Stuart Little

Last night when I was driving home from work my car stalled. This isnt that big of a deal, unless you work sixty miles from your home, which I do. Luckily I had made it pretty far until this stalling happened, and even more so, the car started back up after sitting for a few minutes.

Not understanding anything about how computers work, I knew it would be a good idea to take it to the dealer in the morning, especially cause I needed an oil change anyways.

After being without vehicle for a couple hours, I finally got a call back from the Shellworth Chevrolet Service Department. It seems a mouse had made itself a little home in my engine, and managed to do some damage to a few wires.

This initially seemed like horrible news, because the Service Manager went on to explain how they would have to take the car apart to see just how extensive the damage was. I thought for sure they were going to make me even more poor then I already am.

I managed to luck out somehow, as the mouse did very minimal damage, and the only actual part that was broken is still covered under warranty, despite most of the car not being so. So I got off only having to pay for the oil change which could be argued as a positive note. However, I do have to sacrifice my car til Monday, since the part had to be ordered - this could be the negative side of the story.

So here I am, carless. I wish Stuart Little would stick to that mini convertible he has in the movies. What a dick. If he didnt sound so much like Micheal J. Fox I'd kick his ass.

Advertisements and You

The subject of my last post has really got me thinking about other Ad icons out there. Some have come and gone, and some have really touched our lives, whether they were responsible for our first cavity, or our first heart attack.

Take Tony the Tiger for instance. Who doesn't know his slogan? Who hasn't had a bowl of frosted flakes and stared at his striped face while reading the puzzles on the back of the box or while searching through a bunch of flakes for a small toy of the same tiger staring back at you?

The weird thing I've noticed (and maybe its because I don't watch as much TV anymore), is the absense of Tony lately. As a matter of fact, I have noticed a lack of all sweet cereal promoting creatures. Like the 'Smack's' Frog, that 'Silly Rabbit' who just wants some trix, and the infamous Toucan Sam. Maybe this is a result of some hippie new age parents somewhere complaining that these are negative role models to our children and they are the reason their children are so overweight? Maybe I just need to watch more commercials?

Next we have the Colonel. I'm no huge fan of the Kentucky Fried variety of Chicken, despite the magnificently cheap food they offer. But I thought it was appropriate to talk about another dead icon.

Of course KFC still uses his image, but at least they have cartoonized the Colonel instead of making him a hip zombie (I dont care how much I overuse the zombie joke).

I mean honestly we have to love this guy so much, whether it be the dancing cartoon version or the real thing some years ago...why else would we eat genetically altered chicken strips on a bun with a piece of lettuce for a buck?

Say what you want about KFC, but if they bring back 'The Twister' at the original low price it was introduced I would eat there everyday.

Finally we get to the ad icon among ad icon's. Everyone who grew up in the 90's knows exactly what I am talking about.

Possibly the best and worst decision Energizer has ever made.

The commercials were original and hilarious back in their heyday. Who doesn't remember watching a commercial for some no name product you never heard of, and then the Bunny popping in with that drum beat, doing a spin or two and exiting, leaving the actors in the 'other ' commercial confused as all hell. That was genius.

Any ad symbol or character is technically temporary no matter how long its been around, but not the Bunny. If Energizer gets rid of the Bunny it is advertisement suicide. If something that 'Keeps going and going' ever disappears from my life, I'm going to start questioning the integrity of whatever he was pushing on me. I'll be a copper top man for life.

Computer Generation Gone Too Far

Last night while watching TV, a dead person tried to sell me popcorn.

Not just any dead person either. A dead icon, whom we have all known, loved, ridiculed and mourned.

Yes last night on my TV, Orville Redenbacher returned from the dead looking as hip as ever with a fancy MP3 player (to somehow prove to us it wasnt old footage). It was then that he tried to explain to me that his popcorn is even lighter and fluffier then before - I'm not even sure what he was saying because I was in shock.

I mean I am all for computer generation, although if overdone it can ruin a lot of things (i.e. Star Wars), but this is going too far no matter how you look at it. There are certain ad mascots that will never disappear like the Energizer Bunny, but Orville needs to rest in peace.

So if you like Sadistic Popcorn, be sure to buy some from the rockin' Zombie.

Two Weeks In

The one 'resolution' I made was to stop avoiding the business aspect of the music I am making. I have been telling myself to start sending out annoying emails, and making phone calls galore to work on getting more and more shows and to increase exposure. While my number of annoying emails sent has dramatically increased in the last two weeks, I still am subconsciously avoiding taking huge steps. I just don't like the business side of it, despite the fact I know it is a necessity.

Honestly with the increased amount of studio time coming up, its actually alright because Mike and I need every spare second to prepare his parts for his upcoming sessions. If we were off running from town to town we would not have time to learn any of the new material and would be unprepared when it came time to record.

The good thing is we have met a lot of new great songwriters/friends who have helped us out with getting a lot more shows, and we have even somewhat established ourselves as a common occurence in the town of Modesto, CA. I hope to be able to return the favor someday.

A lot has happened this year already, and with the album getting closer and closer to completion every week, there is a lot more to come.

How I Learned Spanish

I figure there is no better way to start off the new year of blogging then to write, in detail about my end of the year/holiday trip to Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. It goes a little something like this;

We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica on Christmas Eve morning around 11:00am (I will say we a lot, because Kathy was with me on this trip - duh). After breezing through customs and exchanging some money for a shitload of colones we found Fernando, a Puriscal local who was giving us a ride to Mastatal. After sitting in some traffic because of some accident, and many bumpy roads later, we arrived in Mastatal around 3:30pm. We were greeted by the half drunk/half hungover residents of Rancho Mastatal and of course, the always on the verge of passing out, Sparky. Sparky gave us a quick tour after we ditched our stuff in our room and we got the low down of all the current building projects and even got to see Timo and Robin's house that Sparky spent most of his time there helping to build.

That night was the annual Drink n'Sync, where everyone gets drunk and lip sync's songs. There were some hilarious moments and some frightening moments, including Sparky dressed up as a woman, and Sparky dressed up as Boy George.

The next day was Christmas and we all awoke to a delicious breakfast - which is apparently done everyday there. This day was just everyone relaxing and recovering from a long night of drinking and catching up. I'm pretty sure most of the day was spent playing Dominoes, in which I Dominated...pun definitely intended.

The following day was Boxing Day, which is apparently a great holiday (thank you English people). We immediately broke off into two teams of about 7 people and began playing games throughout the day. We played Ultimate Frisbee, Tug Of War, Kickball, Egg Toss, Wiffle Ball, Ping Pong and even Horseshoes. It was a great day that was supposed to end in a massive game of Cranium, but our team kicked ass so we decided to spend the rest of the night drinking and sleeping.

We then headed to the beach town called Manuel Antonio and spent a couple days there. A lot of bus riding and walking was involved to get there but it was well worth it. By the time we actually got to the beach the first day it was pouring rain, but the rain was so warm it didnt matter. We still managed to play frisbee in the ocean for a couple hours before working on getting some dinner. The next day was more of the same but without the rain and with a lot more sun. We even got to see some cool wildlife (which Kathy got some great pictures of). That night we watched the sunset from a hotel pool bar in one of the local hotels that we weren't even staying at, and even met a nice couple from the Fairfield, CA area.

Then the fun really began as we headed out that night after drinking rum and cokes out of beer cans due to lack of cups. We hung out with a bunch of locals at a billiards bar and made some new friends. My nickname (Dickey) didnt translate well in Spanish so Sparky explained to everyone that my name was 'Penegador' (I don't know how to spell it) which literally translates to "Master of Dick'. So the locals got a kick out of that one and everyone laughed at my expense.

We then wandered aimlessly about town looking for food and even ended up in a Gay Bar called The Red Beard where an American kid leaving the bar hastily pleaded with us to believe that he wasn't gay. We obviously didn't.

The next day we hopped back on a bus back to Mastatal where I spent the last hour holding onto the seat in front of me and trying not to shit my pants. It was the longest bus ride in history. But it goes to show that I would rather risk shitting myself on a bus then get out and walk.

The next day in Mastatal we actually worked since it was somewhat between holidays and everyone wanted to get some work done. So Sparky, Timo, Kathy and I, all put up a second basketball hoop in the Mastatal Community center so we could get in a full court game sometime. Despite the three-legged scaffolding, it was a huge success.

The last day we were there was New Years Eve and we had a huge bonfire after hitting up the waterfall for a swim. We then headed to the 'Pulperia' and drank some beers and rum with the locals. It was a great night and I learned all sorts of vulgar terms in Spanish.

The trip was well worth it despite the hours on a plane and other hours on buses and driving up windy dirt roads. We made a lot of great new friends and met a lot of cool people. Not too mention we got to see Sparky and get to know Timo and Robin a lot better. It was one of the best weeks in my life even if I didnt get to eat meat for 6 out of the 10 days.

Nate is Great.