What's the deal with tipping? I've never had a job where I was supposed to tip, so admittedly this is a one-sided discussion. In fact, since I write and my constituents read I don't think it's even a discussion. So.....my thoughts. I feel lousy as a tipper to give someone a couple of bucks, or to throw my change into a tip jar. I feel like the tippee and I both know that I have an obligation to tip, and as such, I am giving them the least amount of money I can to get out of the situation with my integrity intact. So, this starts what we can call a death spiral of integrity. The tippee knows I have to give them $1 to save face. I just want to save face, so I give them that $1. But the tippee knows that they weren't being tipped because of their service but out of obligation. So now, the tippee is looking to receive $2 to know that they have provided good service. I know that $1 is no longer sufficient and now must pay $2 to save face. And so, we are left in a situation where the tippee and I are never satisfied. They will think that my $2 is a lousy tip, and I will feel like I just nickel and dimed this poor high school kid. People will always may the minimum tip they need to to save face. Even a big winner at a casino. They just want to be a bigshot. It has nothing to do with service.
Speaking of Nickels. This past Thursday, Sara and I made the trek down to Nashville for Nickel Creek’s last concert of their Farewell (For Now) Tour. I know, I know. You’re probably wondering, “What the heck does Farewell (For Now) Tour mean?” Well, I’ll tell you what I know. The lead musician in Nickel Creek is a mandolin player named Chris Thile. Chris Thile is also known as one of the top two mandolin players in the world. As such, he released his first CD at the age of 8. About the same time, his mandolin teacher had another student at the age of 12 by the name of Sean Watkins. Sean Watkins has a sister four years his younger named Sara. So, the two families met and a band with 3 kids and one dad playing bass was formed. Fast forward through two limited-releases and numerous music festivals to the year 2000 (right Conan, in the year TWO THOUUUUUsand). Their self-title major label debut produced by one Alison Krauss was nominated for two Grammy’s and they receive first commercial success.
Fast forward through two more releases (This Side and Why Should The Fire Die?) and their decision to take a break. Fact of the matter is that they have been a band for the past 18 years and they decided they couldn’t make a better CD than Why Should The Fire Die? so it was time to stop playing together. So they said 2007 was their last year and scheduled their Farewell (For Now) Tour with the last shows a two night stand at the Ryman in Nashville. The Ryman Auditorium is THE venue in THE country/bluegrass town, and I’ve long been wanting to see a show there. But I’ve been waiting. Waiting for the perfect storm of band and timing and Ryman. When I found out Nickel Creek was playing what could be their last shows there, I knew I had to be there. Thursday night. No problem. Six hours from school. No problem. Sara having class the next morning. No problem. I had to be there. So I went, and it was awesome. The Ryman has the best acoustics of all the venues I’ve been to and now tops my list of favorite places to see a show. Like I said, Nashville is a bluegrass town and a Nickel Creek show is bound to special guests. So, Nickel Creek brought friends (Bela Fleck, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Tim O’Brien, and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers) onstage throughout the show and for their encore (which they did the right way and only played covers). I know Sara disappointed because she wanted Alison Krauss, but I thought the show was incredible. I’ve always thought that Watkins siblings were chumps and that Thile could have put anybody beside him and the band would have been the same, but after the show I’m much more impressed with Sean’s abilities on the guitar, and release that only those three could have been Nickel Creek. They did their last song (Why Should The Fire Die?) in style with no mikes or amplifiers. A great way for a great band to go out.
Andrew had free tickets to the show in Louisville and decided not to go. Now that's dumb.
Song Recommendation - The Lighthouse's Tale by Nickel Creek
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Who's gonna watch you die?
The stretch of I-65 from Lafayette to New Albany is a barren wasteland (Indy included) when it comes to radio, as such I relish when I’m south of mile marker 68 and can listen to both NPR and WFPK being broadcast from Louisville. I’ve been listening to a lot of NPR lately because the time passes a lot faster when you’re thinking about something. It also stays away from being completely polarizing like other talk shows, and broadcasts the BBC. I mean, British accents are just so fun. Anyway, how did I even get here. Oh yea. Driving and listening to NPR. Last night I was driving and listening to NPR and they were playing some of the award winners from the Third Coast Festival / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition (if the competition had a longer name, I think it would get more recognition). Apparently, entrants in the competition are the best radio documentaries from across the globe. The Gold Award winner was this BBC Documentary from a series called Don’t Hang Up. The premise of the show is these radio guys in a studio called public phones across the globe and would talk to whoever answered. They talked to a drunk 14-year in rural England, a transgender hitchhiker in New Zealand, and a security guard in the Everglades. It was highly entertaining. Plus, their accents were fun.
While Don't Hang Up was highly entertaining, the piece that had me thinking the most was an Honorable Mention Winner entitled The Ground We Lived On. The piece was about a woman and her dying father. They started taping their conversations near the end of his life when he knew that he wasn't coming back from the cancer that was killing him. The story was so touching because of its intimacy and the creators courage to not hold any of those touching moments back. It immediately made of think of the Death Cab for Cutie song titled What Sarah Said. I think that Benjamin Gibbard write some of the best lyrics in the business, and this particular song is about waiting for this girl Sarah to die. (As each descending peak of the LCD takes you a little bit farther away from me..........how good is THAT for lyric? I'll tell you, off the chart good.) Anyway, great song. Great album (Plans). I think both the documentary and song make the same point though. Although death can be scary and painful and sad, that is what love is all about. No one needs you more than when they are dying, and thats when the REAL moments are shared. The ones you'll remember. Either because you can't let them go, or because you don't want to.
Song Recommendation - What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie
While Don't Hang Up was highly entertaining, the piece that had me thinking the most was an Honorable Mention Winner entitled The Ground We Lived On. The piece was about a woman and her dying father. They started taping their conversations near the end of his life when he knew that he wasn't coming back from the cancer that was killing him. The story was so touching because of its intimacy and the creators courage to not hold any of those touching moments back. It immediately made of think of the Death Cab for Cutie song titled What Sarah Said. I think that Benjamin Gibbard write some of the best lyrics in the business, and this particular song is about waiting for this girl Sarah to die. (As each descending peak of the LCD takes you a little bit farther away from me..........how good is THAT for lyric? I'll tell you, off the chart good.) Anyway, great song. Great album (Plans). I think both the documentary and song make the same point though. Although death can be scary and painful and sad, that is what love is all about. No one needs you more than when they are dying, and thats when the REAL moments are shared. The ones you'll remember. Either because you can't let them go, or because you don't want to.
Song Recommendation - What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie
Friday, November 16, 2007
Eggs and Energy
Darn you Jake.
Jake recently wrote a post on his blog about food poisoning (the link to his blog is to the right, click on the one that says Blair), and trys to make a claim that eggs can go bad (dumb, right?). I mean I've eaten eggs that have sat in my refrigerator for months before. With that protective shell and all, how could they even begint to go bad. Plus, with that expensive price tag, ($.93 for a dozen) how could you not do everything to not throw them out. Well, all this talk of eggs, made me want an omelet. So, I grabbed the eggs from the refrigerator taking special notice of the best to buy before date of October 15 (if they want you to buy them before October 15th, that means they expect you to eat them later, so we'll say expiration date of October 25th). So I said, "That's only three weeks old, I definitely eating these guys!!" So, I turn the stove on and start cracking the eggs. I crack the first egg and immediately question the yolks texture. I crack the second egg and question why the egg didn't crack right. I grab the rest of the eggs and throw them in the trash. I couldn't do it. Jake was totally in my head. Now, I have to wait until I forget about Jake getting food poisoning from eggs to enjoy them again. I'm not European, I'm not going to go to the supermarket everyday. That's why they invented pasteurization (that begs an important question, why can't the French pasteurize their stuff, their man Louis Pasteur invented the process). So I could enjoy my eggs a month after purchase.
Two asides about eggs.
1. You can get 3 pretty nice meals out of a dozen eggs. At $.31 a pop, that has got to be the deal of the century.
2. At Evan and Scott's bodybuilding competition, they had free magazines. In one of said magazines, there was an advertisement for egg whites. The product was a bucket full of egg whites that you add as a supplement to protein mixes. The worst thing about it, is that the bucket of eggs looked like one those gigantic lotion bottle looking containers. You know the kind they have ketchup in in baseball stadiums. So you basically you be like, "Ok, I need 3 squirts of egg white byproduct in my drink. Delicious." More like disgusting.
Ok, next topic. Geothermal Energy. I recently went to the Net Impact Conference in Nashville (you can Google Net Impact for more info on them), and one of the speakers was this guy who made a documentary (Kilowatt Ours.....get it) on where our energy from. He had this really effective illustration of how when you flip a light switch, you are effectively blowing up a mountain in Appalachia. Now, is that sensationalistic. Yes. Effective. Yes. Anyway, although his film was made at a much lower budget than An Inconvenient Truth**, I liked it more because the entire second half of the film was solutions and I thought that was lacking with Al Gore's film. The solutions were based on how much money one could save. Saving money is always more effective to getting people onboard than trying give people the soft sell. Either way, you're saving the earth.
One of the solutions was geothermal heating, and it showed this man who ran his pipes really deep into the ground to have the earth geothermally heat his water. He saved something like $600 a year doing this (the man probably had a 5,000 square foot house, so why he was worried about the money, I have no idea).
There is another type of energy called wave energy. Wave energy is energy derived from wave motion. In practice this means taking a magnetic and anchoring it to the sea floor. You place this magnet inside a buoy with electric coils inside it. The motion of the ocean (hehe) causes the buoy's electric coils to oscillate up and down along the magnet and creating electricity. Cool.
But, I see a problem with both types of energy. What happens when a large amount of people start using it? Energy is a zero sum gain. If tons of people starting using energy to heat their water, that means their is less geothermal heat to go around. What effect does that have on the earth? In 100 years will people be calling for the end of geothermal energy before its too late. If tons of coastal cities create wave energy parks (groups of these wave energy buoys), the oceans kinetic energy will be turned into cities potential energy. Those waves you see at the beach will begin to become much weaker. In 50 years, will people call for the end of wave energy and the use of oil. It remains to be seen. You do have credit people for trying to find solutions.
Probably the best solution is an epidemic or aliens. I'm kidding......kinda.
Another issue I've been pondering lately is this. Ryan Adams is almost finished with his contractual obligations to Lost Highway records. As such, the rumor is there will be a box set of all his releases. I have half of Ryan Adams releases, and I want the other half. But I don't know what to do. I could buy the rest of them and not have the official box set. Or I could wait, buy the box set, and them have doubles of half his stuff. No good solution. Geez.
Song Recommendation - House By The Sea by Iron & Wine
Jake recently wrote a post on his blog about food poisoning (the link to his blog is to the right, click on the one that says Blair), and trys to make a claim that eggs can go bad (dumb, right?). I mean I've eaten eggs that have sat in my refrigerator for months before. With that protective shell and all, how could they even begint to go bad. Plus, with that expensive price tag, ($.93 for a dozen) how could you not do everything to not throw them out. Well, all this talk of eggs, made me want an omelet. So, I grabbed the eggs from the refrigerator taking special notice of the best to buy before date of October 15 (if they want you to buy them before October 15th, that means they expect you to eat them later, so we'll say expiration date of October 25th). So I said, "That's only three weeks old, I definitely eating these guys!!" So, I turn the stove on and start cracking the eggs. I crack the first egg and immediately question the yolks texture. I crack the second egg and question why the egg didn't crack right. I grab the rest of the eggs and throw them in the trash. I couldn't do it. Jake was totally in my head. Now, I have to wait until I forget about Jake getting food poisoning from eggs to enjoy them again. I'm not European, I'm not going to go to the supermarket everyday. That's why they invented pasteurization (that begs an important question, why can't the French pasteurize their stuff, their man Louis Pasteur invented the process). So I could enjoy my eggs a month after purchase.
Two asides about eggs.
1. You can get 3 pretty nice meals out of a dozen eggs. At $.31 a pop, that has got to be the deal of the century.
2. At Evan and Scott's bodybuilding competition, they had free magazines. In one of said magazines, there was an advertisement for egg whites. The product was a bucket full of egg whites that you add as a supplement to protein mixes. The worst thing about it, is that the bucket of eggs looked like one those gigantic lotion bottle looking containers. You know the kind they have ketchup in in baseball stadiums. So you basically you be like, "Ok, I need 3 squirts of egg white byproduct in my drink. Delicious." More like disgusting.
Ok, next topic. Geothermal Energy. I recently went to the Net Impact Conference in Nashville (you can Google Net Impact for more info on them), and one of the speakers was this guy who made a documentary (Kilowatt Ours.....get it) on where our energy from. He had this really effective illustration of how when you flip a light switch, you are effectively blowing up a mountain in Appalachia. Now, is that sensationalistic. Yes. Effective. Yes. Anyway, although his film was made at a much lower budget than An Inconvenient Truth**, I liked it more because the entire second half of the film was solutions and I thought that was lacking with Al Gore's film. The solutions were based on how much money one could save. Saving money is always more effective to getting people onboard than trying give people the soft sell. Either way, you're saving the earth.
One of the solutions was geothermal heating, and it showed this man who ran his pipes really deep into the ground to have the earth geothermally heat his water. He saved something like $600 a year doing this (the man probably had a 5,000 square foot house, so why he was worried about the money, I have no idea).
There is another type of energy called wave energy. Wave energy is energy derived from wave motion. In practice this means taking a magnetic and anchoring it to the sea floor. You place this magnet inside a buoy with electric coils inside it. The motion of the ocean (hehe) causes the buoy's electric coils to oscillate up and down along the magnet and creating electricity. Cool.
But, I see a problem with both types of energy. What happens when a large amount of people start using it? Energy is a zero sum gain. If tons of people starting using energy to heat their water, that means their is less geothermal heat to go around. What effect does that have on the earth? In 100 years will people be calling for the end of geothermal energy before its too late. If tons of coastal cities create wave energy parks (groups of these wave energy buoys), the oceans kinetic energy will be turned into cities potential energy. Those waves you see at the beach will begin to become much weaker. In 50 years, will people call for the end of wave energy and the use of oil. It remains to be seen. You do have credit people for trying to find solutions.
Probably the best solution is an epidemic or aliens. I'm kidding......kinda.
Another issue I've been pondering lately is this. Ryan Adams is almost finished with his contractual obligations to Lost Highway records. As such, the rumor is there will be a box set of all his releases. I have half of Ryan Adams releases, and I want the other half. But I don't know what to do. I could buy the rest of them and not have the official box set. Or I could wait, buy the box set, and them have doubles of half his stuff. No good solution. Geez.
Song Recommendation - House By The Sea by Iron & Wine
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping?
I sure hope you're dead.
And so Modest Mouse opened their set at The Murat in The Egyptian Room. Ok, I lied. They didn't open the show with Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping, but I just thought that opening would sound so cool. It did. They didn't play Are You Dead until much later in the show when they already had the house good and rocking. They played with a lot of energy and although I could not understand any of Issac Brock lyrics it was still a great show. Man Man opened the show, and can only be described by Sara as what Kurt Vonnegut's band would sound (and look) like. Really bizarre....but entertaining.
I realized once again how much I hate The Egyptian Room as a venue. All the Egyptian decor (The Murat used to be a Masonic Temple) is quite memorable but unfortunately the room has about the same acoustics as a pyramid. Terrible. Plus it's large and flat. Good luck if you can't snag great seats.
As previously discussed, I went daily to Starbucks to get a free iTunes Song of the Day. Finally, after 32 days, the promotion is over and I can go back to leading a normal life. Except I can't. The promotion worked. I keep going back. I genuinely like the experience. All this crap I learn in school about the "Starbucks Experience" is true. It does exist. The people are just so nice. They say "Word" when I comment about the weather. They play good music. You're probably just assuming that it's a caffeine addiction. So what if it was. I'm not Mormon. I don't live by the Word of Wisdom (singular, although there are multiple words). I can be addicted to coffee if I want. Except I'm not. Sometimes I get decaf. Sometimes I get tea. It's not about the caffeine.
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world (oil is numero uno), and just about every country in the world drinks it (except for China). When Starbucks builds a store, coffee sales at all coffee shops in the area historically have increased by as much as 25%. Starbucks is 25 times largest than the second largest chain (Caribou Coffee). It runs the industry. Since Starbucks buys coffee from all over the world they have been able to mitigate a lot of the risk associated with a catastrophic crop failure in an individual region. I can only see one thing that can stop them. The government. I see it as only a matter of time before the government starts to heavily regulate coffee. How could they not? They regulate the tabacco industry, they regulate the alcohol industry, and they regulate the fast food industry. You think the government will stand by and let by Starbucks build their goal of 20,000 US stores (they currently have 10,500 but less than 10% of the US market) without wanting a piece of the action? How many senators would love to make a name for themselves by attempting to stop this great caffeine dispensing giant? Oh it will happen. It will be epic and it will be nasty. But until then, drink up and be merry.
Song Recommendation - Float On by Modest Mouse
And so Modest Mouse opened their set at The Murat in The Egyptian Room. Ok, I lied. They didn't open the show with Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping, but I just thought that opening would sound so cool. It did. They didn't play Are You Dead until much later in the show when they already had the house good and rocking. They played with a lot of energy and although I could not understand any of Issac Brock lyrics it was still a great show. Man Man opened the show, and can only be described by Sara as what Kurt Vonnegut's band would sound (and look) like. Really bizarre....but entertaining.
I realized once again how much I hate The Egyptian Room as a venue. All the Egyptian decor (The Murat used to be a Masonic Temple) is quite memorable but unfortunately the room has about the same acoustics as a pyramid. Terrible. Plus it's large and flat. Good luck if you can't snag great seats.
As previously discussed, I went daily to Starbucks to get a free iTunes Song of the Day. Finally, after 32 days, the promotion is over and I can go back to leading a normal life. Except I can't. The promotion worked. I keep going back. I genuinely like the experience. All this crap I learn in school about the "Starbucks Experience" is true. It does exist. The people are just so nice. They say "Word" when I comment about the weather. They play good music. You're probably just assuming that it's a caffeine addiction. So what if it was. I'm not Mormon. I don't live by the Word of Wisdom (singular, although there are multiple words). I can be addicted to coffee if I want. Except I'm not. Sometimes I get decaf. Sometimes I get tea. It's not about the caffeine.
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world (oil is numero uno), and just about every country in the world drinks it (except for China). When Starbucks builds a store, coffee sales at all coffee shops in the area historically have increased by as much as 25%. Starbucks is 25 times largest than the second largest chain (Caribou Coffee). It runs the industry. Since Starbucks buys coffee from all over the world they have been able to mitigate a lot of the risk associated with a catastrophic crop failure in an individual region. I can only see one thing that can stop them. The government. I see it as only a matter of time before the government starts to heavily regulate coffee. How could they not? They regulate the tabacco industry, they regulate the alcohol industry, and they regulate the fast food industry. You think the government will stand by and let by Starbucks build their goal of 20,000 US stores (they currently have 10,500 but less than 10% of the US market) without wanting a piece of the action? How many senators would love to make a name for themselves by attempting to stop this great caffeine dispensing giant? Oh it will happen. It will be epic and it will be nasty. But until then, drink up and be merry.
Song Recommendation - Float On by Modest Mouse
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Year is 1999
The year is 1999. Almost everyone is partying because, well, they've been hearing that this is model for partying since Prince blessed us with 1999 in 1982. The rest of the population is stockpiling goods in their cellars and creating militias for when the Millinnium happens. Well you're one of the "almost everyone'' and you are at this party and it is the coolest party you have ever been to. I mean people are GETTING DOWN and just when think things can't get any cooler this discussion about macroeconomics in the future breaks out. This lesser thinker is like, "What do you think would happen if in 2007 the price of a barrel of oil isn't the current $12, but 5 times that much at $60?" Everyone just starts laughing at this guy, "That is not only impossible," they say "but the answer would be catastrophic to the economy." They of course were wrong. You want to think about something crazy. Oil is trading at $93 a barrel. That is an almost 800% increase to what it was in 1999. What is the economy doing? Just humming right along. You know what that makes me think. This Earth will never run out of oil. The price of oil will just keep rising until is makes sense to use other forms of energy. Then we will just use that energy for 200 years before the media will make a big deal about getting ready to run of that energy. The cycle will just keep reciprocating.
I heard something I've never heard at a concert before. Grace Potter was opening up for Govt Mule and before one of her songs she said, "This song is kind of dirty. All the pornstars have been calling to use it." I thought, "Wow. I've never heard someone say that before." And yep, the song was kinda dirty (For reference, it's called If I Was From Paris). We ended up leaving the Govt Mule show early because I hate The Vogue in Indy and I hated the crowd. See the leader of Govt Mule is Warren Haynes who is in this other little band called The Allman Brothers Band. And because of that association there were about a million 50 year old hippies at the show. And the place is tiny. And I had no personal space. And the smoke was killing my eyes. So we left after an hour.
The Dalai Lama (or as he is referred to in my household, Mr. Lama) was in town last Friday to talk about compassion. I went to be enlightened. Mr. Lama made it clear early into his speech that he had no super powers and that people who thought he did, were dumb. He was really fun though. Just a cute 73 year old man who has spent his entire life preaching peace. Using broken English to talk about nipples. His sometimes translator (Mr. Lama didn't know the English for some words, like nipple, so he just pointed) was also really impressive, and could finish sentences for Mr. Lama when needed. It was a neat experience.
This past weekend was the UPA Ultimate Frisbee Club Championships in Sarasota. Seattle Sockeye came out as champions for their third title in four years. In the semi-final, eventually runner-up Johnny Bravo (Boulder) was playing GOAT (Toronto) and a player went up for a disc in the endzone. The JB guy grabs the disc for the goal and the GOAT guy kind of tackles him trying to get the D. The JB guy stands up and spikes the disc in the GOAT player's chest. WOW. However heinous, it's just another example of American ownage on Canada.
Song Recommendation - On Palastine by JJ Grey & Mofro
I heard something I've never heard at a concert before. Grace Potter was opening up for Govt Mule and before one of her songs she said, "This song is kind of dirty. All the pornstars have been calling to use it." I thought, "Wow. I've never heard someone say that before." And yep, the song was kinda dirty (For reference, it's called If I Was From Paris). We ended up leaving the Govt Mule show early because I hate The Vogue in Indy and I hated the crowd. See the leader of Govt Mule is Warren Haynes who is in this other little band called The Allman Brothers Band. And because of that association there were about a million 50 year old hippies at the show. And the place is tiny. And I had no personal space. And the smoke was killing my eyes. So we left after an hour.
The Dalai Lama (or as he is referred to in my household, Mr. Lama) was in town last Friday to talk about compassion. I went to be enlightened. Mr. Lama made it clear early into his speech that he had no super powers and that people who thought he did, were dumb. He was really fun though. Just a cute 73 year old man who has spent his entire life preaching peace. Using broken English to talk about nipples. His sometimes translator (Mr. Lama didn't know the English for some words, like nipple, so he just pointed) was also really impressive, and could finish sentences for Mr. Lama when needed. It was a neat experience.
This past weekend was the UPA Ultimate Frisbee Club Championships in Sarasota. Seattle Sockeye came out as champions for their third title in four years. In the semi-final, eventually runner-up Johnny Bravo (Boulder) was playing GOAT (Toronto) and a player went up for a disc in the endzone. The JB guy grabs the disc for the goal and the GOAT guy kind of tackles him trying to get the D. The JB guy stands up and spikes the disc in the GOAT player's chest. WOW. However heinous, it's just another example of American ownage on Canada.
Song Recommendation - On Palastine by JJ Grey & Mofro
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A Law For Everything
In the not too distant past I was driving down to Bloomington to visit a young lady known by the name of Sara. The visit isn't that important within the context of the story because this discussion centers around the actual drive. Since the downfall of WTTS, more specifically since they have become enamored with poor 80's and early 90's rock, the radio options on the trip from Lafayette to Bloomington is ESPN or NPR and local radio. Since you lose ESPN 5 miles outside of Lafayette and NPR somewhere between Indy and Btown (before regaining it once again), you're only option is the Monroe County radio. SO, I'm driving and listening to these fellas debate a proposed Bloomington law that will make it illegal for people to smoke in cars when kids under the age of 13 are also in the car (mind you, there is also a Bloomington law in which kids can be ticketed for not wearing a bicycle helmet). It seemed that most of the people who were calling in, as well as the commentators, agreed that this law was pretty dumb. I'm glad. My dining experience is much more pleasant when the restaurant is non-smoking, it will be nice to wear a jacket to the bars this winter, and I'm glad people have to stand far away from buildings on campus to smoke. But those are all public places. Those aren't someones personnel possessions. People have every right do smoke in their cars. My grandpa smoked in the car with my dad and uncles in their. They turned out alright. Andrew's dad smoked him the car (maybe not, Andrew's dad loves his vehicles) with him in there and he turned out alright. In fact, I bet the healthy people who wrote this absurd law rode around in cars with their smoker parents. For reference, Sara supports this law. She also pretends she is super liberal. She is also dumb.
I've been busy grading papers all weekend. It's been pretty boring, and I often feel bad for giving low grades, but I guess that's my job. Actually, I don't feel bad giving low grades if I can tell that the person did not try. That's just stupid. Especially since the students are Executive MBA's. That means they are executives of a company somewhere. I know they know how to work hard. I'm also talking to Matt about working part-time at Humana. I only have three classes this module, plus a project with Caterpiller.
I've been going to Starbuck's everyday for the past two weeks. Those guys are good. Right now they are in the middle of a promotion with iTunes in which you get a free, different download everyday. Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Alice Smith, Rogue Wave, Band of Horse, all kinds of stuff. A different artist everyday. So, I love music. I walk in, get a medium coffee ($1.96), and get a free song, drink the coffee, stay up all night wishing I hadn't drank the coffee and that I could fall asleep. I'm cool with that. Songs on iTunes are usually $.99. So I'm down with $.97 coffee. (I know it's not really like that but I can at least lie to myself). It's fun, you never know what artist you're going to get.
Song Recommedation - Cannonball by Damien Rice
I've been busy grading papers all weekend. It's been pretty boring, and I often feel bad for giving low grades, but I guess that's my job. Actually, I don't feel bad giving low grades if I can tell that the person did not try. That's just stupid. Especially since the students are Executive MBA's. That means they are executives of a company somewhere. I know they know how to work hard. I'm also talking to Matt about working part-time at Humana. I only have three classes this module, plus a project with Caterpiller.
I've been going to Starbuck's everyday for the past two weeks. Those guys are good. Right now they are in the middle of a promotion with iTunes in which you get a free, different download everyday. Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Alice Smith, Rogue Wave, Band of Horse, all kinds of stuff. A different artist everyday. So, I love music. I walk in, get a medium coffee ($1.96), and get a free song, drink the coffee, stay up all night wishing I hadn't drank the coffee and that I could fall asleep. I'm cool with that. Songs on iTunes are usually $.99. So I'm down with $.97 coffee. (I know it's not really like that but I can at least lie to myself). It's fun, you never know what artist you're going to get.
Song Recommedation - Cannonball by Damien Rice
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
al-Qaeda and Nickel Creek
So, I've been reading the book The Looming Tower while on break. It was written by Lawerence Wright and won a Pulitzer Prize. Anyway, the book is about the history of al-Qaeda (if you don't know who these guys are, they have a wikipedia page, although you will probably get put on terrorist watch lists for going to it) and the events leading to 9/11. When I say the events leading to 9/11, I mean all the way back to the childhood of Osama bin Ladin's dad. Over the weekend I also went and saw The Kingdom, which is about Saudi Arabia and deals with many of the same issues as The Looming Tower (the bin Ladin family is Yemini by Osama was raised in Saudi Arabia). The thing that strikes me most about this whole al-Qaeda issue is that everything thinks what they are doing is right, and that it is what God wants. Granted that some of the issues have been twisted by al-Qaeda to fit their needs, but there is no way you can stop someone who thinks that God wants them to do something, and they truly believe in that God. What a mess.
On to other not so tragic issues. I was able to snag a pair of tickets to Nickel Creek's last show. Turns out that I'm not the failure I previously suspected that I was.
I was having a discussion last week with Long Steve about Entrepreneurship. Long Steve was saying that Entrepreneurship was his major in college. I told him that that was dumb. You can't teach someone to be an entrepreneur. You can't say, "Here, I am going to teach you how to come up with a good idea!!" That's impossible. He agreed. His point was that what he learned in college was how to run a small business. How to get capital. How to deal with new companies. This makes much more sense to me. These are good skills to learn since almost everything students learn in business school is focused on taking an established position in an established company. So we agreed that the term Entrepreneurship was some lame marketing word. I mean yea, it sounds way cooler than Small Business Management, and implies the ability to get rich with a great idea but I still don't like the term.
I just picked up the new Iron & Wine cd and Ryan Adam's Cold Roses. Both of them a grade A and a must buy in my book.
Song Recommendation - Ah Mary by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
On to other not so tragic issues. I was able to snag a pair of tickets to Nickel Creek's last show. Turns out that I'm not the failure I previously suspected that I was.
I was having a discussion last week with Long Steve about Entrepreneurship. Long Steve was saying that Entrepreneurship was his major in college. I told him that that was dumb. You can't teach someone to be an entrepreneur. You can't say, "Here, I am going to teach you how to come up with a good idea!!" That's impossible. He agreed. His point was that what he learned in college was how to run a small business. How to get capital. How to deal with new companies. This makes much more sense to me. These are good skills to learn since almost everything students learn in business school is focused on taking an established position in an established company. So we agreed that the term Entrepreneurship was some lame marketing word. I mean yea, it sounds way cooler than Small Business Management, and implies the ability to get rich with a great idea but I still don't like the term.
I just picked up the new Iron & Wine cd and Ryan Adam's Cold Roses. Both of them a grade A and a must buy in my book.
Song Recommendation - Ah Mary by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Monday, October 15, 2007
Fall Break
Well, the passing of finals means that I am five modules down and have three remaining before I'm finished with school. I can't remember a time where I have been apathetic with school. Hopefully, I can get myself together and finish up like a rockstar. The passing of finals also means that it's time for fall break. Fall break means it's time for Harvest Homecoming. Harvest Homecoming means it's time for belly aches and avoiding people. This year didn't disappoint.
Speaking of HH. Kids are dumb. Today, I saw a girl licking the ketchup off a corn dog. She wasn't eating the corn dog, just licking the ketchup off. I'm sure her parents were upset that they went with the corn dog and not the ketchup popcicle.
Fall Break also means the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Ever since my mom was diagnosed, my family has been steadfast participants. When I say family, I'm talking grandma, aunts, cousins, second cousins, Sara, friends. The whole family. It's always a good time. This year didn't disappoint. Kaliegh wouldn't pee in the port-a-pot so instead chose the little urinal inside the port-a-pot. That must have been hilarious.
Quest Outdoors was also having their annual warehouse sale. It was madness when I was there on Friday morning, as apparently people were waiting outside in the cold. People were scooping up 5 coats at a time to go try on. I was able to snag a winter coat with zipout fleece from The North Face. I went back on Sunday with Sara and found some sweet travel luggage from The North Face. I also found an even sweeter Arc'teryx Naos 55 trekking pack. It was an awesome deal too. I didn't want to buy it, but I couldn't pass it up. Mom and Dad are giving it to me for Christmas.
Song Recommendation - Intervention by Arcade Fire
Speaking of Arcade Fire, when Sara and I went to the Andrew Bird concert in Bloomington the band LeLoup was a pretty good knock-off. I doubt they want to hear being called a knock-off though.
Speaking of HH. Kids are dumb. Today, I saw a girl licking the ketchup off a corn dog. She wasn't eating the corn dog, just licking the ketchup off. I'm sure her parents were upset that they went with the corn dog and not the ketchup popcicle.
Fall Break also means the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Ever since my mom was diagnosed, my family has been steadfast participants. When I say family, I'm talking grandma, aunts, cousins, second cousins, Sara, friends. The whole family. It's always a good time. This year didn't disappoint. Kaliegh wouldn't pee in the port-a-pot so instead chose the little urinal inside the port-a-pot. That must have been hilarious.
Quest Outdoors was also having their annual warehouse sale. It was madness when I was there on Friday morning, as apparently people were waiting outside in the cold. People were scooping up 5 coats at a time to go try on. I was able to snag a winter coat with zipout fleece from The North Face. I went back on Sunday with Sara and found some sweet travel luggage from The North Face. I also found an even sweeter Arc'teryx Naos 55 trekking pack. It was an awesome deal too. I didn't want to buy it, but I couldn't pass it up. Mom and Dad are giving it to me for Christmas.
Song Recommendation - Intervention by Arcade Fire
Speaking of Arcade Fire, when Sara and I went to the Andrew Bird concert in Bloomington the band LeLoup was a pretty good knock-off. I doubt they want to hear being called a knock-off though.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Tulsa and Back in One Weekend
It was almost 3 strikes and out for Steve Loomis this past weekend. On Thursday we found out we were getting the promised tour bus because the trip from Louisville to Tulsa is 10 hours and 2 minutes. Bus drivers can apparently only drive 10 hours per DOT regulations, and those 2 minutes were going to cost us $750 both ways. So we made the trip in minivans and the Miller Family Magnum. Not ideal.
Then I found out that there will be no staying in the Indian Casino. Not only did we not get to stay there we had to drive by it in its neon, Cherokee Casino glory on our way to our smoking room at the La Quinta Inn. I mean, I don't have a problem with La Quintas, but they don't have roulette wheels in the lobby either.
THEN, I find out that because we don't have the tour bus we won't be getting Wigger or Frazier. I mean, we're a different team with those guys.
THEN, we get to these fields and they aren't anything extrodinary.
Anyway, we stilled had fun none the less.
Tussin' - We played pretty well, and won a close one at the end.
General Strike - They played like a team that had made a 20 hour trip from Winnipeg. We played about as well and lost 11-8 in a game we should have won.
Madison - We expected to lose this one from the beginning and would have probably won with a little more energy. We lose 11-8.
Black - Oh geez, we played horrible to a team we probably should have beat. 11-3.
Madcow - Fresh off their big win against BAT, and visions of their 13-3 whipping against us at Sectionals, they opened up their roster. Bad idea. We took half at 6-3, but couldn't win it. 11-8.
BAT - It rained. They were athletic. We didn't play well. 11-4.
Dingwop - We handled our business in a game that was never close. 11-6.
I played pretty bad, but nobody played really well. Our goal this year was top 8 at Regionals. That didn't happen as we finished 11th or so. Definitely going to show some improvement next year, or I'm going to have to play coed to get my trip to Natty's. And boy I don't want to do that.
In other news, this week is finals. Dumb. I also got a job grading accounting papers in the Executive MBA program. Now I won't have SO much free time. Sweet.
Song Recommendation - Boy With A Coin by Iron & Wine
Then I found out that there will be no staying in the Indian Casino. Not only did we not get to stay there we had to drive by it in its neon, Cherokee Casino glory on our way to our smoking room at the La Quinta Inn. I mean, I don't have a problem with La Quintas, but they don't have roulette wheels in the lobby either.
THEN, I find out that because we don't have the tour bus we won't be getting Wigger or Frazier. I mean, we're a different team with those guys.
THEN, we get to these fields and they aren't anything extrodinary.
Anyway, we stilled had fun none the less.
Tussin' - We played pretty well, and won a close one at the end.
General Strike - They played like a team that had made a 20 hour trip from Winnipeg. We played about as well and lost 11-8 in a game we should have won.
Madison - We expected to lose this one from the beginning and would have probably won with a little more energy. We lose 11-8.
Black - Oh geez, we played horrible to a team we probably should have beat. 11-3.
Madcow - Fresh off their big win against BAT, and visions of their 13-3 whipping against us at Sectionals, they opened up their roster. Bad idea. We took half at 6-3, but couldn't win it. 11-8.
BAT - It rained. They were athletic. We didn't play well. 11-4.
Dingwop - We handled our business in a game that was never close. 11-6.
I played pretty bad, but nobody played really well. Our goal this year was top 8 at Regionals. That didn't happen as we finished 11th or so. Definitely going to show some improvement next year, or I'm going to have to play coed to get my trip to Natty's. And boy I don't want to do that.
In other news, this week is finals. Dumb. I also got a job grading accounting papers in the Executive MBA program. Now I won't have SO much free time. Sweet.
Song Recommendation - Boy With A Coin by Iron & Wine
Friday, October 05, 2007
It ain't easy, but it'll be all right.
On my way home to catch the bus to Regionals, I stopped by Bloomington (yea, I know it is not on the way at all) to see Sara and catch the Shooter Jennings show at the Bluebird. I hate seeing shows at the Bluebird. The place is set up very poorly for a concert, but they tend to have great shows there. North Mississippi Allstars. Nickel Creek. JJ Grey. Grace Potter. Old Crow Medicine Show. I mean, real quality acts. So anyway, Sara and I are pretty big Shooter fans and this was a must see show. It was also fun to see him in his "element". The last time we saw him it was at Bonnaroo, and the crowd was a lot rougher tonight. Charles Manson look alikes. Meth-heads. Lots of what business people would call diversity. Well, anyway, it was a great show. Lots of fun.
Like I was saying, I'm making my way down to Louisville to catch the bus to Regionals. Well, I guess it's not a bus anymore. We were supposed to getting a tour bus with the co-ed team, for what would have been an epic journey. Something happened with the price though, and we had to switch last minute to vans. This is sure to be a cheaper option, but 11 hours in a van to Tulsa is a lot less comfortable than 11 hours in a bus to Tulsa. Regardless, everyone is excited about Regionals. We're seeded 10. Our goal for the entire season is top 8 in the Region, so that is easily within reach. We get to stay at an Indian casino. I've never been to Oklahoma. Lots of positives.
Song Recommendation - Hair of the Dog by Shooter Jennings
Like I was saying, I'm making my way down to Louisville to catch the bus to Regionals. Well, I guess it's not a bus anymore. We were supposed to getting a tour bus with the co-ed team, for what would have been an epic journey. Something happened with the price though, and we had to switch last minute to vans. This is sure to be a cheaper option, but 11 hours in a van to Tulsa is a lot less comfortable than 11 hours in a bus to Tulsa. Regardless, everyone is excited about Regionals. We're seeded 10. Our goal for the entire season is top 8 in the Region, so that is easily within reach. We get to stay at an Indian casino. I've never been to Oklahoma. Lots of positives.
Song Recommendation - Hair of the Dog by Shooter Jennings
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Outsourcing/Offshoring/Offsourcing
So, in my global strategy class we talked about one of my the most polarizing of all topics in the media (which then makes it political). The Topic? Outsourcing. Which is different than offshoring. Which if different than offsourcing. Specially, outsourcing is when a task is done outside your company. Offshoring is when the task is done outside the country (this does mean that another company does it). Offsourcing is the most accurate term for when a task done by your company is done in a different country by a different company. This is traditionally what people think of when thinking of outsourcing.
Anyway, a good discussion ensued. Most MBA students are for outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing because they look at it strictly from a labor to cost perspective and the financial advantages that ensue.. I tend to agree. Then again, I wouldn't say I have been personally affected. If my dad worked on an assembly line, maybe I would have a different view. I think what most American's don't understand is that outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing is not just a local event. When I was at TVS in India (who people think is the black hole of labor) they sent there engineering work to Japan and built a plant in Malaysia for labor cost advantages. I also think that Americans are polarized by it because we are in the wave where jobs leave. I would argue that our industries will stay competitive by adapting. No job is immune though. Doctors in India check x-rays for hospitals in America.
Song Recommendation - Sweets by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
(I saw the last 5 minutes of this crappy HBO show about married couples, and this song was playing in the background...crappy show, great song)
Anyway, a good discussion ensued. Most MBA students are for outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing because they look at it strictly from a labor to cost perspective and the financial advantages that ensue.. I tend to agree. Then again, I wouldn't say I have been personally affected. If my dad worked on an assembly line, maybe I would have a different view. I think what most American's don't understand is that outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing is not just a local event. When I was at TVS in India (who people think is the black hole of labor) they sent there engineering work to Japan and built a plant in Malaysia for labor cost advantages. I also think that Americans are polarized by it because we are in the wave where jobs leave. I would argue that our industries will stay competitive by adapting. No job is immune though. Doctors in India check x-rays for hospitals in America.
Song Recommendation - Sweets by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
(I saw the last 5 minutes of this crappy HBO show about married couples, and this song was playing in the background...crappy show, great song)
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Nickel Creek Tickets
As some of you may know, Nickel Creek is currently in the middle of their Farewell For Now tour. The band is planning on taking an extended break. Nobody really knows what that means, so I think everyone is planning as if this could very well be their last tour. The last two night of the tour are the the Ryman Theater in Nashville. They will be making a DVD and live CD from those two nights, and I'm sure there will be guest appearances galore.
I wanted to be at that show.
I needed to be at that show.
I was unable to get tickets for that show.
I got online at 1:06 when tickets went on sale at 1:00. Sold out. Both nights. Are you kidding me. They weren't. I failed. I'm a failure. I will get those tickets. One guy on their website said he was flying in from England for the show. Now, that is dedication.
I guess I should give a song recommendation from Nickel Creek.
Song Recommendation - Somebody More Like You by Nickel Creek
I wanted to be at that show.
I needed to be at that show.
I was unable to get tickets for that show.
I got online at 1:06 when tickets went on sale at 1:00. Sold out. Both nights. Are you kidding me. They weren't. I failed. I'm a failure. I will get those tickets. One guy on their website said he was flying in from England for the show. Now, that is dedication.
I guess I should give a song recommendation from Nickel Creek.
Song Recommendation - Somebody More Like You by Nickel Creek
Friday, September 21, 2007
Nick, where have you been?
Where HAVE I been? It's interesting that these blog entries are accomplished in fits. I wish I had the discipline to sit down one a week and write something. I mean, I know all the readers are just waiting out there for something. Anything. Begging to themselves for one sentence of a post. Probably not. Maybe it's not even that I had the discipline, maybe it's that I had the discipline to have the discipline. I digress. (I don't know if I used that "I digress" statement appropriately, but I like it when people say that)
So, what has happen in my life since my last post?
I started school.
I decided that six straight years of school was too much.
I decided that I am going to take some sort of epic journey at the end of the school year.
I was unstoppable at CHC, and completely stoppable at Sectionals. (Ultimate Frisbee)
I saw Andrew Bird in concert.
I received a full-time offer from Humana.
I counter offered with Humana.
Humana said no to the counter offer.
I bought a new computer.
I almost got halfway finished with a Logistics exam.
I skipped the job fair.
That pretty much brings us to the present. I'm glad you're back on board.
Song Recommendation: Poor House by The Traveling Wilburys
The ring on Sara's Iphone for when her dad calls is Poor House. Basically the most appropriate ring possible.
So, what has happen in my life since my last post?
I started school.
I decided that six straight years of school was too much.
I decided that I am going to take some sort of epic journey at the end of the school year.
I was unstoppable at CHC, and completely stoppable at Sectionals. (Ultimate Frisbee)
I saw Andrew Bird in concert.
I received a full-time offer from Humana.
I counter offered with Humana.
Humana said no to the counter offer.
I bought a new computer.
I almost got halfway finished with a Logistics exam.
I skipped the job fair.
That pretty much brings us to the present. I'm glad you're back on board.
Song Recommendation: Poor House by The Traveling Wilburys
The ring on Sara's Iphone for when her dad calls is Poor House. Basically the most appropriate ring possible.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Summers Over
Summers over. It ends tonight. Tomorrow, I go off to be an MBA student again. Luckily, I learned one very important thing this summer. No, it had nothing to do with my internship.
The one important thing I learned is that old woman LOVE Trace Adkins. Let me tell you a story. My sister and I were all excited because Dierks Bentley was going to be at the Kentucky State Fair, and since he played Bonnaroo this year I knew he had talent. Well, it turns out that Dierks was going to be playing after Kellie Pickler but before Trace Adkins. We were like, “Who wants to see Trace Adkins?” and “Why is he headlining?” Well we found out who wanted to see Trace Adkins. The old ladies. Apparently, to the geriatric crowd Mr. Adkins is dripping sex appeal. Most of his songs are about sexing chicks, and they are accompanied by a nearly constant stream of pelvic thrusts. I was impressed. Andrew Miller was not (“If he thrusts one more time, I am going to kick him in the balls”). You have not lived until you have seen a grandma booty dancing to Honky Tonk Ba Donka Donk (Real name to a Trace Adkins song). Entertaining? Yes. Am I fan? No.
Dierks Bentley was highly entertaining, and even had a bluegrass mini-set. I snagged the setlist after the show. Kellie Pickler is kinda dump.
Song Recommendation – Paranoia in B Major by The Avett Brothers
The one important thing I learned is that old woman LOVE Trace Adkins. Let me tell you a story. My sister and I were all excited because Dierks Bentley was going to be at the Kentucky State Fair, and since he played Bonnaroo this year I knew he had talent. Well, it turns out that Dierks was going to be playing after Kellie Pickler but before Trace Adkins. We were like, “Who wants to see Trace Adkins?” and “Why is he headlining?” Well we found out who wanted to see Trace Adkins. The old ladies. Apparently, to the geriatric crowd Mr. Adkins is dripping sex appeal. Most of his songs are about sexing chicks, and they are accompanied by a nearly constant stream of pelvic thrusts. I was impressed. Andrew Miller was not (“If he thrusts one more time, I am going to kick him in the balls”). You have not lived until you have seen a grandma booty dancing to Honky Tonk Ba Donka Donk (Real name to a Trace Adkins song). Entertaining? Yes. Am I fan? No.
Dierks Bentley was highly entertaining, and even had a bluegrass mini-set. I snagged the setlist after the show. Kellie Pickler is kinda dump.
Song Recommendation – Paranoia in B Major by The Avett Brothers
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Fishing
So, while at Lake Cumberland for the family vacation (incredible time on the houseboat, that lake is amazing) Scott, John and I did a lot of fishing. There are an infinite number of bait combinations and techniques that are used to catch specific types of fish. There are also many different reasons people fish. Some people catch and release, some people put fish on their walls, and some people eat what they catch. What if humans are being fished? (I guess it would actually be called humaned.)
Think about it. People get all different types of diseases. Some people die. Some people live. Some people live only to catch a different disease. What if some superior life form comes to earth to go humaning, just like humans go to bodies of water to go fishing? Imagine these life forms baiting up some disease ("I'm going to try aids to get that gay human" or "I'm going to go with a heart attack for that male human") and then celebrating with their buddies when they catch a human ("I'm having all kinds of luck with this breast cancer bait on the woman fish, you guys should try it. I'm going to send this one back though, I only catch humans for sport.")
Is that morbid? A fish being caught has to be just as tramatically exhausting as a human getting cancer. So why isn't that morbid? Because we think fish aren't as smart as we are? Well I'm sure these superior life forms are smarter than humans. They probably laugh at us.
I swear I am not on drugs.
Song Recommendation - To Go Home by M. Ward
Think about it. People get all different types of diseases. Some people die. Some people live. Some people live only to catch a different disease. What if some superior life form comes to earth to go humaning, just like humans go to bodies of water to go fishing? Imagine these life forms baiting up some disease ("I'm going to try aids to get that gay human" or "I'm going to go with a heart attack for that male human") and then celebrating with their buddies when they catch a human ("I'm having all kinds of luck with this breast cancer bait on the woman fish, you guys should try it. I'm going to send this one back though, I only catch humans for sport.")
Is that morbid? A fish being caught has to be just as tramatically exhausting as a human getting cancer. So why isn't that morbid? Because we think fish aren't as smart as we are? Well I'm sure these superior life forms are smarter than humans. They probably laugh at us.
I swear I am not on drugs.
Song Recommendation - To Go Home by M. Ward
Sunday, August 12, 2007
A Thought
Does anyone else find it funny when they see a "These Colors Don't Run" bumper sticker, and the sticker is faded and the colors have ran together. One would think, that if they were going to make a bumper sticker specifically saying that the colors on this bumper sticker will not run, they would use ink that doesn't run.
UNLESS, the liberal media is attempting to discredit the president by making stickers whose colors do run. OR, even worse, it is a terrorist cell in the US that taken control of print shop. Now that is scary a scary thought. Those terrorist printers.
Song Recommendation - Losing You by John Butler Trio
UNLESS, the liberal media is attempting to discredit the president by making stickers whose colors do run. OR, even worse, it is a terrorist cell in the US that taken control of print shop. Now that is scary a scary thought. Those terrorist printers.
Song Recommendation - Losing You by John Butler Trio
Friday, August 03, 2007
Market Street Bar Crawl
The imagery is too real for real life. You walk in the front door, say excuse me to the local singing karaoke to We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel, and grab a seat. You're eyes begin to hurt immediately from the cigarette smoke as you attempt to examine your surroundings in the darkness. Budweiser memorabilia covers the walls. The bar is deep but not very wide. Pool tables in back. A couple making out one table over. A man sits at the bar drinking whiskey and working on his computer, only to take breaks to sing Journey on karaoke. You've just stepped into Good Times Bar & Grill.
For Scott's (Katy Rosenberger’s boyfriend) 24th birthday, Katy organized a bar crawl along Market Street in downtown New Albany. Scott has been talking about this bar crawl for the past 2 years, so the anticipation for the event was pretty high. Katy, Scott, Shannon, Amos, Jacob, Nate, Sara, and I planned to cover all the watering holes frequented by locals in downtown New Albany. We started out at Hitching Post Tavern (across from the jail) with Guns N Roses and Hank Jr. on the jukebox and canned beer served at the bar. Next was the Good Times Bar & Grill described above. The final stop was the New Albany landmark Hugh E. Birs (located on Market and 4th....the original 4th Street Live as they say at the bar). Each bar was scarier than the first. Hitching Post was downright friendly, as we were the only customers. Good Times was good times with karaoke. Hugh E. Birs had a shuffleboard converted into a stage with instruments plugged in and ready to be played. The stage was literally 36 inches wide, with a drum kit hanging from the ceiling. They sold PBR in the bottle. There was a room designated for Women/Couples. There were meth addicts singing the praises of drinking Tequila Sunrises.
A legendary night for all. Scott Maymon is an idiot for missing it.
For Scott's (Katy Rosenberger’s boyfriend) 24th birthday, Katy organized a bar crawl along Market Street in downtown New Albany. Scott has been talking about this bar crawl for the past 2 years, so the anticipation for the event was pretty high. Katy, Scott, Shannon, Amos, Jacob, Nate, Sara, and I planned to cover all the watering holes frequented by locals in downtown New Albany. We started out at Hitching Post Tavern (across from the jail) with Guns N Roses and Hank Jr. on the jukebox and canned beer served at the bar. Next was the Good Times Bar & Grill described above. The final stop was the New Albany landmark Hugh E. Birs (located on Market and 4th....the original 4th Street Live as they say at the bar). Each bar was scarier than the first. Hitching Post was downright friendly, as we were the only customers. Good Times was good times with karaoke. Hugh E. Birs had a shuffleboard converted into a stage with instruments plugged in and ready to be played. The stage was literally 36 inches wide, with a drum kit hanging from the ceiling. They sold PBR in the bottle. There was a room designated for Women/Couples. There were meth addicts singing the praises of drinking Tequila Sunrises.
A legendary night for all. Scott Maymon is an idiot for missing it.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Ryan Adams - The Real Show
After the WFPK Listener Appreciation debacle a month or so ago, I think Ryan Adams' management pretty much agreed they had to get him and The Cardinals back in Louisville on the next tour. Well Easy Tiger hit stores and the toured started with a date at The Brown Theatre in Louisville. Sarah, Aaron, Sara and I got tickets to the Wednesday night show that featured no opener (GREAT SUCCESS!) and assigned seats. Ryan gets high acclaim for being what music writers call a "songwriters songwriter." That basically means that he has his act together and should be mentioned in conversations with Bob Dylan and Neil Young. He is that good. As for the show, it was rocking. Much better and more normal than the WFPK show. A recent interview I heard with Ryan said that he plans for the band to morph from being Ryan Adams & The Cardinals to just being The Cardinals, with him being one of 2 singers. I think that is very evident that this would be a distinct possibility in the not to distant future. The band plays well together. There was more of a set break than an encore. The show lasted 2+ hours. They didn't play any music previous to The Cardinals joining Ryan. Sadly, they didn't play The Hardest Part off the Jacksonville City Nights album (one of my all-time favorite album covers). Overall, a great show.
That wasn't the only show I went to this week though. Ryan Shaw played at the WFPK live lunch on Friday and I took a long lunch to go check it out. If you haven't heard of Ryan Shaw or his debut album This Is Ryan Shaw, you need to check it out soon. He is a soul singer from Georgia who plays and sings in the same style as if someone picked him up from the 60's and put him in 2007. The WKPK studio is tiny with only about 100 people in the room. People were going wild. 50 year old ladies were standing up dancing and 20 year old dudes were grooving. His music has great crossover appeal because he is so talented and innocent. After the show, I met Ryan and his band. Then picked up a signed set list (Me Rikey).
Song Recommendation - I Found The Love by Ryan Shaw
That wasn't the only show I went to this week though. Ryan Shaw played at the WFPK live lunch on Friday and I took a long lunch to go check it out. If you haven't heard of Ryan Shaw or his debut album This Is Ryan Shaw, you need to check it out soon. He is a soul singer from Georgia who plays and sings in the same style as if someone picked him up from the 60's and put him in 2007. The WKPK studio is tiny with only about 100 people in the room. People were going wild. 50 year old ladies were standing up dancing and 20 year old dudes were grooving. His music has great crossover appeal because he is so talented and innocent. After the show, I met Ryan and his band. Then picked up a signed set list (Me Rikey).
Song Recommendation - I Found The Love by Ryan Shaw
Monday, July 09, 2007
4th of July, Whatever, Etc.
The 4th of July was supposed to be a monumentous day of boating galore. We had the participants lined up, the boat ready, the tubes aired up, and plans made. That all changed when we woke up on the 4th only to find a text message with participants claiming they partied too hard and too long (6 AM) to send the day on the boat. This left us with only 4 for the boat. If you have ever went tubing with the Maymon clan you are sure to realize that 4 is definitely not enough. 1 at the wheel, 1 watching the tubes, and 2 battling on the tubes means that no one gets to rest. After 2 hours we would have all been spent and wanting to take a nap.
What are John, Scott, and I to do? Triple 4th of July party. We headed out to my apartment complex to an intern affair hosted by Marissa and Laura. Delicious. Headed back to Nikki and Brandons jungle juice-fueled family affair. Over to Staci's for a little bags action. Then back over to Nikki and Brandons for the fireworks. My sister had been talking for a week about Thunder over Plum Creek and it didn't disappoint. How could a 200 fish fish fry with pitch-in meal and a truckbed of professional fireworks disappoint? The fireworks kept everyone on the edge of their sit (especially after a box of mortars feel over shooting fireworks into the crowd and scattering everyone but the kids, who stoically didn't budge....we all felt like jerks for not saving them). It was a great time, one that could only have been made better by a day on the lake.
Last night, my family and I went to see The Lion King. I think before I provide any review, it should be known that I hate musicals and plays for the most part. I can never really place my finger on why that is, except that everything seems so exaggerated (movies seem much more real life). Well, that and they sing instead of talking. That's just annoying. Imagine if the real world was like that. I think the suicide rate would be through the roof. Anyway, about the play. My dad said it best at the intermission when he said, "Whoever designed those costumes must have been on acid." The costumes were crazy and incredible at the same time. They had life-sized elephants, giraffes, and rhinos and marching through the crowd in the opening scene (the ushers freaked out when a guy walked out into the aisle right before the the show started). As expected the actors were talented and the show was entertaining. But, I think I liked the JTT and James Earl Jones version better. I mean, in the end we are talking about talking lions here.
Three weeks are left in the internship and things are starting to get really interesting. I have been getting some good compliments from various directors, as well as, working on some real projects. So things are good in that front. I'm trying to plan a trip or two to spend a little of my money before school starts, but the trip gets incrementally shorter when you get 33% of your paycheck taking out for taxes and social security. It's not my fault I have no dependents. I'm still in college. Come on federal government, help a brother out. Word on the street is I will get some of that back in May which is just in time for next summer, but I would rather have it now.
Sara gets back from her Hawaii/Australia/New Zealand/Fiji trip tomorrow, so I have to be jealous for a few days. There is also a Ryan Adams concert on Wednesday. This should be a fun week. I'm finishing a book by Ted Conover about his experiences as a prison guard at Sing Sing. It won a bunch of awards and is a good read. It's called NewJack, you should check it out.
Song Recommendation - Laid A Highway by Tift Merritt
What are John, Scott, and I to do? Triple 4th of July party. We headed out to my apartment complex to an intern affair hosted by Marissa and Laura. Delicious. Headed back to Nikki and Brandons jungle juice-fueled family affair. Over to Staci's for a little bags action. Then back over to Nikki and Brandons for the fireworks. My sister had been talking for a week about Thunder over Plum Creek and it didn't disappoint. How could a 200 fish fish fry with pitch-in meal and a truckbed of professional fireworks disappoint? The fireworks kept everyone on the edge of their sit (especially after a box of mortars feel over shooting fireworks into the crowd and scattering everyone but the kids, who stoically didn't budge....we all felt like jerks for not saving them). It was a great time, one that could only have been made better by a day on the lake.
Last night, my family and I went to see The Lion King. I think before I provide any review, it should be known that I hate musicals and plays for the most part. I can never really place my finger on why that is, except that everything seems so exaggerated (movies seem much more real life). Well, that and they sing instead of talking. That's just annoying. Imagine if the real world was like that. I think the suicide rate would be through the roof. Anyway, about the play. My dad said it best at the intermission when he said, "Whoever designed those costumes must have been on acid." The costumes were crazy and incredible at the same time. They had life-sized elephants, giraffes, and rhinos and marching through the crowd in the opening scene (the ushers freaked out when a guy walked out into the aisle right before the the show started). As expected the actors were talented and the show was entertaining. But, I think I liked the JTT and James Earl Jones version better. I mean, in the end we are talking about talking lions here.
Three weeks are left in the internship and things are starting to get really interesting. I have been getting some good compliments from various directors, as well as, working on some real projects. So things are good in that front. I'm trying to plan a trip or two to spend a little of my money before school starts, but the trip gets incrementally shorter when you get 33% of your paycheck taking out for taxes and social security. It's not my fault I have no dependents. I'm still in college. Come on federal government, help a brother out. Word on the street is I will get some of that back in May which is just in time for next summer, but I would rather have it now.
Sara gets back from her Hawaii/Australia/New Zealand/Fiji trip tomorrow, so I have to be jealous for a few days. There is also a Ryan Adams concert on Wednesday. This should be a fun week. I'm finishing a book by Ted Conover about his experiences as a prison guard at Sing Sing. It won a bunch of awards and is a good read. It's called NewJack, you should check it out.
Song Recommendation - Laid A Highway by Tift Merritt
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Humana
I am five weeks into my internship and I think I have yet to explain to my fans in Readerland what I am actually doing. So lets fix that problem.
I am interning at a company called Humana. When I tell people I work for Humana, I usually get one of two reactions. The first reaction is a blank stare, and the second reaction is one in which the person pretends to know what Humana is, but really has a vague idea. Well let me tell you exactly what it is. Humana is a health insurance company. They sell a variety of products in the health insurance space with the primary driver being Medicare. Humana is the 6th largest health insurance provider with a market cap (the value the market puts on the company) at just over $10 billion. In other words....big. 23, ooo employees big.
I work for a group called the Strategic Consultancy. More specifically I work for the Performance & Productivity Team. The charge of the Strategic Consultancy is to support the front line associates (the workers handling claims in the call center) in a variety of ways (policy development, process engineering, etc). More specifically, the Performance & Productivity Team is expected to work as consultants within the organization to measure associate performance, productivity, impact of various initiatives, budgeting, and staffing. The team has 8 members including myself.
The project I have been assigned is to find a way to measure the productivity of associates in claims quality audits and then assign an appropriate level of production for each employee. The project is pretty interesting and gets me in front of a variety of directors, but I haven't had a lot of success since finding and securing the available data takes more time than I think is appropriate. It is hard to get employees to understand that my timeline is 10 weeks, not the normal infinity timeline they have. I have also been working on various smaller projects to pass the time and acquire new skills. Lets just say I am pretty close to being an Excel master. Once I learn how to write code behind the scenes in VBA, I will own that program. Yea, probably not, but I can at least dream.
I have actually been feeling a small amount of stress from the whole process. I evaluated where I was on my project, and basically, I haven't really started. I won't call the first five weeks a waste of time (I will call the first), but I haven't focused enough on measurable goals for my project. I still need a little more direction on some parts of the project. I guess it just means I am going to be putting in some long hours near the end.
So far, I like the company and most of the people I work with. If they gave me a job offer tomorrow, I would take it.
Song Recommendation - Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
I am interning at a company called Humana. When I tell people I work for Humana, I usually get one of two reactions. The first reaction is a blank stare, and the second reaction is one in which the person pretends to know what Humana is, but really has a vague idea. Well let me tell you exactly what it is. Humana is a health insurance company. They sell a variety of products in the health insurance space with the primary driver being Medicare. Humana is the 6th largest health insurance provider with a market cap (the value the market puts on the company) at just over $10 billion. In other words....big. 23, ooo employees big.
I work for a group called the Strategic Consultancy. More specifically I work for the Performance & Productivity Team. The charge of the Strategic Consultancy is to support the front line associates (the workers handling claims in the call center) in a variety of ways (policy development, process engineering, etc). More specifically, the Performance & Productivity Team is expected to work as consultants within the organization to measure associate performance, productivity, impact of various initiatives, budgeting, and staffing. The team has 8 members including myself.
The project I have been assigned is to find a way to measure the productivity of associates in claims quality audits and then assign an appropriate level of production for each employee. The project is pretty interesting and gets me in front of a variety of directors, but I haven't had a lot of success since finding and securing the available data takes more time than I think is appropriate. It is hard to get employees to understand that my timeline is 10 weeks, not the normal infinity timeline they have. I have also been working on various smaller projects to pass the time and acquire new skills. Lets just say I am pretty close to being an Excel master. Once I learn how to write code behind the scenes in VBA, I will own that program. Yea, probably not, but I can at least dream.
I have actually been feeling a small amount of stress from the whole process. I evaluated where I was on my project, and basically, I haven't really started. I won't call the first five weeks a waste of time (I will call the first), but I haven't focused enough on measurable goals for my project. I still need a little more direction on some parts of the project. I guess it just means I am going to be putting in some long hours near the end.
So far, I like the company and most of the people I work with. If they gave me a job offer tomorrow, I would take it.
Song Recommendation - Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
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