afrojet

Morning Bike Commute (48 degrees and decaffinated remix)

I noticed this morning that there is a badger living in a hole outside the building where I work. I have named him Pete the Badger. He was moving too quickly for me to snap his picture but I will try and get him one of these days while biking in.

The new plan for the Walker expansion looks real fine.

From my vantage point things are bright, powerful, and towering with life. The estate is throwing tantrums and the outbreak of gardens has overtaken and damn near defeated the inclemency of another passing season.

Best of all, the bike is out for another season of road rampage and summer sensibilities. The move last October has increased my trans-metropolitan commute to a healthy 12 miles, thus ensuring that I will get at least 24 miles of endurance training every day.

The coming of another summer also means music. Specifically, bands from warmer climates that have no intention of planning tours through Minnesota during our colder months (all 10 of them). Praise be. The only problem is — all these great shows come at the same time. And after going six or seven months without good gigs, one has to choose and plan carefully or else the window of national music disappears.

Springs first musical flower was the Blackalicious and Talib Kweli Quality Tour that came through town Sunday night. They both have incorporated new members into their show and are great complimentary acts.

My new favorite word is capital when used as an adjective to describe something as top-notch. As in: “Yo, that Blackalicious show was capital.” I can’t remember ever seeing the word capital used to describe something as ‘first-rate’ or ‘the best’. It strikes me as very authentic, proper and aristocratic. I discovered the usage in a terrific collection of British crime stories, starring the affable and cunning John Appleby. His use of the word capital become quite addictive, especially when referring to some cabinet for holding bows and arrows, which is called an Ascham.

Ok. I f I have to get rid of the Oldsmobile, i think I would like to replace it with Lincoln’s new concept car. Except for the back break lights, I think it’s pretty slick.

Another morning another west bank bombing. It’s tough to take your morning coffee with the news of civilian casualties and the dim hope that there might be a light at the end of this tunnel sometime soon. With the twisted consistency of casualty and ambushed lives, i am amazed that people stick tightly to their routines and attempt to live a life unhaunted.

Experience has taught me not write about what I don’t know or understand, and having lived in a war torn country before, I know how backward and misrepresented reality can become when it becomes filtered and sloppily reported by those who are concerned with more than just the real story. The live from Palestine: a diaries project is a tremendous first hand community web log of daily ruminations, or as the moniker reads: “A resource for countering myth, distortion, and spin from the Israeli media war machine”. Another good resource comes out of the indymedia Jerusalem division.

In other news…So If my phone company Qwest turns out to be sick and guilty of Enronitis. Does that mean that I need to keep paying my bills? Perhaps once their accounting practices are further investigated it will be revealed that they owe ME money. I really want nothing to with them. They should be quarantined.

I like coffee. There I said it. If your one of the billions of people addicted to this drug, then you should feel an overwhelming sense of guilt every time you refill that java jug and you should try desperately to fool yourself into thinking your a responsible citizen by drinking nothing but peace coffee. It’s yummy and goes down smooth. Best of all, it erases all my drug addiction guilt. Go getchya self some. Don’t sleep.

Ever wonder what all the out of work dot-commers are doing? Are you an out of work dot-commer yourself looking for a good time. Then get your Skywalker on and get in line.

Houston at the Turf Club.

Shiner, Houston and Schatzi rocked the turf club last night. It was a great way to end a day filled with car problems and repairs. I’ve seen every band that played last night at least once and they all get better, thicker and louder with each listen. The Combination of Houston and Shiner together is a mountain range of rock and power. Great crowd. Good sound. Did the Turf Club upgrade their sound system? Brian K. rocked a great flyer for the show too.

It’s that time of year again. My three thousand miles are up and it’s time to take the Oldsmobile into Jiffy Lube. Time to get the fluids flushed and topped off and restore pressure to all the needy parts that need pressure. By getting there early, I was banking on saving a few bucks through Jiffy’s “Early Bird” special – $19 all inclusive – and a free 1/2 dozen bagel coupon. Deal! Unfortunately, as is the case with older vehicles, and mine in particular, I wasn’t getting out of there that easy.

I always fear the worst whenever I bring the Oldsmobile anywhere for repair or maintenance.
While stewing in the 6 by 6 waiting room, drinking dish water coffee out of 8oz styrofoam cups, with just tattered scraps of 12 year old magazines to read, my mind began to conjure up all the terrible things that the Jiffy Man was going to report on once they threw open the 175 pound hood and discovered the pre-historic engine that powers the Brougham, an activity I rarely have the courage to do. Of course the other 8 chairs were occupied by similarly nervous humans and thus conversation betwixt patrons was curt or nonexistent. I fully expected the Jiffy Man to saunter up to the counter and inform not only me but everyone else seated there that, “Mr. Skelton, yeah your car has a giant rats nest located behind the radiator and the mother just birthed a litter of new borns” or “Mr. Skelton, we’ve discovered a gapping hole in the bottom of your engine. We’re a bit puzzled ourselves Mr. Skelton, we don’t know what to make of it. Daryl thinks it might be a portal to another time or universe. Far as I can see you’ve got yourself a humdinger of a problem there. Either way we can’t do any work on her with a time portal in your engine.”

It’s especially grating because every other patron is hoping to entertain themselves with the mechanical malpractice and woes of other patrons. You really judge your own experience at Jiffy Lube by the other services and parts that your chariot requires to leave the garage and what your fellow patrons got coaxed into buying as well. The game is a good one. I think I could turn anything into a competition. I was lucky this time, and got out of there with only a new breather and air filter.

My favorite part of the whole experience was the way the Jiffy Man called out the name and make of my car, which makes you sit up straight cuz you know the bad news is coming.

“Oldsmobile Royal”. He pronounced. Just like Samual Jackson drew out a “royal with cheese” in Pulp Fiction. Cutting “royal” into two names Roy and Al, both names that I would associate with auto mechanics in a heartbeat. The way the Jiffy Man said it made me very happy to own my land boat and all it’s time traveling portals and rats nests. I even got my free bagel coupon.

Hazah!

Crucial Recordings rotating on the hi-fi:

The new Herbaliser Record is a monster epic of sonic education. Solid all the way through. I love Herbaliser records because these guys know how to sequence an album. Every piece on this record could probably stand alone as a single butt kicking slice of cinematic funk, but together the collected work and song order complement each other so darn well. I think the hit single focused music industry could learn much from this record. It’s so refreshing to buy a record that you don’t have to bruise your finger on the fast forward button to get to the golden nuggets hidden deep within. The Herbaliser also have a nice new site up to promote the album. Also, it looks like Jake and Ollie are using it as their own little blog.

The new Koop album is similar in that it delivers on all tracks. It’s a smooth record all the way through. I can just throw it on the hi-fi and trust that it will deliver the right mood through its entirety. For lovers of nu-jazz with a heavy sample based architecture similar to that of St. Germain or Jazzanova, this is album is a must.

Also rotating:

The Angel – no gravity
Various Artists – popshopping2 and popshopping remixed

It has been confirmed! I, John Skelton, am the Godfather of Rap. As if there were any doubt. Pleaze – all I need is one mic. Look for me. Representin all 651 styles. (thanx jb)

It’s a snowy April fools day here on the frozen tundra. I think the television weather predicting people played the biggest joke here by not reporting on the 7 inches of snow that has already fallen on the ground. Typical. Google and the dmoz have a great April fools joke up today.

Yesterdays’ Easter celebration was all about Peep Research and showing parents what happens when you microwave a peep. Their resilients to the elements both natural and unnatural is uncanny. Which leads me to wonder where the heck do peeps come from. Are there others out there with this similar peep facsination. And NASA even got into the April fools vibe in 2000 with some of their own peep exploration.

My step-dad, after buying hundreds of cribbage boards on ebay, finally is selling one. Tell all you friends and give him lots of hits.

My Hibiscus is on its way out.

I just got this hibiscus a couple weeks ago as a gift from a cousin whose going on a soul searching quest around the world. When I got it I noticed it was producing a bud that had all the promise of a spring delivery. I put my hopes in this flower – its syntax wound surrender winter and I would be biking to work again soon. Sadly, a busy week of pumping code and the frequent trips to the Inver Grove Heights Volkswagen dealer kept the fickle flora in the back of my mind and just like that it came and went. I think somewhere between Wednesday and Thursday it had it’s time. Is a blooming flower still beautiful if no one is around to see it? Next time around I will have to have more discipline.

Ok. As I write this in my living room, drinking coffee, I just noticed that my spider plant is filled with a hundred small white flowers. Where did those come from. I guess it pays to pause and look around once and a while. Maybe, I’ll go get my bike out of the garage…

David Cooperfield has made my morning. A powerpoint of illusion. This guys unstoppable. If you own a copy of powerpoint, you should “option click” on this powerpoint link, download it, and give it a whirl. Amazing.