New Format… and some new ideas...

New Format… and some new ideas...

Music Trivia

Today’s music trivia is a English rock band formed back in 1969 as the group, “Daddy” and later in 1970 renaming themselves to their current title. Initially considered mainstream progressive rock, their music had some traditional rock, pop and even art rock incorporated into it. With commercial hits such as, “Bloody Well Right”, “Give a Little Bit”, “Take the Long Way Home”, “Dreamer”, “Goodbye Stranger” and of course their megahit, “The Logical Song”, the band gained significant popularity worldwide with their blockbuster album, “Breakfast in America”. Can you name this progressive rock/pop British band?

New Features

We are developing a couple of new features offline for possible inclusion into our blog.  Some of these will be games designed to stimulate some responses from you guys and just to keep things fresh.  We are trying to make this blog more of a dialog rather than the monologue it seems to have become. We are not sure how well some of these will work, but we hope they are fun, fresh and interesting enough to stir up some interest and get more readers/players involved.

We will slowly start inserting some of these new game ideas and we look forward to you playing and any feedback you may provide us.  We hope more of you will start to play along. Then maybe somebody will actually provide us with some landmarks or locations to visit during our road trip.

3 Questions about us…

One of our new features I mentioned above is this section.  It is just an attempt to help you all possibly learn something more about Linus, Snoopy, myself, and our lives together.  Some may be just trivial information and some may be major things that have happened in our lives.

Questions: 

1.     What breed of dog is Snoopy?

2.     When did I get her?

3.     How did she come into my life?

Current comments

So far, 2014 has been a completely opposite year as far as things going right or wrong in my life.  As far as retirement, I am happy to begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I just sure hope it isn’t a train headed this way! 

I have been really getting into planning our road trip lately since it is only about a year away now.  It may seem like quite early to do such planning, but I do not think so.  There are so many things I want to see and I know there are things I am not even aware of out there.  I am kinda disappointed in you.. yes you if you are reading this now.  Have you even provided me any feedback concerning places we should visit? No, I am sure you have NOT!  Look at you! You should be ashamed of yourself.  I’ve been asking and asking for information and you all have just been sitting on your backsides knowing of places cool to visit and not telling us about them.  For shame, for shame!  Reading back to myself what I just wrote makes me sound like I am lecturing Snoopy after she has made some kind of mess in the house! Heh heh… J

Lately I have been checking out the Pacific Coast as well as the Eastern US Mountain Ranges for our road trip, especially since I have never really explored the East Coast of the US that much.  Besides traveling southbound through the Appalachians and the other mountain ranges over there, I am not too sure what is there to see. Any help from you peeps, for once, would be an awesome thing to see.  After watching “Moonshiners” and “Appalachian Outlaws”, I am kind of tentative to spend any time in the back woods with any of these rednecks. They may think I am there to raid their illegal activities such as moonshine, ginseng or their weed crop, and I could end up like those National Guard guys in the movie, “Deliverance”.  I wonder what would Snoopy think of those guys?

The ol’ Snoopburger says… Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Enough of all of these FB movies already!

Happy, Happy Wednesday...

Today’s music trivia is a band I discovered in the early 1990s as a grunge band out of San Diego. Their sound later morphed with influences from classic rock, bossa nova and psychedelic rock. Their fist album titled “Core” released in 1992, along with their second album, “Purple” featured the songs, “Interstate Love Song” and “Vaseline”, that received a good amount of airplay through the 90s and winning many awards such as MTV’s Best New Artist (1993), American Music Award’s Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist (1994), and a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance (1994). Unfortunately their lead singer, Scott Weiland, had well publicized drug addiction issues and was finally fired in 2013 and replaced by Chester Bennington, formerly of Linkin Park. Can you name this American rock band?

I began writing form my blog a bunch of questions to ask friends just for fun and general knowledge, and then I thought that a book with a similar intent must had been written before and after some research I located it. It is called appropriately, “The Book of Questions” and has been out there for quite some time I suspect. So, I copied the questions and started answering them for myself as honestly as possible.  Some I just did not have any response for, but I really tried to answer each and every question there is, which is well over 200.  Hypothetical questions they mostly are about what would you do in certain situations.  I find some of them enlightening and some of them are just plain strange. For example, “How many sexual partners have you had?”  How does a person answer that? I survived the Eighties during my twenties, which was mostly a blur of some kind. Do they need a precise number or can I just give them an approximation? Somewhere around fifty?  Is that close enough?  Isn’t that like asking Jimmy Page how fast can you play a guitar?  I don’t know, but some of these questions really threw me for a loop.   The amount of questions and the various amount of scenarios they throw at you is quite a lot.

Yesterday was the debut of the FB movies that were automatically produced due to some new software program Zuckerman used to grab additional info from us I suppose. Did you see mine and how Snoopy seemed to dominate most of the movie?  She can photobomb with the best of them, even if it is all automated! There must have been zillions of them produced yesterday and did anyone notice the new FB pages provided by every celebrity, dead or alive, that you can think of?  I mean, how much time does he want us all to waste on FB each and everyday? I know he has his think tank guys and gals thinking of new ways we all could spend our time on FB, wasting our lives away.  I’m getting kind of sick of it all really.

I guess I’ll close this blog post for today so I can maybe finish the list of questions so I can post them tomorrow for all of you peeps to work on over the weekend as homework.  Yes, I said homework.  That dreaded word we all hated to hear, especially on Friday afternoons. J

What does Snoopy say? That’s right… Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

I'm tired of narrow-minded 'Merican people

Greetings!

Today’s music trivia game is an American jazz rock/soft rock ensemble formed in the early 70s by core members Donald Fagen (lead singer and keyboardist) and Walter Becker (lead guitarist). First playing together in other groups such as The Bad Rock Group and later as The Leather Canary, which surprisingly included future comedy star Chevy Chase on drums, they played cover songs and some originals. This band (who got their current name from a British slang term for dildo) who’s popularity peaked in the late 70s, due to seven albums being produced during this time, blended elements of jazz, rock, funk R&B and pop, using a revolving cast of session musicians during their recording efforts.

This band toured from 1972 – 1974 before retiring to only record in the studio for most of the next two decades and finally reuniting to tour once again in 1993.  Known for their jazz-influenced structures and harmonies and their perfectionism in the recording studio, this band has a loyal following still today.  With hit songs such as, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, “Deacon Blues”, “Hey Nineteen”, “My Old School”, “Peg” and one of their biggest hits, “Reelin’ in the Years”, this group has become one of the foremost bands of the seventies, still touring and getting a lot of airplay today.  One of the best concerts I have ever been to back in 1994, can you name this beloved American band that has become a household name?

Some people are so preoccupied about labels. What they wear, what they call themselves, who they are associated with. I am sick and tired of it. I won’t even wear any clothes that have names or labels showing such as A&F, Nike, any designers such as Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I mean, if you have to have your name plastered all over a garment you made, then you are a pretty lame company. Also, the weekend warriors who have their Harley Davidson motorcycles and think only Harleys matter. For most of these dweebs, the Harley is their first motorcycle they ever bought. I bet most of them they had to ask their wife for permission first before they bought the bike, before they go on a ride, before they bought their ass-less chaps.  Don’t give me any of your lip just because I ride a Japanese “Rice Burner”motorcycle. I’m sure I have been riding motorcycles much longer than some of these lame guys proclaiming to be “Harley riders”.  Bite me, Wannabee biker!

Also, there are plenty of women out there that are proclaiming to be Gay because it is fashionable now-a-days.  Really?  Is a label that important to you?  Geez…  If you try to get into a guys pants, then I would say you are bisexual, not gay.  No matter how much you may have had to drink.  I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone, I’m just saying.  But, if you are a guy and you proclaim you are gay, then you most likely are gay.  Men just don’t say those kinds of things unless they really are.  Guys don’t kid about that kind of thing, not that there is anything wrong with that.  It just is not my style.  Geez, that was kinda awkward.  Just sometimes you gotta say something about some things you think are BS. 

Anyways, I just hate labels and the whole label thing.  Just be yourself and quit proclaiming you are this or that.  And lose the A&F sweatshirt. It is not and has never been cool. You wouldn’t have ever seen James Dean or Steve McQueen ever wearing one!  End of discussion.  Case closed!

I guess I must be getting old and cranky in my final stages of life.  I seem to be venting more often that usual lately.  I am tired of BS and I have been calling people on it lately, even when I should just keep my big mouth shut. For instance, the Super Bowl commercial for Coke with the various people singing the song, America The Beautiful, in several different languages, which I thought was tastefully done.  Someone posted on FB some quote for some supposedly Colonel saying how he was offended.  Hey, buck up buttercup!  You have sworn your loyalty and duty to protect all of Americans, not just the ones you desire or approve of. 

English is not even our own language, it is England’s language.  What if they said to quit using THEIR LANGUAGE and start using our own language?  It is only by luck that we don’t speak Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch or some other language.  Do most people know that New York City used to be called New Amsterdam?  Christopher Columbus was not English, he was Italian hired by the Spanish. He was just a contractor working for another country, and not even England.  So, all of you bigots who think all Americans must speak English, get a grip on reality. English is a very tough language to learn.

These narrow-minded 'Merican people who proclaim, “America is the greatest country ever” and they have actually never been to any other country to compare America to.  I believe the more you travel, the more you get educated and the more tolerant you become.  Try going to another country and not be able to speak their language or even read their signs. Try Germany, Greece, Turkey or Italy. Give it a try, Sparky, then get back with me.  Just shut your pie hole, you are showing your ignorance once again.  Really travel someplace far away from home and then come talk to me about how great we are.  We aren’t the greatest country in the world.  We used to be great, but we could be, and I feel we can be great again.

There is a short video on You Tube from the first season, the pilot show I believe, from the TV show “Newsroom”, where these news reporters or pundits are on stage, like a town hall meeting set up, being asked questions by some grad students at some prestigious American university.  Some girl asks the newsroom anchorman character being played by Jeff Daniels, “Can you say what makes the US the best country in the world?”or something similar.  Here below is the link to watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMwF_Si7T4I

I don’t claim to be the smartest guy in the world, and I will argue my point until I am proven wrong, but I know ignorance when I see or hear it.  This country is great because of the diversity we all bring to the table.  Different languages, different tolerances, different foods, different people, and many different ideas, that’s what makes us great!  Wouldn’t it be quite boring if we were all exactly the same?  If we were all the same, I don’t think I would want to live here, would you?  Dare to be different.  Good grief!  Just be yourself, everyone else is taken!

I guess I am the most liberal person in my family.  I have dated girls of all colors and creeds.  Asian girls, Latina girls, Black girls, Polish girls, European girls, Northern girls, Southern girls, girls from other countries, older girls, younger girls, Smart girls, dumb girls, spoiled girls, self-sufficient girls, and even a few Redneck girls.  I am an equal opportunity guy. I judge each and every person on their merits and how they treat others. After work some days, my house looked like a UN meeting with people of all kinds, colors and creeds.  It was a very happy time in my life being surrounded by all kinds of different people, the way it should be.

Okay, time to get off my soapbox once again.  Can’t we all just get along?

As Snoopy says, Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

First Monday in February, 2014

Hey there, My Peeps…

I was out of the office with back pain again last week on Thursday and Friday, so I could not post a blog entry since I left my Mac laptop locked up in my office cube.  My apologies. Nobody missed it more than I did.  From laying down so much these past few days, my left ear got another infection.  I had ear trouble in that ear for several years and now I have it back.  Good grief!  Ugh!

Today’s music trivia game is a pop rock British band who formed in the mid 70s and came to prominence in the UK during the start of the New Wave period and continued through the 80s and 90s. They were known in the UK for their hit songs, “Cool for Cats”, “Up the Junction”, and “Another Nail in My Heart” and also in the US with their hit songs, “Tempted”, “Black Coffee in Bed” and “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)”.  Can you name this UK pop rock, post-punk band?

Tim B has been kicking some butt lately with his correct responses to our music trivia contests.  Maybe my clues are way too easy and I may need to give you all a little less obvious clues?  Let’s hear your thoughts!

I have already had my tax returns accomplished and I am glad I am getting some serious cash back.  I’ll be able to pay off my attorney fees, court and associated fees and make a substantial dent in the Visa card bill that has been hanging over my head for the past few years. When I was really broke I had to use my credit card in lieu of cash, which built up quite a healthy balance and quite swiftly too. I’ll be glad to get out of debt and to be able to breathe comfortably once again.

A few months back I broke my high E string on my electric guitar and I got a set of replacement strings but have not restrung my guitar yet. I am going to accomplish that today and begin practicing once again.  It has been quite a while since I practiced and it is about time I begin practicing once again. I figure I can learn a couple new chords proficiently each week, so by the end of a year I should be able to play with some proficiency and consistency.  Maybe even learn a couple of songs also? Who knows?  My calluses have long disappeared from my fingers so it will take a few weeks for them to build up once again.  I wish I could set up my drum kit, but that would piss off a bunch of neighbors real quick I should think. 

I think if I buy another house, I hope I can have some land around me as a buffer zone for noise.  That way I could play my drums when I want, play music loud without disturbing my neighbors, and vice versa.  I never really ever had that luxury before.  Maybe if I move back to Illinois someplace, but that will have to be determined at a much later date. My accountant suggested I register in a tax free state such as Nevada or Washington State. I’ll have that to think all over while Linus, Snoopy and I are traveling around the US back roads for those many months.

Been doing some travel planning these past few days in the office, mostly the Pacific Coast drive.  Pretty much have reviewed the California coast and still need to review Oregon and Washington State.  So far, there are lots of places of interest to see and enjoy.  We are going to take our time and enjoy it all!

Guess we will close this post while I have the chance to do so.

Snoopy says, Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb