For those of you wondering, no, I am not dead. I just haven't been blogging much lately (which you've probably noticed by now). But I thought I'd take this time to resurface and let you all know that I still live and breathe. And also to talk about crap you probably don't give a shit about, as per usual.

So this past Sunday, I celebrated my first year as a married man. It's strange, in a way, when I look back on it. Before I met my wife, I swore I'd either remain single until my 30s or die a bachelor, neither of which have proven true. But I'm much, much happier being married as opposed to being single. It's also utterly fantastic being a homeowner, which is another thing I never thought I'd be at this point in my life. Where I am is nowhere close to where I thought I'd be 6 years ago, but that's just fine with me.

At this point, I'm still waiting to see if some of my writing efforts, which I placed in the very capable hands of a publisher, will yield fruit, but I remain ever hopeful. In the meantime, I've stayed busy thinking, reading, watching, listening, and just being. Speaking of listening, I put the latest "Music to Melt Your Mind" mix online; if you haven't gotten it, check back through some of the previous posts or leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can send it to you. And since we're on the subject of music, you probably don't know about this, but the Pixies released their entire concert series from 2004 onto CD Baby's website [link]. Each 2-disc CD contains one full day of their tour in '04, six for NY, one for VA, two for D.C., and one for MA. And from what I can tell, CD Baby is the only place you can buy them. Craziness....

Not really, but the fact that Meghan and I have to completely dash our plans for our anniversary does. According to information she received today, her training class is going to be extended into the middle of October, which ruins our plans to take an extended weekend in D.C. to check out all the awesome museums. For a few years now, we've talked about doing a huge tour of the museums in D.C. but we've been either A) in school, B) working, or C) too damn poor to pull it off. And now that we can actually financially pull it off, something is keeping us from doing it once again.

Oh, well. C'est la vie, I guess. We'll just have to do it some other time. And for once I'm not complaining about it, it's just a shame because it would've been a really fun trip. Fortunately, it does not derail our plans to go to Atlantic City to see Social Distortion at the House of Blues on my birthday, so I guess it could be worse.

In other news, an excellent promotion opportunity has been made available at work, and I will most definitely be applying for it. If I get it, it could very well mean an extra $10,000.00 a year, which doesn't suck. Not. One. Bit.

So Disney bought Marvel Comics for $4 billion. Quite possibly the most bizarre purchase in history, but it was definitely a smart business move on Disney's behalf. Not so much with all the current Marvel movies being made by other studios, mind you, but very smart in the long run. Disney needs to reach out to a wider audience, and Marvel will allow them to do just that.

Still, I never expected Disney to be producing Wolverine and the Punisher. Then again, they did produce that Danzig album....

The final mix of this year's "Music to Melt Your Mind" is done, and I should be ready to start mailing these things out soon. Probably by the end of the month or the first week of September. I've even gone through the master copy(which I failed to make one of from last year's mix), and it sounds pretty damn good. Better than last year's mix, even, and definitely a personal best. It'll be tough to top when I do this again next year.

So yeah, if you're interested in getting a copy of this year's mix CD made by yours truly, leave me a comment. I have 3 takers and plenty of blank CDs. Get one while the gettin's good!

EDIT #1: Going to do something a little different this year. As recommended by my good friend thirdavatar, I'll be posting the mp3s on Sendspace for everyone to download for free, and I'll post the track listing here. That way it's free for you and for me, since I won't be going to the post office to mail out CDs, and you won't have to pay anything for a bunch of kick-ass songs. Also, when I say "everyone," I mean "everyone." This mix CD-thing is no longer "Friends Only."

EDIT #2: And here's the link: http://www.sendspace.com/folder/v3mdau. The track listing is as follows:
01) "Introduction" by Bob Marley & the Wailers*
02) "Trenchtown Rock*" by Bob Marley & the Wailers*
03) "Let Luv Lead the Way" by H.R.
04) "I Against I" by Bad Brains*
05) "10 X 10" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
06) "Fiume" by VNV Nation
07) "Jackie Says" by The Wolfmen
08) "The Magnificent 5" by Adam & the Ants
09) "Like to Walk Around" by Travoltas
10) "Hags of Old Broadway" by The Brides
11) "Bad Day" by R.E.M.*
12) "Synchronicity II [Live]" by The Police*
13) "One Africa" by Burning Spear
14) "The Beat(en) Generation" by The The
15) "My Kingdom" by Echo & the Bunnymen
16) "Bells of 59" by Bedouin Soundclash
17) "All Nighter" by Elastica
18) "Blood Bath at Burger King" by Teenage Bottlerocket
19) "Bring It Back Again" by Stray Cats
20) "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
21) "Blackbird" by The Dandy Warhols



'*' indicates a live recording

If any of you out there in Livejournal Land are fans of The Dandy Warhols, you probably recognize the title of this blog entry from the title track of their album "Welcome to the Monkey House." True to their word, The Dandy Warhols--now that Michael Jackson is no longer with us--have recorded a cover of "Blackbird" by The Beatles. You can get it from their website as either a single or as part of "The Dandy Warhols Are Sound": [link]. Not sure if it's available on iTunes.

I mention this for two reasons: A) I'm a Dandy Warhols fan, and B) the fact that they stuck to something they said back in '03 amuses me to no end.

Whazzup, y'all?! Since it's been a dog's age since I've filled this space with what goes on in my daily life, here's what I did this past weekend:

Saturday= Worked 8 hours of overtime, from 7am 'til 3:30pm. The day started off fairly cool and comfortable, but it got much, much warmer as the day wore on. After work, I headed to the library in Columbia and borrowed their last copy of "Breaking Dawn" on CD for Meghan. She got the third "Twilight" book last week and read it in about 3 days and doesn't feel like waiting for "Breaking Dawn" to come out in paperback in order to finish the series. Oh, and every copy of "Breaking Dawn" is either out or in transit or late, so we couldn't just get the book. Now it's on her iPod, and she's very happy. In return, I snagged the following CDs: "Funplex" by The B-52's, "Damaged" by Black Flag, "Jah Is Real" by Burning Spear, and "Repeater & 3 Songs" by Fugazi. "Jah Is Real" is really, really good, but I was disappointed with Fugazi. My brother has recommended them on numerous occasions, so I expected more than what I got. After the library, I met up with Meghan at Costco for some supplies, then we met my folks at Mimi's Cafe for dinner.

Sunday= Slept in a tad until around 8:30 when Meghan's mom came to help us finish with our flowerbeds. Having been left to their own devices since well before we bought the house, weeds had taken over the majority of our flowerbeds, but with a little top soil, anti-weed fabric, and mulch, not to mention some flowers and good ol' hard work, we've managed to drive out the weeds and reclaim our flowerbeds. Hurrah! Afterwards, I went to Blockbuster and rented "The Haunting in Connecticut," which was alright. It would've been really good if I hadn't already seen "The Amityville Horror," but whatever. After that, we just vegged for the rest of the night 'til bedtime.

And that was my weekend! How was yours?

Finally, after 11 months of living in our house, Meghan and I cleaned out our office and have it almost completely organized the way we want it. Aside from a few leftover boxes that need to be sorted through and several pictures/posters that need to get framed and/or hung, we're done. We even have our own deskspace, too; since I handle all the bills, I get the old roll-top desk that came with the house (it was her grandfather's), and she gets the converted filing cabinet (it has an attachable top that turns it into a desk). In other words, our laptops now have a new home, and I will no longer be surfing the web from the comfort of my kitchen counter.

In other news, life marches on steadily forward, but you probably already knew that. I've been a bit of a recluse of late, but there just really hasn't been a whole heck of a lot going on worth posting here. Lately, I find myself spending less and less time on the internet, but I do pop on from time to time. At work, we're locked out of all the social networking sites, so no Myspace or Facebook, and no deviantART, either. However, I've fallen back in love with CD Baby.com and their righteous podcasts and have been diving head-first into new music. I'd forgotten how many amazing artists they have.

Oh, and I'm still working on the final mix for this year's "Music to Melt Your Mind" compilation. I'm going to put up a friends-only post about that soon, so if you're looking to snag a copy, keep your eyes peeled.

Today marks one year since Meghan and I became homeowners! Hard to think it's been a year already, but a lot has happened since we sat down to fill out all that paperwork last July. They say time flies when you're having fun....

Tonight, the wife and I will be enjoying the soothing grooves of Fleetwood Mac at First Mariner Arena. With this being called their "greatest hits" tour, I think we're in for one hell of a show.

EDIT: Holy crap, the Fleetwood Mac show last night was AMAZING! Seriously one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Those cats may be old, but they can PLAY! Especially Lidsey Buckingham, who had some killer guitar solos. And even though Stevie Nicks looked a bit like she ate Christine McVie (who, ironically enough, is no longer a band member), she can still belt out a tune.

If they're coming to a venue near you, DO NOT pass up the chance to see this show!

I swear, if it's not one thing, it's something else.

So this may be new news to many of you out there in Livejournal Land, but I'm getting a new roof installed on my house. The 20-plus year old roof just had to go, especially since it was leaking in at least two places. By the end of last week, the entire front of the house had been repaired where the wood was rotten and re-shingled. Work ceased over the weekend for Memorial Day and due to bad weather but resumed once again today. The target: the roof over my little patio area.

Wherein lies my complaint. Back when Meghan and I were fixing up the house, I called Verizon and had new phones, internet, and DirecTV installed, and bundled it all together with my cell phone plan. In spite of all the issues you hear about regarding satellite TV, we haven't had a single problem...until today. You see, the DirecTV dish sits nicely on the roof over my little patio area. After removing the dish to replace the old shingles, they didn't re-attach it correctly, and now there's no TV reception whatsoever.

Fortunately, DirecTV can come out to fix it, but their earliest available time slot is this Friday between 8am and noon. In other words, I need to take at least half of Friday off and wait with my thumb up my bum for the DirecTV technician to come re-adjust my dish. Oh, goody. So chances are I'll wind up having to take the whole day off and waste my leave before Meghan and I head to WV for the weekend.

For more information, check Ticketmaster.com or Bedouin Soundclash.com/live/.

So yeah, Meghan and I totally saw a De Lorean on the drive to work this morning. In Dundalk, no less! And it was in absolutely pristine condition, too, which shocked me. I mean, it looked brand new, like it just rolled off the show room floor.

Sadly, I don't think there was a Flux Capacitor inside. No time travel for that guy!

In case you haven't heard, there was recently a fundraiser for the Oregon Hemophilia Treatment Center sponsored by Mr. Douglas Sherwood of Oni Press. This benefit/fundraiser comprised of a number drawing of Mr. Sherwood's favorite X-Man, Kitty Pryde, being up for sale. All proceeds go to the Oregon Hemophilia Treatment Center, and all the artwork for sale is absolutely amazing.

Get thee now to eBay.com and type "full of pryde" into the search field. Once there, check out all the fantastic art available and start placing your bids. I did, and check out what I won: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKzS1ayZ3wM/SfDvJqKrdUI/AAAAAAAAAio/RYECiST4G7c/s1600-h/KittyPryde-KevinCross-sm.jpg. Granted, it's the original lineart, but it was totally worth it.

You can also follow the progress of Mr. Sherwood's benefit/fundraiser at fullofpryde.blogspot.com.

Chibi of The Birthday Massacre

And no, this has nothing to do with the fact that I recently watched the music video for "Looking Glass" in which Chibi wears a schoolgirl uniform. Nope. Nothing at all.



*borrowed/stolen unapologetically from my homey jfthuecks

For those Antfans out there, I discovered yesterday that iTunes has finally upgraded/updated its selection of Adam Ant/Adam & the Ants albums. Under Adam & the Ants, "Prince Charming (Remastered)" is now available, which is a plus since the album's now out of print. And under Adam Ant, "Ants (Remastered)" is available, which collects all three remastered Adam Ant albums along with an extra disc of unreleased demoes. If memory serves, there was an extremely limited edition box set with this same collection of songs that is also out of print.

I've heard a lot of great things about the Shin Megami Tensei game series, particularly when it comes to the "Persona" games. When Amazon.com kept recommending the new DS game, "Devil Survivor," I figured, "What the hell?" and pre-ordered the game. It's release date was listed as May 12, so I fugired I'd get a chance to try it out pretty soon. Right now, I'm waist deep in Fire Emblem: Dragon Shadow, but I should have plenty of time to finish before "Devil Survivor" shows up.

Well, I just got an e-mail from Amazon.com, and "Devil Survivor" has been delayed until the end of June. Looks like I'll plenty of extra time to play "Shadow Dragon" and probably also The World Ends With You before it shows up.

Okay, so here's something I've been toying with: selling my PS2 and all my games. I've had my PS2 since you could only get them by being on the waiting list. It plays perfectly, and I've never had a single problem with it. Well, except that I haven't played it in about a year (maybe more). More to the point, I haven't even bothered to set it up since moving into my new house, nor do I have a burning desire to do so.

What I do have hooked up is the Wii Meghan bought me for a wedding gift and the DS Lite she got me for Christmas 2007. To be honest, I'm perfectly happy with these two systems, except that I don't have "Guitar Hero" readily accessible. I could always buy "Guitar Hero" for the Wii, but then there's "Rock Band," and I just can't decide with which game franchise I want to side.

Does anyone reading this own "Rock Band" for the Wii, or have you played it to any extent? Someone told me that story mode isn't available on the Wii version or "Rock Band," so I'm a tad hesitant to buy it, but I'm not entirely sure if that's true or just a rumor. It's also slightly depressing to have to buy all the "Guitar Hero" games all over again (actually, just "Guitar Hero III," but you get the point), but I don't think I really have any other alternative....

So should I sell my PS2 and all my games? I'm thinking a trip to Gamestop to trade it all in would snag me enough to at least replace "Guitar Hero III" for the Wii, perhaps even more. What do you think I should do?

Went to Best Buy on my lunch break today to pick up the Deluxe Edition of "It's Blitz!", the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, but they were all sold out. Instead, I picked up the regular edition just in case, but I think I'm going to hold onto it until Friday when the store gets its next shipment. Then I'll just exchange my copy for a copy of the Deluxe Edition.

Does anyone have a copy of the Deluxe Edition? Is it worth waiting for, or am I better off just keeping the copy I have?

In case anyone was wondering (or cared), I'm still alive. A lot of shit's been going down in my life as of late and includes some, if not all, of the following:
- global destruction
- losing a friend
- watching movies
- building an elevator from the center of the earth to the moon
- getting a new TV
- the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
- Meghan getting a new job
- aliens invading the planet and wiping out the entire human race