Brad and The Axeman

Guardian Expedition LED Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Brad) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Last year was my first year of running through the winter. Luckily it doesn't get too cold here, but since the sun is usually down by the time I get home, I did have to get used to running in the dark. I found out pretty quickly that once I leave my neighborhood streetlights are few and far between. A headlamp solved the problem of me being able to see the road, but even with reflective gear I still had problems with drivers swerving at the last minute as if they didn't see me. It was a particular problem on a long curving stretch of road where I believe that their headlights didn't hit me until the last minute. So, I started looking into lights to alert the drivers from more of a distance. After a lot of trial and error, I think the Guardian Expedition LED lights are the best. They are light and EXTREMELY bright, and come with a very strong clip that holds well to your waist band, the strap on the back of your running hat, or the arm band for an iPod. They are so bright that you can still see them clearly if you have them on your waist band and your shirt is covering them. You turn them on and off by twisting the lens cap, and by unscrewing the lens cap and flipping the batteries, you can change the light from strobe mode to steady mode. The last light I had was made for a bike and had the switch on the back, and the cool thing about the lens cap system is that I can easily switch them off when I get to a part of my route where I don't need them. There are several mounting options available so you could easily use them on a bicycle, and they are available in different colors. I got mine in blue and I'm pretty sure from the way a few people have jacked on their brakes that they not only see me but also might have mistaken me for a police car on a traffic stop. If you are looking for a good high visibility light for night running, I would highly recommend these. I got mine from Night Gear at http://www.night-gear.com

41

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:17:00 +0000

A post???

I was just mapping out the next couple of months in Google Cal and realized that the Big41 birthday falls on a Saturday this year. Which corresponds with the as-of-now-penciled-in Spring Break trip to the Big Easy.

theAxeMan's Birthday. Harrah's Poker Room. 3/27. Bourbon. Street.

Other than B-Rad (who I am sure still has frequent flier miles left from his Far East adventures)... who's in?

Wonder What Really Caught His Eye?

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Went to the inaugural Greenville Force indoor football game last night. The first thing my son said to me when we got to our seats were: "Look, Daddy. Ruth's Chris has a sign down on the field." (Note: we had gone there for our anniversary earlier this week.)

My response? "Let me take a picture for Mommy!"

Snow Day March, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Must save Leland's:

Lunch:

Dinner:

Kids Today

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:47:00 +0000

You know, online poker is illegal in this country.

Irony

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Update: To our PETA friends: Show us the boobs, and we release the pigeons.

I guess I take too much for granted. I thought the photo from the greenvilleonline.com photo gallery of the obligatory naked protest when the circus comes to town, and the Dunkin Donuts commentary was comic genius.

Alas, I think such humor must be totally lost on the female members of our species. My evidence:

I sent an email to one unnamed female who works in the vicinity of the new DD location, with the attached photo of the half-naked chick, and simply asked if she heard when the new Dunkin Donuts would be opening. Now, this unnamed female would be fully within her rights to be a little upset that I was sending around photos of half-naked chicks. Her response?

"I think it opens in March or April."

Not even an acknowledgment that a picture of a topless chick with an exposed thong was in her inbox. Makes me curious as to what else is in her inbox...)

I passed along the link to Ms. Mora, as well, so she could add it to her website's press-clippings. She responded: "don't get what our PETA protest has to do with Dunkin Donuts."

But she did invite me to be one of her myspace friends. We're buds now.

Awesome!!

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:56:00 +0000

This is pretty cool. Downtown Greenville is getting a new Dunkin Donuts.

I really like their coffee.

Application FAIL

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Theaxeman denied entry to play in the exclusive World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. Boo.

3... 2... 1...

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Blog on the go from starbucks after a beer and slice... Then more beer with B-rad on a wonderful afternoon in G-Town.

Post is only apropos 'cause B is threatening to delete blog again.

Where's the Ace Frehley Report?

noreply@blogger.com (Brad) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:08:00 +0000

The fans are waiting.

Google Maps is the Best

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:20:00 +0000

True Dat..

the Audacity of...

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:59:00 +0000

Inflamation.

Contessa Brewer of MSNBC flubs one while talking about Obama's "I have a reverend" speech.

What the...

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:18:00 +0000

shizzle?

The South Carolina legislature is contemplating legalizing poker. As long as it is played... at a church.

Edit: I'll have to look into this a little more. The story on a local news station last night referenced a bill being submitted that would allow poker to be played at church. The above-referenced bill is not the one with the church reference.

Tracy Morgan for Hillary Clinton

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:36:00 +0000

OK, it wasn't actually Tracy Morgan, but I was watching a bit of SNL's Best of Tracy Morgan sometime in the last week or two, and his impression of Maya Angelou was absolutely dead-on. So when I got Maya's robo-call last night on my answering machine, shilling for Hillary Clinton, it cracked me up again.

Listen here

Light One Up For Fred

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:03:00 +0000

I'm with Fred in the '08 South Carolina GOP Primary. In the current climate (dominated by the new castrati), any candidate with the balls to buy a cigar in front of cameras is worthy of my vote.

Now, next week when the Democrat Party pollsters and campaigners start ringing my phone 15-20 times a night, I'm actually going to pick it up and have some fun with them whenever possible. I am, of course, going to do what the good Democrat's did in New Hampshire: I'm going to tell them that I'm voting for Barry (you know... the black guy). But, unlike the New Hampshire Democrats, I'm not going to go in the voting booth (because I will have already voted...) and vote for the white woman who only got to where she is because her husband cheated on her. (Update: Just in case you were still wondering, Chris Matthews has no balls.)

Photo courtesy the Greenville News

Comments on Luminox Post

noreply@blogger.com (Brad) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:33:00 +0000

Anonymous left this comment on my previous post:

"Real men don't carry umbrellas.....or wear watches."

Well, a REAL man carries an umbrella so that the woman his is with....and he is with one a lot...does not get rained on.

As for wearing a watch, I give you this:

Chuck Norris has to wear a watch, because Chuck Norris likes to know how long you stayed airborne after he roundhouse kicked you in the face.

Stuff A Guy Really Needs: Luminox Model 822

noreply@blogger.com (Brad) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:39:00 +0000

I have an obsession with time. I don't know why, and I don't try to analyze it, except to think that it has something to do with being a chronic procrastinator. I have watches and clocks all over the place, and every once in a while I get fixated on one in particular.

The current object of my watch lust is the Luminox Model 822.

There's really nothing special about the watch itself, and I have a Citizen Eco-Drive that has the same functions and looks almost the same. So, as my wife always says, why do I want another watch? Because I can't stand not being able to see my watch in the dark. I remember when I was a kid, I had a watch where the hands would glow all night long, and I could set it on my nightstand and see it clearly. It didn't have that annoying backlighting that digital clocks have, and I didn't have to press a button to make it light up. I just looked over and it was there. Simple and effective. It glowed all night because it had radioactive material painted onto the hands and numbers that gave off it's own greenish light.

Well, somewhere along the line they stopped using the radioactive stuff and went to a bioluminescent paint which glows for a certain period after being exposed to light. How long it glows, apparently, is determined by how thick the paint is applied. Cheaper watches have less paint. Anyway, most of the watches I have glow for a couple of hours or so, and since I usually wake up around 3 a.m or so, this is no good. There is a new paint callled SuperLuminova that is supposed to glow brighter and longer, but I want one that, basically, will be glowing when I pull it out of a drawer after it's sat there in the dark for three days. I mean, what if I got caught in a mine cave-in? True, it's unlikely, but it could happen. I'd be screwed.

Then I found the Luminox, which is one of the more inexpensive watches that still use self-powered (radioactive) luminescence. On each hand and at each hour marking, there is a micro-tube containing tritium gas. The gas gives off it's own light and is guarranteed to glow continuously for twenty five years. Other manufacturer's use this technology, but the watches are much more expensive. Luminox offers models down to $179.

The Luminox Model 822 has just taken the Number 1 spot on my "got to have it" list.

In the Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:54:00 +0000

There was a time when, during the Christmas season, I didn't fully get in the spirit until I heard 'Feed the World' on the radio. I distinctly remember a Christmas Eve a few years ago that I literally said to myself: "It's Christmas, and I have yet to hear Bono croon Well, tonight, thank God it's them, instead of you."

That was before 24 hour radio stations playing Christmas music 25 hours a day. Before the ipod. Before xm radio. Now, there is not a time during the day that I can't hit a button and get a fix of the sounds of the season. I actually did synch up some of my favorite tunes on the ipod yesterday. They are the ones I never hear on the radio, so I wanted to make sure they were accessible when needed:

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues
Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keen
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) by the Ramones
You're All I Want for Christmas by Jump, Little Children

Maybe a few others just for good measure. Heck, I think I'll even need to download 'Feed the World' again if I want to hear it this year.

But, yes, I am in the spirit. Why? Because for the second year in a row, getting elfed is what provides untold internet minutes of Christmassy entertainment.

I highly suggest you go get elfed yourself.

That bit of elfen magic shows that even a couple of two-bit dictators and a dead "revolutionary" can provide that certain holiday spark needed at this time of year for some. If making fun of those lefty heroes offends you...

Merry Christmas!!

You're Being Mapped

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:36:00 +0000

On the road again for a soccer tournament this weekend, and pulled into the hotel parking lot and saw an interesting vehicle. No, not interesting in that it was a real, live hydro-carbon fueled SUV. Cool because of the thing-a-ma-jigs all over it's roof.

~~That's a pretty dark picture. Maybe if they haven't headed out before me in the morning,~~ I'll grab a better one. But, you've no doubt seen the street view option in Google Maps. Looks like Microsoft is getting into the game with Windows Live Local. Check it out here.

Cum on Feel the Noize

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:35:00 +0000

Kevin Dubrow

Just read about the passing of Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot fame, and it reminded me of a shot or two that I got of him when they played in Greenville last year.

I believe it was the first time I saw them live. I do remember, though, when Mental Health came out and it was pretty huge. All of my metal friends were going to see Iron Maiden in Atlanta at the time, and QR was the opening band.

Bang Yer Hed

Vanity of Humanity

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:32:00 +0000

I don't think I'm supposed mention that today is "blog action day" and that that is the reason for my post. You're supposed to just come to the blog formerly known as Low Rollin' for your daily stimulation, and have an activist seed planted in your ~~mind~~ heart. The topic for today's blog action is the environment. Blogs of all stripes are encouraged to write about anything to do with the environment. Of course, the instigators of Blog Action Day surely assume that the usual drivel about "saving the Earth" and whatnot will be written about. You know, a continuation of the slow drip, drip, drip indoctrination of the whacko, lame-brained environmentalist chicken-littles.

That's not how I roll.

So, the former Vice President and Biggest LOSER of the 2000 election had to do something with his life, so he decided to take some boring slide-show about the horrors of fossil fuels and and CFC's on the road. At some point, a documentary film-maker made a movie out of said boring slide show. Boring slide show made into documentary eventually made it to theaters and was the toast of the intellectual elite and Democrat Party fund-raisers. It won trophies at Cannes and the Academy Awards. No surprises there.

Then (and this is really no surprise either), boring slide show presenter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing it with some "United Nations committee on the global warming crisis." No surprise, really, since the Nobel committee has pretty much cemented their legacy of "Peace Prizes" by awarding them to people like Yassar Arafat and Jimmy Carter. Who next? A post mortem prize to Che Guevara? What a joke. Thankfully, there are some smarter people out there, un-willing to drink the Kool-Aid of the moonbat Left.

So to do my little part on the subject of the environment, I make a pledge to you, dear reader. Starting today, until the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, I will not recycle a damn thing in my household. Mind you, I did it voluntarily. I had a box in the garage where all the newspapers, magazines, various cardboard boxes, etc. were collected, then I dutifully trudged them down to the local recycling drop-off. Heck, there were even times when there was a plastic bottle or two that went along for the ride.

No more, my friends.

It all goes in the trash can, straight to the landfill.

Happy Blog Action day to you.

Warmest Regards,
AxeMan

*Update*
Today was trash day at Casa d'Axe. You know what that meant:

The word for today is: Liberating

Moving Right Along

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:09:00 +0000

Some local coverage of the recent poker bust.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7551214

Frist in G-Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:46:00 +0000

I had no idea that we had already come upon the 1st anniversary of the banning of online poker by the U.S. Senate, but someone in G-Vegas is happy about it. Mariachi band happy! Bonus points if you can identify the location of the sign in the comments.

B-Rad and the Axeman would like to give a big shout out to our new readers, all hunkered down around a single laptop, dialed-up all modem-wise because your corporate computers won't allow you to surf the blogs, myspace and people.com.

Might we be so bold as to suggest Bloglines or Google Reader?

I plan on taking part in this... stay tuned!

Heard a Vicious Rumor From Your Mama's Tongue

noreply@blogger.com (theAxeman) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:16:00 +0000

The countdown is on for Thursday night in Charlotte: opening night of the Van Halen reunion tour. Admittedly, I was hesitant when this was announced, as fans of VH have been led down this path a few too many times in the past. I was even hesitant the morning tickets went on sale, wondering whether to fire up Ticketmaster and try to get tickets. While hitting the inevitable reload button quite a few times for the first ten minutes, I was still contemplating not getting any. Alas, when I finally hit the purchase button, there were no regrets.

Sure, it'd be great if it was a full-on reunion with Mike Anthony, but as a fan of the band (and even more so, of the namesake guitarist) since I don't know when, it wasn't something I was gonna miss. I got to see the 1984 tour - the final one with Roth. I got to see the 5150 tour with Hagar on vocals. Though that was a really great show by, essentially, a completely different band, there really is nothing that can touch Van Halen with David Lee Roth.

And by all accounts, the band is sounding and (dare I say it) looking great. I say that because I had tickets for the last "reunion" tour with Hagar, but that date was wiped out due to a hurricane or some other sort of global warming calamity. Probably a good thing, as that tour was reportedly a mess, and Eddie was REALLY a mess near the end of it.

Hearing that and pretty much assuming that he'd never set foot on a stage again had me somewhat regretting putting that guitar over there together.

A setlist, supposedly picked by Eddie's kid, Wolfgang, has me pretty psyched. Some of my favorite tunes from both Fair Warning and Women and Children First are being played. We'll see how it all goes over, and I'll post some sort of report here, for sure. The twitter will probably go live, too. Google Maps is being referenced as I write this and some pre-show entertainment is being planned.

And while on the subject of "the rock," I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite 90's bands play in town last week. Staight Outta York, LiVE played the Bi-Lo Center and, as always, put on a really good show. I've seen them countless times because of a contact hat has since dried up, but never really close to home. So it was cool to see them again - with just a 10 minute drive. They have never failed to impress when a dose of straight up rock is needed. And free tix never hurt the cause.

Here's a few photos from the show:

Rattlesnake

Zed

Not me - I have a self-imposed prohibition on
posting self-pics on the blog. I took the pic, though.

**Updates:
Forgot to mention that I'll be doing my best to drink the beer "provided" by Stb. Thanks again, man. I guess I'll be sharing, too.

Being that this the first show of the tour, the band has been in Charlotte for a few days rehearsing in advance.

Trash

noreply@blogger.com (Brad) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:25:00 +0000

In a few minutes I leave for our company's trash pickup, where we go along the side of the road out in front of the plant and pick up trash. This is a good exercise for everyone to go through, I think, because it teaches you an important lesson.

There are a lot more people out there making a mess of things than there are people willing to clean it up.