Observations from Bryan...

...on today's drive to preschool.

"There are Starbocks in this world."

"There are ballcanoes in Texas."

"Our dog runs super fast. That's why she's old."

"The construction guys forget when they bury the cars."

This last one makes me think I should survey the yard for fresh shallow graves filled with Hot Wheels cars. The lawn guys are coming this afternoon and I would rather not play the home version of Will It Blend?

What a great day

It started with the abrupt, ear-shattering wailing of the smoke detector at 6 A.M.. 120 decibels. 6 A.M.. I'm up, I'm up! I'm not sure why it decided to blurt out like that... maybe it was just craving attention, but after three or four beep-beep-beeps, it stopped. Naturally, it freaked Bry out, so I spent the next three hours being kicked in the kidneys by a fidgety four year-old (which is still infinitely preferable to where I could be kicked). But it got better.

It was a glorious day and I got to play my favorite game--golf. I couldn't putt worth crap, but I came within four feet of a hole-in-one (I, of course, two-putted to blow the easy birdie). We then went to one of my favorite hamburger joints (Red Robin), where I had my favorite hamburger (the Royal Red Robin--bacon and eggs on a cheeseburger, because breakfast is the most important meal of the day) and my favorite beer (Blue Moon--I don't know what coriander is, but it and orange peel belong in beer). I then came home and grilled my favorite steaks (Delmonico) in my favorite marinade (chipotle pepper) and had more of my favorite beer. Sated on red meat and coriander, I'm feeling quite favorably. I'm sure tomorrow will be another story.

So, I can't believe no one had anything to say about my taste in quasi-classical music or B-52 porn. Ok, if it's more deep-fried twitchy fish you want...

[Note: I'm leaving this topic front and center because it's driving Scott nuts that I wrote about what I ate on July 14th. Snirtle]

Yeah baby!

I came across a video of the F-22 and thought it was pretty damn impressive. Lots of "alpha loops" and "power loops" and whatnot. Of course, you had Joe Cool Fighter Jock narrating, hands on hips, feet shoulder width apart as he assumed the Fighter Pilot Stance ™, followed by lots of talking with his hands. But who cares about the F-22 when you can watch a B-52! Check this out...

This first video has some nice footage. I always thought AC/DC's Hells Bells was the quintessential B-52-goin'-to-war song, but I guess Thunderstruck will do in a pinch.



Then I found this...



Check out the footage from 2:10 to 2:58 (4:13 to 3:24 on time remaining). I can't say for certain because all gun camera footage tends to look alike, but it seems awfully familiar. I'm thinkin' the Utah Test and Training Range, 1994. If only the pilot had said "knock it off," then I'd know for sure that I was that MF (we nearly smacked a mountain). I rarely make it a point to go into any detail about what I did while flying B-52s because it tends to make one's eyes glaze over and induces a catatonic state, but it's nice to be able to show the final product of my effort. So, daddy, what did you do when you flew B-52s? I upset the bad men in pointy airplanes and broke their toys. ;)

Mood Music, Part 1

In an effort to move the fish head post to "below the fold" (just for Scott, disturbed as he is), I thought I would ramble on about a few of my favorite songs. And, for your listening pleasure, feel free to right-click and save as on the various links. I won't tell if you won't.

A quick glance at my music library might suggest that I have fairly eclectic tastes. It's a library in which the Chemical Brothers happily coexist next to Peter Cetera and George Strait doesn't mind hangin' out with Fourplay. Intermingled among these fairly well-known artists are lesser known composers who have scored, in my opinion, some of the best orchestral arrangements for motion pictures, which one might call "modern American classics." Now, I don't know much about classical music, but I'm betting if Beethoven or Schubert were alive today, they would be writing music for the movies.

Of course, everyone has heard of John Williams. The guy's composed the music for just about every blockbuster known to man, but my favorite songs from John Williams come from the movie Saving Private Ryan. I think I'm a fairly stoic individual, but man, did that movie make me cry! It still chokes me up to think of that scene where Ryan is standing at the grave of Captain Miller, remembering the captain's last words of "earn this," then turning to his wife and asking "[t]ell me I've lived a good life. Tell me I'm a good man." As I recall, Williams' Hymn to the Fallen provided the background for that moment. Another haunting song from that movie is Omaha Beach, made more so by the sight of the carnage that was Normandy on D-Day.

A lesser known, but just as talented composer is Trevor Rabin. You wouldn't imagine a member of the rock group Yes would compose such great movie music. The Great Raid is another favorite movie of mine, mostly because James Franco did such an awesome job of portraying Captain Prince. The story itself still makes my blood boil. The tide had turned in the Pacific and the Japanese started executing Allied POWs rather than repatriating them as part of their surrender. The 6th Ranger Battalion was sent in to liberate the POWs located at Cabanatuan, and successfully rescued all but one. Most of Rabin's score for the movie was intended to evoke a mood, but his Closing Titles, which accompanied images of the actual raid, left a lump in my throat.

Rabin also penned the score for National Treasure. I'm not a big Nicholas Cage fan, but I loved this movie mostly because of the subject matter--the Declaration of Independence. The more you know about how the Declaration came into being, the less romantic it seems, but damn, what an audacious way to commit treason and tell the king to pound sand! I thought Rabin's Ben captured the drama of the story, silly as it was, while his Declaration of Independence captured, in my mind, the essence of what was one of the most dramatic periods in our country's history.

David Foster is one of those composers you've probably never heard of, but have definitely heard his music. In addition to writing and producing for the likes of Michael Jackson (eww!) and Peter Cetera, he's also penned the score to movies like St. Elmo's Fire and Stealing Home, though some of his best work can be heard on The Symphony Sessions. Lisa and I took one of our first vacations to Williamsburg, Virginia, and the songs from this CD are the soundtrack to those memories. Piano Concerto in G and The Ballet both make me think of the history of Williamsburg, walking into the Capitol and imagining the words of Patrick Henry and George Mason echoing in its chamber. Conscience evokes the memory of crushed stone crunching beneath our feet on that cool autumn day, while Time Passing is the memory of evening light streaming through the trees.

As the title suggests, this is part one of my tour through my music library. Hope you enjoy the tunes. :)

Yum!

Something tells me General Tso's Chicken isn't really Chinese food. After all, how can the same culinary culture come up with such a delectable dish as General Tso's Chicken and still produce "yin yang fish"? Yes, friends, deep-fried twitching fish. Yum!



Am I the only one thinking these immortal words?

Fish heads, fish heads
Roly poly fish heads
Fish heads, fish heads
Eat them up, yum!

Happy Birthday!

231 years old and she doesn't look a day over 200.

The skies over our fair city were alight with firework barrages as one neighbor would respond to another neighbor's volley with a bigger, better blast. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of gunpowder, and on two occasions, I was sent diving for cover with Bryan in my arms as instructions on the munitions, like "this side up," went unheeded by some of our firing party (Kelley!). And, all this happened in a city where the use of fireworks is illegal (but that doesn't stop the city from selling licenses to firework vendors). America--home of the free and the scofflaw. ;)