Oh yeah

So, my sister has a son who looks a lot like me, but smaller. I call him mini-me. Mini-me is the only one so far of her growing clan that has discovered video games. Since we were celebrating his sixth birthday this past weekend, I bought him Guitar Hero for his PS2, and asked my sister to bring it up, since I only have the XBox.

Dude, that game is so fun! Guitar Hero comes with a guitar-shaped controller that is roughly 75% the size of an actual guitar. It has five color-coded "fret buttons" on the neck, a "strummer" on the body where you would actually strum, and even a whammy bar. Too cool. Here's a pic:



The basics are that the notes fly at you on the screen, and you have to hit the correct button (or buttons, for chords) and strum in order to make the desired sound. It helps if you've actually heard the song you're trying to play, but mini-me was picking it up pretty quick. It's really addictive for those of us that are music junkies.

Now that all the Grand Theft Auto games are out on XBox, this is the only game I miss for XBox.

DAMN YOU, EXCLUSIVE LICENSING!

I'm thinking about picking up a PS2 somewhere down the road just so I can play this game. I'm not sure if you can rent this game at the local video rental store, but I highly recommend trying Guitar Hero if you can. This would be great for parties and other get-togethers.

This post is officially tagged Guitar Hero!

I'm a little worried

OK, so I'm a little worried.

My recent moderate successes in the garage on the treadmill and the bowflex have been fueled largely by the NBA playoffs that have been on every other day for the past month or two. Pro basketball's easy to watch on the garage TV, even if you can't hear it over the treadmill noise.

Thing is, the playoffs are ending soon. I'm not going so far as to predict that Miami's going to put Detroit out of it's misery tonight, but it's a very real possibility. The Phoenix-Dallas series will be done by next week. After that there will be a good week of every-other-night games, but then there will be silence.

What am I going to do? Not like I can watch baseball. That shit's awful. I don't see how anyone can watch baseball on TV. There's no football until very late summer, and that's just preseason. Can't really watch a normal TV show because of the whole hearing thing again.

I tried hooking up my XBox in the garage to play while exercising, but I never really got too comfy with that. Maybe I need to buy a new game and try harder. I definitely need to figure out something, because I'm on the home stretch before our San Diego trip.

Aw, man. This is gonna suck.

This post is tagged NBA

Huffing and puffing

OK, so people who have seen me anytime in the past few years know that I've gotten pretty out of shape. I grew up skinny and short until high school, when I got tall and even skinnier. After boot camp, I was 6'4" and 138 pounds.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Anyhoo, 16 years of smoking and really bad eating habits got me to my current condition, which is decidedly not skinny. I decided to try some new stuff. I quit smoking (regularly, at least - a couple times a year doesn't really count). I started eating oatmeal for breakfast every day at work. I started eating Smart Ones lunch microwave lunch meals for lunch every weekday. I also just now started exercising again somewhat regularly.

Before when I exercised, I always lifted weights. I was constantly trying to get bigger, so lifting it was. I enjoyed lifting quite a bit. Now that I'm trying to lose weight, looks like I need to get into some cardio. I've been trying it for the past few weeks, and I've been having trouble getting into a routine. I really hate doing cardio. I like playing sports, but I just can't seem to get into running on the treadmill or hitting the stationary bike. I've tried playing my XBox while on either of those two, but that didn't help too much either.

Tonight, I feel pretty good. I changed a couple things. First, a really good NBA playoff game was on between the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons. It's easy to keep up with the action even if you can't hear too well. Secondly, I tried out a new pair of shoes that I bought over the weekend.

My new shoes are Nike Air Zoom Haywards. These things rock! I've tried my old Nike basketball shoes, and I've tried a pair of K-Swiss walking shoes I've had for a year or two now. I got blisters from those last week. I tried some walking shoes from New Balance a couple years back, and I didn't like those either. I found these shoes on Saturday and scooped up a pair of size 13s. I got Sherry's discount, so they ended up being $57 out the door from Shoe Carnival.

So, I hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes and got done feeling good and the Heat won over the Pistons. A good night altogether. Sweet!

This post is tagged Nike and weight loss

Snake River Conspiracy

I'm soooo stoked.

A few years back, once of my most favorite bands in the world was Snake River Conspiracy. They released a great CD, Sonic Jihad, got a bit of exposure, then pretty much disappeared. Apaprently the big brain behind SRC - Jason Slater - and the voice that made them sound good - Tobey Torres - had a bit of a tiff and parted ways. After that was a new singer named Martina Somethingoranother, who just didn't really do much for me. No new albums were released, Jason Slater did some other stuff to keep busy, etc. Apparently this Martina chick and the Jason guy decided to part ways also. Maybe Jason Slater is not an incredibly nice guy. Who knows? The music was cool, and I still listen to that CD.

Fast forward to now. I heard through the grapevine that Tobey Torres is back, and SRC is firing up a new tour. That's AWESOME! I dunno if it was the combination of those two, stars aligned, or even a deal with the devil, but they sounded great together.

I'm sooo stoked that she's back in, and their new album is coming out this summer.

Here's a link to their site, which is www.snakeriverconspiracy.com

Cool!

This post is tagged Snake River Conspiracy

She's a weiner!

Looks like Danni O'Neill won the contest for Favorite New Female Vocalist over at NewCountryStar.com.

For everyone who reads this and took the time to go vote, I wanted to forward the thanks she sent out this morning. Here's her message:

Well.......I WON!!!! :) and I only did it with all of you help.
Just think.....no more get off your butt and vote for Danni emails...ha ha.....at least until my People's Choice nomination... :)

Seriously, I cannot thank each and every one of you enough.....I feel so lucky to have so many people in my corner. I know time is valuable these days, and there never seems to be enough of it, so it touches me that you all gave me some of your time. Please let me know if there is anything I can ever do for you to return the favor....and I'll be happy to do it (within reason and within the law ha ha)

I know that most of you got several of your friends to vote for me too, so if you could please pass on my thanks to them, that would be great.

ALL I know is that I have the most rockin' friends and family EVER!!!!!

I love you all

All the best and Take Care...and please keep in touch.

Love
Danni (Favorite new Female Vocalist)

:)

This post is tagged Danni O'Neill

Fear sells

Freedom of press.

It's funny that what makes this little blog even possible is the same thing behind a significant portion of the topics we discuss with each other, our lifestyle modifications as a reaction to what we see and hear in magazines, on the news, and even on websites.

Unfortunately, freedom of the press can be a bit short-sighted at times; and it's definitely not free. To get news in front of people costs money. To get money, television producers sell advertisements. Newspapers sell advertisements and charge for the actual paper itself. Even the most popular news websites belong to giant corporations that can afford to buy advertisement on other media outlets to drive people to come check out their sites. If you'll look up there at the top of the page, I'm even advertising, hoping that you guys will see something you like and click, which gives me money. It's capitalism, pure and simple. It's how America works.

The problem begins with the fact that advertisers expect value for their investment. Therefore, reporters seek out the most sensationalist and fear-mongering of stories to tell you. If you hear about something that makes you scared, you want to tell your friends and family, right? You'll want to change your lifestyle to steer clear of the bad stuff, right? Lastly, you'll want to tune in again tomorrow to make sure you don't miss what the reporter is saying to keep you safe then, right? Tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. By making you fear, that reporter is essentially guaranteeing that you'll be back tomorrow. That reporter is making sure that you're gonna be talking about his story to your friends and family.

That reporter is selling you fear.

Quick, by a show of hands - how many of you guys have heard about the cancer epidemic?

Bullshit. Read this excerpt.

How many of you guys know that schools are more violent now than they were 15 years ago?

Bullshit. Read this excerpt.

Everyone who knows that eradiated food could kill you or at least have serious side-effects, raise your hand.

Bullshit. Read this excerpt.

Noticing a pattern here?

ABC News correspondent John Stossel has written a book named Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity : Get Out the Shovel--Why Everything You Know is Wrong. Here's a link to it on Amazon.com

In case you missed it, there's an excerpt of this book here that I read earlier. After checking that out, I'm going to order this book and read it.

I highly recommend the excerpt, and I'll bet you'll like it also.

She speaks!

I think some people exist only to serve as an example for others. This girl is one of those people. The first story of her is the post just below this one.

The really thick blonde model who fell off a bus in New York after confusing an emergency exit with the bathroom has spoken out on her ordeal. Again, I'm posting the whole text, just in case the link gets lost again:

Supermodel Tatyana Simanava was almost killed Thursday when she mistook the exit door of a luxury bus for a bathroom door and fell from the moving vehicle onto a Brooklyn highway.

The Belarus-born beauty, who was on her way to a modeling appointment, suffered bruising to her right arm and jaw, but did not break any bones.

She fumes, "I am not angry, but I would like that there are some changes made, that nothing like this can happen again.

"I am sure that the exit doors have to be locked and they have to be marked. There were no signs.

"I asked where the bathroom was and I was told it's down the stairs, there's a door.

"I opened the first door I saw, and I don't remember anything after that. My friends told me the bus driver saw me fall.

"Everybody said it is lucky that I am alive."

Linda Safir, who owns bus hire company On Time Elite, says, "I think that (the doors) are marked. I'm very confused as to how she could have done this."

Some blonde model walks out of a moving bus

Man, this girl must be thick!

Here's the story text, in case the link goes away:

A supermodel fell out of a coach travelling at 50mph after mistaking an exit door for a toilet door.

It happened as Tatyana Simanava was returning to her seat from the WC.

Instead of opening the door to the passenger area she pulled open the emergency exit.

The 21-year-old blonde was pitched out onto a busy road in the middle of New York.

The driver reportedly spotted her falling out and pulled over.

Miraculously, Ms Simanava was not hit by any passing vehicles.

However, she was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken shoulder and wrist.

Fashion photographer Eric Striffler told the New York Post: "She's a great model... very attractive and sexy in front of the camera.

"I'm very sorry to hear this news. It puts her career on hold for a while, unfortunately."

Ummm, she's "very attractive and sexy in front of the camera", but apparently too stupid to figure out the difference between the bathroom and the emergency exit.

Damn!

Ha!

OK, I'm a liberal. Some of my three readers know that, some don't. I'm not a liberal so much in the tree-hugging way as much as in the tolerance-for-all-different-kinds-of-folks way.

That being said, I really don't have much love for Hillary Clinton the senator. I'm of the opinion that if she weren't married to a former president who was iincredibly good (aside from the whole getting busted cheating thing), not only would she not be a senator, she would probably be pretty much unknown. She's a carpet-bagger politician in the worst way, and up until now she's never done much of anything except pander and rehash old ideas that someone else thought up.

Now she's introduced a bill (read about it here) that ties the federal minimum wage to the pay increases that congressmen and senators give themselves every year.

What a good idea! How has nobody else thought of this before?

Vote for Danni O'Neill

OK, go here, scroll down to the Favorite New Female Vocalist category, and vote for Danni O'Neill. Every time an hour goes past, go visit that link and vote for her again.

She's a good customer of mine, and she can sing to boot. Her website is at www.dannioneill.com.

This post is tagged Danni O'Neill

Don't talk to me in the bathroom

OK, this is something that is in the straight guy handbook, and some guys still don't get it.

Don't try to have a fucking conversation with me in the bathroom!

I'm holding my junk, man. I don't want to have any thoughts of you while I'm holding my junk. For the love of christ, just wait a few minutes. I'm busy doing stuff. Even if I'm done and washing my hands, it stinks in there. I'm most likely trying to hold my breath to keep my lungs from burning.

I'm not saying a cursory greeting isn't in order when it's unavoidable to make eye contact in the restroom. Beyond that, I don't want to talk to you. Unless you're five years old, you should know this.

Damn!

Holy shit!

OK, you've got to go check this link out. This is so scary that I hope it was faked.

If you miss it the first time, keep your eye on the right lane of traffic.