Happy Blogging New Year

First... Happy New Year!!! It's 2009, the last of the "00" years. Enjoy it while you can. Wear those big sunglasses before they go out of style again.

Despite the fact that I slowed down my blogging activity this past semester, I still spent too much time on the Internet when I should have been getting work done for classes. I still got the grades I wanted, but I was up far, far too late at night finishing up assignments. I'll need to change my priorities this year to get things done when they should be tackled. How blogging will fit into that, I have no idea... when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

It's time to relax

I finished my first semester of grad school today. I am 1/4 of the way to being an urban planner. If I decide to get an additional degree while I'm here, I might have an extra semester or two to deal with before I'm done. Considering the state of the economy and the auto / banking / investment / jobs insanity out there, it might not be a bad idea to stay in school for a long, long time.

I watched the movie Deja Vu on the DVR tonight. Had I watched it before? Why did I have a feeling of déjà vu while watching it? Now that I think about it, I've had that feeling all semester.

Holiday studying anagram fun

My holiday weekend was really great. I now have about a month's worth of homework due in the next ten days. After that is over, finals hit. Would someone please remind me why I decided to go back to school?

Life slowly moves on

Let's see, Obama won the election and has announced that his Chief of Staff will be the man who is the brother of the person who inspired the Ari character on Entourage. Got it? Good. In an attempt to continue my overuse of run-on-sentences, I'll explain that I'm so tired of avoiding to study for mid-terms tonight that I've decided that blogging will get me back into the mood to actually study some more tonight.

Dr Pepper loves Guns N' Roses

If you believe everything you read, Guns N' Roses will finally release the album "Chinese Democracy" on November 23, 2008. As promised months ago, Dr Pepper will give one free 20-oz. Dr Pepper to every American on that day. Read the instructions here on how you can cash in this offer on that day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have had enough Axl Rose inspired nonsense for one day and I'm going to go lay down for a while.

Debate season is over

I watched the last Presidential debate of 2008 at a party last night. We were going to drink whenever we heard "Maverick" but we should have picked the phrase "Joe the plumber" instead. I'm glad those things are over and done with for the year. Time to get some election on.

So where have I been for the past month or so? Between school and "the social" I have had my hands tied up in cyberspace most of the time. I've even been ignoring my mistress Pandora. My music mojo is so washed up I don't even know any of the bands kids listen to these days.

Tortoise plays Ann Arbor

A couple of weeks ago I saw Tortoise play a show in Ann Arbor at the Blind Pig. The Pig is a pretty influential bar in the indie rock scene and you can think of it as the CBGB's of Michigan if you'd like but remember that the Pig is still in business and CBGB's has closed its doors. I hadn't been to a show at the Pig since I saw Toad The Wet Sprocket play there in the decade we call the Nineties. Anyway, the Tortoise show was great since every hipster in Ann Arbor was there wearing their ironic t-shirt and the music, a blend of instrumental indie rock and krautrock with electronic, progressive and jazz influences, started off slow but got much better as the night went on.

It wasn't until I was at the show that it dawned on me that I bought my copy of the Tortoise album TNT while I was visiting Ann Arbor 10 years ago. Now I live in Ann Arbor. Life is pretty strange sometimes. I could tell you about how strange it is but I'm up to here with it since I'm taking 15 grad credits of classes this term and I can't remember the last time I sat back, relaxed and read a blog or two so maybe I'll go do that right now.

Far gone and out

Right about now, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on the border between France and Switzerland near Geneva is getting turned on for the first time. If you feel like watching some atoms get smashed together, tune in. A student from Michigan State (where I did my undergrad degree and also where my father is on the faculty as a professional atom smasher) who is at CERN even wrote a rap song about the project. It's a small sub-atomic world after all.

Fact or Crap: David Duchovny edition

David Duchovny is a lucky man. He's cavorted around the world on screen with Gillian Anderson. He's married to Téa Leoni. And he has now decided to make entering rehab for sex addiction a fashionable statement... you had to know that this was next... worthy of a round of Fact or Crap:

Duchovny appeared in the 2002 Steven Soderbergh movie Full Frontal as a sex addict.

Bree Sharp recorded the song "David Duchovny" about the actor.

He currently appears in the Showtime series Californication as a sex addict.

Only Fact or Crap on this blog can properly feed your sex addiction. Don't resist. Enjoy. Cheers.

Fact or Crap: Sarah Palin edition

Barack Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate, which is fine by me since I like people with the initials JB. John McCain threw everyone a curve ball and picked Sarah Palin, which only made me think of what kind of jokes can I make about this situation. While I think this is a bit of a stretch, some people in the press think she looks a little like Tina Fey. However, it does set us up for a fine edition of Fact or Crap:

Palin's youngest daughter is actually a love child fathered by McCain from when they met at the Republican Convention in 2000.

She was Miss Wasilla and competed in the Miss Alaska pageant.

She has appeared in a few porn movies including, "MILFs Gone Wild: Alaska's Hockey Moms."

Can you figure out what is fact and what is crap? I can't. I need to get out more. Stay tuned for more editions of Fact or Crap... this was too easy... cumming soon to a blog near you.