Summer Road Trips

So now that summer has officially started for me since the baseball season is over and athletics won’t start back up until close to august. Now comes the fun part of planning small trips during the summer and checking out new things while doing so. This summer I want to go see things that we don’t usually go to. One of my favorite things to do is get in the car and just take off. Not to the extreme, like one of my friends from college did and leave for the summer and come back once he ran out of money. Although, I am always envious that I never took him up when he asked me to go.

I do my usual of hitting up ballparks and going to some baseball games. That started this past weekend when I went up to Oklahoma and hit up the Big 12 tournament. I think what makes this summer so special is the fact that I have the best ending of the summer I could think of, catching Pearl Jam closing out the ACL Festival in Austin. That is like the icing on the cake for the summer. I also get to go to baseball games with Sloan, and she loves going to the ballpark (of course seeing she literally grew up at a ballpark could be a good reason). It’s also our chance as a family to do things together, which during the school year is hard to do for us.

I can remember my first summer road trip to California when I was in the second grade with the parents and my sister. I think that was the first and last time we did that as a family, stuffed in a car driving across the country to get to California. Not to mention stuck in the car with me at 7 and my sister at 14 could not have been much of a vacation for my Mom and Dad. Let’s just say the rest of our summer road trips consisted of us driving the 3-6 hours to a destination some where in Texas. I can also remember my first true road trip once I was an “adult” (I use that term loosely to this day), but it was with my roommate Dustin to go see Phish in Kansas and then we decided to go camping in Colorado after that. It was filled with some crazy sights along the way from lesbian bikers to seeing Dwight D. Eisenhower’s birth place. That doesn’t even include the road trip we took to get tattoos, and one of the tattoos consisted of Ms. Pacman. I can also remember the road trips to go to concerts, from Pearl Jam to a crazy outdoor concert at the Ft. Worth Motor Speedway that had a larger attendance than Woodstock. I guess the anticipation of what you are going to see is what makes summer road trips great.

From the first time I could remember a road trip it consisted of music to accompany the trip. From my parents listening to the Beach Boys, Jim Croce, Elvis, and Willie Nelson; to me getting older and bringing my music along to listen to as I looked out the window. Of course with Sloan maybe Pearl Jam or the Red Hot Chili Peppers will catch her ear on our road trips (at least that is what I hope happens, can’t handle too much more Hannah Montana). I guess once I get in the car there are certain songs that I listen too, that make me remember certain trips or points in my life, and I hope that passes down to Sloan for when she gets older.

This week’s Music (I do have some more popular albums this week, but don’t hate):

Green Day- 21st Century Breakdown
I have to say, even though this album has been talked about forever commercially, it’s is a really good album. From the first song to the last it is great. A few folks thought that Billy Joe Armstrong was a little ambitious wanting to write a rock opera type album, but he knocked it out. This album to me is up there with Dookie, and some songs might even be better.

Eminem- Relapse
Yes, yes I do like rap, and I do love Eminem. He is back from getting better (I use that loosely) and came back into the studio with Dr. Dre to put out yet another great album. If you like hip hop and Eminem you already have this. Dre is a master with the beats he comes up with. I really love “Old Time’s Sake” and “Bagpipes From Baghdad” right now; of course this is after two or three listens.

I do want to check out the new Iron and Wine album, plus the Passion Pit album. Not to mention, right now iTunes has almost all of Bob Dylan’s albums for just $7. That means you can sneak in and get Blonde on Blonde, I won’t tell anyone you don’t have that. I am really pumped that Iggy Pop and Rancid have something new coming out.

I am open to suggestions for new bands so give me something to listen too, and I will check them out for next week.

A rainy Saturday at the record store

Since my work load is slowing down at work (seeing all of our sports are over since school is out) I finally had a rare Saturday by myself for the first time in what seems like forever. What makes this rare is the fact that my daughter decided it was best to stay at home and not go to the Rangers game (to those past readers that means no Josh Hamilton Bobble Head) since it was also raining. That also meant no t-ball game that day as well, so Sloan ran off to see her grandparents, and most of all her favorite dog Chloe. Since it was a weekend, Kristen was at work at the hospital. That meant I actually had a day to myself. So I did my favorite thing in the world, I went to the slowly dying music store to browse through their music. The best thing about going to these places is it’s almost like my place to escape. I know for a fact the best way to have Kristen leave me in a cloud of dust is to tell her I am going to Hastings or for that matter Best Buy. It’s almost girl repellant, and maybe that can explain my college years among other things.

A favorite store of mine (next to CD Warehouse in Oklahoma, which by now is probably closed) is going to Hastings here. I like going to these stores for the fact that you can find the rare gems that people have sold back to stores because they fell out of love with the band or album. Of course I go in with bands and albums I am always looking for used, almost anything by Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Phish, The Grateful Dead, and of course new groups I have just discovered but want to see if they have release anything else. Also the most important thing you have there is the awesome ability of people watching. Trust me the Hastings here is like the music lover’s wal-mart for people watching.

So I begin my stroll, first to stop by the vinyl, drool, curse to myself for giving my record player away, and walk off to all of the racks of cds. I browse for at least an hour, in the nice peace and quiet of the store, stopping every once in a while to see the mother of four in short-shorts with a tattoo of a panther crawling up her leg, and an artfully done tramp stamp , wishing Kristen was there to laugh with me.

While losing myself in the music, the one thing that hit me is the fact most of these wonderful stores are slowly starting to close up around the world. The electronic way of downloading an album is taking over the rush you once got going down to your local record store and buying an album. The new smell of a cd when you break it open and plop it in your stereo, and hoping it has some life altering effect on you when you listen to it. Flipping through the liner notes trying to catch something they wrote to the girl that broke their heart and inspired some song, the artist’s artwork they slaved over to make for the album cover, all of it is now sent to you digitally over the internet.

Don’t get me wrong, I am downloading music left and right from iTunes. I am surprised that Steve Jobs doesn’t greet me by name when I log into my iTunes account. There is one thing that Apple can’t replace and that is the joy of getting to lose yourself in the record store, the fact that you can bump into people that have the same interests in music you do, and one thing they can’t replace is the smell of the brand new album out of the wrapper.

Go support your local record store, before it’s too late……….

This week’s music:

These are older albums (last year) but they are in heavy rotation on my ipod-

The National- Boxer

After reading one of my favorite blogs by Paul Shirley, I e-mailed him one day to see if he had anyone to recommend me since I was in a rut with my taste of music. He was very kind enough to send me a response and recommended the National among many other bands. The lead singer Matt Berninger has a very unique sound, and I really like their music. Thanks to Paul, I recommend giving the National a listen.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- Dig Lazarus Dig

When Nick Cave pops up on my shuffle at work, I always quit what I am doing to see who it is playing. He has an unmistakable voice and style of music, but it’s always a nice out of nowhere pick. My first listen to Dig Lazarus Dig, I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but after a few listens I have to say one of my favorite albums of last year. Nick Cave has been around a long time, but I love him.

Bon Iver- Blood Bank

Don’t let the name fool you, it’s actually a corruption of the French term "bon hiver" (good winter). The lead singer Justin Vernon is from Wisconsin, he had a few bands before he formed Bon Iver. I could write a whole blog about how he came up with everything but you can check his background out here. I love his voice and his music, this is just his second album (actually an EP), his first album is amazing. If you like Blood Bank, check out his first album For Emma, Forever Ago.

Small Victory for Dad

I have figured out since I have been married going on six (almost seven) years there are few battles that I can win. Also living in a female dominated house, I also have to stand my ground on certain guy things. This week I have two things to celebrate at my house due to my six year old daughter. The best thing about this is that one of the celebrations also validates that she is also a daddy’s girl as well.

Since I have been working in my chosen profession for going on nine years this fall, I have a small collection of sports memorabilia and this also includes a collection of various bobbleheads. The main satisfaction I get out of this is due mostly to it driving my wife crazy when I bring new stuff home. This is me standing my ground on my guy stuff. Well we had a small scheduling conflict for the weekend; my daughter got an invitation to a little boy’s birthday party. Well the two of us also had plans to go to the Rangers game for the Josh Hamilton bobblehead giveaway, in hopes to get our hands on the popular Rangers star’s bobble likeness. So I mentioned to Sloan that the game and the birthday are at the same time and we have to choose which one we are going to, this is of course while Kristen is getting her ready for a bath. At that exact moment (and in front of Kristen) she blurts out with authority that she will not go to the boy’s party, but she wants to go and get her a bobblehead at the game. This of course drives Kristen crazy since now our daughter is following in her dad’s footsteps with the collection of sports memorabilia, which in turn validates that she is in fact a daddy’s girl.

For those keeping score at home Kevin: 1 Female household: 0

Now onto my second victory of the week, and the music portion of the blog. My daughter and I are sitting at home goofing off around the house. I usually try to play different music around her than her usual mix of Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift. At one time in her early development of music I did have her listening to such bands as Phish, The Teddybears, Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, Blind Melon, and many others. At that point, I am sitting back thinking that I am winning the battle. That is until she discovered Hannah Montana, and her world has now been focused on how much Hannah Montana stuff she can fit into it. I think that the creators of Hannah Montana have everything they can think of with her likeness printed on it, it would not surprise Kristen or myself if they even have toilet paper.

The two of us were hanging out watching some TV, when I flipped through a station that was playing some latest popular country song. I gave out my usual laugh due to the fact that most country singers have forgot they sing country music and should not dress like they are some type of cool rock god, and yes I am talking to singers like Keith Urban and others. I have to say country music is not cool and/or edgy, although it’s ok to dress in style, but please quit trying to be the country rocker, to me that is just an oxy moron. ( I am now off my soap box for now about country music, but don’t worry I will get back to this subject.)

So due to my laughter my daughter also begins to laugh with me, and then she looks up to me proudly and tells me “we don’t like that western music!” At that moment in time I once again felt I am actually having an impact on the way she is being molded. I didn’t have the heart to break it to her that Taylor Swift is a part of the “western music”, but I can also say she is more pop than “western”, so I won’t break that to her until she is ready. At that moment I also had the satisfaction knowing that I am rubbing off on her. The other thing that has hit me is, I am in a way molding my biggest nightmare, a sport loving, and a music loving guy’s girl.(she also likes video games and comic book movies) I am a little biased, but I feel my little girl is a cutie as well, so I think I am setting myself up for the double whammy when it comes time for her to date, (which to her is when she is 21) the very cute guy’s girl. Trust me, I don’t own a gun, but when she turns 15, I will start looking for one.

For those keeping score at home: Kevin 2, Female household 0, and future boy’s are on my radar.

Music of the week:

Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This band is really catching my ear lately. The song “Lisztomania” is really catchy and I like them. I am buying the album tonight after the last baseball game of the season, so I will let you know what I think next week.

Girl Talk- Feed the Animals

Girl Talk is actually one guy named Gregg Gillis, and he mashes up popular songs and makes them fit perfect together. The reason I stumbled across GT is the fact that he is going to be one of the many bands I will see the day I go to the ACL festival. The best part about GT is that you can go to his site here, and download the new album for what ever price you feel like buying it for (yes I know what you are thinking, and yes you can). Trust me I listen to this every time I work out or need something to pep me up. Get the album, I haven’t been wrong yet.

The Mix Master Mike Incident

With my recent purchase of tickets to the ACL Festival for my end of the summer blow out, I figured I would finally let the story of the “Mix Master Mike Incident” out to the public. Since it has been over eight years since the epic incident, I feel that the Dallas PD no longer has an APB out for JB and myself. This is something that could only happen to the two of us, basically anytime we get together and alcohol is involved.

On a nice Oklahoma morning my best friend decided we should drive down to Dallas to watch one of our favorite groups DJ put on a show at the Lizard Lounge in Deep Ellum. So we packed some goods to take on our travels and hit good ol’ I-35 , to what we like to refer to as “the devil’s back yard” or for layman’s terms Texas.

We get to the club and, in usual fashion, meet a few locals and make friends with them. We then decide to not drink anymore beer, but this awesome occasion we should drink jack and coke instead. So we find a great table along the balcony, with a great view of the stage to watch him rip up some wax. Once again, making friends with the locals, we made a friend in one of the largest bouncers at the club. My boyish good looks and JB’s charm (plus the $40+ we tipped him once we got good and toasty) helped us reserve the table for the night.

MMM, hit the stage and since we were feeling the alcohol we decided to hit the dance floor and get up close to see him in action. So once we get amongst the 100+ people in the club we got split up, but I can see my 6’4” friend above everyone else, so I thought it was all good. I get to the stage and watch the show, thinking he was lost in the crowd, or for our luck met some girls. I had no idea that the Dallas PD decided to aid in the separation, and made the choice that he should go ahead and call it a night. They then escorted him outside and slapped the cuffs on him and sat him on the curb. While I am doing god knows what on the dance floor with MMM on stage; (once again thank god for the decision of Jack and Coke) he of course pleads with them that we are from Oklahoma and I am his ride. The police decide, for some unknown reason, that I too should call it a night, and came looking for me. He then proceeds (with the help of Jack) to slip the cuffs around his legs and in good fashion to run off into the Dallas night. While on the run he slips the cuffs over his girly wrists and then dodges in and out of bars. As 3 a.m. came closer, I turn the corner and BAM, there he is. Out of breath and without the jacket, t-shirt, and hat he came with, and at that point anyone that drove by saw two grown men hugging and dancing in the street, and almost crying like babies.

To top the crazy night off in Texas, when we checked into our hotel room (with double beds), the hotel gave us a room with someone in it. So some poor man had to be scared out of his sleep at close to 5 a.m. with two drunk men with one half clothed trying to get into his room. At that point all we wanted to do is sleep and then get the hell out of Texas while we still had our freedom! Once we got our room situation in order, we slept the rest of the night off and left the next morning back to our own little Switzerland called Oklahoma. Trust me we always found a way to make things interesting any time we went out. You don't want to know about the snow filled New Years Eve we had that year! Good Times…………….Good Times.

Music this week:

Albums I just bought:
Bob Dylan- Together Through Life
Great Album, like it better than Modern Times, if you like Bob get the album it won’t disappoint, but if you like to remember the Young Bob Dylan, don’t bother.

Ben Harper and Relentless 7- White Lies for Dark Times
This one I am excited about next to Eminem’s album for album’s this summer. The first listen I have had I love it. He got in a rut with the Innocent Criminals, but this one busts out with a rocking feel much like “Free your Mind” and “The Will to Live”, the guitars are amazing and the Relentless 7 helped push this album. I suggest buying this one.