My 20 Best CDs of 2006

1. Passover - Black Angels
2. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
3. Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet
4. Broken Boy Soldiers - Raconteurs
5. The Campfire Headphase - Boards of Canada
6. Stay Afraid - Parts & Labor
7. Serena Maneesh - Serena Maneesh
8. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
9. Shut Up I Am Dreaming - Sunset Rubdown
10. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Neko Case
11. The Loon - Tapes 'n Tapes
12. Vessel States - Wilderness
13. A Life Less Lived - The Gothic Boxed Set
14. Silent Shout - The Knife
15. Garden Ruin - Calexico
16. Bang Bang Rock & Roll - Art Brut
17. Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
18. Show Your Bones -Yeah Yeah Yeahs
19. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol
20. Everything All The Time - Band of Horses

CDs I still need to check out from 2006:

1. Built To Spill - You In Reverse
2. LCD Sound System - 45:33
3. TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
4. Beck - The Information
5. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
6. Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light
7. Swan Lake - Beast Moans
8. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Balad of the Broken Seas
9. Converge - No Heroes
10. The Futureheads: News & Tributes

T-Mobile Phishing

I got a couple calls today from people claiming to be from T-Mobile using a restricted phone number. They said that I'm delinquent on a $156 bill from 2004 and that they were going to report it to a credit collections company.

I called T-Mobile directly to verify their claim and was told that I left everything in good standing (I've been with Verizon for the last couple years). After I called T-Mobile, the "collections" people called back. Fortunately, I didn't give them any personal information on the earlier calls. Once I told them that I cleared everything with T-Mobile and that I wouldn't give them any information, they immediately hung up.

Thought of the Day

Web sites are like digital toilet paper.

Drunkest cities in the US

Here's a Forbes article on the drunkest cities in the US. Austin's #4 before I moved here it was #10.

Planetarium Hell

Pluto was demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet earlier today by the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union.

In other planetary news, did you know that there is a movement to change the pronounciation of Uranus? Instead of y-rns prudish Jr High teachers are pronouncing it yr-ns. Nothing they can do about the Sperm whale.

SoCo Seems To Be Moving My Way

I was driving down Congress yesterday and noticed what looked to be a big development project breaking ground. Ramona said she thought it was going to be the site of some new lofts. Well she's right, it's going to be the home of the SoCo Lofts. Do they have to look like a warehouse?

When I bought my house earlier this year, I admit to harboring fantasies of all my favorite SoCo shops uprooting and planting themselves right around Hills Cafe. Maybe rent would become so expensive that Vulcan Video, Jo's Coffee and Ecowise would have to move a couple miles south closer to me.

I'm already pretty lucky to have Hills Cafe, Ruta Maya, El Borrego del Orro, Opal Divine, Amy's and Crowne less than a mile away. If only some of it would cross 290 to my side of Congress.

A Saturday

Started by heading out to a cafe called Subeez, a trendy yet cool cafe/bar with a goth theme. Ate a delicious thai salmon sandwich on a baguet with chili mayo, I'll be going back.

While walking to buy tickets see Wilderness and Pinback at a nearby record store, realized that there are some really big freakin' birds here. I think one mistook my head as a furry rabbit and swooped in pretty damn close. Downtown Vancouver is surrounded on 3 sides by water so I guess I can expect to see some pretty big sea birds flying around.

Found out about the Sasquatch! Music Festival, which is happening over Memorial Day weekend. Line up includes: Nine Inch Nails, Bauhaus, Trail of Dead, Shins, Neko Case, Flaming Lips, Beck, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and the Arctic Monkeys, and those are just the bands that I gotta see. Probably won't be able to make it, because of prior commitments that weekend.

Decided to check out Robson Street which is about a two mile stretch full of all kinds of shops. After walking up and down Robson, I find it to be just like an outdoor mall complete with Gap, Express and Payless Shoe store with added bonus of bars.

While walking down the street, I saw two skinny white kids; who watched too much "Yo MTV Raps", or whatever the equivalent is maybe it's all MTV programming now, screwing around with this scrawny semi-toothless homeless looking guy who had a bike (the bike makes me think maybe not homeless, but everything else about it was pure hobo). The hobo calls out skinny M&M# 1 and says, "Come on man just you and me", this was repeated about 5 or 6 times. The two decide something along the lines of "uh oh this guy's serious", back down a bit, then chuck a drink at hobo's bike and start rapidly walking off. Apparently, they forgot that our hero has a bicycle, as they are walking away, he rides by and pops skinny M&M #1 really good along the side of the face, not an easy thing to do with a sidewalk full of people. As our hero is riding off into the sunset, the two give chase. As they are racing after him though, their baggy pants drop off their asses almost to their knees. By this time, because the pant malfunction, our hero has exacted his vengeance and has gotten away. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Here's another Vancouver picture. Anne says this is a tulip tree.



Oh, and here's a picture of Josh in a baby seat.

Late SXSW Recap

The best shows I saw at SXSW in chronological order:

Sleater Kinney
Gorch Fock
Bright Channel
Lesbians on ecstasy
Art Brut
Sereena Maneesh
The Black Angels
Art Brut (not as good second time around)
The Go! Team
Beastie Boys (Had the feel of a spontaneous unrehearsed show, fucking incredible)
Hurrah Torpedo
Tapes & Tapes
Darker My Love (along with Lesbians on ecstasy the greatest unexpected surprise)
Subways
Arctic Monkeys
Neko Case


Watched Old Boy. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's got everything - humor, vengeance, martial arts, angry hero wielding a claw hammer, plot twists galore, mystery, and a little love story (for the ladies).

Ugly American

It's the simple things where you realize, "shit! This isn't Texas any more." Picking up a couple thing at the market on the corner, I stopped at the deli and asked for a 1/4 pound of potato salad. Getting a quizzical look from the attendant, I thought, "hmm, maybe that's too small a portion of potato salad." So I instead I changed my order and said "just make it a small container." As she's filling the container, it dawns on me, "Damned metric system!"

Here's a picture from outside the office building where I work. It was dark and I didn't have a tripod, but you can almost see the lights on the ski slope.



Right after taking that picture, while walking to the train station a rat scurried across my path. Vancouver's got everything!

Still haven't had the chance to ask a thick accented native to read aloud:

A boot
A boat
about

Curious to see how different they all sound.

I lost my profession composure the other day when Sean, who I work with, was talking on the phone as said with dreadful seriousness, "Did you take a dump this morning?" I could be 100 and still snicker at hearing that phrase.

Vancouver

Well I've been in Vacouver almost a week now. I think I've almost finally caught up on sleep after an great swsw followed immediately by a long flight up here that left me leaving immigration at 2:30 a.m. local time. I'm staying in a furnished apartment downtown while I work at the Telus office. The picture is the view out the window of my living room at night.

My first day here was quite challenging. I had to wake up early in the morning after my late arrival to meet with my leasing agent. Signed the rental agreement. Got my bags from the hotel to taxi to the new apt. Once I'd loaded everything into the new apt, it was time to take a train to work. Only one problem, I didn't have any Canadian money. Tried an ATM but it rejected my bank card. Fortunately, I was able to buy tickets with a credit card. I later found out that some ATMs will work with my bank card while many won't, depends upon the banking network they use.

Everything has been pretty cool here so far. Spent the weekend wandering around the neighborhood to see what sort of stuff is close: Tons of restaurants, beauty salons, clothing stores, trendy furniture stores, a whole strip of XXX shops, bars, grocery stores. Looks like there won't be any need for me to get a car, everything I need is within a couple blocks.

I finally talked to Verizon to switch my plan to one that includes Canada, so I can stop answering my cell phone with "Hey! I'm in Vancouver and this call is international and roaming! Make it snappy!"

Saw my first person shooting up on the street today. They were tearing up caution tape from a building site and using it to tie off. Read something in the paper here where the police have been cracking down on people fixing in public, I guess it's against the law. The heroin addicts have a park designated for doing their dirty business but the crack addicts feel like they are being descriminated against because they don't have the option of hanging out in a park, so they get busted more frequently by the police, crazy city, but I kinda like it. Especially, when I'm reading in the paper up here about how TABC in Texas can bust you for being drunk in a bar. I wonder what the criteria is for drunk. Is it the same as the legal limit for driving? What's next? Are they going to go to parties and anyone but the hosts who are drunk get busted?

New House

I've been looking for a house the past couple months, and going back and forth on whether to buy or continue to rent. It's a trick to find a decent, inexpensive house in Austin close to downtown. Well I think I've found the perfect place for my first home. Here's a little tour if you're interested.