Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,

Well Bob Marley asked the question, and i have the answer...

The Caribbean Holidaze. It is a Super-inclusive trip to Jamaica with a few bands that my boyfriend and i really love to see. They are not above Panic for me, but I guess i can say that i would travel to Jamaica to catch a few shows.
So, we leave December 13th to the 17th. Flying back will be so hard, but for what we are doing, i am super excited. So, in order to get a cheap(er) flight, we are changing planes a number of times, but still get into Montigo Bay at 8:05 on that Thursday. We get picked up from the airport and taken to the Breezes Resort of Runaway Bay. The group that we are going with has the whole resort reserved, so there will be no one but silly hippie freaks on the beach and in the bars and eating at the restaurants. The Trip cost includes all meals, (even the late night buffet that goes on all night) all drinks, YUP, that's right.. including the mimosa i will be ordering every morning by room service. If that is not enough, then all of our water sports and land sports are included (snorkeling, kayaking, towels, beach chairs etc- as well as a 18 hole golf course and tennis). Then on top of all that we get two full sets from both Umphres McGee and Disco Biscuits!!! SO EXCITING. Now, if you are saying to yourself, Wow, that is a big trip, wonder why she hasn't mentioned this before is because we only found out we were going like MONDAY!!- here's the short story.
We looked at this trip when it was first announced at the start of the summer. My boyfriend and i both decided that it was too spendy and that we didn't have the disposable cash that it took to do this (it is not too expensive, but for our money situation, it was not a reality).
So we never thought of it again.. To be honest it was totally off my radar. I knew Jam cruise was coming up, but forgot all about Caribbean Holidaze. So, a friend calls Monday night (now given i just got back from the east coast and still have not unpacked my bag) and I can only hear my boyfriend's part of the conversation and as i said i was really only thinking of Jam Cruise (similar to this trip but on a boat, we did that two years ago). So, my boyfriend gets off the phone and said, well that was an interesting call. I said yeah, sounds like he has an extra for jam cruise, you thinking about going..? Of course i was sad thinking he would want to go on this awesome vacation with a friend. And he said No, it's the Caribbean Holidaze. Immediately i was interesting because i like these bands better than the ones on the boat. So, i asked again, so you thinking about going?
He said, well he has a whole room, He can't go, his roommate for the trip backed out and he has a whole room (read two reservations) and "he wants us to go have fun in his room" well then reality hit me and i said, but we don't have the cash for the trip. And my boyfriend clarified that our friend has already been charges, no refunds and doesn't want us to pay him back... WHAT??? you mean that this guy wants to give us a Jamaican vacation with two of our favorite bands and 798 of our new closest friends. There was not a hesitation in my response when i said "when do we leave?". We got online and got a couple of plane tickets, changed to reservation names and we are headed to Jamaica in two weeks.. AMAZING.
We are staying in the Breezes resort at Runaway Bay if you want to look up what we get to do and see.. or just checkout this link to the trip.
http://www.caribbeanholidaze.com/home.php
OH MY GOD, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
(especially when waking up to 18 degrees)
Later mon :)

Tell me baby why you been gone so long, been gone so long.

Sorry to leave everyone hanging for the last ferw days but I have been gone to the east coast for the holiday weekend. I didn't mention anything on my blog, because, although she may not visit everyday, my mom does stop by and this trip was a surprise for her.
My dad and i planned my trip and kept quiet for weeks to pull it off. And it worked. She didn't have a clue i was coming and i scared the living crap out of her when we picked her up from a shopping excursion and i was hidden in the back seat. She screamed so loud then was really excited. It was fun to get her good...

The next one to fool was my sister. She didn't know either. Her wedding anniversary happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year. She got one f those awesome touch iPods, she was so excited she called me. My boyfriend answered the phone and said i wasn't there. That stirred her suspicion, but when i called her right back, i tried to easy her curiosity by telling her that i was standing in snow and that i was certain i was in Denver. The next day when she and her family arrived at my mom's for dinner, i came out of the garage and scared her too. She was really happy to see me as were the kids.
What fun that was. and Thanksgiving dinner was great. We had a blast hanging out and talking. We did some shopping on Friday. There were a ton of people out, but we got a lot of what we were looking for. We weren't the crazy ones lining up at best buy at noon on thanksgiving, so it could have been hit or miss.
I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgivne and a good trip back from where ever it was you ate.
I am back and in full swing, so keep checking back, more posts to come.

You gotta see this...

Squeezes for everyone

Today is a sad day in my Televison history memory.. Mr. Whipple, (Dick Wilson) is squeezing the big toilet paper roll in the sky. So, we are free to squeeze as much as you would like with no threat of some fussy, anal retentive store owner yelling at you for testing the squishyness of the Charmin.

I like short weeks at work. I was telling my boyfriend that today feels like a Wednesday/Monday. And then tomorrow will be a Thursday/Tuesday.

This past weekend we went to an old hotel here in Denver called the Brown palace. They had a cascade of champaign glasses, a master swordsman to cut the tops off of some champaign bottles and they lit their massive chandileer in the entryway. My boyfriend had to go for some Holiday pictures for his newspaper. I took along my video and got some shots of the event. I also got smacked in the head by a shattering champaign bottle that erupted in the swordsman's hand. I will try to get some of that video up for you to see. But the glass cascade was made of 6, 022 glasses. That was pretty impressive. Then some dancers from the Colorado ballet did a very small performance from the Nutcracker. That was enough for me.
Last christmas time my boyfriend got some free tickets to the Ballet doing the Niutcracker. We lasted a lot longer than i thought and snuck out at the first break. So, now i feel i got my fill of Nutcracker for this season.
Thats all for now.. have a great afternoon. I will be hitting the gym and then i think we are making home made pizza tonight

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!!
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES FOR SNACK!!!!!!!

Keep On With The Force Don't Stop, Don't stop till you get enough.

That is what i was listening too while doing my reps on the weight machines( Michael jackson, from the blog title). It is amazing what i find on my iPod every time i turn it on. This past summer, while we were going though Cali and Oregon (remember that trip?) anyway we wanted to listen to a book on my ipod, but i had copied it from the library so it went into my music folder under the authors name. In order to listen to the book from beginning to end we had to turn off the shuffle. Here i am, at least three months later and we can't figure out how to get the overall shuffle back on. We can find the song, album shuffle, but i have no idea how to get it to shuffle between albums, artists and songs. I can shuffle an album but not the whole iPod, you dig? so, this has been very frustrating for my walking in the afternoons. Now, instead of just letting the music flow, i have to choose an artist, then make sure i have more than an albums worth to get me though the whole cardio time. If not then i have to think and choose something else while i am at full sweating capacity and thinking is the last thing i want to be doing. Plus i am not the best decision maker as it is, and making these decisions after a single song is WAY to much, but i digress. Anyway, i have mostly been listening to Mika, who i have given you many glimpses at over the last two weeks and while i am a the weight machines i look though my ipod for other things to listen to. I found Micheal Jackson but will always think of String Cheese Doing "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough"

I got my flu shot the other day. I don't think i need it but the people I work around all got theirs and were telling me that if i got them sick this winder i would pay for it. Now that i think about it, if they all got flu shots, they wouldn't get sick anyway... Damn, i got suckered.. but i guess i will be healthy though this winter.. There go my plans of calling in sick for a week and watching Judge Judy for eight days straight.

This weekend we will be around the house a lot but my boyfriend has some places that he want's to go shoot photos for the newspaper he works for. I think we will be hitting up the Botanical Gardens here in Denver as well as some other photo ops. Then it is all resting and laundry. I know, exciting... But our exciting weekend days are winding down or the music coming though isn't worth our cash. OK, i will say it is the later rather than admitting i may be getting old(er).

Have a great weekend where ever that maybe. and remember next week is a short work week so we can all stuff our faces and watch football and feel like this hedgehog . I love America!!!!

Going to be a bear

My sister sent me this today, and that's about how i am feeling today.
Yup, going to be a bear.

Snack Time

Cheese and crackers.
Nothing exciting to report today.. I have a huge headache and thinking makes it worse, so i better not think much.
I will be back in full swing by tomorrow.
See you then.

Black Friday

I know it is many days away.. over a week even, but i am ready for Black Friday. Yesterday my boyfriend showed me a site that lists every sale that will be going down on Black Friday.
Since my camera was stolen, I have been looking to replace it. I also have had my eye on a Garmin or TomTom GPS devise as i get lost driving out of my driveway sometimes. That will be a useful tool for me to have. These are not cheap items and i don't make a ton on money, so i need to get them for a less than retail price. It looks as if Best Buy will have my GPS for an unreasonably low price. I am still trying to find a good price on my Nikon D40X, but that will come in time.
We have mapped all the places we want to go and all the sales we want to hit.
What are your thanksgiving plans and will you be shopping on Black Friday?
If you need to see what you will want here is the link to the page we were using yesterday..
happy bargain hunting.
http://www.blackfriday.info/

I dont care if I ever talk to you again....

Monday...
I am sitting here at work, ready to go and hit the gym before i relax for the night. I am still doing my exercises and getting back in shape for the winter. I am always listening to Mika. His album develops really well and is fun to sing to. I love almost every song on there..

I was looking for another video to show you and i came acorss this live version of "My Interpretation" I like the lyrics and in the right mood they make me laugh.

Here's the video, have a great night and enjoy some Mika.

It's all in a name

There is a music blog i read daily. It is called Hidden Track and they have a bunch of great info but also they do some very fun articles and stuff. This one i saw today and thought it was great. The last time my folks were out here visiting i was talking to them about some of my favorite bands (widespread panic, String Cheese Incident, Grateful dead etc) and mom asked how some of these bands get their names. Well i went into, i am sure,a too long and detailed explanation to some of the better named bands, like the ones i mentioned. Today on Hidden track they were talking about some ablums that were submitted with titles that were rejected by the record companies.
These are their top 8 alternative titled albums. See if you agree.

Most of the time record companies don’t really care too much what a band names an album, but once in a while they put their proverbial foot down (perhaps their literal feet as well). A few weeks ago we looked at 10 albums released with controversial cover art, so this week we look at eight albums whose titles were rejected either by members of the band or the big bad record company…

1. Grateful Dead — Skullfuck:

The Grateful Dead submitted a live album to Warner Brothers in 1971 with the title Skullfuck. As you can imagine, the record company rejected the title, and instead decided to release the album with no title. Fans call this album Skull and Roses to avoid confusing it with the band’s eponymous debut.













2. XTC — Black Music:

XTC released their debut album, White Music, on Virgin Records in 1978. The band wanted to call the album Black Music but Virgin nixed the idea because they thought the title may suggest a blues or soul album. Racists!

3. Beastie Boys — Thick Like Beyonce’s Leg:



The Beastie Boys’ Mike Diamond stirred up some shit earlier this year when he told British Radio Station XFM that the band originally wanted the title of The Mix-Up to be Thick Like Beyonce’s Leg. How do you go from one the best titles of all-time to The Mix-Up? The old-school Beastie Boys never would have let that happen.

4. Eric Clapton — The Best Guitarist In The World: There’s One In Every Crowd:

In 1975 Eric Clapton tried to name his new album The Best Guitarist In The World: There’s One In Every Crowd as an answer to all of the people who called him “God.” Clapton commented on the situation in Conversations With Eric Clapton:

“[It was going to be called] ‘The Best Guitarist In The World - There’s One In Every Crowd’. They didn’t approve of that one either. I was the only one who thought it would be a good idea. In fact, I’m not sure whether I could have lived with it. Most people would have taken it the wrong way. They would have thought I was being serious. But I am! I am the best fucking guitarist in the world!!(Laughs)”

EC wound up dropping The Best Guitarist In The World part and released the mediocre There’s One In Every Crowd to minor commercial success.

5. Metallica - Metal Up Your Ass:



Metal Up Your Ass started out as the name of a live demo Metallica recorded in 1982. The band liked the title so much that they tried to use it as the name of their first studio album on Megaforce Records. Megaforce rejected both the name and the cover art that the band submitted, leading Metallica to rename the album Kill ‘Em All, which apparently was fine with the label. Confusing.

6. Nirvana - I Hate Myself and Want to Die:

Nirvana wrote I Hate Myself and Want to Die for inclusion on their third studio album. When the time came for Nirvana to name it, Kurt Cobain suggested I Hate Myself and Want to Die. Ironically, Cobain later decided against the title because he feared the sarcasm of the title would be lost on some fans and critics. Not only didn’t the title stick, but the song itself was cut from the album that eventually became In Utero. The track finally was released on the Beavis and Butthead Experience compilation just before Cobain hated himself enough to die.

7. Bryan Adams - Hasn’t Heard of You Either:

Believe it or not there was a time when people weren’t familiar with the name Bryan Adams. Adams’ debut album sold so poorly that the Canadian rocker decided to call his sophomore release “Bryan Adams Hasn’t Heard of You Either.” A&M considered the title “too provocative,” leading Adams to rename the album You Want It You Got It. Just a few short years later Adams would hit the big time by releasing an incredible string of hit records before jumping the shark in 1991 with the release of the super corny (Everything I Do) I Do It For You.

8. Alice In Chains - Tripod:



When we told Team HLA about this B List our buddy bl002e brought up Alice In Chains’ eponymous album from 1995. The cover art for the album features a three legged dog, leading most AIC fans to refer to this release as Tripod. We can’t really confirm that Alice In Chains actually intended to name the album Tripod, but we did come across a few websites say “originally titled Tripod" when talking about the album. If that works for Wikipedia that works for us.

Do you believe in Magic?

Ok so you might think this is a lazy way to blog, and you are right. But i watched this this morning and really liked it.. check it out and have a great Thursday.. SURVIVOR IS ON!!!

Livin in America...

I was browsing though Youtube and came across an interview with James Brown, but he is tanked out of his mind.. Too funny.
I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Brown perform before he passed. It was a few years back and he opened for the String Cheese Incident in Steamboat Springs for 4th of July. He sang all the greats and was crazy dancing on stage. But really got me was that he spent over 80% of the show turned with his back to the audience. He would only turn around for the vocals that he had to sing, and then would turn back around and face the band. When he did turn around, it looked like he had had too much plastic surgery in his life or was completely botoxed out. Kinda freaky.
But he sang everything you would want to hear from James Brown and more.
In the spirit of the season, here is Mr. James Brown, drunk doing an interview after his release from jail for abuse charges against his wife.
too classic.
enjoy

Big Girls you are beautiful.

First, i would like to apologize for letting the blog get a day behind, but yesterday i was simply not up for it. I had nothing good to say and was grouchy, so as my mother tried to teach me, and i some times listened, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. That lesson usually slips by me, but yesterday i left all to be discussed at a later day... today.

So, yesterday my phone died. It was a quick passing, so no pain involved except for the pain my wallet will feel when i go to replace it later this week. It was beeping all night, like the battery was dying. Not a big deal it has happened before, but when i got to work and tried to plug it in to charge, a message that said "Unable to charge" come on it. I let it sit for a hour or so hoping it would fix itself. At lunch time i took it to the AT&T store. That's when the guy told me that my phone had seen it's last day. When asked what phone was a better phone than mine, he simply pointed to the store show room and said "everything we got". I looked around for about 30 seconds before i realized that they are all WAY to spendy at the store and will be searching elsewhere to get a new phone. That's the excitement of the hour. :)

Here is the story about the post headline. I was at the gym yesterday trying to get my walking done and it was hard. I mean a lot harder than last week. It felt like my legs were made of lead. I dialed my iPod to Mika and let 'er go. If you don't know Mika, it is understandable since he is a British singer, but i think he just got best new artist or something in England also. Press the play button (it's the arrow, mom) and have a good dance!!!




MIKA Lyrics
Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) Lyrics
For your reading pleasure i have included the lyrics so you can fully appreciate the song.
now get up and dance around because "Big Girls are BeautiFUL!!!!"

This video is so much fun and it made the rest of the workout a little better. I hope you enjoy this for a tuesday.

It's friday!!!!

This has got to be the longest week in history. I don't know if it is because we are usually into Daylights savings by now or what but this week has been soooo long. I have some plans this weekend, but i am mostly looking forward to not knowing it is 6am. Just letting the clock pass it by with no notification will be great. I guess i had some tossing and turning events in my sleep last night because i woke up with all the covers and my boyfriend clinging to the fringes of the blanket trying to keep something on top of him. I have no idea what i was dreaming about but it must have been good.
This week at work I have been watching tapes shot back around 2003 i would think. They are interviewing leaders of emerging political parties in Iraq and what they want and etc. There are some really neat shots of Shi'a Muslims gathering in Karbala for the Ashura or the National mourning of Imam Hessian's death some 1300 years ago. There were millions of people in this town all there to express their religion freely. Very moving at some points. To know that some of these people have never dreamed of celebrating is such an open way, and for others witnessing what they have always imagined it would be like. But it is also a little sad when there are interviews of soldiers that are speaking about being home in a few weeks and wondering if they even survived this occupation and got to go home, or if they have since been on several tours there by now.
Just makes you stop and think when you see some of this footage. I really had no idea what the war looked like until i started this job. There have been a few very hard days of watching death and destruction come to a nation. But it is fun to see some of the older men in Iraq with smiles and warm thanks to the troops as well as the children playing in the streets and laughing. They have no idea what is in their future or even their children's future.
Now for some fun stuff. We are cooking out pumpkin seeds tonight. We have been letting they dry the last two days and they are ready for the oven. I love snacking on pumpkin seeds. When Jeff first prepared them a few years ago, i was apprehensive, but after i got my first taste i have looked forward to this every halloween. If you like salty snacks, this is a great one.
And lastly, speaking of snacks, today was frozen fruit bars. I had a strawberry one.
Have a good and safe weekend.
Oh, I forgot one small story. So a few days ago i was in the bank and saw they were having a silent auction for a local high school. It was a bunch of Halloween treat items. Well i bid on a basket and forgot all about it. Today i was in there and they told me i had won the one i signed up on... So, now i have a ton more candy, YUMMM and a few really cute items, like a ghost candle holder a pumpkin candle holder and a halloween serving bowl. they are too cute, I will try to take a few pictures with my crappy little camera and show you.
Ok, now, have a great weekend!!!!

All the leaves are brown....

I am having some trouble thinking of a topic for today. My brain has officially turned off for the weekend already, I think. We went out to see Umphrees McGee last night and i have to say it was probably one of the better shows i have seen by them.
They had a large backdrop that looked like a haunted house with a projection screen i the center. They played slips from a lot of scary movies while playing to the intensity of the clips. Like they would pick several telling points of each film and do like a montage of the film all while playing to the scenes. Kind of hard to describe, but like when they did The Shining. When Jack's character is breaking down the door with the hatchet, they did the "Bam, Bam, Bam, with the swings of the hatchet, perfectly timed. It was great!!!
Today is the first day of "Hoy shit it's going to start getting cold" season. I need a new winter coat, but my old one will have to due for the time being. Seeing that i need to start saving to replace my camera. (Still sad about that)
Well since my post is so boring , i went to wikipedia and got some interesting facts about November 1st... My sister and I share a love of history, so this is for her...

1512- The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo , is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1604 - William Shakespeare's tragedyOthello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1611 - William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1859 - The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse was lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for about 19 miles (30 kilometers), in good conditions.

1861 - American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott

1870 - In the Untied States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service ) makes its first official meterologic forecast.

1918 - Malbone Street Wreck: the worst rapid Transit accident in US history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City with at least 93 deaths.

1941 - American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.

1951- American soldiers are exposed to an atomic explosion for training purposes in Desert Rock, Nevada. Participation was not voluntary.

1960- While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the peace Corps.

and to top it all off, today is World Vegan Day..
go eat some tofu and celebrate...