:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

I can't believe my ears are still ringing. I went to a bar Friday night with IE and JK to check out a local Christian band called Violet Burning. For whatever reason, they had the volume up way too loud. Now, I'm all for cranking music up to 11 but I don't think the house P.A. system was meant to handle this amount of volume since the sound quality coming from the speakers ended up kinda muddied and distorted. The two openers weren't this loud. Fortunately, the band was good enough to overcome most of that. They played an hourlong set and the songs were quite good. The stage banter going on between the lead singer and lead guitarist added to the lively atmosphere.

I typically listen to music loud whether at home, at the office, or in my car so I'm able to acclimate quickly to loud volume levels. Or so I thought. I didn't realize how loud it was and how much it would affect me until afterwards. I went to two U2 concerts and it wasn't this bad (age related?). Once I got home, away from all ambient noises (cars, radios, wind, etc), I really noticed that ringing. When I tried to sleep it got LOUD. If you have never experienced anything like this before, let me tell you, it seriously blows. Imagine a nearby cricket chirping away. Now imagine it ten times larger and multiplied by 200. It goes from a "chirp, chirp, chirp" to one long, incessant "CHIIIIIIIIRRRRRP." Needless to say, I didn't sleep well last night. It's affected my sleep tonight as well but it's diminished considerably, thank goodness =P

It was worth it. I haven't seen a local band play at a bar for the longest time and it felt good to once again see some guys playing rock music with a passion, fervor and enthusiasm that only comes from the simple fun and joy of playing rock music. The bar itself was small, dimly lit, smoky, and had a decent selection of beers on tap. I've never been there before, yet I felt oddly at home. I really should do this more often. I'll just bring earplugs next time.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 7:46 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I've added a comment feature to my blog. So now if you readers want provide your own commentary, or are curious about some arcane reference, or think I'm incredibly funny, or just want to say how much I suck, click where it says "Comments?" and send feedback.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:37 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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Wow, that last post kinda got away from me. I've told myself repeatedly in the past -- hell, even my friends have told me -- that I shouldn't post anything I write after midnight. That stream-of-consciousness style of writing tends to produce rather unpredictable entries. Stuff I look at the day after and think "did I actually write all this?"

I just read it and I found it quite amusing. Not that it's particularly funny in its content or jokes or anything but rather the portentous and self-aggrandizing nature of the article. As if somehow I was addressing an audience beyond the six or seven people who actually do read my blogs. And of those, I'm guessing only two or three read them all the way through.

Not only that but I'm wondering how I came up with some of my references. I usually have to dig pretty deep into my memory banks to come up with some of my more arcane jokes but that ability tends to shut down after 11:30pm so some of this stuff I must be pulling it out of my rectum. I can't help wondering at times about what thoughts are going through people's minds when they read my material. I never was a something-for-everyone type of person so divergent opinions from people may be a good thing.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 9:09 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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As a red-blooded American my freedom is something I try never to take for granted. It may be my subconscious need to balance out the apathetic jagoffs out there who act as if their civil liberties came to them in the form of "Eat Pizza and Lose 50 Pounds!" e-mail. Only in America can I openly criticize our local and national leaders and not worry about having my nuts cut off. In fact, the freedoms we enjoy (squandering) so much is unique in that the creators of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights implicate -- almost encourage - us to question the powers that be should we ever feel that the actions of those who we elect aren't commensurate with the wishes of their constituency. Don't even get me started the civil responsibilities laid upon us through these documents that we as country often collectively and utterly fail to uphold.

So you can imagine my colossal joy upon learning that congressmen are now using the word "freedom" to precede "fries" and "toast" in the Capitol Building lunchroom. As I understand, legislature is now pending requiring the use of "freedom" to describe kissing, poodles, cheeses, pastries, and certain types of panties.

Halfwits like these are running the country? These obsolete rejects of society we somehow have come to call our country's leaders regularly tout freedom as something so valuable it's worth sending our young men and women out to die defending it. You know what? If you hold it in such high esteem, don't diminish its value and meaning by using it to describe a potato, alright? I realize that France not supporting our stance on Iraq may be construed as abandoning an ally but let's be fair, those fey little surrender monkeys are only doing this to mirror Germany's views. Clearly they still remember back in World War II how the Germans invaded and conquered Paris like a mob of rowdy Asians taking over a Tapioca Express after church service.

It's one thing when our leaders do asinine things in the name of freedom -- politicians have been hiding behind that word to serve their own agendas for years -- but it's something else entirely when the common folk perpetuate this behavior with their own acts of stupidity. I'm reading in papers that people are dumping their French wines down the toilet as a way of protesting France's apparent lack of a spinal column. Geez. These pinheads don't get it? France already has your money! All this is going to do is cause them say "stoopeed Ameri-cahns" with a greater sense of glee. I'm normally not one to ridicule another's unorthodox display of patriotism but come on. Finish off and enjoy your stash and just buy California vintages from now on if you feels so strongly about it. I'm guessing that the morons who do this are former dotcom-ers with cases of wine left over from their heyday and are nostalgic for the feeling of seeing their money being flushed down the drain.

You really want to screw with the French, how's this for an idea: push for a resolution to carpet-bomb the country with aid packets similar to the ones we dropped over Afghanistan, only these packets contain bars of soap with firm instructions to use them more than twice a month. (Don't groan, you knew I'd use the "French are stinky" punch line, however hackneyed it may be)

Some of you more resilient readers who made it this far may now be thinking "great, identity-crisis boy here has not only disowned his own culture, he's now embarrassed to be an American." To those thoughts I spread my buttcheeks and empty the contents of my colon on them - in a literary sense of course. Many recent events have given me greater pride to be an American. My vice-like embrace on civil liberties that allow me pontificate on current issues with articles carrying on a pompous undertone (like this article for example) matched only by the self-preening one might find in a Gloria Allred press conference won't be relaxed any time soon. I absolutely believe personal freedoms, American or otherwise, should be defended. Except that right now, it's not under attack. Our relevance as a country is, however, and not from any foreign source. It's happening within our own borders and that relevance is being subverted by the people we elected to represent us. They must be stopped. Or at least, severely bitchslapped.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 6:03 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I'm getting old.

That thought keeps recurring with more frequency these days as I continue to play sports or work out on a regular basis. There was a time in my early 20s when I could play tennis, volleyball, or football for two or three hours and not be at all sore the next day. Stretch? P'shiaw ok, whatever.

Now, if I don't want pull anything, I have to stretch beforehand and if I don't want to be sore the next day, I have to stretch afterwards. Signs of aging? Or perhaps it's the case of me not being as good a shape as I used to be, as one friend tried to point out. (Yeah thanks for the poignant observation you slow-running bastard.) That can't be the case as I'm as well conditioned as I've ever been (though I should point out that "well conditioned" for me means I can chase down a drop shot without needing oxygen afterwards... your mileage my vary) especially since that this is the first time I've been under 200lbs in almost six years. That reminds me of a conversation I had with my buddy PK while hiking through Catalina last summer, during one of our breaks where I was cramping and sucking wind:

Me: You know what's sad? At my age I should be in the best shape of my life right now.
PK: That's true.
Me: You know what's sadder?
PK: What?
Me: Right now, I AM in the best shape of my life.
PK: (Chuckling) that's also true.

Not that a little soreness ever killed anyone. I'm one of those odd types that actually like being a little sore, kinda gives me the feeling that I actually put in some effort doing whatever it was I did to cause this soreness. You athletic types might know what I'm talking about. It especially feels good to stretch a little and feel that slight pain of your muscles being loosened up. It's a good pain actually. No I'm NOT into S&M. Shut up.

It also startled me when I realized a while back that some professional athletes who are five to six year veterans of their sport are still younger than I am. Ugh. I don't know what's worse, that or seeing athletes I watched years ago retiring.

Speaking of which, just so I can date myself even more, I heard recently that The Police, The Clash, and AC/DC were all inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Huh?! Has it been 25 years already? (For the uninitiated, artists can't get nominated for induction until 25 years after their debut album.) Seeing the bands I listened to in my youth now being honored in this manner is great for classic rock fans like myself but to realize that they've been around for that long a perioud of time is, in my mind, worse than finding gray hairs on your head.

But I digress. If there's one positive in all this, it's that my metabolism hasn't slowed down. If anything, it seems to have sped up a little. I still have the ability to put away scary amounts of food, which for better or worse, has always been one of my more unique trademarks. God help me the day I utter the words "anyone wanna finish off my fries?"

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:37 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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Horry you magnificent bastard, I saw your buzzer-beater!

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 3:14 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I went bowling for the first time in a while last Saturday and it wasn't just any type of bowling, it was EXTREME BOWLING!!! It's bowling with the lights dimmed, strobe lights going, and loud music played over the speakers. That's like, way rad, man. And even better, it costs more to play! If it sounds like I'm being sarcastic, I am. And it's not that I don't enjoy bowling, I actually enjoy it, but this type of atmosphere doesn't really do it for me. I'm just not a big fan of the nightclub scene and it seemed that this was what the bowling alley was trying to achieve. That and the dimmed lights made the hash marks on the lane impossible to see.

Other than that, it was actually a lot of fun. While the act of bowling itself is fun, I was never very good so it's more about hanging out and having fun than keeping track of points (me keeping score in bowling is akin to some geeky sci-fi nerd keeping track of the number of drinks thrown in his face while trolling the Conga Room - which come to think of it, is probably another reason I don't like night clubs.) Everyone had a unique style to their game, with IE being the most entertaining, having an approach resembling a duck waddle. Being as it I was playing against a couple of more experienced bowlers, I experimented with my curveball somewhat and had a pretty decent groove going in the second game before reverting to my old form of throwing gutterballs.

There was a nice little competition between IE and MS for second place while JK seemed to have first place locked up. JK lost steam at the end and the other guys caught up and came within a few points of claiming first. As it turned out, GR came roaring back at the end and somehow managed to win the whole thing. This despite the fact that she threw almost as many gutterballs as I did. Where was I in all this? Battling EK for the second-to-last spot. And who got that spot? Me! Yeah baby! Who da man?!

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:46 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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