Pork Chop Sandwiches!

A True American Hero

Props to Ian for showing me how to put clips on my blog. This one's for you.

Put That On My Review!

Free advertising for one of my least favorite beers. Good commercials though.

Grinds My Gears - R.F.

First, he tormented the Cubs when he was on the Braves. And I don't like the Braves. Then, he spurred the Cubs' contract offer to sign with a team that was even worse last year. He would have been a perfect fit at shortstop and at the top of the lineup. And if that wasn't enough, he now is the man responsible for putting Derrek Lee on the DL for at least 2 months. And the season is young enough and the Cubs are playing well enough to create some hope on the North Side. Until now. God, I hate you Rafael Furcal.

Well, there's always next year...

Happy Easter!

Sorry its a day late, but Happy Easter to all. Hope you were good this year.

Gracias to Chandler for the video entertainment.

Jacque Jones for MVP

Thanks for the reassurance Dusty. I was getting worried for a minute.

Loud Speakers Rule

I'm sitting at my desk this morning Peter Gibbons style. All of a sudden, a voice comes over the loud speaker. I didn't even know we had a loud speaker. I feel like we're back in grade school. Anyways, the voice informs us that the office is closing at 2pm to give us all a head start on this beautiful spring weekend. Sweet deal. I get to do some Good Friday boozin earlier than expected. Thanks mysterious voice on the loud speaker.

"Lisa S., please report to the principal's office. Wait, that's too obvious. Will L. Simpson please report to the principal's office."

Doesn't Grind My Gears - Office

A few months ago I learned I would be part of the work team going to our London office for a project in mid May. As I love travel and I've never been to the United Kingdom I was quite pleased. Plus the trip would be practically free to me and I'd get to see Benny Boom Boom, who will take me sight seeing to all his favorite pubs and passout places.

On Tuesday, after weeks of planning this trip with my team members and the folks in London, the trip was postponed. The London office all of a sudden said that wasn't a good week to visit. On the surface this wasn't a big deal. However, this almost became a Grinds My Gears segment for 2 reasons:

1. Pearl Jam is coming to Chicago in May and Teo got tickets. Unfortunately, the concert was the week I was supposed to be in London. I've never seen them live before so that sucked. Now, the tickets have been purchased and there are no extras for me. Dammit. Why couldn't the trip have been postponed a few weeks ago?

2. The talks on Tuesday resulted in the London trip being rescheduled for June. As I have another project already in place for June, I was booted from the trip. Nice. No Pearl Jam and now no London. And my manager has been out sick this week so I had no one to help me sort this out.

Then I got a call from my manager saying she was in the office today. I immediately set up a meeting to try and get my June project moved so I could go to London. Being the awesome manager she is, she immediately made some phone calls and my wish was granted this afternoon. She gets a gold star for the day. No, the week.

London trip is now penciled in for the week of June 12 and I'm happy. No Pearl Jam but oh well. I'll have plenty of time on the flight to listen to some Whale Song.

The Following Takes Place...

As cool as Jack Bauer is, Kiefer Sutherland may have trumped his own character. You'd be skipping too.

"I remember the first girl I slept with. She was seventeen, I was thirteen. I remember leaving her house after we'd done it, like, seven times, and I remember skipping to the bus stop, going, 'I've done it seven times.' And I was literally skipping."

GGW

If you find one, approach with caution. And please, do not feed them. Jello shots are ok though.

I Want Tha Gold!

"It could be a crackhead that got hold of the wrong stuff."

Brilliant Teo, simply brilliant.

It's About Time

Thankfully, our government is making sure the important things get done.

Grinds My Gears - Coldplay

First, let me start off by saying I like Coldplay. I'll admit that. I have several of their albums and enjoy many of their songs. Sure the lyrics sometimes aren't the deepest, as Dunsing put it, but the music is still good.

With that said, I know several people who went to the Coldplay concert last night here in Chicago (Mo & Dunsing, JB & Dana). I would have liked to go but this is definitely a band you bring a date to. You don't show up to a Coldplay concert with 4 dudes. Not cool.

I'm awaiting reviews of the concert from my friends tonight. As I love music and am not that busy at work today (typical Friday), I used the internet to look for the setlist and other people's reviews. I could not find the Chicago show but found other shows from the current tour.

Now here's what grinds my gears. I looked at the setlist and reviews for the show before Chicago. Good setlist. Great reviews. All seems good. Then I check out the previous show. Setlist looks similar. Wait, no the setlist is the same. Maybe the website is f'ed up. I proceed to check several more shows and realize the same thing - every setlist for every show is exactly the same. Wtf? Who are they Britney Spears?

Every review I read is great, except for the people who attended multiple shows. They have the same reaction. What's the point of touring if you're not going to change the songs? How do you intend to keep the "great live band" label if you have no surprises? Just do one show, put it on a cd, and sell it if this is your approach.

I would have been pissed if I went to the show and had seen a setlist beforehand and figured out halfway through that I knew every song coming up. Part of the fun of live shows is not knowing what's coming next, a sporadic change in a song, or playing cover songs.

I still intend to see Coldplay live someday as they really are supposed to put on a good show. But let's just keep it at one.