Friday Morning through the eyes of a Wombat

So I woke up today feeling as if I had undergone a Doctor Who-like transformation. A hand to the face confirmed that I hadn't, which is a good thing to be sure of. Last thing I needed was to go out of my room and have my family wondering who exactly was the strange man in their living room.

As we speak, I'm enjoying a bowl of peanut butter and bananas for breakfast bright and early at 12:35 (did I ever tell you I'm kind of weird?) while a distant noise and a pleasant smell tell me that my coffee is coming along. Classic rock on the radio, Boston's WZLX. I'm making a conscious effort to get Stones tickets today and they've got a couple of contests going on that could give me some help here. A scavenger hunt at 2pm and all day the possibility of a three-in-a-row followed by a timely call each grant the hope, if slim. A friend of mine worked on the breakdown crew the last time they were in town and proclaimed the show to be fantastic. And of course we know Shayna loves her Stones.

A check on the coffee. Not done yet.

Pia didn't get a mention in the BOB awards. I can't speak for any of the competition but as I have no inclination to trawl a large number of blogs today I'll agree with her that it's bullshit. She's right. She puts out a quality brand, and in a media defined by its capacity for diversity, the word mainstream discredits its every participant. She locked the comments on her latest post before I could sing her praises there, so I'm going to do so here.

Let me tell you something about my taste in writing. My favorite writers invariably require that one change gears in their mind in order to properly enjoy their works. Two notable examples are Hunter S Thompson and Douglas Adams. There is without a doubt a special mindset that one needs fall into to get them. The same is true of Pia. Or at least it is for me, so yeah. It could be that my normal mindset is so far askew that I can hardly be a judge in what counts for quirks, but whatever. It's not like that's the only requirement. Pia has a spark about her that's either indescribable, or beyond my capacity or inclination to describe. And on top of that, she's damned clever. And consistant. Every day there's something worth reading there. Sometimes several somethings. So yeah, I'm not really going in depth right now, because in all honesty I'm not really looking to prove that she's awesome. Anyone who isn't convinced can read her blog and decide for themseves.

Coffee is done. Coffee is good The Rolling Stones' cover of Like a Rolling Stone is on the radio. I'm keeping a good ear out for the 3-peat.

Allman Brothers is next. Nevermind.

So I've been hearing calls for a recording of me guitaring, notably from Shayna. I have, in fact, found the device necessary to capture my guitar on my computer. It is here. I've decided that I'm going to aquire it as soon as (a) it is in stock at ThinkGeek or some other place where I can get it, (b) I have learned the following songs:

Wish You Were Here, by Pink Floyd
The Man Who Sold The World, by David Bowie
Heart Shaped Box, by Nirvana
Sympathy for the Devil, by The Rolling Stones

The reason I'm doing this is because I really want to be able to play those songs and there is nothing that will spur me on quite like the prospect of a shiny gadget. This isn't to say I won't make some attempt to put a recording up here by some other means. I've all but gotten Wish You Were Here down, so I may stick that up here sometime soon if I find a way.

Ooh... It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It) came on...

False alarm now it's The Animals.

Speaking of Shayna, she put out an open tag not too long ago, so I think I'll take it.

The meme, as I understand it, is to list five interesting things people might not know about me. So here goes.

(1) It is well documented that I'm a large fan of Boston sports both in that I'm a ferverent follower of the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots, and also in that I'm a Boston sports fan and I'm large, but the extent to which this is true is not quite as well known. At the age of five months, I was in attendance for the 1986 NBA World Championships, the last such contest in which the Celtics were victors. According to all accounts I was watching intently, following the ball up and down the court. Some of my earliest childhood memories were from the old Boston Garden. I even got to shoot hoops on the floor before they demolished it. Good times.

(2) I'm trained as a lifeguard, and during the summers of 2000 and 2001 I fished a good number of struggling swimmers out of the waters of Adams Pond in Barnstead, NH, during my time on the staff of T.L. Storer Scout Camp.

(3) Once again along the lines of things water-related, I'm fairly skilled on waterskis. The problem, of course, is finding skis whose bindings accommadate my feet (whose size has caused many to suggest that I just ditch the skis altogether) Suffice to say, the sight of me leaning into a turn on one ski while the boat is powering along at 40 mph has been described by some as strange.

(4) Looking at me you wouldn't expect it, but I'm actually pretty damned good at the limbo. not that it ever comes up. But I can also strike a pretty mean Matrix pose when I'm wearing my trenchcoat. How I didn't get cast in one of the sequels astounds me. Not really, but you know. When I'm doing my thing, it causes a fair amount of double-takes. I mean, it's pretty ridiculous.

(5) I've of course made frequent mention of my progress in finding my way around six strings. But the guitar isn't my first instrument. From grades four to eight I played the trumpet for my school band. I actually got pretty damned good at it, and did a passable (though hardly masterful) version of Louis Armstrong's Hello Dollie, but I lost interest when I learned that the guy in charge of the band at my high school was a total dick (I was hardly wise at that age), and eventually as I focused on acting I didn't really have time for it. I might pick it up again at some point in the future, as I'd like to experiment with it in the context of modern rock, but right now I'm focusing on my guitar.

I'm following Shayna's example and leaving the tag open. If you feel any desire, by all means.

*finishes second cup of coffee*
*gets up for third and, regrettably, last cup*

So I ended up taking that Alito post, condensing it, and pundit-izing it for posting at Bring it On. I think I did a rather good job of it, and the folks over there seem to be agreeing with me, so I'm pleased. I think I'm going to focus my political writing there from now on. Of course, if I'm going for catharsis as I was below, I'll put it here. In any case, my Bring it On entry can be found here, but it's really only different from the post below in length and tone. Also, it's written for an audience that knows what's been going on with the confirmation hearings. So basically don't blame me if you read it and don't find anything new.

Ok, it's 2pm, which means that I need to (a) start to get moving to pick my brother up from school, and (b) start thinking about how I'm going to handle the scavenger hunt. In order to win I need to get down to the (new) Garden where the concert is taking place with the four items.

anyways, I'll catch you all later. I'll definately have some more stuff for you guys tonight.