Gateway Blog

One odd tradition that I have is that I listen to the Beastie Boys’ first album, Licensed to Ill, while wrapping Christmas presents. I’ve been doing it since 1994, and I have no idea why.

Well, that was special.

For reasons, I’m not 100% clear on, I really never much cared for 2008.  Some really good things happened this year, I accepted a permanent position at the company I work for, my wife started her own business, we had a fun vacation in Florida, the Cubs fell apart in the postseason, and nothing really bad happened.  My wife and I, dressed as Mario and Princess Peach, were minor celebrities on Halloween and managed to mess up traffic on Lindell Boulevard as people stopped to tell us they loved our costumes.  I discovered the joys of buying things a whole lot cheaper at Wal-Mart.  We even got a real Christmas tree this year, which has been especially nice.  Also, I played an unhealthy amount of Halo 3.

But it still seems like it was a crummy year.  Part of it has been the weather. It rained all spring, then never got very hot, so it felt like we missed out on summer.  The election and gas prices drove everyone crazy for most of the year, including myself.  Plus, it looks like I get to “bailout” every industry I’ve ever heard of, and even a few I hadn’t.  Even the new season of South Park has been pretty lame (which has been pretty devastating for a rabid fan such as myself).  Maybe it’s just me, but it’s felt like there’s been an impending doom, like the feeling you get in late Spring when you look up at a looming, Midwestern thunderhead and think, that can’t be good.

And so, I’m confused.  I had a good year, but I feel like I didn’t.  Maybe 2009 will make more sense.

Still accessible and fun after all these years.  I picked up their latest album, Black Ice, last night at Wal-Mart, their exclusive US retailer.  I’m finally getting a chance to give it a listen as I write this, and it’s a very good album indeed, definitely justifying its #1 bestselling status.

Amazingly, AC/DC is continuing to make the same kind of music that you would crank up after coming home from school for over 30 years now.   I still remember getting my first AC/DC album - The Razor’s Edge - almost exactly (gulp) 18 years ago, and learning to play “Hells Bells” on the guitar way back when.

As I listen, I have the urge to pick up a Gibson SG, plug into a Marshall amp, and play songs made almost entirely of G, A, and D chords…

Although it may not seem that way, it’s been a busy several weeks here in flyover Jesusland, where we cling to our guns, religion, and pumpkin pie.  Mmm, pie.

Some of the things I’ve been up to since I last blogged:

• Visited our friend Missy in Chicago.  We hadn’t seen her since she moved in order to go to grad school, so it was great to see her and to see that she is doing well in her new environs.
• Discovered the joys of Twitter, which am pleased to say is much more fun than its trendiness would normally imply.  See my feed here.
• Rallied for Republican candidate Sarah Palin after the Vice Presidential debate with my beautiful wife Froggiegirl and the ever-cerebral Brian J. Noggle.
• Inherited my first-ever hand-me-down computer after the motherboard in my beloved PowerBook bit it.  My wife bought herself a new MacBook Pro for business purposes, and I took her old one.
• Have become addicted to Halo 3, which I play almost nightly with Ginchez.  There’s just something about blowing up all sorts of pixelated enemies that gets rid of work-related stress.  That and all that beer we drink while playing…

Me firing away from the back of a Warthog in an Assault match on Avalanche

By popular demand, Sarah Palin’s speech at the RNC:

Barack who?

An astonishing report from the Denver Post:

This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage.

….

“What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags,” a Republican official emailed. “We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag.”

Now, I know we’re not supposed to question Democrats’ patriotism (lest we unleash a thousand basement-dwelling nutroot bloggers), but apparently, we’re not supposed to question how green they are, either.

Couldn’t they have given the flags to the people who showed up at Invesco?  Or given the flags out at stops along the rest of the campaign?  Or even saved them for the next convention?  This is ridiculous on a number of fronts.  I think the Obama campaign has decided that they’ve already won the election.  I mean, the Germans say so.  And everyone knows that you can trust the Germans.

Q: When did you realize that you watched too much South Park?

A: When my wife was able to quote the song “Taco-flavored Kisses” to me.

Yes, Brian J. Noggle has beaten me to it, but that isn’t going to stop me from posting a link to the Anti-Obamassiah Refuge.  It’s always good to know that there are others out there who are not blinded the Audacity of Hoping for Change for Change’s Sake.  It’s even better knowing that someone is writing really, really long posts on the topic so I don’t have to!

(H/T: CB, a friend of mine even tho he’s Irish.  Kidding!)

Simply amazing.

Where did this guy come from? Please also note the contrast of Obama’s bizarre, rambling answer to McCain instant and sure response.

Here’s a clip of Isaac Hayes performing Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love” live in 1973.  Check out how many gold chains he’s wearing, amazing!

I had no idea that Hayes had been such a prolific performer and songwriter in the 1960s and 70s - writing and cowriting many songs for Sam & Dave and other artists for Memphis’ Stax label.  Also, I was unaware of how many big names (Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, the Bar-Kays, etc.) and big hits came out of Stax during that time period.  Sounds like I need a few dozen more CDs to add to my collection…