Friday, November 05, 2004

Kerry Down in Flames

So, the election's over (for all intensive purposes) and it looks like Dumbya has gotten a second term. Sad. No matter what happens in Ohio, is there really any doubt who's gonna run away with this thing yet again? FEAR will rule again the next four years. Get ready. To me, the midterm 2006 elections can't come soon enough. Slainte!

Monday, October 18, 2004

Republican Family Values

So, today at work, this woman comes up to the counter with her young son (around 4 or 5?). She's wearing an F$U baby doll top with a button that says "The First Family" and has a picture of Dumbya and the lady who was stupid enough to marry him. (Hello, can you please be wearing anything else to make me dislike you more?!?!) Anyway, she says she's mailing a package to her mother. On the package are several Bush-Cheney stickers and she asks me if it's okay to mail such things. "It's a free country," I felt like replying. The son asks why she's mailing such a thing when grandma is for John Kerry. "It's just a joke," the mother replies. "Why does grandma like Kerry?" the kid later says, to no response from the mother. Finally, as I'm wrapping up the transaction, the kid says, "You know, I don't think I like grandma." Nice. Republican family values at thier finest. The citizens of Williston are doomed!

Monday, October 11, 2004

Vote for Change!

Just got back from a gathering down at Vision Farm in McIntosh. We saw parts of the "Vote for Change" concert in Washington, DC. Let's hope there will be change November 2nd (there, Eddie Vedder, I got the date right!), as I saw many, many people out there who are hoping for it. Kathleen, in the future, if you need a techy-type guy, please let me know in advance and I'll be more than happy to volunteer my services. :-)

G'night all...until next time.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Back after a long absence...

Well, things have certainly changed much since my last post on here. We've had two hurricanes pass through Gainesville, each knocking down two sizeable pine trees in our backyard. Needless to say, playing Paul Bunyan almost everyday gets quite old. We purchased a chainsaw the week before Jeanne roared though here and the log-clearing job is well underway. I just hope we can finish before they stop hauling off all of the oversized logs.

I've been meaning to go canvassing sometime soon, but my schedule has simply not allowed for it. Getting every voter out of the polls this election season is vital, though. I hope to get to canvas soon for the likes of Kerry/Edwards, Dave Bruderly (for congress) and Betty Castor (for senate). Betty will be here in Gainesville this Friday for a fundraiser.

Speaking of public appearances, we haven't been short on those lately despite the hurricane stuff that's taken up most of our time. Michael Moore was here last Monday night speaking to a packed house at the O'Connell Center (12,000+!!!). Then, the effervescent Dick Cheney appeared at our local Harley Davidson dealership last Wednesday. Finally, The Dave Matthews Band sold out the O'Connell Center with their "Vote for Change Tour" stop here with Ben Harper, Jurassic 5, and others.

There's also a slew of great people who have been fighting the good fight leading up to the November 2nd election. Dave Bruderly, whom I mentioned above, has his own blog about current events. If you're in the Sixth Congressional District in Florida, hopefully you'll give him your vote:

Bruderly For Congress

That's about it for now. I believe I will at least get some refreshments together and take them down to the local Kerry/Edwards HQ...it's the least I can do towards bringing some semblance of our country back again.

Ta-ta for now. I'll try not to be such a stranger...

Monday, August 02, 2004

Rush in Tampa...the end of my week of concerts.

Much continued busy-ness here, with a primering job of the family room just begun yesterday after getting back from a weekend in St. Pete with John, Pete, and Mark. We stayed at my former roommate's place. She wasn't around, having taken her daughter to Disney World for the weekend. Knowing our trials and tribulations, it was probably for the best. We did party with her husband Dan, though. Seems like a cool guy. They definitely have a mackin' pad -- thirtysomethings living among retirees. Gotta love it!

Rush was great on their 30th Anniversary Tour. Cowie went the night before in West Palm, where he caught a unique show since it was Geddy Lee's birthday. Tampa's show was great though. Before we left, I saw a bit of a campaign speech that Dubya was giving in Missouri. All these ppl were there chanting "four more years!" while he told lie after lie. Like "most Americans get their health insurance from their work" and that high health care costs were the result of frivilous lawsuits. Whatever!

On the way down to Tampa, after picking up some Burrito Bros. along the way, we caught a bit of a debate between the 3 democratic candidates running for Bob Graham's senate seat. I'm still totally pulling for Betty Castor, but Deutch and Penelas did have their moments in the sun. Betty's mention of putting more aid on the table for grad students caught great cheers from everyone in the car. Maybe then I can finally finish my masters here at UF. Someday.

That's about it. A week of work lies ahead, but there is yet another concert this Thursday: Jay Farrar at Common Grounds. Since Michelle will be out of town at a conference, I'll have a spare ticket. Any takers? ;-) Also, my friends Ron & Mimi are hosting a presentation on the asian elephant on Friday. Should be worth going to as well.

Off to bed and then to a week of once again going postal and primering the fam room. Joy!

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Sarah McLachlan in Atlanta...wow!

[We also went to see the Curiosa festival in Tampa last Sunday night. I will post on that as I get time. Too many concerts in one week for me. ;-p Rush on Friday. Woohoo!]

Well, now that I got a few hours sleep, I figure I can post a bit on last night's show. Sarah's show
was phenomenal. It was great to meet and hang out with some new fumbler friends. Lora and her
brother Matt showed up at our meeting place (Mama Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant in downtown
Atlanta) first. They drove all the way from Huntsville, AL (not a far as we did from Gainesville, but still a haul!). We also got to meet Anya and Stoneface. It was great to really meet both of them for the first time. We did almost meet Anya once when we were on the UT campus in Knoxville, but we we're patrons of the rival football team in town, so we more than understand. Really we do. ;-)

After Ninfa's, we hoofed it over to the Philips Arena for the main event. All of us picked up our tickets and we were all in the first five rows! :-o Stoneface and Anya had the best seats, with second row center, but we weren't bad either with row 5 stage left.

Sarah's band was superb, playing a whole slew of songs from her last 3 studio albums. We did have glowsticks for the opportune moments (since there are no more raves here in Gainesville, ya gotta use 'em for something, right?), and Sarah seemed happy to see them. Her band was in fine form, with veteran bassist Brian Minato and husband/drummer Ash Sood holding the rhythm down. Guitarists Sean Ashby and Luke Doucet added panache (wow, when was the last time I used that word?) to Sarah's performance. Keyboardists Dave Kershaw and Vince Jones along with vocalist Kathryn Rose rounded out the lineup. All except the latter are veterans of Sarah's band, either of the recent or distant past. Rose is a welcome addition, adding a solid personality to the mix. As Lora mentioned in her blog, Sarah's guitar pick drop was quite humorous for those who caught it, but one of the most memorable moments came during the first encore when Sarah had a bit of fun with glitter. During "Ice Cream," Rose was standing in front of us with a small cup in her hand while she was singing. I immediately thought it was an adult beverage of some kind, especially after reading the exploits on her blog! :-p At the end of the song, I found out its true purpose, however, when Rose cast it to the sky, letting glitter fly across the stage. When Sarah returned to center stage, she picked up a piece of glitter, licked it, and stuck it in the middle of her forehead! That's where it remained the remainder of the show. I wish I was able to get a picture or two of her after that point, but ushers were being quite adamant against the use of flash photography, which was really understandable from the musicians' points of view. I did manage to click around and get a few pictures and will show them soon.

For now, though, it's back to watching the Democratic Convention roll call. I do have some parting words for the folks we met yesterday evening, however:

Anya - glad to see your strong support (and tight t-shirt :-p) for John Kerry. Let's make it a reality in November! We'll buy you a pint at McSorley's this fall if all goes well.

Lori - it was great seeing you as well. Your brother Matt seemed like a very cool guy. Hopefully we can do it again real soon.

Stoneface - the enigma is finally revealed! :-) Thanks so much for making our humble fumblerumble. ;-) Sorry you guys got stuck with those xtra tix, especially considering their location. :-o I see you enjoyed the show immensely, though. Hopefully you won't wait another 15 years for another concert! ;-)

That's all for now. G'nite all!

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

A beginning...

With all the talk about this blog thing, I figured I'd give it a whirl. I'll post more info as I have time. Oh yeah...working 6 days a week sucks ass!