The Life Of A Mix Tape

As I have mentioned before, I am a musical whore.... I'll exchange mix tapes and cds with any willing participant. Over the years, my mix tapes have multiplied. The mix cd collection has grown so huge that it filled up an entire shelf in my record cabinet to the point that I had to move a few feet of records out to a closet.

So, a month ago, I decided to clean them out. I filled an entire garbage bag full of old mixes. Yes, an entire garbage bag. Things that hit the can included old cd club mixes, mixes from long lost friends, and hey-I-can-out-obscure-you mixes. I told some folks about this big purge. They looked at me in shock as if I had thrown away the family heirloom silver collection.

But really... how long is one supposed to hang onto these things? Mix tapes and CDs are like greeting cards or postcards: you keep the interesting or meaningful ones and toss the rest. Really. What am I supposed to do with a collection of unlistenable covers of Tori Amos songs? (Thank god I never got one like that.)

Recently, I got a mix in the mail from my cd club. There was no return address. I opened the package and removed the cd. Then, when I opened the cd case, a little slip of paper fell out.

This is what it said:
To improve playback in Itunes:

• Insert CD
• Right click first song and select "Get Info"
• Click on the "Options" tab
• Then make the following adjustments, hitting "Next" to move from one track to the next:
• Track 1: Change "Stop Time" to 3:25
• Track 2: Move "Volume Adjustment" to 100% and make "Stop Time" 6:02
• Track 3: Change "Stop Time" to 5:00
• Track 4: Change "Stop Time" to 3:35
• and on and on and on for each track.

HOPE! I! DO! I have never in my life received a mix cd that came with instructions! And what tedious instructions. BLEAH!!! This mix not only didn't make it to the CD player, but it went straight into the trash. I didn't even read the track listing. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I believe that one should be able to just put a CD into a CD player and have music come out.... without having to send it out to be mastered and tracked. It's that simple.

What is your mix tape/mix cd shelf life? Do you hang onto them forever?

Bowled Over and Over-Bowled

Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? Maybe to lose weight or to practice guitar or to ride your bike to work? I have a few. None of those that I mentioned. I have things on my list such as practice ukulele two hours a week, floss more, and to throw away socks.

One resolution that I might need to make is to cut down on bowling. I seem to have a bit of a problem. When my bowling team finished the season this fall, I was pumped to become a better bowler. I wanted my own ball, my own shoes, my own bowling bag. Right before Christmas, my teammates granted my wish and bought me a ball of my own. There it is on the left under the Christmas tree angels.



The day after I got my ball, I bowled eight games. I bowled eight more games the day after that. I even played hooky from work to bowl! I was sick with a cold/flu/sinus infection for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, so I wasn't able to bowl at Village Lanes those days, but I bowled with my nephews on the Wii at which time I bowled a 210.

Yesterday I was feeling better and I bowled eight games. Alone. And tonight, my intention was to only go bowl two games to try out my new wrist support, but two games quickly turned to seven games. When I am alone at the bowling alley, I just can't seem to stop. I am going back to the bowling alley tomorrow, but I'll have friends to tear me away from the lanes after a reasonable number of games.



You might think that all this bowling is improving my game. It's not... which is so frustrating. But I now know that with this new equipment and my new knowledge, I have the potential to bowl in the 130s-140s. (Before I was bowling in the 90s.) But trying to master my fingertip-grip ball and this darth-vader-looking wrist support is causing me to score all over the place... as low as 66 and as hight as 145. I just need to practice more. I need to bowl. MORE MORE MORE!

Tonight, my arm hurts. I think I have bowled over my arm limit. How much bowling is too much? When does enthusiasm turn to obsession?

Birthday Champagne

Can't get your cork out of your champagne bottle? It's easy! Just use a sword to get it off.

I Don't Have Time To Write

I don't know how I got roped into working both Saturday and Sunday when I am permanently leaving my job next week. Somehow I have managed to work every single day since Monday, December 3th. Not only have I been slaving away at my full-time job and working for my clients, but I've been helping out at a friend's store during the Christmas rush in my free time. Boy am I tired. And I have to be back at work tomorrow at 8am. I have to work Christmas Eve, too!

With all this work, I just haven't had time to think about writing at all. My posts have been so impersonal lately and just completely boring. Someone even complained that I am no longer telling any good stories. I just can't think of any right now.

So, in lieu of personal stories, how about some personal pictures? My mom sent me these last week.

This is me sitting in a tub on my grandparents' back porch in Danville, VA. The table and chairs are now in my own kitchen. (Thank you, Dr. Buckley, for the eight eye surgeries to uncross those eyes.)



This just makes me laugh:

Merry Christmas!

This Is Just Wrong

Paris Hilton is pushing a new product these days: champagne in a can. If Miller High Life is the champagne of beers, then is Paris' new Rich® Prosecco the beer of champagnes? Drinking prosecco from a can just seems wrong. A marketing strategy like this makes me think that it probably taste like pee.

Thanks Mr. DJ!

I had the worst soul-sucking day at work. Dazed, I left work and headed to the Federal for a beer with Patty and Mary. But I felt like crawling into a hole somewhere and not coming out until spring. When I arrived at the Federal, I was surprised to hear them playing Neutral Milk Hotel over the speakers, but I am always pleasantly surprised by their music choices. While I sipped on my Duck Rabbit porter, Patty mentioned that she had listened to some Richard Hawley and liked it. And then it dawned on me that I will be in New York City seeing Richard Hawley one week from Saturday!

But I left the bar still feeling kinda foggy. It can be really difficult to shake off a mind-crushing day at work sometimes. Today was one of those days.

But then, at 11:55pm, my melacholy was lifted. Bill played "Tonight the Streets Are Ours" by Richard Hawley. I squealed at the top of my lungs and ran into the kitchen and turned up the volume and pogo-stick danced all over the kitchen. I knocked some of the kinder egg toys off the windowsill during my shrieking dance fest. I think that if I made a top ten list of all my favorite things in the world, one of them would be hearing my favorite music randomly on the radio.

I cannot wait to go to New York next weekend. I am so excited.

But right now, I am afraid to go to bed. I am scared that I am going to have dreams involving Yo Gabba Gabba! I think I might love that show. It's now being recorded daily on my DVR. It's a kids show with wacky life-sized, brightly-colored creatures and psychedelic cartoons and kids dancing and indie rock. I swear one of the songs they played was sung by Dominique Durand of Ivy. But I couldn't find her listed in the credits anywhere. If you haven't heard of this show, here's a sample:



(Thanks, Skip!)

My Favorite Things About My Vacation

Besides being away from work for two entire weeks, which is wonderful on a whole different level, these are the things that I loved most about my vacation:

1. Pupi. This is the Italian plural for puppets. We saw a puppet show in Siracusa which delighted me to no end. There were pupi for sale in every chatckie shop and tourist stand. In Taormina, we saw giant pupi. And I just love saying pupi. Pupi. Pupi. Pupi.



2. The seafood. It was the best. Robert, sent me a newly published book of slow food restaurants in Italy. We tried a couple of them and we scored. I had tuna tartare at a restaurant called Metro in Catania that blew us all away. I don't have a picture of that, but here are sea urchins from the market in Siracusa.



3. Mdina at Night. We arrived in Mdina, Malta, very very late and had a tiny bit of trouble finding our hotel at first. So, we ended up walking around Mdina, (The Silent City) in the middle of the night. It was gorgeous and quiet. This is the entrance to Mdina (a medieval fortressed city) as we saw it after being dropped off by our driver.



4. The Opera at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. I know bits and pieces about music here and there. But opera is a genre that I know little about. I think I have only seen two or three operas in my lifetime. Ross, Maggie and I saw Tosca at this opera house in Catania. There was a part in the opera that made me tear up a little. It was beautiful and sad. And the opera house was jaw-droppingly beautiful. And they served corn nuts.



5. Dwejra, Gozo. As I said in a previous post, the Mediterranean is so blue. It was thrilling to take a little boat ride out into the ocean and around the enormous rocks.



6. The Cardinal Visiting the Antique Car Show in Mdina. We got back to Mdina after doing some sightseeing and walked into the Cathedral Square to find hoards of people and rows of antique cars. We had so much fun looking at the cars. And then the cardinal arrived. Whee!



7. The Hike to Castello Saraceno in Taormina. I was sick at this point of our trip. And I am embarrassingly fearful of any sort of heights. The hike was steep with overlooks that made me dizzy. I wanted to give up about 1/5 of the way there. But Ross and Maggie encouranged me to continue. We hiked from way down in Taormina toward our destination which was the Castella Saraceno. Here is a shot taken during our hike. At this point we were 3/4 of the way there.



But dagnabbit! We were denied! The gate to Castello Saraceno was locked!



8. Mgarr Harbor in Gozo. It was just beautiful and we drank beer and ate malt balls as we overlooked the harbor.



And then we saw a horse swimming in it.



9. Mt. Etna. Hiking along snow-covered craters of an active volcano felt like walking on the moon. The lava rocks were extremely hot to the touch in some spots. It was so amazing up there.



10. St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. It was beautiful in there. There was different kinds of marble everywhere. Every surface was covered with some sort of decoration. It was just stunning.



11. Francesco, Our Taxi Driver. He was just supposed to take us from our hotel to the bus stop in Siracusa, but he ended up driving us all the way to our destination in Pozzallo. He gave us a tour of Noto on the way. He was such a nice man. I sat in the front seat of the taxi with him and he played music for me and I wiggled and danced in my seat in appreciation. That is Francesco in the lower right corner.



12. The Good Graffiti in Catania. I wasn't all that impressed with Catania. I thought it was smelly and dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. Most of it was really really lame. But then I discovered this one artist. I found a couple of his works in the city. I thought it was really amazing stuff. If you're going to do graffiti, do it right.

The New Art Genre: State Fair

Skip and I went to the State Fair this week. I always look forward to the State Fair... not for the American Idol runners-up playing at the arena, not for the deep-fried food, not for the rides, and definitely not for the Village of Yesteryear. I go for the arts & crafts. This year there were some really phenomenal pieces.

This one caught us by surprise. Are those supposed to be eye bags?



This vest is made from the tabs from aluminum soda cans. It looks itchy.


It took us awhile to figure out what this was. It's a "decorative" birdhouse. The attendant said that it was supposed to be a conversation piece to be displayed in someone's house.


I have to say that the deep fried banana pudding was really good. Weird, but good.

I'm In Live Television and Anything Can Happen

I have been busy and not posting. Maybe tonight, I post something about my trip to Danville last Saturday.

Today, I ran across the following video clip. (Thank you, Apostropher!) I cannot stop laughing. WARNING: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH.

I Need This Song

I was watching a Roy Lichtenstein documentary, and the song"(Money) That's What I Want" was played during the opening credits. I loved it. I couldn't find this version on Itunes, but the Waylon Jennings and the Barrett Strong versions are fabulous.

But I did find it on YouTube. As an added bonus of my discovery, there is a really bizarre ukulele segment. Who are these Flying Lizards? Woot!

Speaking Of Busby Berkeley and Dream Jobs

I want to be Carmen Miranda when I grow up. In Busby Berkeley musicals. With bananas. And monkeys.

Barbecue Country Doctor Drag Strip

On Saturday, a group of us took a road trip to eastern North Carolina for a day of barbecue sampling in Goldsboro and Wilson, a winery tour, Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs in Lucama, the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip, and the Country Doctor Museum in Bailey.

Ross can give you all the details about the barbecue we sampled over at Chowhound. Let me just say that I am ready to take a banana pudding tour of NC barbecue restaurants. Oh my god. I have never been a big banana pudding fan, but I am now!! Do all barbecue restaurants in this state carry banana pudding? I think I need to take a road trip to find out!!!

As far as barbecue is concerned, my friend, Robert has always sung the praises of Wilber's Barbecue on Highway 70 in Goldsboro. Other NC barbecue enthusiasts hold Wilber's as the eastern NC standard by which to gauge all others. Hmm. We weren't that impressed. Some coworkers and some other Goldsboro natives have told me that right across the street from Wilber's you'll find better barbecue at McCall's. They were right. McCall's ran out of barbecue soon after we arrived. We got the last pound of it. Time to make more.

The visit to the Country Doctor Museum was amazing. The museum itself didn't thrill me all that much, but our tour guide was the best. I swear this woman looked like she was an 18 year-old, sweet-as-pie, sorority girl wearing the cutest little sundress. She kept amazing me with her ability to just spout off the facts of the museum collection in this matter-of-fact tone. She told us which instruments were used to saw off limbs in less than 60 seconds, which plants could induce the shits, and how the iron lung chorus used to creep nurses out. It was borderline performance art.

You should definitely check out the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip if you are in the area. Don't forget your earplugs. I have never witnessed anything like that before in my life and for some reason, I really loved it. Wheelie-poppin' fast cars!!! Woo hoo!!!

Have you ever been in the presence of Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs? There's nothing I can say to explain the experience. So, if you haven't ever been to Lucama to see his artwork, please go. He is an amazing person to chat with. Very sweet man. He's 87 or thereabouts, so don't put off your trip to visit him. And his artwork is phenomenal. I bought one of his pieces a few years ago. I haven't put it out in my yard yet, but I should. It's got a bird sniffing a cat's butt on it. Now that's what I call art.

Moonbeams and Weird Dreams

Last night, I woke up at 3:45am. I was fully awake and trying desperately to get back to sleep. But then I looked around and noticed that I was sleeping in a moonbeam. I woke just at the right time for the couple of minutes that the full moon moonbeams made it through the trees and were shining on me. I quickly made a wish and sang the moonbeam song. I sure hope my wish comes true. It was a good one.

I fell back to sleep only to have really wacky dreams. At one point, I dreamt that I was at a friend's house which happened to be a few blocks from the Rich and Thompson Funeral Home in Burlington. This friend doesn't actually live in Burlington, but he did in my dream. I was at his house getting ready for a cocktail party at the funeral home. I put on my cocktail dress and heels and grabbed my transportation: a hula hoop. I remember other people arriving at the party in cars and on motorcycles, but I arrived by hula-hooping down the sidewalk. I remember being out-of-breath when I arrived, but thinking that I was cooler than everyone else.

Oh How I Love That Potato Salad Song

I have never seen "Solid Potato Salad" performed by anyone ever. But now I can say that I can (and you, too). Minty sent me this amazing video.

Watch the whole thing. Don't give up after a minute. Just watch the whole thing. Yowza!

What Happens When You Google Hot Dog

I like to post pictures with my blog entries as anyone can probably tell. I am an extremely visual person. In my previous post, I really wanted to post a picture of a hot dog, but I didn't find one that fit my mood tonight. However, I did find these, which kinda creep me out.

John Schneider Is Lost

On Saturday night at Christa's going away party, I was telling Chris and Elizabeth about my prized John Schneider album. I said, "I'll go get it." I left to look for it and never never returned. I didn't mean to leave them hanging but I couldn' find it and then I probably got dragged away by someone else at the party.

I'll never forget that John Schneider record. That was the first record that I ever bought with my own money when I was nine. I was so proud of myself. I bought it from Zayre in Burlington (even though my family and our neighbors called it Zayre's for some reason). I loved that store... the records were right there when you first walked in. At that same time, I also bought a K-Tel collection of soft rock hits called Songbird. What an monumental event that was. I mean, who would I have become if my first album purchases in Zayre's were REO Speedwagon or Pat Benetar or Hall & Oates?!?! (I didn't become a Hall & Oates fanatic until I started djing at WXYC.)

Tonight, I searched through all the rock albums in my house and I couldn't find it. But as I was searching, I ran across Bonnie Tyler's Faster Than the Speed of Night album. I almost mistook Ms. Tyler for Mr. Schneider.

Is Kobayashi's Reign Coming To An End?

Many folks have emailed me this week about Kobayashi's reported jaw arthritis. Brought on by misaligned wisdom teeth and competitive eating training, Kobayashi's ailment allows him to only open his mouth as wide as two fingers.

Is it true or is he just full of bologna?


Joey Chestnut (on the left) ate 59 1/2 HDBs (hot dogs & buns) last month at a Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Qualifier in Phoenix, AZ shattering Kobayashi's old record of 53 3/4 HDBs. It seems that Kobayashi has maxed out at 52 or 53 HDBs at the past several Hot Dog Eating Championships. Can Joey eat on July 4th at Coney Island like he did in Phoenix?

By the way, the reason that Chestnut is pointing to Kobayashi is because he cheated last year. Kobayashi threw up into his cup. The crowd saw it. We all booed and screamed, but the judges let it slide. Usually a "reversal of fortune" means instant disqualification, but Kobayashi drank it. That's all I have to say about that.

I want Joey to bring the coveted mustard belt back home to the USA.

Despite the hype of the Chestnut/Kobayashi rivalry, my hot dog hero will always be Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas. Swallow Sonya Swallow!


National Hot Dog Month starts tomorrow. Happy Holidays!!!!

Hot Diggity! Hot Diggity!

Before you read this post, let me tell you something. I love hotdogs. I am obsessed with hotdogs. I was a vegetarian for 12 long years and the meat that I missed was hotdogs. My craving turned into obsession when I worked at Merge. I think that everyone in the office loved hotdogs. On a very regular basis, someone in the office would make a hotdog run to Squeaky's up at NCNB Plaza on Franklin Street. In 1999, we gave our ten-year anniversary compilation called Oh, Merge the subtitle Sexy Panties and Hotdogs. Fans mailed us weird hotdog-themed items such as odd photographs, whistles and squirtguns. We loved it.

Today, my obsession (aka sickness) for the beloved frankfurter was rekindled. Despite the sunburn and Skip being sick (I hope you're feeling better!), today was an amazing day. Chris, Germaine and I took a trip to Charlotte to see an IFOCE-sanctioned National Hotdog Eating Contest Qualifier. As I am sure that everyone reading this knows, there is a huge event on the corner of Surf and Stillwell at Coney Island every Fourth of July: Nathan's National Hotdog Eating Contest. In order to compete at this event that is now broadcast on ESPN, you must win one of the qualifying events. Today marked North Carolina's first ever qualifier.

Germaine was asked by the IFOCE [International Federation of Competitive Eating] to film the contest. She shot some amazing footage and I cannot wait to see it. Rich Shea (one of the masterminds behind this whole marketing scheme that is called the IFOCE) was really nice and told the two of us to go wherever we wanted for the event. We could go backstage, in front of the stage, even ON STAGE during the event. I shot alot of great pictures. But who the heck is that Sonya poseur on the right?



That guy in the middle, Hal Hunt, or as Rich Shea says "the Faith-Based Eater" won with 28.75 HDB (hotdogs with buns) which is less than half of the world record holder, Joey Chestnut. The Sonya Poseur only downed 28. But Hal had Jesus on his side. He prays before each event. He even prayed when Skip, Germaine and I saw him win a grilled cheese sandwich eating contest at the NC State Fair in 2005. (That's him sitting and praying on the far right in the photo below.)


Rich is going to send me some t-shirts and VIP PASSES to the big daddy event on July 4th at Coney Island. This will be my fifth year making the pilgrimage to Nathan's. I am so excited. It's gonna be freakin' HUGE. I have to get my signs ready. I'm still rootin' for Sonya Thomas, as the black widow of the gurgitators will alway be #1 on my list. But I want Joey Chestnut to beat that pompous punk Kobayashi.

The King Has Been Dethroned

Move over Kobayashi. Your piddly 53 hot dogs are not going to cut it this July 4th.

Joey Chestnut: 59 1/2 in 12 minutes.

NEW WORLD RECORD!

USA! USA! USA!

A Fine Romance

I just cannot get enough of the Ella and Louis duets. They make me swoon. Ummmmmmmmmm.....