Damn This Traffic Jam.

As i was driving to work today, i noticed something about my drive from the LP to the Weg. Since the drive there is on a divided highway, there are 15-20 of these signs during my drive. There's one at every left hand turn. I understand why they are there... but seriously folks... if i'm going along a road, and this sign wasn't there... it wouldn't be the end of the world. Honestly... i didn't even notice the signs until today.

This is definitely the most used sign on the way to work... maybe even of all the regulatory signs in the catalog. And it's probably the least noticed sign of the lot too...

Now i did happen to notice that there is one of these signs that goes to the left... and i don't think i've ever been in a situation where i needed to be to the left of the divider.

Anyways... i'm gonna take a count of the number of these signs the next time i drive out that way and get an official count of how many of these stupid signs there are.

On the subject of dumb signs... there's a sign on Rt. 15 when you exit 66, that says "stay right" but not even a mile down the road, you have to merge left... that's annoying as hell... i have seen no reason for traffic to "stay right" from the time it becomes 2 lanes, to the merge left.... it's upsetting that you make the effort to stay right, but are then surprised by a "merge left" sign...


I'm just sayin.....

Warning: Cheesy Blog Subject.

Now i bet some of you who know me are thinking... this has got to be about cheese. But you would be wrong... cause i had a thought tonight at work and i wanted to share it with you folks.

I have been high many times before.... but i've never done drugs. Not once... but it's not a high like you'd think... one of those "high on life" things you always hear people joke about... there's a couple things in my life that get me this way.

-It really is something special when i am sitting behind a drumset, lost in the middle of a jam with my brothers... i really wish i could describe in words the feeling that comes over me when we settle into a groove on a song like the likka sto jam. Playing regular music is all fine and dandy, but it's the jams that really make music so intoxicating to me.

-Another thing that gets me high is listening to another band get into a jam. The one that sparked the idea for this blog is something that Mike sent me a while ago. It's a live version of Dave Mattews Band's #41. Special guests Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. It's literally 30 minutes long.... and everytime i listen to it, i am smiling from ear to ear. I have the song on mp3 and i have listened to it probably 30 times altogether (with listening on the computer, but mostly out at the golf course watering or mowing greens). Recently i was surfing the YouTube, and i found a video of it... after probably 2 years of listening to only the mp3, and knowing basically every last second of music, THERE'S A VIDEO!!!! Oh My GOD.... the first time i watched it, it was about 2:30 am when i started it, i was tired and ready to go to bed, but came across it... so i had to watch the whole thing.... and let me tell you, i was grooving out soooo hard in my chair watching this video that could be described as one of the BEST songs EVER played live.

You know those friend surveys that you always see floating around emails and stuff.... there's always that question of "if you were on a deserted island and had to listen to 1 song for all of eternity, what would it be?" This would be it for me. So i'm now going to link the video to you people, but i must warn you, that it is in 3 parts... each 10 minutes long... so you need to have 30 minutes ahead of you to get the full experience. I would also like to make a side note that the saxophone solo by Jeff Coffin is probably the best saxophone solo i've ever heard in my life. (he's the guy in the yellow/orange pants). Another side note, the beginning of Part 3 is SICK when carter is playing that fill.... amazing. (worst spot to change from part 2 to part 3 though... i wanted to kill the guy who decided it was a good idea to change right there.)

Ok, now that i've described my favorite 30 minutes of music ever... time to examine some of the runners up.

-Phish, Weekapaug Groove, Madison Square Garden, December 31st, 1995:
As mike said, "this version of this song basically ruined every other version of this song, cause it's so amazing. 17 minutes. It goes through a lotta phases, but all amazing. there's a video of it on phish's site that you can buy, and i highly reccomend it...

-Phish, 2001, Fukuoka, Japan, June 14, 2000:
After they get out of the "chorus" of the song, trey does the sickest sound on the guitar that makes me about drive off the road everytime i hear it.... i can't even begin to imagine how to make that sound.

These are the songs that get me high just about every time i hear them... so if you want them, i'll pass em out, all you gotta do is ask. that's all for now...

We've Got to be Clean.

So i went to JMU this "weekend" to see Guster. The concert was fantastic, as was the company. Jessy met me down/up there (depending on where you come from), and we met up at Chelsea's place. The morning after the show, I went downstairs to take a shower and once i got in the bathroom and saw the shower, i realized something that i had never thought about before... even though i had experienced it many times... i finally realized that everybody hates everyone else's shower.

It's funny... cause whenever i stay somewhere other than one of my 2 (formerly 3) residences, the shower always SUCKED. Even if it's a hotel, it is usually pretty miserable in those showers... I have a list of things why any shower could or couldn't be up to par:

-Lighting: This is make or break for me. I am pretty blind without my glasses, so i want a lot of light in my shower to make up for that. Plus, who wants to shower in a dungeon? I like a lot of light.

-Curtain: This can play a large factor in the lightness of the shower, but more importantly, if the curtain is stubborn and won't cover that little opening between the edge of the curtain and the wall, then you get water all over the floor, and that's no fun.

-Water Control: I swear, some showers just make me feel retarded. I couldn't turn on Chelsea's from doing that whole "leaning in and turning on the water so i don't burn/freeze myself" manouver. So i had to derobe and mess with this control hoping i wouldn't burn myself by turning on only the hot water. Some showers have a little ball thingy that controls the water... some you have to pull out towards you to turn on the water, and the twist determines temperature. Sometimes you have to push the ball vertically to turn on the water, and pushing from side to side changes temp. Sometimes you just turn it counterclockwise and that's your on/off AND temperature (this is a popular one). The one in manassas has a brilliant mechanism for water control... there's a lever for turning the water on and off, and a separate lever for temperature, so that if you're the only one who showers in there, you can leave the temperature the same for every shower you take... (and its funny cause during the summer, it's usually just below the 50% mark, and during the winter, i usually have it just below full-on hot.)

-Bathtub/Shower Part 1: I am all encompasingly ok with bathtub/showers, but it does bring up a level of insecurity when turning on the water (once you figure out how to). When you turn on the water, is it going to come out of the showerhead, or the bathtub water faucet? Cause most showertubs have the automatic switch to the bath filler once you cut out the water to the showerhead. But i have come across some showers that it just stays on shower all the time. Most showertubs have that little thing you pull on the top of the faucet to turn it from bathtub to shower, but not all... and when people find a shower that doesn't have that, they usually can't find it... i.e. the shower in manassas. There is no lever... you actually pull down right where the water comes out of tub filler... kinda confusing if you don't know about it. I remember the shower in Cesaer's Palace in Vegas... i actually had to ask my mom how to turn it from bath into shower... and i really tried just about everything to get it to work. I usually pride myself in being able to figure out how things work if i look at it/play with it enough, but this shower got the best of me.

-Showertub Part 2: I could easily call this category "Drainage" but i only seem to have problems with drainage with showertubs. Figuring out whether the tub will drain or not becomes a confusing thing too.. cause i remember at mawmaw's house, the showertub upstairs has a little lever thingy to change from drain to plug... and it was always impossible to get it to work. There's also the ones where you push down and forward to "lock" it into place if you need to fill the tub (collegiate suites). There's also the twisty/lifty. This one seems to be the most popular type of water-stopper nowadays.

-Stream: This one is probably has the widest range of opinions as to how people like their showers. I grew up in a basically low-flow shower, but had a lotta water to compensate for the lack of power. So when i come across a shower that could double as a fire hose, i'm not going to have fun... that stuff freaking stings... this is a shitty shower to get with the "twist for on/off and temp" water control cause if you want less stream, you have to make the shower colder... and that's never a good thing. And there's always those showerheads with the multiple settings... "massage settings".... otherwise known as a female's best friend (if you know what i mean). Does anyone ever use anything other than the straight stream for when they shower? cause i've tried the other settings, and they all seem annoying to me. While we're on the topic of showerheads... how about these showerheads that you can take off the stand and move around. I had one of those, and i only ever took it down when i cleaned the shower (which it was very very helpful for) but for showering purposes, i never had to take it down off the stand...

-Temperature Control: And by this i mean sensitivity to making the water hot or cold... if you sneeze and it gets hotter or colder in the shower, that's too sensitive... if you twist it 4 times around, and nothing happens, then it's not sensitive enough... It's gotta be sensitive enough to change when i move it, but not super-sensitive where i can't hit my temperature mark.

-Cleanliness: this one only goes for the showers in college apartments whose place i stay at. I've seen some really really nasty showers where i felt like i was going to leave the shower dirtier than when i entered... and funny enough, it was usually an apartment with all guys... can't be a coincidence. (For your information, i had my own shower and i think i kept it fairly clean.... well clean enough for me, but i ALWAYS cleaned it before company came, so anyone who showered in there was in there in a freshly cleaned shower).

-Bathroom Rugs: I need good floor coverage in bathrooms with showers... I can't be stepping on cold or wet tiles. This is just a comfort thing. The more carpet coverage in the bathroom, the happier i am when i get in/out of the shower.

-Towel Situation: I know that at the LP, i am using the highest quality towels, cause Tom is a towel Nazi. I remember him buying 3 towels of his own so he could have his special towels when we still lived in manassas. And these towels ruled... think beach towel size, but bath towel softness/absorption. And i know how it is about giving friends towels for your shower... cause i know i gave some people my least favorite towels so i didn't have to use them that wash cycle(yeah i know, i'm a dick... leave me alone, but you do it too so shut it).


Ok now that we've gone through the list, i'd like to point out some of the things that i do that make my shower experience enjoyable to me... even though some of them might seem a little wierd to you folks, but i don't care... it's my shower experience.
-Big soft towel: I pointed this out in the "Towel Situation," you should have seen this one coming.
-CD player/mp3 player: YES. i love setting up my ipod so that it's outside the door (to avoid steam damage) but have the speakers in there, so i can sing along to whatever kind of playlist i feel like. Maroon 5 is good shower music for me, cause it's a little high for my range, but you can attempt notes in the shower that you don't normally, cause let's face it folks... there aren't 40 people in your bathroom while you're showering (unless you're on a football team, or in prison). But music is great when you can take your time and relax in the shower... otherwise, its a lot of work getting it all set up.
-No Fan: Some people like showering with the fan on to keep the mirrors from fogging up... i say screw that... if you keep the fan off, it becomes like a sauna in there... which makes easier to get out cause it's not gonna be cold when you get out. i hate those showers where the fan turns on when you turn on the fan... it's annoying.
-Mirror: I like having one of those small mirrors inside the shower so i can shave mid shower... It's just a whole lot easier to shave mid-shower, as opposed to out in the sink. Plus, when my hair gets longer, i can make a mohawk with some shampoo... that's always fun.
-Towel Rack: I need a towel rack directly outside my shower (preferably on the opposite side of the water stream) so i can wipe my face off after i wash my hair, or anytime i feel like i have too much water on my face... anyone who has known me for very long knows that one of my BIGGEST pet peaves is getting water spashed in my face* (whether i'm already wet or not does NOT matter... anytime i have extra drops of water on my face bugs the shit outta me.) So i usually wipe my face off 3-4 times per shower cause i can't stand water on my face.

Well folks that's it... that's my theory on showers. I would also like to point out that even though i mentioned Chelsea's shower in the beginning of this post, i had a pleasurable shower experience in her shower. In fact, that's what sparked my thought. Cause i was expecting it to be a bad experience (it doesn't look like a very appetizing shower), but it came through and i was happy with its performance. Even though it scored poorly in the lighting, water control, and curtain categories, the stream on it was so nice, that it made up for those things... which goes to show how a good stream of water can make or break your shower.





*Another reason i hate having water splashed on my face is that i have to clean my glasses off whenever there's a drop on there... and that can get annoying.

Songs I Am Keeping on My Ipod but I'm Still Embarrassed About Having on There.

If you read my post about the songs that needs to come off my ipod, you already know what's coming. For those that didn't read that post... SCROLL DOWN YOU LAZY BASTARDS!

Anyway... I must first point out that even though my last post was about how i was going to delete things off my ipod, i have yet to do that. Oh i've added songs... but i didn't go through and delete those horrid songs. In fact, a couple of them have come up on random and i'm like "damnit... i need to get those offa here."

So now, here's the list of songs that i like, but would be embarrassed if they came on in a car full of people. And i do want to point out that i am being completely honest here so give me a little slack on some of them... i'd like to see you fess up to some of the songs YOU secretly like. Cowards.

The Bee Gees - Jive Talkin, Night Fever, You Should be Dancing, Stayin Alive, How Deep is Your Love, More than a Woman.
A lot of these songs come on at the Weggs, and i secretly grove out to them trying not to get caught by my boss, who would make a lot of fun of me. (By the way, Chris, if you're reading this, i hate you already.) But i do have a solid reason not to be embarrassed about this song, and it comes in the form of a quote. "I mean Led Zeppelin didn't write tunes everybody liked. They left that to the Bee Gees."

Blackhawk - Goodbye Says It All.
This one USED to be embarrassing, but not so much anymore... if you don't know the band, just imagine mid 90s country band with a guy trying to be super cool on the keyboards. The harmony is awesome on this song, and it's really fun to play/sing with the band. This time period was probably the beginning of the end of good country music in my book.

Aretha Franklin - Think.
This is only on the ipod cause it's on the blues brothers soundtrack, but i do enjoy a large black woman givin some attitude to a man... MMMMMMHUMMMMMM.

Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy.
This song was played so much, it's legs fell off... and the scary part about it is that it didn't have legs to begin with! But i do love this song... great melody... and it's only him... no instruments or anything!

Cardigans - Love Fool.
This song has some of the coolest chords in the world. Cool groove. The video was a little weird. But i do like this song. Only problem is that the mp3 i have has a funny effect on it so it sounds like it goes in and out of fuzzyness/clearness. does that make sense?

Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good.
Only reason this song is embarrassing is that the dude's name is Chuck Mangione... looks too much like Mangina. Fantastic Jazz piece though, you can whistle along to the tune very easily... and if you don't know how to whistle, just play around with it in the shower, only takes about a week.

Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.
At least that's what the mp3 i downloaded freshman year is labeled. People either really liked this song, or really hated it... i still like it. And it still brings images of tonya harding to my mind whenever it comes on... thank you Weird Al.

Daniel Beddingfield - If You're Not the One.
Out of all the songs i list today, this is probably the most embarrassing... It's the closest to a boy band song as one can get without actually having a boy band. In fact, this song is so out of my normal listening habits that i almost feel gay when i listen to it. (not that there's anything wrong with that). But i'm not, backer down there people. This song has one of the coolest chorus melodies around.

Dee Lite - Groove is in the Heart.
How can people not like this song... SO good. but once again, i get mixed reviews from numerous people. It's such a fun song though.

Dirty Vegas - Days Go By.
This song origionally started out as a techno song with a BADASS video. I started liking this song purely for the dancer in the video. But i have an acoustic version of the song on my ipod which is surprisingly good for a song that started as techno. Who'da thunk it?

Fastball - The Way.
One Hit Wonder. This song was played so much during the summer it came out, i was sick of it. But i DL'ed it back Freshman year and it's been in the playlist since. Great song for summer. Windows down, driving anywhere.

Hootie and the Blowfish - Most of the stuff on Cracked Rear View.
I don't understand the ups and downs of these guys career... people just started hating them... i don't get it. Their music stayed the same, it was all cool music... but for some reason, the public went all Vanilla Ice on their asses. Shame too...

Idigo Girls - Various songs.
No i'm not a lesbian. But i do like women... so i'm like half lesbian. i guess. But there was a time that i listened to a lot of indigo girls with my friend Nora... who just happens to be gay... but that's beside the point... either way, they have some great songs and great harmonies, and there's a lotta good stuff on their albums.

Jewel - Standing Still, and a couple others.
I only have Standing Still on the ipod, i don't have the others. But i played Standing Still with the teacher band for OHS Talent Show a couple years ago and it's a cool song... Anything that Byers sings RULES!

John Mayer - Every Studio Album.
This one isn't quite as embarrassing, but still some people look at me weird when i say i bought John Mayer's new album. almost like they take a second look at me and think, "Boy i didn't think Jeff was an 8th grade female." But that's alright, he's got some killer studio albums.

Kris Kross - Jump.
Ok this one isn't embarrassing, but i had to list it in here cause it's awesome. The Mac Daddy will make ya.... The daddy mac will make ya... Kris Kross will make ya!

La Tour - People are Still Having Sex.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This song rules. If you described this song to me before i ever heard it, i would not believe that it's a real song. Thank you Tom for introducing me to this masterpiece of song. It really is brilliant. I can't not smile when i hear this song. A must-listen-to-er.

Michelle Branch - Goodbye to You.
Just a cool chick singing and playing a guitar... she's got a simplicity that is cool.

No Doubt - Don't Speak, Hella Good, and Underneath it All.
Don't Speak has one of the coolest guitar solos. Hella good is a good dance song, i tend to change it about halfway through everytime. And underneath it all is probably my favorite... i love the groove and theres some potential for so great 3 part harmonies all over the place.

Rain, the Park, and Other Things - Flowers in Her Hair.
It's in the scene in Dumb and Dumber where he's fantasizing about how Mary will react when he gets to Aspen. How can you not like this song?

Sade - Smooth Operator.
This song is very chill. yay!

Soul Decision - Faded.
YES. Another one you might hear in a dance club, but it totally rules. Julia threw this song on the ipod with steve and myself in the car on the way to West Virginia, and it was probably the best 3 and a half minutes of music i've ever heard in a car. Think cheesy road trip movie... and multiply it by like 6... I mean we had seperate parts in the song... all 3 of us knew all the words (cept the rap part, but i suck at learning rap words... well.. i suck at learning ALL words... but it's ok.) Now i will always think of those 2 when the song comes on. That was a great trip.

Sytlistics - La La (Means I Love You).
The first time i heard this song was on the movie "Family Man." I liked it on there, so i figured i'd listen to the whole song. Plus Dad likes it so it wasn't hard to get ahold of.

Super Mario Brothers - Theme.
Yes, i am that much of a nerd. i have the origional SMB song on my ipod... and i've cruised down the road with windows down, level 1 blaring for all to hear.

Adam Sandler - Grow Old With You.
From Wedding Singer... yes, i have it on my ipod. i'm not lying. actually i have the whole album... but this is a good song. I need to get the song from 50 first dates "forgetful lucy." That's a good song too.

Will Smith - Just Cruisin'.
This song is off the MIB soundtrack.. and was the second release from that album, after (you guessed it) Men in Black.



Alright, that's all i have for now. It's 2:10 and i'm tired. Hope you enjoyed.