Monday night at the hospital

I'm tired, but for a very good -- GREAT -- reason!  My son was born this afternoon and both he and my wife are doing very well.  But everyone is very tired and I'm missing my little girl, who is over at her grandparent's house for her first non-parent overnight since she was born.  So, as you can expect, blogging will be a little light this week as we'll be at the hospital until mom recovers in a couple of days.

Thursday video - Bob Dylan

A VERY quick one.  Busy day/evening at the HillcrestBlogger abode.

Dylan.  His best.

Tuesday video - The White Stripes

Seems like not-so-long ago that The White Stripes were one of my favorite "new" bands.  That they've been on my radar now for over ten years is more than a little shocking.  This was one of my favorites from White Blood Cells:

I think my favorite White Stripes album was Elephant, when their monster sound really came together with some exceptionally tight songwriting.

And then there's this one, which I like so much because it just sounds like some sort of frenetic sludge (in a very good way):

An ode to this awesome weather

Not very often are you going to hear a person get excited about 53 degrees with wind and rain, but you are going to hear exactly that from me today.

After months of humid*, oppressive heat, AUTUMN** is finally here. So, bring on the rain and let the leaves drop from the trees, just in time for Halloween season.  Here here!  THIS is truly what is known as "football" weather, as opposed to the mid- to upper-80's we've been seeing.  And, when it eventually gets here, like it did during the overnight hours last night, Arkansas does "football weather" about as good as anywhere.


*  But hardly any rain.
**  My favorite season, by far.  And, I've decided to start using the term "autumn" instead of "fall."  It sounds more...refined ;)

Monday video - Weezer

Let's hit up a little Weezer this Monday evening why don't we?  And, like the Nirvana "Teen Spirit" video, I am going to slightly deviate from my live-music-only aim for music postings and have Weezer's first offering be the fantastic early 90's, Spike Jonze-directed vid for "Buddy Holly" in all of its Fonzie-ness glory:

The Blue Album is so very much my senior year at the UA.  While "Buddy Holly" was likely Weezer's biggest hit off the album, this song was my favorite:

After the Blue Album, Weezer released Pinkerton, which I liked, but it didn't get near the attention it deserved until years later when the emo generation offered it as a prime influence.  Then, the band took a long hiatus before releasing the Green Album, which was fantastic and featured this song:

For the last clip, I'm going to offer up a song the band recorded in honor of and in support of the United States Men's National Team as it prepared for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  This song was reportedly playing in the locker room after Landon Donovan's stunning extra-time goal that propelled the team to the Round of 16.  Still thinking about that moment and watching this video still gives me chills.

Multiple updates from the HillcrestBlogger

Sorry the blog has been largely content-free for the last week (aside from the abbreviated music video postings).  My wife ended up not delivering last week, but was instead put on bed rest and is scheduled to deliver next Monday.  Which means that I get to not only be excited about the prospect of my soon-to-be-newborn son for another week but I also get to shoulder double the chores- and kid-load for another week since my wife cannot physically exert herself.  Now, before you think I'm whining -- I'm not!  I understand its part of the job and know that my wife will be assuming a much greater job in giving birth and being mommy to another cute kid.  But man...It. Is.  Exhausting.

Update #2 is that, after reverting back to an all-protein diet one week ago, I finally moved off the weight-loss plateau I've been on for the last several weeks and now have a new weight-loss low since June 20, when I decided to lose the weight.  I'm now down 21.8 pounds!  Hit the twenty mark!  Now, I'd like to hit the thirty mark by Thanksgiving.  I think that's a doable goal.

Update #3 is that I continue to kick ass in my fantasy football leagues.  I'm in four of them.  In two of them I'm 5-1.  In another I'm 4-2.  The other I am only 3-3, but have won three straight.  I think it is a very real possibility that I'll be in the playoffs for all of my leagues.  Sure, that's a super-dork thing to be excited about, but I'm excited nonetheless.

Update #4 is that my soccer team finally put together a good, solid half of play yesterday.  We still lost, but we were a discombobulated mess for the first half yesterday, which was par for the course so far this season (which, it should be said, has been highlighted more for injuries sustained to top players than anything else).  However, a couple of minor halftime tweaks and we outscored our opponents in the second half yesterday, 3-2.  Like I said, we still lost the match, as we have all season long, but maybe we finally will have turned the corner.

How about a little switch-up?

Do you like the new layout?  I thought I'd give it a whirl.  There are several interesting templates offered up by Blogger so I figure I'll go through a couple over the next couple of weeks to see which one I want to stick with for a while.  Feel free to let me know if you have a preference.

Friday video - Jimi Hendrix

Dude caught his guitar on fire.  The greatest guitarist of our generation.  Is there really anything else left to say?

Thursday video - The Who

Let's keep with the British Invasion (especially since I'm writing this last Tuesday evening, post-dating some music posts in the event my son has-been-already or soon-will-be-born).

Love, love, love the Who.  While I really like their stuff around the Tommy- and Who's Next-era, what I consider the pantheon of their catalog, the band's stuff before and after is also great.  And, their live performances are beyond reproach: 

Wednesday video - The Beatles

Here's one that's quick and easy.

There are literally 50 Beatles songs that are mathematically quantifiable as Freaking Awesome, so I can't really go wrong here.  The only drawback about Beatles songs is that the band effectively stopped touring after 1966, so there's really not much out there in the public domain of them playing anything from Revolver, St. Pepper, the White Album, Let It Be, or Abbey Road live.  Which is probably 75% of their original catalog.  Still, what is out there is so great.  But you knew that.  Enjoy.

Blogging will be sporadic for the forseeable future...

...as my wife might deliver our son any day now.  We spent all day yesterday at the hospital for a false alarm, but the doctor said that delivery would likely take place this week.  My wife is fine and the baby is fine so no worries there (and, in fact, the baby will be full term this coming Friday).  It is just that he'll be coming 3-4 weeks prior to when we were expecting, so we'll be doing some last-minute scrambling to get everything in order before the birth.

Long story short, if I get some time to breathe, I'll try to post some stuff (and maybe try to post-date some music posts tonight to pop up later in the week), but don't be surprised if a week goes by without a current post.

Friday video - Buffalo Springfield

This has been a long week.  For the second week in a row, a co-worker died.  I just need to get to Saturday, when the family has a trip to the pumpkin patch planned, a tour of the maternity ward scheduled, and of course, college football all day long.  Just something to distract me and hopefully elicit some grins and laughs (which I'm sure those things will).

And, in honor of those folks currently occupying Wall Street, a little 60's protest music.

We ALL have rights, right?

Bank of America's CEO says that it has a "right to make a profit" in defense of that bank's decision to start charging the must-discussed and vilified $5.00 debit card fee. 

Ok, then.  Don't get me started on the fact that Bank of America was given free money by taxpayers in order to save that $hitty company from its horrible investments in the subprime mortgage market.  Yes, I know that  BOA repaid the TARP funds in full, but if not for the taxpayers of the United States of America, BOA would not still exist.  So, as a thank you for rescuing BOA from the grave and for insisting that the banking industry, you know, didn't continue to engage in predatory and reckless practices, they've decided to make you pay if you use your debit card as anything more than an ATM card.  And, please note, that as I understand it, you will NOT be charged the fee if you keep a minimum balance of something like $20,000.00.  Because BOA doesn't want to piss off the rich!  How silly would that be?!?  No, its you poor saps (like yours truly) that BOA wants to hit with the fee.  Read that again:  Bank of America is targeting the not-wealthy people -- the poor people -- with the fee that is designed to make it a profit. 

So, yeah, I guess that they have that right.  This is a capitalist country, after all.

And, in that vein, we as consumers have a right to not leave our money with Bank of America. 

Everyone!  If you bank with a huge multinational banking conglomerate -- Move Your Money!  There are dozens of banks in your area (whether it be Hillcrest or Little Rock or Arkansas, or another state) that will gladly let you house your money there and not charge you for checking or the use of a debit card for purchases.  Be a capitalist!  Or pretend to be one!  Use the better and cheaper product!

This is your public service announcement for today.  I hope you consider it.

Don't feel much like blogging today

When I arrived at work this morning I discovered that a co-worker had been killed last night -- hit by a car driven by an 80-year old man who was driving shortly after dusk.  This, after another co-worker was murdered two Sundays ago.  Like two gut-shots, two very fine people are senselessly gone.  As you can imagine, my workplace today was somber and I'm just not feeling it.  I'll be back at you tomorrow night, perhaps.

Tuesday video - Pink Floyd

In honor of Rolling Stone not putting some half-dressed, teenage, talentless flash-in-the-pan on its cover for its most recent issue and instead going with a Pink Floyd cover, here's a little bit of that band's fantastic music.  This is pre-Dark Side of the Moon:

And this was taken from the 1994 Division Bell tour*.  Here's a great version of "Us and Them":

I was also always partial to Animals.  It is clearly the best album ever recorded using animals in an allegory about the human condition and human failings.  Well, at least since Pet Sounds ;)

*  I saw that tour, in Dallas, on April 28 of 1994, of that year with my good friends Andy, Carrie, and Constantino.  An unbelievable show.

Monday video - Fugazi

After taking a week off from posting videos, I'm back at it.  This time, how about something from Fugazi?

I saw Fugazi live in Little Rock at the Rivermarket pavilion ten years ago or so with my good friend MC Spookytooth.  I literally heard it on the radio on the way home from work that Fugazi was playing a show a couple of hours later and immediately called Spooky.  We met up shortly thereafter and reveled in the mosh pit and slam dancing*, which was made even better by Ian McKaye chastising the unruly crowd for acting like brainless, violent idiots.  How often do you get to see a hyper-literate, extraordinarily talented bandleader call out his core constituency for engaging in moronic behavior and have the targets of his derision love him even more for it?  A weird relationship, certainly.  Sufficed to say, the show was fantastic.

Here's another one of my favorites:

 One more? OK, twist my arm:

*  HillcrestBlogger was not one of the slam-dancing moshers.  I was not nearly in good enough shape ;)

Back after a long weekend

Well, as you can see from my lack of posts over the last handful of days, I've been a little busy.  It all started with my daughter running a fever on Thursday night, which segued into taking off on Friday to be home with her.  Then, Saturday presented a family baby shower for my wife in the morning, which bled into the Razorbacks/A&M game, which led to Saturday mid-afternoon (read: more football watching).  Sunday was chores and NFL, topped off by beers with my buddy Marco Sunday evening at the neighborhood pub.  And here we are.  Now that I've accounted for my whereabouts since Thursday night, here are some thoughts:

1.  The Hog game.  Wow.  Whoever is Texas A&M's offensive coordinator should first be fired, then drawn and quartered.  The Aggies could run at will all game long.  Why they didn't just run it 75 straight times is beyond me.  But they didn't and decided throw it, which led to some Hog chances and also lengthened the game.  Then, before you knew it, the Hogs D got a little better and made some timely plays while the Hog O geared it up and started scoring points.  By the time A&M went back to the run (after the Hogs took the lead), they failed to get a couple of yards when they needed it most -- on a 4th down play -- effectively ending the game. 

I've seen this phenomenon more times than I can count.  Some football coach (or, really, ANY sports coach) wants to do so many different things, "change things up", and look multi-dimensional, or whatever.  This, instead of what they REALLY should do, which is do that one thing they do best, over and over.  It was very clear very early on that A&M could run at will.  They didn't need to pass the football to win.  Sure, running the ball 75 times a game might get monotonous and bore the fanbase, but would the fanbase rather watch a somewhat-boring win or a multi-dimensional, exciting loss?  A&M fans know the answer to that*.

2.  So Bank of America is the worst company in the United States.  Well, there are others, but BOA is making the headlines with their recent announcement of the $5.00 monthly debit card fee.  The HillcrestBlog family has been transitioning out of BOA since the revelations about BOA's behavior leading up to and during the Great Recession (2008-current), but we still have a couple of random accounts there.  They are not used much and instead we retain them to sock away money into dedicated savings accounts.  At least we do now...maybe not for very much longer.  Instead, we moved our day-to-day banking to Delta Trust, a local, neighborhood bank.  So far, two years in, we're very happy**.  If anyone is listening, definitely move your money to a local bank and out of these huge Wall Street banking conglomerates.  Its better for the economy and you won't keep getting jerked around by the likes of BOA. 

3.  Ahhhh...the weather.

4.  Attention: runners.

5.  Mark your calendars, Hillcrest HarvestFest in two weekends!  Do you make a mean cheese dip? 

6.  Is this a movement?  I find it very interesting.  There's a website, but no real overriding organization.  What I do know is that Wall Street needs to be tamed.  Perhaps this is the beginning of something.  I guess we shall see.   

*  So do Nebraska fans.
**  Personal service, no phone trees, no lines at ATM machine, no lines at deposit window, no lines inside at teller window, easy and accessible on-line account and bill-pay, convenient location on Kavanaugh, etc.  

At home today...

...with a little girl recovering from a cold.  So, yeah, spent last evening at the Arkansas Children's Hospital after-hours clinic with my daughter, who was running a fever.  However, after some drugs and some good sleep, she's well on her way to recovery.  She is spending the day with me because she cannot be at daycare having had a fever in the previous 24 hours.  Not a big deal -- we're enjoying play time together.

Currently, she's back in her crib, doing her best to resist naptime ;)  So I figured I'd take a moment to write this quick post and say hello.  AND to wish everyone a happy, fall-like weekend.  Gotta run, looks like naptime is over!

Operation: Lose Weight Update and a Wednesday video (Joan Armatrading)

Wow, I totally blanked on yesterday's post, didn't I?  Yesterday was kind of a fragmented day (an eye appointment, another work-related appointment, friends dropping by after work, etc.) and I guess I couldn't get into my normal groove, leading to my forgetting to post last night.  No big deal.  I'll just double up today ;)

First, though, I'd like to note that, after a slight plateau (and some backtracking over the weekend) in my ongoing attempt at shedding some pounds, I've lost* a belt size and am back at my highest loss point so far (19 lbs).  Hooray for me.  Maybe I can hit TWENTY by the weekend?  That would be pretty sweet.  I'd like to be at thirty by the time my son comes in mid-November so I can spend part of my four-week paternity leave from work starting up a walking/running regimine.  I'd resisted so far because 1) I'd like to shed as much weight before running on a hard surface to help out my knees a bit more and 2) I'm still a little bit on the lazy side**, especially after I get home from work.  I'm hoping that during paternity leave, while my daughter is in daycare and my wife and newborn are napping during the day I can get out for 30-45 minutes.  I believe that if I'm down thirty by that time and if I have a month's worth of running/walking sessions, I could be down forty by Christmas.  In June I would have thought that was unpossible, but I think I see a path to that number.  Cross your fingers!

OK, on to a video.  While I don't think I'm overstating the case that I have a very wide breadth of music knowledge, especially established artists from the mid-60's through the late 90's, I'll easily admit that some slip through the cracks.  I'll credit my wife with introducing me more fully with Joan Armatrading*** in recent years.  How I never learned to appreciate her when I was knee deep in Blue or Tapestry, I'll never completely understand.  I guess better late than never.  This song is one of my favorites.

And this one is fantastic as well.  Enjoy.

*  Or is it gained?  I'm not sure what the proper term is.  In any event, I cinch the belt on additional belt loop, making the circumference of the belt circle smaller.  Whatever that's referred to, that's what I'm describing ;)
**  Aside from my Sunday afternoon soccer matches, in which I still fully participate for ninety minutes.  Goalkeeper, sure, but I'm out there the entire game!
***  I had actually heard of her before and knew she was "like Joni Mitchell" but hadn't ever listened to her music.

Hog game recap (ouch...still smarting)

Well, that was some weekend, wasn't it?  Fantastic weather and a solidly unfantastic Hogs/Tide game.  I haven't watched such a complete domination between two opponents that were allegedly in the same vicinity, skill-wise, in quite some time.  It is clear that the Razorback offensive line needs some serious work.  And it is doubly clear that, four years into Willy Robinson's tenure, the Hogs still cannot tackle a person carrying the football.  That being said, the Hogs were on the road, in a formidable and hostile environment.  Three of Alabama's touchdowns were scored unconventionally* and were not the result of a sustained, end zone-to-end zone drive.  And the Hogs were missing some very key players (Bequette and Knile Davis to pre-game injury, and Tenarious Wright to an injury during the game) whose presence surely would have helped the Hogs' cause.  But even if those things were in different and instead in the Razorbacks' favor, there still was no answer to the Tide's defensive front, both against the run and the pass.  We just got eaten alive.  No running game meant no play-action pass options and at least six defensive backs on every down.  Unless we tame that defensive front five, we never stood a chance.

If this game had been played on October 24 instead of September 24, I think the Hogs play much better.  We just weren't ready for Alabama.  On a brighter note, however, is that I do believe we will continue to improve.  This is why I still like the Hogs to win out, even against LSU on the last game.  A&M presents a challenge next week, although their pass defense was exposed by OSU pretty badly and I think the Hogs passing attack, while not quite as good as OSU's, is good enough to do the same.  And, let's face it, we're not going to face a better D-line than 'Bama's for the rest of the year.  But then it is Auburn at home, a terrible Ole Miss team in Oxford, a slightly better but still not good Vandy team in Nashville, and then South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi State all at home.  I believe those will all be wins.  And then LSU to determine who goes BCS bowling. 

*  A fake field goal, a punt return, and an interception-and-score.