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Blog - June 2003 |
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This page stores my blog entries from June 2003. The entries are dated June 8, June 15, June 21, and June 29.
Blackout with the Dropkick Murphys / St. Anger : Metallica on Sedatives / Reedian Philosophy: Spiritual Reflections, Part III / Silly Definitions / Better Cooking with Pam Sunday, June 8, 2003 The Dropkick Murphys will have their 4th full studio album, Blackout, out this week. I heard some sound clips through Tower's web site, and it sounds like it'll be a much better album than its predecessor, Sing Loud Sing Proud. Its predecessor was not a bad album, but I think they got too gimicky with entirely too many musicians. Blackout sounds like it'll be more of a punk band flavored by Celtic influences like they were before. I'll probably nab this when it comes out June 10, and it'll be interesting to see how my perceptions line up and what comes on the bonus DVD that's packaged with it. ***** Metallica's "St. Anger" came out June 5 with some minor pomp and circumstance. I heard the title track on the radio ... and wasn't really impressed (frankly, it seemed rather awful). I've heard some song clips on Metallica.com and rather liked one (for "Frantic"). Well, the day before the album came out, I had a chance to hunt down the tracks online through the Treasure Hunt that was put on by Metallica and Elektra Records. My initial impressions can be summed up by the following:
I don't mean "weak" as in "not heavy", but I mean that there's little substance to them. Choppy. Roughly organized. The songs seemed too much like the popular stuff on the radio: occasional soft segments in between the occasional nice heavy section. Although I never expect anything new that they do to measure up to their pre-LOAD material, at least it could be good music (e.g. I really liked "Hero of the Day", even though it wasn't really as metal as they used to be; Low Man's Lyric was pretty good, too). I guess I fall back on the side of, "when I want to hear Metallica, I want to hear good, heavy, and sometimes fast, metal." "St. Anger" isn't it. ***** It's been a while since I've revisited the growing spiritual sense within my head. For those of you who missed them or don't really care to go back through my archives, here are the links to the dates I posted before about my sense of spirituality and what it entails:
From my last entry, I was going to list some points that surround my sense of morality in the Reedian Philosophy. One particular one rests on the Golden Rule: Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You. I'm not so certain if that's really phrased sufficiently, and I think it needs some explanation as to how I see it in my sense of things. I believe that the Rule is based on the principle of "you reap what you sow." If you treat people nicely and respectfully, you'll eventually gain the same in return. I do my best to follow that. Certainly, you'll run into people who will try to abuse your kindness, but you have to learn to identify those individuals and keep them out of your life. Reedian Philosophy does not allow for discrimination of any sort. Homosexuals, African-Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, Asian-Americans, and other individuals were all born as they were. Their differences are what make life interesting and fun, and they need to be respected. They are people who are at least equally as capable of doing the same things that the rest of us do (and, sometimes, much better). The elders of our community hold an important spot in our society. People think of them as being "too old" and "worthless" in society when they cannot physically do what the younger generations can accomplish. This segment of society has too much experience and knowledge about the workplace and life to be thrown aside. It's hard for me to really know what to write for this section, since I believe that morals should be general rules to abide by while making decisions in life. Many of the things I believe in fall into more of a personal belief than something I can easily generalize. I may have to brainstorm to see what I can figure out from them. ***** In the spirit of Frank & Ernest, I present odd definitions: panicat (pán-i-kat) 1. noun: a feline that panics and suddenly bolts. 2. verb: the state of a cat seemingly being everywhere at once, especially when trying to pick one up or move off a lap, Needing to get to the laundry, Fluffy panicatted and ran off to the bedroom. dingcat (díng-kat) noun: a feline who is in the moment of going crazy, acting silly and running around all over the place, She went from calm cat to dingcat, flying over the chair and landing against the window pane. ***** In following up with my promise of updates important in my life, Pam would, naturally, come rather high. This weekend, we did something a little different <quit giggling, Pam>. Pam's parents were off on a religious quest, and she obtained permission to invite me over yesterday. My initial thought led along the lines of getting a pizza and some movies to relax with through the night. Given her bad experience with undercooked pizza, I decided to do something else: cook dinner for her! I enjoy doing that a lot, and it came out very well for us. I made spaghetti with a ground meat/spinach mixture for the main course. The meat mixture had chili powder, black pepper, oregano, and thyme in it (we'll substitute garlic powder for the thyme next time). We found a small loaf of garlic french bread at Albertson's and a Mrs. Smith's Chocolate pie for dessert. To accent things, we got a bottle of 2001 Robert Mondavi Private Reserve Chardonnay. I'm rather new to white wines, but this tasted rather fruity and very good. Everything worked out well for us, and Pam really enjoyed the whole dinner experience. Afterwards, we tried to watch a couple of movies. We rented Drumline and a recent version of The Count of Monte Cristo from Blockbuster. We watched most of Drumline, though we never really saw the rest of it. Whether it was the wine, how late in the night we started, or the good dinner (or all of the above), we kind of faded into snuggling together into light talk for most of the rest of the night.
Yard Sale Haul / Blackout Lights Up the Place / It's a Jolly Holiday with Pammy Sunday, June 15, 2003 A neighbor across the street held a yard sale for some sort of charity. I never saw him there, but a crew of older women presided over the sale. I ended up buying two items for a total of $1:
I rarely go to garage sales, even though I live in a very nice neighborhood. The last time I bought anything at a yard sale was when my parents told me about a sale that had some books they thought I'd want (I ended up with two others besides the one they mentioned). Now, if only I'd get my butt up and try to find a nice, bigger bookcase.... I got my first listen of the new Dropkick Murphys CD, Blackout. My impression from the clips on Tower weren't really that accurate: they certainly did not go back to their "punk band with Irish flavorings" beginnings. Instead, they tamed it down a little from then and put out an album that's probably the best since "Gang's All Here" (and possibly the best since Mike left the band). After my first listen, I had the following thoughts about Blackout:
The included DVD disc contains a music video for "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight", live videos for "Boys on the Docks" and "Rocky Road to Dublin" from their 2002 St. Patrick's Day concerts, and a preview for their upcoming DVD. For the most part, it's just a taster for the big DVD. Overall, this is a great buy. I don't know if it'd really be a good album for new kids to hear to get into DKM, though the relatively tame songs might do very well for it. The album was on sale at Tower for $13.99. ***** Yesterday, Pam and I bounded off to Downtown and Old Sac to parade around and see what little shops we could end up in. We walked in from about 13th St. or so and found the little Chinese/Japanese center in the block between I and J Streets and 4th and 5th Streets. A friend recommended a place there for a possible place to get a pillow to rest my other samurai helmet on (it turned out, later, that they didn't have anything; they had a pair of really cool brass dragons that would have made great bookends, though). From there, we wandered around Downtown Plaza, browsing through a few shops before heading off to a quick look-around in Old Sac. One of the places we happened to go into had a whole lot of stuff jammed into a tiny store. Many types of incense, candles, and other spiritual things. I bought some green drip candles to use on my Bailey's Irish Creme bottle, which was the only item purchase we made all day. We headed back to Johnny Rocket's in Downtown Plaza for lunch. Pam had a #12 hamburger ("Tillamook® Cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, onion slice, pickle, mayonnaise & our tangy 'red red sauce.'® " as it says on their online menu) while I had the Smoke House hamburger ("Tillamook® Cheddar cheese, thick bacon, crisp onion rings & our 'Smoke House' barbecue-ranch sauce."). We both had our own Mocha Fudge shake, and we shared a basket of french fries (called "American Fries" on their menu; I sincerely hope this wasn't in reaction to the whole Iraqi War and France's lack of desire to participate). Johnny Rocket's had some very cool features (the 50's soda fountain feel), but there were a couple of things that we found a little ... disturbing: the spontaneous sing-alongs and dance numbers by the servers. I don't know if they do this only when certain songs are playing, or if they choose to do it over a certain time period (one happened at about 2:37pm). The one I saw myself was a "tribute" to Frank Sinatra in which the servers and a cook or two walked around the restaurant singing into ketchup bottles. A few of the servers seemed to half-heartedly participate, and it all ended with a short dance number. There was another similar instance, but Pam was the only one subjected to that. I don't know why they did these things or what sets them off, but I think it'd be a better, more authentic feel if they didn't include such things. From there, we waddled back down to the Chinese/Japanese center and snuggled for a while there, chit-chatting some time away. We eventually danced back to the car and stopped at a Jamba Juice (she had a lemonade; I had the Aloha Pineapple). From there, we sat around for a bit before having to head off for home. It's amazing how much time can fly by when you're having so much fun with someone. We're already thinking about other things we can do together: dinner at the Zinfandel Grille, dinner at Outback Steakhouse, dinner at Morton's of Chicago (for a special night), parading around old Folsom. There are other things I'm sure we'll find to do. <grins>
Leann Rhymes with Chopin: The Pam-ily Graduation Party / Pam Sings - released Sundays only / New Things From My Grandparents Saturday, June 21, 2003 Last night, I attended Leann's graduation party (Leann is Pam's twin sister; Leann earned a degree in music). It was fun! Two distinct groups gathered at their house for the celebration, with her family in the house and the church people in the backyard. Not too many church people came (from what I could tell, that is), but a lot of her family and family friends came. They prepared a lot of food, including vegetable platters, yummy spinach dip with french bread, cheese/tomato on toothpick, plain M&M's, great lemon cake, and either coffee, water, sparkling apple cider, or champagne to top it off. In the middle of the occasion, Leann sat behind the family piano and played a couple of beautiful pieces (one by Chopin). After the guests left, we cleaned things up and watched Leann open her assorted gifts, ranging from gift certificates to a pretty music-themed vase. "What about Pam?" you may ask. We hung around each other the whole night. She introduced me to nearly all of the people who attended, explaining who they were with respect to her and Leann or to others I had met. We snuggled a little on the stairs while Leann played on the piano (it was the best place so we wouldn't go deaf from the sheer volume; the piano is in a small room with, apparently, great acoustics). We had a little "alone time" after her parents went to bed as well. I certainly had fun, and I never felt uncomfortable or overwhelmed at any point. A lot of people attended, and I know I certainly enjoyed them, including their Aunt Gaye and their grandmother, Mrs. O. ***** Tomorrow, Pam and I will have a busy day. I think it'll be the first time we'll end up spending a whole day together. First, she'll pick me up, and we'll go to Manhattan Bagel for a small-ish breakfast. From there, we'll bound off to her church, where I'll get to experience an Eastern Orthodox liturgy and hear her sing with the choir. After that, we'll hop back to her house and have "dinner" with her family (which is reall more like a late lunch, since it'll be around 1:30-2:00pm when we might eat). If either of us have the time or energy, we might hop over to Tapa The World for a nightcap. I don't know how much we'll do after "dinner", since I know I'm exhausted right now. The thought of standing for over two hours on end during the liturgy doesn't sound too great, but I think I'll probably find things interesting enough that I won't notice the time go by. (Plus, I can always use the bathroom to give my big feet a rest; yes, big feet do hurt more.) Also, from what I understood, Pam was going to go with her family early today to a CPR course, needing to get up at about 8am. Given that she didn't get to bed until sometime after 3:30am early Saturday morning, I'm sure she'll be a bit more tired than I might be. Regardless, it'll be a lot of fun. ***** Last Sunday, my family got together for a Father's Day dinner of KFC and blueberry pie. I was able to help my grandfather a bit with some computer trouble he'd been having (the Earthlink Start Page color scheme seems to have White as the text color and background color; that makes it a little difficult to read text without highlighting it). About three years ago, my grandfather had decided to clean things out in the house and had a collection of stuff he had received as gifts while working for the Port of Sacramento. At that point, I rescued a couple of large, very nice samurai helmets and a couple of paperweights. He sent the rest to CSUS for their collection (if they wanted any of it), and they just recently returned all of the stuff back to him. So, my mom and I got a second chance to peruse what's left and claim things before it's gone for good. My acquisitions include:
My grandmother gave me a narrow black vase with gold-outlined plants and flowers decorating the front. It's similar to the vase I bought at the yard sale on June 14 or so (see the blog entry below for details), but much different in color and style. It goes very well with my other vase. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!
Sunday Excitement: June 22 / Wanted: Individual who Killed my Power Supply / Ken, the punker and metalhead ... plays in a blues band?!? / Thursday and Saturday with Pam / Possible Pam things to do Sunday, June 29, 2003
As most people know, I probably won't convert to any particular established religion any time soon. So far, this particular priest who led the liturgy managed to say a few things that made no sense whatsoever. For example, if one says that Paradise is indescribable, then how can that same person follow to say that it is good? "Good" would certainly describe it. I tend to not like the exclusiveness that people in certain churches express concerning other churches. This priest told us that there were over 500 religions in the world, and that they were all man-made. So far, I certainly agreed with him. But then he said something that made me shake my head: "Except this one." How typical that someone strongly involved in religion would assume that his religion is the only god-given one and that the others are fake (or other similar implications). The point where I really began to wonder about this priest is when he said that when it came to a big church celebration (e.g. Passover or some other major instance for the religion), one absolutely had to come to church since it was more important than helping a friend move. The fact that he seemed to emphasize the importance of coming to church rather than being a good christian did not go over well. Something I'll have to ask Pam about that Sunday: I thought All Saint's Day was November 1st? From there, we headed off to her house, making a brief stop at my place in order to give her a small plate I bought that had written on it, "The Greatest Gift is Love." At her house, we had dinner with her family, including her parents and her twin sister, Leann. We had a delicious dinner of chicken (with some sort of sauce that included cranberries), rice pilaf (yum!), a green salad, and some leftover lemon cake from Leann's graduation party. We tried a pear ale as well, and that was really good, too! We sat around and talked for quite some time, and we eventually adjourned to the living room to watch Ladyhawk on DVD (that Pam bought while we were at Dimple Records). Afterwards, we talked some more. From there, Pam and I decided to take off for a bit and go to Tapa the World. And here's where the night got ... interesting. Midtown has a bad reputation with some people in being a place of a slightly higher crime rate than others. Given that East Sacramento doesn't have much crime at all, Midtown isn't really a whole lot worse. I've been to Tapa the World several times in the past and had never experienced anything major there before (the only irritant was when one guy was getting entirely too excited about having a photo of himself on Face's web site). Pam and I sat down at a table in the middle-front of the restaurant, near the front edge of the side of the bar area. Pam faced the front of the place with me opposite her. We ordered some mushrooms and some sort of meat/veggie shish kebabs. She ordered an iced tea, while I had a sangria. We had just started eating, when suddenly a fight broke out a few feet behind me! From what Pam could see and what we could piece together afterwards, apparently a couple sat down, and the guy started saying something to someone who was there already. The new guy decked the other guy, and the brawl ensued. The new couple ran off after the other patrons separated them. The victim had a large mouse on the side of his left eye, and blood ran from his nose (there might have been a cut on his nose, or it may have been broken). The girlfriend said something about the new guy saying something about bringing his friends back there with guns or something. Eventually, the police and emergency crews came and took notes on what happened and made sure the dude was ok. Many dishes and glasses were broken, and the poor classical Spanish guitar player never got to finish his set. Pam and I were very much scared. My stomach grumbled from feeling a sense of that "fight or flight" feeling. Fortunately I could have protected Pam if the need arose (which it didn't). We ended up paying our tab and left to unwind in her car. I don't think she realized how upsetting that was for her, since she had to leave early last Monday because of her stomach. I know how that can be, since my stomach tends to be affected when I'm really upset. Outside of the brawl, we had a wonderful Sunday together. ***** My computer will slowly be upgraded and refined over the next couple of years or so, and a part of it started today. A bit unplanned, but while I was online yesterday, my computer suddenly shut off all of its power. Thinking that was just a new quirk in this odd computer, I just restarted it, and it worked fine. While trying to get back online, it shut off again, and it wouldn't restart at all. The only sound I could hear was the clicking of my power button as I pushed it. My power supply died! So I bounced over to CompUSA and bought the Antec SmartBlue 350W ATX12V power supply (I checked with Arden Computers, but they had some unfamiliar brands). I think this power supply is better than my old 250W Deer Computer PS in many ways. First, my new one has an intake fan on the bottom, and that lines up with my Athlon processor to help suck some heat away from it (as preferred in AMD's suggested PS selection). Second, this PS has a lot more available power than the old one, and I've heard that the Athlon/GeForce combination on my ASUS K7M motherboard tends to eat a lot of power. The 250W was very close to the minimum suggested power rating, and I have since added some things to my system since I first bought it (system fans on my new case; CDRW drive). Finally, this new PS has the required 12V attachment for newer systems. Whenever I get around to upgrading the other stuff, I'll have the power supply I'll need to power things. I didn't really have any problems making the change, though the cool fan grill on the bottom made it difficult to slide the PS in to my Lian-Li PC-60 case. I had to remove the grill to slide it in, and then put the grill back on after it was in. The rest was cake. I don't know if my system is running better than before, but we'll see after I do a few things on it. ***** Last Friday, I attended a gig that a work friend, Ken, had over at Mace's in Pavilions. He's a fellow punker, but he plays bass for a blues-ish band called FBI (Formerly Blues Incorporated; or something like that). Sitting with a Bailey's/Godiva Chocolate Liquor/raspberry liquor/cream drink, I sat and listened to their blues-ish set (and singular "shout-out" to Hendrix via a short lick from "Third Stone From the Sun"). Very cool! I know not when they might play again, but I'll have to bring people along for that. ***** Given that I started with Pam, I figured I'd end with Pam as well. That does not mean that everything with me starts and end with Pam, since that's simply not true. Sometimes I start and have her in the middle as well. <grins> Last Thursday, we went off to dinner to the Zinfandel Grille. I had a coupon that would give us one entree free with the purchase of another of equal or lesser value. Pam ordered the ravioli, which had a cream sauce of some sort and some half-sliced cherry tomatoes. She had a glass of white wine with that. I ordered the linguine and prawns, which was linguine with pesto, topped with prawns in a red sauce with some beans. I ordered a martini which had vanilla Skye vodka, Bailey's Irish cream, and kahlua. We both had small salads with blue cheese and walnuts. For dessert, Pam had the cheesecake with blackberries and lemon-something, while I had some sort of dense chocolate cake (more like a fudge, really). It was all very good, and I'm sure we'll probably find a reason to go back again. Since I paid the tab at our Tapa the World visit, she decided to pick up the tab here. I was surprised, since the tab cost much more here than at Tapa the World. It's great to be with a woman of her word! Thank you, Pam! Saturday, after my computer died, I went out with Pam to see The Hulk and went to Leatherby's for some ice cream afterwards. The movie was great! I could understand how some reviewers might have thought it was a bit slow at first, since it was just that for the first half hour to an hour. But the background presented in that timespan was essential for the unfolding of the rest of the movie. I really enjoyed this one. The only disappointment: no preview of the LotR: Return of the King movie that'll come out this December. At Leatherby's, Pam had another mint chocolate chip sundae, while I indulged in a coffee shake. ***** A short list of things that Pam and I have in mind to do:
Naturally, we'll space things out so we can enjoy things sufficiently. <grins> |
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