Energy Monopoly

It's reassuring when big companies recognize the need to explore alternative energy sources. I recently found out that Parker Brothers / Hasboro has done just that. In August, they'll unveil "Monopoly Here & Now: World Edition". Instead of the "Electric Company" and "Water Works" utility spaces, they'll feature "Wind Energy" and "Solar Energy" in their place.

Even if you believe Global Warming is a farce, what's wrong with treating the environment better? Even if pollution isn't causing global climate change, wouldn't it be nice to power our world and do so in a way that would prevent grey skies and poor air conditions? Why be opposed to alternative sources of energy that have the potential to cost you, the consumer, less? Why be opposed to deleting our dependence on oil, the cause behind almost every international conflict and catalyst of war? Don't deny a good thing just because it might take some time and effort. The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that there is one, and the people behind Monopoly have done just that.

Memorial Day Weekend

Truck Nuts

Trucks nuts are disgusting. If you own a pair of these I am 100% certain we are not compatible humans on any level. To add insult to injury, you probably really like Nickelback. And Budwesier. And NASCAR. Stop living. Please.

These novelty nuts are not funny. They’re not “shocking”. They serve no purpose aside from letting people know you are a shitty person. If you have kids, and you own a pair of truck nuts, there should be a law allowing the government to take away your children.

There’s only 2 things amusing about truck nuts. One is the fact that people think it’s an OK thing to own. Hell, they’re probably proud to own them, and that’s downright scary. These are the people who voted for George W. Bush. Twice.

Reason number two: The names companies use to advertise the different types of truck nuts they offer. For example: “Black Tuxedo Nuts”, “Blue Balls”, “Fireman Red Nuts”, “Flesh Nuts”, “Juicy Orange Nuts”, “Nuts of Steel”, and “Shiny Brass Balls”. Oh, and you can get them on a key ring too. Thank God (truck nuts might also prove that there is no God).

The only reason Barrack Obama will not become President is because truck nuts exist and there are people who buy them. Global warming will not cease, the war in Iraq will not end, and blind patriotism will lead to our downfall all because of truck nuts. Truck nuts with American flags on them.

Old Men

For some reason, old men make me terribly sad. Old women don’t have this same effect for some reason, but old men break my heart. I’ll get annoyed when I’m driving if someone in front of me is going slow, unless I see it’s an old man. Then I feel embarrassed I could lose my patience with someone like him, someone in his predicament.

One time I was in Tower Records after getting off a shift at Red Lobster. It was a Friday night, and it was after 10 or 11 because they used to be open late. I was in the check-out line and the guy in front of me was very old. He seemed very nice and gentle and even-tempered. He was skinny, maybe frail, with glasses and a red and blue flannel shirt tucked into his slacks. In his hands he was clutching half a dozen cassette tapes. Something about it instantly broke my heart. I could only imagine he was buying this music to relive better times when the love of his life was still around, or when his kids cared more about him than they did now. I feel a pang in my chest every time I think of it.

It also makes me sad when I can tell exactly what an old man looked like when he was younger, when I can see the years melt off of his face and person he was decades ago is revealed. I’m currently working alongside a contractor who’s a very nice older guy, and I can absolutely tell what he looked like as a kid. I see this little Irish boy with red hair and freckles running around covered in mud. Now he’s overweight and weathered by his profession, but I can see that kid in his eyes and something about that just gets to me.

Tokyo Police Club

On Monday April 28th I attended the Tokyo Police Club show at the First Unitarian Church in Philly. I brought my camera. In other words, I endured sweaty elbows, drunk girls trying to crowd surf, and a speaker literally less than a foot away from my right ear (Luckily, I think I'm OK... although I didn't think so when my ear rang for over 4 days). This is what I have to show for it.

(I've been meaning to post these photos for awhile, but I never got around to narrowing down some of the better ones. I finally did)

Tokyo Police Club has a new album out called "Elephant Shell". Clocking in under 30 minutes, the album is a quick shot of goodness. Check out "In A Cave" on their MySpace page.

After reading up on shooting live music, I realize I need a better lens to handle low-light situations. If that freakin' stimulus check ever arrived...

Polar Bear Club

Soon there might be no club. Or cub.

Yesterday, the U.S. government added the polar bear to the endangered species list due to the fact that... well, their home is literally melting into the ocean due to global warming. This is the first time a species has been added to the endangered list due to climate change.

It must be noted: The government is doing nothing to reverse this... they were just kind enough to acknowledge it.

If you like that polar bear graphic, you can get it on a t-shirt at threadless.com.

Philadelphia Marathon

I did it. I officially signed up for my first marathon. I have 192 days to prepare myself to run 26.2 miles. That seems very reasonable, and I'm not scared. I'm actually kind of excited. If it was up to me the race would be sooner. Alas, it is not.

I feel like I could run a marathon this month. That being said, I need to decide if I'm going to train to complete this thing or if I'm going to train to kick ass. I'd rather kick ass, but I also like to drink beer. We'll see how it goes.

My Top 100 Albums

1. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
4. The Clash - London Calling
5. Weezer - Weezer [Blue Album]
6. The Beatles - Revolver
7. Silent Majority - Life Of A Spectator
8. The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
9. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
10. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
11. Arcade Fire - Funeral
12. Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
13. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
14. Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
15. Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
16. Green Day - Dookie
17. Brand New - Deja Entendu
18. Coldplay - Parachutes
19. Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
20. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
21. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
22. The Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile
23. Pearl Jam - Ten
24. Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence
25. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
26. The Clash - The Clash [US Version]
27. Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
28. Weezer - Pinkerton
29. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
30. Radiohead - OK Computer
31. Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
32. Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
33. The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
34. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
35. Radiohead - The Bends
36. Pavement - Wowee Zowee
37. Nirvana - Nevermind
38. Morrissey - Vauxhall And I
39. The Beatles - Let It Be… Naked
40. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
41. John Lennon - Imagine
42. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
43. The Cure - Bloodflowers
44. Rancid - And Out Come The Wolves
45. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
46. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
47. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
48. Pavement - Brighten The Corners
49. The Cure - Disintegration
50. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
51. Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
52. The Movielife - This Time Next Year
53. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
54. Straylight Run - Straylight Run
55. The Postal Service - Give Up
56. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
57. Sublime - Sublime
58. Yo La Tengo - Prisoners Of Love
59. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
60. Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
61. Interpol - Antics
62. Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break
63. The Promise Ring - Very Emergency
64. Dashboard Confessional - The Swiss Army Romance
65. The Beatles - Abbey Road
66. Alkaline Trio - From Here to the Infirmary
67. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
68. Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
69. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
70. Radiohead - Kid A
71. Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire
72. The Killers - Hot Fuss
73. Hot Rod Circuit - If It's Cool With You, It's Cool With Me
74. Minus The Bear - Highly Refined Pirates
75. Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute
76. Nada Surf - Let Go
77. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
78. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
79. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
80. Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be
81. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
82. Morrissey - Bona Drag
83. The Anniversary - Designing A Nervous Breakdown
84. Against Me! - New Wave
85. Pearl Jam - Vs.
86. The Pixies - Doolittle
87. Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antartica
88. Fountains Of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
89. Radiohead - Pablo Honey
90. Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
91. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
92. Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
93. Inside - Seven Inches To Wall Drug
94. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
95. The Replacements - Let It Be
96. The Beatles - Magical Mistery Tour
97. The White Stripes - Elephant
98. Eminem - The Eminem Show
99. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
100. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

This list represents my all-time favorite albums. These aren’t the albums I consider to be the most influential or the most popular. This list isn’t meant to be universal. These are albums that I have a personal relationship with. Each album holds a special place in my heart, and can conjure special memories just thinking of the cover art.

In order to come up with this list I spent 1 year and 4 months listening to every album I own. It was a labor of love. I listened to over 16,000 songs on more than 1,100 albums. That’s over 65 gigs of music totaling approximately 42 straight days of run time. I listened to most of it in my car while driving to and from work, but got a decent amount of listening done while in the office, at the gym, or around the house doing chores. While listening to each song I would assign it a “Star Rating” on-the-go, and when I would sync my iPod to my computer it would transfer my ratings to iTunes. Once all of my songs had been assigned stars, I made an Excel sheet that listed the total tracks per album, and the overall star count per album. I divided the total star count by total tracks, multiplied it by 2 (to spread out the results), and added a “1” to bring the final number closer to a “10” rating. Once all of the data was inserted to Excel, I sorted my albums in a descending order according to their rankings. This gave me an objective list to work with (although, this list can still be considered somewhat subjective as the star ratings were based on personal taste). From there I shuffled my list around, trying my best not to play to favorites, and not to make my list as “hip” as possible. I purposely didn’t spend an exorbitant amount of time finalizing the list; I didn’t want to over-think it. Instead, I went with my gut and came up with the final rankings within 24 hours.

I like how I can look at this list and see the trajectory of my musical journey. Just looking at it takes me from elementary school (Green Day, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine), to discovering local music in middle school (Silent Majority, Glassjaw, Inside), to being turned on to the larger “emo” scene (The Get Up Kids, The Promise Ring, Sunny Day Real Estate). I can see my college “gym bands” (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday), and my college “dorm room” bands (the Beatles, the Smiths). I can see the albums that will define my twenties (the Arcade Fire, the Shins) and albums I can’t believe I love as much as I do (Eminem). I see my running shoes, free weights, and the interior of my various cars. I can see my allowance being spent at Looney Tunes, and my tip money being spent at Tower Records. I can see music I have jewel cases for, and music I didn’t pay a cent for. I can I see Long Island, Poughkeepsie, Sydney, Hawaii, Philly, and my friends. Most importantly, not to sound cheesy, I see a musical portrait of who I am. I’m a fucking nerd.

Broad Street Run

On Sunday May 4th I ran my second race ever: The 29th Annual Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. My last race, the Great Aloha Run, was 8.2miles; the Broad Street Run is 10miles. It’s not much of a difference, but it’s enough… especially when I haven’t ran a race in 2 years. I was in a lot better shape in Hawaii, and I hadn’t realized that until I was assessing my training.

That being said, I did much better than I hoped to do. My goal was to come in under 1hr 20min. If I came in 1hr 20-25 I’d be content, and anything over that I’d be disappointed. From mile 1-4.5, my left calf felt like dead weight. I had been dreading this, as this had happened often during my training. I guess I’m getting old. No matter how much or how little I stretched before a practice jog didn’t seem to have much correlation with whether my calf tightened during a practice jog. I stretched the hell out of my legs before the race began, and it happened anyway. I pushed through that pain/annoyance and it seemed to have gone away or disappeared into the back of my consciousness.

Also around this time I reasoned that, based on my stopwatch and some math, I could best my goal and come in under 1hr 15min. This seemed unrealistic before the race, but seemed very real at this point. Even though no one knew of my new goal besides me, I knew I would feel let down, even embarrassed, if I didn’t achieve that time.

After running around City Hall, the only part of the course that wasn’t a straight line, I could feel myself trying harder to maintain my 7:30/mile pace. I hit the 1hr mark at exactly the same moment I hit 8miles. It meant I had to do two 7:30 miles in a row to finish the race if I wanted to reach my goal.

I hit mile 9 at 1hr 8min, and knew I had just screwed myself. I didn’t expect to be able to run a sub 7min mile after clocking in at 8. I pulled it off though thanks to a combination of Strawberry & Banana Power Gel, adrenaline, old school Thursday coming through my headphones, seeing Barb on the sidelines cheering, and having a nice downward slope during the last 1/4 mile in the Navy Yard. I ran my last mile in 6min 48sec to come in at a final time of 1h4 14min 48sec.

How I finished:
Overall: 2,388 out of 19,112
Sex: 1,940 out of 9,821
Division (M 25-29): 364 out of 1,775
Age Grade: 59.3%*


*I would’ve qualified as a “Local Class” if I scored 60%

I also believe that this run could alternately be called the "Put 22,000 White People in the 'Hood and Watch them Flee to the Safey of the Navy " Run.

And as for Global Warming:

It’s real. Our lives will not be the same. It will be the end of an age.

Beepin' at Butts

I really don’t know why people don’t care about how disgusting our surroundings are becoming. Whenever I’m stopped at a red light I look around at the ground and it’s filthy. Beyond filthy. How this stuff gets there I don’t know. I could never throw a Wendy’s cup out of my window when I’m driving, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen something that blatantly criminal done.

However, what I always see is people throwing their cigarette butts out of their window like it’s not a big deal. This infuriates me. It blows my mind that people don’t regard this as littering. That being said, I’ve decided to beep at someone whenever they do this. Since beginning this campaign, I’m very surprised at how often I wind up beeping. I’m also very surprised at how happy this makes me. I feel like such a bastard when I do it and I love it.

It’s awesome to be stopped at a light, see someone chuck their butt onto the ground, and beep my horn. The litterer will look for who beeped thinking it was for a non-existent traffic offense and then realizing, maybe, someone beeped because they threw their cigarette out the window. Even if it makes them think, “Hmm, maybe I’m an asshole” for just a moment then I feel I’ve gained a small victory.

I encourage all of you to become a part of the “Beepin’ at Butts” effort. Please let me know how it goes.

Full Disclosure: I smoked for a year in college, and I don’t dislike someone because they smoke. I understand it’s a personal choice, and it’s hard to quit. That being said, there’s no reason to make this world uglier than it already is. If you don’t care how your car smells from the smoke, the cigarette butt isn’t going to make it that much worse. Throw it out when you get where you’re going.