The Mind of Microwaved

Man I should really find time to get to this once in awhile...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:08:00 +0000

So what to say, what to say. It's seems like years since I've written a blog, and I guess in Internet world it probably has been years. Life has been catching up with me. I guess Facebook can be kind of blamed for that. I seem to spend a lot of my free time at work there goofing off chatting with old high school classmates and such. Funny really. It got me to thinking about something. I've got a lot of my old classmates on there from Hampton and I wonder sometimes what people think about me when they see the picture of me on their page. Do they remember me as a dorky guy? Do they see me as I saw myself them? What kind of memories come up for these people about me. That seems pretty narcassitic doesn't it, me me me. Well it is my blog I guess. So I guess what I'm saying is when I see their profiles I have tons of memories come flooding back. Like Gina and driving to Mason City and me hitting the ditch on highway 65 cause the Chevette couldn't work up the speed to pass a car. Or Megan who was my first junior high girlfriend. Or Kevin the only dude I ever got into a fight after school with. How do these people see me? Are they positive memories or negative memories, or complete apathy for me? I'm curious about that but not nearly curious enough to ask anyone or conduct and experiment of that nature. I guess I would be afraid of what the answers could or would be. Facebook is far more personal than Myspace though. It's very very interesting to say the least. It will be interesting to see how this interweb social networking effects society as we move forward in life.

Other things of note. So all I really wanted for Christmas and my birthday this year was a record player that could be hooked up to my computer via USB so I could transfer my old vinyl records to mp3. The reason for that being my only request is because Carrie and I bought a 42" LG LCD TV for ourselves for our Christmas gift to each other. It's beautiful and I'm loving every minute of it and we got it for an amazing price so I'm pretty happy about all that. But back to my main point. So I asked family just to give me cash for my birthday and Christmas and my mom came through first with $100 which just happened to be enough for the turntable. I scooped it up off of Amazon.com and boy am I impressed. So far it's been a dream. Easy to use, the software is easy (which it should be after using all the recording software I've used through the years) and the sound quality is wonderful when it's done. I've transferred over so far Carole King's "Tapestry", Wings "At the Speed of Sound", Chris Connelly's "Stowaway 12" Single", KMFMD's "Vogue, Money and Split 12" Singles", Danielle Dax "Where The Flies Are 12" Single", Pop Will Eat Itself "Very Metal Noise Pollution" EP and Bing Crosby's "Merry Christmas" for Carrie. Other then a few unfix able glitches from the detoriation of the vinyl on the older records the quality is just as good as CD. I'm very very happy with my purchase so far. The worst part about all of it is though, the time. It takes forever to do this. Hours upon hours to do it well. But so be it. I enjoy it immensely.

And finally the real reason your reading this: Asher. The kid is doing great. He is a happy and healthy nearly 23 month old boy. Not only that, but his doctor at Mayo has called his high blood pressure RESOLVED. And we don't need to go back to Rochester for another check up until he's nearly in Kindergarten (I never realized how much of a German word that was until I wrote it). That is exciting news. Apart from that he is totally down with horses, swimming, eating and being a rough and tumble little boy. He loves to wrastle with his mom and dad and it just a delight to have in my life. I have so much fun with Asher every day that we are together. He is such a great boy and his vocabulary gets bigger and bigger every day. I'm very proud of my son. Also for the first time I'm gonna say this about myself. I'm proud of myself as a father. I don't mean to toot my own horn or say I'm better than anybody else. But I've finally gotten the hang of this dad stuff and I think I'm doing a really good job at it. For the first time I feel like I've got it. Now watch something will probably throw a wrench into that, but that's exactly how I feel right now.

So with that, life is really good. I'm happy with the things that are going on and I'm happy to be sharing my life with my beautiful wife and wonderful son. Until next time.

Wow really May was the last time...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:37:00 +0000

I knew it had been awhile since I got on the blog, but I didn't realize it had been this long. A lot of things have happened since May. Some good, some terribly bad. Things that have kind of changed me, and things that have reaffirmed that things still need to change.

First off, Asher is doing wonderful. He is such a big boy now and looks more and more like a little boy every day. He is losing that baby look and now looks so much like a toddler that it's uncanny. Asher is also doing quite well with his language. Carrie and I got him a Baby Einstein DVD of sign language and with in three days he was signing, Hungry, Eat, Drink, Night Night, More, Help and Bath. It's really cool. Asher can basically tell you exactly what he wants and needs. And when he asks please for something he shakes his head as if saying yes. It's so cute. He also now says thank you, through inflection and sign. Asher also has a plethora of words that he can say. Eat, Bear, Help, Night Night, Thank You, and a ton of others that I'm forgetting right now. It's really pretty amazing. He also knows all of his animals and does their sounds as well as all of his body parts. He is just the most amazing thing that I have ever seen or been a part of. And this summer has been a lot of fun. We went to the Franklin County Fair with my dad and then a couple of weekends ago we went to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. I had been there a few times in my youth, but hadn't been there in many many years. On the other hand it was Carrie's first trip to the fair and Asher's as well. It turned out to be a heck of a lot of fun for all of us. Asher got to pet some cows, sheep and a pig as well as eat many new foods like a corn dog and a monkey tail (a frozen banana on a stick dipped in chocolate).

It was so much fun, and then that night we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in West Des Moines right by the Jordan Creek Mall. After a quick swim and some down time we headed over to the mall to do a little shopping. We didn't buy anything but it was cool to get out and about. We also ate at the Cheesecake Factory which was pretty good. The last time we ate there was for our friends Brad and Melissa's wedding.

Other than that Asher is growing up nicely. He continues to be a huge fan of fruits and vegetables and still shuns meat to an extent. He'll eat it but he doesn't go after it like he does fruits and veggies. He's a good kid and he still eats well. But he's gotten so tall and skinny now!

Asher really has been the best part of my summer so far and the time that the family has got to spend together! On the converse some things really were trying this year.

Of course the tornadoes that wiped out Parkersburg is on every bodies mind, but that didn't affect me really so that wasn't that troublesome for me. Although I've driven through that town a couple of times now and it looks like a bomb was dropped in the middle of the town. If you remember the pictures in your history books of the air raids in Europe during World War II that is what Parkersburg looked like. It's really scary and humbling all at the same time. I can honestly say the first time I drove through there I had big tears in my eyes.

After that was the floods. It brought national media coverage to our neck of the woods for more than a week. To say that the floods didn't touch every one's lives in the Cedar Valley would be a grievous understatement. My house was fine, we were far enough from the water that we had nothing to worry about, but my office was completely destroyed. We had 7 inches of raw sewage come up in the basement of my office and we had to do an emergency evacuation of the building and downtown Waterloo. Then once we could drive back into Waterloo I had to come and salvage what I could of my office. So here I am in rubber boots and rubber gloves hauling out 6 years of my stuff to a small office on the mezzanine. Keep in mind I've been in my own private office for a few years and had grown quite accustomed to my peace and quite. Then I'm moved in with the marketing department in their storage closet that has a sink that I've been told past sports guys used as a urinal when they were too lazy to walk downstairs. Not to mention that every person on the mez washed their dishes in that sink.

Nothing like having 10 distractions a day of people just wandering into your work area. I hated every minute of it. Not only that but as many of the Cedar Valley residents know the station was off the air for long periods of time. We had the flood but we also caught on fire. Yeah, we were actually on fire at one point in time. So when we aren't on the air, we are losing revenue. So I'm now being told to get all of my work done as quickly as possible so we can start getting revenue back into the station. One problem with that. My editing computer happened to be one of the loses from the flood. I was stalled out and catching hell.

In the end it all worked out. While doing some things I found an office on the third floor that was not occupied and we asked (my co-worker and I) if we could move up there. After one of our sports guys rattled off a round of f-bombs while I had a client in my "office" and showed no remorse the decision was easy for my boss. Go ahead. I painted the walls and hauled all of my gear up. I'm now moved into a big cozy office that is all mine! Yay me.

Things have settled down to an extent but things are still very busy around the office and the dust is still settling, but it gets better every day.

Also this month Carrie and I as well as the rest of Carrie's family suffered a major loss when her Great Grandfather passed away. Floyd was one of those rare men you meet in your life. Hard working, very kind and very warm. I always felt comfortable around Floyd from the first time I met him. He was a kind soul and a very wise man. Not only will he be missed by his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren, but I'm gonna miss him too. He told amazing stories and was with it up until the very end. I have some regret with his passing that I didn't handle the situation well with my wife and her family, but I just don't know what to say about death and loss. I'm not very good at that stuff. I wish I was because I feel like I let Carrie down. When it happens next time, I will be better at it.

Well I suppose I should probably get to work now. I'm off to Galena Illnois today for a shoot and then back to Waterloo for another one. I'm gonna try and up date this blog a little more often from now on, it is rather cathartic to type away on here!

The Time Has Come...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:26:00 +0000

Read that like the song "Beds are Burning" from Midnight Oil. Nothing there to read between the lines, I've just gotten lazy about writing blogs. I need to start doing this some more, it's cathartic but after the experiences earlier this year I've been more than a little gun shy to share things with the interweb world. But here we go.

Since I last blogged we took a trip to Florida to see Aunt Jill and play on the beach. It was a lot of fun but I learned a few things more about Florida and why I could probably never live there.

#1. They lack good comic book stores. After searching for a little while on the interweb and finding a couple of them Aunt Jill only had one in her town that we could find and it was pretty crappy. Not a lot of comics and way too much Magic and D&D stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with all that, there isn't if that's your cup of tea, I'm just much more of a straight up comic book guy.

#2 The used book store we went to was grossly over priced. Perhaps I wasn't looking in the right place but jeez, 15.95 for a used Clive Barker graphic novel that I could probably get at my local comic book store. Come on people the term used denotes that it should be less than new unless it's a very rare item like a first printing of Moby Dick signed my Herman Melville himself.

#3 No used CD/DVD stores. I'm not sure why we couldn't find any since here in my neck of the woods I can choose from CDs+ right here or trip down to Cedar Rapids or Iowa City to find good used stores. That was a pretty sad thing actually to not find any stores like that. You can always find a little gem at places like that and generally pretty damn cheap. The worst part about it all was that I was OK with spending some money too.

#4 Florida isn't the best place in the world for geeks like me. I found very little geekry going on around there. No iconic inner nerd t-shirts. No cool hats with cool logos on them like Spider-Man or Marvel comics or even off the wall type of stuff. It really is the land of beautiful people with money and cars and lots of free time to look good.

Not that Florida wasn't fun, it was. Asher and I had a blast digging in the sand and playing with his toys. Asher loved being in the sand and playing. He loved being in shorts and a t-shirt and spending everyday with his parents. It really was a ton of fun and I enjoyed almost every single minute with my wife and my son. Heck I even enjoyed the time I spent with the in-laws as well. They're good people, they're just different than me and it's not always easy for me to see their point of view, which causes friction, but that's how life is.

Another fun thing we did in Florida was go to a beer tasting. As most of you know I don't really drink anymore. For years it's been a six pack of micro brew and imports at Christmas, but over the last year I've kind of let other times happen in my life where I was OK with having a drink with a meal or a social event. I think I've finally got control of it. So Jill wanted to take me to a beer tasting with her friends, and folks, it was the best time I've ever had with Jill. She and her friends frequent the establishment where the beer tasting was happening so there was a sense of family and welcoming vibe that was really appreciated being so far from home and the beer guy I can't say enough good things about him. A very knowledgeable guy who I would totally hang out with if he lived here in Iowa. So I tried a series of different ales, stouts and what not. I've found a new stout that made me fall in love with the dark beers all over again. Old No. 38 Stout is the name and it's a thing of beauty. When I told the brew man that I loved Guinness he scoffed at me and said you have no palette then and poured me this stout. He was right I got my behind schooled. I also tried a pale ale that I really liked but the name escapes me now. On the beer front I tried something else new that has become something of a staple in our house now since both Carrie and I fell in love with it.

This my friends and fellow readers is an Austrian Beer (I got it right wife) called Stiegl and it's a mixture of beer and lemonade that could be the perfect summer beer ever created. It is absolutely delicious and is available here. You should really pick yourself up one of these to try. It is so good.

I also tried something of a new taste for me as recommend to me by Jill's friends. It's a bit of a twist on the old Black and Tan (Guinness & Bass) or Snake Bite (Guinness & Hard Cider) and folks it was a real winner but it's something that must be done in moderation cause it's just that rich. First get yourself a Chocolate Stout preferably a Young's Double Chocolate Stout then get yourself one of these bad boys Lindeman's Framboise. I did this with their Raspberry flavor. Poor half a pint of the Framboise into your glass then with a spoon drizzle the stout over the top of it, trying hard not to mix the two. It's pretty easy really the stout naturally seems to sit on top of the Framboise just like with the Bass or the Cider. Try keeping the head small and fill the rest of the pint glass with the stout. Then sit back and enjoy. It's kind of like a Raspberry Chocolate cake. It's very heavy though and actually very potent alcohol wise so be careful. Once you've had one the second glass which will finish off the stout but not the Framboise you'll probably be done for the evening. It was enough to almost put me under the bus so drink at your own risk.

Enough with the beer. Onto Asher. The boy is doing great. He is getting so big and his abilities are growing and changing daily. He can now point to all of his body parts when asked. He knows, face, hair, head, feet, arm, eyes, nose, mouth, ear, teeth and so much more. He can go up stairs quite easily and he can go down some stairs. He is starting to say words too. He can say eye, arm, thank you, I love you, but keep in mind this is all in Asher speak which we as parents recognize as what he's saying but you the reader would probably call us completely nuts. We went to Iowa City last week and took his blood pressure machine back to the U of I. June 11th we are headed to Mayo. We've decided to switch back to Mayo. It really is about the same amount of distance between the two and well we liked both doctors at the time and so it was an easy decision after the last few fiascoes in Iowa City. Carrie and I both agree that we'll miss going to Iowa City but hopefully we won't have to do this much more at Mayo either. I'll fill in everybody on what happens at Mayo but both Carrie and I are thinking they are probably going to tell us to not worry about it and just do yearly check ups at Mayo to follow up. Well that's what I think at least. Asher is really doing great and I'm having a blast being a dad.

Onto other things. I'm playing a show at The Reverb next Thursday night. Should be a lot of fun and this time I'm going to project my video on a big screen and play behind it. Should be fun. I think I've also secured an old friend of my Kyle Christianson from Iowa Falls to shoot some photos of the show. I realized the other day that I have no current photos of myself and my music since I lost the 60 lbs of weight. I need to fix that. On the other side of the coin I made my goal of 60 lbs and have been holding steady there. I feel really good and I'm pretty proud of the weight loss. The bad thing is that I have no close that fit me properly for work. I've been picking up t-shirts and what not to wear outside of work, but all of my work shirts are huge on me and I feel kind of like a dork with these huge shirts on me. I'm now self-conscious about it. First I was self-conscious about being fat now I'm self-conscious about being skinny. What a jerk eh? And lastly, hopefully they have finally found out what is wrong with my back. It's a muscle thing and yesterday at the pain clinic I got four injections of cortisone into the injured muscle. The doctor (whom I really liked) told me I would feel like I got hit by a truck the next couple of days and friends he wasn't kidding. I feel like crap and I hurt like a son of a gun. I've been taking ibuprofen 800 and as long as I don't move I'm OK, but boy howdy I try and move around a bit and I feel like somebody kicked me down a flight of stairs, then stomped on my back and then decided to light my spine on fire from the inside out. I know it's all for the better. Today at noon we are putting some lydocaine patches on it so hopefully the pain will be much more manageable. I have to go back in a month and will probably receive another round of injections. The first two shots didn't hurt, the third one was a little uncomfortable and by the fourth one I actually cried out in pain. The doctor warned me, but I wanted to be a tough guy since Carrie and Asher were in the room with me (I was told to bring a driver in case you all thought I was a wimp and couldn't do it on my own). I made it through though. The cortisone felt really weird going into the muscle though. Oh well.

Life seems to be going pretty good right now, we are all very happy, pretty healthy and doing fine. I would like to give a big shout out to my buddy Chuck Hoffman who posted on his blog the other day that he and his wife are expecting their first child. Congratulations buddy, maybe one day you child, Asher and Max can all start a band together and we can sit be and be proud fathers together!

Asher...My Best Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:22:00 +0000

I know I always try to come up with witty titles to these here blogs, but this one I wanted to be special. Asher is the best little buddy I could ever have hoped for and I have a wonderful time spending my time with him. I'm so very proud of my son and all he's accomplished in his nearly 14 months on this mortal coil.

So instead of the usual way I write these things, I'm going to do this a bit more conversational and just let my thoughts flow about Asher. I will try and keep them organized, but I'm afraid a father's love is a bit hard to contain in one direction. So here we go.

Asher, right now buddy you're almost 14 months old. Just a couple of days away and it still seems like yesterday that you honored us by joining your mother and I on this Earth. It's been the wildest ride of my entire life. As you will learn as you get older I don't subscribe to any religious belief, but you are a blessing if there ever was a blessing to be had by some unseen deity.

You've given my life a purpose apart from wanting to be a filmmaker and a rock star, both are unattainable dreams, but being a father is not. I never wanted to be a father, I was afraid I wouldn't be any good at it, but it's easy with you. You bring out the best in me. You make me want to be a better man and a stronger human than I ever thought possible. Your smile and laughter make my heart fill with a joy I've never known. Even when we're having a bad day, I can't help but smile when I look at you.

You've accomplished so much in these fourteen short months as well. When you first came into this world you were hooked up to machines to help you breath and IVs to send medicine to your body. From that little helpless boy you've grown into a very active toddler. You easily walk about the house meandering from room to room searching for something new to discover or play with. You take some bumps and bruises and you take them all in stride. You do such a wonderful job at walking and getting to the places you need or want to be. You make me so very proud every time you take a step, whether it's to grab a toy or play in the dog's water. You are amazing and to see you motoring about the house makes me beam with pride.

You also are such an accomplished eater. You make me so proud because you are so good at it. Your mom and I never have to worry about you eating. You eat everything you get your hands on. Sometimes that scares us, but I couldn't ask for a better well rounded little eater. You love every vegetable we give you, well except for brussel sprouts, but you might like those when you get older. If it's fruit you eat it from avocados to oranges, heck you even liked a lemon that your Great Grandfather gave you at Red Lobster a couple of weeks ago. You've tried so many new foods. Pasta still continues to be a very favorite of yours, as well as carrots. Your mom and I are still working very hard to keep the bad stuff away from you and we're very proud that the few times you've tasted sweet stuff you've outright rejected it. Hopefully your good eating habits continue through out your life.

Let's not forget your pets either. Taffy and Raja would be lost with out you in their lives and you love your pets. Last night Taffy came in from outside and was covered in mud. We had to throw her in the bath and get her cleaned up and you wanted to help. So you put the shampoo bottle on her over and over again and then gave her a ton of kisses, which helped her feel so safe while mom washed the mud from her face and paws. And Raja, she has adopted you as one of her kittens I think. A couple of weeks ago, I was giving you a bath and you weren't having a very good time and you were crying a lot. Raja came in the bathroom and insisted that I release you. She meowed and nudged me and tried to help you. Your pets really love you and you really love your pets.

Asher, you've also picked up some new words over the last few months. You've got Mama and dada down pretty well now, but you've also picked up Night Night when you're tired. Also you like to say Num Num when you are about to eat something. Plus you can say Cow and Meow. The meow is pretty darn cute. And lately your mom reads you a book about a little chick trying to find it's mommy. When she reads it to you she uses voices and you've been trying to copy the voice of the chick. It's really very cute. You're getting so big right before our eyes it's amazing. The other thing you like to do is wander about the house talking in your own little language. It does something like da da da dad da da da da with varying levels of volume and emphasis. It's pretty funny. And oh so entertaining.

You've gotten so big and I am so proud of you Asher. So many times I just sit and look at you and wonder what kind of man you're going to turn out to be. Your such a good boy now that it's hard to fathom that you could turn out any other way than a kind, generous, tender loving man.

I'm proud of you Asher and I love you with all my heart. Happy Birthday little squirrel!

Love,
Daddy.

Klaatu Verada Nictu

It's been awhile since I've written a blog eh?

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Over the last month it's been pretty insane at work. Somehow I have moved up the ladder here at work with the account executives and I'm now the number one guy for them all to go to. They even started requesting me for projects. That's not how things are suppose to go, usually they put in their production request form and then Jason or myself gets the project depending on how much work either of us have at the time or if it's a returning client of ours. Well I've now gotten two projects on my plate because the sales person requested me specifically. That's all fine and dandy but I've got a ton more work to do than Jason right now, and it feels that way to me. I think now is the right time to strike with the iron of job hunting as well. I think if I get a job offer from somewhere else I will be able to re-negotiate with the powers that be here for more money to stay. We will see. As far as everything else goes things are going great.

On April 3rd, Carrie, Asher and I along with Carrie's mom Deb are packing up the bags and heading to Panama City Beach Florida for a week to see Carrie's sister Jill. The last time we went, I didn't have a lot of fun. I was actually pretty miserable. It was a different time in my life and I'm determined to go in it this time with a better attitude than last time. I'm much more in control of my life and my world and I have my feelings and stuff in order. I'm a much happier person now than I was then. I'm also going to look for ways to make it more fun for myself this time. I don't have a lot in common with Jill or Deb, which can create conflict. I like to do stuff, they like to sit on the beach but I'm really going to try and find stuff to do to have fun too. Also Asher will be along so that will be fun. I'm also working on understanding that I won't be able to be so rigid with the way I do things. I've always been guilty of being too rigid and not being able to just go with the flow. I'm going to go with the flow. If Asher goes 6 hours with out a nap, well then so be it. I'm really going to try and do this to the best of my ability. Wish me luck, I can be a bit of a freak about stuff like this.

The weight loss is going great. I'm now down a total of 54 pounds. I have six pounds to go until I've reached my over all goal. I may go down another five pounds after that because according to my BMI index until I'm down to 154 lbs I won't be in a healthy weight range. So I think I'll get down to that amount and then be done with the loosing weight angle and start working on shaping my body a bit more. We will see though. Once I've reached my goal I hope that I don't get complacent and then start to stray from the exercise. I need to do the exercise, it makes me feel good. I don't like getting up at 5:00 am, but you know I'm a better person with the exercise. The endorphins alone are awesome for me.

So what about Asher you say? Well here is what's going on with him. In early February Asher got pretty sick so we took him to the doctor and he had a case of RSV. That's some pretty scary stuff, but we caught it early enough that he didn't need to be hospitalized and all we had to do was some breathing treatments at home. So all is well that ends well with that.

Yesterday we went and saw Asher's cardiologist Dr. Chandra and here is where we are at with Asher's high blood pressure. Asher has been off of his enalapril now for two full weeks and his blood pressures continue to be the same as when he was on the medication. The blood pressures remain elevated but they are not at dangerous levels really. Some are higher than they would like but most are falling in the safe range. This is awesome, but there are a few more hurdles before we declare this case solved. First Dr. Chandra wants us to do blood tests and a UA and something else in one month. He wants Asher to be a "clean baby" and he is going to systematically test all of Asher's systems to see if there is anything abnormal. If he finds nothing then we will go back to Mayo and have them do a renal ultrasound again and just double check all of our work and make sure that this his hyper-tension has resolved itself. If all checks out correctly, then we can declare Asher to be a normal baby boy, excuse me toddler! This really excites me and I'm really looking forward to being done with all of this. Plus, we only need to check Asher's blood pressures once a week from now on! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Not that it is hard to do, but anyone who has ever had a toddler will understand how hard it can be to get a 13 month old to stay still for any amount of time! So it looks like his health issues are going in the right direction for us.

I missed Asher's 13 month birthday on the blog in February so I will try and post a more detailed Asher blog in the next few days.

Other than that, everything is going well and Carrie, Asher and myself are happier than we have ever been in our lives and really looking forward to a week away from the record breaking snowfall here in Cedar Falls!

Klaatu Verada Nictu

Must see this as soon as possible...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Imagine reading that with an exasperated breath.

Check this trailer our kiddos it's solid gold I tell you solid gold!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS!

Something new...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:01:00 +0000

I'm sitting at my desk, sick right now wishing I was at home and not here. I would love to be playing some Marvel Ultimate Alliance or Guitar Hero III instead of sitting at my desk, but I need to work.

I've re-opened the blog to all again. I need an outlet to communicate with the rest of the world and I need a space to write out my thoughts on music, movies, art and all that. I will keep my thoughts to my son, my wife, my friends, my love of music, movies, books, art, theatre and comics and leave everyone else out of it from now on.

With that in mind, read on readers and peruse all that is my sordid weird life!

The Boy Is Sick...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:01:00 +0000

Well Asher is right smack dab in the middle of a terrible bout of crud right now. He's got a cough and a runny nose, maybe a bit of a low grade fever and definitely a sore throat. It's heart breaking to watch him struggle with the coughing and the sore throat. Poor little guy, I wish I could make him all better, but of course it has to run it's course. Carrie took him to the doctor yesterday because he was wheezing at times. The doctor said his oxygen saturation was good and it didn't appear that he was having any trouble breathing which was a relief. I just hope the little guy gets better soon. No one likes to be sick, and I'm worried about him. I guess that's just being a parent.

Last week we went and saw a cardiologist for Asher here in Waterloo. We had an echocardiogram and an EKG done on Ash. Both came back normal with no traces of thickening of his heart or any problems at all. Dr. Chandra said everything looked great. He also had a few things to say about Asher's medication. First and foremost was the fact that the dose we are giving Asher is basically like giving him flavored water. For Asher's size the dose we would need to give Asher would be 2.75 ml daily. As of that day we were giving him 1.4 ml daily. Dr. Chandra was quite confused why Iowa City was doing things the way they were and decided that he is going to do some research on Asher's case and see what's going on. He also told us to ween Asher off the medication over the next two weeks and after that cease the medication. Asher's blood pressures, while still high, are close to normal levels and obviously the medication dosage is so low that it's not effective at all. So after those two weeks Asher will be medication free for two weeks and then we will see Dr. Chandra again on March 4th. We will continue to do his blood pressures once a day to moniter them and if they stay normal we are probably going to call this case closed and decide that Asher probably grew out of it. All good news, but it leads me to a few questions about Iowa City.

First, did Dr. Porter simply "do something" with Asher to apease us? Carrie and I were pretty adimit about getting something to happen to solve Asher's high blood pressure issue. Was putting Asher on such a low dose of medication his way of keeping us happy at the same time not doing anything and just waiting it out? Would he have even done this if Carrie wasn't so educated in the medical field and knew what to expect and the compications of Asher condition? I just feel like we were kind of tricked or perhaps they were all sitting around the office talking about us. "Oh you know the Wilkinson's with their little note book of questions and demands for a care plan...we'll just throw them a bone and keep them happy until this kid grows out of this". That's how I feel like we were being treated. Not to mention during our last appointment there we drove down before the snow hit and then we got a big snowstorm. Everybody in the office were scurrying like rats on a sinking ship to get out of there before it got bad and we were suppose to do an echo and they just botched it and said "they weren't prepared". Iowa City has left a bad taste in my mouth and if Dr. Chandra thinks he can handle Ash then we are going to stay with him. If Dr. Chandra thinks it's beyond him then we are going to Mayo. AH, the more I think about this the angrier I get so I'll move on from there.

Any who, Ash is walking like a champ now, he's getting his balance and having a lot of fun doing it. He sure is an amazing little boy!

I've also been scanning some old pictures for nostalgia purposes and putting them up on myspace, I'll post a couple here too so you can see how much I've changed in the last 15 or so years! Enjoy.

My first band Lintscreen this is around 1993 and I was dreading my hair

Carrie and I when we were first dating at my apartment on the hill around 1998 or 1999

This was a press shot for my first solo album under the name Experimental Mind Therapy this in 1998

Guitar player Andy and I discussing our plans for world domination with my first band Lintscreen

Klaatu Verada Nictu

P.S. Speaking of those magic words, last Friday night I went and saw Army of Darkness on the big screen at the College Square Theatres for $4. It was amazing! It was also completely sold out!

My editing computer isn't working...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:47:00 +0000

and I'm waiting for my IT guy to get in to take a look at it and figure it out. I'm in the middle of a huge project for Upper Iowa University and one of my monitors on my editing computer just went to crap on me, so what to do? I know, I'll write a blog about two things I've been thinking about.

So as anyone who knows me knows that the band Ministry is a huge influence on me, musically and artisticly and in particular one of Ministry's former vocalists (there have been many along with Al Jourgensen) Chris Connelly. I first discovered Ministry and Chris in the early 90's. I believe it was 1991 when I first heard The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and was completely blown away especially by the song "So What" which featured Chris Connelly up front on the vocals. The song put a voice to my discontent of my late teens and early twenties and Ministry went on to be the soundtrack to most of my college years. While Ministry evolved and changed members Chris was releasing solo albums as well working with groups like Pigface. I first discovered Chris' first solo album Whiplash Boychild in an ad in Alternative Press Magazine (back then that magazine was my freaking bible not so much any more they focus too much on crappy bands now but back then oh boy Jason Pettigrew; I wanted to be him) it had a big line like "Featuring the vocalist from Ministry and the Revolting Cocks" and it was on Wax Trax! Records, I was sold. At the time I was living with Jay and Rob in a one bedroom apart with way too big of a stereo for our domain but the sound was amazing. Somehow one of us picked up the record, I don't remember who, probably Rob since he was as much into music as I was. Any who we picked it up put it on and turned off the lights and what an experience. Whiplash Boychild was as far away from Ministry as you could get but was still just as dark and scary as anything the Ministry camp could conjure up. We never listened to it with the lights off again! I fell in love with Chris and his style and sound, especially his voice from that point on. On a side note, I still want to cover Ministry's "So What" since it was such an influence on me.

So Chris then releases his second album Phenobarb Bambalam. Holy Amazing Album Batman. Again it was dark and scary but some of his other influences started making there way in too, including a wonderful little "jazz" like diddy called "Too Good Too Be True". Again Chris blew me away and I was hooked. So when his third solo album came out I was at NIACC and was taking a journalism class and was writing for the NIACC student paper LOGOS and I put two and two together. I love music, I love concerts, I love talking to rock stars, hey lets go to concerts and talk to rock stars for LOGOS. It was surprisingly easy to set up interviews with most of my favorite artists and LOGOS was more than happy to publish my "underground" music stories even though the only two I ever did for LOGOS was Pigface and Chris Connelly in 94 (I eventually went on to write for a zine started by myself and at the time current band member Doug DeGenero which was internet only and this was before the internet is what it is today so I never offically saw any of my interviews actually in print with Industry's Cry). Any who I gave away the punchline there didn't I? Oh well. So Chris' third album Shipwreck came out and it was a masterpiece. I'm not speaking biasly either, even Rolling Stone gave it a five star review calling it brillant (I'm obviously paraphrasing here since it's been like 14 years since I read that review). Any who, I'm jumping all around. I forgot to mention that after Phenobarb Bambalam was released I was in Kansas City visiting my mom and picked up a copy of Chirs' imported single "July" which has one of my all time favorite spoken word works called "Trash". I loved the single and cherished it but somehow it got ripped off from me. Before that I had decided I was going to write Chris Connelly a fan letter and tell him how much his music meant to me. In that letter after I blathered on like a school girl about how amazing he was and how much he had influenced me and helped me "get through some tough times" I told Chris that I had the single at one time but it had been stolen. Chris sent back a wonderful letter as well as a copy of the "July" single that he signed just for me. AMAZING!

That sealed the deal. So on his tour for Shipwreck I got an interview set up with his people and I drove to Minneapolis to sit on his tour bus, interview him and watch him perform at the legendary Minneapolis venue First Avenue. I met Chris and we hit it off right away. Chris has a wonderful Scottish accent and a softness about him that I wasn't expecting. He was very kind to me and treated me like a friend more than just a fan or even a snot nosed college journalist angling to meet some of his idols. He gave me a wonderful limited edition poster that he had created specifically for the tour and he gave my girl friend at the time a limited edition vinyl single of some stuff he and William Tucker were working on. It was amazing. So now that you've read this far your probably wondering where this is leading too. Well two things really. Chris and I have kept sporadic contact through the years. I once registered for his forum on his website but only posted on there once a very long time ago but he remembered me. Then with the advent of Myspace we connected again and have chatted every once in awhile. He and his wife had a son just shortly before Asher was born too. Any who, I've asked Chris for an interview again and he has agreed but what I really want to get to is that Chris has released a new book called Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible + Fried: My Life as a Revolting Cock, here's what the cover looks like.

I got my hands on a copy of the book on Wednesday after work and I'm almost done with it. I think I only have 20 pages left to go. I'll I have to say is, if you are even the least bit of a fan of Chris Connelly, Al Jourgensen or the Chicago Industrial scene you need to read this book. Chirs lays it all on the line to what was going on at the time and spares no one from "the scene". Everyone is in the book from major players like Nivek Ogre (Skinny Puppy) and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) to sound techs like Critter and tour managers like Jolly Roger (who I accidently made fun of at a Pigface show). This is one amazing book folks and it reads like a who's who of the 80's and 90's industrial scene in Chicago. You need to read this if your even a casual fan. Hell I'll even through a link on here to pick it up from Amazon. Just buy this book and read it. It's an easy read and the prose flows nicely from one thing unto the next. Chris is an enjoyable speaker and the book is written as if he is directly telling you this story. I love it!

Oh yeah there was something else I was going to talk about too and that is my desire to open my own retail store. For some reason this is a dream that just keeps sticking with me. I want to open a retail store that sells Movies, CDs, Comics, T-Shirts and what not. Not the mainstream stuff either, the stuff you can't get anywhere else. It's a pipe dream I know especially with everything going to digital downloads and what not, but it's something I just can't get out of my head. Oh well, maybe someday.

As the dust settles...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:46:00 +0000

I'm back to blogging. Sometimes the world is very strange. I'm going to give this invite only thing here a shot for awhile and maybe in a few months make this public again. We will see.

So we will put all this behind us and move on with our lives.

First up Asher is going to be having and echocardiogram next Tuesday February 5th at the Covenant Clinic here in Waterloo. Asher's doctor (Dr. Neuman) believes that Dr. Chandra can do the echo and read it successfully unlike when Asher was a little guy. That's great news for us for two reasons, we don't have to travel to Iowa City or Rochester Minnesota to get the test done and secondly we can get the test done a whole five months earlier than expected. What they will be looking for is any kind of thicking or damage to Asher's heart caused by the high blood pressure. Dr. Porter in Iowa City didn't seem particularly worried about this so hopefully all will be good. After we see Dr. Chandra then with his advice we will decide if we are going to continue going to either Iowa City or Mayo. If Dr. Chandra believes he can handle Asher's care we will stay here, if he thinks it's too much for him, we will probably switch to Mayo since Dr. Porter left Iowa City. I'll keep you all posted.

Well I bought my first pair of jeans since I started my weight loss back at the last week of July 2007 and low and behold I've gone from a size 40 (sometimes 38 sometimes 42) down to a size 32 in pants! HOLY CRAP! They are a little tight in the waist right now, but Carrie says the fit wonderfully, and there not too tight that I can't feel comfortable in them, just a little tighter than I'm used to. I'm still loosing weight, but not at the pace I was before. Next Monday February 4th is my next goal date and I'm afraid I won't reach this goal by a long shot. I was hoping for another 20 lbs but it looks like it's only going to be in the neighboorhood of ten pounds total. It's ok, I've increased my workouts to 40 minutes and the last two weeks I've dropped most of the weight that I couldn't loose through most of December and January. But after these last two weeks the weight seems to be melting off again. Only about ten more pounds tell my final goal weight. I feel great!

After my last show at The Reverb Cody asked me if I would put some mix CDs together of industrial music so they could play it at the club for their Industrial Dance nights. I was totally down with this and I've put my first one together. I figured what better place to post the track listing then here and share it with my buddies who dig the same stuff as me. So here it is:

The Reverb Industrial Mix 1-27-08 - Disc 1
1. "I'm Afraid of Americans (V3) - David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans Single
2. "No Name No Slogan" - Acid Horse - Wax Trax! Black Box
3. "Suicide Beauty Queen" - Blue Eyed Christ - American Whore
4. "Tomorrow Never Knows" - Danielle Dax - Blast the Human Flower
5. "Everyday is Like Sunday (Guitar Mix) - Armageddon Dildos - Lost
6. "Waste Not, Want...More" - Attrition - The Jeopardy Maze
7. "Random" - C-Tec - Darker
8. "Exile on Mainline" - Chemlab - East Side Militia
9. "Stowaway" - Chris Connelly - Whiplash Boychild
10. "What it is to Burn" - Drown - Hold On To The Hollow
11. "Death Saves the Derelict (Of Mice & Men Microwaved Mix) - Circus of Dead Squirrels - Outdoor Recess (This is a remix I did for them)
12. "Love's Secret Domain" - Coil - Love's Secret Domain
13. "10 $ Bill" - Cop Shoot Cop - 10 $ Bill Single
14. "It" - Cubanate - Cyberia
15. "Nothing Stays" - Cyberaktif - Tenebrae Vision
16. "Bloodsuckers (Die Krupps & Biohazard Remix) - Die Krupps - Rings of Steel

So there you have it. There's even links to check out the bands to learn more if your interested. It's funny, I was trying to avoid too many Wax Trax! bands since it's a huge influence on me and I wanted to make this pretty diverse, but I couldn't escape it I ended up with 6 of them being at one time on the label or connected to it. Jeez!

Well until next time I'm out of here.

Klaatu Verata Nictu

Happy Birthday Asher!

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Well Asher turns ONE YEAR OLD today! Last year at this time Carrie was just about to get into her room and into the tub. What a crazy day it was for all of us. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life through the years, and I will make more mistakes as in the future, we all do, but the one thing that I've done right is Asher. While it's been the hardest job I've ever done, it's also been the most rewarding. So here's Asher's 1 year update.

Nicknames: Ash, Bubby, The Boy, Buddy and lately we've been calling him Butters (I'm not sure why but it kind of just rolls off the tongue).

Weight & Height: We will find out his official height and weight on Friday at his 1 year check up, the other day though I jumped on the scale with him and he weighed in at around 25 lbs!

Hair: Well Ash is getting more hair, especially on the back of his head and it's what Carrie calls a toe head blond. There really doesn't appear to be the red in it that was so strong when he was younger.

Favorite Foods: I don't think this kid dislikes any food. Although his first experience with cake wasn't so hot. Other than that the kid will eat almost anything we put in front of him (with passion), that includes all the vegetables you can imagine that are safe for him at this age!

Asher's first experience with cake!

Favorite Drink: And the drink stays the same. Milk and Water.

Favorite Toys: Now that we are month after Christmas we can see what he is picking out that he likes the best, which really isn't one thing in particular, but in all honesty his favorite toy is his bear. He sleeps with it at every nap and bedtime and if I had to pick one thing that he likes more than anything else it would be bear. Apart from that he likes all of his toys, and of course spoons, straws, remotes and phones.

Favorite Stuffed Animal: As I said before it's really his bear that is his favorite, and apart from that it's his life stuffed animals Raja and Taffy that he really enjoys. He is always trying to give Taffy kisses which just grosses Carrie and I out!

Favorite Person: I still think Mommy is his favorite person in the world, but I see a look in his eyes when he watches me do stuff. I wonder if babies like Ash identify with their same gendered parent? I was working on some safety stuff in his room this weekend and he was really watching me and what I thought was actually learning from me. So I really think mommy is his favorite, I do think he's watching me and figuring out what a daddy does.

Bedtime: His bedtime remains the same as last month, we really try and get him down between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Most of the time we are successful, except of course for the weekends. Carrie doesn't get home until 8:00 pm or after and Ash goes to bed shortly after she gets home.

Wake-Up Time: I would say that apart from his weekends he gets up later and later, sometimes pushing the 9:00 am mark.

Naps: His naps are pretty consistent with last month. While he tends to take a shorter morning nap for me I can almost always count on a solid 2 1/2 or 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then another quick short hour nap in the late afternoon (around 4:30 pm) to keep him fresh for when Mommy gets home from work.

What He's Saying: He continues to work on the words Cat, Dog, Mom or Momma and Dad, and he has also added Num Num to the equation. I think he actually knows what it means too. When he picks something up off the floor that he thinks may be food he says Num Num, and then proceeds to try and put it into his mouth. Notice I said try, he's very rarely successful at it because of our vigilance. But he tries.

The pets getting in on the birthday action

Latest Accomplishment: It seems like he has an accomplishment spurt over the last month. He stands all on his own now for longer periods of time. He also is taking some steps toward objects that he wants. We've been working with him on this trying to get him to take more and more steps, it's slow going but he will get it. He now also gives kisses freely when asked for one as well. On top of that he is also trying to whistle, which is pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Likes: Asher LOVES music. I don't know if that's an every kid thing or not but he loves music and dances to it when ever he hears a good beat. That's the other thing, he doesn't just dance when he hears music he waits to see if it has a good beat and then boogies down. Not to mention that he can now drop it like it's hot while using the TV stand for his balance. It's way too cute!

Dislikes: As of Saturday he dislikes Birthday Cake (we're going to try it again tonight for his birthday to see how it goes) and apart from that he doesn't appear to dislike a whole lot of things. He is a very good baby and doesn't really get upset or angry about anything. He does get frustrated about certain things but rarely does he dislike anything really.

What gets said most often about Asher: He continues to charm all walks of life with is smile and personality so it's probably no surprise that everyone continues to tell us how handsome he is and how happy he seems to be.

Best Known For: His contagious smile, contagious laugh, sharing, excellent disposition and all round awesome baby.

Health: We see his doctor on Friday for his year check up and we will see where we are at with his health. So far he's only had one ear infection (knock on wood). As far as his high blood pressure goes, well it seems to be going up again and Carrie and I really need to make a decision next week if we are going to continue going to Iowa City or switch to the Mayo Clinic. Our doctor in Iowa City took another job in Michigan or Wisconsin and we would have to basically start all over with another doctor and we don't know how we feel about Iowa City after our last disappointing appointment there. We will make a decision next week on what we want to do next. Other than those little problems Asher appears to be very healthy and happy.

How He's Like His Daddy: While Asher doesn't necessarily have a temper really, he can get pretty frustrated and holler at what ever it is he is mad at, that is like me. It's one of my flaws, having a hot head and I think Asher may have bit of that.

How He's Like His Mommy: So far Asher is just like his mother in his understanding, compassion and ability to share with other people. He is also like his mom in the way that they both light up the room when they enter it. You know if they come into a room together it's kind of like an eclipse. It's so bright it could damage your eyes, but you have to look because you're drawn to them. I'm drawn to these two, and I love them both dearly. This is still so true that I don't want to change a word of it.

So there you go, a year later and it's amazing to see how Asher, I and the rest of the world has changed. It's amazing what a year can bring for you.

Klaatu Verada Nictu

I had a blast last night...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:19:00 +0000

I'm very tired this morning, I only got a few hours of sleep, but it was so worth it playing a show last night. Of course we had a snow storm here (not so much of a storm as it's just still snowing since yesterday at about 3:00 pm) so the turn out wasn't the best but some good friends did make it out. I want to shout out to LC, Ryan, Chuck, Melanie and Marcy all for coming out and showing me and Tyler some love and support. Hell I even made a little money which will buy me some new light scribe DVDs!

As for the show itself, I had some mistakes as should be expected for only practicing my set twice in over a year, but the video worked perfectly and no real major mishaps happened. My processor for my vocals was full of all kinds of feedback so I just used clean vocals, that's the first time I've done that since I first started playing in bands nearly 17 years ago. And while I wasn't the best judge of what it sounded like, I think it sounded pretty damn good. The last song of the night "Blood" sounded particularly good in my head on the sung parts on the final part of the chorus.

Everyone who was there seemed to enjoy it and had a good time and that is all that really matters to me. I had a ton of fun. I also had a blast talking to Cody from the Reverb last night as well. We talked business and marketing and all that and it was a ton of fun, a little known fact is that Cody opened a new bar at the old Broosters location where they are focusing more on food and stuff but will also do shows and more nationals. Package tours and what not. I'm really excited for his success and I hope his business continue to grow. Cody is a great guy and deserves it.

Also I think I'm going to do a show every couple of months there now, and Cody said next time I should project my video on their big screen while I'm playing behind it and that is an awesome idea so next that is exactly what I will do. I can't wait and I'm looking forward to it already.

Thanks again to everyone that showed up!

Microwaved returns to the stage...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:08:00 +0000

Well, it's been awhile, but I'm finally going to return to the stage and play a show on January 16th, 2008 at The Reverb to kick off their new bi-weekly industrial night. I'm very very excited about this and hope that anyone in the area can come out and enjoy my music live! I will be joined that evening by my buddy Tyler Crew and his solo project Einzeln and someone else who I can book as well.

Wish me luck!

When hard work and creativity pay off...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:52:00 +0000

You get this.

The client I worked with was very unhappy with his past advertising campaigns and wanted something that would grab peoples attention and get them talking. He gave me a clean slate and an invitation to create what ever I thought would work and I came up with this. With the help of Kevan Rabat (he supplied the voice), Matt Krivanek (he provided the lips) and Kim Leer (she created the fish and the tackle) I came up with this commercial and made it happen. For viewers in Eastern Iowa look for this to be in heavy rotation from the 11th through the 18th of January on KWWL, KGAN and OnMedia, to my friends in Minnesota look for this to be in the Bob Jensen Fishing Show that is produced up there. Needless to say the client was way impressed and is looking forward to pushing the envelope next year as well!

In your best Rainman voice say...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:10:00 +0000

WAL-MART SUCKS!

So here's the deal. Last Friday I took the old Camry in for a check up and oil change and came to find out that my tires were really bad, like the belts where showing bad, which explained why my car was shaking like I was in an Earthquake every time I drove it. Well my mechanic, who I really trust by the way, told me it would be nearly $400 dollars for 60,000 mile tires from them. OUCH! I don't know about you but I don't have that kind of cash laying around since the boy was brought onto this planet. So I said, I'm sorry I don't have the money and I will have to come back. Which both he and I knew wasn't the truth, the tires were in bad shape and I can't be driving around with a baby and bad tires. But, I didn't want to hurt his feelings either so I lied.

So I get back to the office and I start calling around. Wal-Mart seems to have the best deal. Now also keep in mind that my Camry has 189,600 miles on it, so I don't need tires that are going to last me until the next 2012 presidential election, I just need cheap tires to get me through the next couple of years. Well basically no one has tires for less that 60,000 miles and Wal-Mart had some for 45,000 miles and they were the same exact price as the 60,000 mile tires. Any who, I'm getting off topic.

I decided that Wal-Mart had the best deal so I called to schedule an appointment for Saturday to get the new tires on the car. I call and Tammy answered the phone after about 9 minutes of letting it ring and kindly answered my questions. Then once I had all questions answered satisfactorily I said, thank you and I would like to schedule an appointment for tomorrow to get these new wonderful tires. Tammy said, "we don't take appointments just come on in and will get you taken care of". So I show up at about 3:00 pm at the Wal-Mart in Cedar Falls. I get into the tire department and proceeded to wait for about 10 minutes with no one showing up to help me. Not only that but two wonderfully brilliant employees walked right past me twice and never even acknowledged my presence. That was frustrating at best. Finally on their third trip past me they asked if they could help me. At about the same exact time Tammy showed up too. So now standing before me were three wonderfully friendly Wal-Mart employees (notice the sarcasm) I said, why yes, I spoke to you yesterday and I would like to get four new tires for my car for the price of $55 dollars per tire and $10 per tire for installation. First, the fine gentlemen look at me like I've just asked them if they would let me fly a plane and then Tammy gets a strange look on her face. And almost in unison they say, "it will be about a four hour wait".

My jaw hit the ground. I looked right at Tammy and I said "you have to be kidding me?". She said no. I looked at her again and said, "yesterday I spoke to you on the phone and you said that you don't take appointments. I was lead to believe that I could just show up and would be taken care of. You see I don't have a lot of time to get stuff likes this done and I only have a babysitter for a limited amount of time and my tires are in serious shape and I need to get new tires put on my car today". She looked at me and said, "sir there is nothing I can do for you, it will be a four hour wait." Now I'm getting mad, you see I don't have time for this, I really don't. As most of you know I work during the week and Carrie works on the weekends, we don't have time to sit around and wait for tires, not to mention my car was not safe for hauling a baby around town.

So the anger is getting the best of me and I say to her, "perhaps you can help me out by scheduling an appointment for me for tomorrow?" She says, "we don't take appointments but you can be here at 7:00 am and hopefully no one will be ahead of you". Now she's pushed my final button, the anger is evident and almost to the point of rage. I look right at her, trying to maintain my calm and I say "listen you can't tell me on the phone to come on in and will get you taken care of "no appointment necessary" and then not deliver on that promise, I'm too busy and the general public are too busy for this kind of crap. You're either going to help me out right now and get something to work or I'm walking out the door and your losing a customer." She looked at me and said "I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do to help you, and in one hour we are losing another tech so it will probably be an even longer wait after that." I lost it. I stormed out of Wal-Mart got into my car and nearly killed one of these valuable techs as he was walking back to the shop. I felt bad about that, but my anger for Wal-Mart was just over the top. Mind you I believe Wal-Mart is the bane of our existence to begin with. Not so much that I have a problem with the company or it's practices, I just hate Wal-Mart. There is so much wrong with Wal-Mart I can't even begin to scratch the surface suffice it to say I will no longer be going to Wal-Mart unless it's an absolute necessity I can't get any where else.

So after leaving Wal-Mart I went to Blain's Farm and Fleet across the street. I'm already pretty hot and not really wanting to fight with anyone else, so I walk in looking to either get a deal worked out or drink someones blood. Fortunately for me I got probably the most helpful dude ever at Blain's. I walk in and say "I need four new tires for my car for a '96 Camry with 189,000 miles, I don't want to spend a lot of money since I probably won't have the car another five years so what can you do for me?" The first thing he says is, well there's a bit of a wait. I then proceeded to explain my situation to the gentlemen and he said. "Let me go in back and see what I can do." He came back out and said, will get you in in 15 minutes and it will be 10 to 15 minutes per tire, will have you out of here in a little more than an hour.

It was that easy to help me out. Not only that but I got 70,000 mile tires for two dollars less than the 45,000 mile tires at Wal-Mart.

So once again in your best Rainman voice say WAL-MART SUCKS!.

On another note, Carrie and I resigned up with Verizon Wireless last night and we both got the new LG Chocolate phones (she the black one and I the blue one) for the wonderful price of $30. You can't beat that with a stick!

Happy 5th Anniversary Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:42:00 +0000

I won't make this too sappy, but I wanted to take a little bit of time and wish my dear wife a Happy Anniversary!

It's been five years since we strolled down that red carpet on that beautiful white sandy beach in the Bahamas and I'm just as excited and in love with you today as I was that day, maybe even more so.

We've seen a lot of changes since that day, and in fact, the almost 9+ years we've been together.

There's been a lot of growing and changing and of course the birth of our son Asher.

I still remember the first night I saw you like it was yesterday, your glowing smile and radiating beauty captured my eyes and here we are so many years later and your smile and radiance still captures me in that same special way.

Thank you for taking a chance on me, I know I let you down a lot of times and I'm glad you stuck it through to see me grow and become a man.

I love you with all my heart Carrie and here's to so many more years ahead of us.

Thank you so much, and I love you with of all my heart.
Gabriel your husband.

The End of 2007 brings in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:44:00 +0000

Well the last month of 2007 really brought a lot of new things into my world, some exciting and fun some scary. Here's just a brief run down of the last month to a year full of change.

For my birthday I got PlayStation 2 and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock two things I've been wanting since their creation.

After that the month kind of quieted down until the last few days when all of these things happened.

1. Asher got two more teeth up front on the top!

2. Asher took two steps on his own yesterday, I'm pretty sure he will be walking in the next couple of weeks, probably just in time for his first birthday!

3. My cousin Blake called on New Years Eve and I had an awesome chat with him, it sounds like despite the fact that we have never met we are going to be good friends. We have a ton in common which is just damn weird for someone you've never met in your life but shares a blood bond with you. In fact he even owns a Smakdab CD, he didn't know anything about me at the time when he bought it, just goes to show you how paths in life cross with out ever really knowing it.

Happy New Year everyone and may 2008 be great! (Cliche intended).

Wychwood Hobgoblin Dark English Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:47:00 +0000

As many of you know out there I'm not a drinker, but I do enjoy a fine brew. I'm a connoisseur of good beer you might say and what has been my tradition for the last four years is to buy myself a sampler of micro-brews and imports and have one a night for six nights. It's a treat for me and gives me the chance to taste new things as well as enjoy some old favorites. This year though I have a platform by which I can share my favorites with all of you so the first one up is the Wychwood Hobgoblin Dark English Ale. Before I forget I acquired all of these brews at Roots Market on Main Street in Cedar Falls.

History: Taken from Eurobrews.com

It was in a shadowy corner of the old maltings in Witney that the first gurgle was heard: a delicious, dark, rich ale pouring from the cask.

A local landlord had commissioned a special brew to celebrate his daughter's wedding. Our founder, the late Chris Moss, God rest his soul, created the ale of his life - a dark, rich, and mysterious brew. What to call it though? Too much was brewed for the wedding, so a firkin of our still nameless beer was sold to a local grog shop. It went down so well, more was called for the very next day.

Chris dutifully delivered another firkin, and was stopped aghast in his tracks. What sight beheld him? A drawing of a Hobgoblin and the name had magically appeared on the beer. Was it the wanderer of the night? Was mischief afoot? Perhaps, under his gaze, a lay artist serving at the counter was so charmed with the ale, he'd been compelled to depict the character of the brew in a drawing.

From that day hence, customers would ask for The "Hobgoblin" beer, and the legendary ale was born.

Beware The Hobgoblin . . . He may work his magic on you . . .

What they say about the tastes: Taken from Eurobrews.com

5.2% ABV 500ml bottle, 5.0% ABV in cask

Hobgoblin is a powerful full-bodied copper red, well-balanced brew. Strong in roasted malt with a moderate hoppy bitterness and slight fruity character that lasts through to the end.

Head Brewer, Jeremy Moss, has produced a full chocolate malt flavour beer by the addition of a small proportion of crystal malt and the use of Fuggles hops blended with Styrian Goldings hops. The ruby red coloured Hobgoblin is full-bodied and has a delicious chocolate toffee malt flavour balanced with a rounded moderate bitterness and an overall fruity character.

The Original Commissioned Artwork for The Hobgoblin was produced for Wychwood Brewery by Ed Org.

Various adaptations of the Original Hobgoblin have evolved the character into his depiction today.

What I have to say about it:

Wychwood's Hobgoblin was a tasty little treat. I'm not one for getting into the actual flavors that I taste as much as I am for the aroma and the actual flavor going down and the after taste. Hobgoblin is what can be expected from a Dark English Ale, it does have a very full bodied flavor that you can't escape, and that's good in my opinion (if you're favorite beer is Bud or Miller you may want to stay far away from this beer, or most of the beers that I'm going to review). The flavor is what some would call burnt like a Guinness but not that thick. The aroma was very nice and had a real "nutty" aroma too it. The pour was smooth and I gave it a minimal amount of head in hopes of not letting too much of the carbonation escape the beer itself. Carrie enjoyed a sip of this as well, so I know that her palette is rather sophisticated when it comes to the brews (she detests most domestic Lagers and Ale's but seems to have a soft spot for this one and the one I had last night as well as a favorite of both of ours the Blue Moon but that's a subject for another day). The after taste was also what could be expected nice and bitter but not too much that you were looking for something to help squash the overwhelming taste in your mouth. I'm pretty sure this beer would go great with a desert or something sweet to balance out it's bitterness. If you get the chance give this one a go, I think I like other English Ales better (I'm looking at you Newcastle) but this was a pleasant surprise. 3 1/2 mugs out of 5.

11 Months old Already...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:33:00 +0000

So for Asher's 11 month blog I thought I would start with some recent pictures of the boy.

Asher and Daddy in Tough Guy Pose with our Superhero T-Shirts. Ash is sporting the vintage Batman shirt from his cousin Jack and I am sporting Marvel's Zombies which Asher and Mommy gave me for my birthday. We are so tough eh?

Asher is receiving a big daddy kiss while sneezing at the same time.

This was at Carrie's family Christmas in Aplington. I have no idea what we were doing here but it's mommy in the background so I know I'm the one that shot this but I have no idea exactly what's going on. But it's one of those pictures you could write your own captions to so go for it and leave me a comment if you come up with something good!

Now the good stuff, what Asher is up to at 11 months old.

Nicknames: Ash, Bubby, The Boy, Buddy.

Weight & Height: Last weigh in was in on December 6th in Iowa City and he weighed in at 22 lbs and 8 oz. His height hadn't changed much from last time and our doctor was a little concerned about that and wants us to speak to Ash's pediatrician about that at his year check-up.

Hair: Ash is getting more and more hair but it's all very blond now so you can't see it. I promise it's there but the red has subsided a bit and now it's looking mainly just what Carrie calls "ash blond" how fitting?

Favorite Foods: His new favorite food would have to probably be bagels. We are slowly but surely starting him on more and more new foods and he seems to really like everything we put in front of him. Especially (and my vegetarian heart is smiling) vegetables. He just scarfs them down. He ate Lima beans for the first time last night and then again for lunch today and he dug the heck out of them. But his favorite all time food is probably bananas.

Favorite Drink: And the drink stays the same. Milk and Water.

Favorite Toys: With Christmas came an abundance of new toys and it's particularly hard to tell what he likes the best especially right now. There is a lot of toys in our house but of the new toys his favorites appear to be the Fisher Price Grand Piano and the Fisher Price Bounce and Spin Zebra. He also really likes his Wood Stacking Train with Lights and Sounds that we got him. I also got him Bandai's Mechagodzilla for Christmas to battle Godzilla I got him earlier and here's sneak peak at his birthday present from me. Carrie says that's enough for now, but there are still so many other figures to get him yet. Any who, Ash got lots of toys and right now it's too hard to pick a favorite!

Favorite Stuffed Animal: Ash got a giant Teddy Bear and a Giant Elmo for Christmas from his Grandma Deb and he's been wrestling with them a bit, but personally other than the bear he sleeps with his more interested in the two walking, breathing and running stuffed animals by the names of Taffy and Raja than the ones that don't move on their own.

Favorite Person: I think Mommy still holds the number one slot, but every day I think Daddy moves a bit closer on the brackets.

Bedtime: His bedtime remains the same as last month, we really try and get him down between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Most of the time we are successful, except of course for the weekends. Carrie doesn't get home until 8:00 pm or after and Ash goes to bed shortly after she gets home.

Wake-Up Time: His wake up times seems to be getting later and later for Carrie, which is awesome for her to get caught up on her sleep with she loves more than anything on the planet. Generally he gets up closer to 8:00 am now and even later some times!

Naps: His naps are pretty consistent with last month. While he tends to take a shorter morning nap for me I can almost always count on a solid 2 1/2 or 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then another quick short hour nap in the late afternoon (around 4:30 pm) to keep him fresh for when Mommy gets home from work.

What He's Saying: He continues to work on the words Cat, Dog, Mom or Momma and Dad, and he has also added Num Num to the equation. I think he actually knows what it means too. When he picks something up off the floor that he thinks may be food he says Num Num, and then proceeds to try and put it into his mouth. Notice I said try, he's very rarely successful at it because of our vigilance. But he tries.

Latest Accomplishment: He's doing about the same as last month but the standing seems to be getting stronger as well as his knowledge on where stuff goes and how it goes together. His grasp of his environment and his surroundings seems to be the biggest changes right now. I think a lot of what is growing and changing is the stuff we can't see but one of these days it will just all explode right before our eyes!

Likes: Asher LOVES music. I don't know if that's an every kid thing or not but he loves music and dances to it when ever he hears a good beat. That's the other thing, he doesn't just dance when he hears music he waits to see if it has a good beat and then boogies down. Not to mention that he can now drop it like it's hot while using the TV stand for his balance. It's way too cute! Apart from that Asher likes just about everything and everyone he comes in contact with except for his new arch nemesis which will be named in the following paragraph.

Dislikes: SANTA CLAUS. The first time he got his picture taken with Santa it was not a pretty sight. The second time when I shot him on Santa's lap for the commercial that I posted it was spotty at best. As of right now Santa isn't high on Asher's list of people he would like to hang out with on a daily basis. He also really doesn't like having his face or hands washed after a meal, but that my son you can't avoid!

What gets said most often about Asher: He continues to charm all walks of life with is smile and personality so it's probably no surprise that everyone continues to tell us how handsome he is and how happy he seems to be. The other new one is "he looks pretty good for having all his health problems". While I can understand why people would say that, it just kind of gets under my skin sometimes you know?

Best Known For: His contagious smile, contagious laugh, sharing, excellent disposition and all round awesome baby.

Health: Since my last blog about Asher not much has changed. We survived an ear infection and anti-biotics and we've been to Iowa City which amounted to a lot of nothing for Asher and us. Suffice it for me to say but we are considering going to Mayo instead now. The problems are too lengthy and probably boring to get into here, but after our last appointment we were very disappointed with Iowa City, which is uncommon from our other experiences, but unfortunately not a first time incident. Other than that Asher remains as healthy as can be expected and very happy!

How He's Like His Daddy: Asher and I seem to be bonding in a way that only a father and son can bond. I can look at him and he will just crack up. It's a glance or a move of my lip but it doesn't take much and the little guy is just laughing his butt off at me. It warms your heart to the core really. We also get a long very well on the weekends and it is something that I look forward to every week. But how is Asher like me? Probably still the temper thing, we both seem to have a pretty good temper when we don't get what we want so hopefully that subsides as he gets older!

How He's Like His Mommy: So far Asher is just like his mother in his understanding, compassion and ability to share with other people. He is also like his mom in the way that they both light up the room when they enter it. You know if they come into a room together it's kind of like an eclipse. It's so bright it could damage your eyes, but you have to look because you're drawn to them. I'm drawn to these two, and I love them both dearly.

So there you go, a couple of pictures and all that's fit to print about the boy now that he's 11 months old.

Klaatu Verada Nictu

6 days and counting...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:03:00 +0000

That's right folks only six days until the celebration of presents. I know, that's a bit cynical isn't it? But that's really what it means to me. Rather than get into it and offend my christian friends and readers, I'll leave it at that, but at least I'm honest about the way I feel about Christmas.

I'm having a heck of time getting any weight off the last three weeks, I think I've been bouncing between a half pound now since the official 40 lb weigh in on December third. I don't know if I have to step up my work out or cut back on the eats a bit more. I've been naughty the last 2 weeks or so, that's for sure, but not that naughty. So I guess I'll try cutting back a little bit on the intake first and if that doesn't work then I will have to increase the work out.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock rules! I'm having a blast playing it, I'm so glad I finally have it for myself, so glad. The only problem for me is that I have no memory card so every time I beat a series of songs I have to start over from the beginning. After the christmas holiday, I generally get a few gift cards and cash from co-workers and family members, if I haven't recieved one I will go out a buy one so I can save my progress. So far though I've played songs by Foghat, Poison, Kiss, Rolling Stones, Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedys, Weezer, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Heart, Cream, Social Distortion, Black Sabbath, AFI, The Killers, Priestess, Sex Pistols and others. It's a ton of fun and I can't wait to beat the whole game and become an expert.

It's also been awhile since I wrote a blog about the things that I like. I've been having a hard time deciding what to write about, not for a lack of things to write about but more so there is too much I would like to share with everyone. So here are some of the things I'm thinking about doing, maybe you can pick from these and tell me which you would like to read more about.

God Lives Underwater

Note: This is a cover of David Bowie's Fame and it's damn good IMHO.

Jeff Buckley

Note: This is a fan made video, SonyBMG doesn't allow embedding for Jeff's videos, so rather than paste links I put this up, YouTube Jeff Buckley for some of his real videos.

Public Enemy
A hell, what's up with record labels not letting you embed their artists videos. Bone heads, any who here is a link to a high influential song for me from Public Enemy By the Time I Get To Arizona

Queens of the Stone Age

Note: Speaking of QOTSA they were just featured on my favorite Travel Channel Show Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.

Strapping Young Lad

Note: This song is about having children, or better yet being in love and deciding it's time to have a child. It's about getting pregnant from a mans' perspective. This is also a homage to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead Films. Pretty unique topics for what many consider to be un-melodic noise, but if you listen close enough there is a huge sweeping melody buried underneath the walls of distortion and palm muted guitars and double kick drums. Brilliant.

Old Lenny Kravitz

Note: This is from his first CD Let Love Rule and it is some of the best music he ever released. I have a real love for all of his stuff up to and including Circus but after that, not so much.

Depeche Mode

Note: I picked a "newer" song to focus on here. It's from the album Ultra which could be one of the best albums ever released and this song sums up everything I have to say about my wife. It also features Martin Gore on the vocals instead of Dave Gahan, whom most people associate as the voice of Depeche Mode, but Martin proves he too has the chops to be the man. By the way, I have to have tissues near by to watch this video. I cry every time, I'm such a sucker.

The Cure

Note: I picked Catch from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss, which may not be an obvious choice since it wasn't a hit, but I love this song and it's imagery.

Duran Duran
Once again here's a link What Happens Tomorrow. This is from the album Astronaut, which is the tour that Carrie and I caught in St. Paul. To this day it's one of my most favorite shows I've ever been too! Amazing seats, incredible performances and nostalgia galore. I'm really looking forward to hearing their new album produced in part by Justin Timberlake and Timberland.

The Cult

Note: This is from the self titled album or Goat Album as it's called. This was from I think 94 or 95, they have released two albums since, one I have the other I am waiting tell I have more money. This is an interesting performance of the song. I like the CD version better.

Killing Joke

Note: This song features Martin Atkins on drums. Martin once saved my life, but that's a story for another day.

Ministry

Note: The song I decided to embed on here is from the much maligned album Filth Pig, which was the second tour I saw them on. It's also a cover of Bob Dylan for all of you out there that think Ministry is just a metal band or just an industrial band check out this mellower more melodic track. Al Jourgenson is a genius, and I wish they were coming to Minneapolis on their farwell tour, I'm afraid I may have to miss their final tour because Chicago is the only city that is close enough for me to attend and that's still a weekend trip and money for hotel and all that. I'm sad.

Love & Rockets

Note: I was actually looking for something off of Sweet F.A. but decided to go with their first hit single here in the US. I could write a twelve page article on why these guys rule everything that the planet has to offer. Not to mention that I saw them at Edgefest in Minneapolis on the Sweet F.A. tour, the cool thing about that, no one new who they were and totally disappeared and I got to stand in front of Daniel Ash the whole show and marvel at how damn sexy he is!

The Jesus & Mary Chain

Note: The brothers Reid became a huge influence on my after seeing them live in 1992 at Lollapooloza. This is still one of my favorite songs, mind you it could probably be considered offensive to some.

Soul Coughing

Note: Other than Circles it's impossible to find any good Soul Coughing videos on YouTube. That's a problem. They are definitely one huge influence on my with their sampling and stream of consciencnous writing. Good stuff here people.

Coil

Note: This is from the Wax Trax album Love's Secret Domian which is one of the greatest albums ever released on that label and can easily still be listened to today with out turning it off.

Hate Dept.

Note: I played a series of shows with these guys on the Technical Difficulties tour. Squigg (the keyboard player) and I are still friends and Steven (the singer and main man) and I still chat once in awhile. Highly influential to me.

16 Volt

Note: Eric Powell is the main guy in this band and I have spoken to him on several occasions. He's a pretty decent dude. There for awhile a guy by the name of Tom "Servo" DeSalvo was playing drums for him. Tom remixed one of the first tracks I ever recorded with my first band Zero/Fill. Tom also worked with Bryan Black of Haloblack fame back in the day. Ah, Minneapolis comes up again.

Well that should tide you over until you either help me decide, or I make up my mind on what I want to write about. You have 4 short days until I update the world on my little man Asher, it will be his 11 month birthday already. So with out furthur ado, I bid you good bye.

Asher's Television Debut...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:26:00 +0000

Here is a commercial I directed and edited for College Square Mall starring Asher in his first television appearance other than our home video camera! Enjoy.

Uploaded better quality version of the spot 12/20/07.

What a long strange trip it's been...so far...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:16:00 +0000

I thought I would just post a couple of quick pictures to show you what I looked like last year and what I look like now so you can get an idea of how much I've changed with the weight loss.

February 6th, 2007.

December 5th, 2007.

I can really see the difference. Perhaps you can't but I can.

Secondly, Guitar Hero III would not work for my computer, so I'm taking it back and exchanging it for the PS2 version and I'm also going to buy a PS2 with the money I got for my birthday from family and friends!

Woot!

That's it.

The King is Half-Undressed...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:49:00 +0000

Well I threatened it and it's here now the Jellyfish blog. It was 1990 I believe when I first saw the video for "Baby's Coming Back" on MTV (do I need to say something about when they played videos or is that whole thing played out itself). The three part harmonies, the keyboards, the colors, the majesty of the song. It was all too good and I got the bug. Here watch this and see for yourself how awesome this song is, and for those of you who read this and think it's something you won't like, you're wrong. You could play this for your 100 year old great grandmother or your toddler and they all will enjoy this, I promise, it's pure 100% audio sugar. With out further ado watch...

I was right wasn't I? Totally audio candy, except if you listen to the lyrics. Here's a guy that is trying to get a grip on his life and straighten up for the girl he digs and what happens he lapses and has to pick up the pieces before she gets home. I so identified with this song for some reason when I was 18 years old. This is from the album Bellybutton which to this day stays in heavy rotation on my iPod. You really should pick it up and give it a listen. Any who.

There were so many things that I loved about Jellyfish but those things are so hard to write about. Their second album came a long a couple of years later and was totally off the wall, in a good way. While the first album was a strong debut Spilt Milk took their sound to a whole other level. To this day Spilt Milk is in my top 20 albums of all time. Songs like He's My Best Friend and ode to self love and The Ghost at #1 which I believe is about idol worship and false idols (you can draw your on conclusions if you listen to the record). Spilt Milk is a master piece from beginning to end and is still just as fresh to listen to today as it was when it first came out in 1993.

See what I mean that video there is unstoppable as far as the harmonies and sounds. Not to mention do you know how hard it is to play drums and sing at the same time, not to mention standing up? The only other band I've ever seen do that was Trip Shakespeare (which members of would later form Semisonic the band responsible for the alternapop song "Closing Time" and regular Steb's appearances). These guys have an undeniable influence on my music. Check this one out here.

These guys are all over the creative map. Now I know this will probably surprise a lot my readers that I have such a passion for a band like this. But it really is timeless music that needs to be discovered by the masses. These guys deserve to be so much more than what they are.

I lost track of what they all have been doing since Jellyfish broke up in 1994, it's one of those things that the loss of future music was too painful for me to carry on the relationship past the memories, but if they ever got back together, I would pay any amount of money to see them play these songs together again.

How can you deny such great melodies, harmonies and lyrics. Get on this train folks it really needs your attention.

And then there is this song. Easily in the top ten of my greatest songs ever.

"I hope you remember me, I was your daddy once..." "To you I'm just a picture on your mother's mantle piece..." "Medals don't mean much shit when your family is lost at sea..." "I never thought it'd be so hard to see you grow so fast to turn into the man I used to be" Those lyrics blew me the hell away when I first heard them and I still get choked up every time I listen to this song. This song holds such deep meaning for me and something I'm none to willing to talk about but give it a listen and see if it doesn't paint a vivid picture of a man struggling to deal with his past decisions. Extremely powerful for me, beyond anything else.

So lastly here is the story of Jellyfish in their words from
Roger Joseph Manning Jr.'s Website

God's Gift To Oxygen: A Brief History Of Jellyfish

Andy Sturmer and Roger Manning grew up in Pleasanton, a Bay Area-adjacent suburb distinguished chiefly by the presence of a federal country-club prison in its environs. They were high school friends united by jazz snobbery, before becoming entranced by the earthier pleasures of punk rock. After graduation, Roger headed down to Los Angeles to study music at USC, while Andy drifted in and out of bands in San Francisco, eventually teaming with an older musician named Chris Ketner in a mainstream pop-rock band (albeit with a few jazzy flourishes and some hints of New Wave-y energy) called Beatnik Beatch. In addition to his coursework down south, Roger, too, was dabbling in a series of groups (the first was a bunch of nameless Smiths geeks who went nowhere; the second was a Replacements-esque punk band called The Space Between; the third was a too-late-for-the-Paisley-Underground band called the Corsairs).

Andy and Roger remained in close contact during this period, and Roger was eventually drafted into Beatnik Beatch as keyboardist -still at USC, he endured an endless series of drives back and forth from L.A. to San Francisco -just in time for the band to get signed to Atlantic Records. Their sole major-label release was a tarted-up reissue of an earlier indie disc with Roger's keyboards grafted onto four songs. As a live act, Beatnik Beatch had some flair -Andy at the front of the stage drumming on a stand-up kit while co-lead-vocalizing was a distinctive sight, to say the least -but Chris Ketner's musical vision was an unconvincing hodgepodge of INXS and the Police that clearly wasn't going to make them superstars. Roger had tried and failed to write for Beatnik Beatch, but his influence began to make itself felt as he and Andy began to concentrate on penning new songs together. The group imploded, leaving Andy and Roger in charge of their musical destiny and determined to do something more artistically satisfying.

They were still signed to Atlantic, who remained at least notionally interested in hearing anything they might come up with, although the label's working hypothesis was that Chris Ketner was the major talent in the band. With nothing to lose, Andy and Roger began writing and demoing furiously. Carter, Atlantic's mono-monickered A&R Svengali, heard a few songs and was intrigued enough to want to hear more. Roger and Andy prepared a 4-song tape and took it to L.A. to play it for him. Carter quickly rejected "Deliver" (he hated waltzes) and "Foxhunt" (an overly-calculated stab at commercial pop; its conspicuous absence from this boxed set should tell you something) but he was blown away by "The Man I Used To Be" and "Bedspring Kiss," even going so far as to pay them the A&R man's supreme compliment of actually listening to them all the way through.

With Carter's encouragement - but not yet his financial backing - Roger and Andy went back to work feeling as if they were on the verge of major success. They were also feeling like they needed a guitarist. Fortunately, they were about to acquire one.
Roger had met Jason Falkner several years earlier, during his Space Between days, while engaged in one of his frequent bouts of combing the musician's classified section of L.A.'s Recycler looking for kindred spirits. He vowed not to call anyone unless they listed XTC as an influence. Jason's ad did. Roger drove out to Jason's home in Agoura to meet him and found an 18-year-old guitarist with, as he would later describe him, "talent oozing from every pore." But Roger couldn't quite relate to Jason's songs, which were influenced as much by the angular post-punk of Wire and the Swell Maps as by Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, and nothing came of their meeting. Jason spent the next few years playing in a succession of L.A. bands including industrial gloomsters Kommunity F.K. and Paisley popsters the Three O' Clock before Roger got in touch with him again just as Jason's tenure in the latter group was ending. Roger coaxed him up to San Francisco, where Jason crashed on his sister's couch and joined the ongoing Sturmer/Manning demo derby.

By the time a dozen songs had been fully demoed, Carter had become convinced of the nascent group's worth and was ready to let them make an album. He introduced them to Albhy Galuten, a seasoned producer best known for overseeing the Bee Gees' recordings during their Saturday Night Fever period. Albhy loved the demos, and immediately understood what Andy and Roger were trying to achieve; his know-how and affinity for their music played a vital role in shaping the two albums that followed. Albhy, in turn, was responsible for enlisting the services of engineer Jack Joseph Puig, who's since gone on to become one of the most successful producers in the music business.

Recording began in earnest in September of 1989. Half a dozen songs were in various stages of completion when the group received the disturbing news that Carter, their patron at Atlantic, had just lost his job. No one else at the label seemed to have the faintest interest or understanding of what they were up to. “We were dying to get off of Atlantic at that point,” Andy recalls. “They didn't get what we were about and as Bellybutton began to take shape, we were confident we'd find a better home. I remember our manager deliberately sending the label mixes that were six generations down. The tapes they heard were mostly hiss! [It was done] with the intent of making them think that this project was totally unprofessional and completely unlistenable.” With their relationship with Atlantic reaching comical levels of disinterest - atone point, Andy & Roger were summoned to Los Angeles for a meeting which was cancelled because it was Debbie Gibson's birthday; the exec they were supposed to meet with had been placed in charge of fetching her a cake. They soon found themselves dropped, much to their delight.

Carter, Albhy and attorney Allan Mintz began shopping tapes of the work-in-progress to various parties. In short order, a full-scale bidding war erupted as a slew of record companies and music publishers frantically attempted to sign what had suddenly begun to seem like the Next Big Thing. After several months of being wined and dined by every A&R person with an expense account, the group found a home at Charisma, a new Virgin subsidiary label helmed by industry vet Phil Quartararo, who became one of the band's biggest fans.

The Bellybutton album was finished in March of 1990, but its completion brought with it a new set of problems. With promotional duties looming, Jellyfish were going to have to transform themselves from what had previously been a studio-only project into a functional live band. To do that, they urgently needed to find a bass player (Jason and Redd Kross's Steve McDonald had played all the parts on the album). After a fruitless search, Roger suggested his younger brother Chris -- who was just about to graduate from college -- for the job. Although Chris's musical credentials were decidedly shaky compared to Andy, Roger and Jason, an audition session was quickly arranged. The venue: an unused janitorial closet. It was the first time the group had played any of the songs together in one room all at once; hearing their music live in 3-D, even in very rough form, left them giddy with excitement. It was decided that, with some coaching, Chris would be able to handle the bass duties and he was officially inducted into the band. Jason quickly set about teaching him the bass parts, while carpooling to the rehearsal studio each morning enabled Roger and Jason to instruct Chris in the art of three-part harmony by singing endless choruses of Kansas's “Carry On, Wayward Son.”

The group also needed a name. After considering - and rejecting - scores of possible choices, and with the album completed, they needed to come up with something quickly. A junior A&R associate of Carter's, who was in the habit of dropping by the studio and playing ping-pong while recording was going on, had taken to bombarding Roger and Andy with awful prospective band names like "Major Nelson." One of his suggestions had been the somewhat more palatable "Jellyfish." Out of time and desperate, Andy and Roger decided that: a) neither of them actively despised the name and b) they could live with it. Of such decisions is musical history made.

Chris had joined the band just in time for the Bellybutton cover shoot, a Sid & Marty Krofft-ian fantasia involving strawberry goop, a nude woman covered in swirly patterns of Aim toothpaste and the group members decked out in a dazzling array of psychedelic thrift-store finery. The visual flamboyance was no afterthought; Andy and Roger were insistent upon presenting the band in the most colorful terms possible. (It was on this level that Chris's recruitment made the most sense; a fearless extrovert, Chris was guaranteed to lend visual dynamics to a still-fledgling live band whose two principals were always going to be trapped behind a drum kit and a bank of keyboards.)

Bellybutton was released in late summer of ‘90 and quickly won a following among influential music biz hipsters. Especially vital was the fanatical support of MTV programming executive Rick Krim, who loved the band and managed to get three of their videos into the channel's high-exposure BuzzBin rotation over the next several months. Shortly after the album hit stores, Jellyfish made their unofficial live debut - under the assumed name "Smürf" (with two umlauts over the "u") - at a sports bar in Santa Rosa, CA; their official unveiling was at San Francisco's DNA Lounge the following night. With leadoff single "The King Is Half-Undressed" on the radio and on the tube, the group set out on a long run of touring, first as an opening act for World Party, then on their own. The shows mixed Bellybutton material with newly-penned rockers composed with live performance in mind ("Hello Hello," "Mr. Late"); cover versions that ranged from the sublime (McCartney, the Archies) to the ridiculous (the McDonald's "two all beef patties" Big Mac jingle); visual pyrotechnics (Those outfits! That bubble machine!) and precision harmonies. In a very short period of time, Jellyfish established themselves as a top-flight concert attraction. The band even held its own when asked to support the Black Crowes on a major tour in the spring of '91, winning over the Crowes hard-rocking audiences with surprising ease.

Bellybutton sold steadily, remaining on the Billboard charts for over six months, but the group's high media profile and tireless work ethic never quite translated into the kind of massive success the band were hoping for. "Baby's Coming Back" --which came complete with a stunning part-animated video--came closest to breaking Jellyfish to a mass audience, but never rose above 62 on the Hot 100. Still, as Bellybutton activity wound down following a successful series of European dates in the summer of '91, Jellyfish could look back on a year most bands with a debut album would have happily killed for.

A by-product of the album's success had been that Jellyfish now found themselves quite hip in music biz circles. Suddenly, Andy and Roger were being fussed over by a succession of Big Names. They wrote songs for Ringo Starr and actually got to record with him. There had a brief, surreal attempt at a songwriting collaboration with one of their biggest heroes, Brian Wilson. They backed up William Shatner as he performed the Best Song nominees on the MTV Movie Awards. Rod Stewart threatened to record "I Wanna Stay Home." Everyone from Tears For Fears' Curt Smith to actress Kim Basinger wanted to work with them. It was a heady time, to say the least. Unfortunately, as they began gearing up to record their second album, the band was also in the process of falling apart.

It's not hard to understand why Jason Falkner must have felt frustrated. Not just a superior musician, he was also a skilled songwriter who wanted to play a greater role in the group's creative process. Yet over the preceding year it had become increasingly obvious that Jellyfish was never going to be a vehicle for his material; he chose to follow his own muse and leave the band. Chris Manning was a different case entirely. He'd made Herculean efforts to bring his musicianship up to Jellyfish standards and had succeeded admirably. But as Roger and Andy began to complete the demos for what would become Spilt Milk, it became clear that Chris' musical ideas no longer fit the Jellyfish sound. He retired from the group with full honors, going on to a successful career as a recording engineer and songwriter.

Roger and Andy soldiered on. Despite the losses of Jason and Chris, they were in an enviable position: they had an audience and a record company that was willing to back their vision. Whatever came next had to be bigger, bolder and more fully imagined that what had come before. Re-entering the studio with Albhy Galuten and Jack Puig, they embarked upon what was to become one of the most ambitious recording projects since the heyday of Steely Dan 15 years earlier. They were determined to make their magnum opus, even if it killed them.

The Split Milk sessions dragged on for months, a painstaking and expensive quagmire of intricate arrangements, redone parts and endless mix tweaking that began to take its toll on Andy and Roger's working relationship. I remember the phone ringing late one night in the summer of '92. It was Roger, who I hadn't heard from for months. He needed to get away from the studio for a while; did I want to go grab some food? I met him at Canter's Delicatessen on Fairfax. He looked like he hadn't seen a bed, a shower or a washing machine in perhaps a decade. We made small talk and he picked listlessly at a plate of spaghetti. Then he excused himself to go back to the studio because everyone was still there, working. It was 3 A.M.

Somehow, the album got done. A new bassist, Tim Smith, had joined the group in time to contribute to Spilt Milk (although the legendary T-Bone Wolk plays on many of the tracks) and stunt guitarists Lyle Workman and Jon Brion (Brion was, ironically, just about to form the Grays with none other than Jason Falkner) had provided studio support. But the search for a new, permanent axeman was a constant low-level aggravation. A mountain of awful demo tapes submitted by wannabe Jellyfish members provided inadvertent comic relief over the next several months, before deliverance arrived in the form of Eric Dover. (How desperate were they to find a replacement for Jason? At one point, Roger even asked me if I knew how to play guitar.) Jellyfish Mark II prepared to hit the road.

Released in February of 1993, Spilt Milk quickly emerged as that most frustrating of music business phenomena: the uncanny masterpiece that the record company can't figure out how to promote. Some of this was due to lack of imagination on Charisma's part, but some of it was also due to the climate in which the album was released. Bellybutton had come out in the pre-Nirvana days when modern rock radio had a much broader range of acceptable sounds. But in the post-Nevermind era, ornate studio masterworks like "The Ghost At No. 1" were clearly going to have a hard time competing against yowling hordes of angry guys with chain wallets trying to sound like Black-Sabbath-meets-the-Pixies. Though the band's core fans greeted the album with awe and amazement, the general public never really got to hear it.

The band fought on, touring throughout the year with ferocious live performances that concealed the tensions brewing underneath. A final string of dates at year's end as the opening act for Tears For Fears would prove to be Jellyfish's last shows. Andy and Roger reconvened at the start of 1994 and attempted to write material for a third album, but their ability to work together had seemingly evaporated and they found themselves pulling in different musical directions. A final studio recording emerged from this period: a stark (only Roger and Andy are playing on it) cover of Harry Nilsson's "Think About Your Troubles." The irony inherent in the recording is almost unbearable - a song about decomposition and death being performed by a pair of musicians whose relationship was in the throes of doing both. Whether intentional or not, it made for one helluva swansong. Jellyfish officially came to an end on April 4, 1994.

--Andy Zax
Los Angeles
November 2001

I can't drive 35!

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Ha! Take that Sammy Hagar I just used the first song I ever heard by you (pre-Van Hagar) to title my blog and make it relevant to my birthday today. Yep that's right, I've now crossed over the line to my next birthday and I am officially 35 years old. That's a lot of years to be living. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it but I know that when I say 35 it reminds me of my parents. It also reminds me that I'm only five years away from forty. In five years Ash will almost be six. So everyone always says how fast the time flies and now it will really and the next time I turn around I will be 40.

Maybe I'm not so OK with being 35? We will see.

Tonight Carrie and I are going to Hu Hot for dinner. We ate there this summer when my mom and Rich were visiting from Kansas City. I loved the place and I can't wait to go back tonight. Carrie's mom is going to come over and watch Ash though, Ash isn't a huge fan of loud noises and that place is loud so he will sit this one out. It's all good though.

Monday was my next goal day and I missed it by 1 pound. I was down a total of 39 pounds since the last week of July. I'm going to call that a victory though since I had four pounds to lose in one week and that's tough by any one's standards if you're losing weight the right way, which means diet and exercise and not starving yourself or going with out your needed calories. I'm doing this the right way because I don't want to get down to my ultimate goal and gain everything back because I get complacent and lazy. Now I have 20 more pounds to loose by February 5th, 2008 and I will have achieved my ultimate goal. I'm thinking about starting a little tummy sculpting as well by starting some crunches and sit-ups on my off days (Tuesdays and Thursdays). We will see but I'm really digging this working out stuff, not so much the doing it but the results. I'm looking a lot better and I'm feeling a hell of a lot better. The only real sucky thing about all of this though is none of my cloths, except for my t-shirts, fit me any more. My waist size has dropped from a 42 down to a 34 or 36. Probably the 34, at least I'm hoping it's 34, after Christmas I will go and get some new pants and we will see. We just need to get through the Christmas season first. Not because I'm worried about weight gain or anything but because we only have enough money for Christmas and nothing extra like that right now.

I know that Carrie got me Guitar Hero III for the PC for my birthday and I can't wait to rip into that and play that when I have a few moments. I just hope my computer is fast enough to play it. If not I'm going to take it back and use the money I get for my birthday and Christmas to buy a PS2 and Guitar Hero. Carrie is opposed to the PS2 but I really want Guitar Hero. The few times I've played it I have loved it and I really want to play it and own it. So we will see what happens.

Other than that we go to Iowa City tomorrow for Ash's check up with Dr. Porter. We will be doing the whole battery of testing to see where Ash is at, and then next year we start all over again. Ash is also finally over his ear infection, it's been an interesting week and he is definitely a lot more needy lately than usual. I think it's because he has been over tired and hungry. I don't know though we will see.

Well that about does it for me for now, I'm going to enjoy my birthday today and play some Guitar Hero III and eat some Hu Hot. I'm also working on a "Thing That I Like Blog" which will feature the band Jellyfish.

Until next time (later this week probably),
Klaatu Verada Nictu

Hitting close to home...

noreply@blogger.com (Microwaved) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:01:00 +0000

This won't take long I just wanted to share some quick thoughts and be done. I will expound upon this ideas later probably, or probably not depending on my mood but I had to say something before I forget.

First my cousin Curt was injured in Iraq this week. Here is the email I got from my mom who got it from my aunt Mary Jo: Red = My Editing

I talked to Curt (Uncle, my cousins father) and Jerry (Uncle) today. The Governor called Curt and said that Curtie is in Germany and will have surgery tomorrow. He is serious but not life threatening. It shattered his femur in his left leg and he has 2nd. degree burns on his face. It killed his buddy and injured one other troop besides Curtie. They are going in and retrieve the shrapnel then see what they have to do to repair. He also has problems with his hearing because he was only 5 feet from the suicide bomber when she set it off. That is all I know at this point.

I'm not real close with my moms side of the family, long story really, but I got my cousins mailing address from my mom and I'm going to send him a get well card and let him know that I'm thinking about him. I haven't seen Curtie since he was a very little boy so we will see if I can't fix that.

It also brings home the point to me that this war is getting closer to my front door. With my cousin being injured and a friend of mine from Clear Lake returning back to duty in January I believe. It makes it even more important to me to bring our troops home and get them out of this terrible war in Iraq. Not to mention last night in the paper one of the headlines read "Americans feeling better about the war in Iraq" of course I tried to find the story at the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier online and also through the Associated Press and couldn't find it so you have to trust me on this one. Any who I don't think America is feeling any better about this war in any way, it's just that we keep getting diverted from it. The caucuses here in Iowa are only 34 days away and right now the biggest news is either Oprah Winfrey is coming to Cedar Rapids to campaign for Obama or the UNI Panthers on their trail to the Championship game and the Dome selling out. Not that those are bad things but they are definitely taking our minds in Eastern Iowa off the most important topics that face us today. So with out further ado, bring out troops home please.

And one other thing before I go, Ash is suffering from his first ear infection. He was running a temp of about 104.4 last night so we went to urgent care and the doc looked in his ears and said, "well they look red, I think we will get him on some antibiotics". So last night Ash got his first round of Amoxicilian and he has to take it twice a day now. He should be better by Friday the doc thinks. Ash also gets his second dose of flu vaccine today as well. Poor little guy, he's still running a temp of about 100.2 Carrie said and then he's going to have to get a flu shot on top of that at 11:00 am this morning. Well I hope he will be better after all of this.

Well I better run, I've got a ton of work to do at work today, my editing computer has been down since Monday and I have a lot of catching up to do. Until next time!