Clutch In Fargo

Just got done with Tool, now it's time to see Clutch again!

Aug. 6
Fargo, ND
Playmaker's Bar - House Of Rock

It will be awesome!

Tool At Xcel Center, St. Paul, MN - 6-26-07

Back from the Tool show and had a great time. Our timing with the event was about perfect. We stayed right across the street from the Xcel so we merely walked across the street to get to the Xcel when the crowd thinned out. In the Star Tribune's write-up it stated that the show was sold out... I don't disagree. My only complaint was that the vocals seemed extremely low, especially for Rosetta Stoned...but overall the show was fantastic. Videos, lights and lasers only enhance Tool's performance. I got a bunch of short video clips from the show...of course they are from my cell phone so the quality isn't all that good...

I Don't Want The Veil Over My Eyes Anymore

A friend of mine showed me this clip and I thought was too funny to pass up...

It is a deleted scene from the movie "Knocked Up" and has one of the male characters going on a rant about how Ang Lee should have shown some gay-sex in the movie Brokeback Mountain...and then is questioned about his own sexuality...

Hope you enjoy it...

Warning: Strong language - profanity and gay sex references.

I've Seen Tool

Not much happening right now... summer is in full swing, it's been very hot here lately... But tomorrow is a big day... going to see Tool!!! This will be the 2nd time I've seen them this year... and I do believe my 9th time over all... Just to keep my memory fresh and a listing of the shows I've seen, here they are: 

August 10, 1997 - Fiddler's Green, Denver, CO. - Lollapalooza 

July 18, 1998 - Somerset, WI - Ozzfest/Warp Tour (My Review Here ... you will have to search sayow in the post for it...no blogs back then!)

August 3, 2001 - Red Rocks, Denver, CO 

September 6, 2001 - Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (My Review Here ... Same deal as the '98 show, you will have to search the post for my review - search for sayow)

September 4, 2002 - Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN 

October 15, 2002 - Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD 

May 12, 2006 - Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN (My Review Here - On Blog)

May 12, 2007 - Mid-America Arena, Council Bluffs, IA (My Review Here - On Blog - Pics) 

June 26, 2007 - Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (My Review Here - On Blog - Pics & Video) 

* July 1, 2010 - Xcel Energy Center, St.Paul, MN (My Review Here - On Blog - Pics)

* March 13, 2022 - Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

 I can hardly wait to see them tomorrow and can hardly wait to make plans to see them again! Hopefully I can get some pics and/or short vids to share... * Updated 3/13/22

Manhunt 2 May Never Be

The distributor of Rockstar's game Manhunt 2 announced yesterday that the game may never become available for purchase due to bans in England and Ireland and a rating in America that would keep it out of many big retail chains. Yes, censorship is alive and well in the 21st century. I hope the game is either leaked or outright released through other channels so those that really want the game can do so. Or hopefully Rockstar Games will alter the game so that it appears as a PG game, is allowed to be sold worldwide and then you merely type in the code or apply a patch to unlock all the elements the game intended to have.

The intent of the creators of this game was that it was to be like playing a game in a horror movie. And if anyone has seen a horror movie these days, they often contain graphic, cruel and sadistic elements...but a person is free to go to a theater and view those horrific scenes with little to no problems...seems like a double-standard to me.

"Use My Fame In A Good Way"

I try not to care much about 'celebrities', especially pseudo-celebrities like Paris Hilton who's only claim to fame is being born to an extremely wealthy family and now flaunts her money and her body to get attention and the media is more than willing to obligate. So everyone on the planet knows earlier this month she went to jail for driving under suspension, was briefly released and then sent back to jail.

So a couple of news items broke this morning regarding Paris and her upcoming release... the first was that NBC was denying that they are offering her a million dollars to be the first to interview her after her release. Even if NBC isn't offering a million bucks to interview her, that will probably be the going rate for whichever show does get the first 'exclusive' interview with her. So where do I begin? Well with the obvious I guess...it isn't like she is doing 'hard time' and she wasn't even intermingled with other inmates. She essentially had her own private cell away from all others...so what 'hardened' jail stories is she going to have? Did the cable tv go out one night for a little while? Of course the interview will likely focus on what did Paris learn while in jail? I'm thinking she learned that she can make a cool million bucks afterwards and I will gladly take 30 days in jail if I get a million bucks afterwards.

The second item, and really the reason I even began to comment on this subject in the first place was because apparently Paris Hilton talked with Ryan Seacrest while in jail and said that she sees that the media was making fun of her and that she doesn't want that anymore and that she will "use my fame in a good way". I can hardly wait to see how she does that and believe me, now that she said that, I will be keeping track...at least for a month or so until the absurdity is quite clear.

If a person thought Paris Hilton was over-exposed prior to her incarceration, just wait until she gets out... OMFG....

Giambi Threatened To Speak

Giambi was ordered by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to testify to the steroid investigation headed up by George Mitchell by today...but of course hasn't done so. I am guessing that if Giambi does indeed testify in front of this committee it will be on the conditions that he doesn't have to admit to anything and doesn't have to testify about steroids at all... and Selig will of course agree to this in an attempt to legitimize the steroid investigation which has done absolutely nothing since it's inception except to be an powerless entity lingering over the baseball world.

Of course if Giambi does refuse to speak to the steroid investigators Selig will unleash some sort of punishment on Giambi, like maybe a game or 2 suspension and if Giambi plays his cards right, he can delay anything until he retires, write a book about how he and many others cheated and then be enshrined into the hall of fame and give thanks to Selig for making it all possible. Have I mentioned that MLB is a freakin joke lately?

UPDATE: Giambi has agreed to meet with Mitchell to testify. Of course we may never know what he actually says but it does sound as if he is only going to admit to doing steroids himself and not 'out' anyone else. And even if he comes out and flat out says, yes, I did use steroids, the odds of anything happening to him, I am guessing will be remote. He is only agreeing to testify to not get punished for a positive drug test this year and by the time the steroid investigation concludes most of us will be deceased.

Video Upload Feature

Blogger has added a new feature... the ability to upload a video directly to your blog so a person doesn't have to use YouTube or a different 3rd party to post your videos... so I decided to test it out and post a video of my daughter doing a dance in our backyard earlier this year. In the background, being quiet and still is my 4 year-old son watching...

The video was shot using my cell phone so the quality is pretty crappy...

ESPN's Aiding Downfall Of Sports

At the time of this post, on ESPN2's First Take show is interviewing Bill Romanowski about Pacman Jones, NFL and steroids...You got to be fucking kidding me? It just shows that steroids, cheating, being a dirty player your entire career will all be forgiven and you will be allowed to get on a media outlet to pimp your products and yourself.

Bill Romanowski is one of the all-time biggest losers that ever played in the NFL. Any chance he could take to be a dirty player, he would. He has admitted to using steroids and also was involved in a big prescription drug ring as well as being a fucking loser on the field...

The interview ended with him promoting his newly founded nutrition company... are you kidding me again? This is probably just a front to distribute steroids.

ESPN continues to try and turn sports into a made for television reality show by first displaying what a fucker this guy was throughout his career and then when that's played, turn around and give him a pat on the back and some free publicity for all the good times he provided to the network.

Cheater Hits Milestone

Bud Selig, the worthless MLB baseball commissioner, continues to stand on the sidelines and let the steroid boys reach what once were revered milestones. Last night another cheater, Sammy Sosa, hit his 600 homerun, a feat that has 3 non-cheaters (Ruth, Aaron and Mays) have achieved but now includes the steroid duo of Bonds and Sosa.

Unless Selig has some sort of penalty after all the roid-boys are finished, like banning from the HOF, I give no credence to any of these cheaters. The only hope for justice is that they are all snubbed from the Hall Of Fame forever but with the current condition of baseball accepting and allowing the celebration of these false milestones that is probably not likely. Instead, they may not get voted in right away...as a penalty... but will eventually will be accepted into the Hall Of Fame which is a freakin' joke.

Coke And A Smile

My entire life I have been a Coca-Cola drinker, and for this post it really doesn't matter what soda a person drinks because I think the observation is applicable for all sodas...

But what is the deal these days? You walk into a convenience store to buy a refreshing soda and I head right to the Coke section to see that I have a choice of how much soda I want to purchase with about 20 cents difference... I can buy a couple 20 oz sodas for $2.22 or I can buy a couple of liters for $2.50. Now I am not a cheapskate by any means, I piss money away all the time on frivolous items...but why does Coke present me with this dilemma? You see, purchasing the 20 oz soda means I will the the 'typical' size of soda that will fit in cup holders and I would likely finish drinking the entire soda within a half an hour. But spending the extra 20 cents to purchase the 1 liters means I would be getting almost 33% more soda but the downside is that the 1 liter bottles do not fit in the typical cup holder, you are 'lugging' around this big bottle everywhere and there is no way I could drink a liter of Coke within a half hour under normal conditions, so am often 'stuck' with this soda for an hour or more and obviously will be getting warm during this time.

Gone are the good 'ole days when your only option was a 12 oz can for 50 cents....which is all I ever really want. Sure I could buy a fountain soda, which is sometimes the case, but sometimes portability is a factor and to be able to seal up the bottle for transporting is often the determining factor. So now I spend $2.50 and get more Coca-Cola than even I want.

Endorsement: Ron Paul

Something I've been meaning to do for a few weeks now...that is endorsing Ron Paul for president. He is a Republican presidential candidate but is actually a Libertarian running under the GOP banner for the exposure.

Anyone that is for a smaller government, less infringing government, a government that more represents what our founding fathers envisioned, Ron Paul is the man. He often is quoting Jefferson, Franklin and other founding fathers and adopted their point of views...which to me, is all just common sense. He's anti-IRS, anti-war (only Republican to vote against the war from the outset), anti-Federal Reserve and basically, anti-government. Truly a total opposite of almost every other politician running for president in 2008 regardless of their party affiliation.

Visit Ron Paul's web site for more info on him and here is a quick YouTube video to give you some short clips and talking points of Ron Paul...



VOTE FOR RON PAUL IN 2008!

Manhunt 2, GTA IV To Be Released

I saw this story here about Britain banning the sales of Manhunt 2 when it is to be released next month. I instantly became filled with glee because I was unaware that there was a sequel to Manhunt due out and now I am anticipating it's release for the PC. (I am a firm believer that gaming consoles are inferior in every way to a good PC for gaming and especially a first-person type game, the controls are often cumbersome and awkward to play.)

I then searched out for more info for this game and found the trailer from Rockstar games. Then I also noticed a trailer for GTA IV. I've played every GTA game since II, so feel obligated to continue with the next one.

Are these games violent and appropriate for children? Absolutely not. But they are typically well made games that do contain graphic content. I posted the trailers up for both these games for anyone else to view...

Sports Recap

Not much going on during the beginning of the lazy days of summer...so just some quick comments on some sports...

The US Open golf tournament was this past week. I was able to watch almost all of this tournament (thanks to DVR) and it was quite entertaining. If Tiger Woods could have drained some of his easy birdie attempts on Saturday, he may be the one hoisting the trophy up. Instead though, it was Angel Cabrera (sp?) and cigarette smoking, non-english speaking Argentinian. I did like watching him play because he did not seem like your typical pro. I think his 'preshot routine' involved him grabbing his club, taking a practice swing and then strike the ball, very quick and seemed as if a person would do this rather than start second-guessing yourself, which might be the secret to his success.

Kobe Bryant is back asking for a trade again. Not sure how long this thought will last with him this time...

And wasn't it just a week or 2 ago when all you heard on ESPN, regarding baseball, was that the Yankees are done. The Yankees have no chance to make it to the playoffs...blah, blah, blah. I was thinking to myself that the season isn't even 1/2 over and the Yankees would be eliminated? No, that can't be? And I really don't give a rat's ass about the Yankees, but seemed improbable because the Yankees are the epitome of a team that buys its championships in a sport that will let you. Checking the standings today, the Yanks are 8 back for their division and 4 games back for the wild card...just another prime example of how the sports media is more about hype than fact.

DirecTV Covers The US Open

Like the French Open (tennis), DirecTV is giving its subscribers expanded coverage of Golf's US Open this weekend. A person with DirecTV gets ESPN's coverage (ch. 206), a mix channel (ch. 216 mutli-paned channel showing the other 4 channels all at once), a featured group channel (ch. 217 - this morning it was Tiger's group, I'm thinking this afternoon it will be Phil's group), up close coverage (ch. 218) and a highlight channel (ch. 219).

I am not paying anything extra to get these channels so it is awesome. But I fear that this is DirecTV giving it's subscribers a taste of what these features and additional charges will be assessed if you wish to get them for future events....but until that time...I'm loving it and I hope that DirecTV continues to offer this bonus coverage for no additional fees forever!

Benefits From Being Removed From Society

I can't believe I haven't at least mentioned this in the past, but now is as good as time as any...and that is, for some time now I have officially removed myself as being a member of "American Society". You see, I just don't 'get' what many of the things that are raved about on an almost daily basis... I don't watch American Idol at all, I think iPods are over-rated, I haven't paid admission to go to a movie since Lord Of The Rings part 3, I didn't think Borat was the funniest movie ever and so on...

And so far I don't think I have missed out on much of anything and here is a fantastic example of why I no longer wish to be a part of 'society'. Last night the series finale of the Soprano's aired on HBO. I have seen about the first season and a half of the Soprano's and yes, it is a pretty good show but not good enough for me to subscribe to HBO. I could also tell that the Soprano's was going to be one of those 'soap-operaish' type shows, but of course with a mobster twist which is why it is gitchy in the first place. But I just didn't feel like I wanted to get all caught up into a television show where I would have to put my time in following it every week to find out what happened to who. And what would have really peeved me about this series was that HBO dragged the final season out forever. But last night seems I am vindicated in not only wasting my time and money getting HBO but also to put my 'time' in watching the series because apparently, by most accounts, the finale sucked and may be a lead-in to a movie. A person doesn't have to make too much of a stretch to figure all the 'devoted' viewers as mindless drones because HBO surely manipulated them as such.

iPhone - Overhyped And Ready To Dissappoint

Just surfing the net I stumbled upon a digg article bitching about the soon to be released iPhone. I have always thought that anything Apple puts out is overhyped and overpriced. With this early word surfacing prior to the release of Apple's iPhone is beginning to foreshadow the same product here...an Apple product that promises everything but can't deliver shit.

You run down the negatives this phone already has built in - only one cellular provider, limited wifie service for most people, now no flash apps and possibly no java apps either... so is this fancy phone going to be able to even make a friggin phone call or have good reception? Probably not, those features are still in development...but this is all part of the Reality Distortion Field that has already been established among Apple and it's faithful...

Back At It

I had a busy week last week with little time to post...worked late, stay up later, sleep in, repeat was my routine most of last week. Just re-adjusting to normality, so what's been going on?

NBA finals- yawn. I did get to check out game 2 and didn't even bother watching much of it because the Spurs had a 20+ point lead for much of the time I was watching. NBA has to be rigged if the Cavaliers are in the finals...no other team will guard Lebron?

Nadal won the French Open, again. I was pulling for Federer.

It has been raining fairly frequently in this region the past few weeks and starting this past Sunday things have begun to look more like summer. Sunny and warm. The area is now in 90+ degree weather and with the humidity, getting a bit steamy...but it at least feels like summertime versus non-stop overcast and rain.

Hoffman: 500 Saves

I am in the middle of a busy week at work...

I did get to watch most of Anaheim beating Ottawa in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to clinch the cup... I may comment on that later...

But this caught my eye at this late hour...

Trevor Hoffman, first MLB player to score 500 saves.

I've admitted that I've lost interest in the MLB after the strike in (was it in) '95 and especially after steroids became the fad shortly after...and I hope that Trevor Hoffman, who has never been even rumored in steroid accusations, remains a 'clean', honost player...proving that a person can compete at a consistent, high level without the 'juice'.

Indecision Reigns Supreme

Last week Kobe, in a matter of hours, said he wanted to be traded from the Lakers and then recanted the demand to say that he wants to remain with the Lakers. Now this week we got Billy Donovan, who last week was introduced as the new head coach of the Orlando Magic, now a report is out that he is trying to void the Magic deal and go back to Florida. It's a good thing these guys don't have to do what they say and say what they do. I think media/ESPN is a big reason people become untrustworthy and sly about their motives and maybe a result of why these people then change their mind, after seeing the way the media will pick up and run with a story to epic proportions would cause a person to reconsider their actions/comments. Should it be this way?

Tennis Channel On DirecTV

DirecTV is giving it's viewers a 'sneak peak' of the Tennis Channel...which is awesome. Too bad it's the French Open and I'm not up at 5 AM to watch all the good matches but I am looking forward to hopefully having the channel during Wimbeldon and the U.S. Open. Of course I do not plan on paying anything extra for it but I am already paying for the extended tier (non-sports package) and if it is added there (like the Golf Channel and VS are) I will be pleased.

No Surprise: Ratings Low For Cup Final

No surprise here, the ratings for the first two games of the Stanley Cup are down from last year. One team is from a non-traditional hockey, southern California town the other is in Canada, this equals what I predicted last week. I am a bit surprised that less than a half million viewers watched...are you kidding me? Of course I am waiting for the follow up article released by ESPN citing how their women's college softball world series coverage is outdrawing the Stanley Cup. Hey ESPN, it doesn't make it better it just proves that people are morons.