SONUVA....

What wonderful weekend weather we witnessed.

After sweating it out the second half of last week, we were graced with a nearly perfect weekend in terms of weather. Nice weather + a couple days off = time on the bike. I didn't put as many miles on the X this weekend as I had the previous couple of weekends, nor did I hit any small town festivals like last weekend, but I did tally about 250 miles over Saturday and Sunday.

So there's the good. Here's the bad; I pulled a muscle in my neck on our ride back from Zukey Lake Tavern last night. Hit a bump I wasn't expecting to be too bad on North Territorial, and my head went a little too far to the right. It hurt at first, but not too bad. It was sore later, but not too bad. When I went to sleep, it wasn't too bad. When I woke up, it was too bad. I can't turn my head to the right or even keep it level without it hurting. I've been tilting to the left for a little while now, and I am just about sick of it.

OK, enough complaining.

The ride we took was really cool. Cory mapped out a course that included a couple road I had never been on, whether with my bike or a car, and they turned out to be great for riding. I always like to try new roads on the bike, and it's so much better when they turn out the way it did yesterday. I'll definitely find my way out there again soon. Anyone feel like jumping on and taking a nice scenic ride with me?

Looks like I won't be able to ride most of this week, if the forecasts are accurate. It's supposed to rain until Thursday night....and I should be up north for the 4th by that time. The weather forecast for the weekend look great for riding, but I will take an extended weekend with my dogs and my dad over a ride whenever I can.

So I guess I should say something about Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays all dying since my last post.

Reunited With My X

Until the past couple weekends, it had been an awful long time since I got to spend any quality time with my X. After a few months of price shopping for the rear tire I wanted, I finally found a deal and bought one. Since I don't mount and balance my own tires, I generally pop the wheel off the bike and take it and the new tire up to Rosenau to have them do that for me.

After a little improvisation to get my X on the bike jack, the frame sits a little lower than the jack will go, I started to take the rear wheel off....until I ran into a space problem. I had the correct size socket for my rear axle, but the socket won't fit between the pipes and the wheel, so I needed a wrench. Drove to Murray's. Nope. Looked online at other places, nope. Found some on Sears website, $60 was the cheapest one I saw....gave up. Long story short, I put some air in the old back tire and just rode it up to Rosenau and paid the extra money to have it all done.

This was the Friday before last, and at the end of my ride on Sunday I had put over 700 miles on my new tire....in just ten days. And four of those days I was unable to ride because of weather or work, so I averaged more than 100 miles for each day I rode the X.

The day I get her back on the road, the Friday before last, was the same day we lost game Seven to Pittsburgh. After that debacle, I took her out for a night ride. Not too far, but I got to spend some quality time with my favorite girl, so that's always nice.

The next day called for rain most of the day, but the rain never came. I finally took her out for another night ride when I went out to Novi to meet up with everyone at Mbargo for Pam's 30th.

Sunday I took a ride out to Hell, MI with Cory & Tish and a bunch of other Harley riders. Even with a little joking about my metric cruiser from Cory as we started the ride at Cheli's, my X fit in nicely, and even out performed Cory's "bulletproof" Harley a few times when we all hit the gas. It was funny to see his head whip over to me as I pulled away from him when he had his throttle all the way open. :-)

I had a blast on the ride out there, and took pics of some cool bikes while we were at the rally, but hanging out with a bunch of cops only reminded me of the poor shape I am in, and how far I have to go in such little time. I guess it's good to have more motivation, but it was an unwelcome reminder that afternoon.

Jumping ahead to this past weekend, Friday night was a washout with all the rain and flooding we got in the area, but Saturday was gorgeous and most of the roads were dry in time for me to ride all the way to Coldwater, MI to check out their Strawberry festival. Honestly, I didn't see all that many strawberries out there, but had a great strawberry/banana smoothie and checked out some cool booths in the festival area.

I should have saved the ride to Coldwater for Sunday, but I wasn't sure how long I'd be in Howell with my dad for Father's Day. Spending approximately 7 hours on my bike before riding to Kelley and Justin's house for their party. I was already tired when I got there, and wasn't quite my outgoing self throughout the night. Although, I am sure Michelle would beg to differ.

Sunday was Father's day, another day of riding, and another small city festival. I met my parents in downtown Howell where they were waiting for me since my ride was about twice as long as normal because of construction. They weren't upset at all though, since my father won $150 on Keno while they waited.

After walking around the festival we went back to their house. They were about to leave for up north so I chatted with them while they packed, and with Jen for a little while when she stopped by with her girls to say hi. After my short visit, I took the long way home and explored a few unfamiliar roads along the way. I finally made my way to the video store, to see if I could get my hands on something I really want. Mmm, rawr! (smirk)

I went into Video Exclusive to see if they had the second season of Mad Men on DVD yet, but was disappointed to see only season one on the shelf. I turned to walk out of the store, and when I did I saw that the first season of True Blood was on the shelf. I had heard a few good things about it, so I decided to give it a try. So far so good, but I am only a couple episodes into it. I am sure I will talk about it here later.

I had also planned to post my morning playlist from today, but I think I've said enough already....I mean, if I am getting bored with writing this post, I can just imagine what it must be like reading it.

Gone Ridin'

Trekking across lower central Michigan today. Hitting a couple town festivals/fairs, then back home to get ready for Kelley and Justin's party.

Mr. iPod's Clean Slate

For quite a while now, I have been looking at the "play count" column on iTunes and doing a little thinking. First thought, have I ever cleared my play count? Second thought, I wonder what my play count would look like for certain songs over a certain period of time. I'm definitely a stat guy, and would surely find it interesting to see the patterns in my listening habits.

So I decided, on a whim, to clear the play count for all my songs and start over again this past Saturday with my drive out to Kalamazoo. Before I did my complete reset, I noted my top 25 most played songs. Some of the numbers here surprised me, as did the placement of a few songs, and the absence of others.

Just posting these songs is going to take long enough, so no more rambling. Here they are in reverse order, with the play count in parenthesis.

25. Drunken Lullabies- Flogging Molly (28). I was surprised at the low play count here. I know I have heard this song a lot more than this....but I have about 7 copies of this CD laying around, so that could explain it. I think everyone already knows how much I love this band, but I have to say that I will do all in my power to see them perform at least once a year as long as they are touring. This year, the Detroit date wouldn't work for us....FINE, we'll go see them in Cleveland. Although the show itself was not one of my favorites, the time we had down there was well worth the cost of the trip. The phone calls after the show alone were worth the price of admission.

24. The Dirty Glass- Dropkick Murphy's (28). While I think Flogging Molly is by far a superior band, these guys have some great songs too. This is one of my favorites. The pace of the song and the back and forth with the girl who sings on this really makes the song.

23. Teenagers- My Chemical Romance (29). The Black Parade was a very good album, and this song was my favorite for quite a while. It also came out just before the shooting at Virginia Tech a couple years ago, so I played it a few times for people just to listen to the eerie foreshadowing that I got out of it.

22. Viva la Vida- Coldplay (30). I just loved this song from the start. I have since learned to appreciate a few other songs from the CD, which is how it seems to go with me and Coldplay albums....get sucked in by one song, learn to like the rest. I know that this song played twice during Marktoberfest last year, and I can remember both times. I honestly couldn't pinpoint any other song that whole night....this song alone was pretty much my soundtrack for the party.

21. Everything's Magic- Angels and Airwaves (30). Honestly, who wouldn't like this song? I think this was the last AVA song that got any real airtime, but I have both of their CDs so I really have no idea. I know this was the first song I liked a lot from the second album, I-Empire, but not the one I ended up liking the most.

20. A Call to Arms- Angels and Airwaives (32). This song ended up being my favorite from I-Empire. The lyrics, and the way they are sung, really struck a chord within me. I can't say exactly what it is about this song that gets me, but it does. The lyrics for most of their songs are just fantastic, and this happens to be the one that I like to listen to the most right now. Since this is the last time AVA appears on this list, I know I must have cleared my iPod playcount at some point, because I played the hell out of their first album, We Don't Need to Whisper, and not one of those songs is on here.

19. The Good Left Undone- Rise Against (33). The amazing thing about this song is how "young" it is in my library. I've had it maybe 6 months or so, where all the other songs on this list I have had at least a year, and most more than two years. This is definitely the most played song for me in 2009. So many songs have parts that I really take to heart, some songs even go the distance with lyrics that I can relate to. This song is one of those songs, and not just for the lyrics (which are scary accurate for me in one regard) but also for the passion with which it is sung. If I could have written and sung any song in the last 5 years, this one would probably be it.

18. Supermassive Black Hole- Muse (33). Get used to seeing this band. With a solid 16% of my top 25 coming from Black Holes and Revelations, I'll be typing the name Muse a lot. The band is aptly named, as I can think of many things that have spawned from their music, including the Twilight series. A lot of what I hear on this CD can be easily personalized for me, and I am sure that's why I love it the way I do.

17. God's Gonna Cut You Down- Johnny Cash (34). Unbelievably, this is the only song from J.R. Cash on this list. I supposed the rest of them have been in my CD collection longer than I have had my iPod, so that kinda makes sense. A deeply religious man, this song just made sense for Johnny Cash. Even though his voice was considerably weaker when he recorded this than with any of his other big songs, it seems rather fitting when you listen to it.

16. Snuff on Digital- Blaqk Audio (35). Ended up being my favorite song on CexCells, even though I was sucked in by Stiff Kittens like most anyone else who knows this band by name. Their sound is unique and refreshing, very much how I would describe Muse as well, and I appreciate how the songs lift my energy level.

15. Welcome to the Black Parade- My Chemical Romance (36). Not too much to say here. The lyrics don't have any hidden meaning to me or anything, I just really like the way this song was made.

14. Stiff Kittens- Blaqk Audio (37). As I said, this is what got me interested in the band and I bought this CD on a whim on the strength of this song alone. I think it was a great purchase. I have made some bad decisions on similar whims, and am very happy this one worked out.

13. Riot- Wyclef with Serj Tankian (39). My man-crush on Wyclef hit an all time high when The Carnival II was announced and came out, and this being the first song on the album it's just natural that I dug it. Beyond that, it's a really good song. I honestly never would have thought these two would sound good together, but that's why he is Wyclef, and I am not.

12. Baba O'Riley- The Who (40). Better known to most as "Teenage Wasteland", this has always been one of my favorite songs. Even though it's pretty long, I can't turn it off if it comes on my iPod during a shuffle....even if I have to sit in my truck in my driveway to finish listening to it.

11. What a Wonderful World- Joey Ramone (40). Yet another song I have always loved....but this version has renewed my interest in it in the last couple years.

10. Take a Bow- Muse (41). Ahh, the beginning of Black Holes and Revelations. This song is so good, that I decided to see Watchmen because they used it in a trailer for the movie. I still haven't seen it yet, but that's a pretty good song nonetheless, eh?

9. Starlight- Muse (41). It's no shock that these two songs have the exact same playcount since this follows Take a Bow on the album. To me, I can't play one without the other. It's like one long song with Take a Bow leading into Starlight. If one comes up on random, I have to listen to them both in the correct order.

8. Sweetest Girl- Wyclef (42). Another song from Clef. This isn't my favorite off the album, but it's just so easy to listen to....and sing along with as I drive. That's gotta be funny to see.

7. Paralyzer- Finger 11 (42). This song makes me want to kick a door down. Not sure why, but it does. I've never kicked a door down....so it's even more confusing. Punched through a door, yes, but never kicked.

6. I'm Shipping Up to Boston- Dropkick Murphys (42). I wouldn't like this song as much as I do without the movie The Departed....and I haven't really liked it that much recently anyway. Boston is just getting on my nerves lately. I cringe every time they win a major sports championship because I know I have to deal with their fans who just all sound so ignorant. Ugh.

5. Slither- Velvet Revolver (43). Absolutely LOVE this song. Quite possibly the best rock song made in the last 5 years. Just listen to it.

4. A-Punk- Vampire Weekend (43). This is a good song, was used in a few commercials not too long ago, but the reason it's so high on my list is NOT the quality of the song. It's the name. With the A followed by a dash, it's the first song on my iTunes songlist when sorted by title. If I start listening to my songlist without having it on shuffle, this is the song I hear. It took me a long time to be able to turn it off when that happens

3. Shadow of the Day- Linkin Park (44). I liked this song a lot when it first came out, but it has recently taken on a new meaning for me....so I have been listening to it a lot again.

2. Bleed it Out- Linkin Park (48). This song doesn't make me want to kick a door down, but it does get my adrenaline pumping. If I still played any sports, this would definitely be on my pregame playlist, somewhere around Thunderstruck and One from Metallica.

1. Map of the Problematique- Muse (62). Obviously I really like Black Holes and Revelations. Funny enough though, this was not my favorite song on the album for a long time. I listened to the album from the start every time I turned it on, and this was one of the songs early in the album....but I never really thought it was that great. Then I saw a youtube video that changed it all for me. The video below originally had this song as the background. Without the song, it's a very cool video, with the song, it was soooo much better. After I saw this video with this song, I was hooked. I am a thrill seeker by nature, and this just gets my blood pumping now. I feel alive when I hear it....and, I've decided, I like feeling alive.

Back to the Grind

Another Monday after struggling to sleep through Sunday night. Just about every Monday I think about one of the parts in Bill Cosby: Himself. The part where he talks about everyone's enthusiasm as they get out of work on Friday, only to show up for work Monday morning looking like they spent their days off trying to kill themselves always seems to pop into my head when I walk in on Monday morning. I know I look terrible, but honestly....my weekends are VERY pedestrian compared to a lot of people.

I realize that I used to post my weight here every Monday as I started my gradual weight loss program. Somewhere in there the battery for my scale died, and I had to rely on the lying scale at the gym for a while, and that was not going to work here since it was always about 5-6 lbs too heavy.

Current weight: 239.5 lbs

I had actually done pretty well in the month or so leading up to Memorial Day. I had lost 12 lbs before I went up north that weekend, and even though I did my scheduled running over the weekend....I gained 8 lbs of it back. I have pretty much taken the last two weeks since Memorial day off, setting me back even further. I just have not had the motivation to work out, and need to get back in the gym tonight. The diet part is easy now as the only meal I could possibly mess up this week will be dinner, and on the nights I go to the gym, I will never splurge. I just can't see spending all that time in the gym, then piling on even more calories than I just burned.

Even with my relapse and my long weekend of terrible eating, I am still down 5 lbs from my starting weight, meaning that I have actually lost 1 lb since Memorial Day without even trying....hmm, maybe I'm getting my metabolism back into shape. I'm glad I have that to build on still.

So sports in Detroit just about sucked during the week last week. No wins in Pittsburgh for the Wings, and the Tigers got swept by Boston. The Lions are practicing their heart-breaking ways at their OTAs, and the Pistons were bounced from the playoffs in the first round for the first time since 1847. YES, IT'S PRIME

The weekend brought better fortune for the Tigers, and Pavel Datsyuk back to the Wings. Wow, what a game Saturday. I thought we'd take it to them, but I wasn't expecting 5-0. Mmmm, Penguin tastes good late on a weekend night. Can't wait til I get some more. MMM, RAWR!

Morning Music 6-08-09

My random playlist for the day started before I even backed out of my driveway today. I had left the radio station on NPR, which wasn't NPR in K'Zoo where I had last used my tuner, so I flipped though my presets and the first song I heard was on 93.9.

1. Fix You- Coldplay. Not even in gear yet, and irony hits me square in the jaw. This whole weekend revolved around music, this song fits perfectly into one of the subsets from last night.

2. Suicide Blonde- Jack's Mannequin. This was the first song that caught my attention on The Glass Passenger, but I've actually grown kind of tired of it.

3. Mountain- Good Charlotte. This song, as a matter of fact this whole CD, was rather good....BUT, following The Young and the Hopeless was tough. That was one of the best CDs in the last ten years, and quite possibly my favorite in the same time period.

4. Requiem for a Dying Song- Flogging Molly. Definitely not my favorite song off of Float, but what FM songs do I not really enjoy?

5. Don't Let Me Die Still Wondering- Flogging Molly. Back to back Flogging Molly, but one upbeat song and one ballad. Just the name of this song can make you think. Listening to it reinforces much of the way I feel about honesty. It's not ALWAYS the best policy, sometimes you need to bend the truth a little to keep an even keel, but with those closest to you....there's no reason to hide. Don't leave them wondering.

6. P.I.MP.- 50 Cent. I don't know what you heard about me....

7. Give- Tori Amos. I had heard this song off her new CD only once before this, and honestly wasn't paying attention to it then....it got my full attention today. Interesting lyrics, like you come to expect from Tori, and it sounds more like a mash-up of Garbage and Evanescence than a Tori Amos song. I'll listen to it again soon I am sure.

8. Eminence Front- The Who. "It wasn't often you heard a Who track with Townshend on the vocals, but when he stepped up, you knew he was gonna blow you away. The greatest band to come out of west London no questions asked, no quarter given. Turn it up, people" -Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith.

LOL

9. Looking Through Patient Eyes- PM Dawn. Wow, I hadn't listened to this song in a long time....until last night, when I listened to it twice. I guess Mr iPod likes it.

10. In Between- Linkin Park. Definitely not my favorite song off of Minutes to Midnight, but I do like it. Lots of good stuff on that album.

Musical Weekend

A lot of this weekend has really revolved around music....or was it the other way around? No matter, I have a lot of thoughts running through my head at the moment, but there was one in particular I didn't want to let get away: Roxette.
HOLD ON TIGHT, YOU KNOW SHE'S A LITTLE BIT DANGEROUS
This band was so much more popular than I ever remembered, or can believe really. What a sad time for music. This disappointment is much like when I realized exactly how large of a role the Bare Naked Ladies played in the soundtrack of my life. BNL, Dave Matthews, and now Roxette. It's a good thing I am in a great mood this afternoon, cause that alone is enough to make someone depressed. WHAT IN THE WORLD COULD MAKE A BROWN EYED GIRL TURN BLUE?

Wings/Pens Game 4 Live BLog

Second Period:

Starting this a little late (about 5 minutes into the second) but I figured it would be a good idea to try this and see how it works out for me.

Wings took a 2-1 lead early in the second on a sweet shot from Brad Stuart, and that's where we stand with 15:00 left in the second.

Malkin slashed Ericsson and takes him down with a stick between the legs. 2 min for hooking at 5:44.

Wings ice the puck 15 seconds into the PP...pretty sweet.

2 seconds of a 5-on-3 coming up as Orpik is heading to the box for tripping.

Whew! Malkin gets a shorthanded breakaway, Osgood stops it.

Spoke too soon.....Staal takes the puck from his own blue line past Rafalski and Osgood.

Power play over, and unsuccessful. Halfway through 2nd.

Another give away, another Pittsburgh goal. Down 3-2 now and we have to call our time out to catch our collective breath.

What a difference a few minutes makes. This arena was silent a just ten minutes ago, now it's nuts there.

Since I have started this live blog, we are 0-2 on the power play, and have given up two goals....thankfully I am not superstitious.

Make that three goals....Osgood is getting peppered here because of stupid turnovers. We are getting our asses handed to us, just after taking control of the game.

4 min left, Pens outshooting us 10-7 in this period.

3:25 left, another stoppage. Face off to come in Pens zone. A goal here before the period is over would be really nice.

No such luck...back to center ice with 2:45 left.

Last minute of play....Wings still looking like a bunch of Junior players out here.

How fitting....Malking takes another Detroit turnover all the way to Osgood on a breakaway to end the period. Thankfully he had to rush the shot and Ozzy made the easy save.

Second Intermission:

CBC guys are just as shocked as us, and talking about the mental mistakes the Wings are making.

Canadian commercials are pretty special...unfortunately haven't seen any of the cool Viagra commercials yet.

Third Period:

5 minutes in, we are playing better...but another turnover leads to a scoring chance for the Pens.

9 minutes in, playing well still....but it's not hard to play defense when you have a two goal lead....Pittsburgh looks a lot like the Wings normally do at this point in a game.

11 min in, good pressure, a couple quality chances....no goals.

Starting to yawn. Getting a headache. We need to do something soon, or I am going to be in bed before the final horn blows.

5 min left....Wings gain the zone, turn it over, rinse, repeat....

Game over. Series knotted up. Game five is Saturday in Detroit. We need to play a lot better to hold serve at home.

June?

Hard to believe that it's already June. It seems like only yesterday I was on the Las Vegas strip with Millennium Man ringing in the New Year for 2000, now in just seven months we will be ushering in 2010.

Anyway, not much time today....so no in-depth philosophical mumbo-jumbo, just the facts.

There are a few things I am looking forward to this month, one of them being the end of my spring semester. It's really starting to wear on me, and I can't wait to get it over with. There are a couple events with friends that I can't wait for. This Saturday a few of us are going to Kalamazoo for the night to hang out at in the pub at Bell's Brewery. I think it's going to be a great time, but part of what I was looking forward to was the trip out there. Now that the weather forecast calls for some rain on both Saturday and Sunday, it looks like taking a bike out there isn't really an option.

Next week, the friend I went to NIN/JA with is having a little birthday BBQ. Hoping the weather will be nice that day, so I can ride out there too. Speaking of the NIN/JA show we went to on Sunday, it was a good time and the perfect way to rock out the end of May. In a future post, I will post a pic or two that she took.

The following week, I have another BBQ party for a friend's birthday....but I know this one will have better food, just because it's Justin's bday and he'll make sure all his fat friends are satisfied. Another reason to look forward to this party is the fact that I can turn it into an overnight affair if I want. I have a garage to keep my bike in for the night, and always plenty of floor space at the Kabbage/Juice household.

The last weekend in June is still open, and I thought about maybe going up north....but I will probably just wait until the 4th of July to do that. It will be my first weekend out school this year, and I am sure I will need to do something to exercise my freedom....then again, if each weekend until then is already busy, is school really limiting my freedom in the first place?

Time has run out on me again, and I must end this post a little abruptly.