Making Bread

I plan on trying a Challah Recipe compliments of Josh. I'm going to get the kids to help me to give them something to do. Tracy's going to some art exhibit tonight in Orlando. Perfect way to entertain the kids.

Wow, I made some beef short ribs with tomato sauce the other day. Browned them, then let them cook for 4 hours in the sauce, and served them with pasta. I came out great... very tender.

New Years: I don't really remember anything after doing a shot of 160 proof bourbon with Eric, Rob and Bryan... I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one that doesn't remember much after that. There are some other interesting stories that I shouldn't share:) Overall a good time.

Christmas and stuff

Had a pretty good Christmas. Got a bunch of cool stuff... Mars Volta shirt, DVD's, gift cards... The kids liked everything Santa got them. Still need to go through the old stuff to make room for the new in their rooms.

I got a movie called Serenity on DVD. Awesome flick! I highly recommend it to any one who is a fan of science fiction or the show Firefly (it's based on this show) Kind of a more mature version of Star Wars... No goofy creatures... I also got 40 year old virgin and Fire in the Sky. Tracy got a bunch also so we have a lot of movie watching to do.

I ended up having the entire week off with the kids which was good. They behaved for the most part. The usual issues with them fighting and not listening... Just have to keep telling myself patience and consistency!!! Easier to yell and give them what they want so they'll shut up. But we're pretty good about it most of the time. As far as our kids go, I've seen worse.

Almost pulled it off

The Magic actually played a very close game against the 3rd best in the league, the Dallas Mavs. Went into overtime and got killed by Dirk... Good game though.

Going to a Christmas party at my sisters tonight. The kids will get their first gifts of the season. Yes, they end up having Christmas 3 times with all the different family we have to see. The big one of course is on Christmas here at the house. I fell we did pretty good this year. We didn't spoil them too much... Almost done with shopping. I still have to take the kids shopping for Mom, and I'm done.

Magic losing streak - Recording the band

Magic lose their fifth consecutive game. This time is was to the Bulls. A better team than the Magic without Grant Hill. SteveO was back but didn't do much... Howard had 17 points and 17 rebounds!! This guy is going to be good... We went to the Spurs Magic game on Monday, and they another loss as I predicted, but we did have a good time. The kids really enjoyed it. It was a pretty close game for the first three quarters, but Tim Duncan killed us in the 4th.

Last night we were able to finish the latest song we've been working on, and do a little recording. I setup mics around the room, and at the snare and bass drum. I really need to go direct from my amp and hook Eric up with a 57 directional. Other than that, the recordings came out decent. We were able to get through 2 of 3 songs without any major mistakes. One really good thing that came out of this is that I figured out why the PA was sounding like shit for the past few weeks. A few weeks ago we connected a CD player to the PA so we can listen to music after practice while we BS and drink a few beers... The CD player sounds great going through the PA, but the vocals were muddy and low volume. Last night I disconnected the CD player while we were recording. The vocals were loud and clear. The CD player must have been drawing power from the amp. Nice to know... So I finally have a good recording with vocals that we can hear.

This is really cool: Pandora

You can create your own radio station. Just type in a band or song you like, based on this it will start playing songs that are similar to what you typed in. It works great... I've discovered tons of new music this way. If it plays a song you don't like, just click on it and select "I don't like it" it's pretty amazing...

Free Saturday

The kids ended up spending the night at their Grandparents house on Saturday night, so Tracy and I had a night off. We went to Mimis for dinner, and caught a movie, the Ice Harvest afterward. Mimis is a really good place for dinner or breakfast. It's always pretty crowded. I got the Pasta Jambalaya, and Tracy got the Chicken Pot Pie. Both were very good... Made the movie just in time for the previews. The movie was pretty funny. You have to enjoy dark comedy's to like this one. I'd give it 3 out of 5.

Tonight we're taking the kids to the Magic game. They're playing the Spurs (lat years champs) and the Magic may be missing a few key players due to injuries, so it will more than likely be a loss. Should still be fun...

B-day

Cant believe I'm 38! We had a pretty good night last night. Went to the Outback for dinner, then just hung out at the house and drank Beer... Eric bought me a 6 of Shipyards Pumkinhead which was very good as expected. Got a decent steak at the Outback along with a couple of Fosters. I'm convinced that the Outback in Altamonte is WAY better than the one in Sanford that cant even cook at med rare steak properly. Everytime we've gone there they've screwed up my steak, and you don't want them taking it back because you'll have to wait another half hour to get your dinner. Anyway, it was a good experience this time. Tracy got me Orlando Magic tix for the game on Monday against the Spurs. The whole family's going. We're sitting in the lower section of the area which is really cool. And she got tickets for the Magic vs the Nuggets of our anniversary... My Wife is awesome!!!

Thanksgiving

Made my first Turkey... I cooked it until the breast was 170, and the dark meat 180. The breast meat was done fist so I took it out and carved it, popped the rest back in for a few more minutes. The biggest mistake that people make is overcooking the breast meat. It's going to be dry if it gets over 180 unless you brine it overnight before cooking. Next time that's what I'll do. 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of brown sugar per gallon of water.

Had a nice 4 day weekend, got to watch some good basketball games. The Magic have won 3 in a row!! They beat the Miami Heat on Saturday. The Heat is comprised of mostly all-starts this year, that makes this win better than the others this season. The Magic were not supposed to win this one. We should have a pretty decent team when Grant comes back...

This just in: Naked prowler shot in genitals with Taser by deputies near Fort Myers Beach!!

I love the Orlando Sentinel...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I took my Daughter and her friend to see the new Harry Potter film last night. Some friends of mine that saw the movie said that they didn't like the scene transitions. One review I read says that the Director "jams sequences together like bricks of LEGO" I didn't really notice it. Maybe that's because I didn't read the book. Not sure... This movies is definitely the most mature of the bunch, and way more intense than any of the others. Way scarier... The Dragon was awesome!! I recommend seeing this in the theater is possible.

Thanksgiving at my place this year. Got about 12 people coming over, got an 18 lb Turkey. I hope that's going to be big enough... Should be fun. I figure that I'll do a lot of drinking and eating, watch some Football... after cooking of course.

Magic play the CAVS tonight

Fran Vazquez over Sean May was not a great move by the Magic. Now some say that Fran may never play in the NBA due to his contract with his team in Spain. Sean May would have greatly improved this team. Really bad decision, but there's nothing anyone can do to correct it. So tonight they play in Cleveland against one of the better teams in the NBA. They almost beat em here in Orlando the last time they played so they have a chance...

De-Loused in the Comatorium

Eric made me a copy of this last week, I haven't stopped listening to it since.(I will buy this one) This is an amazing record, as good as Frances the Mute... Flea on Bass is a bonus... The music is pretty complicated, but still has emotion, not just a bunch of robots or mindless showoffs. They play with lots of soul. This is modern day Progressive Rock at its best. You can hear Yes, crimson, Pink Floyd(sound effects), Rush, Santana, Zep... But they definitely have their own style that sets them apart.

Also been listening to the Cream BBC sessions. We're going to do a cover of Outside Woman Blues. Cant wait to jam on that. We'll surely try to add our own touch... Man, these guy really knew how to jam. I'm really impressed with the performances on this CD. Jack Bruce rules! The announcer on the CD is pretty funny: Now get ready all you crazy groovy cats out there... It's THE CREAM!!

Band update: Been working hard at getting songs written. We have 4 done, and at least another 4 in the works. I will be recording us for demo purposes within a couple of weeks. So, I should be able to email the mp3's out to friends or post them here somehow. I would like to see what people think of it. Band name of the week: Heavy High!! Too stoner rock sounding? It's actually a setting on Matt's clothes dryer. He thought it sounded cool. I'm ok with it... I really don't care as long as it's not something completely retarded like W.Breakneck...

Magic now 2-3

What a sloppy game last night... I think they turned the ball over 20 times or more... It's amazing they were able to pull it off. I really like that they're focusing on defense this year. Holding teams under 85 points per game. This is the way to go when you only have a few players that can score consistently. Frances and Howard are doing great although I'd like to see Howard grow up a bit, stop smiling so much, get more aggressive... So at this point we're missing a few key players. We need a GOOD veteran center\power forward to teach Howard. He really dosen't have a good mentor on the team to go to for advice. Overall, I'm much happier with the team we have this season. I don't know how far they'll go, but at least they have the drive to win games, and keep other teams from scoring easily against them.

TMac is out again with back spasms!! This makes the trade that we made a year ago look really good.

Introducing Audio Hole!!

This was taken at a Halloween party at my place last weekend. Chris added the background. I'll post more pics from the party later.

Allen Iverson talks about the new NBA dress code

When he heard last week that a dress code was imminent, he told the Philadelphia Daily News: "It sends a bad message to kids. If you don't have a suit on when you go to school, is the teacher going to think you're a bad kid?"

Wilma: Strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded

Yikes!! Ok, so I never got the Generator that Tracy said we should get and I don't think I'm going to run out and get one now. Just have to hope that this one doesn't do what Charley did. This is the same path they said it would take, it took a turn to the north and ended up hitting us... hope that cold front doesn't stall...

Messed around with the Drum samples last night, and did a little recording with Sonar. I have to play with it a lot more to get it down. The levels are all over the place for some reason, but so far I like it more than I thought I would. I really should be using a better machine to do this stuff.

First practice with the Jazz Bass

I used the Jazz Bass last nigh at practice, sounds awesome through the GK and 410… The 2-15 cab is down right now, not sure what the hell is wrong with it, but I’ll need to get that worked on soon. We worked on something new as soon as we get there last night. That seems to work well. I think going through the set first burns us out, and we’re less likely to work on new stuff later in the evening. We completed it and are just waiting for Matt to lay down some vocals. Pretty rockin tune…

In a couple of weeks I’m going to record our stuff and try to post it. My neighbor does web hosting, and I think he’d be willing to give me some space for mp3’s of the band. The weather was really nice last night, we didn’t sweat our asses off for the first time in a while. It’s supposed to cool down significantly this weekend. I’m ready for it…

It was one year ago today...

I started my blog on Oct 13th 2004. First post was Orlando Magic pre-season Basketball... It's that time again and they're winning this time! No games on TV just like last year, no synchronized horse swimming either...

Looking though my old posts, memories good and bad: Sold a house, homeless for a couple of months, bought another one finally, MELVINS join with Jello Biafra, HOW TO TELL IF YOUR PROSTITUTE IS AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL, Bigfoot video (sucked), I'm keeping your poop!!! James gets a roach stuck in his ear and has to have it removed by a Dr at the ER, pictures of food, fishing trip, new amp, new Bass Guitar...

Best picture goes to:



Discovered some good music in the past year old and new: Mastodon, High on Fire, Clutch, Dandy Warhols, Elliott Smith, Orange Goblin, Lamb of God...

Special thanks to the 5 people that actually read this crap sometimes: Geoff, Jamie, Chris, Billy, and my Wife...Oh and the Go to this site MAKE MONEY NOW guy, and Bill T...

Finally!!!

Went down to Sam Ash last night after work, and bought the J Bass. Same price as on-line except I had to pay tax on it. No big deal. I compared it to the American Standard, and the Geddy Lee. Didn’t like the Geddy Lee much, but the American played nice. I went back and forth with the American and Mexican, and couldn’t really tell the difference... Asked the salesman’s opinion: do you want a Bass that was made in Mexico by Mexicans or do you want a Bass made in the USA by Mexicans? HAHA!! He has both at home and he says that he cant tell the difference either. There are some differences after reading the specs. The American has a Graphite Reinforced Neck, different Pickups and Bridge (Strings-Thru-Body) That’s pretty much it. Same wood, I can always swap out the Bridge and Pickup later when I have the money.

Cancelled order

Got another email on Saturday stating that the J Bass will be there by the 23rd. This is the 3rd time they changed it on me so I told them to forget it... Going down to Sam Ash after work to check our one that they're holding for me. Same price, just have to add tax, but dont have to pay shipping or wait for it.

J Bass on order

The pickguard came yesterday... Alright Ezra-music!! but no J-Bass from music123. So I emailed them again. First time they said that it would be in from Fender before the 1st. Now they're saying it's going to be there by the 13th. Bull Shit man!! I called the Sales team today instead of customer server, and that pretty much said that this happens sometimes, and that they are at the mercy of Fender, whenever they send the next shipment is when they'll get it... So he check with Fender who was waiting for a shipment as well. They just got a big shipment in, and they'll be sending the stuff out soon. So I have at least another week unless they decided to send it overnight because I had to wait so long. Dont think so... No biggie, I have two others to choose from.

FOOD!!!

Yes I take pictures of food sometimes, Tracy thinks it's funny...

Still eating the fish leftover from the deep sea trip. I did this with a Beer batter and deep fried it:


BBQ Chicken and Zucchini: