Beach thoughts

Well, another spring break at the Outer Banks has come and gone and I've traded cold, sunny Frisco for cold, rainy Richmond.

A few thoughts, observations, and experiences from the past week:

-My winterbeard is offically gone. Like usual, it was Fun With Facial Hair Week. I think my favorite temporary face covering were my kick-ass muttonchops:



My second favorite? "The Jemaine" sideburns that I was sporting (named after my favorite member of the Flight of the Conchords).

-I had absolutely no Sprint cell phone service down there and I didn't really mind one bit.

-Book count: 2 finished and 1 started

-Stuff I spent money on (excluding meals and beer):





A beer glass that reinforces my view of Cape Hatteras as the "Vegas of the Outer Banks", an Outer Banks Preservation Association t-shirt (because I'm down with the cause), a pound of chocolate-peanut butter swirl fudge, and a box of saltwater taffy. The first day there I found a great pair of cheap sunglasses, but they had been sold when I went to buy them a few days later.

-I still hate "New Country."

-If I were to open up a much-needed strip club in that area, I'd name it "Those Aren't Buoys", which would feature a "Motorboatin' Lounge." (I'm also reserving the name for my future beach house).

-Easter lasted all week. Unfortunately, none of the kids had a meltdown during the egg hunt.

-Capt. Morgan Tattoo is still on the market!

-All of the food was great, but my brother wins for cooking the best dinner. It was some Frenchy, er, "freedomy" chicken dish.

-I came very close to buying a pair of Crocs, as a store there had a "40% off" sale. Turns out that the discount only applied to their supply of Crocs in very gaudy colors, whereas I wanted a more formal black or navy blue. No dice.

-If a toddler is secured in a playpen, you can simply remove the barrier at the top of the stairs. There is no need to try to step over it while carrying 3 bottles of Red Stripe because you will most likely lose your balance, trip, and break one of the bottles of beer. Glass will fly all over the carpet, bruises will appear, and you'll look like an idiot in front of your family. Trust me on this one.

That's about it.

Crush of the Week: Kym Johnson

This week's Crush is Aussie dance partner of the stars Kym Johnson.



I tuned into "Dancing with the Stars" last week to see Penn Jillette's moves (turns out, he lumbered around the dancefloor exactly how you'd expect) and was immediately smitten with his instructor/partner. Actually, all of the female professional dancers are really attractive. They almost make me want to watch this show every week. Almost.

Requiem for the Father of the Egg McMuffin

R.I.P. Herb Peterson, 1918-2008



Thank you for shortening my lifespan.

Beach reading

Although I by no means expect to plow through all of them, these are the books I brought to the beach with me this week:



Into Hot Air: Mounting Mount Everest by Chris Elliott (read)



Rock On: An Office Power Ballad by Dan Kennedy (reading)



Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition (bathroom reading)



Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller (on deck)



Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell



Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller



The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Happy (belated) Easter!

Seems like old times: breakfast at the Pier

Having the day off of work calls for doing something special. So, this morning I partied like it was 1996 and had breakfast at my alma mater's fast food joint, the restaurant formerly known as the Pier (now called Tyler's Grill). Back in the day, the "Micah Special" was a bacon, egg, & cheese English muffin, hash browns, and a large Mountain Dew. Nowadays the place has no Mountain Dew (and I wouldn't have gotten one anyway, since I'm strictly drinking diet beverages now) and they switched over to biscuits, so I had to get the closest approximation of my morning college ritual. But at least the TV was tuned to Sportscenter, just like it always was in the Age of Seven Mary Three.

They're always after me Lucky Charms!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! That impish leprechaun Shane MacGowan says, "Don't end up like me. Know when to say 'when.' Also, eat candy!"

Beware the (belated) Ides of March

I completely forgot to post this yesterday. Maybe Duke lost because I didn't put up the warning. I'd like to think that.

Second Becky fixes her wedgie

A little something to brighten your Friday morning: Sarah Chalke does a little wedgie dance. Frick!

Crush of the Week: Lights (Valerie Poxleitner)

This week's Crush is Canadian singer Lights (a.k.a. Valerie Poxleitner). I first heard the above glitchy synthpop song when I was shopping at Old Navy* a few weeks ago and was immediately taken with it. And she's pretty cute, too.

*I later found out her song is used in an Old Navy commercial.

She's pretty, but not "$4300 pretty"

And her name isn't really "Kristen." What a liar!

Hank, Dale, and Bobby on hipsters

Some choice quotes from Sunday's "King of the Hill":

Hank: Boy, Enrique's neighborhood sure has changed, I'll tell you what. All these artists moved in so fast and they all look the same: real skinny and walk slowly.
Dale: The people you are referring to are "hipsters." They walk slowly becacuse they got no place to be, man.

--------------

Bobby: How about this? What do hipsters like? Cool things. So we invent a place called "Cooltown." In "Cooltown" music's always playing and everybody drives convertibles.
Hank: Ugh. Sounds like Austin.

Steve Poltz @ Ashland Coffee & Tea

I have been a fan of Steve Poltz ever since I was the music director of WDCE back in the late 90s. The promo person in charge of pushing his solo debut was in love with him and I kind of had a thing for her, so I gave his album some attention. From the first listen I was hooked and have been a big fan of his music ever since. But I had never seen him live until this past Friday when he played at Ashland Coffee & Tea.

It was worth the wait.

The show started out with just him and his guitar. After a few songs he brought out his backing band the Cynics (who opened the show under the name the Truckee Brothers). Poltz is a master of what I love: stage banter. The venue - a coffee house - was intimate enough that he was able to engage the audience directly with his funny stories and observations. He genuinely sounded like he wanted to be there that night, playing for all of us in the room.

As for the music, he gave 100% on stage, playing a diverse selection of songs from his back catalog, new songs, and some choice covers ("Waterfalls", "The Way We Were", "Amazing Grace", and "Ring My Bell", which he broke into mid-song as a train passed by the window). At one point he chose people out of the audience to come up on stage and have them assume the role of his backing band while he ad-libbed some lyrics (with a German guy translating!). It was sloppy, good fun. But for the rest of the show he was a pro, expertly playing his songs, which range from sincerely goofy to goofily sincere.



Afterward, he invited everyone to stick around, chat, have things signed, and take pictures. Of course, I obliged. I bought some CDs that I didn't already have (one a tour exclusive, the other a children's album) and had spydrz snap a photo (thanks!). All in all, it was an excellent show and Poltz seemed like a really cool person, with an approachable rock 'n' roll swagger.

Plus, he banged Jewel, so I am eternally jealous of him.

Spitz and swallows

Two things I love about scandals: breaking news and breaking stand-up comedy.

Crush of the Week: Marina (HotForWords)

This week's Crush is philologist/video podcaster Marina (a.k.a. HotForWords). I can't place her accent. Eastern European? Russian? Who cares?



She possesses copious quantities of pulchritude. But she could also use a sandwich or two.

You can finally stop calling me "The Streak"

I've been a regular listener of the Filmspotting podcast for about two years now and amidst the movie analysis, former co-host Sam comes back and gives nicknames to people who make donations to the show. Well, they recently announced that they would stop doing that with episode #200, so I figured that, since they've provided me with countless hours of entertainment, I'd kick a few bucks their way and get a nickname before it's too late.

So, from now on you can refer to me as...Micah "Dreck For Sale" M____.

If you feel the need to hear them give me my new nickname, listen to episode #200 and it is around the 47:05 mark.

Depressingly funny

Today's Onion Radio News bit: "Report: 1998 Was Ten Fucking Years Ago"

Maybe it's because my 10 year college reunion is next month, but when I listened to that this morning I really laughed...and also died a little inside.

I'm all atwitter!

Well, I went ahead and joined Twitter, though I'm not 100% sold on it. I mean, this blog is enough of a narcissistic outlet that I barely keep up with at times. Why would anyone care what I'm doing at any given time?

But, I'm updating - or "twittering" - every now and then, posting one-line B.S. and stuff like updates about what I'm digging at the moment (currently, I'm on the last song of Clem Snide's Soft Spot album and LOVING IT). Think of it as a mini-blog.

So "friend" me or whatever. But I do ask that you let me know who you are. Right now I have two "followers" who I have no idea about their identities...and it's kind of creepy.

I know that my birthday is more than six months away...

It's never too early to get me what I really want: a little face time with Scarlett Johansson. Yeah, this ebay auction specifies that the amount of time we'll be together is "brief", but I only need a minute or two.