Fuzzy Bunnies

 


Two words: Donnie Darko

The Rides! The Rides!

 

My 7-year-old wouldn't shut up about going on the rides. From the moment he was informed that the family was going to the NC State Fair, that's all he would talk about.

Then we got to this junior roller coaster.

He changed his mind.

My wife was bummed.

We used to be coaster afficianodos before we had kids: Magic Mountain when we lived in Los Angeles and Kings Dominion in Virginia were once-a-year at best destinations.

Food Vendors

 


I kept it simple and stuck with a hot dog and a piece of pizza if only because they were $4 a pop each. My wife tackled a $7 turkey leg - a homage to the days when we were courtin' and we'd go to Rennaisance Fests for shits & giggles.

I dig this pic for reason I can't explain.

Rock Like War

 


Bill Buckley of Cobra Kahn...


Cobra Kahn played a reunion set last night at Hell on the east side of Chapel Hill. It'd been ten years since the band had graced the clubs of Chapel Hill. Back in the day - when Chapel Hill was a haven for indie rock and bands like Polvo, Archers of Loaf and Superchunk reigned supreme - Cobra Kahn was the one band I could rely on to shudder the foundations of any club with their thunderous dirge. They were heavy but they weren't metal. They had aligned themselves more with the Minneapolis Am Rep bands or NYC's Unsane than anything coming out of Chapel Hill at the time.

And like most bands, just as they were starting to be appreciated by the locals, they broke up.

But last night they returned for one brief night and for a fleeting moment, I was transported back to the mid-90s and the now defunct, long forgotten Lizard & Snake club when I used to watch these guys wretch and heave and spit vitirol and vile from their speakers and mouths.

Sometimes you don't know how much you miss a band until things like these rare reunions come along. I glad they returned, if only for a night, because within those foggy memories came inspiration.

And I'd forgotten what it really means to have your ears ring the day after...

City Of Manning

 





















A couple of weekends ago I got a speeding ticket in South Carolina.

So not wanting to pay a hefty fine and get some points tossed onto my driver's license and have my insurance go up, I drove over three and a half hours each way to go to court in Manning, SC, in the hopes that I would be able to get my fine and charge reduced.

I had to drive my truck, not the Buick Regal I got the ticket with, because my wife had to have the Buick to pick up the kids. My truck is a beat-up Ford Ranger I've had since '92 and has a tape deck with only one working speaker and no A/C. Needless to say, I wasn't stoked to drive this thing to South Carolina.

Oh and SC had record temps - it was 95 degrees.

When I got to Manning, a small town off the I95 corridor, I was shocked to find out just how small a town it was and even more shocked to find out the size of traffic court.


Here's some things I found out about Manning:

- It was first settled by the French Hugenots
- 63 percent of the population today is African-American
- The median household income in $22,483
- In 2003, the population was less than 4,000
- It is equi-distance between Maine and Miami

Fascinating facts about one small town in the Southeast US no?

I can tell you that my fine was reduced to $76.50 and that my points were dropped from 4 to 2. So you can guess that making the trip to this bucolic one-horse town was worth it. But I did feel like I was a bit character in some B-movie horror flick walking around town (one block!) passing three churches, the town's post office and the town's fire station.

I heart the South...

Religion Is Everywhere In The South

 

You can even find it in the shadows.

Mill Street, Manning, SC.

Seven Inch Vinyl Is Alive And Well My Friends

Over the course of the summer, I picked up a bunch of seven inch vinyl records. I have to say that when it comes to punk rock I find the seven inch to be the best way to have your music presented. Most songs are short, you can always opt out for 33 rpms if need be, and you still have the ability to make cool artwork and include a lyric sheet that doesn't need a magnifying glass to read.

During the course of my band's existence, we've managed to meet not only jaded old fucks like ourselves who still enjoy a good Flipperesque groove or hollerin' vocals but also the younger generation who still uphold and revere the finer traditions of underground punk music by still putting out seven inch records.

And even - gasp! - cassettes.

So now I've finally managed to get off my ass and write about some of these records because well I was moved to write about them.

Crossed Eyes
Rattled
(Sorry State Records)
This is the debut from the pop punk phoenix that rose from the ashes of Raleigh's Street Sharks. And when I say pop punk I mean that the music that lies here within contains melody which is often lacking and overlooked these days. This is the stuff fanzines like Razorcake go apeshit over. Smart lyrics and crisp art direction to boot. Soon to be Sorry State Records best seller.

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side one wins.

Wasted Time
No Shore EP
(Grave Mistake)
I recently saw these guys and was completely blown away by their enthusiasm and - most importantly - their delivery of old school hardcore. Reminds me a lot of Agnostic Front's early Victim In Pain record. This EP definitely takes me back to being 20-year's-old and mad at the world but without sounding contrived:this is angry music for angry people (with latent Negative Approach-isms].

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side 2 wins because the track "Ritual" is badass.

The Worst Kids Ever
Rot Shit!
(Big Neck)
Fuzzed out, in-the-red raunch 'n' roll with songs like "I Can't Wait To Hate You," "Spilled Beer," "I Wanna Fuck Right Now," and "I Spent The Rent." If yer not down with drunken lo-fi gee-raj rawk then please move along. You may need a Devil Dogs or Dwarves record for as a token for entry into the Worst Kids' world. Record comes complete with un-PC cut & paste cover.

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side 1 because it features the one-two punch of "Spilled Beer" into "Swimmin' In Hot Dogz"

Canadian Rifle
Hospital
(Squirrel Heart Records)
Chicago band with loose ties to ex-Hellbender, ex-Milemarker, ex[?]-Challenger and Burn Collector Al Burian. Punk but not hardcore if that makes any sense; this used to be called post-punk before the snarky goth math-rockers got a hold of the moniker. Green vinyl, great lyrics and top notch art.

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side 2.

Toys That Kill
(Razorcake Records)
Having been an on-again/off-again contributor to Razorcake over the last few years, I had always seen the name Toys That Kill in the fanzine and read the high praises lofted upon them but until now had never actually heard the band. Fucking shit I've been missing out on some awesome songs that dredge up the ghosts of the Replacements, Pegboy and Hot Water Music. Drunken Billy Goat Gruff vocals with real life lyricism.

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side 2, er in this case Side B because "02" could be the best song ever... right now... on my turntable.

Tiltwheel/Off With Their Heads
split
(Fast Crowd Records)
First off, this comes on orange colored vinyl. OWTH delivers one of the finest two-song sides ever. There's '77 Thunders in there, the drunken revere of the Dropkick Murphys (without the overstated working class cheese) and some Rezillos. You work. You play. You party... period. Tiltwheel does their best to keep up with OWTH on side two. Each band cover's a song from the other which helps shine light on what spectrum of the punk rock continuum these guys fall on. This is the sound of Minneappolis-meets-Gainesville; this is the sound of independent music and the sound of house party basement shows; this is the sound of now.

Side 1 vs. Side 2: It's a freakin' tie!

Appalachian Terror Unit
Armageddon Won't Be Brought By Gods
(Profane Existence)
West Virgina crust (with an umlot!) Bullet belts and anarchy my friends. Honestly, that Ford Econoline van and the acetate used to make your record is far more evil than halogen light bulbs, but like Oprah with James Frey I can overlook it! It is what it is and I tend to dig "is" stuff like this. At least for a song or two. Discharge anyone?

Side 1 vs. Side 2: Side 1... who ever gets to Side Two?

Ian's Not Dead

It's just a rumor folks.

Please return to your regularly scheduled programs...

A Good Ol' Fashion Grub Kick

So I've caught a few games of the rugby World Cup in the past week and I've got to say that rugby is - by far - the best sport I ever played.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up on Redskins football in a family that had - and still has - season tickets. When I was a little kid, the youngest of four, my father helped start the Olney Boys Club with some other men he knew at the time and went on to become a high school football referee.

So I like to watch me some football.

Growing up it was football, basketball and track (my dad coached me in track in 8th grade). I stuck to that formula for a long time. Then bmx entered into my world. I rode my bike everywhere and anywhere. I raced a few times but found it too boring in its quickness. And as much as I love to ride my bike over jumps, bmx racing just didn't interest me to watch unlike football, basketball and track.

Bmx led me to skateboarding and the concept of sport as an individual. I have to say that I still enjoy watching a good skateboard competition but after a few rounds I'm done.

By the time I got to high school, I opted out of my traditional spring sport for lacrosse. I loved lacrosse. It was like a combination of basketball, soccer and hockey. But it was also a sport of privilege much like polo and that turned me off of it. Plus I got kicked off the team my senior year.

College introduced me to rugby.

And to this day i still have a fondness for it. I played my freshman year for a university on the Eastern Shore and it was like that movie Dogtown- all a bunch of characters. Naked beer slides were involved but that's a whole 'nother story.

I went on to transfer to a college north of Baltimore and played fall and spring seasons for the next three and a half years and when I graduated and moved to Los Angeles I ended up playing for the Pasadena/Crown City Rugby Football Club for a handful of seasons.

So when I found myself with the rare opportunity to watch top-notch rugby during this year's World Cup, I gladly welcomed it: it's like my Olympics, my Tour De France, my Winston Cup.

While watching a game the other day with my boys, I said, "Ah man, nothing like a good ol' fashion grub kick" after a play by the New Zealand All Blacks, who are like the Yankees, Bulls or Patriots of the rugby world, and smiled.

A couple of days later we caught another game and my 7-year-old randomly belted out, "nothing like a good old fashioned grub kick," after a guy kicked the ball.

I tried my best to explain it but this rugby site does it better:

"a grub kick is using your feet to get the ball rolling forward. Important in the grub is that it actually touches the ground. It should not be a low drop kick. A grub kick should be done on the run with either foot. The classic grub will bounce twice close to the ground and bounce to waist level on the third. I have seen it, but very rarely. Like a drop kick, timing is very important, as you want to contact the ball just as the point of the ball hits the ground. You want your foot to make contact with upper third of the ball, essentially kicking it into the ground. A grub kick should be used when an opposing player is committed to making contact with you and is no closer than five meters. Do not kick to him, but off to his side (that ability to kick with both feet is very important). Grubs are useful because the opposing player has forward momentum towards you, is unlikely to react quickly enough to a kick, and cannot hit you if you do not have the ball. You should be able to cover your own kick."

Another site compared it to a grounder past the short stop.

Damn.

I could have summed that up quicker.

Me & The Lady

 


Rehearsal dinner.

Old Fort Jackson.

Too bad you can't hear the bugler or the fife and drums in the background...

Because Nothing Says I Love You

 


Quite like a racist tchotchke

That's Right Folks

 




















89 in a 70.

Dammit.

4 points and a hefty fine received enroute to wedding in Savannah.

Do you think I'm going to drive to South Carolina for my court date?

Savannah, Georgia

 

Cobblestone streets.

Watch your step.

Like Every Drink Is His Last

My seven-year-old son drinks ever drink like it could be his last and it is downright annoying.

He'll rush over to his cup, open the fridge, pour some juice into his cup and then stand there with the door open gasping, huffing and sighing his way through the juice like he was lost at sea for days.

He does this almost every time.

Drives me bonkers.

He eats cereal this way too... and does that clanking spoon thing right along with it.

I have to leave the room when he eats cereal for breakfast.

Shrinking

My wife and her friends have invented a new thing among moms.

They call it shrinking - which is shopping and drinking.

I'm not talking Paris Hilton style where you go into some high rent store and they give you a glass of wine or champaigne.

Nope.

I'm talking about going to the mall, having some drinks, browse the racks, maybe buy something, head back to the bar, drink some more, browse again and possibly buy something.

The key, said my wife is to go before the weekend dinner rush for the drinks, shop while most people eat only to return themselves for some appetizers/drinks when most are finishing their dessert.

Then return to browsing the racks.

Wild times for wild women.

Phantom Field Goal

I scored tickets to the UNC vs. Virginia football game at the last minute on Saturday (got the call at little after 10am for a noon kick-off).

UNC has a new coach, Butch Davis, who is seeking to elevate the football program to the status of the school much-heralded basketball program. It was a great day for football: the hot weather finally broke and fall was in the air.

But that didn't stop me from getting sunburned on my neck and knees - maybe it had to do with the metal seats...

The game got off to a slow start but ended 22-20 with Virginia coming out on top after Carolina missed the two-point conversion to tie the game as time wound down.

Of course there was that phantom field goal that Virginia got. I'm not going to say that it was the deciding factor in the team's loss but some fans sure felt that way.

Here's the take from Lee Pace over at Carolina's web site:

"Everyone was equally flummoxed by the review of a Gould field goal midway through the third quarter that was originally called no good by the officials but overturned upon review in the press box. The kick looked wide left from my view at the 30 yard line, but Virginia's ball boys were positioned in the end zone and felt the ball was inside the upright and over the cross bar. They immediately appealed to Groh to challenge the ruling. The video replay showed the official directly underneath the falling ball flinch--either at the ball headed straight toward his face or at the sun, or both. He wasn't even looking at the ball as it fell through the goal posts. Why he signaled "no good" instead of conferring with his partner standing under the opposite upright is a legitimate question."

It does beg the question: how does a referee call a field goal no good when it was good? From the stands it totally looked no good. After a few minutes the announcer balked "would the referee please pick up the phone" then the prerequisite huddle amongst the striped men and then the announcement that the call would be overturned. The field goal was good. Of course boos reigned down and cups and lemons and even small bottles of liquor (smuggled in by frat pledges!) were tossed on the field.

I don't believe I've ever heard of a field goal being reversed like that in all my years of watching football.

This one will go down in history and at least I'll be able to say I was there.

Another Classic Pic

 

By my 4-year-old.

Nice.

I Like To Cook

I took up cooking after I became an at-home dad mostly to give myself a sense of purpose.

I always dabbled in cooking - and of course like most men I am the master of the grill - but stranded at home during nap time in the early years of my tour I took to watching The Food Network.

Watching a kid, cooking gave me something to think about during the day.

Most recipes call for some sort of prep time and time was something I had a lot of and outside of reading and television I needed to find other things to stimulate my brain during the days.

I got a few cookbooks that first Christmas (Bobby Flay and Jamie Oliver) and I was off and running. One thing my wife and I had been doing for years was to replicate delicious meals we had at restaurants. For instance, after we moved from Los Angeles to North Carolina, we had trouble finding good Thai food. So we started preparing our own pad thai and a dish called pra ram which is a red curry, spinach and chicken meal. Or cribbing appetizer ideas from my work. One thing we often serve is a seared tuna, avocado and chipotle mayo on a crispy wonton that's a popular item at one of my jobs.

The first thing I learned was that you need a cabinet stocked with various herbs and spices especially when dealing with international foods. Another thing I learned was the value of using fresh ingredients (which also spun off into using seasonal and local ingredients as well).

In recent years I've been supplementing the family finances by working part-time for several local catering companies which allows me to see first hand how dishes are prepared. I also have access to chefs whom I can ask their advice on techniques, textures and the value of presentation.

I'm pretty up to speed these days and you'll find me cooking meals probably four to five days a week.

Last week I had some pork chops but I didn't know what to do with them. I ended up braising them in a pineapple juice and Worcestershire sauce served with steamed broccoli and brown rice.

Some other dishes I made was a olive oil, lime and green beans side that I pinched out of one of my wife's Better Homes & Gardens magazines which turned out to be freakin' simple and delicious. Grilling bread is my new thing that a neighbor turned me on to this summer. Over Labor Day I grilled a loaf (sliced) of rosemary olive oil and then the next day made some sunny side up eggs and use those to top off the bread. Yum!

Fortunately, my kids are pretty adventurous eaters and will try most things I make at least once. I'm not sure if it is because many times they are part of the food prep process whether it's just going with me to the grocery store to get some essential items, helping measure or mix ingredients or maybe just seeing someone preparing food in the kitchen that makes them interested in eating the food I make.

There's still the occasional raviolis and mac & cheese in their diet but not nearly as much as some other kids I know.

Maybe one day I'll open my own place. I've toyed with the idea on and off over the years. I'm not really into trying to do the restaraunt thing per se, but maybe some sort of upscale deli.

The Sniff Test

I've recently discovered that my 4-year-old has been putting his clothes back into their respective drawers when he changes.

And all this time I thought he was putting his clothes in the laudry hamper.

I came into his room this weekend while he was getting out of his pajamas and into his clothes for the day.

When he took off his pjs he opened the pajama drawer and put them back in there.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Putting them where they belong," he said.

Of course!

I then tried to explained that only the clean pajamas go into the drawer.

"Nope," he said. "They go in there."

As he told me this he opened his t-shirt drawer and pulled out the shirt he was wearing yesterday, then reached over to the underwear drawer and pulled out his Spongebob boxers I'm sure were wore yesterday and then he got out a pair of shorts.

So I guess it's all sniff testing from here on out.

It's Coming...

If you are an at-home home dad, father-to-be or the primary caregiver of your child please consider attending

this

I went last year and found it very insightful and full of laughs.

And that was after I got called a loser on the plane to KC by some bitch...