hey all,

Come out to the biggest local show of the year this Saturday at Common Grounds!  Our goal is to sell out CG’s, so be sure to get there early!

Music starts at 10 sharp with Inuit Jargon, then The Most, then Morningbell, then Umoja!

Gonna be hot!

it’s $6

They’re doing conscruction on the courthouse where I work.  Today, they were testing the earth underneath the site of the new courthouse wing to make sure it was structurally sound to build on. 

The reason for this testing is presumably because they discovered the parking garage is built on a sink hole, and have had to do major reinforcement construction to “prop” the garage up.

The way you do this testing is by digging deep holes and detonating large amounts of explosives down in the holes. 

Today’s went something like this.  BOOM!

We knew it was going to happen today, so I planned to be at our office across the street instead of in the actual building.  It shook our office it was so intense. 

It was scary as F, even though I knew it was coming (i had 30 minutes notice), it wasn’t probably going to hurt anyone or anything, and it was being done by licensed construction companies. 

This got me to thinking about what it would be like living in Israel or Iraq or any other part of the world we’ve messed up (in all fairness, many of them messed themselves up with only minimal help from us).  That shit would be happening all the time. 

Gets you thinking.

ps: i also got trapped in the elevator today.  It sucked.  20 people crammed into it before we got stuck too.  I yelled at them.  I’m not even joking.  I actually said “Why did so many of you try to cram in here?”

Tonight was the last University of Miami football game at the Orange Bowl ever.

Imagine if the Swamp shut down or if Doak Campbell got demolished.  It’s an institution that has housed so many moments of history it’s almost incompresensible.  All day long, as I read each newspaper homage or heard TV or radio pieces, I was getting a little misty eyed.  This was the scene where I witnessed many of my greatest sports memories.  This was where I saw wide right 3 and wide left 1.  This was where I saw the Canes go undefeated on their way to the first national championship in 10 years.  This was where I watched them win 30+ home games in a row.

But this was also where I constantly feared for my life, got urinated on, watched a friend get beaten bloody, and all those other unsightly Miami happenings.

It was almost appropriate, then, to watch the Steel and Cement monster go down in a fit of disgrace. 

If you didn’t watch, the Canes lost 48-0 in the biggest shutout EVER.  At least we managed to break one more record before it was all over. 

Also, people were tearing apart the bleacher seats in a feeble attempt to take home a souvenir.  It was disgraceful. 

At halftime, the crowd booed the team off the field louder than they had cheered the whole night (I booed too, they were pathetic). 

By the middle of the 3rd quarter, it was half empty, by the 4th, two thirds empty.

It was sad in many ways.

I did, however, run into two old friends who I haven’t seen in years.

After all was said and done today, I find myself slightly surprised to say that you will be missed, Orange Bowl.  May you ride off into the sunrise over the east endzone palm trees and over the city of Miami skyline.

 

I’m going thru my old photo files on my comptuer that I rarely check and found this gem.

When we started our first legit webpage back when, I wanted to make a flash trivia game called “Pop Quiz with Ed “Too Tall” Jones.”

Here are the images I created

alas, it never became a flash game.  I think it might serve us better here

Real World

skip ahead in the clip till there’s approximately 2:05 remaining (clock should read -2:05)

Did everyone fall back last night?  Wow, an extra hour of sleep.  I love it.  Although, I hate it getting dark early. 

Anyway, here’s the writeup we got in the Ocala Star Banner last week.
:

Morningbell at the Appleton

BY DAVE SCHLENKER
GO Editor
Full disclosure: I, Dave Schlenker, am a friend of the band Morningbell. I have been to their shows, worn their T-shirts and even bought their stupid buttons with robots.

Fact is, I hired Travis Atria - the band’s lead singer/guitarist - as a writing intern in Gainesville. He’s pictured up top. Funny guy. Great writer. Sleeps til 2 p.m.

His brother and bandmate, Eric, is equally funny and great but is gainfully employed.

I even hired the quartet to play my wife’s 40th birthday party (two actually showed).

But there is a good reason I have latched on leechlike to Morningbell: They are really, really good. They ape The Beatles and The Flaming Lips, but they remain strangely original. This is a full-blown rock band with heavy psychedelic and pop edges.

Bias be danged; these are simply stellar, smart, somewhat geeky (except you, Stacie) musicians whose CDs offer screaming guitar solos, lush soundscapes and concepts involving sea monsters.

Their live show, however, is the yummy, rubbery film crowning a most delicious banana pudding. It’s all about the fun. In Gainesville, they are known for their $100 light show (all the lighting effects $100 can buy).

And you, my fellow Ocalans, can join my world tonight. Meet my friends, as the ‘Bell plays the Appleton Museum’s After Hours concert. The event starts at 5 p.m., whereupon the band plans to play music from all three CDs in their entirety.

May God help us all
http://www.ocala.com/article/20071101/ENTERTAINMENT/211010318/1016/ENTERTAINMENT&template=storydetails

Hey!  The Real World used a clip from “Octopus” last night! 

Big time baby!