The Air Up There

Air Guitar Nation: A battle of naked ambition played out on the national and, ultimately, world stage, AIR GUITAR NATION chronicles the birth of the US Air Guitar Championships as legions of aspiring rock stars live out their dreams on a quest to become the world champion in a strange world where musical ability plays second fiddle to virtual virtuosity.

Del says: A documentary...about air guitaring. Hmm, that's kind of like letting someone into the Rock Hall of Fame because they kick ass in "Guitar Hero". That said, I'll be adding this to my netflix queue asap. I wonder if there's an air drumming championship...better yet, an AIR "DOUBLE DRUM" championship. Perhaps my crush, Meg White, wants in on some double air drumming action. I should call her.

Double Drums...

The sound quaility of these two videos are pretty craptastic, but still gives you a good idea of the sheer awesomeness of Modest Mouse. I'm not sure how long they've been rolling out the double drum kit line up...but I love it. I think all bands should do it. In Def Leppards case they could get away with just throwing in another arm.

I was transfixed by them.

White Trash Lunch

I left work early for a spirited trip to The Valley for my maiden voyage to Magic Mountain. Even better, I got to see Modest Mouse perform there. Before we could head there though we needed lunch and Ralph's was our only option. Lets see what was in the shopping cart

1) 3 Budweiser "Tall boys": Nothing screams all-American white trash like the regular bud can. Now Super Size it. While drinking it I found myself wanting to listen to a Larry "the Cable Guy" record while watching some Nascar*.

2) 2 Prepackaged turkey and jack sandwiches: I've gone my whole life w/o eating this type of sandwich from a supermarket. Yesterday this all changed. Sort of. I was able to choke down two bites before I gave up. I'm 100% certain if i offered one of these to a homeless person they'd decline. The bread was like an old dried out sponge. The turkey ans cheese were looking quite weathered...and never once did the package mention anything about Mayo. Fuckers. Mayo is the condiment of the devil.

3) Jack Daniels: Nothing says "I don't give a damn about the people sitting behind me on Goliath" quite like downing some Jack Daniels before entering the park. We're a classy bunch.

4) Malibu: Normally this is where I'd make some snide disparaging remarks about Malibu and the people who drink it...but I watched two girls kill this bottle with little to no mixers throughout the day. Like I said, a classy bunch. I have a new found respect for the girls. The Malibu, not so much.

5)Gum: Seeing items 1-4. This was a no brainer.

The look of disgust from the old checkout lady was priceless. Though I do think she appreciated my commitment to the day when i asked for some brown baggies (for the tall boys). Trying to throw her off I told her I was going to make bag puppets to entertain "the kids". I don't think she believed me.

On the Darkside...

The Arcade Fire: Neon Bible

This album is beyond awesome. That's right, I just said "beyond awesome." Deal with it. This album needs to be listened to by all. Its so good even those hipster snobs over at Pitchfork gave it a glowing review. It just grows and grows.

I mentioned to someone that "(Antichrist Television Blues)" & " Keep The Car Running" reminded me of Bruce Springsteen meets the music from "Eddie and the Cruisers". I was deeply saddened (or was it embarrassed) when my friend had no idea what I was talking about. I wanted to say "download 'on the darkside' asap". I instead said "Nevermind".

Either way, the album is great. Some might say better than their debut "Funeral". I'd agree

Track it down now on Limewire or Itunes.

Unrelated side note: I miss my Russian mafia mp3 fix. The thought of paying for the volume of data downloaded, not for individual songs always felt like harmless "stealing" . Almost as if i were giving back to the artists. I'm guessing the $1.67 trillion lawsuit filed by the major labels means they feel a bit differently then I. Greedy bastards. How am I expected to make more mix cds for people if I have to actually pay for the music.

Life Lessons Unlearned

Who was the genius who decided to schedule March Madness and St Patty's day on Saturday? My liver wants a NAME!. Oh, so you say they fall on the same days every year and it was just drunken kismet. Fair enough. I had the intention of blogging the "hop on" incident of last week. No deal! Too much work at this time. Let me concentrate on a smaller scale. Baby stepping to the subject of people. What's wrong with people...? Seriously. There are basic unwritten guidelines that we all know and follow. It appears as if some people need a refresher. The ignoring of social rules and clear cut infractions have popped up at an alarming rate. Here are a few.

1)Scene: Last Sunday.
Headed from the beach to the pier for Sunday coronas

(which led to the aforementioned "hop-on" incident)

Me, Iris, Pat's parents, Pat, and the "Hop-On" enjoying a nice Sunday beverage.

Walking down the beach I was horrified to see two parents standing next to their kid while she blatantly urinated in the sand..sans suit. Mind you this child was too old for this...and it was in the SAND. Isn't there an unwritten rule that if you are old enough to talk and go see pg movies that you HAVE TO wade in the water and pee in fearful stillness. When did we start peeing in the sand??? COME ON! At least make an effort to blend the liquids.

Lesson learned : Hide your pee...or your kids pee.

2)Scene: Barney's. St Patty's Day

Me with Bihler. She's dangerously close to me in this pic...and dangerously close to a blackout

The bar reeked of sweat and draft beer. Good times. I made the mistake of bringing a jacket. bad times. We had our area staked out and had been there for quite some time and everyone was in good spirits thanks to the bombs (of the jager and car variety), except for the random who was sitting in a stool between our group, acting has a human Berlin wall. I, wanting to lose my jacket, asked the random if it were ok to place my jacket on the stool. He cocked his head around (seeka style) and replied, while covered in buffalo sauce "Why don't you find somewhere else to put it". BLINDING RAGE engulfed me. I should explain. Not so much "real blinding rage" as it is more like "fake blinding rage. Fake blinding rage that would have turned into real blinding rage if the following variables were both added to the scenario:

1) more beer for me
2) if his sentence "Why don't you find somewhere else to put it" ended with any of the following condescending nick names: pal, chief, hoss, boss, bro, or guy.
That would make Ghandi himself lose his shit.

Lesson learned: You accept the fact that IF the bar is crowded then you might have to deal with some jackets. Suck it up....GUY!

3) Scene: Cab on the way to Cabo. Yesterday

Sunday Coronas. Always a good idea.

The Day after St Patty's is usually a wasted effort. Not this year. Sunday morning my body mostly made it through the night and I was the definition of productivity.

1. shower
2. gym
3. lunch pick up for me and the room mates. Ordered online at Bay Cities.
4. 2nd shower

Now to the normal person this wouldn't seem productive, but trust me, I was in bad shape from Saturday. I was certainly in better shape then the roommates. A fine barometer I know. You can silent judge me later. Back to lesson three, so its decided that we'll head to Cabo for some day drinking. We got in a cab and within five minutes we had this discussion with the cabbie:

Cabbie: (Peering through the rear view) "You, drink my friend?
Me: yeah...it was st patty's. Guess I drank a bit.
Cabbie: you smell of alcohol.
Me: ha, Really? I don't think so...I showered twice.
Cabbie: You drink a lot. i can give you some gum. It's good gum.
Me: (fearful of some gum/roofie combo) Uh...thanks. I'm good though
Cabbie: Take it...if you want. You just wake up?
Me: What? I've been up since 9am! (i then ran through my bullet points of productivity)

So, a cabbie pretty much told me I reeked of alcohol and needed sleep. I would have been angry, but he was a funny guy. He also commented that the girl we were picking up was "leggy". She's a pretty girl, but She's 5'2". The complete opposite of leggy. Made me feel better about the alcohol stink. His senses were clearly off. Maybe he was smelling himself the whole time
...or at the very least Pat.

That said, I'm going to adopt "leggy" into my daily rotation. It's too sleazy not to use! You'll hear it soon I'm sure.

Lesson learned: Cabbies are good people. Regardless of how many times they insult you..and try to offer you roofie infused trident.