My kids' conversation

S is 4 years old, and E is 7. E was being kinda a wise guy, methinks.

S: Why does the sun come up in the day?
E: Because it wants to.
S: Yup.

S: Why does the rainbow live in the sky?
E: Because that's where it lives.
S: Right.

S: Why do books want you to read them?
E: So you can hear the story.
S: Yup.

S: Why do bracelets get made by other people?
E: Because people wanna make them.
S: Yup.

S: Why do newspapers not walk?
E: Because they're not real.
S: Uh huh.

S: Why do instruments make noise?
E: Because people want them to.
S: Yup.

S: Why you can eat some stuff and why you can't eat some stuff?
E: Because some stuff tastes like gunk.
S: Mmm-hmm.

S: Why is tape very sticky?
E: Because people want them to be sticky.
S: Yeah!!

Poinsettia

Here's a poinsettia that I won at the Department Holiday party. When we walked out this morning it was covered in dew, so I had to take a picture. Note to Santa: I wish I had a better camera!!

Fresh OJ

One of our secretaries gave me some oranges from her mom's yard, and I made fresh orange juice tonight. Yumm!!

Comment on my YouTube video

I love this comment:

You rocks dude. Good player, wish U a good continuation in guitar ;)

I like how the French use "dude" too!

New shirt day

Earth Wind and Fire

Shining Star - one of the greatest songs ever written. Ever.

The Roots

And to round out my whack musical tastes, I also love the Roots. The Roots are a live hip hop band. This particular version of the Roots is my favorite. The lead rapper is Black Thought and the drummer is ?love - those two guys are the foundation of the Roots. Scratch is awesome - he's a guy that does all of the scratching sounds and echoes and stuff - amazing he does it all with his mouth. Very cool, especially given all of the (c)rap that's out today.

Vital Remains

I also LOVE Vital Remains. Dave Suzuki, the guitar player, is one of my heroes. On the studio stuff, he plays incredible drums (he has to be one of the top death metal drummers out today) and his guitar playing is like evil Yngwie Malmsteen.

This live video shows their touring vocalist, but I much prefer their studio guy Glen Benton (from Deicide). I don't think Dave is with the band anymore, according to things I've read. That's too bad.

Immortal

Okay, to get some cred back, I actually have been listening to more black metal lately than death metal. I love Immortal. Those guys are musically awesome, and their promo pics are just over the top funny.

Stellar*

I know I'm supposed to be a scary death metal kinda guy. My favorite band is not death metal. Not even close. My favorite band of all time (as of right now anyway) is Stellar* (the asterisk is part of their name). I love this band. Though they only have three albums, I love em all, start to finish.

I discovered them on a trip to New Zealand in 2000. They had just come out with their first album Mix, which was something like the highest selling domestic record in NZ. A few years later they came out with their second album Magic Line, and about two years ago they came out with their third disc Something Like Strangers.

This song is not real characteristic of their other stuff, but it's one of my favorites that they do. It's "For A While" off of the third disc.

Sparkles

I have a new project. I just won this body on eBay, and I also bought a nice Ibanez Prestige neck from the same seller. I'm not sure if I should add smoked black chrome hardware, or shiny chrome.

Gravlox

I tried curing some salmon to make gravlox. After my neighbor dropped off some fresh dill, I found a recipe on the internet. It called for 2 cups of kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh dill, and some cracked pepper. I used some smoked pepper.

This is what it looked like coated on Sunday afternoon.



This morning (Tuesday) I took it out, rinsed it, then sliced it as thin as possible. The texture was perfect, but it was too salty even after the first rinse. So I soaked it in water and now it tastes much better.

Lights

I put up most of the outside Christmas lights this weekend. I still have to do the one across the front of the house. I like the rope lights on the palm trees.