Completely Conspicuous Episode 29: Preparing for the Worst

Here's the latest installment of CC. You can download it directly here (right click and "save as", already).

On with the shizzow notes:

Topics:
- The threat of a flu pandemic
- The decline of TV ratings
- The enduring popularity of Journey
- Barry Bonds' pursuit of Hank Aaron's all-time HR record
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- I Walk the Line - Just Like the Rest
- The Hellacopters - Baby Borderline

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!
The song from I Walk the Line is on the album Desolation Street on Gearhead Records; find out more here. The song from the Hellacopters is on their High Visibility album on Gearhead Records; find out more here. Both songs are courtesy of IODA Promonet; find out more here.

Download "Just Like The Rest" (mp3)
from "Desolation Street"
by I Walk The Line
Gearhead Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from Rhapsody

More On This Album

Download "Baby Borderline" (mp3)
from "High Visibility"
by The Hellacopters
Gearhead Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from Rhapsody
• Buy at GroupieTunes

More On This Album



The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Read his excellent music blog. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull; find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

The Man Who Was Too Loud

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. My, it's been a busy week. Thursday night, I went to a farewell for a co-worker at a local establishment. On Friday, I met up with the Webnoize crew at the always-awesome Redbones for some fine Texas beef ribs and Smuttynose IPAs. My man Briggy and his lovely wife are expecting their second child any day now, so it was good to see him and wish him well. Got up bright and early yesterday and ran 10 miles with my buddies Matt, Rick and Jon; I felt fortunate to be able to keep up considering what I had consumed the night before. Deb and the girls got back from Joisey around midday. Then I went and played a quick nine holes with Stevie Z. at Wenham CC; it was a great day and I actually played pretty well by my standards, shooting a 46. Steve and I had originally planned to play 18, but his back was bothering him. As it turned out, playing nine turned out to be perfect, cheaper and much more manageable as far time away from home. I'm going to try to get out and play nine a few more times this summer.

Today was pretty mellow. We tried to go out to breakfast, but the diner we tried had about 20 people waiting outside, so we bagged that and just picked up some bagels and donuts and ate at a playground before church. We came home and filled up a new wading pool we recently bought for the girls and let them splash away for a few hours. Good stuff.

This, that, and the other thing:

• So Thursday night, while I was out, I TiVoed the NHL Awards show on Versus. I got home and started to watch it, only to find two hours of mixed martial arts coverage. The next day, I found out what really happened (courtesy of the excellent Off Wing Opinion blog): turns out the CBC's broadcast truck outside the event caught on fire and technical wackiness ensued, causing Versus to replace the show with the MMA event and show the awards at 11 on tape delay. This could only the happen to the NHL; the few diehard hockey fans who even knew the show was on Versus, an audience made even smaller by the fact that many can't even get Versus on their cable systems, and they still can't watch the damn thing. You just have to shake your head and smile at this point. I'm fully expecting a Martian attack will wipe out the satellite so I can't watch the NHL draft next Saturday.
• Hey, a little self-promotion here: I'm featured on the latest episode of Jeff Cutler's A Life of Play podcast. Jeff interviews folks from all walks of life about their various recreational pursuits; in this show, he talks to me about playing pickup hockey. You can download it directly here (right click and "save as"). Jeff's a fellow member of New England Podcasting.
• Watch out for angry squirrels; you never know what will set those things off.

We Gathered in Spring

Hola, rancheros. So we had fun at Deb's college reunion, although I was quickly reminded why I like sleeping in my own bed. We were in a third-floor dorm room that was hotter than hizznell, tiny and featuring two of those good old single cots with the wafer-thin mattresses. Hey, we're saving for Disney in a couple of weeks. Deb was worried not that many people from her class were going to show up, but there was a decent turnout. They had babysitting available, which was nice, although we were the only ones who used it Friday night. I knew some of Deb's friends who I met at the last reunion five years ago, so I wasn't totally clueless. But as I mentioned, I had a hard time sleeping because of the uncomfortable beds; guess my back was in a lot better condition back when I was in college.

Freshen your drink, Guvner?

• Boy, I guess I was right about the Sopranos finale: Nobody could have predicted that ending. It really has divided fans, with many folks pretty pissed that they didn't get any closure. If you haven't seen it or read about it, well, you're doing a good job of avoiding all forms of information. With everyone expecting Tony Soprano to get whacked or have something major happen to him, the show puts him in a diner with his family. Tension builds as the camera cuts to any number of suspicious-looking characters who may or may not be assassins. As Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blares on the jukebox, the show essentially just...ends. It literally cuts away to black, leaving you to wonder if Tony was about to get shot by the guy who went into the bathroom or if the family just kept on eating their onion rings. I thought it was brilliant, but plenty of people, including my lovely wife, were stunned by the lack of a set conclusion. Creator David Chase reportedly shot three endings so the cast wouldn't know which one he'd use and there has been endless conjecture on the InterWeb about what happened after the fade to black. Whatever the case, it was a ratings bonanza for the show, which was watched by more people than any major network show with the exception of the NBC crapfest "America's Got Talent." And that's not counting all the folks who TiVoed or otherwise recorded it; I usually TiVo it and watch it a few days later, but I had to watch it live so the ending wouldn't be ruined the next day. I'm sure glad I did. The guys from Journey are certainly psyched that their song was played at such a pivotal moment, not that they need the money. I plan on watching the finale again. Then I'll have to rent Season 1 on DVD and relive the glory days of one of the best shows in history.
• The case of Judge Douchebag vs. the Dry Cleaner continues on. In today's installment, the judge cries over his lost pants. Unbelievable.

The Underdog

Just a quick post before I head off to work for a half day, and then we hit the road for lovely Springfield. Deb and I yesterday had an orientation at the school where Hannah will start kindergarten in the fall. It's hard to believe she's essentially starting her school "career" in a few months, although she's been in daycare and preschool since she was a little baby. I'll be dropping her off at school in the mornings, which will be a different routine for all of us. Lily will probably be bummed at first that her sister's not with her, and then she'll likely enjoy having her mom to herself every day. I'm excited for Hannah; I think she'll have a lot of fun.

Sunny side up:

• Well, the hockey season's finally over. It still sounds weird to say it, but the Anaheim Ducks are the Stanley Cup champs. First West Coast team to win it all. I'm not surprised they won, because they have a stacked team, but I was surprised that Ottawa rolled over so easily, losing in five games. I know one place in Canada where folks are rejoicing at the Senators' misfortune: Toronto. It would have been tough for Leaf fans to see their hated rivals skating around with the Cup. Now they've got something new to taunt the Sens and their fans about. So now it's on to the draft and the free agent season; the Leafs need to pick up a big-name scorer, but I'm not optimistic. Hey, it has been 40 years since they won the Cup, what's another few, right? Ugh.
• One of the best shows in TV history, The Sopranos, is wrapping up with its series finale this weekend. Some major characters have been killed off in the last few weeks and last week's penultimate episode had us wondering if Tony Soprano would be next. Should be a fun time this week, but sad, too. Whatever happens, it probably won't take a predictable route.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 28: Less Talk, More Rock

I was under the gun to get the latest episode of CC done before we left tomorrow at midday for Deb's college reunion in Springfield, so I decided to go with an all-music show for a change. I think it came out quite nicely. Downloadimafy it here (right click and "save as").

The show notes and shizz...

Rock:
- Midlake - Roscoe
- Tim Armstrong - Hold On
- Ziggy Marley - Into the Groove
- Frank Black and the Catholics - Robert Onion
- Jesse Malin - Prisoners of Paradise

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here. The song from Tim Armstrong is on his A Poet's Life album on Hellcat Records; find out more here. The Ziggy Marley song is on his Love is My Religion release on Tuff Gong Worldwide; go here for more info. The Jesse Malin song is on his new album Glitter in the Gutter on Adeline Records; visit here to learn more. All four songs were provided by the Podsafe Music Network; find out more here.

The Frank Black and the Catholics song is on Frank's forthcoming compilation album, 93-03 on Cooking Vinyl; find out more here. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet; find out more here.

Download "Robert Onion" (mp3)
from "93-03"
by Frank Black
Cooking Vinyl

More On This Album



The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Read Senor Breitling's fine music blog, willya?

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Making Money for the Freak Machines

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. The hazy and humid temps of the last few days are gone, replaced by cool 60-degree and cloudy weather. Great running weather, so I got a quick 10-miler in before we went to church this morning. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Maine Marathon in Portland on October 7, which means I have to start my 16-week training program in a couple of weeks. More on that later.

Yesterday, I went to the driving range for the first time in a few years. It's not like I'm going to be playing every week like I used to back in the day (i.e., before marriage), but I want to get at least a couple of rounds in this summer. Deb and the girls will be away in NJ in a couple of weeks, so I figured I could get 18 in then. I actually hit the ball fairly well for not having swung a club in a looooong time. We'll see what happens when I'm actually on a course, but it felt good to get a few hacks in.

I was at the Apple Store yesterday and a guy came up to me and asked if I used to work at the Beverly Times, which, of course, I did. Turns out it was a guy I knew about 15 years ago who worked in circulation there; now he's got a job that's a tad more interesting: he's a CIA agent, traveling around the world, working with Condi Rice and stuff. Damn.

Last night, there was a thunderstorm warning issued around 7:30, but what was really interesting was the bulletin flashing on TV that there was also the possibility of tornadoes. The sky got really dark and scary for a while, and Deb was getting ready to flee for the basement, but other than a little thunder and lightning, nothing eventful took place. Deb gets really nervous when storms move in, but I've learned to trust her instincts. About seven years ago, she had a bad feeling about the Nor'easter that was about to hit and moved her car onto the street in front of our apartment because she was nervous about the trees that lined the small lot behind our house. I blew it off and sure enough, a few hours later, an 800-pound tree branch fell on and totaled my car. Lesson learned.

It's all fun and games...

• Stanley Cup Finals update: Despite abysmal ratings, little or no attention, and getting pre-empted by the NBC affiliate in Tampa last night for a children's telethon, the finals have been pretty great. Anaheim came out and just pounded the living hell out of Ottawa the first two games. Things didn't look too good for the Senators going back home last night, but they came out and played a strong game, bouncing back from a couple of deficits to win 5-3. The series so far has had huge hits, great goaltending, controversial goals, some fighting, and a cheap shot by Chris Pronger. I'm hoping the Sens win again tomorrow and take this thing to the limit.
• No doubt you've heard about the jackass with a rare form of TB who flew around the world disregarding warnings from health officials so he could get married in Greece, endangering hundreds of passengers in the process. Now it turns out the guy may not even be legally married because of some paperwork problems. Nice going, pal.
• Google's new Street View map technology: Cool or creepy? Sounds like a little of both. The mapping tool, currently available to view streets in five cities including San Francisco, lets you see images captured of people on the streets doing whatever they may be doing: sunbathing, picking their noses, going through trash, etc. How long before the feds co-opt this to use as a crime-fighting tool?
• Apparently, folks in the Philippines take their karaoke seriously. A guy was shot to death Tuesday night for his poor singing. When American Idol starts struggling in the ratings, they may go this route to spice things up a little.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 27: Spreading the Disease

Check it: I actually recorded another episode of CC before another three weeks went by. It was only eight days between shows this time. I tried something different this time around, essentially working without a script. Just took me too long to actually write the whole thing out. It wasn't a total train wreck, IMHO. I'll get better at this, honest. You can download it here (right click and "save as").

Da show notes:

Topics:
- The threat of infectious disease
- Campaign theme songs
- Doc Martens commissions a lame ad campaign
- The scourge of American Idol
- Weightlifting makes you younger?
- The extremely long seasons of the NHL and NBA
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- Stars - Ageless Beauty
- The Zambonis - My Back Hurts

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The song from Stars is on the album Set Yourself On Fire on the Arts and Crafts label; find out more here. The song from the Zambonis is on the Chippy Sessions album on Exotic Recordings; find out more here. Both songs were provided by IODA Promonet; find out more here.

Download "Ageless Beauty" (mp3)
from "Set Yourself On Fire"
by Stars
Arts & Crafts

• Buy at eMusic
• Buy at Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from Rhapsody

More On This Album

Download "My Back Hurts" (mp3)
from "Chippy Sessions"
by The Zambonis
Exotic Recordings

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at eMusic
• Buy at Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Stream from Rhapsody
• Buy at GroupieTunes

More On This Album


The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling here. And the incidental music used in the show was "Clibopb (Fosco Groove)" by Me and Boris the Bull. Find out more about Me and Boris the Bull here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

On and On and On

Happy Memorial Day, peoples. Just enjoying some quiet time between whiny outbursts from my daughters. Other than a thunderstorm last night, we've had some great weather this weekend. I headed into the city early yesterday morning for the Boston's Run to Remember half marathon. I met up with my friends John and Kerry, who were also running. The race started at the World Trade Center in South Boston and weaved through the city onto Memorial Drive in Cambridge, where we ran along the Charles River. It was kind of cloudy and cool when I got there, but as the race started, the sun came out and warmed everything up. Still, it was never too hot. I felt pretty good and kept a sub-8 minute pace for the whole race, finishing in 1:41, a PR by two minutes from my previous best in New Hampshire last month. I had a shot at breaking 1:40, but at the end I kicked it in a little earlier than I should have and wasn't able to keep it up. Still, I was pretty happy with the finish.

I haven't officially signed up for a fall marathon yet, but I'm leaning towards the Maine Marathon in Portland, which I ran in 2002.

We spent the rest of the day having some friends over for a BBQ. I was so wiped by 8 p.m. that I ended up snoozing on the couch for about three hours. Ask my wife: I NEVER do that. It was a combination of the race, lack of sleep and several Harpoon Summers. More grillage today.

Want fries with that?

• This kid bagged himself one big-ass hog: nine feet long and over 1,000 pounds. That's a lot of pork chops.
• Starting in the fall, Kuwait is switching to a Friday-Saturday weekend, from it's current Thursday-Friday. I have to admit I had no idea that they had a different weekend. Of course, they've got so much oil over there they could probably afford to have a Wednesday through Sunday weekend.
• The Stanley Cup finals between Ottawa and Anaheim finally starts tonight. Should be a good series, even if hardly anyone will be watching. I think the Ducks will take it in seven, but I wouldn't be shocked if Ottawa wins. Both teams are excellent.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 26: Break Out the Popcorn

So after another 20-plus day gap between shows, I came to the conclusion that I needed to streamline things a bit. Hence, I've cut back on the number of segments in the hopes of getting this thing back on a regular schedule. You download the latest episode here (right click and "save as").

On with the show notes:

Topics:
- The outsourcing of local journalism jobs
- Summer blockbuster season
- Outstanding Press Release
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- Elliott Smith - High Times
- Jesse Malin - Don't Let Them Take You Down

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The song from Elliott Smith is on the new album of unreleased tracks New Moon on the Kill Rock Stars label; find out more here. It was provided by IODA Promonet.

Download "High Times" (mp3)
from "New Moon"
by Elliott Smith
Kill Rock Stars

• Buy at Kill Rock Stars Pre-order

More On This Album


The song from Jesse Malin is on his new album Glitter in the Gutter on Adeline Records; find out more here. It was provided courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network; find out more here.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Read his fine music blog here. And the incidental music used in the show was "Clibopb (Fosco Groove)" by Me and Boris the Bull. Find out more about Me and Boris the Bull here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Era Vulgaris

Another weekend gone in an instant. Although it was raw and rainy most of the time, so good riddance to it. Things are looking up, however, because it's nice out right now and the rest of the week is only supposed to get better. My half marathon next Sunday could be pretty toasty, possibly in the 80s.

Our plans to go to the Sox-Braves game Friday were foiled by the weather. The game was rained out and rescheduled for Saturday night; the only problem was, we didn't have babysitting coverage for Saturday. We went out to dinner instead, which was fun. On Saturday, I started calling friends of mine to see if anyone wanted to sit in the rain with me. It took several hours, but my buddy Mike said he'd go. I've had worse weather experiences at the ballpark. It was a constant mist for the first six innings or so. Things opened up a little more in the seventh, so we headed down to the concourse to watch on TV. The Braves added a few more runs to make it 11-0, so we decided to bolt after the eighth. It ended up being a 14-0 whitewash, one of the few bad games the Sox have had lately.

It was more of the same Sunday as I headed out on an 11-mile run. It was misty until I was about 2.5 miles from home and then it turned into a steady drizzle. I was pretty soaked by the time I got home, but I was glad to get the run in.

Slice and dice:

• I watched some good playoff hockey this weekend, although that meant seeing my pick for the Cup, Buffalo, get bumped off by Ottawa in overtime Saturday. NBC had another "Heidi" moment (i.e., cutting away from a game for other programming) when at the end of regulation, it gave its affiliates the opportunity to drop the game and switch over to coverage of the Preakness horse race. The coverage moved over to Versus, which had been showing a strongman competition. Needless to say, the move pissed off a lot of hockey fans. If you had stepped away from your TV for a moment, you were probably pretty confused when all of a sudden, there was pre-race Preakness coverage on. I bet the horse racing rans were probably still mad from a few weekends ago when the Barbaro tribute was bumped because of hockey OT. The Senators prevailed when Daniel Alfredsson scored a nice goal with three defenders on him; he's probably the odds-on favorite for playoff MVP right now. Quite a change from last year, when he was burned by Buffalo forward Ryan Pominville on the series-ending goal. Yesterday, Anaheim was outplayed in every facet of the game, but still managed to walk away with an overtime win after a horrendous giveaway in front of the net led to a sweet Teemu Selanne goal. The Ducks are up 3-2.
• Well, now we know how Sly Stallone has stayed in such good shape as he continues making Rocky and Rambo movies into his 60s: He was fined for bringing human growth hormone into Australia.
• I enjoy watching the Letterman and Conan shows thanks to TiVo, because I can't stay up that late anymore. I usually fast-forward through a lot of stuff to check out monologues, guests and bands I like, but this scene of navel-gazing by Conan, Tom Selleck and John Stamos was downright hilarious.

Looking Over My Shoulder

Greetings, fellow travelers. Just checking in real quick-like with some bloggage. Things have been pretty hectic lately. Work is mondo busy. Around here, we just had the Mother's Day extravaganza, which basically had me taking the girls up to see my mom while Deb got to hang out with hers. Deb's birthday is Friday; we're going to the Sox-Braves game at Fenway (and praying for good weather).

I haven't mentioned the diet for a while. I've eased up on the more extreme parts of it, like the no alcohol part. I like to have a few beers on the weekend, what can I say? But I'm still rocking the salads at lunch and staying away from soda. I was down to 159 after my run yesterday morning. I suspect a few more long runs in warmer temps will cause me to shed a few more pounds.

I've had to lay off the chest and triceps workouts because I've got a slight tendon strain in my right elbow. Nothing serious, but something that in the past I would stupidly try to work my way through and just make things worse.

Do you know the muffin man?

• The Blue Jays have had a rough month of May so far, losing their first nine games. But they've bounced back a bit, winning four of their last five. Moments ago, they beat the Orioles 2-1 on a superb major league debut by Jesse Litsch, who was promoted from Double A New Hampshire to replace staff ace Roy Halladay, who had to have an emergency appendectomy. He pitched 8.2 innings of one-run ball; not too shabby for a kid who was Tampa Bay's ball boy five years ago. The cool thing is, I saw him pitch in Manchester two weekends ago when I went up for my buddy Rob's birthday party. He was pretty good that day, too, shutting down the Bowie BaySox, 3-1. Little did he, or anybody else, know that he'd be facing the parent club 10 days later.
• Boy, was I dead wrong with my picks for the NHL Eastern conference finals. Ottawa has raced to a 3-0 series lead, with superb goaltending from Ray Emery, stifling defense and clutch offense led by captain Daniel Alfredsson. As much as I hope otherwise, they're pretty much a lock to make the finals. Detroit and Anaheim are tied at 1 and are playing right now in what looks to be a competitive series.
• Metal guitar gawd Yngwie Malmsteen is unleashing his fookin' Ferrari...on eBay. Known more these days for the legendary recording of his outburst on a flight to Japan ("You've unleashed the fookin' fury!") than for his classically-inspired wank soloing, Yngwie's looking to unload his 1983 Ferrari. It was up to 19,100 at last check. Looks like it's got some engine problems, though. Buyer beware!
• A happy 52nd birthday to the one and only Lee Horsley, mustachioed star of the '80s private eye show Matt Houston and the subject of probably my favorite Onion article of all time.