So we went to Houston last weekend. Brad and I haven’t had a
vacation together in –Jesus- years and we figured a nice little weekend trip down
south would be fun and cheap. Plus we’d get to see Shelley , who we haven’t
seen in probably just as long as our last vacation.

I’ve actually never been to Houston before. I always figured
I already live in a soulless, sprawling, metropolis so why bother driving 4.5
hours to the next one? Plus, as anyone who is from Texas will tell you, Houston
tends to be one of those places that most people always refer to with a grunt
and a sneer- like “Ugh, I have to go to Houston to visit my family.” It has
kind of a reputation for being a hot, sticky dump.

Personally though, I was rather pleasantly surprised. It was
definitely big and dirty but it also seemed to have an ease and charm about it
that Dallas never really seems capable of. And the weather was fabulous to
boot.

  Anyways, first full day there we decided to
visit the Menil Collection which is basically a small museum-along with the
famous Rothko Chapel and Byzantine Fresco chapel- that sits in a nice little
park in the middle of some older yuppy neighborhood. Best thing is that not
only does it have excellent works of art from the Ancient to the modern, but it’s
also completely free.

Of course, the real reason I visited the City came on Sunday
which is when I had bought all of us tickets to go see “Spring Awakening” at the
Hobby Center downtown. It was so awesome! Not quite as awesome as when I saw it
on Broadway, but that should be a given. I did however score us some kick ass
seats up close so we could see all the action perfectly. BTW if you haven’t
seen “Spring Awakening” and it comes through your town, GO! Its so much fun and
the music is fabulous. Plus you get to see boobies and butts! I made sure to
get a nice right orchestra seat so we could get a head-on view of Melchior’s (Kyle
Riabko) ass. YUM! Luckily, Brad and Shelley enjoyed their selves a lot-it was
their first ever Broadway Musical- and now we’re discussing possibly meeting up
in Austin to see Spamalot, Avenue Q, and Wicked which are coming through the UT
Bass Hall later this year. And surprise! Spring Awakening will be coming through
in late October so I’ll definitely be there 

Spring Awakening Tony Performance-Mama, BoL, Totally!

Okay so this week the local (and only) daily newspaper in Dallas, The Dallas Morning News, came out with it's list of the 10 Best Albums of 2008, and boy was it a doozy. Now, I normally take lists like this with a grain of salt because I realize that music is pretty objective, but this list almost made me lose my lunch. Of all the great and fantastic albums that came out this year (and there were alot) how the hell would any critic worth his salt choose Leanne Womack and Kylie Minogue (yeah I know, she had an album out) as his numbers 2 and 3. And the number one you ask? Well thats none other than Revelation from the Christian 'rock' band Third Day. Of course! Didn't you know?

Wait, what the fuck? You mean to tell me that Third Day is not only the best rock band this year but also the best band overall? Is this a joke?

Oh if only it were. But believe me, I already received 2 replies from Mario Tarradell, the critic responsible for this travesty, he's dead serious and completely unrepentant.

And to just further hammer home the point that this guy is the single worst music critic in America, he also gave us his top ten concerts of the year. Was it the LCD dreamscape of NIN at American Airlines Center? The zaney Buddha filled Dali painting that was Of Montreal at House of Blues? Nope.

Its groundbreaking shows like Tina Turner, Third Day (of course...duh), Brad Paisley, Shelby Lynne, Cyndi Lauper, and (gasp) Sarah Brightman. You'll have to excuse me while I punch myself in the balls.

Well its Black Friday and I had to work. Oh well, I think I'd rather sit around on my ass and get paid time and a half than troll the corridors of the mall. Actually, when I think about, this whole notion of Black Friday is just silly and more than a little disgusting. Not that I'm some crazy, liberal anti-consumerist that thinks everyone should weave their own clothes and grow their own food. God knows I love to shop and when I do it certainly isn't cheap. Its just that I find the whole thing with staying up until 3am and camping out in front of the Best Buy and Wal-Mart to be so undignified.

To me, shopping is a pleasant experience where you take your time, examine the merchandise, and let sales people kiss your butt. Not where you're wrestling with trashy poor people just for a few bucks off some off-brand flatscreen TV. Its just not worth the headache especially when you can find good deals early and just get the whole damn business of shopping for presents over and done with before the holidays even really start. I bought all of Brad's presents on sale, online, for ridiculous discounts weeks ago. Now, all I have left now is a couple of toys and some gift cards and I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy Jesus' Birthday-like he intended.

I'm very sad. XM radio has replaced Fungus XM, the 24/7 punk rock channel-which I fucking loved-, with AC/DC radio. Thats right all AC/DC all the time whenever and wherever you want it.

If that wasn't insulting enough, their suggestion for a replacement station to listen to is the new XM FACTION channel which is advertised as the "extreme sports music"channel. Not sure what that means exactly, but apparently it involves a lot of Metallica and Linkin Park which has nothing to do whatsoever with punk rock. I guess if Tony Hawk introduces it its automatically punk rock or something. 

OH A POX ON YOU XM!!!

its over. We won. I think thats all that need be said. I am so happy.