't some kind of sign about this job. Anyway, they haven't made me an offer yet, so I'll just wait and see.

Squirrel crossing....

I've seen these jokes of road works people just doing their job. I thought the stuff happened in the mid-west or in the South. But no! About 2 miles from my house, I saw this squirrel on the side of the road that the guys painting the road didn't bother to go around, and painted right over it. I had to stop and that a picture. This really happened, my Mom and Teri were there too.

Bruce in C-ville

On April 30, I went to the Springsteen show in CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. I met Marty (good friend of Chris, and general over all nice guy) at my house, and we drove down. We actually took some back roads and the scenery was a lot nicer then looking a highway traffic.

Once we arrive is C-ville, we go straight to the arena, where we meet up with Chris. Also part of the plan was to meet up with my friend Mary (and her friend). Basically it was a fine group outing.

We hung out a while and he got the E-Street Lounge. This is the'backstage' area. But, it sure ain't the 'backstage' of the '70's. Basically it's a bunch of middle-aged people standing around, hoping that band members will come out and say hi. This did happen with Garry Tallent (bass player) and Steven Van Zandt (guitar player) . Garry was sort of hanging around, but Steven was only meeting people who were in a fan-club. Mary did get a picture with Garry, and it made her night. It was kind of lame, and I got a quick picture of Steven on the way out.

As for the show, well it was kind of lame too. The shows the past week or so have been REALLY good, some of the best that had taken place on the tour. Well it can't last forever. This show was one of the lame shows of the tour. As Backstreets magazine put it, "... after more than a week of channeling so much into the performance, an emotional drain has understandably taken its toll."

Then it was time for the long walk, I mean drive, home. It really didn't seem to be that bad of a drive back. I was in bed by 2:00am.

This was the view from my seat.

CISSP

For the past month or so, I have been studying for the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) exam. This is an extremely detailed test. I will be taking the test on May 17. The exam is 6 hours, 250 questions, and cost $500 to take. I plan to pass it the first time!

I took an on-line boot camp the first week of April. Luckily I found a 'study partner', who is a lot further along then I am, but he is taking the test this weekend. This is good for me, as he can give me some pointers as to exactly what is on the test. Since the bootcamp, I have been listening and watching a set of DVDs on the topic. I have also been taking a bunch of sample tests. I just hope that this works out.

Viva, Las Vegas!

I will be taking a trip to Vegas with my mother and sister, May 28-June 1. The World Series of Poker starts during this time, and my sister Cindy wants to enter one of the events. We’ll see how it goes, and I would say that I will give an update, but as you know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
In preparation of Vegas, I am planning to play in a charity game in Annapolis on April 27, and a tourney on 5/17. The 5/17 tourney is the one that is held about 3 times a year. The tournament in Annapolis is a little more involved. The top prize a entry into the World Series of Poker, Main Event. Basically a $10,000 first prize! As always, I’ll see how it goes.
http://www.disabilityguide.org/charitypokertournament/index.html

Summer’s Here and the time is right…

Well it’s not here yet, but a few bands have announced tours and I got tickets. It seems June is filling in. Tom Petty on Sunday, 6/8 at the Nissan Pavilion in Virginia, then the following Saturday, 6/14, Rush in Philly, followed by Pearl Jam in DC on 6/22. I’ll probably take in the Springsteen show in Charlottesville, VA on 4/30. I think the Donk got us some tickets to see the Black Crows in August; the Virgin Fest will take place again in August. Maybe a Bruce show or two. Got to take in an O’s game or two, and probably want to get down the Nats at their new ballpark. The summer is filling up!

How does your garden grow...

Speaking of growing…
And we are preparing for the garden. I planted the root vegetables (onions, beets, radishes, carrots, and potatoes) in the garden. I have started the tomatoes and other veggies indoors. These are all coming along well. I think I’m on track for planting in the garden around the first of May. In preparing for things, we got two loads of manure in March. It was a pin to unload, but this is the best way to grow stuff.
I got some help planting the carrots.

This weekend the weather was great and I made more progress on getting things planted. I sprayed to get rid of some of the grass and weeds, and re tilled the whole garden. This week I will make the rows and probably start planting some things next weekend.

How about an update?

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. But nothing major has been happening. Since I last posted. The baby is growing well. She has started eating food, and becoming more interactive. The summer concert season is filling in. I’ve planned a trip to Vegas and plan to play more poker to get warmed up. I’m studding for the CISSP security certification. And as always, looking to improve my career and life. I’ll post a few different posts on these various topics. Now for the details of these topics and many others.
Baby is growing
Rebecca is 5 months old, and she is making normal progress and seems to be coming along well. As you can see from the pictures, she is filling in. At the last doctor appointment (a month ago) she was in the 75 percentile in length, 25 percentile in weight and 25 percentile in head size. Not the worst proportions. Basically, long and lean.
We also got the daycare situation straightened out. We started with going to two different places, but after doing this for about 3 weeks, found a sole provider. The lady is very nice and works with us when we have any issues. I try to drop her off, but sometimes Teri has to when I’m running late. I don’t think this is a big deal, but Teri makes it out to be from time to time.
We took a short trip with Rebecca to visit Teri’s kin in North Carolina over the President’s Day weekend. This went pretty well. I got some good pictures out of this, in particular the one below with her and I sleeping. You’ll notice in the background the shotgun, just to prove we were in NC.

As I mentioned, Rebecca has started to eat food. We are sticking with veggies for now, but I am sure we will move on to other things soon. I think that things are going pretty well on this front.

And on the way to North Carolina, my van passed 100,000 miles!

John Eddie

I nearly forgot. On 1/11, Heather, Jim, Teri, and I went to the Rams Head tavern in Annapolis for dinner and an evening with John Eddie. This was the first time Teri and I went out without the baby. We had an excelent time, I wish I had brought my camera. We had good seats to take pictures. I was impressed with the new songs that he did. He should hurry up and get out a new recording.

Starting off the year

January has been about average temperature wise, which basically means cold. Not so cold where everything was frozen over all the time, but cold enough so that you can’t do much outside. Thus this leads to a lot of indoor time.
The adjustment continues with Rebecca. Overall things are fine, just learning to adjust the time it takes to do things. It’s a simple idea to just run up to the store, but warming up the car, getting Rebecca set up, making sure everything is in the diaper bag, etc. It takes a lot more time then it use to. It’s hard to explain.
Family Visit
My Mother called me on 1/13 telling me that my sister Mary had unexpectedly popped into town. She was on her way to visit her friend Amy in Gettysburg, PA. She would stop in on the way out of town. On 1/19 she came by and visited with the baby. Little did I know, she had been corresponding with Heather, although they had never met in person. Heather came over also and we all sat around a chatted a while.
It turns out that Amy was a ‘Born Again’ and tried to sell it on Mary. Mary respected her, but it just didn’t work out. Bust Mary got some funny stories out of it how wacky these people are, and how they want religion to run their lives.
Child Care
Teri has been making arrangements on where the baby would go while she was at work. I thought everything was all set. Apparently I was mistaken. On 1/17 she got a call from the woman who was to provide daycare. She was going to have to back out. Apparently the person, who was going to leave, didn’t. Teri had a melt down. She called me at work crying about the whole ordeal. We started the whole interview process over again.
In the end, we have 2 part time providers. On Monday, Tuesday, and Friday we take her to this place off of Telegraph Road. It looks like I will drop off and Teri will pick up. On Wednesday and Thursday we will take her to the place we were originally going to go. The woman is pretty decent and is willing to help us out until we find a permanent place.
Sick Time
So on top of the whole child care dilemma, illness ran through the house. Rebecca had a little cold, then Teri and finally me. I ended up taking off work 3 days to recover. I’m over it now, but I was a mess for a while.

What a day...

Happy New Year! (I guess)
I was planning to have a quiet day on New Years Eve, but Teri tells me that her Dad is coming over to buy lumber to build a shelf in the rafters of the shed. I wish she would have ran this by me. I got over it. Teri and her Dad mostly did the work building the shelf. At the end of the day I'm glad it was done, but it would have been nice to discuss this before we bought the wood and built the thing.
So the day turned into the night. It ended up with the neighbors, Jay and Karen, came over. We played a game of Monopoly, watched the Ball drop, and said good night. New Year's Day started normal enough, did stuff around the house, but basically nothing major. Walked the dog at the park, while there Heather called and we chatted a while. She had called home, missed me, and called me on the cell phone. Nothing unusual, she was going to come over and see the baby but got tied up with some other things. I went home and got dinner underway.
Dinner was coming along fine, Gram was watching the baby, Teri got tiered and laid down while I prepared things. Gram decided that she wanted to go back to her room (from the kitchen). She was back there a while when she asked if Teri was available and she wanted to talk to Teri. They were talking for a few minutes and the conversation sounded strange and I went to see what was going on.
Apparently Gram thought Heather and Jim had come over and sneaked into the house while Teri went up stairs. When Teri told her this didn't happen, she was animate that it did happen. She had called my sister to talk to her about it. And had gone into detail about what they were wearing, the vehicle they were driving, everything! But they were not there, had not been there in weeks.
Teri took Grams blood pressure, it wouldn't register on the meter. We gave her some medication, that didn't help things. Teri called my sister, Cindy, and explained the situation. My sister thought they were there too from Gram's description. After about 10 minutes, we called the ambulance. The paramedics arrived and they had different equipment and were able to get a very high BP measurement. They took her to the hospital. Teri stayed with the baby, which meant I went to the hospital.
My sister meet me there. They did tests and couldn't find anything obviously wrong and admitted her for observation. I finally went home at 3:00am.
The next day, January 2. Things seemed to go better with Gram. Her BP was under control and she was eating well in the hospital. Cindy visited her and Gram seemed in pretty good spirits. Teri called me and told me about this. Also Teri had a doctors appointment and there seemed to be something wrong with her breast. It may not be anything, but the doctor sent her for a follow up exam and appointment next week, I hope it's nothing serious.
To top things off, the dog got lonely and decided to go look for Gram, and wandered off. The neighbor farthest from us called and said he was over there. Teri went and got him.
So that was my day!

My 2007 Christmas

Now that you know what I think of the whole Christmas giving experience, this is how things worked out.

Everybody loves the Baby! (this is a good thing)

We did receive a lot for the baby. From some unexpected sources too. Mostly everyone in the family gave Rebecca a gift of some sort, the folks in the Users Group got together and we got some bonds from them (completely unexpected), neighbors gave her gifts, and we received gifts from people from out of state. Granted, Rebecca won't realize how lucky she is, but I sure appreciate everyone's support!

Various parties and gatherings

The first party of the season was November 28 with the Users Group Board of Directors. We got together at the Fisherman's Inn at Kent Narrows. Everything went pretty well, everyone enjoyed themselves.

The next thing that happened was on December 1. This was the video shoot of the David Wayne Band (see other entry).

On the 12th I had my usual users group meeting and this was our Christmas Party. I brought Teri and Rebecca this year. Everyone was very nice to Teri and Rebecca (I wouldn't expect any different). Everyone had a good time, except Teri who eat something that upset her stomach and she had to excuse herself from a lot of the meeting.

Heather's birthday is on December 7, but with everything else going on, we didn't get together until December 20. We had a nice dinner, and had a good time.

The next night, 12/21, Teri, Rebecca, and I went to Mike Regementi's Christmas Party. This we a good time and meet a lot of people we didn't know. It was also the first time we took Rebecca into a new social situation. I think everything worked out pretty well. Teri had to nurse for a little while, but this worked out fine. Everyone accommodated her and everyone was very nice.

Which brings me to the annual Young Family Christmas Eve gathering! There were some members of the family who hadn't seen Rebecca, they saw her on this night. In short, here is a picture of everyone who made it.


Finally Christmas Day arrives! This year wasn't too much for Rebecca, but I am sure next year it will be crazy! We got up (Teri didn't sleep very well), had breakfast and dived into opening gifts. I got Teri a massage chair. She kind of knew what it was since it has been in a box in the garage for the past week. But she (and everyone who tried it) really likes it. Then it was off to Teri's parent's house.

We were running a little late, but everything worked out pretty well. We hosted dinner, and had to get back home to cook. A lot of people showed up and dinner turned out to be a real family affair. My nephew Charles and his fiance Amy, came down from New Jersey. Everyone eat well, and had a good time was had by all.

Now I have New Years to look forward to. And we'll see what 2008 brings! I'll probably post something about what happened in 2007 soon.

David Wayne Band

My brother asked me to video tape the band that he is in, The David Wayne Band, for use on a web page. Basically the two original songs that they have written. This was an interesting evening, and everything seemed to work out fine. This is also a test to see how the video uploads work to the Blog. Below is the video of two of the songs. I had hoped to combine two sources of the videos, but this is just a single source and my brother thinks it's fine.
As far as how the evening went, well basically fine. But things just took longer to get going then expected. I was suppose to start shooting the band at 6:00pm. Long story short, they weren't ready for the shoot until after 8:00pm. You can see how it turned out.

The Holidays

Parties
It usually starts around Thanksgiving and runs through the first of the new year (actually it's starting to stretch to MLK Day in Govie Circles). That's right, it's The Holiday Season. This can go a couple of ways. You either don't do anything and now have 'parties' to attend or you are always the socialite and now have a bunch more parties to attend. And the party breaks down with these kind of attendees:

• Host - Going crazy to make sure everyone is having a good time (who would tell them different?)
• Host Friend - Supporting the host, but just not quite as crazy and is betting on the host helping them at their next party.
• First to arrive - These people are generally organized and will be the first to bolt because of the spouse, kid, pet, relative, whatever. Just get in and out.
• Last to arrive - Unorganized, but are still wanting to bolt quick!
• Homeless - Just looking for a meal. Will do minimal socializing, but eat everything in site! And gone as soon as the food is. But don't worry, you'll see then next party.
• Working stiffs - They have been assigned a job by the host, and damn it, it's going to get done no matter who they have to annoy.
• Social butterfly - The person's goal is to speak to everyone at the party for at least 5 minutes if they want to be spoken to or not.
• Wallflowers - This makes up about 80% of the people at a party, and you are probably one of them.

And are they really parties? Especially parties at work or sponsored by your company. Work parties are the worst! Because it's not really a party, it's really a meeting where they serve cold cuts and there is alcohol available. You end up hanging around the same people that you see all the time in the office and rehashing a TV show or maybe a funny thing that happened on they way to the party. Like, I saw this deer on the way in to the office today, it had to be 10 feet tall.... And you just wish the deer would have gored this guy Now that would have been interesting!

Gifts

So it's time to buy people stuff. Who do you buy for, how much, and who gets dumped. Parental units always get a gift. They made you, least you can do. Siblings, if they have bought for you in Christmas past (and vice-versa) they get a gift, if not, a hug and a Merry Christmas for you. Siblings children... under the age of 12, yes, 12-17, if they make an attempt to give you a gift, yes, over 18 they are an adult and should try to participate. If they are over 18 and not giving to you, they don't get. Obviously your own children get a gift. Friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc, get this straight early on. Now how much to spend:

Parental Units - Keep it around $100.

Siblings - Depending how many you have, plan on spending about $300-400 on the lot and break it up between them.

Siblings Children - Whatever is left over from their parent. Generally $20-50, if they fall into the category above.

Children - I'll let you know as time goes on.

Exchanging of the gifts

So you followed the above chart on who to give to and how much to spend. It seems reasonable, but this is what happens to me, I'm getting over it. We have our big family gathering on Christmas Eve night. I basically cut out my out of state sister, my other sister who never got me anything (I'm broke, boo-hoo for me), some older nieces and nephews who have jobs, but don't think they should get their uncle anything. I kind of feel bad about handing out gifts around them, but skipping them, but you know, from about the age of 11 on I always made an effort for give my siblings a gift, the younger ones should learn the same. Sorry to be the Grinch, but that's life. There is this place called the Dollar Store that you can make an effort to get people something. They don't get it.

New Years...

So with Christmas behind me, it's time to look forward to New Years. For a few years a bunch of neighbors and friends would get together at my house and we would play some non-drinking, boring, adult games until midnight. Watch Dick Clark, say Happy New Year, hug, and everyone would go home. But Gram basically kills this. She doesn't like any of my friends, and is generally a pain to deal with. Now with the baby, we'll see how bad it gets.

So that's my take on the Holidays in general. I'll post some specifics later.

Bruce in DC

I already posted about the baby being born, this happened in the early morning of November 10. Well, as things would have it, I had tickets to see Springsteen on November 11 and 12, in DC. Since Teri was in the hospital and being well taken care of, I didn't see any reason not to go to the shows. I went with her blessing, although I don't think her parents were too keen about it (add it to the list). In my defense, I did go back to the hospital each night to be with her after the shows. Now about the shows:

Sunday, November 11 - Veterans Day
I meet up with Chris and off we went. Once I got down there I realized I had left my building badge at home (DUH!). We circled the block a couple of times and found a spot that someone was leaving. We went to the Irish Channel Pub and hung out with some fellow fans. There was a couple that was there and I think it was his second or third Bruce show, and her first. I was kind of reminissing about some of the various concerts that I had been to. It was kind of funny to think that I am the old guy that the kids listen to. I remember when I would listen to the old guy spinning a yarn.
Everyone thought Bruce would do a couple of the songs that mention soldiers and wars. He did mention sending songs out to some folks at the VA hospitals, but that's about it. The show was pretty decent. A couple of tour premiers, and generally a good show. I didn't like the fact that before Reason to Believe got underway, and just as the crowd was starting to get into it, Bruce shhh'ed the crowd. BAD FORM! This song was a huge highlight at the shows in Philly. But now it sort of dies on the vine. Here are a few pix from the show:

November 12 Show

The second show of the set. This night was a little different group. I went to the show with my brother CJ, David Wayne (of the David Wayne Band), and Heather. This time I remembered my badge and parked in the GAO building as planned. I hoped to meet up with Chris again at the Irish Channel, but he went to the Green Turtle instead.

While at the Irish Channel I did run into a guy I knew, Magnus, and we haddn't seen each other in a few years. The story with Magnus, we drove to New York in 2000 to take in a couple of the shows at MSG. On the way there, just north of Balitmore on I-95, a jail break was happening! It was wild! People and cars were running all over the place. I never heard if anyone got away, but it was an interesting story that we talk about when we meet up.

We went in the show earlier then I usually go, but I had David and CJ with me, who didn't really know the routine. As we were sitting there, Heather and I started chatting with a guy sitting next to us. As it turned out, he works at GAO. I gave him a copy of the show, and he was happy to get it. Over all the show was good. CJ, David and Heather really enjoied theirselves and it was all good.

As I was leaving home for the evening, I noticed my headlight blew out. Everyone told me about it. After I came home, and everyone went their own way, I went back to the hospital. Sure enough a cop pulled me over for having it out (and speeding). I got a warning for the speeding, and an inspection ticket for the headlight. And wouldn't you know it, I lost the ticket for the inspection. I would think they would send me something in the mail, but nothing to this point.

So many shows...

I've been asked a few times, how many Springsteen shows have you been too? Why have you seen so many, and why do you keep going?
As for the number of show, it looks like 60 to this point. And is you are wondering where, here is a link to show.

As to why, well the people are always great. I'm now starting to be one of the old guys with stories going back, so I get to spin my yarn to the youngsters!
But the biggest reason: I've never seen the same show twice. Even the shows I complain about, they are still top notch!

The birthing experience…

The birthing experience…

First off, everything ended up fine. As you can see from my previous entry, Rebecca and Mommy are doing well. But now I have to document the story of what happen in the delivery process.

As of November 7, Teri was scheduled to go into the hospital on the night of November 12 (a Monday) and begin the induction process. This we due to Teri’s blood pressure being high. The doctors felt that the baby was ready, and it would be better not to wait any longer and risk complications for the baby or mother. Teri was on bed rest at this point for about the past week.

Teri got a call on the morning of November 8, from the doctor’s office stating that there was going to be scheduling complications at the hospital on 11/12, and to prepare to come to the hospital on tonight. I had made arrangements at work that I would not be in on 11/9 and be out the next week. I took Teri to the hospital in the evening, her parents meet us there, they hooked up an IV, and Teri was set. I went home, Teri’s parents tried to pull this BS about staying that night with her, “…for what? Watch her sleep?”

I was back the next morning. I should have waited until at least noon, nothing happened. My sister Cindy came and went (smart move). Finally around 6:00pm they started to move things along some. Around 11:30pm Teri was near 10cm dilated, which is the size for birth. This is when she started pushing. She pushed for the next hour and a half. At which time the doctor didn’t see a lot of progress. She gave Teri the option to try pushing for another hour, which may or may not have made more progress or go in for the Cesarean Section delivery. Teri promptly opted for the C-Section. At this point, they offered to have someone in the operating room with Teri. She chose me! What was I going to say? Teri had been in Labor for the past couple of hours, and the whole lead up to Labor…

I got into the scrubs, they cleared the room where we had been the past day, and off we went. From my point of view, things weren’t too bad. Teri and I were behind a curtain from where all of the ‘action’ was taking place. I held her hand and gave moral support. And at 2:36am, the Rebecca came into the world. And I have to say, I was over whelmed with emotion. I think I was crying more then Rebecca. You can check out the slide show as the day progressed.

Now a word about the C-Section. A lot of people might think they know what it is, an operation to remove the baby as opposed to a vaginal (natural) birth. You cut the woman open, take the baby out, and sew her up. Not quite. Between the outside world and the baby are about 10 major organs, the liver, pancreas, large intestine, small intestine, etc. These organs need to go somewhere while the baby is being removed. No room inside to scoot them around, no, they are taken out and set a side. Yes, major organs are taken out of your body. The baby is removed (and all of its stuff). Then all of those organs go back in, like assembling a jig saw puzzle. In the end the hospital stay is 4 days instead of 2.

I stayed with Teri each night she was in the hospital. There is a chair that folds out into a bed that I slept on. It worked out okay. While at the hospital and being there with the various doctors and nurses examining Teri, I picked up on something. Women have little sympathy for other women. It’s like a one-up-man-ship type of competition. As an example; A doctor came and to check on Teri. Teri went through her symptoms and how she was doing. The doctor basically said, “Suck it up, I had all three of my kids by C-Section!” No sympathy what so ever. And there were a few other instances like this too.

Now we are back home and trying to figure out a schedule that works best. Teri is breast feeding. Rebecca sleeps fine during the day. And there really isn’t much for me to do with the baby. I hold her and change diapers when necessary, but other then that, not too much.

Van Halen, DC

The Fall Tour rolls on...

On tap for November 1, Van Halen at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

The Donk and I meet up and come down to DC for the VH show. For me it's handy to park and walk about 2 blocks to the arena. Saves money and parking is very secure. All in all a great show, and I'm glad we made it to this and the show last month in Philly.

The setlist was the same, but I had become more familiar with the set since seeing them, so I recognized a couple of songs I didn't know. Building up to this show Donk informed me at there was a disaster of a gig a couple of days before in KC, MO. From my point of view, this show was fine and the band seemed tighter then the month previous.

The plan was to grab dinner at Legal Seafood, but the place was packed! We waited a while, hoping a spot would open, no dice. We ended up grabbing arena food.

Since we've seen the show already (the Donk actually took in both shows in Philly), we made up a game, "Daughter or Girlfriend". Since this was a heavily geezer show, there seemed to be a bunch of older guys with younger girls. It was up to us to determine if it was the guys daughter or girlfriend. The next part of the game was to find a female at the show, not a daughter, under the age of 30. This proved very difficult. I guess it's just part of growing older...
Sitting next to me was a 40-something (maybe 50?) chick . We chatted a bit. She started out the conversation with saying, "...I need a beer!" And I'm thinking, "Well I ain't gonna buy you one!" She asked, "So when did you see Van Halen last? I saw them in 1984!" I told her, last month. It just wasn't clicking. But all in all, a good show.

Welcome to the World!

Rebecca Kathryn Young

Born on November 10, 2007 @ 2:36am

Weight: 8 pounds, 4.6 ounces Length: 19.75 inches

Gypsy Biker and Shut Out the Light Lyrics

Some of you maybe unfamiliar with the lyrics to Gypsy Biker and Shut Out the Lights. Here they are:

Gypsy Biker
The speculators made their money
On the blood you shed
Your Mama's pulled the sheets up off your bed
The profiteers on Jane Street
Sold your shoes and clothes
Ain't nobody talking 'cause everybody knows
We pulled your cycle out of the garage
And polished up the chrome
Our Gypsy biker's comin' home

Sister Mary sits with your colors
Brother John is drunk and gone
This whole town's been rousted
Which side are you on
The favored march up over the hill
In some fools parade
Shoutin' victory for the righteous
But there ain't much here but graves
Ain't nobody talkin'
We're just waitin' on the phone
Our Gypsy biker is comin' home

We rode her into the foothills
Bobby brought the gasoline
We stood 'round her in a circle
As she lit up the ravine
The spring high desert wind
Rushed down on us all the way back home

To the dead it don't matter much
'Bout who's wrong or right
You asked me that question I didn't get it right
You slipped into your darkness
Now all that remains
Is my love for you brother
Lying still and unchanged
To them that threw you away
You ain't nothin' but gone
Our Gypsy biker is comin' home

Now I'm out countin' white lines
Countin' white lines and getting stoned
My Gypsy biker is coming home.

Shut Out the Light
The runway rushed up at him as he felt the wheels touch down
He stood out on the blacktop and took a taxi into town
He got out down on Main Street and went into a local bar
He bought a drink and found a seat in a corner off the dark
Well she called up her mama to make sure the kids were out of the house
She checked herself out in the dining room mirror
And undid an extra button on her blouse
He felt her lying next to him, the clock said 4:00 am
He was staring at the ceiling
He couldn't move his hands

CHORUS
Oh mama mama mama come quick
I've got the shakes and I'm gonna be sick
Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night
Hey now mama don't shut out the light
Don't you shut out the light
Don't you shut out the light
Don't you shut out the light
Don't you shut out the light

Well on his porch they stretched a banner that said "Johnny Welcome Home"
Bobby pulled his Ford out of the garage and they polished up the chrome
His mama said "Johnny oh Johnny, I'm so glad to have you back with me"
His pa said he was sure they'd give him his job back down at the factory

CHORUS

Well deep in a dark forest, a forest filled with rain
Beyond a stretch of Maryland pines there's a river without a name
In the cold black water Johnson Lineir stands
He stares across the lights of the city and dreams of where he's been

CHORUS

Gypsy Biker/Shut Out the Light comparison

I found this comparision of two of my favorite Springsteen songs, Gypsy Biker and Shut Out the Light. I liked the article, so... SWIPE!

For nearly 35 years Bruce Springsteen has been singing about the American working class, in his anthems of hope and redemption. Throughout his long and successful career, he has become not only one of popular music's most celebrated figures, but an American icon. As a songwriter, Springsteen is among Rock music's finest, a master storyteller whose songs often carry a political message that is not always obvious at first listen, but over time tends to seep in to the listener's conscience. Springsteen's latest release, 2007's Magic continues in this tradition, most notably with the sepia toned rocker Gypsy Biker, a song that in many ways can be viewed as an alternate take on the story Springsteen tells in his 1983 ballad Shut Out The Light. Though written nearly 25 years apart from one another, the two songs tell a chillingly similar story based around the same theme, though their structures and production are hardly alike. By the early 1980s, America had watched the aftermath of the Vietnam war bleed into their culture. The reality of the day began to take shape; after Vietnam, the U.S. would never again be the land of redemption for all of its people. As an artist who had made his name on the hopes and dreams of his country, this affected Springsteen not only on a personal level, but an artistic one as well. But like any great artist would, Springsteen took this harsh reality in stride and integrated it into his songs, where it would become an integral part of the work he would release in the following years. Shut Out The Light deals with the story of "a Vietnam veteran struggling to adjust to post-war life" (Graff, 46) through Johnson Leneir, a soldier returning home from war, and feeling completely adrift from reality. Fast forward twenty-four years, and Springsteen is still at it, with the War in Iraq nearly five years old, and most of the world still unsure as to why it began in the first place, Springsteen has found himself revisiting many of the themes he explored in the early 1980's. On the surface, Gypsy Biker appears to be a celebratory song, a welcome home to a relative who has been away. Upon closer examination, we find that it is actually a song of mourning, telling the story of a modern day soldier coming home from war, only this time lifeless, and in a casket. Above all, what Gypsy Biker shares with its 1980s' predecessor, is the subject matter that it is drawn from, the fact that the war America is fighting today often seems no different than the one that stole America's innocence in the 1960's. While the wars that these stories are drawn from may be the most obvious similarities between the two songs, the message they convey through their characters remains remarkably similar as well. Though the story of Gypsy Biker deals with a town's reaction to the death of one of its young men at war, the frustration felt by its characters is somewhat reminiscent of the sense of loss and confusion embodied within Johnson Lineir upon his return to his home town in Shut Out The Light. What makes Shut Out The Light so effective is the sense of aloneness Lineir seems trapped in throughout the song. The narrator's account of him entering a local bar where he "bought a drink and found a seat in the corner in the dark", accentuates to the listener that what may have originally appeared as solitude, is actually a feeling of extreme isolation. Similarly, in Gypsy Biker the fallen soldier's brother narrates a story that projects his grief and mourning. Though the song contains many characters, the lyric "Ain't nobody talkin', 'cause everybody knows, our gypsy biker's comin' home" confirms that though the characters may not be physically alone, their reaction to tragedy is much like that of Lineir's in Shut Out The Light. Just as Lineir had to struggle to get the courage to return home and no longer be alone in the physical sense, Gypsy Biker illustrates a family's struggle to find connection between one another in a time of pain. While the songs’ characters hold many similarities, there is an element far more obvious that makes for a unique link between these two tracks. That link is the repetition in Gypsy Biker of a line used in Shut Out The Light. In celebration of Johnson Lineir’s return, Springsteen sings “Bobby pulled your Ford out of the garage and polished up the chrome”. In Shut Out The Light, this line indicates what should be a happy moment for the pain stricken veteran, the sight of his beloved car being a symbol of the life his loved ones had been waiting for him to return to. However, when Springsteen sings “We pulled your cycle out of the garage and polished up the chrome” in Gypsy Biker, the line takes on a whole new meaning. What represented an act of celebration and kindness in Shut Out The Light is turned into a sad memorial for a fallen loved one. While Lineir’s Ford represented the life of freedoms he was expected to return to, the Gypsy Biker’s motorcycle stands as merely a piece of a man’s memory, being polished up in tribute to his life. These contrasting vantage points work as a haunting reminder of the harsh reality a country at war. Though the songs share many similarities thematically, their contrasting song structures are what set them apart from one another. While both songs are written in a narrative, folk influenced style, the major contrariety between the two songs' structures is the lack of a chorus in Gypsy Biker. To a first time listener, the haunting chorus of Shut Out The Light acts as a net to pull the audience further into the song. "Mama come quick, I've got the shakes and I'm gonna be sick" sings Springsteen, "Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night, Hey now Mama don't shut out the light". When this gripping chorus makes its first appearance at the one minute mark of the song, any listener who was unsure of whether or not the story was about to become a happy one, gets a wake up call. The painful ambience grows with every return to the chorus, becoming more and more powerful each time. In contrast, Gypsy Biker's lack of a hook as poignant as the one found in Shut Out The Light results in a tone less easily defined. Though the refrain "Our gypsy biker's comin' home" repeats at the end of each verse, it's repetition is much less insightful towards the song's theme than that of the chorus in Shut Out The Light. As a result, in combination with Springsteen's gritty, near mumbled vocal stylings, Gypsy Biker must be listened to far more carefully than Shut Out The Light in order to understand the full picture being created by the artist. Nevertheless, song structure is not the only major difference between the two songs; their contrasting styles of production push them towards two different genres of music all together. The dark lyrics of Shut Out The Light are accompanied by a stark arrangement "built on simple chord changes" (Sawyers, 212) played on acoustic guitars that transcribe the dark aura of the song's story into musical form. With this approach, Springsteen successfully recreates the sombre tone he mastered on 1982's critically acclaimed Nebraska, where his minimalistic approach to production complimented the message of his songs. The lack of major production on Shut Out The Light not only helps to create a mood that compliments the rest of the song, but it allows the listener to easily hear every word the singer sings, pulling the listener in with every syllable. On the contrary, Gypsy Biker takes the exact opposite approach. While Shut Out The Light recalls Folk music of the 1930's, Gypsy Biker is hard driving Rock and Roll sung by an artist on a mission. Backed by the mighty E Street Band, the song explodes into a guitar driven fury after the first verse, with Max Weinberg's drums plowing like a steam engine behind a lyric that fills the listener with a yearning for revenge. The intensity of lines like "To the dead it don't matter much, 'bout who's wrong or right" are matched by dueling guitar solos from Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt that are just as gripping as the hushed acoustics in Shut Out The Light. Though they may be polar opposites in the Springsteen canon as far as production goes, these two songs create their own unique intensity by using two completely different approaches. In conclusion, Shut Out The Light and Gypsy Biker are both similar and contrary at once. Though their story lines and characters share much in common, their production and structure are hardly related. As equally chilling tales of loss, anger and frustration, what makes these songs so remarkable is the artist. It has become rather rare in today's music scene to find an artist 35 years in to his career as a singer-songwriter that can still write lyrics as moving as he did 25 years earlier, while managing to taking a new approach to performance and production. Then again, if you look closely, Bruce Springsteen has been evolving artistically since the inception of his career, it should be no surprise that he is continuing to do so today.

So what else has been happening?

The short answer is Baby.

On October 6, while I was in Philly, Teri had a Baby Shower at home. It went well and I thank everyone who came to the shower. Everything that was received was great! And we really appreciate it all.

So I got home, and it's time to get the Rebbecca's room together. First step was cleaning it out. This was actually accomplished in September (for the most part). Then Teri wanted to paint the room. Initially she picked a yellow color. I wasn't too wild about this and we went to Walmart and agreed on a lavender color. This worked out much better with the blue carpet. That being settled, the furniture needed to be assembled. We did one piece together, but this was a good thing to have Teri's parents involved. So we picked an evening and we assembled all of the furniture.

This past weekend, my sister and brother-in-law came over and painted. This really wasn't my thing, and it was theirs, so I worked on creating a DVD for my sister. You have to know your skills. My sister actually ended up coming over Thursday-Sunday. Between painting, and playing cards. Finally the room was painted and dried. The next step was putting up the wall mural. This done, we put the furniture in it's proper place. All done there too. You can see the results from the picture below. I think everything worked out pretty well. Now we are waiting on the guest of honor.

The weigh in

On Monday, 10/22, Teri went for her last, detailed, sonogram. There was concern for about a week that the baby had turned to a breach position. Monday the sonogram revieled that she flipped back to the correct position. Also they gave a current weight estimate. With a month to go, Rebbecca weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz. They expect her to gain about a half pound a week from this point on. So we are looking at a 10 pound bundle of joy!

Philly Road Trip!

It's a boys-weekend-out in Philadelphia! The Donk and I got tickets to the Springsteen shows in Philly for October 5 and 6. And it was a great time!
October 5 show

He was running a little late, so we didn't make it up to Philly quite as early as hoped, but nothing major. I was meeting someone who I had a pair of tickets for. As it turned out, we checked into the hotel and they met us on the way into the arena. No fuss, no muss.

And the show was a much better time then in Asbury. Probably for the simple fact that it was air conditioned and the set was a little tighter. Nothing major happened.

A little about the show. The revamped Reason to Believe is just incredible! The crowd really gets into it! In Asbury Bruce got a little chatty about politics and the war. I agree 100% with Bruce, but give me a break for 3 hours. I'm not one of those Republicans who will tell him to shut up and sing, but just let the music do the talkin'. In Philly he did tone it down a bit. This made the songs that reference these things that much better.

Here is the setlist and picture from the show:

Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Candy's Room
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Brilliant Disguise
My Hometown
Darlington County
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Thundercrack
Born to Run
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
American Land

October 6, Philly stuff
We got up a little later then expected, showered, checked out of the hotel and went to IHOP for breakfast about Noon. While at the IHOP, there were a bunch of Bruce fans. A group of women from Florida and some other points in the south, in town for a Girls Weekend. After breakfast, Donk and I went downtown. He wanted to pick up a couple cigars at a tobacco shop that we eventually found.

Then it was off to do the Philly steak thing. If you aren't familiar with this, Philly Cheese Steaks are the big thing in Philly. And two of the best are right down the block from each other. We parked and walked down the street. On the way we asked some locals which one, they recommended Geno's, and that's where we went. This place was very popular! You can see from the picture that folks line up for them. Donk got his steak, we walked down the street and I got pizza at a J&J Pizza and that was dinner/lunch.

October 6, The Show

We arrived a lot earlier then the previous night and checked out the tail-gating scene and all of the other goings on. Pretty typical of what we usually see at a Bruce show. One thing that is being pushed is E-Street Radio that is on Sirius satellite currently, and its a smart thing for Sirius to promote.

Finally the show gets underway! We knew this was going to be special when Bruce opened with Night! This is a great opener, and for the first time on the tour, he opened with something other then Radio Nowhere. And the show just got better from there. When he did Reason to Believe, the crowd really got into it, the energy level really sky-rocketed at this point! Then came Pati's A Town Called Heartbreak. Better known as a Town called Piss-Break. We bolted to the bathroom, and a good timing. We got back just as Incident started! Cadillac Ranch was a total audible, and a good time had by all. At the break for the encore, a lot of people held their cell phones up. And it made for a neat view. This is in contrast with Asbury, where they were practially band from the arena. Bruce even noticed this when he came back out and said something like, "...that looks real nice..." We raced out during American Land and got a jump on traffic to wrap up a fun weekend!

Again, setlist and pictures from the show:

Night

Radio Nowhere

Prove It All Night

Gypsy Biker

Magic

Reason to Believe

The Ties That Bind

She's the One

Livin' in the Future

The Promised Land

Town Called Heartbreak

Incident on 57th Street

Cadillac Ranch

Devil's Arcade

The Rising

Last to Die

Long Walk Home

Badlands

* * *

Girls in Their Summer Clothes

Thundercrack

Born to Run

Dancing in the Dark

American Land

Van Halen!!

And a continuous busy week, it's time for another reunion, this time, VAN HALEN!!!
On October 1, the Donk and I got a pair in Philly this time out, and it was a very enjoyable evening. They did all of the classics, and I was very happy with the show. I didn't get any pictures. There are some stock pictures below, and here is the setlist:
You Really Got Me
I'm The One
Runnin' With The Devil
Romeo Delight
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Beautiful Girls
Dance The Night Away
Atomic Punk
Everybody Wants Some
So This Is Love
Mean Street
Pretty Woman
Drum Solo
Unchained
I'll Wait
...And The Cradle Will Rock
Hot For Teacher
Little Dreamer
Little Guitars
Jamie's Cryin'
Ice Cream Man
Panama
Guitar Solo
Ain't Talkin''Bout Love
1984
Jump


Unlike Springsteen, this is the set for the whole tour. To this point, nothing has changed. But for the first time seeing it, much fun was had.

Bruce in Asbury Park!

The Fall Tour rolls on! This time a rehearsal show of Bruce and the E Street Band in Asbury Park, NJ!

On September 25, Teri and I are off to see Bruce on his home turf in Asbury Park. I wanted to take Teri as she won't be able to make any shows later this year with the baby either being so close or already here. The drive up went fine and I met the folks that I had planned to exchange my floor seats with regular seats. All in all it worked out fine. To this point.

Once inside we discovered that the tickets that they gave me were actually seats, not GA as I was told on the phone. We got these swapped after a little delay, and everything worked out fine. But then there was the heat! I knew from Donk, who went the night before, that it was hot, but it was MISERABLE! Luckily we had seats near an exit, and were able to take a couple breaks, but it was really bad for Teri. In the end, everything worked out okay.

The other thing that was really annoying was that the security guards were VERY over zealous in their attempt to keep people from using their cell phones... Get with the 21st century people! Documenting an experience with a cell phone is what people do! It became really distracting during the show with these guys running up and down the aisle being the cell phone cops.

As for the show itself, the setlist was a little rough, and the heat really put a damper on having as much fun as I like to have at a show. Here are a couple pictures.


And finally, the setlist from the evening.
Radio Nowhere
Prove It All Night
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Night
She's The One
Living In The Future
The Promised Land
Town Called heartbreak
Darlington County
Born in the USA
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Balands

Girls in Summer Clothes
Thundercrack
Born To Run
American Land

Walking with Dinosaurs

On September 22, my Mother, nephew Tyler, and I went to the performance of Walking with Dinosaurs at the Verizon Center in DC. Maybe I was hoping for a little more, but it really wasn't that entertaining. I know it was made for kids, Tyler is 8 and he was kind of bored with the whole thing. He enjoyed the trip down to Washington, but he really didn't seem very interested in the show itself.
In any case, I did take some pictures and the slide show is below.

Aerosmith, 9/16/07

The Donk and I went to the Aerosmith show on 9/16 (I know, its been nearly a month since I've posted). The show was great and it was made even sweeter by seeing the show for less than half price! I took a bunch of pictures of Joan Jett and Aerosmith for you to checkout.



All in all, it was a good time, and this kicked off the Fall Tour. The Summer Tour wrapped up with The David Wayne Band at Young-fest 2007.

On the Music industry...

This is the place for me to rant.
A couple of posts down I review the Magic. You maybe wondering, "How did you get a copy to review?" Basically, sources not completely legal.
With that out of the way, the whole issue needs to be addressed. The music industry is a total mess! The powers that be decided to dump the whole digital download to Apple and the iPod. But $1 per song isn't bad for 10 songs a year, and a lot of people sign up for it. Then one month they are really bored, and end up downloading 50-60 songs. BAM! A $60 bill on their credit card. This would piss off a Saint! And this person will wise up and start looking for alternative (usually illegal) ways to acquire this music. And the music industry gives you the guilt trip. If they didn't charge so much in the first place, there wouldn't be a problem.
The other thing that is stupid is the long release cycles with music. The Springsteen album was announced on August 16 for a release date of October 2. Why do they need a month and a half to get this out? I could see something like a press release on August 16 for a release on September 2. To pack and ship, 2 weeks is reasonable. Or maybe, and it will be available for download purchase on Monday...
But no, the music industry strings it out so long, and those of us who really want it, get it early. Get with the 21st Century. This is a 24/7 society and the media industries need to get it straight.
I'll get off my soapbox now.