Money on Magic 105

EDUC 505...

2010-09-30T01:37:00.001-06:00

I'm up a little bit later tonight than I really wanted to be, but my fingers just ain't done typing (apparently "ain't" is an actual word that can be used in real sentences now).

Already this semester I've given 2 presentations and tonight I just wrapped up my first paper. It wasn't so much a paper as a "book report". I thought it was a strange assignment. These are grad. level classes, so a book report feels out of place. Teachers back in the day would give you a book report just to make sure that you read the dang thing or at least skimmed through the chapters each week. I bet there were some teachers that would be ready, red pen in hand, for those kids who thought they were going to get away with a little copy paste action from the Cliff's Notes.

Book report. Never thought I'd be pushing 30 and typing up one of these babies.

On a side note, I think these past couple of weeks has seen me put more effort into school than probably my whole last semester of my BA. I wish that 11 years ago when I started my first semester at College Park that I was this dedicated. This time, school doesn't seem like one of those steps of life that's "expected". At my age I almost feel like I'm a few steps behind but I think I can catch up quickly.

The Whole Enchilada #1

2010-09-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

Last Friday was the big start to the 30th Whole Enchilada Fiesta, and I definitely got to kick it off with a big bang. One of our sales dudes, his name is Mark, got us hooked up with the Budweiser crew who took us up as passengers in BudSelect balloon. Of course it was shaped like a big huge beer bottle.

I had gone up in a balloon a loooong time ago, long enough that I barely remember, and it was absolutely rad! I wonder if the pilot gets to enjoy him/herself quite as much since there are so many things that factor into flying a balloon...

right before takeoff

Mark doing his Budweiser "chug"

On a lighter note! (aka longest post ever)

2010-09-28T00:00:00.001-06:00

Last week was a big week for Promise of Tomorrow.

We've sold enough CD's to order another set from the printer. This time we changed the colors a bit to differentiate. Sometimes we get the idea that we're cooler than we really are, and maybe someday the green ones will be collector's items. The new CD version is pretty much the same as the old one, just with a blue tint this time and we were able to add a "thank you" page.

Then we played three shows in three days. I thought my voice was going to be destroyed by the end of that week after being on-air all day, and singing all night. Tara tried to buy me some voice lessons one year but I brazenly refused and that was very dumb of me since I thrash my vocal cords improperly every time (i have since reconsidered).

Tuesday was a cool show with our buddies Cadence. It was a benefit show for WAVE, which raises student awareness about alcohol and sexual abuse on campus. It was our first time playing on a "stage". The performance hall is the same place they put on the shows like "The Nutcracker" so it was pretty sweet to be in a legit theatre.

Wednesday was definitely awesome for us. We played live inside the Hot Topic at the Mesilla Valley Mall, and the place was packed! Two ultimately cool things happened that night; there were some folks there that were wearing our shirts (on purpose) and there were even some that knew the words to some of the songs! I couldn't help but take a few videos on my phone while we were playing.

Thursday we rolled into El Patio, opened up by a definite crowd favorite Blaze the Nation. They always get a really good response, so the place was nice and warmed up for us to hit the stage.

When we play our bar shows, we always make sure to play a few cover songs during the set to keep the interest of the casuals who are really just there to drink and have a good time and couldn't care less about us playing. We do a silly version Kesha's "Tik Tok" and that drew a pretty big crowd of dancers to the floor and they stuck around for our rendition of The Outfield "Your Love". As soon as we went back to the original material they all left back for the bar. That's kind of a bummer because of course we want lots of people to hear our music but we're not going to sit there and play songs that aren't "ours" all night.

I think you can ask any original band and they'll tell you the same thing. It's nice that people come and jam to you playing, but if you're just playing someone elses' songs, you might as well just be a jukebox.

I really like the direction of our new material and I hope that we can get them recorded decently soon enough for a new CD.

Dammit.

2010-09-27T12:00:00.008-06:00

I really wanted my return to the blog to be fantastic, mostly because I had a great week! Three awesome shows with my band, a successful 4th stint as co-host of The Whole Enchilada Parade, some good old fashioned QT with my fiancee, and some great news about the radio station, (that i'll be telling you all about next week).

But No.
It was not to be.

I must have really screwed someone over in a past life or something because Karma is determined not to let me enjoy anything. Life likes to punch me in the stomach every chance it gets.

I realize that I sound like a complete asshole right now, but I'm pissed. There are tons of people who are worse off than I am. There's a roof over my head, food to eat, a loving fiancee and family, and great pets, but dammit, there's no reason for anyone to steal my car!

Yup. Who in their right mind wants a 13 year old Honda Civic with over 150k miles on it! I thought I was the only one that loved my car but apparently someone else loves it too, since this is the second time in the past 2 years the car has been stolen.

that's my baby...

Back in '08 it was a stroke of luck that we found her but I don't think that I'll be so lucky this time. Tara missed work, I had to call out the first half of my day, and now it's time to stress about how we're going to afford to get me something to cart my ass to and from work while we're saving up for a wedding which is already going to be modest at best.

Blah.

It's just frustrating for this to happen just as soon as I thought things were going to be under control for at least a week. Like I said, I know there are kids out there right now that went to bed hungry; some people weren't even able to sleep in a real bed tonight; but dammit why mess with me?

If you even read this and you're feeling helpful, it's a '97 Honda Civic, light blue in color with a faded hood. The plate is NM 213-NFA. You can just leave me a comment if you've seen it or anything.

Thanks for listening to the rant, I thought it would make me feel better, but now I feel like a jerk. I'll probably end up deleting this later.

Hello Stress, How Have You Been?

2010-09-14T02:42:00.000-06:00

I knew my blog would end up being lonely here as soon as I started up with classes. The semester is going well so far and I am definitely glad I chose taking 6 credits instead of 9 for my first semester back. There's a lot of things I'd like to share on the blog but this ends up being the absolute last thing on my "to do list" at the end of the day.

I think if I had to choose just one thing to have "done" for me everyday, I would pick having my meals prepared. Getting home late, or just being tired from work gets in the way of my love of cooking. Now it's just some frozen dinners or some skillet meal in a bag that you just throw in a pan until everything melts. Probably not the healthiest thing to be eating.

So how about you?

If you had to pick one thing to have "done" for you every day; what would you pick?

Leave your comments below!

Shaving the Cat

2010-08-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

It was probably a big mistake to purchase an electric razor to shave the dog. We all saw the atrocity that took place the last time we shaved her.

Over the weekend, Tara and I decided that Steve the cat had way too much fur and that it is way too hot outside to keep being that hairy.

I'm sure before you see the pictures you can already imagine how terrible it turned out. It's too bad that these kinds of things never turn out as great as you really want them to.

I really don't understand how Steve didn't completely kill us while we were sleeping. It's like the time my father gave me a home haircut. It was so awful that I'm pretty sure I cried. I can even remember the woman who "fixed" my hair at the salon really felt sorry for me. I was such a baby! Of course we still think Steve is very handsome. But of course all parents say that about their children.

PeeWee!!

2010-08-24T10:58:00.000-06:00

I'm just a blogging fool lately, but I couldn't resist sharing this video. PeeWee is making his big comeback, and getting not one but TWO movies ready for the big screen, and I am more than ready for them.

To prove that he's back, PeeWee went to the biggest annual motorcycle rally in the world, and they welcomed him with open arms, as they well should.

Enjoy!

Pee-wee Goes to Sturgis from Pee-wee Herman

The King of Kong and Shaving Our Cat

2010-08-23T00:01:00.001-06:00

I'm here, up way past my bedtime tonight getting in an update while watching a ridiculously nerdy movie that I'd heard great things about called The King of Kong. It's about a couple of grown men who battle for ultimate supremacy in the game of Donkey Kong. And yes, the dudes the movie focuses on are just as weird as you're thinking. The movie is actually really good, one of the best I've seen this year and it comes with the Money Seal of Approval (yeah, lame Nintendo joke I know). (ps: it's really sad to watch the parts where one guy's wife talks about how nothing in his life ever turns out right and then his mom talks about how he might be autistic. awkward...)

I won't review the flick because I definitely think it's worth watching. It's for sure something worthwhile if you have interest in a story about people with incredible and intense passion, something any of us could use.

Completely unrelated to anything, when I have children, I will definitely be buying this outfit for the to wear.

Hope your weekend was awesome!

My first day of school.

2010-08-19T15:58:00.000-06:00


this is me today.

I may be exaggerating just a little, but today will by my first day in the classroom since may of 2003. I've got my 3 ring binder all ready to go, but will I get laughed at by writing with pen and paper like Reece did on her first day of class in "Legally Blonde"?

Maybe I'm wasting too much of my brain power on an update right before I go in there. At least I'm wearing clean underwear and remembered to use deodorant before I left the house this morning.

Wish me luck, here goes nothing!

Promise of Tomorrow on the Radio?

2010-08-18T00:00:00.008-06:00

That's the real deal! We've got our huuuuge CD Release/Back to School celebration happening tomorrow at El Patio and to help promote it we are lucky enough to get an interview on The Rocket with Lynz Green!

We'll be talking about the new CD that we produced ourselves. We're calling it "Standing Alone" and if you want to actually buy one, it's only 5 bucks.

We'll also be debuting our very first single (if you want to call it that) and it's called Halo, the second track on the album.

It's going to be happening today at 5pm on 99.5 The Rocket here in Las Cruces, or if you want to listen in online you can click here.

Make sure you pick up a copy of THE PULSE from the Las Cruces Sun News, they were awesome enough to do a feature on the CD that we're really excited about.

The part I am totally stoked over is that if you come to the show, you'll get to hear two brand new songs. These new tunes are our first real collaboration. You can hear the influence of every member in these tunes, and They. Totally. Rock. Hard.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA!!!!!

2010-08-17T17:28:00.001-06:00

I apologize for my overactive Exclamation Point Marking, but I am totally jazzed up right now. One of my top 10 favorite bands in the whole world is playing tonight in El Paso, and I'm going to the show with Tara! !!!! !!!!! !!!!!

this is me finding out that i'm getting to go to the show

I've only seen them live once and that happened at the Warped Tour a few years ago. Warped is awesome, but the bands only get to play for like 30 minutes, so you don't really get the full experience.

My first "real" shot at seeing their show was their tour with Linkin Park which ended up being canceled the day before it was supposed to happen. It was blamed on Chester Bennington having "throat problems" but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was because of poor ticket sales.

Then Coheed hit the County Coliseum with Slipknot and because I am late everywhere I try to go, we completely missed their set. We didn't even make it in time to see them wave goodbye. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't see it go down because I heard they were getting quite a few boos from an idiotic crowd who thinks that Slipknot is "heavy metal". Lame. To top it all off, Shannon ended up carting Tara and I around some very shady areas of El Paso trying to recover my car after it got towed from the parking lot of the Post Office. Terrible night all around.

Tonight, nothing will stop me from having a good time. NOTHING!!!

bam! i've got TWO golden tickets!

I think I'll have to try and come up with a real top ten list of my favorite bands sometime soon, then you can tell me what yours are. Maybe tonight. (If you are a frequent reader of my ramble, most likely not until next month!)

Jukebox #13 - Boysetsfire

2010-08-17T15:31:00.000-06:00

Artist: Boysetsfire
Title: Requiem
Album: The Misery Index: Notes From the Plague Years

Do you ever have one of those days where every single song that comes up when you hit random on your mp3 player is just stellar? That happened to me today on my lunch break and this was the last song that played just as I was getting back to work.

Vocalist for the band Nathan Gray did an interview about the music video where he talks about the meaning behind the song which was spot on to how you feel when you listen to the lyrics:

"The whole concept of it is about seeing hope from a miserable position, from a depressed situation. It’s not about yea we can do it! It’s more like can we? Its about trying to find the hope within something." (read the whole interview here.)

The idea of "can we?" strikes very close to my own interests. I write all the lyrics for the band Promise of Tomorrow and quite a bit of my writings seem to center around the same theme. It seems cheesy to write down, but Stallone really had the right idea near the end of the last "Rocky" movie where he was telling his son about moving forward. That life is about how many punches you can take and still get up. But sometimes you don't want to get up. The words that I write come from that gap of time where you make the decision, and not everyone gets a happy ending.

Adventures in Haircutting

2010-07-30T13:14:00.003-06:00

I've never been happy with my hair.

As a toddler my hair was cute. The folks had me with the old school side part which is good for the little kids. When I was younger and got to pick my own cut I thought a crisp flat-top was the best style in the world.

Later as a teenager I tried to follow the trend of the other kids in my high school, and had a terrible mishap with the "Caesar" that had infected everyone else with George Clooney lookalike disease. I didn't look like Clooney at all. After that it was back to the spiky 'do, but this time mixed with a lame combination of peroxide, teen angst and hair dye.

this haircut is not cool at all.
why did we ever think it was?

Nearing my 30's (holy crap!) I've gotten to the point where I need to get all of my hair experiments out of the way before I'm resigned to "adulthood". That includes a fling last summer with hot pink dye. I thought the color wasn't too shabby, but I also used to think that knee high white socks were awesome to wear with shorts.

For a couple of weeks, I even flirted with an "emo". It might have been a good look for me. If I was 15 years younger.

old emo is old

Right now, I've been growing out my hair to the longest length that it's ever been. Unfortunately it's been in that "awkward" stage for like 6 months.

So today, I'm going on what may be my last great hair adventure before Tara and I get married. Apparently I'm going to be a part of a "hair show" and my hair is going to be fixed up by a friend in beauty college. The last thing I heard, it's going to be styled like the Na'avi from Avatar.

Yeah, just roll that around in your brain for a bit. Maybe if I have some free time this weekend I'll fool around in Photoshop and turn one of my pictures into an Avatar character.

So stay tuned for the updated pics, I've got the consult appointment later this afternoon!

Engagement Pics Part I

2010-07-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

You can add Wedding Planning to that list of things that don't seem real until you're knee deep in it.

hehe, this website lets you "customize" the race

of your cake toppers. this is the "latino" dude.

Making the calls to the venue, arranging the seating chart, figuring out what's for dinner. This week is where things have started to pick up, Tara and I are shuffling the schedules to make it view some different places. It's harder than I thought it would be to find a nice outdoors place in the desert. Lots of people think that the arid landscape is just delightful. I'm not one of them.

this is the place where

they filmed "The Princess

Bride" in real life.

If I could pick my perfect "outside" spot, I would have to say it's more along the lines of the forest scenes from "The Princess Bride" or "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". I really like the green atmosphere and the carpet of leaves.

This weekend, I started to come around to the idea of a desert wedding after taking our first set of engagement photos.

Tara and I along with her friend from Photography and NMSU, Franchesca, headed out to an area near Dripping Springs and the place looked pretty awesome. It was the day after we had gotten some healthy rain, and the desert plants were looking quite lush, and the clouds were still swirling around the mountain valleys making for some excellent backdrops.

We got a look at some of the first shots the other day so here are a couple of my favorites. And yes, I know I need a haircut, thanks for pointing that out.

Getting In Shape

2010-07-23T00:00:00.012-06:00

Tara and I have decided that we need to get in better shape for the wedding. Especially me. I have gotten rather lumpy these past few years and no one looks good when you're lumpy in a tux.

We have the good fortune of living very close to the walking path on Triviz, so that's a perfect place to get our walk on and start firming up.

Tuesday, we ran out of dog food and our fitness motivation kicked in and we did the two birds with one stone thing. Walk to Wal-Mart, and get the dog some exercise, and get the doggy grub. We tried in vain to get her to sit still in the wagon while we pulled it though.

So that's fine. If you don't want to be pulled in the wagon, you are gonna be the one doing the pulling. Here is Whinny, training for her next run at Iditarod.

(and oh yeah, that totally is "The Final Countdown" in the background!)

Jake's Cafe

2010-07-21T13:29:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I got a burger from Jake's that was no ordinary burger. This monster had the freaking works! 3 meat patties, crispy bacon, and something I've never seen before but realize that it makes perfect sense. A slice of ham. It was truly a HAMburger.

I was only at the unwrapping point when I knew I had to take a picture of the thing. Behold...the HAMburger!

showing us the front and sides

Here's a picture of the burger next to Shannon's head, so you get a size comparison.

I know what you're thinking, "Did you eat the whole thing?" And the answer is No. I couldn't be greedy with this burger. It was meant to share. But that didn't stop me from trying to fit the whole thing in my mouth at once.

(I did manage to stuff a full 1/4 of the monster, and we got it on video, but I watched it, and it was really gross so I'll spare your delicate sensibilities.)

Point is, that burger was delicious! You can get one for yourself at an awesome price because on Friday at 8:20, Jake's is Doubling Your Dollars. I know this sounds like and ad and all, but I can with good conscience recommend this meal. For the details on the Double Your Dollar, click here.

My First Album!

2010-07-20T10:07:00.000-06:00

Today is a wonderful day!

We just sent off the audio and the artwork to get the first Promise of Tomorrow CD printed up. Now when Tara and I have some kids, we can have this to prove that their old man wasn't always such a square.

One thing that ended up being really cool was the artwork. Gui's brother Victor is a graphic artist that works with comics, and hooked us up with a great design. We told him what we wanted and he drew it up lickety-split.

After I added the text, I think it looks way pro, like we're a real band or something. Here it is, submitted for your approval (these pics are the final "preview" before it gets printed, hence the bleed and cut lines).

We should get the finished CD in 7 biz days, so they will be totally available by the time we get our "Back to School" show Aug. 19th at El Patio.

Nevermind the Typos.

2010-07-19T15:06:00.000-06:00

If there are misspellings or typos in this entry, I can dig it if you forget to mention them. Today, I has the tireds.

Of course it's all my fault. It's vacation week around the station, and it seems like everyone is taking off to greener or beachier pastures, and I'm doing my best to fill in. Today the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning so I could head to the station to do some news casting, and I've been dragging heinie all day long.

Mostly 'cause I'm a moron. It was 9:30pm and I'd already been working at the mall since 2 that afternoon and my energy was totally flagging. "Lightbulb!" Let's drink an energy drink at night! So so wrong. Of course the only thing that did was to keep me awake all night long. Add to that my obsession with Assassin's Creed and I didn't hit the sack 'till around 3. Moron.

(leave me alone i play games long after they come out to save money)

It's nice to be up though, I really feel like I got a ton of work done today. Hopefully I won't be looking back at all this tomorrow and have to re-do everything that didn't come out correct in this sleepy haze.

PS: "Despicable Me" was a GREAT movie. I'm also very excited to check out the hype and see "Inception", but that'll have to wait 'till next Saturday.

Rock and Roll

2010-07-16T13:54:00.000-06:00

Definitely tired today. I think I'm going to stay in bed so long this weekend, I'll probably start to grow roots.

It was worth it though, had a great show last night at El Patio. We played with our buddies in WormHole, and the place jammed.

I've been on the fence all season, but I finally broke down and got me some of those trendy plaid shirts with the sleeve holder thingies. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Here's some pics of me from the show because it's my blog, and I am vain (check the facebook to see some shots of the rest of the guys).

thanks to Tara Mertz Photography for the pictures!

We just finished up the artwork and stuff for our first CD recording! I'll be posting a look at it coming up next week! Hope your weekend is awesome!

Awesome Meets Not Awesome.

2010-07-15T17:16:00.000-06:00

Here is me easing back in to the world of posting updates.

I've been way too busy with work, the band, and getting started on wedding planning to pay enough attention to you readers, but hopefully I can start managing my time a bit more efficiently.

Coming up on Weds, I'll be filling in for Scott in the morning when he goes on vacation, so I'll definitely be getting some earlier and much needed sleep.

So Awesome vs. Not Awesome is this picture that ran in one of the papers. I forget which one it was here in town.

Awesome - Getting your picture in the paper!

Not Awesome - Having them give you the wrong last name.

Oh well, I guess you can't have it all lol.

Red Carpet Style

2010-06-07T17:51:00.001-06:00

So the Sex and The City 2 Premiere was pretty cool. I can't believe so many people showed up to the event.

I don't think I've walked a red carpet for anything before, and even though I knew it was just for fun and kind of silly, there was a part of me that had a lot of fun walking Tara into the theatre.

haha, Stripper Rob in the background

If you didn't see the rest of the red carpet walkers, don't forget to head to the Magic105 Homepage at www.kmvrfm.com

THE ENGAGEMENT!

2010-05-28T17:37:00.002-06:00

If you haven't heard the awesome news yet, Tara and I are engaged!

She always said that she wanted to wait until she graduated from college before we were engaged, so I figured the best time to ask her to marry me would be during her graduation dinner.

Dinner was at her all-time favorite place, and usual anniversary and special occasion spot, Pullaros. If you've never been there, it's a pretty sweet little restaurant which Tara and her mom have frequented since she was 4 years old. John is an awesome guy, and was totally down for letting us have the run of the place that night! It really made the night that much better. Instead of a restaurant full of random people, it was full of the family and friend that we really wanted to be a part of the celebration.

I knew dinner was going to be the perfect place to pop the question since there was going to be a whole bunch of her family at the dinner. Grandma, Mom, Dad, Uncles, and even some family from out of town. It was cool to have Tara's Aunt and Uncle that came all the way out from California to see her art show and come to dinner. They were awesome enough to put us up and loan us a car while we visited San Fransisco for their daughter Jessica's wedding.

Almost everyone at the table knew what was coming that night, and i'm so glad no one spilled the beans before it happened. When it was time for the big moment I know is that I was cool as a cucumber, until I stood up to make my speech! I forgot everything that I practiced so I was only able to say something totally lame, but it sure got the point across. Of course, it was a total surprise to Tara, as evidenced by the first words out of her mouth..."You guys are all a-holes."

Then came the "YES" I was hoping for!!!

So there you go! It was quick and painless, and definitely one of the best nights I've ever had! Don't bother asking when the date is set for, we're still working on it :)

I Love You Tara <3

The Dog-Hawk

2010-05-04T13:05:00.001-06:00

Do you ever have the most awesome idea you've ever had in your life?

I do. All the time. Actually most of the things that I get into start off as the MOST AWESOME IDEA IN THE WORLD!!!!!! Of course most of the time they end up complete disasters.

start a band
make my own cat-post
change my own spark plugs
build a dog house
dye my hair hot pink

I'm pretty sure this list could go on for pages.

Over the weekend, lightning struck my brain and this time our poor defenseless dog was caught in the middle. Every summer Tara and I get the dog shaved so she sheds less in the house, and so she's more comfortable outside. Anyone will tell you that taking your dog to the groomer can get expensive, so what better way to save money than to buy your own dog hair trimmer and shave the dog yourself!

Here's where THE BEST IDEA EVER comes in to play:

THIS DOG WOULD LOOK TOTALLY AWESOME IF SHE HAD A KICKASS MOWHAWK.

I have ruined my dog.

Check it out for yourself:

isn't she cuuuuute?

so it begins

yeah, definitely not happy

looks like it's growing on her

halfway done!

now maybe this stuff won't end up all over my comforter

and now...an ugly dog

The Art Gallery

2010-05-03T15:20:00.004-06:00

I am totally stoked this week, Tara is having her BFA show at the Las Cruces Museum of Art and I get to help her set it up!

Actually, I'll most trying not to get in the way or get fingerprints on anything.

When it come to projects, we have very different ways of approaching things. It's hard for me to not want to take charge of a situation, but today, I'll definitely have to to take the backseat. The set-up of the exhibit is a big part of the art itself, so I'm just gonna hammer the nails where I'm supposed to, and do my best to make sure I do what I'm told.

I was wary about the project when she first started, but I've been completely impressed with how things have turned out. If you want to see some examples, you can check out her photoblog for yourself, or you can come to the BFA show yourself.

It will be Friday May 7th, at 5 pm.

Decisions, Decisions

2010-05-01T15:50:00.003-06:00

I guess you know you're growing up when you choose to clean your messy apartment rather than hit the theatres when you really really really want to see the new Nightmare on Elm Street.

bah.

If you went to see this movie, please tell me if it's worth it or not! I've read so many different reviews from "professionals" but I don't trust them. Ebert is cool and all, but he's falling out.

PS: if something really cool happens, try not to spoil too bad haha

PPS: my spell check won't let me spell theatres. it makes me spell theaters. i don't like that.

read this if you're bored.

Another Busy Bee

2010-04-30T15:18:00.006-06:00

It sure seems that every time I think that I’m finally on top of my game and my “TO DO” list is over and done with the week is over and BAM right back at the start again. As they say, I’ll sleep when I’m dead (not the Bon Jovi song).

The most exciting part of the week has been my time in the studio with Promise of Tomorrow. We are getting the finishing touches on our first professional recording, and I think it’s sounding really cool. Of course, since I wrote the dang songs I think it sounds awesome, and we’ll have to wait and see if anyone else agrees.

At this point, I’m caring about selling a million albums or getting rich off this gig, but damn it’s so fun.

A couple of years ago I gave up the gigging and performing, and Tara encouraged me to get back into it. One of the things that I love about her is that she’s always supported my musical pursuits. Another is that she’s very vocal about the things she likes and dislikes about our songs. I’d be more worried if all she ever said was good things about my singing!

Hopefully the CD will be ready within the next couple of weeks, for you to get a good listen. We’ve got some videos up on YouTube, but the sound quality just isn’t that spectacular.

I'm looking forward to tonight. Promise is playing in a Battle of the Bands on campus at NMSU (free show, starts at 7pm!) and we were really on the ball at our last practice. After being in the studio I think we're all a lot more comfortable with the material and it really shows.

If you want to grab up a PoTshirt, we're letting them go on special tonight for just 8 bucks. If not, that's cool too!

I'll leave you with a sneak peek at the time we spent in the studio with Joel getting our EP together.

I Am Dorkus Maximus

2010-04-29T23:21:00.003-06:00

Are you not entertained? I know I am. After like 3 years, Tara and I finally broke down and got some new phones. YAY!

So I'm being a complete nerd, and instead of walking the 4 feet to my desk where my laptop is, I'm posting this update from my phone.

I blame technology for my expanding waistline. That being said, Bioshock needs my attention :)

Talk to you tomorrow!

The First CD from Promise of Tomorrow!

2010-04-23T14:52:00.000-06:00

Tonight, my band Promise of Tomorrow gets our first listen to our new CD. I am totally stoked to hear what a "real" recording of us sounds like.

I did a lame job of recording (well, it's not that bad) with some of our own equipment, but this was significantly more involved.

At the same time, I'm a little nervous about hearing the tracks. I hope they don't suck!

Jukebox #12 - GangStarr R.I.P. Keith Elam

2010-04-21T13:51:00.001-06:00

Artist: GangStarr f. Scarface
Title: Betrayal
Album: Moment of Truth

BE AWARE THIS SONG CONTAINS SOME QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE. MAY BE NSFW.

Keith Elam, better known as The Guru died yesterday after battling heart attacks, respiratory problems, and cancer. He was 47 years old.

Moment of Truth to this day is one of my all time favorite albums. I have great memories of being 17 and blasting the cd from my friends tan Suburban after school, memorizing the lyrics and bobbing our heads to the beat.

Whenever a friend would say that hip-hop was devoid of substance, I could play them any song from The Guru as proof that not all rappers are obsessed with the superficial. The beauty of Keith's lyrics was the intricately detailed description of the grimy street life, without glorifying the "gangster" lifestyle. Songs like "My Advice is to You" are about turning your back on drugs and street violence. "Discipline" tells women that they are more than sex objects, and "Betrayal" is a frank story of how crime and violence can destroy families.

Later in his life, after splitting from longtime collaborator DJ Premiere, Keith explored a fusion of Jazz and HipHop and along with MC Solar released several albums known as "Jazzmatazz". These albums sparked an international interest in the genre Elam worked with until his death.

Guru will be forever remembered as one of the finest emcees in the game, and he will be missed.

Scandalous, money greed and lust
In this trife life, there ain't nobody you can trust
Plus there's no justice, it's just us
In fact, watchin' yo back it be must
And each and everyday around the way gats bust
And jealous so-called friends'll try to set you up
It's called betrayal

The End of The World

2010-04-20T12:09:00.001-06:00

Last night, the cable and the internet were down for “updating” says the recording from Comcast. I found out something about myself last night.

This is a very embarrassing thing to admit, but here goes:

My life is over when the cable and the internet go out.

I thought that would make me feel better, but not so much.

For some reason I have it in my head that I used to do all kinds of awesome things before I had constant access to the webs and hundreds of channels at my fingertips.

I know for sure that I used to read more books. One of the best traits I inherited from my parents is the love of the written word. I still love to read, but I just don’t do it. That actually sucks because my Dad keeps giving me all these books that I really want to read, but they just end up sitting there in my “someday” pile. I think I’m up to 3 in the queue right now.

this movie is hilarious

but probably not on purpose

When I was in college and we couldn’t afford cable (and they removed the not so stealthy splint that let us leech cable from the upstairs neighbors) the roommates and I used to hit the gym. We’d go play basketball for hours at a time and didn’t care if we missed an episode of Tool Academy.

Now I’m here every five minutes to see if someone left a comment on my ever so carefully crafted status updates while the dog lies on the porch trying to remember the feel of grass between her toes.

Maybe I never used to do awesome things. Maybe that’s just an idea stuck in my head so that I can blame technology for turning me into a lazy-bones.

So what did I do while the cable was out?

Played the ol’ guitar for a bit, typed up this blog, and resisted the urge to crank up the x-box. Service still hasn’t come up yet, so I think I’m going to head to the bedroom and start finishing up at least one of my books.

If you didn’t have any cable or internet, what would you be doing?

PS: if you do have internet and you want to make fake facebook posts click here

Sometimes, I Write Serious Blogs.

2010-04-19T19:57:00.000-06:00

I know there are a lot of you out there that can’t stand it when commercials come on the radio, and that’s true wherever you are. Just keep in mind that some ads can be totally awesome (just ask the slap chop guy).

Most of the commercials we see and hear are trying to talk you into buying something you don’t need or making you think that a deal is better than it really is. Then there are commercials though that are kind of puzzling. There’s a few out right now in particular that really caught my attention from the Dona Ana Sheriff’s Office.

See, you’re already confused right? These commercials are really like nothing I’ve ever heard before, straight propaganda. 30-60 seconds of people talking about what the Sheriff’s Office does and why they should be seen as “The Good Guys.” It’s so strange to me that the police force is paying for an endorsement. It’s almost like they are begging for people not to hate them.

I’ve never had a problem with the cops even though I’ve had plenty reason. I could have been upset 2 years ago when my car got stolen, and I got a letter 2 days after the report saying “oh well”. I could have been upset when I found said car 3 weeks later in a very public spot and the investigating officers asked me (with 3 flashlights shining in my face) if I was the one to steal my own car. But that’s cool. I let it slide.

It turns out that people are not willing to let it slide when Cops and Sheriff’s Deputies shoot people.

Recently a man was shot and killed by police in Las Cruces, a boy in Mesquite was shot and killed by the Sheriff’s Department and another teen was killed in a struggle for an officer’s weapon.

I firmly believe that an officer of the law has every right to protect him/herself with deadly force if necessary. I don’t know the details of the cases. I don’t know the law. What I do know is that every time I hear a commercial from the Sheriff’s Office labeling them as “The Good Guys”, my suspicion meter goes off in the back of my head.

What do you think? Leave me your comments.

If I Was Drinking Milk At The Time, It Would Have Squirted Out Of My Nose

2010-04-16T15:05:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know these kinds of things are usually only funny when you know the people that are in them, but I had to post it.

If you do know the rest of the guys in my band, you'll probably find this as hilarious as I did.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Thanks to Sam for making this one!

P.S. If you have some time this weekend, please stop by and vote for us to play in this year's Warped Tour. It would be so awesome!

www.battleofthebands.com/promiseoftomorow

Steeeeeeve

2010-04-16T03:52:00.001-06:00

Maybe I'll get some rest this weekend.

Or maybe not. I'm leaning towards the "not" part.

Tonight I'm probably headed out to the bowling alley to help Jay set up some equipment for some sort of boxing match, or cage fight, or some other silly thing. And of course Tara and I will have to hang out and have a good time enjoying the fruits of the labor.

Saturday will be an enthralling afternoon at Hot Topic slaving away folding shirts and telling kids to stop making out in the corner (where they think we can't see them, but there's a huge mirror on the ceiling that begs to differ).

these mirrors see EVERYTHING!

After that I think MamaMoney wants me to come over and go through some of my old boxes in the garage for some yard sale party. I wasn't really paying attention when she told me, and I'm thinking I might be busy...

Sunday should be pretty sweet, it's Tara's Dad's Birthday, so we're going to head over to his house with a highly anticipated delivery of long teaspoons and enjoy some tasty rootbeer floats. YUM!

Then if all goes well, (and Tara is done with her homework) squeeze in a showing of "Kick-Ass" before any of my wonderful friends spoil the ending for me.

I can already tell that Monday is going to have me feeling like I should have stayed in bed! So to keep things positive, here are some pictures of our cat Steve. Because he's awesome. Actually he's a jerk. But still awesome.

Have a Great Weekend!

Buyer Beware

2010-04-15T02:09:00.000-06:00

I totally had the chance to be stoked yesterday, but instead I was denied. usually when I get some new gadgets I get all giddy to open it up, smell the box, and keep the protective plastic on all the sensitive parts. I'm not very excited about what happened at all.

Everything was going fine until last night when "Old Faithful" decided that it was going to click twice every time I left clicked. I couldn't have had this thing for more than a year before it went kaput. Yeah, I know, there are worse things that could happen, but I bet this kind of thing happens to you more often than you realize.

So I'm a little bummed at shelling out 20 bucks to get a new piece of equipment, but the part that chaps my hide is that companies build things to break on purpose, and they've been doing it for years!

It's a little thing called "Planned Obsolescence". It basically means a company will sell you a product that is built to break down. Some actually devote money and research into creating an item with parts that will break down according to a specific time-table. Like a week after the warranty runs out.

I wish I was joking.

Those Stride Gum commercials take a light-hearted look at the practice. They hunt down their customers and physically make them spit out the gum so they have to eat a new piece to boost their sales. It's fun to laugh until you're on the phone with the Apple Store for hours trying to convince them to fix your iPod when the guarantee expired the day before. Google it, you'll see. The list doesn't stop there; vacuum cleaners, car parts, toaster ovens, laptop computer batteries, and even razor blades!

I'm no Grandpa Simpson, but my onion is tied firmly to my belt. I sure wish I lived in a world where product quality was a more sought after than a R.O.I. I guess they just don't make 'em like they used to.

Have you had anything break on you, just as the warranty expired? Leave a comment :)

Tuesday Jukebox #11 - Taking Back Sunday

2010-03-30T15:43:00.005-06:00

Artist: Taking Back Sunday
Title: Set Phasers To Stun
Album: Where You Want To Be

Today's Jukebox comes a little bit later today because of some huge news with one of my favorite bands. Taking Back Sunday has been through more members over their short career than most like to keep up with, but I'm a loser and I try to keep up with everything.

Yesterday, the bassist and guitar player both announced that they would no longer be in the band, and TBS posted a picture on their website that features a new picture. A picture of two original members of the group. I won't bore you with the details, for that you can check out this blog from Alternative Press.

"Set Phasers to Stun" is the first song from their second album, their first on a major label. The debate rages as to whether or not this "changed" the band, or if by losing two players from their debut TBS would never be the same.

I loved the first three records, and now it's weird to see the original guys back in the band. It's not always a good idea to try and recapture the magic of the old days, but I'm willing to wait and see if the new material can redeem the band from the disaster that was "New Again".

Smiling on a Monday

2010-03-29T15:13:00.002-06:00

It was a good weekend for yours truly. I think today sets a record, since no one ever really smiles on a Monday, but we all get at least one.

This weekend I was finally able to put my feet up for at least a few hours and relax. Saturday's shift at Hot Topic ended at 7pm, more than enough time to come home and enjoy some TV time with Tara (even though she made me watch Sober House) which is always nice. Ordered some pizza, and just chilled.

Sunday was a great day, the band got together for our first day in the recording studio! We're putting 5 of our songs on a CD and I'm more than excited to be doing it. We're taking some pics and vids, so you'll see some updates on the progress in a couple of days. I've also got some footage of our show at the Mall last Thursday, so I'll be posting that up on our YouTube Page pretty soon as well.

Sunday night, I came home and just totally crashed out, and Tara was nice enough to come and check on me and give me kisses on my forehead while I was dozing, which is enough to put anyone in a good mood. A couple hours of BioShock and then some Family Guy finally capped it all off.

In case your Monday didn't go as well as mine did, here's a picture of some levitating cats that might cheer you up. If not, then you are beyond my help. Till next time :)

March 25th @ 7pm

2010-03-25T14:53:00.002-06:00

Hope you can make it out to the show tonight!

No cover charge for Promise of Tomorrow playing live inside the Hot Topic at the Mesilla Valley Mall.

We've got our brand new T-shirts for sale and some brand new songs to play for you tonight. Try to get there a little early for the best seat, it was packed the last time we played!

Hope to see you there!

I'm Cool With It

2010-03-24T11:39:00.000-06:00

I actually thought it was pretty hilarious. Like that scene in The Naked Gun, where Leslie Nielson goes to the urinal with his microphone still on.

I'm not gonna freak out because the Vice President dropped the F Bomb. I'm really not even shocked. I'd be more weirded out if Biden was the kind of guy that never cursed. Something about those types of people makes them hard to trust. Everyone knew going into this Presidency that Biden is one of those "everyman" kind of guys, and to be honest, I like it.

Mostly because Biden is right. Nationalized health care is a big effing deal, no matter what side of the aisle you're on with this issue. Things are going to be different in this Country, good or bad.

All things considered, a good 'ol effer is the least of our problems at this point.

What do you think?

Excited for Thursday!

2010-03-23T13:58:00.000-06:00

Coming up this Thursday, the band that I sing in will be playing a live show at the Hot Topic store in the Mesilla Valley Mall. The last time we played there, the place was jam packed and we all had an awesome time

This time should be even better!

Since then, we've gotten a new guitarist, written some new songs, and gotten in our first order of Promise of Tomorrow T-Shirts!! (on sale, just $10 each hehe)

For the rest of the week, our shirts will be available at the store, which I'm totally stoked about!

See you at the show!

Tuesday Jukebox #10 - Boys Night Out

2010-03-23T02:25:00.002-06:00

Artist: Boys Night Out
Title: Up With Me
Album: Boys Night Out 2007

This week's jukebox is a video because it's simply awesome.

My 29th birthday was last week and sometimes it feels like I'm letting time get away with me. I've done quite a bit in my short years, but sometimes I worry if I'll be able to squeeze in everything that I want to do.

A certainty is that unless you make peace with your past, you'll never be able to evolve. That what I get from this song. People make mistakes, own up to them, and move on in the right ways. The skeletons in this vid are killer! How many of you feel like this sometimes?

And there's something soothing and surreal as hell.
About climbing up from where you fell.
You finally forget to be overwhelmed.

Wash Your Car

2010-03-22T14:40:00.007-06:00

Since I was talking about doing the chores earlier this morning, I got a chuckle out of this video of a guy giving the 'ol Ferrari a wash.

Almost makes me want to give the Civic a hosing down :)

Chores.

2010-03-22T11:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend was definitely a lazy one. I think I deserved it. More often than not I think I bite off more than I can chew when it comes to my spare time and I never really get to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, when you want to take a lazy day, you have to put off all those damn "grown-up" things that clutter up the place e.g., dishes and laundry.

Sometimes I think Tara and I need to hurry up and have a couple of kids so we can have someone to do the dishes for us!

Just kidding. Here's to chores!

Thems was the good 'ol days!

PS: the pic is also a joke. i don't want to get my butt kicked when i get home! :D

Making the Move to Magic 105!

2010-03-18T15:57:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update because my new blog is awesomely available from the Magic 105 homepage now!

JUST CLICK HERE and you can update your bookmarks (or add me haha)

Now it's even easier for you to listen in live and get in your e-quests while you're checking out my posts.

Thanks for listening.

-Pablo "Money"

Warped Tour 2010

2010-03-05T11:58:00.005-07:00

Here's something really neat you could do this weekend.

The band I sing in Promise of Tomorrow is looking to play at the Warped Tour when it comes through Las Cruces.

What we need is votes! If you have the time, please click the banner and go to the Battle of the Bands webpage, make an account, and give us a vote every day. It would be a really big help, and hopefully we'll see you from the stage!

Tuesday Jukebox #9 - Tsuji Shion

2010-03-02T15:03:00.004-07:00

Artist: Tsuji Shion
Title: Sky Chord
Album: Bleach ending #18

If you didn't know, Tara and I really like to watch anime (and we're better than you because we watch them in Japanese with subtitles). I freely admit I'm a huge nerd. I tend to like the girly ones, mostly because the plot lines are better than a lot of the huge robot anime stuff.

This song is one of the ending songs from the anime Bleach.

I just thought it would be nice to put up some mellow music after last weeks headbang. It's a pretty song, and I've been in need of some soothing lately. It's a song about growing up and leaving behind your childhood. Totally cheesy, but I love it anyways!

PS: you can click here for the silly music video.

Please See ID

2010-02-25T10:39:00.006-07:00

Maybe my blog title should change. Something to reflect on how I fail to understand most of the general population.

Today's Topic: Showing your ID when you use plastic at the store.

I have been a working man for just about half of my life. I filled out my first W2 when I was 15 years old with a work permit (for my Albuq. peeps, do you remember the Skags Alpha Beta?). Even now I moonlight at Hot Topic in the Mall just for kicks.

All these years later, one trend always stays the same and it blows me away: the folks that put up a huge fuss when you ask for their ID for a credit transaction.

To be completely honest, I could care less if you are using your own credit cards or someone else's; either way it's not my money and the store gets paid regardless.

this is my i don't care face

Why do you want to fight me? It only benefits you. Sure new credit card rules don't hold you accountable for charges that you didn't make, but have you ever tried to get customer service to give your money back? You'll have an easier time pulling teeth from a donkey (or your sister off a Jonas Brother). I'm not going to use my impressive photographic memory to get your address and birthday so I can send you 30 pizzas to your house as a gag. It takes 10 seconds to pull it out, and most of the time I can see it just fine through that little plastic view hole.

It's something to be expected that customers can be jerks to cashiers because of their position on the food chain, but whipping out your license isn't should be a declaration of war. Speaking of war, if it's a Military ID, we give you a discount. Like I said you only stand to benefit.

One last thing before I go. If you write "Please See ID" on the signature line of your card, you officially lose all complaining about showing your id privileges (and yeah, it does happen quite a bit).

Tuesday Jukebox #8 - Deftones

2010-02-24T11:19:00.004-07:00

Ok, so it's Wednesday, but this jukebox is definitely worth it today!

Artist: Deftones
Title: Rocket Skates
Album: Diamond Eyes

Deftones have been hitting it hard and heavy for 5 albums now, and they are on my list of bands that I must see play live before I die, and I will be forever jealous of Tara who already has. The closest I got was Team Sleep, same singer, more Trip-Hop.

Chi Cheng, the bass player for Deftones was in a pretty severe car accident in November of 2008 and has been in coma ever since. Before that crash, an album was recorded with the title EROS, which now may never see the light of day.

After a small hiatus, the band decided to move forward with a totally new album with songs dedicated to Cheng. The new record is titled Diamond Eyes and is scheduled to be hitting the stores May 18th of this year.

This is the first single, "Rocket Skates" which you can download from their website for free!!! (it will redirect you to gunsrazorsknives.com)

I'm glad to see they've returned to a really "heavy" sound, but kept up with the ambient/trip-hop influences. Totally looking forward to the rest of the album.

Fame and Fortune Sucks, apparently.

2010-02-23T12:16:00.009-07:00

When you're famous, getting your picture taken is part and parcel of the whole gig, we all know this. We all know there are a plenty actors and actresses that take issue with the paparazzi invading their privacy which I can totally stand by. Especially when there are children involved. No one wants to spend every single moment of their lives with a camera pushed in their faces (except if you're a Kardashian).

I found these pictures of Twilight starlet Kristen Stewart and I can't seem to understand the look that she has on her face.

the dress is awesome...

...the attitude sucks.

It's understandable that promotion for your projects whether it be at a movie premiere or an awards show can be tiresome and taxing, but maybe try to feign a little bit of interest in what you are doing.

You've got one of the greatest jobs in the world and you can't take the time to continue "acting" on the red carpet so photogs can snap you looking glamorous for a few minutes?

It's different from a sleazy tabloid trying to catch you with toilet paper hanging off the back of your shoe. These events are your chance to "advertise" what you are and what you represent. It's a chance to let people know that you enjoy what you do, and to justify ticket prices and popcorn markups. It may be cheesy and mind-dulling, but it's also part of the job.

I don't take issue with her life choices, or acting ability, or choice of roles; I just want to understand why a person would choose to show outright disinterest to supporters and fans.

Any ideas? Send me your comments!

Valentine!

2010-02-15T15:57:00.004-07:00

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day, single or not.

I'll be talking to you again on Wednesday!

because i'm a dork

I Should Know Better

2010-02-12T00:56:00.003-07:00

than to keep taking road trips without getting a decent nights' sleep.

So, if any of you were missing me today, Tara and I just got back from Tuscon after a day trip to see the gallery opening of one of her NMSU Proffesor's art and check out the museum at The University of Arizona.

Just a 4 hour drive, no big deal but anytime we have a long drive ahead of us, I always find myself staying up way to late the night before. It's almost like a tradition. Maybe it's nervous energy or something. All I know is that I'm taking tomorrow and not even thinking about getting out of bed until at least noon.

Have fun at work!

PS: if you don't have this game, you are seriously missing out! BEST GAME EVER!

Tuesday Jukebox #7 - Keane

2010-02-09T10:35:00.005-07:00

Artist: Keane
Title: Everybody's Changing
Album: Hopes and Fears

Keane is a great band. You'd never guess that the singer was a raging alcoholic that destroys hotel rooms and shows up to gigs too drunk to stand up.

The 'ol books and covers trope.

This is a great song to have a relaxing day to or if you're having one of those days where you just feel weird. Keane isn't looking to answer the question of the song. It's that moment of awkward when you're first trying to wrap your head around your life, but it doesn't have to be depressing. It's that moment where your path splits and the choice is yours.

Feels Good Man...

2010-02-04T12:16:00.012-07:00

Last Friday night was great. It was Promise's first show back from out Holiday break and we came out guns blazing. We played some new cover songs, and some new originals and things went as well as could be expected.

Original music is a tough sell in Las Cruces. Sometimes it gets tough to get up in front of crowds that just want you to play cover songs all night. "Metallica! Slayer!" they scream at you after every song that you play. The only thing you can do is keep playing and hope to win the crowd over by then end of the show.

I think we were able to do that on Friday, we had a lot of fun and it was great to get back on the stage.

On another note, we've been auditioning for an additional guitar player and we think we've found someone who's going to work out just fine. We'll be spending the rest of the month getting him up to speed with the music, and hopefully have some new tunes come out of the collaboration as well. So mark your calendars, we'll be hitting Hurricane Alley coming up in March with a hell of a set for you!

Tuesday Jukebox #6 - Austrian Death Machine

2010-02-02T14:33:00.009-07:00

Artist: Austrian Death Machine
Title: I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots, Your Motorcycle
Album: Double Brutal

Our music selection today is rather silly. The lead singer of the band As I Lay Dying has had a side project for a couple of years called Austrian Death Machine. What do they do? Thrash-Core songs based on Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.

Yeah you read that right.

It's not the best music in the world, and the impression isn't always great, but the songs are pretty hilarious. They contain lyrical gems from movies such as Total Recall: "You got what you wanted Cohagen, give these people air" and "I'll see you at the party Richter, without your hands!"

Enjoy.

Promise of Tomorrow at El Patio

2010-01-29T00:00:00.001-07:00

Tonight I'll be singing with Promise of Tomorrow at El Patio on the Plaza. We've just written some new songs after the Holiday break, and we're really excited for our first show of 2010. We're playing with some awesome metal dudes called After the Fall.

Show starts at 10pm so stop by and say hi!

PeeWee Herman Says Don't Do Drugs.

2010-01-28T13:01:00.012-07:00

I totally love PeeWee and to this day I say without shame that Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is my #1 favorite movie of all time. Oh yeah, and I've gone as PeeWee for Halloween on more than two occasions. Totally obsessed. I was glad to read that a revitalized version of his stage play is currently doing very well with audiences, and that perhaps a new movie is on the horizon.

I was cruising the internets today and scraped up this awesome gem of a clip that I wonder if he even remembers making. Enjoy!

Tuesday Jukebox #5 - Guster

2010-01-26T00:00:00.001-07:00

Artist: Guster
Title: Come Downstairs And Say Hello
Album: Keep It Together

I'm constantly swapping out the music on my mp3 player. I try not to load it up with too much music because I end up wasting time skipping too many songs. Guster is an exception. They get to stay while everything else gets replaced. I first heard of Guster from one of my college roomates, and they quickly became one of my favorite bands (this album was practically on repeat my entire senior year.)

This one references the supposed sync-up of Pink Floyd and the Wizard of Oz. I've seen it and it's totally cool! The bigger message is that you can better your situation with the right motivation. Unfortunately getting motivated can be hard sometimes. I know I fall into that trap plenty of times. I'll have great ideas and plans but the follow up seems to fall short. I guess that's if you're an official grown-up; when you can set and achieve your goals with any sort of regularity.

Step 1: Make the Tuesday Jukebox posts on Tuesday! 0.o

PS: If you like Guster, then check out the movie Life as A House. It's one of my all-time favorite films. The dog in the movie is named Guster, and they play quite a few of their songs throughout!

Yay Video Games!

2010-01-25T17:30:00.005-07:00

So the blog has been a bit sparse lately, mostly from the introduction of my new friend. Tara was wonderful enough to get me hooked up with a new Xbox360, and I have been MIA ever since.

I'm already late to the party, I don't even know which games are the coolest ones anymore. I don't want to hit the stores and shell out 60 bucks for the latest online craze, and then find out that I'm the only one that still wants to play. Like that kid who heard Lady Gaga's Just Dance for the first time last week, and now won't stop singing it everywhere, completely oblivious to everyone that wants to punch him in the face.

I guess video games do make a person more violent.

That aside, I'm a nerd who would rather play games by himself than rely on other people. I barely have real life friends, and now I'm supposed to make them online now too? Not a big fan.

The latest thing in video games is their online capabilities. On one hand, it's great that you can team up with some dude who lives across the world and shoot aliens together on the same team, but on the other, I don't like the idea of forced cooperation with someone you don't know. Of course you can buy a little ear piece to talk to them like they're in the same room, but it just ain't the same as jostling for position on the couch and angling for the last nacho with a real live person next to you.

Tara and I were pretty hardcore online gamers for a little over a year. Going nights without sleeping to do boss quests, checking in on our characters every 10 minutes, making sure we were keeping up with the latest server drama. While we did meet some seemingly nice people, there were parts of the game that you couldn't experience unless you had a team of people, and that always bothered me. When I play games, most of the time I prefer to play alone and I have a great time doing that. The trend however, is that games are being built with the idea that online friends are more important that real ones.

So far I've bought a couple of games that were older and of course didn't cost at much, and they'll keep me happily occupied for a while. They are games that don't really require any online assistance from other players, but they both have features where you can upload your scores to see how much better someone else is at the same game.

It looks like my video game excitement post has turned into a diatribe on how I'm an internet loner. Well, maybe I'll find a way to scrape together 60 bucks for "Modern Warfare" so I can enjoy getting sniper killed by some tween kids from Anytown while fumble with my controller wondering when the mushrooms are going to pop up from the pipes.

Tuesday Jukebox #4 - Elvis Costello & Fiona Apple

2010-01-05T12:51:00.005-07:00

Artist: Elvis Costello & Fiona Apple
Title: I Want You
Album: VH1 Classic Presents: Decades Rock Live! - Elvis Costello 7-21-2006

This week's jukebox is a video, because there is no real "studio" version of this performance.

Costello is a songwriter that is able to wring every bit of emotion from his words and his music. Sometimes his vocal delivery is a bit odd, but in his original version, he plays the perfect role of a dejected lover.

Purists don't usually take well to cover songs, but I think many can agree that Fiona Apple was the perfect selection for her. Apple has a voice that can pierce your center, even if she was just to sing a nursery rhyme. This is a great song for her to perform, it even fits in with the tone some of her own original material.

If you haven't heard the original version, you can find it here.

The New Year's Eve Countdown

2010-01-01T04:05:00.004-07:00

Dear Listeners,

Happy New Year to all of you, and thanks for listening in to the countdown. Tara and I hope 2010 is a wonderful year for you.

If you missed the countdown, or forgot some of the numbers, here is the list of the 50 biggest songs of 2009, on Magic 105.

I can't wait for this year to be bigger and better than the last. I've been doing the New Year's Eve Countdown for many years here on 104.9 and can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be.

Money

50 Blue October - Say It
49 O.A.R - Shattered
48 Eric Hutchinson - Ok, It's Alright
47 Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
46 John Legend - Green Light
45 Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
44 Pink - Sober
43 Parachute - She Is Love
42 Daughtry - What About Now
41 Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet
40 Thriving Ivory - Angels On The Moon
39 Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
38 Sean Kingston - Fire Burning
37 Green Day - 21 Guns
36 Leona Lewis - Better In Time
35 The Fray - Never Say Never
34 Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA
33 Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
32 Michael Franti - Say Hey
31 The Veronicas - Untouched
30 Colbie Caillat - Fallin' For You
29 David Cook - Come Back To Me
28 Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up
27 Train - Hey Soul Sister
26 Rihianna - Disturbia
25 Jordin Sparks - Battlefield
24 Daughtry - No Surprise
23 Rob Thomas - Her Diamonds
22 Lady Gaga - Love Game
21 Nickelback - Gotta Be Somebody
20 Cobra Starship - Good Girls Go Bad
19 Mariah Carey - Obsessed
18 Shakira - She Wolf
17 Pink - So What
16 Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat - Lucky
15 Owl City - Fireflies
14 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
13 Britney Spears - Womanizer
12 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
11 Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
10 The Fray - You Found Me
9 Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
8 AAR - Gives You Hell
7 Miley Cyrus - The Climb
6 Lady Gaga - Just Dance
5 Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
4 Beyonce - Single Ladies
3 Taylor Swift - Love Story
2 Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

1 Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Tuesday Jukebox #3 - Circa Survive

2009-12-29T01:09:00.005-07:00

Artist: Circa Survive
Title: The Difference Between Medicine and Poison's In The Dose
Album: On Letting Go

I used to be a much bigger idiot than I am today, always taking things too far, and going to excess. I always said, "You never know how much is enough, until you've had too much."

This song shares that idea. It has a rip the shades open and let the daylight in when you're hungover vibe to it.

Tara and I met the singer when they played in El Paso. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, but was paying a little too much attention to me. I guess that's what I deserved for wearing a dress to the show. Like I said, still an idiot, just not quite as much.

Random 2

2009-12-19T00:00:00.003-07:00

This should be good for a quick laugh for your weekend!

Enjoy! (ps: questionable language at the end of the clip, if you know the song, you know what i'm talking about)

Edit: video should be working now.

Edit: Those stupid tags on the video for some lame money scam were annoying so I took it down.

Laaaame.

Iron Man 2

2009-12-17T11:22:00.020-07:00

I just saw this trailer today, and I am totally stoked to see this movie.

It's incredible what a little bit of editing and some cool music can do to make something go from blah to BAM!

What movies are you looking forward to?

IRON MAN 2 Trailer

EDIT: The fullscreen viewing has been fixed! Check it out.

Jay and Manda Wedding 2

2009-12-16T12:18:00.008-07:00

My last Jay and Manda post was the really lame panorama that didn't even line up the right way, but that was just to whet the palette for the really good stuff.

Like these ones!

Just kidding.

If you want to see some really great pictures from the wedding, you can check out Tara's Photography Blog (click here).

She took some really great shots, and I definitely encourage you to browse the rest of her pictures too.

Tuesday Jukebox #2 - The Beach Boys

2009-12-14T00:00:00.004-07:00

Artist: The Beach Boys
Title: Surf's Up
Album: Purple Chick's Mix

This song was intended to be released on the original version of the album "Smile" from the Beach Boys, but it might as well have been a solo album from Brian Wilson. Pressure from Mike Love and heavy drug use pushed Wilson over the edge, deep into depression, and the album was never finished the way it was intended.

A different version of "Surf's Up" (which is still pretty good) was released a few years later on an album of the same name.

There are many different takes on this tune (youtube has quite a few) ranging from solo piano, to this one that has been pieced together from various studio bootlegs, and other released versions. Many say that PurpleChick's version comes closer to the original intent than any other version.

When I first heard this song, I listened to it for 4 days non-stop. This just may be my favorite Beach Boys song. Enjoy.

Jay and Manda Wedding 1

2009-12-09T00:00:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, two of Tara's and my friends got married. They both actually used to be my bosses for a while too. For those of you that remember Manda and Jay from the old Magic 105 Morning Show, well they finally got hitched.

Tara was on the job as the official photographer for the wedding, but I couldn't let her have all the fun.

Enjoy this crappy 360 panorama of the wedding hall done by yours truly!

click for bigger view

Random 1 - Animals

2009-12-08T00:00:00.001-07:00

So this is completely random, but I thought it was totally awesome.

I was down at Better Life Pet Foods (quick plug: 365 Avenida de Mesilla) for a live broadcast a couple of weeks ago for their pet pics with Santa.

They have this Cat Condo program where you can take your cats to stay when you go on vacation and such. One of the kennels had this sweet looking thing just hanging out!

HOLY MOLY! It's like a crazy domesticated cheetah cat! This is definitely one of the coolest "regular" animals I've seen in real life.

Post back some cool looking animal links!

The Tuesday Jukebox - Dredg

2009-12-07T10:00:00.005-07:00

This is something new to my blog that I thought would be pretty neat.

Since most of you know me from Magic 105, and you know that we play "The Best of the 80's 90's and Now!" you don't get to hear about the other kinds of music that I like to listen to.

So come back every Tuesday, and you'll get a taste of the stuff that I jam to when I'm not at the station. Definitely feel free to comment back on what you think of the song, and send me some links to the stuff you're listening to. I love to hear music that I've never heard before.

That being said...here we go!

Artist: Dredg
Title: Sorry But It's Over
Album: El Cielo

El Cielo is a concept album that focuses on sleep paralysis and was highly influenced by the Salvador Dali Painting "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening"

This tune is something that I put on when I want something that has a mellow sound, but still rocks hard. I was lucky enough to see them live when I was in Baltimore, and again when they came to El Paso, and they put on a great show.

I thought this would be a good song for the week since I've been having some trouble sleeping lately.

Don't forget, post back what you're listening to!

The Kelly Concert

2009-12-07T00:00:00.003-07:00

Was totally awesome!

I'm getting to the age where pushing and shoving at a show isn't really my cup of tea anymore. I'd really just like to be able to kick back and enjoy the music. Assigned seats? That's fine by me. Let me tell you, the music was incredible. Goosebumps galore all night long.

No joke, her voice was on fire! She hit every note, and you could feel the emotion. Usually at a concery the lead singer always says that bogus stuff like: "You're the best crowd we've ever had!" and of course it's completely lame. Kelly on the other hand was WORKIN' IT. The way she was interacting with the crowd really made the show even better. She has a "folksy" way of talking that really makes her seem like a genuine person. The show was awesome too, lots of lights and jumping around (unfortunately, the show suffered from severe lack of pyrotechnics IMO.)

I'm trying out a new way of posting pics on my blog, so click on them and tell me if you like the changes.

Tara and I had to leave the concert a few minutes early so I could make to El Patio to play with Promise of Tomorrow, and BAM! It was snow city, and It couldn't have looked cooler on the van.

If you got some pics or vids from the concert, post your links as a comment!

No Sleep Till El Patio!

2009-12-03T12:46:00.009-07:00

Busy Busy Busy! It feels like I've been running around like a headless chicken these past few months and it doesn't show any signs of letting up. Tonight is going to be a doozy as well. Don't you wish your problems involved trying to squeeze in as much fun to one night as you can?

So coming up tonight:

5pm - Live Broadcast from the Pan Am
7pm - Kelly Clarkson Concert
10 pm -Promise of Tomorrow at El Patio w WormHole
TBA - Eating and Sleeping

I've been looking forward to this Kelly show for like 3 months, and then completely spaced it out when we set up the gig at El Patio. I don't think we actually hit the stage until midnight, so it should work out just fine.

If you've got the time, definitely come on down to El Patio and check out the show. WormHole plays at 10pm and their Rock'nRoll is totally worth the price of admission.

Nerd Alert!

2009-12-02T04:35:00.006-07:00

I really should just leave well enough alone.

But nooooo.

So I wasted way too much time finding and re-coloring a new blog layout last night.

Hopefully the 3 of you that read it can enjoy the changes.

bonus points if you guess which one is me.

Sweet Baby James

2009-12-01T00:15:00.004-07:00

"Now the first of December / was covered with snow..."

I'm glad it snowed. Tara mentioned on Sunday that it would be wonderful if it could snow on her birthday (yesterday), and it totally did! Happy Birthday Bebe :)

Today of course in typical New Mexico fashion , the snow was completely melted away before noon, but it's always the thought that counts right?

Tara's mom came over last night and helped me bake her birthday cake. It's a very specific but not difficult cake and that's just great because it's like I can get her something every year that's homemade and a little more from the heart (gag i know haha).

One the gifts I got her this year was a movie that we both completely fell in love with, and if you haven't seen it yet, you might as well just save time and add UP to your collection right now.

Watching it last night was the third time I've seen it, and dagnab if I didn't get teary at the same part less than 15 minutes into the movie.

If you've ever met our dog you'd know that she has to be the inspiration for the character of "Dug".

Bottom line, UP is definitely one of those kid movies that's really for the grownups.

Happy Birthday Tara!

I Love You.

(haha this kid is hilarious!)

PS: If there's any dudes out there that have trouble with gifts for their lady, remember 12 red roses will never steer you wrong.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T17:42:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone,

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving today!

Now it's time for round two.

Tara's Mom had Roast, Chicken and Ham, and now it's time for Turkey with my fam.

Gotta love the holidays!

Cooking Mama

2009-11-06T16:06:00.009-07:00

First of all, this game totally rules.

Second, I love to cook.

Unfortunately, the urge to whip up something tasty usually strikes at the worst times. Like 2 am when I'm rummaging in the fridge for a little snack before bedtime.

Last night, I was feeling rather inspired and turned out a great creation that was far too much work for the end result...Why yes, that is a home-made EggMcMuffin.

I guess it's fairly obvious at this point that I have far too much time on my hands, but it sure was tasty.

Cook that egg and toast that muffin!
( I used an Easter egg cookie cutter in a hot skillet to give the egg shape.)

Fry that ham!

Stack it up with some cheese slice!

Heck Yes.

The Halloween Costumes '09

2009-11-05T12:53:00.012-07:00

Like I said before, Tara and I are lucky to have a friend like Victoria. The best Halloween Costumes that we've had have come from her sewing machine. She does it old school style. We can just tell her what costumes we want and what colors to make it. She finds the patterns, and puts them all together in a matter of weeks!

I don't think I have the attention span for something like that. I bet I'd forget all the little details. Like buttons, or zippers, or cutting out a hole for your arms.

Tara and I are a real set of nerds (me more than her I think) and we get a kick out of having matching costumes. Not just to each other. The Pets have to match too.

So here's the costume pics from this year, Pets and all!

Me And Tara and Whinny (she's actually Robin Hood, I just got to be a Merry Man).

Steven Believin' looking rather dashing in his feathered cap.

Me, Tara, Bruce, Adri, and Jack Lutz at the Dublin's Halloween Party.

Victoria! She made all of the costumes!

Halloweenin'

2009-11-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

Halloween is such a great holiday.

You get to dress up in stuff you would normally never wear, and eat some candy. How could that go wrong?

For those of you that know me and my negativity, there's no sarcasm in the above statement at all. I really do enjoy Halloween. I'm definitely not the type of person who takes themselves too seriously to dress up and act silly.

I absolutely adore candy bars too. One time for no good reason, I thought it would be a good idea to eat an entire bag (12) of Peanut Butter Cups in one sitting. Suffice it to say after I crammed then down, they didn't take kindly to the sitting.

Tara and I have the good fortune to be close friends with someone who has a lot of skills with a sewing machine. For the past couple of years, she has made us costumes by hand which are better than most of the stuff that could even buy in the stores. The costumes are so well made that several people always end up asking how much we paid to rent them.

This year the party was definitely hearty. I had a blast at the Halloweenie Roast '09, Dublin St., Grahams, and then the house party, but now I'm pooped. The body can't party like it used to.

Speaking of, I am up way past my bedtime so stay tuned, the pics will be for the next post.

Goodnight!

Late Nite TV Madness!

2009-08-31T23:30:00.004-06:00

Of course when you stay up late at night like the Girlfriend and I do, you're subject to some of the best television watching available. Especially during summer re-runs. I've turned to reality television to as my drug of choice when I've had my fill of Futurama repeats.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The insane glut of reality shows on the market has enforced a Darwinian effect on the content. If you want a reality show to be a success, it has to either be bat-shit-crazy (I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!") or it actually has to be good.

I'm not the biggest fan, but there are two right now that are actually capturing my miniscule attention span: Tool Academy2 and My Antonio.

Tool Academy I will admit is not for the weak stomached. The point of the show is to "rehabilitate assholes" so they pack a house full of jerks. The hook is that their girlfriends are along for the ride. I can't believe some of the shit that chicks will put up with from these lame dudes. The second season has already brought the drama, so I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping up with this one.

The second one...I'll admit it...I feel kind of gay for loving this show.

My Antonio. Starring the one and only Anthony Sabato Jr. Yes the underwear model is looking for love in all the wrong places, and he brought his mom along for the ride. What a gentleman!This show feels different that most of the others. Antonio really seems like a genuine guy, and he's just damn charismatic. Plus he's got dimples the size of swimming pools which apparently is a huge plus. Of course all the chicks on his show have huge racks and tiny waists but unlike Rock of Love, you don't feel like you need a shower to wash the sleaze off after the show.

Really, I'm just counting down the days until LOST hits the air again.

PS: Damn you Desperate Housewives for being so darn unwatchable. The story line is interesting, but the episodes move at a snails' pace.

The Smartest Thing Ever

2009-08-24T22:39:00.009-06:00

The Girlfriend and I live on the second floor of out apartment building and although one of the lights for the staircase has only worked once or twice in the 4 years we've been here, there is still plenty of porch light action to keep the place well lit. Certainly well lit enough to prevent things like BATS from living in our doorway!

Several months ago, Teppy was on her way outside the apartment and she swore she saw something huge flap around and fly past her head. Funny enough to laugh off, but we inspected the area around the front door, and noticed something that looked like it could be small rodent droppings. HMMMMM... We've never had any problem with mice in the apartment so it would actually seem reasonable to think that it may actually have been a bat that she saw. Except, who ever sees any bats in Las Cruces?

Sarcasm aside, I'd love to know if you're from the area and have seen any yourself. Heck, any area, 'cause these things are pretty cool.

Fast forward enough time where the original bat is all but forgotten and what do we get?

Irrefutable proof that there was a bat perched right above the front doorframe of the apartment!

Of course when I came home that night to see the bat sleeping peacefully, I decided to do The Smartest Thing Ever: get a chair to stand on and get up real close to take some pictures.

Check 'em out!

This one is me being a moron and forgetting to turn off the flash. I freaked out because I thought I was going to wake it up, and then it would attack me and give me rabies. That would have sucked.

Sorry to rain on your parade

2009-07-08T10:52:00.003-06:00

4th of July in Las Cruces. Of course it rains. It always rains on the 4th of July. They say it's the start of the monsoon season but I always find that one hard to swallow in the desert.

I've never actually seen it rain on a parade though, until this weekend!

We spent weeks of effort making all of the last minute adjustments to all of our station vehicles getting them perfect for the event, and the skies opened up and rained with no mercy. The only thing I can say was a real positive was that we didn't use any paper goods in our decorations.

Of course being a radio station, speakers and sound were a big part of our demonstration and we had the music turned up way loud when the emergency alert announcing golf ball sized hail came over the airwaves. It was a tough situation to be in, I had been working since almost 8 that morning getting everything ready to go, and no one knew if the parade was even going to happen or not. Some folks left early with their floats, but we stuck it out 'till the end.

Finally right before starting time, we got the official word that everything was running as scheduled and we scrambled to get everything back into position. We must have lifted those speakers up and down from the roof at least 4 or 5 times that day.

We were sweaty and hungry and tired, but I think the finished product was well worth it. In the end, we were happy to share a 3 way tie for first place.

Of course next year, we'll have more lights!

So much music this weekend!

2009-07-02T12:50:00.006-06:00

It's a very exciting and busy week that I'm getting ready for. The 4th of July! YAY!

I've always liked fireworks, and being on the radio means I usually get to be up close and behind the scenes on the events put on by the city.

We're going to be in the Electric Light Parade for the first time since I've been working at Magic (hard to believe it's been 5 years!) and I'm really looking forward to it. We spent a lot of time getting all of our station vehicles lit up and decorated, even though the theme is kind of lame, "Las Cruces for Change" or something like that. The theme by itself is a positive one, but it's not really an idea that sparks enormous creativity in the design process. It reminds me of a Family Guy episode where the theme for the parade was "That episode of Who's The Boss where Tony sees Angela naked in the shower".

It should still be a fun night, I'll be sticking around afterwards to catch "Journey - Unauthorized" after the parade with Tara. I was trying to explain the difference between a cover band and a tribute band to her the other night and after about 15 minutes of empassioned oratory, it was very obvious that she could care less. She said:

T: "Is it the REAL Journey?"
P: "No."
T: "Then it's a cover band."
P: "No, it's a tribute band. There's a difference, you see when....(she's already tuned me out at this point...)"

Picture Related - Marky Mark in his TRIBUTE band. Not Cover Band.

The Weekend should be great. I'm getting started with a gig tonight with Promise of Tomorrow, Journey tomorrow, and then Saturday is the Fireworks show with Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

Until next time, I'll catch you on the airwaves in my new time slot 10am - 2pm.

Sting was cooler back in the day.

2009-05-23T04:31:00.004-06:00

I hate it when my mother remembers things that I did as a child that I have no memory of. I'm mostly mad at myself that my brain doesn't seem to bother with trivial details like dancing up and down the aisles of a movie theatre during a showing of "Footloose", or meeting up with my childhood idol "He-Man" at a Kmart.

The WWE is coming to the Pan Am on Sunday, and I thought it would be neat to go and check out 'rasslin' for the first time. According to my mom, I've already been!

As a youngster, apparently my uncle took me to a match. I've never seen any pictures of said event, and I have absolutely no memory of it.

That pretty much bums me out. It makes me wonder what other kinds of cool stuff I've already done that I don't remember.

Just ask Tara, she'll tell you my memory is completely faulty.

I do remember Sting before he turned into some weird version of The Crow.Have you been in a similar situation? Like having something you experienced completely skip your mind?

Turtle Power!

2009-05-14T13:14:00.003-06:00

Tara and I went to a BBQ at her Cousin's "In-Laws" over Mother's Day Weekend, and It was a pretty good time. The brisket and corn on the cob were definitely yummy, but the highlight of the day was a random turtle that showed up on the patio.

It wasn't a "pet" but apparently anytime during the summer when the patio door opens up, the turtle comes out of hiding to get some grub. So I fed it some fruits and got pics of it eating a strawberry. It turned out so much cooler animated, so here it is!

In case you were wondering

2009-05-13T15:28:00.003-06:00

There was some weirdness or something going on with the commenting on the blog.

I fixed it so comments should be up and running again.

Even though I know there weren't any comments that I missed.

I think this picture sums it up pretty well.

Grilling Season!

2009-05-12T17:06:00.005-06:00

Last night, I finally got the chance to break-in my very first grill. Of course I was feeling like a real man at the grocery store carefully picking out the steaks that would take my propane virginity.

It was a special occasion, Tara and I were making her Mom a dinner for Mother's Day, and first off, the steaks were delicious. Combine that with the potato salad, white corn, mushrooms, and garlic bread, I couldn't even move after the meal.

I think grilling is going to be a regular happening around my place this summer. All I need is a side table. The legs on the grill are pretty short and it was pretty annoying having to bend that far over.

Next time...Shish-Kabobs!

Throwback Mountain Dew

2009-05-06T11:04:00.002-06:00

I’ve been a big fan of Mountain Dew ever since I can remember. Every drink reminds me of my first sip of that syrupy caffeine laden goodness. Lately I’ve been cutting back on my caffeine intake after suffering through some horrible caffeine induced migraines (yes it is a real thing) which are no fun at all.

The bottle was what caught my eye first at the grocery the other night. It looks like the old 70’s Dew cans and bottles which is totally awesome. I’ve never been a big fan of “EXTREME” fonts and ad campaigns, I don’t usually buy products based on their ability to make me a better bullfighter or skydiver, so the old skool look was enough for me. Yes, I just admitted to buying something based on the packaging.

It turns out the “new” bottles are a part of a Pepsi campaign where they make sodas with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I could tell that something was different with the taste right away, but it wasn’t a bad thing. I’d say it was just lacking a thickness that I’m sure is part of the HFCS appeal.

If you’re a Dew fan, it’s definitely worth a taste or if you’ve ever wanted a soda made with “real sugar” it’s good enough to get a few. I think I prefer the corn syrup. Either way the logo is great. I guess that was the whole point of this blog.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and be a dork somewhere else .

Jury Duty is a Waste of Time

2009-05-04T17:59:00.001-06:00

I got a check in the mail today from The City of Las Cruces, the reward for my services at Jury Duty. It’s a grand total of $7.49.

WHOOP-DE-DOOO!!!

I can’t wait to get this money spent! If I can scrounge up some coins from the ashtray in my car, I might be able to splurge on a Quiznos sub (which has gotten way to expensive lately, and frankly the quality hasn’t been too good either).

The actual time spent at the courthouse for jury duty was horrible. I’m sure there are others that have it worse like Guantanamo detainees, but pain is relative right? Dragging my ass up at 8 am is not something i like to do on a regular basis and I was in no mood. I didn’t look at anyone, didn’t talk to anyone and I really hoped the scowl on my face would let everyone else know to do the same.

After we were herded into the hearing room, we sat there for hours with nothing going on. Nothing at all. A book would have been nice, or Tara’s GameBoy. Instead I got stuck sitting next to Courtney Coughs-All-The Time (probably not her real name) and a man who seemed to be very proud of his moustache (which wasn’t all that impressive). He was also very proud of the fact that he had snuck contraband in the courthouse as he proceeded to brag very loudly about the SunNews Crossword he was smuggling in his back pocket. The revolution begins.

Of course I was completely exhausted from a full night of TV watching the night before, and it wasn’t too long before I nodded off. As Tara can tell you, I’m not the quietest sleeper around, and when I jerked awake sometime later, I swear I could hear the old ladies whispering about me behind my back: “I can’t believe he’s snoring in the middle of the court room!” Oh well. It’s not like there was anything important going on.

They finally brought the defendant out of a small room in the back to tell us that he had changed his mind and decided to enter a guilty plea so we were all free to go. The best news of the day was the Judge telling us that our 3 month penance was over, and we wouldn’t have to report again. I’m fairly certain after she said that, I was the first person out the door.

The cherry on top came two weeks later with my check, and a “Certificate of Completion”. I still haven’t found a frame nice enough for it.

My Poor Ignored Blog...

2009-03-30T16:50:00.002-06:00

So March is always a completely crazy month for me and my family.

I have two younger bothers (I swear I typed that as "brothers") and the three of us all have our birthday in March. Most of the month is back and forth between my house and my folks' house which is ok with me because it helps me out with at least one of my Resolutions for the year.

This year was pretty stellar actually, the gift from my family brings me one step closer to manhood! I got me a little grill action. It was one of those gifts that you've always wanted but you never think to ask for one. Now the only thing to do is try to find a place to put it.

The band has been kicking some major butt lately, and the show we played for St. Patrick's Day was an incredible rush We played for a huge crowd and I didn't even break a string on my guitar till the last two songs!

We're headed to our first out of state show this weekend, playing a place called "The Lair" in El Paso. I hate Texas, but I guess I'll just have to suck it up.

I've been spending a lot of time being a nerd too. I've been playing an online game (similar to W.o.W.) for a few years now, and I just started up again. I forgot how much of a time drain it is.

The good news...tonight is Taco Night!!

Our First Gig

2009-03-04T17:49:00.012-07:00

It is so nice to take that day off. Sleeping in, having a late lunch, spending time with the girlfriend, all the great things about taking a day off. Don't get me wrong, I have one of the most fun jobs on the planet, but a a day with nothing to do is the ultimate trump card.

Later on Friday night, I did have a little bit of stress before the return performance of my band Promise of Tomorrow.

I had just finished writing the lyrics to some of the new songs a couple of days before the show, and I was freaking out that I was going to forget everything as soon as we hit the stage (it's happened before haha).

Turns out, I did forget a couple of the words, but no one else had ever heard the songs before, so I don't think they could tell!

In my opinion, the show went well. There weren't any huge mistakes while we were playing, and it felt really good to be doing show again. Now that we've shaken off the rust, maybe we can start to work on more parts to the show. Choreography! That's what we need! Just kidding.

My wonderful girlfriend was there trying out her new camera, and I think she got some pretty cool shots, tell me what you think!

(oh yeah, and come to our next show!)

Friday March 6th
The Aggie Underground (inside Corbett Center)
All Ages
$4
6:30pm

Taking A Day Off

2009-02-26T16:48:00.002-07:00

So tomorrow night is a big night.

If you didn't know, I sing and play guitar for a band here in in town. We're called Promise of Tomorow, and we have our first gig Friday at 10pm!

Not really our first-first gig. That was waaay back in September of aught'-six, ancient history in band years.

After over a year of zero communication, it came out that we all wanted to play music again, so here we are, ready or not, for a new round.

We've got some new songs, we've fixed up some old songs, and all the same nerves are back. I crave the spotlight, anyone who knows me will tell you that, but only a couple would be able to tell you that most times on stage I wish that I didn't have to be the "frontman". I can play to a crowd, but a big part of me doesn't want to. I'd rather play invisibly, and disappear when it's all done.

My last blog was about not getting sick and of course the cold that is floating around smacked me right in the throat. Maybe that's just an excuse to do poorly. That way I'll have something to blame it on if I sound like crap.

Either way, I hope a few people can make it out to see the show and everything goes better than the practice!

Friday, Feb. 27th
The Rainforest
$3 21+
10pm

no.

2009-02-23T11:09:00.002-07:00

i refuse to believe i'm getting sick.

it's not happening.

not to me.

damn.

Juror #467

2009-02-18T02:05:00.003-07:00

That's me.

Number 467. Just one of the thousands that have to give three months of their life for the ~~horror~~ honor of jury duty.

27 years old, and I've actually never had jury duty, but the stories and the stand-up comedians have filled my brain with enough fodder to turn my stomach with dread once a week until the end of April.

In case you haven't been through the process yet, here's what happens (it gets a little confusing). You get a juror number and a calendar. Then you have to call the court the day before your number shows up on the calendar, and listen to see if your name gets called. Blah Blah Blah. Long story short, you don't know until 5:30 pm the night before if you have to show up or not.

So far, I've survived 3 weeks. 3 calls and none of them have been for #467. Luckily I get to keep calling for 9 more weeks!

All I can think about is how I wish that they would hurry up and call my number so I can get it over with.

Actually, as I get ready to hit the sack, all I can think about is how hilarious that Pauly Shore movie was! Goodnight!

I Heart Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T23:54:00.007-07:00

I'd like to think that I'm a pretty romantic guy. Maybe romantic isn't quite the word I'm looking for. Mushy perhaps. I'll admit to it, even though it's not the most manly thing to cop to.

I'm not one of those throwback mid-90's Ross Gellar sort of wusses either. I just think that saying you didn't enjoy a movie because it was a chick flick is macho baloney. I like the movies that make things explode for 90 minutes, but I also have "Life as A Hous e" as one of my all time favorite movies (and it features the band Guster throughout, which is a stellar choice).

So back to the mush.

This year was the 4th Valentine's Day that Tara and I shared together, and I admit things could have gone smoother, but I'm happy to report that everything that didn't go according to plan was out of our control. It was a mostly wonderfully lazy day, we slept in late and had plans for dinner and a movie. But not so fast.

First things first, I'm always on the radio Saturday nights so of course you see where this one is going. What to do, what to do? The obvious solution is, get dressed up and head to the station with Tara to do the show together! Haha! She's not quite a radio virgin, I've used her talents to make some commercials and station promos in the past and she was cool enough to agree to come and do the show with me. I think she looks cute in the headphones.

After the radio show we went to our favorite "date" restaurant, Pullaro's. I had never eaten there before I met Tara, and now it's definitely one of my favorite places here in Cruces.

Then off to the movies, to see Coraline. We had been pretty stoked to see this since we'd seen the previews. (on a side note, I'm not a cheap guy, but making you fork over 2 bucks a person every time you want to see a 3-d movie sounds a little fishy to me...and now I have 4 pairs of those darn glasses at home)
It was definitely an odd movie, and nothing like we expected. Actually, I'm not really sure what I expected from the movie, but I did think it was going to be cuddlier than it turned out.

After the movie, a little trip to the Jack in The Box put the finishing touches on a great night.

I love my bebe! (Tara, in case you didn't know)

Am I just lazy? Eh, I'll find out later.

2009-01-22T12:21:00.007-07:00

A couple of days ago, I mentioned during my show that The Girlfriend and I haven't taken down our Christmas decorations yet. Three days later and that still hasn't changed.

It's a tough debate whether or not the decorations are up just because I'm too lazy to take them down, or if it's ok to still have them up.

The calls I got on the air were actually very surprising. I actually thought that I was going to be in the minority. I felt that people were going to be calling in and telling me how much of a slacker I was. Maybe somewhere I was hoping that someone could shame me into having to take them down.

With all big decisions, I think it's best to make a good little list of Pros and Cons, so here's mine:

Reasons to Take Them Down

1. the closet is a mess of empty boxes that get in the way

2. the cat keeps swiping at the lights, and that seems kind of dangerous

3. it would be silly to have them still up when Valentine's Day hits

Reasons to Leave Them Up

1. the apartment looks very festive

2. when we take everything down, the walls will be bare and drab

3. i'm not the only one to still have them up

4. i'm lazy

So there are 4 reasons to leave them be and keep the apartment looking like someone actually lives there, and only 3 to get off my duff and put in some actual work. The numbers never lie! Unless you have some other good reasons for the first column, leave them in the comments.

In the meantime, you can enjoy the festivities that I get to enjoy every night.

The pets are a pain in the butt.

2009-01-13T16:39:00.005-07:00

Haha, but we love them right?

Of course we do!

For those of you that don't know, the girlfriend and I are proud Papa and Mama to some great pets, Whinny the girl dog and Steeeve the boy cat.

Tara took them to the vet today to get their checkups and I have to admit that I was a little worried about them. All too often you never know that anything is wrong until you finally get a check-up. Whinny needed to get checked for heartworms (just in case) and get a new rabies shot. The Steeeve needed the rest of his kitty shots and his rabies so we can finally get him neutered. I can tell you as a male of the species, I am NOT looking forward to doing this to him. I have to balance out my dislike for any procedure that takes away his male-ness to the disgust I would have if he started "spraying" all over our apartment. I have no desire to live anywhere plauged by that "Cat Lady" smell.

I can't help but remember the first time we took the kitty to the vet. She snuck up on him with a shot full of bronchitis something-or-other and the mewl he let out was way too sad. Like we had betrayed him. I can only imagine when we have children that I'll be ten times worse. Knee scrapes and falling off of bikes are gonna kill me! At least for the first kid.

edit: Here's the Update!

Tara tells me the pests are home and they both got a clean bill of health! Heartworm preventatives for the doggie, and a grim future for the cat and his cat bits, but healthy is good enough for me.

New Year, New Blog

2009-01-06T15:00:00.001-07:00

It's a new year, how about a new blog?

Sounds good to me.

Keeping up with my new blog is going to be one of my New Year's Resolutions. I think I've picked good ones this year. Resolutions that are attainable and don't require that much extra effort. The way I figure, if I can keep these easy ones, maybe next year I can reach a little higher. Here they are:

1. Shed some pounds!

This one always tops all the resolution lists, but this year I'm already ahead of the game since I've been working out with Shannon at World Gym going on 2 months. I weighed myself today (big mistake!) and it looks like I've lost about 4 pounds. That's not the success I would like to be having so far, so this new year means I'm going to try to take it a little more seriously.

2. Be a better boyfriend!

Now before you jump to conclusions let me clarify that I am a fantastic boyfriend. That doesn't mean there isn't always room for improvement. Anyone who has been in a serious relationship can tell you that when you start forgetting to do all those nice little things you used to, things can start to go downhill in a hurry. Of course I don't forget to do these things, but the resolution is there as a reminder that I should always be making the extra effort. Trust me, it's worth it!

3. See my parents more.

This resolution should be easy to accomplish. Luckily my parents are here in town and I can go and see them anytime that I want to. The problem is that as I've grown older things just sort of seem to pile up. There's always ~~laundry, dishes, washing the dog~~ excuses not to make it out there. This year I think I should make more of an effort to manage my time better so that I'm able to spend more time with them. I can remember at 17 I never thought I'd actually enjoy their company. Isn't that the way it always works out?

I think three resolutions is good for one year.

Welcome to my new blog, I hope you like it!