Fresh Tendrils

He thinks he's worth what?!

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:43:26 GMT

Michael Vick thinks he's worth $10 million per year. I guess prison has given him plenty of time to dream.

Hotmail

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:23:24 GMT

I realize Hotmail is a free service and all, but it seems I've been getting a lot of "Server too Busy" messages lately. At least one per day. And now i haven't been able to get any farther than the log in screen for the past 20 minutes. I've used Hotmail for about 12 years and I could count on one hand the number of times I couldn't access my email. Now in the past few weeks, it's a daily occurrence. Pain in my ass.

Update: It's been over an hour and I still can't get in.

Update: 1:20pm, now "Service Unavailable." Sweet. This sounds like great news.

Update: 1:24pm, and just as soon as I updated, I could get in.

Bureau of Detritus

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:12:49 GMT

I hear these terms infrequently, but they always make me think when I do hear them:

Old man: This is your father. Does this work from a female perspective? Could a woman's old man refer to her father and her husband? I guess depending on your situation, it could be both with the same man. :D

Old lady: This is your wife. Why isn't this your mother?

There's no reason for this post other than to point out the weirdness of the terms.

Tuesday Blues Day

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:44:58 GMT

MARC FORD (1966- )

Locked Down Tight (Acoustic)

Don't Come Around

Greazy Chicken

Tuesday Blues Day

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:05:55 GMT

JOE BONAMASSA (1977-)

A New Day Yesterday

Bridge to Better Days

Just Got Paid

Tuesday Blues Day

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:00:09 GMT

WATERMELON SLIM

Black Water

Bad Bad Sinner

Devil's Cadillac

Tuesday Blues Day

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:58:02 GMT

ALBERT KING (1923-1992)

Blues Power

Born Under a Bad Sign

Stormy Monday (with Stevie Ray Vaughan)

Nerdiosity

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:12:17 GMT

Bow before me, nerds!

One Word

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:07:08 GMT

Type only ONE word answers

It's harder than you think!!!

Where is your cell phone? bookshelf
Your hair? brown
Your father? healthy
Your favorite thing? imagination
Your dream last night? forgot
Your favorite drink? coke
Your dream/goal? writer
The room you are in? living
Your fear? cancer
Where do you want to be in 6 years? published
Muffins? sometimes
One of your wish list items? house
Where you grew up? country
The last thing you did? eat
What are you wearing? t-shirt
Your TV? medium
Your pets? cats
Your computer? laptop
Your life? happy
Missing someone? no
Your car? sporty
Favorite store? amazon
Your summer? camping
Your favorite color? green
When is the last time you laughed? today
Last time you cried? thanksgiving
Three people who email me? hon, pete, dennis
Three of my favorite foods? pizza, sub, cashews
Three places I would rather be right now? island, concert, superbowl
Three people I think will respond? unsure

Jeffology

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:36:53 GMT

Let other's know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name
followed by "ology"

***********FOOD-OLOGY***************

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Blue Cheese

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Red Robin -- love the A1 Peppercorn burger

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Mexican

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Loads of pepperoni

What do you like to put on your toast?
Butter

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many television are in your house?
3

What color cell phone do you have?
Silver

***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Teeth, blood

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
50 pounds of cat litter

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
I think I would

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Something Dickensian

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Absolutely

************DUMBOLOGY******************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Two, though I bought the second because I went too cheap on the first pair(that were quite uncomfortable)

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Not my fault: November 2007, when a girl pulled out in front of me and I t-boned her
My fault: March 2007, pulled over for speeding in a rental in Arizona

Last person you talked to:?
Daina

Last person you hugged?
Daina

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season?
Summer

Holiday?
Christmas

Day of the week?
Saturday

Month?
January (my birthday :D)

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Missing someone?
Nah

Mood?
Good

What are you listening to?
TV

Watching?
King of Queens

Worrying about?
Nothing at the moment

***************AINDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning?
To the bathroom

What's the last movie you saw?
Death Race online

Do you smile often?
I guess, though it's usually because I'm laughing

QUESTIONS

1)Do you always answer your phone?
No

2) You love...
Daina

3) If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Yellow -- really I could care less what collor my eyes are

4) What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
I don't go to Sonic

5) Do you own a digital camera?
Yes

6)Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes, and still do

7) Favorite Christmas song?
Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby and David Bowie

8) What's on your wish list for your birthday?
It was an Xbox and I got one a few days ago

9) Can you do push ups?
Yeah, a few

10) Can you do a chin up?
Probably a couple

11) Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Excited

13) Ever been in a car wreck?
Two, neither my fault

14) Do you have an accent?
Not naturally, but I can imitate a few

15) What is the last song to make you cry?
I don't think a song has ever made me cry, but I always turn the channel when they play that Sarah McLaughlin song over the pet adoption commercial

16) Plans tonight?
Chillin' at home

17) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Yes, in 2004 (sorry, no details)

18) Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Xbox, Guitar Hero World Tour, and a bottle of Cherry Coke

19) Have you ever been given roses?
Yes

20) Current worry?
Nothing really

21) Current hate right now?
Office environment at work

22) Met someone who changed your life?
Yes

23) How did you bring in the New Year?
Opened Christmas presents, due to traveling over the weekend and no time off until New Year's Day

24) What song represents you?
No idea

25) Name three people who might complete this?
Probably no one since I'm just posting this and not tagging anyone

26) What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Watching the 1994 censored appearance of Bill Hicks on Letterman.

27) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
If I should go back to sleep

Good riddance, Blago...

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:03:47 GMT

... you lying weasel.

Billy Powell

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:44:20 GMT

I am really bummed out right now after reading that Billy Powell, Lynyrd Skynyrd's piano man has died. Aparently, he missed a cardiology appointment yesterday and called 911 early this morning and was found dead clutching the phone when paramedics arrived.

I love Skynyrd as much as the next guy, but I really loved Billy's honky tonk piano playing. I think he was the most underrated, but my favorite, member of the band, I will miss him. Damn it.

Here's Billy with a killer solo:

Jericho

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:40:11 GMT

I've been watching Jericho for free online. I'm really loving online TV lately. And Jericho falls in line with my attraction toward unresolved cancelled TV shows. But it's post-apocalyptic, so I couldn't help myself. But knowing all that the show went through with cancellation, the peanut petition, and then cancellation again, I find it somewhat odd that CBS places it under the TV Classics section on their website. "It's so classic, we cancelled it twice!"

Reinstate Hank

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:23:59 GMT

Click the link for details: www.reinstatehank.org

Legend of the Seeker

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:00:04 GMT

I just changed the channel. Not because it's awful. In fact, I don't even know if it's awful because the sound cut out about 20 minutes in. And apparently it's a local issue, which is not surprising because the local Comcast has fucked up like this before. They are the most incompetent assholes. I'd have dumped them long ago if it weren't for the fact that I don't pay for it -- it comes with the apartment. Comcast, you suck!

Chinese Democracy

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:38:28 GMT

Looks like it has a release date. For real this time. Best Buy (its exclusive retailer) has a listing for it. And apparently, the first single, Chinese Democracy, was released to radio stations two days ago. I haven't heard it on the radio, but it's streamed at GunsNRoses.com.

I must admit to getting sick and tired of the delays in getting this album out. I was one who truly believed it would never see the light. But even in my skepticism, I always held out the hope that it would be released. i just wanted to hear the new stuff. This is Guns N' Roses after all. Not the Guns N' Roses of my youth. Not the Guns N' Roses with Slash or Duff or even Izzy. And definitely not the Guns N' Roses with an Axl that looks more like Axl than like Carrot Top.

But Chinese Democracy (the song) is good. Good enough that I really, really hope that this album is released in a month so I can hear the rest. It does sound different, make no mistake. This is definitely Guns N' Roses 2.0 (more like 2.10). Axl's banshee wail is absent for the most part in the song (you can hear it a bit in the background), replaced by a growl that most hard rock bands use now. I think I'd prefer the former. But that's really my only beef.

Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:20:04 GMT

Why, oh, why did John Lennon have to go and bring Yoko on stage? Just why? Hell, why was she even there? Every time I listen to that track I think how awesome it is up to the point where Yoko goes into heat, and how much better it would be as a strictly instrumental piece. I would really like to hear a version of that track sans vocals. It's such a great jam.

I'm serious about my cereal

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:37:08 GMT

So where the fuck is all the Raisin Bran Crunch? Both Wal-Marts here are completely out of stock on it. The thought that they cancelled it crossed my mind -- wait, do they cancel cereals? I know it's not TV but... it is cereal (get it? ha ha!).

I googled it to see if I could find any info on discontinuing it (that's it -- they discontinue cereals). Nada. Then I checked the website and it appears they may be changing the box design. Maybe there was a delay in getting the new product on the shelves. It's just weird that ALL the boxes in both sizes sold out.

I'll have to check Wegmans and Giant. I want me some Raisin Bran Crunch. I had to settle for Cocoa Pebbles and Malt-O-Meal Golden Puffs. Just not the same.

two deaths and a close call

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:54:33 GMT

Don LaFontaine and Jerry Reed (RIP, Snowman) on the same day. Bummer.

Also Nicholas Evans gets ill. When will people learn not to eat mushrooms they find in the woods, in the yard, or anywhere else but the grocery store. Jeez, Louise.

Fantasy Football: Week 1 Prep

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:33:36 GMT

In case you missed the last post, you'll see the lineup I drafted below, along with my adjustments and Week 1 Pregame thoughts.

STARTERS
QB: Derek Anderson -- I'm considering benching Anderson in favor of Rivers this week as Anderson is coming off his preseason concussion and heading into a matchup versus Dallas. On the other hand, Rivers faces Carolina. I'd like to see where Anderson is, but I don't want to lose out on his points if he plays well. Argh. Week 1 is already a headache.
RB: Steven Jackson -- Is he healthy? Who knows? At least he's playing.
RB: Earnest Graham
WR: Reggie Wayne
WR: Roddy White
TE: Dallas Clark
TE: Jason Witten
DP: Patrick Willis
D: Seahawks
K: ~~Jeff Reed~~ Mason Crosby -- I dumped Reed and replaced him with Crosby. With kickers, you want someone who is more likely to kick FGs than XPs. Which means you want a kicker on a team that doesn't score a ton of TDs. I think Crosby will kick more FGs this season.

THE BENCH
QB: Philip Rivers
RB: Kenny Watson
RB: ~~Chris Brown~~ Chris Perry -- I saw that Rudi Johnson was cut and picked up by the Lions. I was pretty excited seeing that I have Kenny Watson. I figured he'd pick up Johnson's slack as the starter. However, Perry jumped from third in the depth charts to first. He was still available, so I grabbed him. I may try to start one or both in place of my two current starters, depending how the starters pan out. Might work for some weeks. Even for Week 1 I may supplant one of the starters in favor of Perry.
RB: Pierre Thomas
WR: Reggie Williams
WR: Bobby Engram
WR: Roydell Williams

Pigskin Voodoo

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:31:57 GMT

It's that time of the sports season once again. Pro football (Go Bills!), college football (Go Hokies!), but more importantly, fantasy football -- where my team, Pigskin Voodoo, looks to avenge the two point loss for the whole shebang.

My league's draft was Tuesday and here's my team:

STARTERS
QB: Derek Anderson -- This guy came out of nowhere last year and after I had had enough of Drew Brees's (my draft pick) sucktastic performance, I picked him up after that epic TD fest last year against the Bengals. He finished the season strong for me. Got him again this year. I don't think he'll match last years numbers, but he'll be solid for me.
RB: Steven Jackson -- We were allowed 2 keepers from last season, and Jackson was a no-brainer. He started last season just as bad as Brees, but he picked up. This year he should be much better. I'm counting on that.
RB: Earnest Graham -- One of my division rivals picked this guy up last year and got some good mileage out of him, especially toward the end of the season when he was very consistent. I'm hoping he picks up where he left off.
WR: Reggie Wayne -- He was my other keeper. With Marvin Harrison on his way out, Wayne looks to be Peyton Manning's number one target. I was pretty happy with his performance last year.
WR: Roddy White -- Never heard of this dude before doing pre-draft player research. He didn't have a lot of TDs last year, but he was Top 10 in receiving yards. I'm hoping he becomes Matt Ryan's go-to guy in the passing game.
TE: Dallas Clark -- I tried to trade for this guy last season to repalce the pathetic performance of Alge Crumpler. The trade never happened and I settled for Vernon Davis, who was mediocre. But what can you expect from a guy on a horrible offense? Well, I got Clark this season and expect he'll do well.
TE: Jason Witten -- This is the other guy I tried to trade for (see above). Same guy had both. Now I do. He should do well this season also. Both TEs put up numbers better than most WRs.
DP: Patrick Willis -- We voted this year to add a defensive player to the lineup. But after looking at the number of points they score in a season, I'm not sure why. I think Willis is projected to score 13 points all season long. What the hell is the point? Seems like a waste of a draft slot to me. In any case, Willis was a breakout lasy year, and I hope he contributes more than 13 points, but we'll see.
D: Seahawks -- Even the best defenses can have crappy games. I lucked out with the Bears last year, and they never lost points for me in any week. A zero once. Ten weeks over 10 points, two of those over 20. The Seahawks had two weeks last season where they lost points (including the final game, which is scary if you make it to the championship matchup), but they also had 8 games over 10 points, four of those over 20, and one over 30.
K: Jeff Reed -- I had two of the best kickers last season in Nate Kaeding and Robbie Gould, but Reed isn't bad either.

THE BENCH
QB: Philip Rivers -- Not a bad backup should Anderson prove not up to the performance he put in last year. I could rotate these guys based on opponent rather than just save the backup for Cleveland's bye week or in case Anderson gets injured. We'll see.
RB: Kenny Watson -- Watson could replace Graham if necessary. He worked very well for me last season after Rudi Johnson got hurt. And he still put up nice numbers after Johnson returned. I think they'll split the carries this year again, if Watson doesn't outperform Johnson. I would really like to see Watson upgraded to starter.
RB: Chris Brown -- I may not even use Brown. He's in the lineup right now for bye weeks. I may look to find a free agent to replace him. Seems he's plagued with injuries.
RB: Pierre Thomas -- This guy is supposed to be the guy to cash in on Reggie Bush's mid-field efforts. I'll keep an eye on him the first few weeks to see if he becomes the goal line back. If so, he may become more useful to me if Graham sputters.
WR: Reggie Williams -- Williams was the guy that cost me the championship. Or actually, he was the gy who could have won me the title. Despite pulling down 7 TDs in the final 9 weeks, I benched him in favor of Patrick Crayton (who was supposed to get the bulk of the passes as TO was being saved for the post-season). Well, I mentioned above that I lost the title by two measly points. Crayton scored 0 points. He had like 9 yards and dropped a few passes. Williams racked up 9 points.
WR: Bobby Engram -- Looks to be a decent bench WR, if he can stay healthy. Decent output last season.
WR: Roydell Williams -- Strictly a bye week fill-in. He had 4 10+point weeks, but all the others were 5 point weeks or less, including 3 0 point weeks. I'll keep my eye out for better 5th string WRs if Vince Young doesn't target him enough. However, he may surprise me.

The season starts soon, and in Week 1 I face the champ (did I mention he only won by 2 points?). I think I'm ready. His team is definitely not as good as last year's lineup. He also happens to be the League Manager and he's predicted I will go 6-8. I think he underestimates my team, the bastard.

Dark Knight

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:18:45 GMT

I saw Dark Knight last night and I loved it. Heath Ledger was the perfect Joker. (Jack who?) It was pretty much as perfect as a superhero movie could be. There was one tiny beef I had though. In no way did it affect my perception of the movie, but it was distracting.

~~Not really a spoiler, but I'm cutting it anyway.~~ I can never get the fucking cut to work, so fuck it. If you've seen the movie, you'll get it. If you haven't seen the movie, you may not.

BMG Music Service

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:49:10 GMT

I've been a member of BMG Music Service for about 5 years now. I've placed orders regularly through out the 5 years -- enough so that what I want that's available through them is slim pickins. But I have a list of CDs that are stored in my cart for future purchase so I don't have to go in and search every time I want to make a purchase.

Today, I check my cart and half of it is missing. I had planned to make a purchase soon, so I had maybe 7 CDs in my active cart. Now 4 of those are missing. Among the 4 were 3 Frank Zappa CDs. So I search for Zappa and he's no longer in the system. WTF BMG? No warning at all?

Anybody hear anything about this? I can't find anything. Not much I can do about it, but I'm pretty pissed.

Oh, my aching back

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:27:23 GMT

I threw my back out last night. Moving a couch while vacuuming. Hurt like hell. At first I just thought it was a quick strain, but the pain didn't go away. Immediately I laid down on the floor, flat on my back with my knees bent up. The pain gradually subsided. And when I got up I realized that this wasn't just a spasm.

I applied heat and it just seemed to tighten up. I was afraid to go to sleep last night for fear that it would be worse this morning. It wasn't, but it's not any better. I hope this isn't too serious, but I may make a doctor's appointment just to be sure.

I've had minor back pain for several years, due no doubt to the physical jobs I've had in the past and the more recent weight I've gained in my gut. But this is far worse than any back pain I've had before. It's also a reminder of the fact that I'm only getting older.

I think that being active (in a limited capacity) helps more than anything. That and ibuprofen. And I'm determined to go to the Summer's Best Music Fest this afternoon in State College.

This pain sucks.

Deadwood

jeff_hotchkiss@hotmail.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:34:05 GMT

Just finished the last episode of Season 3 of Deadwood. I'd just like to say that this is, to this point, my favorite TV show ever. Also, god damn you HBO for letting this show slip away. Just when things were coming to a head, you pulled the plug. Way to go. I don't know how the ratings structure is built for pay channels like HBO, but I guess no show is safe on any channel, no matter how well-written, smart, and edge-of-your-seat it is.