Happy Birthday, Mr Bahr

Today my good friend Mike turns 33. I wish him the best and I hope his dear wife is taking him out somewhere special.

With permission, my good friend Martin's blog is linked at right. Back in the day, he and I have been seen as one in the same. Our personalities are almost dead on with eachother. When we get together...well, the best advice is to just "sit back and enjoy the show" as my friend Mike (Seppy, not Bahr) put it in January. Anyway, feel free to check his page out.

Games, music, and hobos

It has been a week and a half since my last post. There is very good reason for this: the semester is coming to a close which means all my crap is due this upcoming week. Then the following week shall yield finals. Not much to report on the school end though.

Kristin and the boys were sick all weekend. It was a doozy for Jayden especially. You know your 5 year old is sick when they are perfect little angels. In that regard, it has been nice. On the other hand, one really has to worry when a child who is normally full of spunk says no more than three words all day. His fever was high Friday and Saturday, but Sunday it broke and he was about 85% his normal, exuberant self.

Saturday night I went to Mike's house to join him, Stephanie (his wife), Christina (Her friend), and John (a mutual friend) to play games. When I arrived, they were playing a male vs female game of Outburst. The ladies were leading, so the guys enlisted me as a reinforcement. We still lost. For some reason, the girls get cards like "American Holidays", and we get cards along the lines of "Women's footwear". Yeah, this happened last time too. The ladies are still the reigning champs in our little circle.

After outburst, we whipped out my game, Boxers or Briefs. If you do not own a copy of this game, you need to get one. As Mike so eloquently put it several months ago, in a party situation, this game is the nuts. This is a game where score is kept, but no one really cares whether or not they win. It is played strictly because it is hysterical. Mike and Christina tied for first, and John got last. John actually enjoyed his loss because the game is so well put together, that even if you lose, you win (from a humor standpoint).

Afterwards, Mike, John and I put our dork hats on and played some Magic. I am a much better Magic deck builder than I am a Star Wars deck builder. I didn't win much, but I built a great deck for what I had available.

On the Star Wars note, I am not sure if I mentioned this, but I have given the game up. Mike pretty much has too. He is selling all of our cards. Our lives are too busy to invest the HOURS it takes to build and test the decks. Screw it. This is sad because I do love the Star Wars theme very much.

And on I go to band. We actually met and played with Anthony and Jon. There seemed to be some chemistry to work with. At least to have another go in the practice room. Anthony is a fantastic riff writer. And Jon...well...let's just say that it felt so good to be playing with an actual drummer, I had to change my pants...twice. Now, we were all a hair rusty. Jon and Anthony had only practiced together a handfull of times and before that spent years out of the band world. Mike, Jeff and I were also a little rusty because we had not played...especially in a full band situation...in a very long time. We shall see what happens.

Oh, and great news on the summer concert front. Dream Theater will be in town 2, count 'em 2 days before Rush. My friend Mike from Maryland may be flying out at that time to see the shows with me. He is also coming to check Az out as a place to live. I figure that since he has been here once in January and once in October, it was high time to introduce him to our high temperatures. especially if he is thinking of moving here. The timing of his visit is tentative, and I should find out later in the week.

Another friend of mine from Maryland had a traumatic encounter this week. My buddy Martin was driving to pick his girlfriend up from work when some drunk homeless guy made his way into the street and in Martin's way. Unfortunately, Martin hit him. He was absolved of any fault by way of eyewitnesses and his own police testimony, but I can't imagine what that must have been like. It is a good thing he wasn't speeding (they figured that based on how far the wino "flew"). The guy did not die, but was rushed to the hospital. For all I know, he is still there. My thoughts go out to Martin tonight.

Ok, so that was the last week and a half. I will post more often once things at school settle.

I am nerd

So I went to my first Magic tournament today. I actually really enjoyed myself. Through those two sentences, I validate my subject header. Big whoop? Wanna fight about it?

Anyway, I did as well as Mike thought I would do. Due to being a newbie, he thought I would win one round. And guess what? I actually won one (each round is determined by a best 2 out of 3 game thing). I done Mike proud, methinks. This was a pre-release of the newest set which will be available to the public in two weeks. After paying a $30 entry fee, one recieves a starter pack of the current set (In this case, Time Spiral) and three booster packs of the new set that has yet to be released (Future Sight). Even if you don't win, worst case scenario, you walk out with some new cards. This was the case for me, but my effort was valiant.

In the first two rounds I got eaten alive. I was out in the first 15 minutes of the 45 they gave us to play each time. The third round, however, I won with a 2 and 1 . I won the first game, lost the secong, then won the third. I was proud of myself for not only winning a round at my first tournament, but also for being able to survive long enough to play a third game. The latter would be repeated in round 4.

I lost game one, won game two, then lost game three. Even though I lost the round, the win I had was more satisfying than the round I won against my previous opponent. Why? Because the guy I was playing against was the stereotype geek that thinks he is so cool because he is good at Magic. He started our round by trading cards with some loser for the first 5 minutes of our round. Then he more or less told me he was gonna mop the floor with me using the elements (whatever that means). So imagine his face when I beat him in that second game: a teenage ginger boy (red hair, freckles aaaalllll over and pasty skin) with a bad moppy haircut and nothing special about him other than his knowledge of Magic and D&D defeated by a person who admitted that he had only played the game a handfull of times. He looked like he was gonna wretch. Did he admit he lost fair and square? No. He just said "I know how I could have beaten you, I just didn't". His face said otherwise. What a bad sport. Red, if you ever read this, remember you lost to a newbie. And that you can cup said newbie's peaches. Werd.

Overall, the people there were not nerds as I expected, but career-driven socialites that use Magic, probably their last vestige of their youth, as a release and social activity. Maybe that is why I enjoyed myself. My last opponent was the minority. Funny how he fit the stereotype of how the world views Magic players.

The rollercoaster that is my band is now again on a high note. I came across another ad by a guitar player and drummer who said they were looking for a "powerful vocalist and bassist. Mike and I are that. But, we are a packaged deal with Jeff. When I responded to the add, the guitar player, Anthony said that another guitar player would be good to have. Before I got too ahead of myself, I let him know we have progressive leanings. Guess what? That works for them. I did explain the melodic, theme related prog we write, so there should be no real surprises when we present it. Then again, maybe we have painted a different picture than what becomes the reality. Who knows? This is why we agreed to get together and jam a couple times. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. But this time, it won't be from a lack of trying. Again, either way, a solid lead is a solid lead and should not be overlooked.

Rush is On

Today, Jeff bought tickets for the forthcoming Rush concert on July 27th. They will be supporting their new album "Snakes and Arrows". The new song on their website "Far Cry" is proof positive that after 30 years and one really crappy album coughvaportrailscough you can still make great music. The best part is that I get to see them with two guys equally as influenced and inspired by Rush as I am.

Now, we await the announcement of my other favorite band, Dream Theater's concert. This summer will leave me a heap of lassitude man after the wad I am certainly gonna blow after seeing these two bands within days of eachother. Rush, Dream Theater and Transformers...how lucky are we to be alive this year?

So close...so close

Well, the past week has been a roller coaster for the band. I came a cross an add Tuesday of last week of a guitar player and drummer looking for bass, vocals and a second guitar. Mike Jeff and I are just that. Add to that the fact that a drummer and second guitar is exactly what we needed, it seemed too good to be true. So I contacted the guitar player, Rob and we set a time to get together and meet. We met last Friday night at Four Peaks (a local restaraunt/microbrewery) with all concerned parties save for the drummer as he had to work. There seemed to be great repoire amongst the four of us, and we decided to give it a go. We scheduled our first Jam for this past Monday night.

Afterward, Jeff and Rob went to Jeff's house to jam a little bit before going to check a local band out. Jeff showed Rob Shinespark no doubt, and in so doing, introduced Rob to the 7-string guitar. Jeff told me the following day that Rob really liked the 7-string and had fun jamming.

Sunday night, I got an email from Rob saying that he and the drummer, Joe, had discussed things and decided not to proceed with us. He gave the following two reasons:

1. They decided the 7-string guitar style was not their thing.

2. Mike had dropped the Dream Theater bomb when explaining our writing style. And while Rob likes and respects Dream Theater, he fings them to be too technical for his playing.

My reactions to his reasoning were as folllows:

1: A 7-string guitar is an instrument, not a style. The song Jeff showed him is more or less straight metal, which is pretty much what Rob had shown us on his demos. The only fifference is that Shinespark is a bit faster. But no more complicated.

2. Yes, Mike did mention Dream Theater. But the reason I think he did is because when the term "prog rock" comes to mind, Dream Theater is naturally the first band one thinks of. That is, of course, for those who know what prog rock is. Mike admittedly doesn't write, or have the intention to write crazy technical pieces, but rather wanted to drive the point through that we are very influenced by progressive music, and our writing reflects it. Hell, I have been compared to Geddy Lee of Rush on more than one occasion...just a case of where my progressive leanings and influence come through. No, I don't try to sound like anything or anyone, but I guess it is just how I write.

All in all, I am glad they called it off because the progressive thing would have created an issue in the future. I also have no regrets in pursuing things with Rob and Joe because in the end, it was a solid lead I would have been remiss in passing up. So we are back to drummer and guitar looking.

In a change of subject, this weekend, I will be attending a Magic pre-release event with Mike. I am starting to understand the appeal of Magic. At this point it is a matter of moving money around. Because unlike the Star Wars events I have attended, there is an entrance fee for Magic. Mostly because I will be receiving product before it is available to the public. I am not even sure how much it will cost either. The following Saturday is a Star Wars tournament. I am not sure if Kristin will allow me to go to that. I suppose that if Magic turns out to be a no-go, then Star Wars is on.

Much Needed Rest

The preceeding week was the most physically and mentally exhausting week since I can remember. All week, I was feeling tired, sick, and I had extreme pain all over my body. It sucked.

This weekend, I finally got some decent sleep. That coupled with no errands to do (except get my snake some food), I did a whole lot of lying around.

Saturday, Jeremy (my brother) and his family came over to celebrate Easter. We haven't seen eachother in about a month, so it was a very welcome event. Jennifer (Jeremy's wife) made some chicken pot pies from scratch, while Kristin was baking a cake for Sunday night's dinner with her parents. I made the rather astute observation that life is never better when the men can sit on the couch drinking sodas and joking around, while the women slave over a stove to feed said men. Everything seemed to be the way it should be. :-)

I kid of course. I just hope we don't go a month again without seeing eachother. I miss getting to see my brother as regularly as I once did, and I definitely miss my nephew (Derrick) and niece (Hailey). Speaking of Hailey, I made some headway with her. She let me hold her without freaking out. This is good because she is a ball of cute and it is rather hard to not be able to hold her.

Sunday started with a hefty load of schoolwork. I unfortunately had to miss church because of it. Afterward, I got to watch the conclusion to the Discovery Channel's exclusive documentary on the newest tomb to be discovered in Egypt, KV63. The first part aired months ago. As I initially suspected, the concensus is that the tomb may have belonged not to King Tutankhamen's wife, Ankhsenamen, but rather his mother, Kiya. I am quite good at predicting stuff like this. If I had it my way, I would be an Egyptologist for a living, not a future Pharmacist. But very few people make decent money it in Egyptology, and well, I have a family to feed. But I would be lying if I said all this didn't break my heart a little.

Anyway, in the evening, We went to Kristin's mother's house for Easter dinner. Kristin's dad was in town, and it looks like he has gotten a job here locally that he can start in about two weeks. This is great news. A husband and wife should never live separately, and they have been doing so for about six weeks now. Currently, he lives in St Louis. Jayden and Joshua did an egg hunt and really made out on the candy. Grandma and Grandpa once again spoiled them. Good times.

The night will end with Kristin and I watching a movie, then I get to do it all over again next week. Here's hoping I can deal with my newfound demand on entropy a little better.

They forgot the onions!!!

Nothing happened today that is remotely interesting. Nothing except that I have discovered that Weird Al Yankovic actually made a video for one of his most genius endeavors yet. This is a spoof off of R. Kelly's Trapped in a Closet. The song is called Trapped in the Drive Thru. Enjoy!

Stike first, stike hard, no mercy sir!

Yup, that is exactly how I needed to play cards at the tournament. I didn't do so well. I lost both games by a considerable margin. Four games were scheduled, but due to a concert Mike was to attend later in the evening, we had to bust out after the third round. I had a bye on the second round.

The good thing is that I learned quite a bit about how my decks would fare against decks created by seasoned veterans with a decade of more experience than I have. Plus, it is always fun to road trip out to Eloy with Mike. We started the morning with the mandatory run to McDonalds to pick up a couple "sodium bombs" as Mike calls them (aka Sausage and Egg McMuffin w/ Cheese) and then we head off to Eloy. We broke for lunch and went to this little burger place called Encore. We went there last time, and it was instantly determined to be the lunch spot for all forthcoming tournaments. Lunch gratification is two fold: at noon it serves to satisfy any hunger with amazing (for the price) food, and then again at about 8 pm with a most impressive colon cleansing. Very satisfying.

Today I studied...a lot. Then Kristin (my wife) and I watched a movie after the boys went to bed as per our Sunday night tradition. We say Fearless. The movie was alright. Just another Hong Kong movie with all of the same elements of every other Hong Kong movie. But I dig that stuff, so I was amused all the way through.

This week: nothing really exciting. I have at least two exams at school, and work as usual. If anything of personal interest comes up, I shall post it.