Warning: Lack of Sleep Causes Rants

I don't care...

I hate this freaking three hour time change. It sucks. It just kicks your ass... If you are used to going to bed at 11 it's really 2 and if you need to wake at 6 it's actually 3. What the hell?

Apparently there was a crisis at my home this morning 3000 plus miles away from here. Turns out it was spilled pipe glue from that pipe I fixed a couple of weeks back. Hotel pipes don't seem to break but my toilet needed plunging the first night. I wonder what was stuck.

Things are cheaper on the east coast then in California. I guess the bad economy hasn't swept through these parts.

I saw a dude with a Maserati go into a convenience store and ask for 20 $1 bills. A Maserati? It was like noon or something. He needed that many singles at the strip club mid day? C'mon. The dude was in a real expensive car and he needed... singles? Dude.

I had two Guinnesses along with the normal meds I take daily. Combined with no sleep in three days, it feels kind of good. Either that or I have turned into a light weight over here.

I took a picture of one of Trumps condo towers. It would be posted here if I felt like it. I don't feel like it. I really don't. So... click here.

I hate 80 degree weather in January.

I feel 2000 light years away...

No Direction Home...

Finally made it. Only 9 hours of traveling. At least the hotel was close to the airport.

I am done. Spent. Kaput. Over. It's 3pm on the west coast and it is almost dark here. Guess where I am?

(Family excluded from competition) Where is my damn mojito?

Longtime...

For the older generation reading this blog... The Greatest Rock Band of All Time

What a quick weekend! I get home Thursday night and it seems like I leaving again. I hate flying out on Mondays. I get so much anxiety before I leave especially on Mondays. Tuesdays are easy because you get into the week. Mondays though... it impinges on your Sundays which makes you take it easy on Saturdays and Fridays. Gee what day did I leave out?

All goes as planned I'll be dipping my toe into the Atlantic Ocean sometime tomorrow. I won't need a coat on this trip which is cool. Good times. I'll recap my experiences if anything blog worthy happens. Usually it does.... we all know that! (I will NOT be in Boston!!)

The Peet's Coffee Interview

So...

My Saturday ritual of taking Elijah out to Peet's Coffee got an interesting treat this morning. We walked in as usual and ordered coffee and a croissant (not the usual cinnamon roll, that would be redundant. Anyway, so I noticed this blond chick and this like Carrot Top looking dude interviewing patrons. This Peet's is in the heart of Midtown Sacramento, I figure they were interviewing about the war or Obama's chances at beating the neighborhood choice candidate Ralph Nader that Communist lady that runs every year. To think anyone would look at McCain or Huckabee in these parts. I mean, one block from the gay bars, across the street from the liberal activist paper and home to many earthy people and college students. Despite my right leanings I feel at home with this people. I even dress the part with holey jeans and sandals. The Porsche Cayenne and the leather jacket let anyone know that I am a poseur anyway and that I need to get my ass back to where I came from as soon as I enjoy my coffee.

Well, Peet's takes a little bit to make your coffee, not like Starbuck's who busts their ass to see how fast they can make it which usually leads to errors like forgotten shots of espresso, weird tastes and soy milk accidentally being substituted for real whole fat milk.

So Elijah and I are sitting there enjoying a father and son moment. I was glancing at an article about a local home builder who gave a new home to two soldiers fighting in Iraq. Then it was like...

"Hi... Well look who knows what a camera is?"

I gave the defensive "oh shit... here we go, am I not interested or need to leave now?"

"What a cutie!! Just so you know...", the interviewer says, "We don't work for Peet's but we are doing an independent marketing study for Peet's Coffee."

"Ok", I say (So they do work for Peet's under a work for hire but not for the actual store, those liars)

"So why do you come to Peet's?"

"It's good..." Blank stare... What more did she want?

"What is it about Peet's you like?"

"Quality." (Note there are only four possible answers relating to Quality, Convenience, Price and Safety... No one comes to a gourmet coffee shop for Price and Safety so that removes two right off the bat, I bet 75% of the respondents associate with Quality and a select few say they live around the corner or something... Hating Starbucks relates to quality... I know this marketing trap I am in right now!)

"What is it about quality that you like?"

"Uhh... (do I need to answer this again?) It's good...(Quick... what's a good thought provoking answer?) It's consistent. Peet's sells a consistent product."

"What do you mean by consistent?"

(Exactly that.) "Uhh... It always tastes good" (Circular argument back to Quality... Bravo Steve!)

"Why do you come to Peet's? What makes you come here instead of over coffee places?"

(Real answer: Hot chicks usually working here) "Um... it's nice... I don't feel rushed, like at your major, unnamed competitor's stores which you can find more convenient than Peet's."

I said that while looking into the camera... the interviewer felt good when I said that. You could tell. Then I signed a consent form stating that I can be on their website or something. We'll see... it would be funny if I was. My classic, thought provoking answers... uhhh...

Steve Blogs Another Blog Entry

Awesome Video

It is all about redundancy and airports. Airports are redundant in their processes. It's all the same. You go in one door... drag bags to a counter to get your ticket or if you are smart you have already purchased your ticket and have headed right to the gate. The gate where you wait. Wait to wait to get checked off with a legit ID. Then choose a line to pile your stuff onto a conveyor. 311. Three oz of liquid in one container in one, one gallon sized bag... Too much to remember for some I guess. There is always an old lady with too much. The scanner, you separate your laptop from your bags and your bags from your hands and shoes from your feet into separate tubs. The tubs go through the xray machine as you go through the metal detector. Don't forget your boarding pass as you pass through the detector. Shoes back on your feet, laptop back into the bag and the bag back into your hands as you go to your gate and wait. Redundancy never ends when you begin your next flight.

The Storms of 2008!!!

Look out LA!!! You could receive a 1/2 inch of rain!!! WOW!!! Oh my God!!! Quick!!! Stop the rest of the world.

That's what it seems like. I made a quick jaunt to Southern California before I head back home tomorrow. The news in LA is a joke. Dramatic, dramatizations with weather people standing on some street corner in Long Beach showing everyone in LA who isn't outside what the weather is like. The news headlines: "The Storm of 2008" And there is snow!!!! The Grapevine is shut down so there is no way I could even drive home. And oh, those rain soaked hills... barren from the fires...

The over-dramatic nature of the news down here is so unreal. The even interrupted a rerun of 'That 70's Show' with a warning that it was going to rain!!! What a joke! It has been raining since I left my home in No Cal and it will continue to rain when I get back. No harm either. Just normal winter rainfall that we get every year (mostly).

Give it up Hollywood!!!

Steve Calls His Shot, Literally...

Yeah...

Um... So like I am in Vegas (again)... And like, so I told all these people that I was going to play roulette one time. And during that time I was going to put $20 on #22 and if it hit, it hit and I would walk from the casino. Just freaking leave with my winnings.

I had been roughed up at the black jack table a little... I was down like $75. Not bad but I wanted to play longer and it went quickly down the tubes on me.

So all my co-workers, some who I had told prior that I would play $20 were there. I watched one spin. I looked in my pocket and I had $30 in chips. I grasped them all in my hand and I held them tight. The spin was over... I watched the dealer pay out and I took one final look. I reached over and placed $20 right on 22. I took the other two $5 chips and as a "safety" bet (it's roulette... the worst game in the casino, nothing is safe here) and I split them off of 22 with a corner and a side bet.

Then I waited as the dealer spun the ball... Never once looking in the direction of the wheel. I took a sip of water and watched the board as people made last minute bets. Never once did I sit down... nothing.

I heard the ball bounce to a stop and I saw the marker in the dealers hand move.... Right on top of 22. I don't know what came over me but I yelled, "Holy fucking shit" at the top of my lungs and nearly spit my water out over the table at the same time.

I picked up all the chips when the pit boss cleared the way and I turned and walked. Maybe it was the lucky Tommy Bahama shirt I got for Christmas... the leather jacket, or God just flat out telling me to be happy. One guy whom I had told two or three times that I was going to do this... saw this and literally looked at me like I was the Messiah.

I think the total win was just over $800. But there you go on top in the picture...$875. Happened less than an hour ago...

I can't explain... normally I am numb when I walk with $500 in chips at blackjack or hitting 30:1 at Casino Hold 'em or something or when I win a big hand with my friends. I felt nothing though but some guilt a little. I am a small time when it comes to gambling. $100 at a time and if I am done, I am done. $100 is gone... I am gone. But something happened here that I cannot explain and I am taking the money and putting it the BANK!!

Anti-Guitar Hero...

Even with a bum left hand I still have time to blow all you guitar hero wannabe's away with my skillz... I even did it by ear foolz. Though I think it is a half step higher... Total time to record: 2 minutes 53 seconds... mixing and making everything sound right... a lot of time.

This song is off of Weezer's second album. One of the best albums they ever created. A must have. Not to sound egotistical but I am about as close to Rivers version on the album. That whole album was about rejection and hate. Was kind of cool back in college when it came out. Mine is scratched and won't load fully onto my Apple. Still plays though...

Bonus: I took the picture of the butterfly at Disneyland.

A Perplexing Thing: The Shakes...

The next chapter in the pain saga: The Shakes!!

Woo Hoo fun!

About two weeks ago, I noticed that if I hold a magazine, work with tiny things (shut up!), or hold my iPod up to see what song is on in my left hand, my pinky and ring finger on my left hand starts shaking. It's not a tense thing. I mean, if we all reach out and tense our hands we shake. No this is different. If I reach out and simply do something with my hands unconsciously, the fingers shake. I can control it with my medicine, after all, it is an anti-convulsant but I have to max out the dosage at 6 pills a day. I was taking three to four. When you hit six... holy crap.. your world changes. I was reading up on it and you eventually get used to it and I think I am after the last few days. It puts you in a weird field.

I wonder what it is. All the websites indicate it a few things: The scary one... Parkinson's (Percent chance at 34 is extremely low, but my G-pa had it so... whatever) Then there is a smashed vertebrae between C6-C7 or C7 -T1 but how? I don't know... it's crazy. Didn't I have two MRI's that didn't say much about that? The last one is stress (here goes sister in law number one along with sister in law 2's best friend) Stress caused by A) The Chronic... I mean, chronic pain (Man I wish I had "the Chronic" good times) or B) Life and C) the aforementioned conditions.

How long have we been doing this now? I guess I just sit and complain about it sounds like but what else can I do. I constantly feel like stretching either on a plane or off or in the airport or when I get out of the car or every 10 minutes when I pick up my phone.

If it was my neck the right hand would probably do it too and the right hand is totally fine. It all started after I did the floor.

I wonder...

Things I Hate

Why not make a list of things that bother me?

Here goes:

1. Green Beans---Forced to eat them against my will at a Lutheran pre-school. Most strict Lutherans I have ever met.
2. Hillary Clinton---Do I need to go into it? (Go Obama!!)
3. Lou Dobbs on CNN---What a hack!! This guy is trying so hard to be the liberal version of Bill O'Reilly and his problem is that he has to try? Give it up Lou... you are old
4. Toyota Prius---Sure save the environment, battery powered-electric cars, yada yada yada... Do they have to make them so freaking ugly? I don't get it? I looks like a modern Trabant. Is it going forward or backward?
   
5. The Recession---The only reason there is a recession is because the media keeps talking about it.
6. Hillary Clinton's beliefs---Do we really want someone that believes what she does in charge of this country? I mean, this isn't Bill part 2. This is the scariest thing facing America at this time.
7. Hannah Montana---If my kid ever falls into the manufactured starlet thing I am cutting off his allowance (as if he'll ever get one). It's in your face everywhere you look and does she have any talent? Radiohead has talent. Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter...no!!
8. The shakes--- My left fingers (ring and pinky) shake occasionally. It's probably something I am going to have to deal with soon. Which sucks... so I put it at number 8.
9. Bad wine---Ever have someone buy you wine, tell you it's good and when you open it, it sucks. But you think it is a bad bottle so you open another and it sucks too. I think bad wineries should be put out of business. Anyhow...
10. Suped up Honda Civics---Why? It's a Honda Civic!!!

There you are... A list of things I hate...AKA... I felt I needed to post something and decided to WASTE your time into reading it. I got more to write when I get back in town.

My Hero!

Funny Kid Isnt Sorry About Huge Party - Watch more free videos

Every now and then someone comes along in life and touches your soul. This guy is freaking AWESOME!!!!!!!!
I love him!!! He can make single-handedly make MTV cool again!!!

(Dig the ending, freaking classic!)

For Unforeseen Ceiling Kalamaties

Yep, rats!

I finished the last post below. And I was sitting back... kicking it on the couch. Then... "drip". Ignored it at first. I thought it was the speakers on my surround sound popping because of some bad broadcast. Then "drip, drip..." Hmm... What is going on? I looked up at the half finished ceiling panels that I have yet to complete. Nothing out of the ordinary... I looked at the wall... nothing. I stood up... Wet carpet!!! Oh Shit!!!

So I got up and took a closer look at the ceiling. I started poking it with my finger and suddenly I felt where it was wet. "WTF?" I thought. Where could the water be coming from? I went up stairs to the kitchen and looked under the sink. It was the obvious spot since it was above the basement. Nothing... dry as Utah on a Sunday. This time I went outside and looked at the pipes entering the basement. Well there was only one at it was a gas pipe. So I went back inside and this time I decided to drill two one inch holes to see if I could see what's up. I did. And then shined a flashlight up one so I could see through the other. I found the gas pipe but I also found the 2" Pipe that discharges from the sink and it was all wet.

At about this time I realized my ceiling was gone at least in this section. So I got out the Saws All and started cutting. I found that the 2" Pipe had a decent sized hole in it. At least a 1/2 inch. Holy Crap I thought... Then I stuck my finger in it. What had happened was the sheet rock and the pipe and all the crap that comes out of our sink formed an almost tight seal. And when I stuck my finger through the hole.

I seem calm at this point right? Actually I was panicked in a big way. I woke up DW and Elijah... I was yelling this and that... Well.. whatever... As soon as I stuck my finger through the hole a gush of liquid came out. All the liquid in the pipe. Knowing this was the drain pipe was one thing... but seeing the gush of water, I thought the water was on. We three waste baskets catching the water so it hardly wet the carpet.

I ran out and shut off the water just in case.

Since I had the ceiling apart. And the saw out. I cut out the section with the hole in it, to see if it would leak more... like maybe I had a bigger problem. Nope. I got a closer look at the pipe. Teeth marks!! A freaking rat had chewed through the pipe... Then I remembered... I heard rats in the house a few months back. Since my wife is borderline PETA I couldn't put in rat traps. So I bought that food where they "leave in search of water". Anyhow... This little bastard chewed my pipe for water and found it.

I flew down to Home Depot with pipe. I walked in and for the first time I found everything I needed in one trip to the hardware store. One section of pipe, 2 feet long no less. Two couplers, some pipe glue (We can use PVC Lawryde since it doesn't freeze in warm, sunny California) I found 2X2 foot sections of dry wall and I was all set. $25 and about an hours work and I got it all together. I need to put up that spackel crap and some dry wall tape to make it look pretty and we are all set.

I am a pretty shit carpenter and plumber

Saturday Afternoon Post

Eric Burdon and the Animals

My left arm has been feeling weird the last few days. It's not pain necessarily it is weakness and a vibrating that peaks in my forearm but really goes from my finger tips to my neck. It's that feeling you have just after you shook the pins and needles out of your leg or something when it falls asleep. It's the end of the pins and needles, that cold kinda of dark, weak feeling. When I was in Denver the other day I got out of a car that I had been driving in for a few minutes and I headed into the restaurant. I sort of fell to a hand rail on my left. I felt all week. I just fell. Kind of weird, especially when every disease that cause that I have been tested for; all negative tests I might add. WTF?

Watching Green Bay and Seattle play football while I work mad finishing some reports for work. I gotta lot of shit to get done for people. I just keep plugging away though. I thought I would
take a break and do some typing.

Funny story regarding Elijah this morning. I took him out for coffee like I always do on the weekends. He is getting so good at walking so I let him down to follow me into Peet's Coffee. It's a long sidewalk to the store so he is totally safe. And he loves to just walk so we walk slowly to the store.

So we head in and I hold the door. We walk to the counter and I order my Latte and a Cinnamon roll. Elijah loves it! He stays close and we walk to sit while the coffee is being made. I sit down in a chair at a small round table and Elijah climbs up and sits down like me at the table. I notice this dude and his woman with their kid sitting and enjoying coffee. The dude looks at me all inquisitive and shit.

"Hey..." he says, "How old is your son?"

I am shocked because Elijah is usually confused as being my daughter because he is such a pretty boy.

"Um...17 months?" I say...

"Wow...", he says, "I wish my son can do that. My son is over 2 years old and we have to help him do everything."

"That sucks, "I say, and I just turned and handed Elijah a piece of the roll. Not paying attention to that family the rest of the time. I showed another cool trick. I left Elijah in his seat and walked the 5 feet away to get my coffee. Elijah sat smiling and eating his cinnamon roll.

I felt superior...

My left hand hurts now so this story ends now...

Twins Separated At Birth Marry!!!

This is the worst possible thing that could happen. (Click to read the article)

The identities of the twins and details of their relationship and marriage have been kept secret, but it was known they were separated soon after birth and never told they were twins.

Could you imagine a brother and sister separated at birth, falling in love and marrying? Oh my God!!!

The implications are hilarious... It was England too so you know they like, "Did it" before they were married! And now they have to live the rest of their lives like brother and sister.

This makes things like holiday gatherings difficult. Also the article indicates they are keeping the secret but wow, you know close people know. I'd be sick to my stomach!

Back Home...

Finally... a grueling week almost ends. I started on Tuesday with a flight out to Colorado and once I landed I never stopped. Late nights and early rises. I won't delve into what I did the whole time because I won't. I'll just say I stood in front of people and talked a lot about what I know.

The flight was easy coming back. A lady sat next to me and she was nice. The flight attendant talked me into buying her a drink. I tried to say no but other passengers started rooting for me as the lady looked for her credit card. I sat back and silently said, "Fuck it! Get me a Scotch too..."

In Colorado, it was really cold and this white sort of icy stuff fell from the sky. I didn't know what to do so I ran and hid from it. Scary shit. I wonder what it was. It covered my rental car and froze to it. The ice scraper that the rental car company gives didn't work so I used my hotel key. Hotel keys have a lot of purposes.

I haven't seen Elijah or DW since Monday night... They were not awake when I got home.

I thought of more ideas for some songs. Still thinking it through. The hard part is matching lyrics to melodies. The music side is actually easy if I choose the right key.

Anyways... "Hi, what's up?"

Steve Watches Elijah

This is actually part two... Part one isn't as funny... If I sound like I had a massive cold... I did. All the stuff is out of the room when I did the floor. It's funny and Elijah is great.

Enjoy...

Random Thoughts, Take Two...

This is post 511. Mickey Mantle hit 511 homeruns. If you add 511 together as in 5+1+1, it equals 7 which is the number of no hitters Nolan Ryan pitched. It is also the 7th of January. If you add 1 for January and the 7th for the date it equals 8, which is the time right now.

I sawed up my fence today that blew down... Funny story, my 92 year old neighbor said that she put up the fence to block out the people that lived here 20 some odd years ago. I was fascinated by that. She has offered to pay for half...but I cannot do it. I'd feel bad... I use the fence not her. Besides it would be a great enclosure to keep Elijah safe at play when he is older. I admire her because she lives by herself at 92.

I enjoy tobacco when I gamble. Chew really... I love the "Cope" but Skoal is also good. I get really buzzed because I rarely do it. I do it to hide the shakes I get with a big hand during poker. If I am always shaking it sorta hides the poker face. Cigars are fun too but rare... Cigarettes burn my lungs. I think I have smoked 5 or 6 in my life. The last thing I need are stimulants.

Teeny came over to visit Elijah. She sat in Elijah's chair. She didn't look small in it. Just normal. I am still trippin' over that. Dig the low top boots!!

Elijah can point out different parts of his body. His eyes, nose, mouth, head, ears, hands and feet. We are starting on Elbow now. He discovered the turtle and can say turtle now.

The floor came out good and it is holding solid but the trim pieces are coming loose. I need 1 1/4" nails.


I ate a bowl of Kix cereal every day since New Years and lost 5 lbs. Top that!!!

Nothing rhymes with Orange.

The song I am working on is in the key of D. I borrowed the chord pattern from part of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Tuesday's Gone. That song is in the Key of A. I had to transpose it a 5th down or a 4th up, depending how you look at things. I like down because I reduced the sharps in the key signature from 4 to 2. I like the sound of the B minor chord too. Bridging it is easy off of E minor. I need a good chorus pattern now... Like you all fucking care!!!

College Football officially ends tonight. LSU is winning 24 to 10. I am not watching as I do not care. Go buckeyes!!!

Are any of you Lutheran?

I can play my iPod in the new car.

Elijah can officially remove one baby gate. I need to do something different there since it is the stairs.

I just got the electric bill. $86. I am not burning enough carbon these days.

Elijah's toys all play different versions of the same nursery rhymes. Most are in the key of C. I don't know why I know that...but I checked a lot of them out on the guitar to be sure.

I have been listening to REM the past few days. I like the song Wake Up Bomb off of New Adventures of Hi Fi. Something about the title jives with me. Do you have a song you jive with?

Elijah is playing with his Mickey Mouse... I am going to convince him that it is Modest Mouse, the band... That would be cool.

I think our cat Jack is gay. I am not sure though because Flea won't let him near him. Probably because Flea isn't gay. I am not sure... Jack is cool though. He sleeps on my side of the bed.

I thought this video below was extremely funny (My guitar hero addicted Sister In Law needs to actually click and watch this):



My favorite at 2:26. The end is classic!

Should We Talk About The Weather?: Steve's Analysis On Song Writing

A line from some REM... that is where I got part of that title from. I think it was Pop Song or something like that... Anyhow... I think it is a good line that you remember from a song mostly...

Or is it?

See... that is an issue I am debating lately as I listen to my iPod on 10 browsing different things on the net that have no apparent correlation to each other.

The first song I think I played on this latest random shuffle was "Think It Over" by Buddy Holly.

Okay, Buddy I have thought it over and you were like the greatest song writer in pop music history. Why you were so good? Well... You did something exciting that countless people knowingly (The Beatles) or unknowingly (Green Day) copied millions of times over intriguing our psyche over and over. Simple songs... simple progressions... music know how... Hook, line... and sinker (the crazy glasses)

But really is that all a good song needs? A simple 3 chord pattern? Tonic, Sub Dominant and Dominant Harmony played over and over...

Well... then my iPod rolls into the Beatles' "And I Love Here" And yeah... you have the simple altered version of that progression... with a bridge of minor chords separating choruses from verses. Minor chords brought color and emphasis to the standard blues patterned chords from early Buddy Holly or even go back, Hank Williams and Chuck Berry songs... It's the color that hangs us on the more modern songs. The sad emotion of a minor chord in an other wise happy tune influences what we remember. If it wasn't for this then bands like U2 or Coldplay would have nothing to exploit to make their songs sound so big, even if over simple progression with some minor chords because it's those minor chords and melodies that draw us into that anthemic rock.

But then there is the riff. Anyone of us can hum the main riff to "Satisfaction" Riffs make all that I discuss even bigger. As "Today" pops up from the Smashing Pumpkins on my iPod, I can think of thing through the whole song: That riff off of the 11th fret. The one riff that sounds like, unconsciously, like another big riff: Slash's from Sweet Child of Mine. Riffs draw us into a song with familiarity. As a pause and listen again to U2's With or Without You... it's the bass riff you carry away from the song after the melody. Think about all the songs you like? Is it a riff that moves you or the melody?

So you have your major progression, splashed with a minor chord progression bridge and embellishment of a catchy riff.

So what's next?

Well... prog rock screwed all that up because we yearn for themes in our music. Pink Floyd, Led Zepellin and The Who screwed all that up first. They made all that stuff I mentioned above bigger... but really to disguise what they were doing with extra sounds and themes. They still did all the above, but they hid it with different instruments, multiple guitar and piano tracks and finally splash in a little drugs. With all that... you don't get influence for better music... you get the cock rock of the 80's with the big hair, loud guitars and everyone thinking they were the next big thing, manufactured by producers who probably lugged Jimmy Page's guitar cases around the studio.

The rebellion of all this sappy crap brought us the Ramones who had the sense to go back to the beginning with Buddy Holly and start over. Bringing us the punk rock style we all know and love. Catchy melodies and riffs, played faster and faster with some lyrics now resembling some broken home political scam. Three chords, one speed... 2 minutes or less. With out punk... rock and roll would have died. We needed it. Punk brought honesty back from the fakers trying to be Zeppelin. It was new... It was neat. We gotta thank Buddy Holly for it too.


After all that... Add some Elvis Costello and his changes to that punk rock and prog rock and you get alternative rock. A true genuine musician... Elvis took valid Buddy Holly style and punk angst, mixed in his own musical know how to get an awesome song "Accidents Will Happen" just happens to be playing now... More mutations... more chords, add some jazz... And that amazing voice and you get hundreds of copycats throughout the 80's... grabbing onto his sound and adding some dance beats and blow drying their hair out. Without this Elvis, there is no Depeche Mode, Cure or Flock of Seagulls.

The fallout of all this crap brought us REM, Nirvana and the Pixies. The antithesis of all the above. Particularly the Pixies first than Nirvana... They didn't value any rules or stay in any key really... but what they did worked... Kurt Cobain broke every rule with the guitar and if anyone else tries to copy it, they fail miserably. The punk energy mixed with a new kind of rock and lots of screaming. So far from Buddy Holly and yet so close you can feel it. After the Pixies or Nirvana has anything else existed as real in the rock music world? Ever great band after Nirvana runs merely a distant second place.

So what does one do attempting to push love of music into this daily blog of telling you my feelings, generating a song or two out of it? Songwriting is a incredibly hard endeavor to take on. Everything I have written here is at the forefront of my mind when picking up a guitar... even though it's just a hobby... the weight is heavy. Maybe I shouldn't care so much and just do it.... The Dave Matthews song "You Never Know" song blares out my iPod with the line:

I find it hard to explain how I got here
I think I can, I think I can
And then again, I will falter

Total Carnage!!

South Central Rain by REM

We lost 30 feet or so of fence all the way to the back yard on one side of the house. And one of our storm windows on the porch blew out. I sat and waited until things were gonna cost me more than my time before I called in a claim.

I wanted some KFC so I drove out in the middle of this thing. Oh my God!!! Trees uprooted out of the ground. Branches fallen on houses and cars. It is flat out pandemonium. It's awesome. I am not the only one with a fence down. They are down all over the neighborhood.

And for those who don't believe it snows in California, here is a webcam. 10 feet expected in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

There are 1,000,000 people without power in the area. I-5 is closed by the Sacramento Airport. Flights are canceled.

And we ain't seen nothing yet.

Storm Warning...

Updated: Best Bob Dylan version of any song, Shelter from the Storm

One thing I never write about is the weather. I am a freak when it comes to meteorology. I love big weather events. Heat waves, cold snaps, rain and snowfall totals ...the bigger the number (or in case of the cold, the lower... I want to see it) I check the weather frequently. It's the first thing book marked on each computer and my Treo phone.

We are about to get nailed in No Cal. A series of storms are coming in and I am all giddy for it. They are talking about 70 mile an hour gusts this weekend... many inches of rain. I can't freaking wait for it!! I want to stand out in it cleaning my drains...helping the water gush down. The scary thing: Next to New Orleans, Sacramento is the worst region in the country when it comes to flood catastrophes. Bring on Anderson Cooper!!!

I'll be awake all night when I hear it coming. Seeing the trees blow... power outages. I love sitting at the window yelling "Holy Shit...Holy shit..." It's awesome. When I was a little boy living in the city we had this gutter that would plug because the people across the street would dump their used oil into it. And when it would rain... it would flood the gutter. The street would have like 7 inches of water on their side and I used to like watching the water fly when cars drove by.

Then in the country, behind my parents house was like this sheer cliff made of bedrock or something. And the water would saturate the sandy soil for acres around. The water would literally seep out of the side of the hill and gush over this wall of bedrock 50-60 feet until it hit the hill down into the valley and eventually into the lake. It was fascinating to see this after a big storm. Some poor bastard bought that property a few years ago and built a house on the track this water flows after a major storm. I wonder if he knows this is coming? This water fall is only 40 yards or so beyond my parents property line.

Mother nature is something else...

I don't know why....

Steve Attempts Guitar Hero

Watch as I turn into a dude with Tourette's syndrome. Sorry for the filming, seester in law was liquored up. I ended up scoring 98,000 on a Rage Against the Machine song because I rock. It was like the 5th song I played.

I felt so cheap playing it that I am dragging out my Fender DeVille Amp with the two 12's in it and hooking up my Gibson hollow body to cleanse my hands from the eternal cheapness I felt playing it.

I'll probably buy Guitar Hero III sometime...