A new web album has been uploaded. We've had a great summer. Amy and her friends got to go to see Three Days Grace (one of her favorite bands) along with Breaking Benjamin and Puddle of Mudd. They were really enjoying the show until about 20 minutes into 3DG's set, when downtown Tulsa was inundated with ~2 inches of rain in less than an hour. The show was cut short, and they got drenched...but still had a great time.
We made it down through all the flooding to Wichita Falls for a July 4th "RedneckFest". Griffin had a great time meeting and playing with all of his distant cousins. The band they hired, Red House, was pretty decent too. Any band that covers Hendrix, Thin Lizzy and even Pearl Jam are alright by me. We also made it by and visited with James Doolen for a bit. It was the first time in a long time that Jason wasn't living near there. He's living on a boat now, doing treasure-hunting full time in Florida. Those single guys can do that kind of stuff, I hear. So Jas, I haven't heard from you since you got down there, bud...drop me an update some time! ;)
Amy and I have been Counting Crows fans since we met in '94. We always said we'd go see them if they played close to our town. Imagine our surprise when they actually scheduled dates that weren't only next to the coasts. As part of a triple-header tour played in baseball stadiums around the country, they actually scheduled a show at the home of the Tulsa Drillers. Collective Soul and Third Eye Blind performed first, but we were there to see the Crows and they certainly didn't disappoint. It was the closest thing to a "real date" that Amy and I have had since Griffin was born. We're really glad we were able to attend. On a sad note, Adam Duritz (lead singer/songwriter and huge baseball fan) announced that they were donating $5 from each ticket to The Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund. Coach Coolbaugh was killed several weeks ago during a tragic mishap with a foul ball while coaching first base for the Drillers. We all thought that this was an awesome gesture from the band. I'm really looking forward to hearing the new CC album "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" when it's released in October.
Have You Seen Me Lately?
Perfect Blue Buildings
Amy and Lindsey decided to go down to both Barnes and Noble bookstores on the night that the last Harry Potter book was released. They had a blast visiting with all of the costumed folks and just absorbing the spectacle of it all. Amy waited a few days later before picking up her own copy and is still trying to read as slowly as she can to savor this final epic volume for as long as possible.
Griffin starts full-day Kindergarten next Monday. We met his teacher this week, and he went in for his assessment this morning. Of course, she was very impressed with him. :) He's very excited about starting back to school and seeing some of his old classmates again. They have expanded from two 4-year old kindergarten classes to seven K classes this year...so he'll have lots of kids in his grade to make friends with.
I'm going to be changing jobs within ConocoPhillips soon. They are going to move me over into Microsoft Exchange administration, rather than being locked strictly to the e-mail archiving application that I've been supporting. It's a good move, because I'll be working with the premier email back-end on a massive scale. It'll be a somewhat steep learning curve, but I'm anxious to start the new training, face new challenges and integrate with the existing support team over the next couple of months.
We had such a mild Spring and early summer that it's been pretty unbearable lately, now that the 90-100 degree heat has become the daily norm. I miss all the rain and thunderstorms, but we certainly can't complain. I know that Tulsa can be MUCH more miserable during the Summer (like 1980, when I moved here). I hope all of you are staying cool and enjoying the remainder of your Summer. Myself...I've been on vacation for the past week and have thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation.
"Always the Summers are slipping away." - S. Wilson
Griffin and I have had a chance to visit the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve twice this weekend. It's quite a unique environment for NE Oklahoma, tucked away less than 10 miles north of our house. The trails take you through an upland area with prairies and woods. Then you reach a ravine that drops you down to the base of a cliff face carved from granite many years ago by the Bird Creek. You follow along the cliffs either on the partially planked main trail (the low route), or the more rugged Bluff Trail. We had a great time both visits. We took these pics during our trips. The trail takes approx. 1 hour to walk and the paths are well marked and maintained. I'd definitely recommend it to someone wanting to enjoy some quiet solitude...or take the energy level of a 5 year old down a notch. They've got weird hours, so make sure you read their site before you head out.
Wanna see some new photos? (as my virtual wallet unfolds to the ground) This album covers trips to Kansas City, Easter, Griffin's 5th Birthday and Mayfest / Blue Dome Arts Festival.
Click the thumbnail below to view the entire album in larger size with comments.
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet [Uncensored Version]
This album is definitely in my top 10 CDs of 2007, and the title track here pretty much summarizes the theme of the album as a whole. Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis' (Less than Zero, American Psycho) book, Lunar Park, this work is a social commentary on the Generation Y kids who are growing up today. The gist is that with all the video games, instant messaging, cellphones, e-mail, immediate access to any and everything on the Internet, the prescription drugs, the lazy parents...today's youth never have an opportunity to appreciate life and what it has to offer.
This video, directed by longtime Porcupine Tree photographer and artistic partner Lasse Hoile came out the day of the Virginia Tech shooting, and was quickly pulled since it showed kids with handguns. Despite this, it is SFW and doesn't show anything but mild violence. Good song. Disturbing message.
Roadrunner, Dream Theater's new record label, seems to be trying a different approach to marketing DT's unique flavor of progressive metal. This is a fully authorized video of the full song showing them in the recording studio. The song isn't their strongest (I think Constant Motion is better), but it does experiment with a shift from the constant high, clean vocals usually present in most DT songs (earning them a reputation as a "hair band" in my house). Despite some slightly sub-par lyrics, they absolutely redeem themselves from 04:00 - 07:00 in the song with a mind-blowing instrumental section. I'm sure that having this video on YouTube will expose them to a lot of new fans who would otherwise never hear of them. I think that RoadRunner is off to a good start.
