In Which I Really Get Back In The Habit / Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Three days in a row eh? I bet you thought I lost it! Well I'm here ready for another entry! Not that I've really got much to write, I didn't really do anything today...
This driving at the speed limit thing is working out fine! I get to places in the same amount of time (pretty much) and it's less stressful, and I get to actually listen to music rather than have it playing while I'm concerntrating on driving fast. There's certain time I get an itchy foot, but I just put it on cruise control and forget about it.
Like I said I haven't really done anything today. Studied a bit (not really enough), played about on the computer a bit, and that's about it really. I went to practice for the church band this evening, there's only going to be three musicians there and (excuse me for not being modest) the three best musicians at that, and I actually already know all but two of the songs we're doing so I have a feeling that this Sundays service is going to rock the rafters! Woohoo!
What else? Ash said I should tell you all what I'm thinking to make this more interesting, but to be honest my mind isn't the most interesting place to be. What interesting things did I think about today... The Shins are a grower, second (or maybe third) time listening I'm actually enjoying their kooky psychedelic pop. Same with Blackalicious' most recent album. First time round I couldn't work out any of the words because they were all going too fast (maybe I'm getting old after all I can't stand all that nu-metal stuff. Too many loud guitars mot playing a tune...) but the third time round I could and they're actually pretty good.
I've been spending more of my time listening to lyrics, because I'm not a very wordy person (in case you haven't already noticed!) I listen to music instead of words. Really it doesn't matter if there's only four word in a song as long as it's catchy! Recently however I've been doing more listening and some of the words to some songs are actually very good. Even in songs I thought were awful before. What's the name of that rubbish song on the radio? The one that goes I don't wanna know/ just keep it on the down low. I think it's by R. Kelly. The words aren't too bad though, an interesting take on the love song about some dude that doesn't want to know that his woman is cheating on him because he loves her too much. It by R Kelly though, so I couldn't possibly ever actually like the song. There's far too many bad points to it, it's using a beat that has been ripped off too many times, and it's just rubbish. I hope he didn't write the words, otherwise I'd have to give him a bit of respect..
That's good enough right? I don't really think I thought of anything else apart from stuff that'll make you feel sick like I'm so blessed to have Ash as my wife blah blah blah.
Bye Y'all!
/Hopped!
9:48 PM
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In Which I Get In Trouble With The Law / Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Yup, I got busted. 70mph in a 55mph zone. $171! I'm not going to do that again in a hurry. A great start to the day.
I came home and cleaned our room for the cleaner. That's something I don't understand. I have to clean for a cleaner? What's she going to do? Oh well, we've got a clean bedroom now.
Joe and I went out to play some golf in the afternoon. We played three holes and it started to pour down. There was a little cover in the middle of the course so we just sat there and looked at the wet. I actually saw a bit of lightning strike ground, about 100 metres away from us. Boy, was it loud! CRACK! It took a limb off a tree, very exciting! It didn't really make up for a day of lost golf, especially with me hitting the ball pretty well. I wasn't really getting it to go in the right direction or distance, but at least it was actually going up in the air, rather than along the ground some of the time.
I went and picked Ash up, needless to say I was doing the speed limit his time!
Then Dianne took us out to Mike Anderson's, the fish place. I had fried catfish. Very tasty. We had crab fingers to start with. I was about to say "Why don't we get those crab claw thingys?" When I realised - they are crabs fingers! Silly me!
Well we're not going to Tulsa anymore, I kind of messed that up by getting a ticket. Oh well, we live and learn. I guess some of us have to learn a little more and live a little less!
Using Sarah's (hello Sarah!) suggestion to start with...
Till Tomorrows post...
/Hopped!
9:18 PM
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In Which I Do a Short Entry So I Can Get Back In The Habit Of Doing This More Regulary Again / Monday, June 28, 2004
Ok, back on the annoying computer, so this will be a shortie. I recently got
Fruityloops on my computer. Stupid name, serious programme. It's a bit of professional music software, as used by the likes of Apex Twin and Fat Boy Slim, and it's the coolest thing I've ever used. Easy to use (one you've gone through the 100 page "Getting Started" manual) but with very good sounding results. You'll hear drums for (at least) one of the tracks of my Godzilla album on it. I've been working on it today.
We've finally managed to book the place that we're going to stay in in Florida. It's called
Ambrosia Delight. Mother likes the colour, so everything is OK with that! It's got 5 bedrooms so if anyone else decides they can make it there will still be space.
We had our homechurch thing tonight. There was only four of us again. It was good though, we all learnt a lot, and had a good time.
Sunday was good at church, there was about 70-odd people at the contemporary service, a new high! I think it might have had something to do with the barbeque afterwards, but hopefully we impressed enough for people to want to come back. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I got compliments on my guitar playing ability even though the monitor wasn't working too great so I couldn't hear myself.
I never know what I should say at the end of my posts you know, should I just leave it? Or should I say goodnight? It feels wrong to me just stopping, but who knows? Answers on a postcard please!
/Hopped!
9:48 PM
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In Which I Really Get Inspired! / Saturday, June 26, 2004
Don't ask me where it came from, it's just here in my head... I'm going to do an album based on the life of Godzilla! I already have the outline of the first song, but it's going to take some major research for me to complete it. What an awesome project! The might, the majesty, the tragedy! Maybe it'll all sound more real than it looks! Boy, I'm excited. I bet you are too right? Well give me time. It'll come soon enough.
I also wrote a song yesterday. It's called Cheeseburger and Fries. The chorus goes:
Huh! Cheeseburger and fries
Huh! Make mine biggie size!
okay, so I wrote the lyrics in a couple of minutes sitting on the crapper. The music is maximum riffage though. All I've got to do is find an inexpensive web host of some sort that has a large enough bandwidth and enough space for my creations to reside and listened to an I'll be able to put them all on the internet, so you can understand what I'm going on about. Also Dave and Tim have this song on their computers so you could ask them. There's my music site at the moment, with a couple of songs on (only one of them written by me though) at http://www.geocities.com/affekopf10 . It's a kind of bodged site, but it's the music that's important, not the way it looks... Right?
Anyhow, so I've been up to that recently. I forgot to tell y'all the other day, I went on a ghost tour round New Orleans with Auntie Sari (pronounced Sarah - it doesn't make any sense to me either!) and Uncle Gaylon, a couple of Sari's friends, Dianne and Ash. It was very interesting. Lots of spooky stories. They used to bury their dead on the levee in the middle of the city, but as the rest of the city is 15- 20 feet under sea level as soon as there was a big storm the bodies used to get unearthed and drift down into the French District. There's been lots of spooky goings ons in the French district. A sausage maker minced his wife and got haunted by her, two ladies camped outside a spooky mysterious convent in 1974 and were found in the morning decapitated and with no blood in their bodies (apparently there's usually at least 35% left after decapitation), and lots of other spooky things. It was bloody hot though, and it was a a walking tour. New Orleans is the third sweatiest city in the states. It proved it that night. You could work up a sweat just from standing still! Not a place to visit in the summertime.
Yeah I saw the football. We were robbed. I'm glad I don't live in England now, otherwise I'd still be hearing about it. At least I can forget about it and get on with the rest of my life! Who decides who the referees for the matches are going to be just out of curiosity? Is it anything to do with the host nation? Not only was it a Swiss ref, but the linesmen were Swiss as well. It all seems a little suspicious to me. Oh, if you don't know, we beat Switzerland 3-0 a couple of matches before, it's not that I have anything against the Swiss or anything. Actually I'm suspecting it's the other way round!
Cresta (my sis-in-law) is here, she's left Michael. She was basically just sick of being a doormat. The real bad thing about it is that she goes to school in Jackson Mississippi and now she's living here (at least for the time being), about a days drive away. Hopefully she'll be able to transfer down to here, or wherever she ends up living. I hope she gets away from Jackson, I've heard Johnny Cash sing about that city!
Ash and I are going to go to Tulsa. We're going to meet up with some of her buddies. Should be fun!
Anything else of any real interest? I don't think so. Have a nice Day!
/Hopped!
9:50 PM
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In Which I Do A Post Because It's Been A While. It's Going To Be A Quick One Though. / Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Alright, so I haven't done this in a while. I've been studying hard for my insurance licence exam ,and conformation. I've also been pretty inspired recently, I've written two songs and I've got a couple more going round my head which I'll have to get out before I forget them! I'll put the songs on my
"band" website once I get a chance. It's still work under progress though, so don't expect much exciting once you're there!
I watched the footie on Monday. The best $25 I've spent in a long time. I can only watch England matches on pay-per-view. I would've asked for my money back if we'd lost. No chance of that with Rooney playing though. I can't believe that boys talent! Come on England! If we play like we did in the first half all the time we could win this thing you know! I wouldn't be too surprised if we did, after all the rugby team waited until I left the country before they won the world cup! I guess I'll have to fork out another $25 for the match on Thursday. I can't very well miss it...
It's kind of a double edged sword though. It's good to watch England play, especially as it's BBC coverage of it, and I don't have to put up with some know-nothing yank telling me useless crap, I can have Gary Lineker tell me useless crap instead. The bad side of it is that I watch the games alone. No one else to cheer with. No pub full of happy people to go and join after the game. In fact, if it wasn't for Fox Sports World I wouldn't know anything about it. I missed the first two games because I didn't know when they were. Can anyone in England say the same thing? If anyone can I say leave you house once in a while. If not that then turn on the TV and find out!
Ash and I have been house sitting for Jo and Lloyd again. They went and saw the Grand Prix at Indianapolis last weekend. Formula one is also another non event over here. Too many right turns for most Americans to get to grips with (comparing it to Nascar, see?) We had a good time. The Sunday service was the best one in a while, we actually got a round of applause at the end. That's not normal, it's just sometimes your natural reaction is to clap if you've heard some good music. I'm glad to have been a part of it. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so inspired? The major difference this Sunday? The band prayed before we played, so maybe there's something in it! We'll have to do that again.
Joe and Dianne have gone to Nashville for the week so Ash and I are house-sitting here now. It's harder here because the puppies are right little brats and there's no fence, so we can't just let them out to run about. That's why this is a quick entry. I've got to be up at the butt-crack of dawn to take them out. Joe might not mind getting up at five o'clock to walk the puppies and feed them, but I do! Really they should've been trained to wake up later, it would've been better for everyone.
Anyhow, that's why I'm going to bed now. Goodnight! Oh, I'm planning on emailing everyone this everyday I write it (if it turns up in my inbox like it says it should) for all the people too lazy to bother clicking on a favorite once a week. I means that I won't get as many hits, but more people will be reading it.
Oh, and Uncle Bill get well soon. You're in my prayers.
/Hopped!
9:02 PM
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England 3-0 Switzerland / Thursday, June 17, 2004
It even makes ME the American bird excited. I listened to the match on BBC Radio online at work. Still wish that I could've gotten a few glimpses of Owen.
/Hopped!
1:40 PM
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In Which I Say Hello / Sunday, June 13, 2004
Hello!
/Hopped!
10:13 PM
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In Which I Make The Truck Legal Again / Friday, June 11, 2004
Sooo, straight to it. It's late. Monday: I watched
Sexy Beast Which is still a very good movie. Tuesday I went and got tyres for the truck. Four hours and $650 later I come out of the place with four brand new tyres. Actually that was Wednesday. What did I do on Tuesday? I'm talking to myself there, I don't expect you to know! Not much I think. Oh hold on it was on Tuesday I watched Sexy Beast, not Monday. Sorry! I already told you about Monday.
Where was I? Thursday I went to get a Licence plate. After two hours of waiting They told me that I needed Ash's signature. Grr... On my way home I met a smart mouth copper. He was sitting in the middle of the road (in his car, not like in a deckchair or anything, that would just be silly) and I drive up to his window, and he says "Where do you think you're going?" I say "Home" "Why do you think I'm sitting in the middle of the road here?" "Ummm..." (What I wanted to say is "That's why I'm driving up here to your window, dumbarse") "There's someone moving house, you'll have to go around." Thanks. I've never met a mouthy copper before, even when I'm being arrested by them. Maybe it's because they've got guns here...
Ash and I watched
Replacement Killers that evening, which is pretty crap to be honest. Chow Yun-Fat is his usual cool self, although he does come across a lot cooler when
John Woo is directing him. I was just looking at the films they made together and Hard Boiled's actual translation is Hot-Handed God of Cops, Ah those crazy foreigner! By the way if you like action films then watch Hard Boiled and The Killer to see how they should be done.
I went to the dentist because my gums were hurting, he said I had a gum infection, so I'm on some kind of (strong) pain killer and antibiotics. He also said that I'll need to get my wisdom teeth taken out to stop it happening again. I wonder how much that'll cost. Too much probably! I went to look at guitars in the afternoon. I'm going to get a
Riviera as soon as I can afford it. Boy, does it sound sweet! This has given me a reason to study proper for the insurance exam, so I should be taking that in about a fortnight.
This morning I actually managed to get the licence plate after another two hour wait. Then I took Ash to the doctor, she's had a stomach virus for the last week and it wasn't getting any better. So she's on some kind of drug that knocks her out too. We just have to make sure that we take them at the same time so we can sleep together!
We went to see
Shrek 2 this evening. Boy is that a funny movie! Although there were some bit that I found funny and no-one else seemed to (eg. Donkey and Shrek in a bar and the bartender says "Why the long face?"), so I was the only person laughing in the cinema. I'm I glad that it was dark! It couldn't be as good as the first one, but it was still funny. A bit of film reference overload in the beginning, it does start to calm down after a while though. I didn't realise that Jennifer Saunders was in it. Oh yes they all go on about Antonio Banderas but no mention of good old jenny! Oh well. I recommend it. Now we have to go and see Harry Potter (we chose shrek over Harry because of Ash's illness. She could've lasted an hour and a half but almost three hours? That would've been pushing it!) Anyhow, the wife has gone to bed, so I guess it's time for me to pop my pill and join her!
/Hopped!
11:16 PM
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In Which I Write Stuff, Just Because / Monday, June 07, 2004
Where was I? Oh the poor puppy. *sigh* I guess I'll get over that. Apparently dogs don't go to heaven. They haven't got any spirits. Bummer.
Ash and I have been house-sitting again for Jo and Lloyd. It's been nice, I've cooked burgers and steaks on the grill, both were very yummy. Maxie is a happy puppy. We've been watching
Northern Exposure on DVD, I forgot how good it was. Very entertaining.
What else? Well tonight was supposed to be the first follow-up bible study to Alpha that Ash and I are organizing. Ash wasn't feeling well today, so I had to do it by myself. I was going to, but only two other people showed up (there was supposed to be 10-15 people) and the person who was supposed to be looking after the kids didn't show up either, and one of the people that did show up came with her two children. So really it would've only been two people. Had it've been 4 people I would've gone ahead with it, but I don't see the point in starting a 9 week bible study when less than half the people showed up. Hopefully next week will be different. I think I might just have to give up organizing things, what with the Florida trip getting lots less people than I thought, this course being the same. I guess I'll just have to give people a chance. Patience, patience.
What else have I got to say? Dunno. Nothing else interesting has happened really.
Oh yeah, on Saturday I helped Gordon and Stephie move into their new house, they've moved to Baker, which is on the other side of Baton Rouge. It's a nice little house, with a big garden which is good for the puppies. They lost a kitty in the move. After searching their old neighborhood for half the night the y gave up and went to bed, they were just explaining to the other kitties that they have lost a brother when they heard a cat meow but it was neither of the two they were talking to. Somehow he'd managed to get into the box under the bed and be transported in the back of a pickup truck to the house! So that's a great relief.
Well, I think that really is all the interesting stuff I've got.
I guess to get your comments I could leave you with a deep theological question, one that's been nagging at me for a while. Here we go: What about other religions? People have been telling me that they're wrong. Does that sound like a forgiving God to you? "As long as you believe in me I'll forgive you." Sounds a bit bigoted to me, which doesn't fit in with the image that Christians have been given of our sinless God. Does that mean that Bigotry isn't a sin? Of course it is, after all we're supposed to love each other as we love God. So that would make him a hypocrite as well. So I guess it must be alright for people of other religions. Either that or our perfect God isn't so perfect after all. I still think it's important to be a Christian, after all Jesus died for my sins, if that isn't enough of a reason to love him I don't know what is. Anyhow, I know that's more than one question, and I kind of answered them myself, but it doesn't mean that there is only one answer!
/Hopped!
9:21 PM
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In Which Good and Bad Things Happen / Thursday, June 03, 2004
I guess I'll start from the beginning. It was Memorial Day this Monday, so it was an extra long weekend. I was helping Joe on Saturday in the garden. So that was a very tiring but pretty uneventful day. Sunday however was less tiring and more eventful. I played in church, it was just me and Mariah and Bob in the band, which is just as well really because we would've outnumbered the congregation by quite a bit if everyone in the band turned up! Still we were playing songs I like, so it all went pretty smoothly, and I enjoyed it. That's part of the good news. I went to eat a Jasons Deli (Meatball po' boy - tasty) Then I went back to the church and was helping with the refurbishment, It al looks very good, almost like a proper church, and it's much larger. There's a screen that comes down from the ceiling and a little sound booth at the back. It all looks very professional! So I was helping them while Ash went home to get our swimming costumes.
The reason for that was because we were going to a party at Angie and Doug's house and they have a swimming pool. Doug cooked some ribs, as did Joe, but he forgot to take them out of the smoker when he left for church in the morning so his were burnt. He wasn't going to turn up empty handed so he grilled (barbecued - don't ask me what the say when the grill something. It's all a bit confusing) some ribs. A great time was had by all, drinking, talking, and swimming. i left my sandals there. That's the first bit of bad news.
So that was the weekend. Apart from the extra day of course! I'll tell you what Ash and I did during the day later, it's a surprise. In the evening we watched The Secretary. A very strange film. It's about a sadist boss and a masochist secretary, err... Realizing each others perversions. That said it's not really erotic. Oh there's erotic parts in it alright, but they come across more disturbing with the rest of the film. The reality behind the fantasy. It's a good film though.
Tuesday. I saw Norm, he's back out of rehab, and he's found God and lost drink/drugs. Sounds like a fair trade to me! Well he's looking much fitter and better than he has in a while. I hope he's regained some motivation so he can go and get a job. Talking about motivation, I'm kind of lacking in that myself, I'm going to have to study... I guess that's a bit of bad news as well.
wednesday. This is where the really bad thing happened. I'll tell you about the rest of my day first, it's just a warning so you're not too shocked. I didn't really do much during the day. I went to band practice in the evening, that was fun. Lot's of good songs to play again. Here's where the bad news happens. On my drive home there was two puppies playing in the street.... I hit one. I mean hit it full on, I could feel it go under both my tires. Not a pleasant feeling. The only good thing about it is that I didn't hit both of them. Now there's going to be a family missing their new friend, little kids crying wondering where their little puppy has gone, the other puppy whining wondering where it's sibling is.... I feel awful about it. I can shift the blame to them I suppose. They should've locked their dogs up properly. I can't lump them with my blame as well as them blaming themselves. That was a bad night.
Something else happened last night, but I didn't find out about it until this morning. Someone came round to the house and stole Joes LSU and American flag and my Union Flag! The LSU flag is irreplaceable, and the American flag is $35 worth of flag, and my nationality isn't recognized in the neighborhood anymore. That's it. It's time for bed.
/Hopped!
10:15 PM
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