The Blog with No Name

I just uploaded some pictures of my new Ranger. I’m sure I’ll get some more up later too. It’s pretty exciting to have a vehicle I care about and am very happy with (so far anyway). Of course, I’m already making a mental checklist of all the things I want to fix/upgrade. I think the first thing I’ll do after I get the money is get a spray on bed liner, which will cost about $250 I’m told. I’ll probably have to replace the tires in the next couple of years too. A subwoofer would be nice . . . but that is pure luxury so that’s way down on my list of things to get. Besides the system that is in there now is pretty decent. Also, I’m be considering some touch-up paint work next summer. The big tires kick up a lot of gravel onto the lower body, so there is some chipping in the paint. Hopefully that won’t be too expensive to get done.

I also need to find a place to take it off-road. Put that 4×4 and V6 to work.
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Currently listening to Allure from the album “Failure On” by Beloved (US)

I’m the proud owner of a new truck.

I was just thinking how this truck is exactly what I wanted. It’s a nice dark metallic green, has power steering, lift, a CD player, under $10k, good condition, extended cab, and alloy wheels. I bought the truck I linked to before. It did have a CD player, but it isn’t stock so they didn’t list it. It’s a great truck. I’ll post pics of it tomorrow.

Also, I traded in my old beater truck for $600. I was so surprised I got that much. My dad and I had agreed that I would be lucky to get $500. I was really glad to be rid of it too. It was starting to give me little scares when I was driving it around. It’s no fun to drive a vehicle not knowing if in the next minute it will throw you wildly out of control. Now my truck has dual airbags.

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Currently listening to Paralysis from the album “Paralysis” by Extol

The leaders of the big beer companies meet for a drink. The president of Budweiser orders a Bud, the CEO of Miller gets a Miller, the head of Coors orders a Coors, and so on. Until it’s Arthur Guinness’s turn. He orders a soda.

“Why didn’t you order a Guinness?” everyone asks.

Guinness replies, “If you guys aren’t having beer, then neither will I.”

Pulled from here.

Besides the obvious requirement of 4 tires, an engine, and methods of controlling the vehicle my next car must meet these requirements:

1. is a pick-up (just too useful to be without)
2. power steering (it’s really cool)
3. a CD player (music is important to me)
4. just a little bit of lift (just a little bit closer to heaven)
5. under $10k (because I’m saving my millions for something else)

I like this one except it only has a tape deck. I’m not sure if I can compromise on that.

I looking at Ford Rangers, but I’m open to Toyotas. Surprisingly, I’m not demanding manual transmission. I’m only a stickler on the manual when it comes to sports cars, so that means my Vanquish will be manual.
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Currently listening to My Hero from the album “The Colour And The Shape” by Foo Fighters

. . .is perfect in September. I’m pretty sure now that Seattle’s September weather is modeled after heavenly weather. It’s perfect in every way: sunshine, temperature, humidity, breeze, etc. Unbelievable really. And to think that in soon it will be drizzly for 6 months straight.
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Currently listening to Bend And Not Break from the album “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar” by Dashboard Confessional

Last night I went to a pretty darn good show. I posted a few pictures of the show here.

A local band called Emery played first. They were pretty good, but they cycled through vocalists fast. I think it was because their vocal chords didn’t have the stamina to keep up with the screaming bit. My suspicions were confirmed when one of the vocalists spoke at the end. His voice was really raw. He only did one song too…Anyway, they were pretty decent emocore or whatever you want to call it.

The Agony Scene played next. I already reviewed them here. This time I was convinced to buy the CD. I was pretty impressed with their energy, speed, and brutality (!).

Beloved played next. I had wanted to see these guys for a while. They were excellent as well, but I wished the main vocalist was miced better. He had a cool Guinness shirt, so they scored extra points for that. I bought their CD as well, I enjoy their style of emocore.

Figure Four played after Beloved. Not sure what their exact style is called but I’m not a big fan. I think I’ll call it jockcore because it seems a lot of jocks like them. The typical style is fast, simple, and usually militant in some way (militant in a good way usually). They had a girl on bass, which was different.

Norma Jean played last. They had an awesome set, complete with visuals, twitching, and high energy. Unfortunately it was next to impossible to understand what the vocalist was screaming. I was just glad when they played “Memphis will be laid to waste.” I have a little video clip of it here (2.6 MB mov). Enjoy (if possible). Norma Jean definitely puts on a good show. And to think I got to see all of these bands for $10!

Simon and Garfunkel are playing at the Key Arena later this year. Ticketmaster sent me an email about it and the tickets were listed as $200.50. I thought that was pretty steep. However, I checked their website again and now the tickets are listed as $50.50-$135.50. Strange. However, $50 to see Simon and Garfunkel. . .I just might get them. As one critic put it, the blending of their voices is “like magic.” I think I would agree.
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Currently listening to The End of an Anchor (Non-LP Version) from the album “The End of an Anchor - Single” by Dashboard Confessional

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97638,00.html

Wow.

“Bill Clinton is in California helping Gov. Gray Davis campaign. Because, you know, nothing makes more sense than having a recalled governor getting advice from an impeached president.” -David Letterman

Heh. Fun-nay.

I’m glad I’m dating a normal guy. - Jessica Nelson while watching TV.

Some of you may be aware that Seattle is considering a latté tax. If passed, this will add a 10 cent tax to every espresso-based drink bought in Seattle. This tax is suppose to go towards boosting pre-school teacher salaries and funding pre-schools for the lower class. I don’t drink coffee, so I’ll never pay this tax. I am only against this tax because of my general anti-tax principles. Anyway, I don’t want to get sidetracked from the original instance of silliness I wanted to highlight. In the Seattle-PI, they had a quote from one “Marilynn” who explained her reasons for why she was for the tax (keep that in mind, she’s for the tax): “A latte tax is indeed a dreadful way to fund early education . . . I learned long ago not to hold out for optimum, or even sensible, solutions . . .” Wow. Marilynn must be a dyed-in-the-wool, hardcore, until-death-do-us-part pro-tax individual. When I read this I was just flabbergasted. She’s supports something “dreadful”? What? How can you do that? She must have completely swallowed the lie that the end justifies the means. Also, her cynical outlook on social “solutions” further astounds me. Heck, I’m not even that cynical. Taking Marilynn’s advice is like taking advice on life from somebody who already has the gun in his mouth. She’s already given up on finding something sensible, why should we listen to her advice? Surely it isn’t sensible.

Finally, a federal judge has ruled that the families of those killed by the hijackings on 9/11 may sue airline companies and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This is just plain silly. If my car gets hijacked and then I die in an ensuing accident, I hope my family sues Ford.
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Currently listening to Powerslave by Iron Maiden

This is old news for me, but I thought it would be good to clear the air of this little frustration. I called Comcast a while back to figure out what the heck was happening with my bill. I had to wait for about 15 minutes before I finally got to talk to a living human being. They did have good hold music though, and that gets a big thumbs up in my book. I also have to say that they have the nicest customer service reps that I’ve probably ever encountered. So, after a short discussion with the rep I found out that the main problem is that the Comcast website sucks horribly and doesn’t update with the most recent bill statement regardless of whether I make a payment. So, for the record I’d like to amend comcast=crap to comcast.com=crap. Make it so.
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Currently listening to Kaliningrad by Havalina Rail Co.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve shopped at Amazon before. It’s nothing new to me. However, I just realized yesterday what an incredible experience it is when I bought some items there. Seriously, where else can you go to buy printer ink, a rare DVD, and an obscure book? Not at Walmart (though I really dig Walmart’s $5.88 DVDs). I was just amazed by the sheer scope of inventory it has, which has been greatly helped by becoming partners with thousands of smaller businesses. Surely, Amazon.com is a good fruit of capitalism.
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Currently listening to Problems and Bigger Ones by Harvey Danger

I uploaded three pictures from last night. I’ll post about Teatro Zinzanni later today hopefully. Right now I need to get some stuff done.
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Currently listening to I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry from the album “American IV - The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash