Friday, July 14, 2006

A very special birthday treat for Nicole.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The French: Can make pastries. Can't sing Pink Floyd songs.
Does anyone else find themselves completely hating a song because of one awkward line that they just can't get past? I almost wrote off the entire Trials of VanOccupanther album because the opening line "stonecutters made them from stone" seemed so lame. They're stonecutters, what else are they gonna make stuff from? Anyway, here's the video for the offending song.

















If they can make Steve Guttenberg a star, they can certainly make things out of stone.

Won’t you miss me? Wouldn't you miss me at all?

Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, dies

I'm not a huge Pink Floyd fan (the only albums of theirs I own are Piper, Meddle, Wish You Were Here, and Animals), but it always struck me as sad that Barrett never really understood what he started. There's a sad anecdote in Saucerful of Secrets about Barrett wandering into the studio during the sessions for Wish You Were Here:

On June 5, yet another legendary guest materialized, un-announced, at the Abbey Road studios. It was Dave and Ginger's wedding day as well as the eve of the band's second 1975 US tour, and the Floyd were frantically trying to wrap up a final mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." With the voices of Roger and Dave summoning the spirit of Syd Barrett from the studio monitors, who should lurch in but an obese man with shaven head and eyebrows, wearing a white trenchcoat and white shoes and clutching a white plastic bag. Gilmour was the first to notice him sniffing around the Floyd's equipment; but, preoccupied with other matters, he figured that the odd-looking character was some EMI minion.

"He came into the studio," recalls Rick Wright, "and no one recognized this person. I remember going in, and Roger was already in the studio working. I came in and sat next to Roger. After ten minutes, Roger said to me, 'Do you know who that guy is?' I said, 'I have no idea. I assumed it was a friend of yours.' He said 'Think, think.' And I kept looking at him - and I suddenly realized it was Syd!" Waters, by his own account, was "in fucking tears" upon divining the identity of "this great, fat, bald, mad person."

Another visitor from the past, Andrew King, thought Barrett looked like nothing so much as a chef at some Middle American burger joint. King tried to break the ice by asking his former star client how he'd put on so much weight. "I've got a large fridge in the kitchen," Syd explained, "and I've been eating a lot of pork chops." Barrett then reportedly let it be known that he was now ready for the Floyd to make use of his services once again.

As his ex-colleagues applied themselves to the onerous task of mixing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," replaying it over and over, Syd fell silent, giving no sign of understanding that he was the hero of this stirring tribute. Finally, when they asked for the track to be played yet another time, he interrupted: "Why bother? You've heard it once already."

Barrett subsequently joined the others at the EMI canteen for the Gilmour's wedding reception. After unnerving unsuspecting guests - some of whom mistook him for a Hare Krishna fanatic - with his maniacal laughter and penetrating stares, Syd vanished into the night without saying goodbye.

The following day, the Floyd left for America without him. None of them has ever seen him since.

Here's hoping that the latter years of Syd's life were peaceful as he lived them out surrounded by his family and hopefully finding satisfaction in his painting and gardening.

Pink Floyd performing Astronomy Domine with Barrett:

Monday, July 10, 2006

While reading the Birmingham News this morning I ran across an article detailing preliminary findings that suggest certain soaps, body lotions, and shampoos that contain lavender and tea tree oils "may cause hormonal imbalances and breast growth in young boys." Naturally, I began to wonder how many men out there can blame their cursed man-boobs on their shampoo rather than a diet of Hardee's and KFC and little to no exercise. Seeing as the ranks of college head coaches is typically the most man-boobed group of men outside of a Kenny Rogers look-a-like convention, I decided to run down some of the top offenders and determine if the culprit really is their insatiable appetites or an unfortunate byproduct of the Herbal Essence their wives keep in the shower at home.

Dennis Franchione: Taking a page from The Scarlet Pimpernel, Coach Fran has been known to disguise his scent with aromatic and womanly perfumes in order to escape in the dead of night from one coaching position to the next.














Verdict: Aromatic shampoos, body lotions, and soaps.

Chuck Amato: Amato is a tricky call. Obviously a Dapper Dan man, it would be easy to write him off as a victim of cosmetology, but he also looks like the kind of guy that could Garfield a lasagna in three seconds flat.














Verdict: The shampoo put it on, the food keeps it there.

Watson Brown: I'm pretty sure that Watson's man-boob related troubles stem more from the thoughtful gift basket from Bath & Body Works that brother Mack sent him to rub in the fact that he rode his super stud QB all the way to a national title all the while pretending it was a nice Christmas present.

















Verdict: Shampoo

Sylvester Croom: "I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat...and because I'm the head coach at Mississippi State."












Verdict: Ribs, ribs, ribs...

Ed Orgeron: It's a widely known fact that Orgeron's yearly cleansing ritual consists of the slaughter of a significant portion of the local wildlife and the subsequent burrowing through their amassed carcasses, so I doubt shampoos or soaps have ever touched his terrifying hide.

















Verdict: The marrow of the crushed bones of his enemies.

Chan Gailey: Stores near the Georgia Tech campus quit stocking aromatic shampoos and soaps after they were unable to sell them since the only thing on campus they would attract are, well, yellow jackets. It's pretty unlikely they've caused Gailey any chestal growth.
















Verdict: The Varsity

Houston Nutt: Hygiene products aren't sold in the state of Arkansas.

















Verdict: Whatever wanders into the traps out back.

Phil Fulmer: Like I even have to say anything.















Verdict: Cheeseburgers, cheese fries, Cheetos, five gallon tubs of Sam's Choice imitation Velveeta...

Frank Beamer: He doesn't so much have man-boobs as one oddly placed man-boob, which is more than likely a product of a cosmetics test he took part in to earn cash during his college years.












Verdict: SMX0284 (Clinical Trial version of Suave for Men).

Barry Alvarez: Why Fulmer opted to coach at his alma mater instead of trying to get a job in the land of cheese I'll never know.














Verdict: Coaching in Wisconsin

Charlie Weis: The Evil Robot Genius has no need of food, but does appreciate the natural highlights his daily conditioner brings out.





















Verdict: Shampoo


Lloyd Carr: Too apathetic to actually eat or bathe, he more than likely gets scrubbed down like a zoo animal and kept hydrated through an IV.

















Verdict: Shampoo and soap since I've never seen anyone get fat off of a liquid diet.

Pat Hill: With a sweet 'stache like that, you know the man puts a lot of thought into his appearance.













Verdict: Mustache wax, shampoo, soaps, body lotion.

Mangino: "I wash myself with a rag on a stick."











Verdict: Body wash.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

An interesting take on "the grass is greener."

21.) For every hot chick out there who you would give anything to fuck, there's a guy out there who's tired of putting up with her bullshit.

More important life lessons at the Phat Phree.
Since Charter Communications is of the devil, this is the first time I've had cable or internet since Friday night. One step closer to getting satellite...













Do they sell these at Radio Shack?


Here's some more randomness:

- Are girls getting taller? During the height of my no cable induced boredom yesterday I found myself wandering around various malls and shopping centers and noticed that nearly every younger looking girl I saw was taller than me. Now, I'm only 5'11" so I don't suppose that's a big achievement on their part, but going through school it was considered a rarity for a girl to be taller than the average guy so it was very strange seeing a bunch of tall girls paired off with shorter guys. Thank goodness The Girl is only 5'1" and I can still rest my chin on the top of her head when she's wearing her highest of heels, or I'd have some serious short guy syndrome.

- Nico has a screenshot of Bryan-Denny from NCAA 2007 that looks pretty bad ass. 9 more days...

- Also releasing later this month is the first full length from Silversun Pickups. Here's their video for Kissing Families from the EP Pikul.


I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Chick Bass Player=Awesome.

- Here's an interesting article on how our brains can only focus on three items at once unless they are similarly colored and how it relates to our ability to watch sports.

- Newest idiotic obsession: Yogurt. I've never liked yogurt until four days ago when I decided to eat one at my parent's house and since then have been craving it.

- There seems to be a strange trend in the hallway smells. Early morning is urine, late evening is weed. Are they getting high over there and then stumbling through the wrong door to pee while everyone else is asleep?