Allergies suck

Yup, they do.

Since nothing monumental has happened since yesterday, I shall move right into this week's anthem. I came across this little diddy that I simply could not pass up. Let's hear it for Billy Idol and "Jingle Bell Rock".

Seasons Change and So Do I

I have officially kissed my 20s goodbye. I have now joined the ranks of every single one of my friends (almost) in the third decade of my life. Do I feel different? Not really. Does this depress me? Not really. Except that I am still in school for another couple years. But that has been a bane for a while now. I expect the next two decades to be the best of my life. I will get to see my kids grow to adulthood and as that comes to pass, actively take part in their various interests (martial arts, music, football, etc.).

I appreciate the birthday wishes from those of you who called. Seppy, I am assuming by the comment in my last post that you are still without phone. Nonetheless, thank you.

So here are some of the things that have happened since I last posted:

My second child (I am no longer posting my children's names) just had a birthday on Saturday. We had a little party for him. Kristin's family and Jeremy's family came by for that. The winning gift was the Y-Wing my parents got for him. If he is not playing with it, it is right next to him...literally...like when he eats, watches TV, and so on. The Y-Wing is groin-grabbingly awesome, and I have been seen to play with it when the boy is asleep.

Mike Barr got fired from his job with the Arizona Cardinals. Apparently, the Bidwells didn't think too much of his place-holding abilities during field goals. They had no real issues with his punting - his main job. Don't confuse this Mike Barr with my friend Mike Bahr. I will miss the obvoius jokes assosiated with the name.

Jeff put a visible bruise on my chest the other day. I don't show bruises easily. His bear hugs are quite strong. It is Wednesday today, so I am sure I will enjoy the technique a little more.

I have once again been asked to aid in a demo at this month's graduation on Friday night. Of course, I agreed. Afterward, I plan to hang out with Mike for what he promises to be a night of "fun and games".

Tomorrow night, another anthem will be posted. For now, I understand I have a cake coming to me followed by training. Sounds like an alright birthday to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Boy, am I stuffed. As always, the family feast in Tucson was a success with all manner of food imaginable. I am now fat and happy. I hope Thanksgiving has been a good one for everyone.

Now that Thanksgiving is here, it is officially no longer too early to post Christmas music for the anthem. So I have decided to start with Twisted Sister's rendition of "Oh Come All Ye Faithfull". It is amazing how easily a band can recycle music they wrote over 20 years ago and just simply replace the original lyrics with that of classic Christmas hymns.

Early Festivities

• The Christmas season started for me on Saturday. As my last post states, Trans-Siberian Orchestra rolled through town as they do every year around this time. Since they are a decidedly Christmas act, it helps for one to be in festive spirits prior to the curtain dropping. It makes the experience even better. They delivered the same energy-charged rock performance they are famous for and the utility I experienced far outweighed the cost of admission.
  
  
• I got me a 360 today. All of the necessary set up is complete. Now maybe I can enjoy a game or two. I am going to definitely have to take Mike up on his offer to lend Halo 3 to me. Not just because that game is the reason I chose the XBOX specifically, but because I have a month of XBOX Live Gold to toy with. I plan to get into some multiplayer action almost immediately.

• Training was...uh...memorable tonight. Class began, and an hour later I walked out with a limp and a black eye. I learned first hand the effectiveness of stopping a kick with one's foot, and what happens when a person with 15 years of To Shin Do experience "accidentally" tramples all over you (making things look like an accident is a neat trick we learn over the years). I am glad to have had these experiences because I now understand the effectiveness of what we are learning. Besides, for any martial artist to truly excel at their respective arts, I believe such experiences are imperative. I look forward to learning more. The hard way if need be.

Christmas Jam?

Well, Saturday night I shall join my Uncie Paul and dear Aunt Kristi (and her sister and brother-in-law) for an evening of Christmas rock hosted by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Normally, I would post an anthem of the group I am going to see, but I think it may be a week too early to start putting Christmas music up (though TSO will be given a spot here very soon). So I am going to put the band TSO was in the 80's before they went on to be more of a production than a band. Enjoy the clearly non-Christmas stylings of Savatage and their song "Hall of the Mountain King".

Congrats Mike!

As Mr. Seppy posted in a comment on my last post, his brother's baby was born. I congratulate both Mike and Joey. Mike, I will bet a million dollars on your mother being possibly happier than anyone over all this.

I have had a bad case of the hard farts today. Fortunately for me, I know the sensation, so they have all managed to make their way into a toilet. I just hope that I don't inadvertently let one go training tonight.

Moving Sucks

If you disagree, you need psychiactric help. Fortunately, I had Jeremy, Dane (bro in law), Mike, and a couple guys from church help out. I thank the lot of them whole-heartedly. It went smoothly, but it took a lot out of me. It all hit me last night while I was in the shower. I am still a little exhausted. I hope I can recover by tomorrow. I have work and training. Fortunately, there is no school.

It would seem I owe Mike and Steph a steak. The Detroit Lions decided they needed to take a day off, so the Cardinals capitalized and walked all over them. The first quarter was some of the best defensive volleys I have ever witnessed. In either case, it did feel dirty rooting against the Cardinals. If there wasn't a steak at stake (hur hur), I would have applauded all good plays I saw without caring about the outcome. Truthfully, I love both teams equally. As promised, I will deliver a steak dinner. I have a nice can of Campbell's Chunky Salisbury Steak soup I plan to heat up for them. Just kidding. Mike gets the joke. I believe Outback was the designated steakery. Although, soup tastes good, too.

Happy Wednesday!

Well, I should be at the Nightwish concert right now, but I am not. Because of the move, I had neither the time nor money to drop on the concert. Sorry Mike...I can't tell you if Anette sings the old stuff as well as Tarja. I wonder if Jeff ended up going?

I couldn't go to train either. I do get to go tomorrow though.

Since I am scheduled to lose internet access tomorrow (I won't be back on until Saturday), I am going to have to post the next anthem today. As some of you may know, today is Gay Day (as are all Wednesdays). So I chose the gayest song I could think of that isn't emo. This is a band that has some gems and a whole smorgasboard (sp?) of crap. This is by far their gayest song. Here is Poison's uber ghey "Unskinny Bop".

Congrats, Jeff!

Tonight, Jeff was given his white belt test. He passed with the flying colors that should be expected given the nature of it. A lot of people might think of the white belt as simply the beginner, if not unimportant belt. I have in the past been guilty of such a thought process. But ever since I have been enrolled at this particular school, I have developed a more accurate concept of the belt. Like a lot of things I take with me at the dojo, Micheal explains to each new student the importance of the white belt. He even oges as far as to say it is the most important. The reason: because without the white belt, there are no others. The white belt is the symbol of the commitment a martial artist takes to becoming a black belt and beyond.

Anyway, I guess Jeff is now officially baptized into the art of To Shin Do, and my hat's off to him. I look forward to discovering what the style has to offer alongside him. Oh, and I am aware of how ghey that sounded. So take your shots, Mike(s).

Dodging Bullets

Well, it is official. We got our keys today and the painting process will begin Friday. I will not be painting as Kristin wants to do it herself. Therefore, I will get many hours with my boys over the days to come. It would seem I win overall. My time to recreate will be limited, but I still see some Guitar Hero 3 at Mike's house Friday night. A week from Saturday is the move. I am actually not dreading this one since all of our stuff has been making its way into various boxes and bins. Nothing will have been packed in haste. This is a first for us and good news for our helpers: I expect a very short process. The couch will be the only difficult item to manipulate through the hallways.

I suppose some music is in order and I now have access to some. The following anthem will likely be the only time Country ever shows up on my blog. This tune is on Guitar Hero 3 and has been covered by an enormous amount of groups spanning an equal number of musical genres. The reason is quite simply that it is one of the greatest song of all time. So here is a 1979 performance of "The Devil Went to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band.