Happy Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween, everyone.

It is rainy outside but is supposed to clear up later for trick-or-treaters.  Just as well, I'm in a pretty scary mood after my day at work.  I'd be fine with skipping it altogether but then we'll have all this candy in the house.

I hope everyone has fun this evening.  I'll be putting a smile on my face when I answer the door but inside I am deeply troubled.  That's my Halloween scare.

Nation's Best College Town - Madison, WI

The Badgers have another bye this week and if you're missing them play this may help.  Probably not, but I thought it was a neat video about our hometown teams and city.

The Season's First Flurries

We got the first few flakes of snow this afternoon.  Nothing significant at all, just enough to remind us what snow looks like.  Look hard at the pic and you can see a few streaks of snow.



Our weather seems to have jumped ahead a couple weeks.  Daytime temperatures are a bit above freezing as it is mostly overcast and nighttime temperatures are just below.  I've seen a bit of frost in the mornings but not much.  I haven't had to warm up the car yet or even scrape windows, but that may change any day now.  There are still a few outdoor projects I had hoped to do before it got to this point.  Oh well, hopefully we will have a couple relatively warm days and nights or else they will have to wait for spring.

I have not posted much lately but there hasn't been much to post about.  The kitties are still naughty.  We don't have a date yet for our new windows but it will be soon.  Squirrels are little bastards that won't stop digging in the garden.  Kate is well and I am too.  Ho-hum.  PTFO

Autumn's Arrival

It was officially autumn a few weeks ago, but now the weather seems to have caught up.  Temperatures are a more seasonable 50's or 60's during the day and can be into the 30's at night.  We have not had our first frost yet but it can't be that far off.

Almost all these leaves on the lawn are from neighbor Dave's black walnut trees.  Thankfully these leaves fall sooner than our silver maple tree's leaves.  That way I can mulch most of these into the lawn and use the maple leaves that fall later for mulch in the flower beds.  Even so, I usually rake back the leaves from about the tree on in this picture and let them mulch the hostas along the back fence.  Black walnut leaves have to compost for at least two years before you should use them and they affect or kill a lot of plants so I try to keep them out of our flowerbeds whenever possible.

Cool, wet and leafy.  Yup.  Fall is here and fall tasks are on my mind.

Happy - ( . )( . ) - No Bra Day!

 
Today, October 13, is No Bra Day, but, wait a second,  July 9 is National No Bra Day?

 

WTF?

 

I don't know about you, but I would have to agree with the frog!

Latest Listening Pleasure - 13... Hyrax

Hyrax - Over The Edge, released today.

Something caught me, I'm not sure what it was - the name, the description, maybe (not likely) the album cover.

Anyway, it caught my interest long enough for me explore them a bit more via the interwebs and youtube.  This is actually how I find most of the music I listen to these days.  I look around at what's out there - and in this global internet there is a lot of music out there - and occasionally I find something that I find greatly appealing to my eclectic (read: odd, heavy-ish and sometimes unexplainable) tastes in music.  Of course, 9 out of 10 of my inquiries range from music that I will never listen to again to good but forgettable stuff.  Then there is the occasional hit, that rare kind of sound that seems to really grab you.  You know that feeling, or at least I hope you do.

I've listened to the Hyrax album at least a couple times a day all week now, and I really like what I hear.  Hyrax's album, Over The Edge, is their first as far as I can tell.  I believe there are two EP's that they released since 2011, but I can't find them in a cursory internet search.  There also isn't much of this band on youtube, most of it can be found on their channel here.  No wiki page yet, but I believe they are from Germany.  And they're kids.  They gotta be, look at them.  Pick any two and they may not total my age.  *Sigh.*  Actually they remind me of when I found out about CKY, in fact I see quite a few similarities, except that when I found out about CKY they had a few albums for me to look back to and enjoy while this is, as far as I can tell, Hyrax's first full length release.

This first video, Desire, is similar to the second, I Never Thought, in that he has the aggressive-but-not-quite-cookie-monster vocal.  On the album, which is bookended by these songs, they actually come across with a good mix of this aggressiveness but also some harmonies that work well and set up the next aggressive verse - it all works very well.  I also like how they chose to film their two official videos, below, both are single camera, one take shots.  The first appears to be the first single, but I may like the second better.

Okay, enough review, check it out if you're intrigued - like I was.   NSFW (language)

Hyrax - Desire



Hyrax - I Never Thought



Previous LLP Posts...
LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O.
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield


Honorable Mention after the break!

A Tribute To James...

..., the head chef at our favorite local establishment, Brothers Three.  It seems he had an unfortunate mishap on his scooter and broke his collarbone.  His culinary skill and charismatic personality is missed, for another month or more as we understand it.

Cheers, James!  Get well soon!

James, rockin' and rollin' working a Friday fish fry:

Sorry, We're Closed

This is the sort of political ineptitude and misbehavior that is too common and inexplicably accepted these days.  Whiny spoiled brats refusing to accept anything other than their own way.  Hell, look at the crap we had to accept with W in charge.  But no, some stubborn fools just seem to like conflict, creating it seems like a major part of the republican agenda.  Why is this classless, embarrassing, unsportsmanlike and should-be-illegal behavior tolerated from those who are chosen to lead some of us?  Peacocking, threatening, falsely flabbergasting, and out and out lying.  They make me sick.

I can't believe politics actually made me put finger to key, whiskey helped.  Hmmmph! ...Idiots.

 

 

*updated 10-3 - My hyperlinked pic disappeared due to a server switch at that great B&P site.  Jonco will be back in full over there shortly.

This And Thats

It has been 2 weeks since I did any real posting.  I have, however, been pretty active over at the garden site recently, so feel free to check that out here.  Now, on with the thought dumping...


-Speaking of the garden site, I have not kept to a posting schedule over there this year.  The last couple years I would always try to post around the middle and end of the month at least, with other noteworthy posts when warranted.  It's not really that important to anyone other than me because it is only used as a diary of sorts, but next year I promise to get back to a semblance of regularity over there.

-We had our little circle of friends over last Saturday for the last fire pit party of summer - Saturday was the last full day of summer.  It was the usual fun.  B&Z were kind enough to bring some wood so we actually have enough to have a fall fire pit party sometime.  It was a cool evening, not cold, but still it was funny to me how everyone was in such a tighter circle than some summer fire pits.  Fall may be the best time to have a fire.

-Projects always need to be done.  I still haven't finished with the shelves downstairs, and I also have various fall projects on my mind.  Washing the house, washing and water sealing the back steps and some caulking on the roof of the porch should be done soon.  In no time it will be raking leaves, cleaning gutters and yard clean-up.  It's always something.

-We are well into football season now.  The Packers should be doing better, I feel.  The Badgers have maybe their biggest game of the season tonight at Ohio State on national television.  (I'm having a couple friends over for the game, it should be a good one!)  Pretty soon we'll have Badger basketball and hockey, too.  Yes, fall/early winter is a good time to be a sports fan in Wisconsin.  As for the Brewers, well, they suck but at least they're not quite as bad as the Cubs.

-Still no date set for the installation of the new windows.  It will probably happen around the beginning of November.  I'm eager to see (feel) how much they will help keep our house warm this winter.


I can't think of much else to say right now, except that I was thinking the other day how long it has been since I posted anything about the kitties.  So, look at them now!  PTFO

Basil and Hamish

Green Hams

Green hams will kill him, green hams will kill him, don't you be giving him Green Hams!* 

*Three Hams, actually.  You don't have to understand, it's just a tip of my hat to an old character and friend that I haven't talked to in a long time.  The cartoon made me do it, thanks Jonco!

Vacation?

This has been the least relaxing vacation I have probably ever had.  It started with my back going out 2 days before it started, it felt better in a couple days yet still weak and vulnerable.  The following weekend was spent with my wife's family up north at a cabin by a lake.  We had a good time, mind you, but a weekend with the in-laws should not be included with a personal vacation when the rest of my vacation is full.  Then on Monday and Tuesday I had window reps coming and going so I could not really do much of what I wanted, or I suppose I could have if I liked a lot of interruptions and going back and forth.  Wednesday was my birthday.  It was a gloomy, cool day and by this time I was in a gloomy, cool mood with windows on my mind.  I went out for a late lunch and a few drinks by myself but I just wasn't feeling it.  I stayed in a funk and was lazy all day.  Thursday, yesterday, I contacted the window rep that we wanted to buy from and he came by last night, I had lunch with my friend Jerome, finished fixing the grill wheels and cleaned up the garage so we can fit a car in it again.

That brings me to today, my last 'official' vacation day.  I can't eat anything until I give some blood to the lab around noon.  I have to call the window reps we didn't choose, I have errands to run and I have to write all this out while it's still fresh (check!) and probably post something over at the garden site.  I also have to make a call to the cable company to discuss not getting kissed before they, uh, never mind.  Then maybe, just maybe, make a drink, play some tunes and start one of my vacation projects this afternoon.  I was hoping to get the bottom shelves in the basement replaced this week and I have not started yet.  I had also planned on a 'cat box' project but I want to think about that a bit more and maybe come up with a better plan to do later, not that I had any time this week, anyway.

We'll have to see what happens, maybe I'll just be a bum.  Thanks for listening, I just had to bitch a little.  Some vacation, eh?

Windows Part II

Continuing with the windows saga, I had two more window company representatives stop by on Tuesday, the fourth and fifth meetings in two days.

The fourth window rep was a likable guy.  He was aware that I was meeting with several reps and we were not going to make a decision until the end of the week.  He was also aware that I had seen most of the demonstrations and did not waste our time on the little things.  He showed us his fine product, all it's unique and desirable features and gave us a fair estimate.  We had a new front-runner.

The fifth window rep was an older guy, had probably been in sales his whole life.  He was realistic and efficient, but his product was just not quite as good as the one before.  Not bad, but not as fancy or quite as efficient as the previous one.  He gave us a pretty low price but, again, went for the sale at the end even though we told him we were not making a decision that day.  Thankfully he was not as obnoxious as the third rep.

So, after all that we had made our decision;  window company number 4.  We got a very nice triple pane window with a u-value of .22*, wood grain interior (white exterior), hardware to match what we have throughout the house and black cladding to go around the outside of the window exterior.  I think the black cladding is going to look real good outside.  With a white house and a white window it will give the windows some added definition, plus the trim on the garage and the foundation are both black, so it will match.  The rep came by last night and we made it official.  Now all we have to do is make appointments when the time is right and in about 2 months we'll have our new windows.

My task today is to make courtesy calls to the other window reps, thanking them for their time in most cases and simply trying to remain polite in others.  Should be fun!


*The energy star rating this year is still .30, next year it lowers to .27 so we did pretty well - and I believe we'll get a 200 dollar tax break!