GO AWAY.

Stop. Please. No more. I can't.

After the majority of the week spent at home, I've done many good things. I've sent out six internship application packages. I finished a great book. I wrote half of an exam that is due next week. I've gone through a box and a half of kleenex. I drank lots of tea. I slept more hours per night than I have in many years. I am on the mend.

I have also watched my fair share of television. I HATE THE NEXT 11 DAYS OF TELEVISION. I HATE THE NEXT 11 DAYS OF EVERYTHING. YOU ALL MUST GO AWAY. YOU MUST STOP. YOU MUST GROW UP.

You know who you are.

Tube Socks

As I am home and down for the count with a cold for the second day in a row, my brain is quite mushy. Not working or thinking too well. Quite bored, and there's nothing I can do about it.

So there's this.

I would prefer to have a thought rather than simply post a video. But I can't think, so here it is. If I know my Hombres, and I do, they are now in danger of watching 75 hours of videos linked to this one. Careful, boys, don't get sucked in.

Pinata just watched this video and he exploded.

Sport

Per Vin's request:

It has been a difficult fall for me as a fan of the sports. To wit:

1. Padres.
A good season, what with a second straight NL West championship, which is nothing to sneeze at. But they were out pretty quickly at the hands of the now-in-the-World-Series Cardinals. But, to be frank, I don't live and die with the Friars. I like them. (I like them like Pee Wee likes Dottie.) I cheer for them. But I can survive a loss or even a crummy season.

2. Dolphins.
Urf. Oh, they are horrible. Dreadful. An absolute trainwreck of a football team. Talented, seemingly well coached, and yet disastrous. Horrible. Now 1-6 with Marcus Vick (no, not the good Vick, but the felonious one) as the third string quarterback, they are a discredit to the franchise of Shula, Griese, Csonka, and Marino.

3. Hurricanes.
I detest thuglike behavior. Hate it. Find it detestable. And yet, because it is my beloved alma mater, I bleed orange and green for my Hurricanes. And the team neither wins nor represents "The U" in a suitable manner. Losing to FSU is painful, but it does happen - the 'Noles are a team with a great history and a great coach. Losing to Louisville? Well, okay. Once in a while, you get pinged by an up-and-coming team. Beating Houston by 1 point? Beating Duke by 5? Fighting in three different games, one of which was the hideous brawl with FIU?

I had been looking forward to Thanksgiving, when both the Dolphins and the 'Canes will be playing. However, I am beginning to dread the day. It could ruin my turkey. I like the 'Canes and Dolphins like Pee Wee likes his bike.

Vinnissimo: Does that help? I have now posted regarding sports.

Where do I get...

...the official Vinnissimo merchandise? Shirts? Coffee cups? Keychains? Coasters?

I wants to purchase me some Vin gear.

Those of us wanting . . .

. . . more of the Peter Gabrielesque atmospheric stuff Ie. 50% atmospheric 25% soundtrack (12.5% orchestral/organic 12.5% electronic), 12.5% essence of pop/rock no cheese, 12.5% “ethno-world”. Inert (less that 1%) of cheeseless new age meditation.

Lisa Gerrard

(Of course a better thing to do would be to search her name on iTunes but that goes without saying on any of my musical posts therein herein wherein et all)

That guy. I am he.

Me. Today.

Driving to Starbucks with the little Pinatas for a little hot chocolate. Radio on. Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away" comes on. They ask me to crank it up. I do.

I am driving, in my minivan, with Kelly Clarkson blasting from the speakers, on my way to Starbucks. And, to be honest, it's quite fun and I'm enjoying myself, the company of my kids, and the loud, luminescent pop sheen of Ms. Clarkson's song.

Indeed, I am that guy.

Insomnia and Loss

In one of my worst bouts of insomnia in quite a while, I did a sad thing last night. Well, truth be told, it wasn't really insomnia as much as it was that huge, freakin strong coffee that I had at 3:00 p.m. followed by a short shift at the hospital that had me trying to go to sleep at my regular time, which wasn't planned. But it felt the same as insomnia.

I digress before I began. Let's try again.

In one my my worst bouts of not sleeping in quite a while, I did a sad thing last night. I deleted my band's web site.

You will recall, of course, that last year I took down the B**** Blog due to inherent complications if a client were to find me on the web. I didn't delete the band site because, well, 1) I was working with older Vets (for the most part), and 2) I didn't want to delete it because I loved loved loved that band. Hypermaxiumus was flat-out badass. Hard to let that go, even if our last show was about 2 1/2 years ago.

But this year I'm at a college counseling center (hey! look!). My clients are all 18 - 30. And when one of them wanted to make sure they knew my last name this past week, I got hinky about my web presence. Lots of stuff on the web for me from my days as a music writer, and a few from my days as a musician playing with other folks. But none of those are in my control, and none of them were my own personal band with my contact info for booking purposes.

Rest in peace, Hypermaximus.

I'll give you one last look here. Looks like the graphics are gone, but the site directory still exists as basic links. I can't figure out how to get rid of all of it. Maybe it will go soon. Maybe a server needs to update. If not, the four of you that read here can click through some links and see some pics and download some snippets of songs.

Red Birds

They make me angry. Especially the Pujols variety.

Just a little rant of non-sequiters

My laptop, which saves my life, contains a folder specifically to hold my internship application documents. The folder is at 94 documents and counting, which doesn't really sound like a lot but believe me it's a bit unwieldy.

I am bored with this process.

My feet are simultaneously hot and cold.

I am both hungry and uninterested in food.

I am tired but have no desire to sleep. It's a tired of thinking tired.

I'm not in a particularly bad mood, but that might change.

I hear through the grapevine that it's post-season baseball time, yet it remains a rumor to me. I've decided to root for the Tigers, even though I haven't watched a game and might not at any point in the near future. And, of course, I'll root for the Padres on Pinata's behalf.

This is right about the time last year when I said that I'm ready for a good long string of cloudy days. It's the world's most gorgeous day today, and that's fine and all, but I'd feel better if it were the perfect 56 degree cloudy day. No precip in this wish...just enough clouds to make another day at the computer a little more bearable.

Back to working on document #95.

The A list

Spent some time watching old "Muppet Show" episodes on DVD last night with the little Pinatas. (We own season one on DVD and it is loads of fun.) When I watch these episodes, I marvel that a comedy variety show featuring puppets and a guest star was prime time fare in the 1970s. It is brilliantly funny stuff, but it is puppetry and therefore remarkable to have been in a prime time lineup by today's standards.

So, with that freshly in mind and with a far more severe approach to the list:

A listers:
Kermit
Fozzie
Miss Piggy (not an A lister early in season 1, I might add)
Gonzo
Animal

B listers:
Rolf
Scooter
Statler and Waldorf
The other members of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Janice, Zoot), except for Animal, who is clearly an A lister
The Swedish Chef
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Beaker


C listers:
Dr. Julius Strangepork
Robin (the frog nephew of Kermit)
Lew Zealand
Hilda
Annie Sue
Beauregard the stagehand
Camilla the Chicken
The Muppet Newscaster

To get on the A list, you really have to have been riding in the first limo with Kermit. I can see Fozzie and Piggie in there with him, with Gonzo and Animal squeaking in on character recognition. (Animal is smashing the glasses of Cristal in the limo, though.) B listers are fine characters, of course, but they certainly wouldn't have been able to bring in the big money during contract negotiations. (They flew first class, but Kermit was on the corporate jet, baby.) The C listers flew coach. They were the left tackles of muppetdom. And I think I'm out of metaphors.

Two additional thoughts:

1. I am not sure if "freshly" is a word, but I'm going with it.
2. Once again, I hate the St. Louis Cardinals.