The concert season has begun! Friday night I saw Dave Matthews Band for the first time. (Quite good.) And Saturday I saw the Clarks for about the 12th time. (A blast as usual.) Next up: Phish.

Saw this ad on the Weather Channel web page. Does this man look desperate or what?

I am just leaving work now. How sad is that?

Smile!

Between my drive out to Cedar Point and several trips down to Pittsburgh, I have been in the car a lot and able to spend some quality time with the new Radiohead album, Hail to the Thief. New Radiohead albums are always a fun exercise because there is seldom love at first sight. Just like most of the cool people I know, you've got to take time to get to know this music. And as you peel off each layer you find something even more amazing. I would have liked to have written my reactions down, but I was driving. I may eat, talk on the phone, or change my clothes while driving, but writing album reviews while driving is where I draw the line. So here, to the best of my recollection, are my reactions to this much-anticipated album...

1st pass standouts:

-Track 6, "Where I End and You Begin" - Entrancing vibe.
-Track 11, "A Punchup at a Wedding" - When I heard the opening groove I thought Cake had snuck a song on the album, but as soon as soon as the piano rolled in, I knew this was something entirely different. There's something beautiful about the dark humor of this song.
-Track 12, "Myxomatosis" - My initial reaction to the buzzing baseline was, "Oh no, I've blown my speakers!" but as soon as I had confirmed that my speakers were still healthy, I just sat back and enjoyed the great guitar effects.

2nd pass:

-Track 1, "2+2=5" - Usually the first track is the first song to grab me, but I didn't really see this song until the second time around. Love it when it cuts loose.
-Track 3, "Sail to the Moon" - A little slow, but great ambiance.
-Track 14, "A Wolf at the Door" - Quickly becoming one of my all time favorite Radiohead songs. There's definitely a sense of dread here, expressed perfectly by the spoken verses. Amazing.

3rd time:

-Track 5, "Go to Sleep" - The acoustic guitar is refreshingly organic. Can't remember the last time I heard acoustic guitar on a Radiohead album...
-Track 9, "There, There" - Really starting to grow on me. I wasn't all that excited about it when I heard it in advance as the first single, but it keeps getting prettier every time I hear it.
-Track 10, "I Will" - Still trying to put my finger on it. But I can say that this track is much too short.

Songs I just don't get:

-Track 8, "The Gloaming" - Just doesn't seem to go anywhere or say anything.
-Track 7, "We Suck Young Blood" - Besides the title (ew), this song irks on many levels. First off, the slow dirge pace (we're talking largo to the extreme) kills it almost immediately and then in with the eery unison handclap on the 4th beat (what's up with that?). But what really gets me is what this song could have been. The little 8-measure freakout session in the middle, where the tempo doubles and the piano pounds, just rocks. It's a perfect opportunity for the song to just rocket off into something amazing, but instead it skips right back to a slow march.

So that's my initial take, for what it's worth. I'm sure I'll spend a lot more time getting to know this album in the future. Definitely not a one-night stand.

I spent the afternoon at UPMC touring their hospital and research facilities. Walking through the various research labs, I was surprised to see that most of the researchers looked barely old enough to drive. Now I know a lot of labs hire grad students for summer help, but these kids looked like they were dropped off in their mom's Caravan. One more sign that I'm getting old.

The battle against illness continues. I fear I may be losing ground. NyQuil has been a big help, though. I never actually looked at the lable to find out what the active ingredient is, but I'm pretty sure it's the same tranquilizer zookeepers use for rowdy elephants. One ounce of that stuff and I was in a coma 15 minutes later. When I tried to get up to get a glass of water, I found I could barely walk. I don't remember how I managed to find the kitchen and then lumber back to bed, but the bruises I found on my hip and shin this morning tell me it wasn't a smooth trip. I don't know how that stuff is legal, but it sure gives me a good night's sleep.

A couple of weeks ago I received a catalog annoucing the Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale. When I saw the cover, I chuckled. But when I opened to the first page, I nearly peed my pants with laughter. Am I the only person that finds the idea of a chick trying be sexy while standing in a shopping bag extremely funny?

Well, we've got some search engine hits again. My favorite: "I waited to long and peed my pants". Thanks, Abby, for bringing a newbie into our fold with your anecdotes.

So late Friday night found Sara at Walmart with some friends, shopping for sunglasses and a yoga mat. I was surprised at how busy it was for 11:30 pm on a Friday night. I couldn't believe how many kids were out that late...until I heard the page at midnight: "Attention, Walmart shoppers. Would everyone who is waiting to pick up their pre-purchased copy of the new Harry Potter book please line up at the Customer Service desk. Everyone who is waiting to buy a copy, please line up near register 12." And with that herd of people of all ages hurried off to their respective lines. I could not believe the amount of people who had showed up at midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning just to get their hands on a fresh copy of the latest Harry Potter book. It's not like there won't be any left the next day. Okay, so one time I did stop at Meijer at 1 am for a CD, but that was just because I was on my way home from a really late night of work and the new Bob Dylan CD was out. But it ended up being futile anyway. When I asked the employee in the music section where the new CDs were, he said, "Oh. You're looking for the Glitter soundtrack." Uh, no. The new Bob Dylan. "Bob who?" Never mind.

I don't usually struggle to differentiate between right and left, but lately in the morning I've been staring at my contact case for about 5 minutes trying to figure out which contact goes in which eye.

So I thought I was all cool and trendy today wearing a knee-lenth suit jacket . . . until one of my co-workers told me I looked "Scary...you know, like one o' them Columbine kids." I guess I'm just another misunderstood youth.

How come all the popups advertising webcams show some hot chick? You know, you can webcast other things besides your bedroom escapades.

I view parking in Butler as a kind of gambling. You see, a parking pass costs $30 a month. A total ripoff, especially since I'm usually only there 4 days a week. The meters cost $0.25 an hour. So my challenge is to see how little I can pay for parking. The cops usually check the meters between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, but occasionally they mix it up. That's the gamble. You've got to decide how much of the day you want to cover whether it's worth the risk of getting a ticket. So far this month I'm ahead a good $8, including a $5 ticket I got two weeks ago. That means I've successfully cheated the city of Butler out of $8. And that's just between the hours of 8 and 5. I don't count the after 5 time I didn't pay for because they never check after 5. That said, they're probably ticketing my car right now...

I forgot to post this story Friday...

Friday morning I got into work early so I could leave early. (It didn't end up working out that way, but we won't get into that.) So I pulled into the parking lot and it was maybe 10% full, with around 50-60 empty spaces. I pulled into a spot, got out, and opened one of my rear doors to unload all my stuff. Up drives this lady and what do you know, out of all the parking spaces in the entire lot, she is bent on taking the one right next to me. So she pulls up and waits for me to close my door so she can pull all the way in. Now most people, when they see someone with car doors open in an empty parking lot, will pull into another one of dozens of empty parking spots. But not this lady. She sat and waited. I made sure to take my time as I unloaded my backseat. I don't know what I would have done if she had honked, but it wouldn't have been pretty.

Not much time to post today. But I will say that I went to Cedar Point yesterday and was fortunate enough to ride the new "strata-coaster", The Top Thrill Dragster. I use the word fortunate because the thing was only open for about an hour yesterday and we managed to get in before they cut off the line and turned people away so they could run some more "routine tests" on the ride. (A little scary, but not enough to make me turn down the opportunity experience this record-breaking ride.) So anyway, all I have to say is that this... ride... is... AWESOME. Totally took my breath away. Of course who can breathe when going from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds?

I bought this gem at Target(TM) the other day. Talk about a product that had my name written all over it!

I am in mourning. Two weeks ago the company dress code was changed and "Casual Fridays" were eliminated. The dress is now "business casual" every day. I cannot tell you how much this grieves me. Fridays no longer seem special. It was so wonderful to wake up Friday morning and know that if I felt like it, I could wear jeans, a sweater, and some sneakers. The comfort made it that much easier to get through the day to the weekend. But now all that has been taken away. So I have begun my own silent protest. Each Friday I will wear all black from head to toe as an outward display of my disgust toward the new dress code and a symbol of my mourning for Casual Friday.

We'll see if anybody notices or cares.

Well, my work project, the one I've been devoting my life to, now has a webite. So now you can see what I've been spending all my time on. Let me know what you think.

It's funny how running around like a madwoman all day will wear you out.

Had Spageddios for dinner. That's not the norm, but every once in a while you've got to balance the diet with something from the Chef Boyardee food group.

Last night I went to an Erie Seawolves game. No, you are right. Erie is not in my backyard, however some things are worth traveling for...like Buck Night at Jerry Uht Park. (Your guess is as good as mine as to how to pronounce "Uht". Go ahead and use your imagination.) Anyway, Buck Night is a beautiful thing. Admission? $1. Hot dogs? $1. Popcorn? $1. Pop? (Soda for all you non-Midwest people.) $1. Draught beer? You guessed it. $1. Yes, I spent all of $4 on last night's dinner and entertainment. You can't beat that.

Regarding Saturday's post: It's kinda funny how just when I'm about to get comfortably mucked up in my own self-pity, God slaps me over the head and reminds me that there is someone out there dealing with a lot more that me. It sucks when that person is one of my friends. Then I feel like a real weinie. Of course it's not like this is a foreign feeling for me...

Maybe it's my old age, or maybe I'm just going through some kind of phase or something. Today I went to a wedding and for the first time in my life, I felt self-concious about not bringing a date. Don't know why. This has never bothered me before. I normally enjoy the freedom of being able to roam around and talk to people without having to worry about somebody else. Heck, I didn't even feel weird about not taking a date to my own senior prom. Crazy. But when the first slow dance came and the only people sitting were a half dozen elementary school kids, four widows, and me...well, I felt like a loser. Don't worry, I'll get over it.

The Washington Dulles airport (IAD) isn't a bad airport. The problem is that they have this messed up transit system between terminals. Most airports these days have some kind of tram that shuttles people back and forth in a matter of seconds. Dulles has these crazy buses on hydraulics. They drive up to the terminal and then jack themselves up until they're at the right docking height and then the doors open and you walk into the building. They're quite inefficient, but the thing that bothers me is the interior of the buses, or "portable lounges" as the tape recorded host calls them. Rather than just being wide open and making everybody stand for a few minutes, they are lined with benches. A nice thought, but during busy times when they're full, you've always got several jerks on there who not only sit, but take up four more seats with all their luggage. So everybody else is forced to stand with 6 people clinging to one pole while one lady spreads her bags out over half the car. It's just not right, I tell you. It's just not right.

Holy cow! Somebody apparently responded to my challenge. My Back Pages has been hit 83 times since I posted that blog activitity was down on Tuesday. Somebody may be be hitting this site over and over to drive the numbers up, but that's okay. I'm not above cheating.

Blog activity was down last month. Now this could be due to several factors, but not being one to point fingers, I'm going to lay the blame on myself. (And because I'm having a hard time blaming this one on the ants.) I will try to post more frequently and with higher quality. This is my pledge. Now I expect you to do your duty to visit often and spread the word.

Regarding yesterday's post...in my web surfing last night I came across several sources stating that there will be a remake of The Manchurian Candidate to be released next year. It will supposedly be directed by Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs) with Denzel Washington set to play Frank Sinatra's role, Maj. Ben Marco. This irks me for a couple of reasons:

1. I'm always wary of remakes. Nobody likes seeing someone take their favorite movie and try to "update" and stylize it. Having Jonathan Demme at the helm makes me feel a little better and Sinatra's daughter Tina is producing so I'm guessing she'll do her best not to murder the film her father was most proud of. However, that still leaves...

2. Denzel Washington.

Now I know I may get hate mail over this one but it's got to be said. I've only got two words to describe Denzel Washington. Over. Rated. Now granted, he's pretty good at what he does. You know, that whole indignant man fighting against all odds with a penchant for self-righteous monologues thing. (Think John Q, Remember the Titans, The Hurricane, The Bone-Collector, The Seige, Fallen, Courage Under Fire, Crimson Tide, Philadelphia, Malcom X, the list goes on...) He's just not versatile...at all. Okay, maybe I'm being a little hard on him. His performance in Training Day was pretty good. I'm just a little bitter because everybody got so excited that he finally attempted some sort of departure that they awarded him an Oscar for it. A little extreme, if you ask me. But back to my point, it just seems like ever since he got an Oscar for Glory, he's kinda been in a rut, playing the same role over and over. But then again, the Maj. Ben Marco role fits right into this niche so maybe we're okay. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to rail on a lovable icon of American cinema. Well, regardless, I enjoy the opportunity to rant now and then. Thanks for indulging me.

Last night I finally got around to watching The Manchurian Candidate, a mere 41 years after it hit theaters. Try to cut me a little slack. 16 of those 41 years I wasn’t even alive, so watching the film would have been a little difficult. I will say that I’m sorry I waited so long. It’s a great film. I won’t review it, but here are a few thoughts/comments:

• Martial arts in film have come a long way. Don’t get me wrong, the one martial arts scene wasn’t bad, but let’s just say that Frank Sinatra ain’t no Neo.
• Frank Sinatra was hot.
• Some things never change. The hot chick always gets top billing over the one with any character depth. Janet Leigh got top female billing and certainly was beautiful, but her acting is nothing to get excited about and her role just plain sucked. I think I could actually hear the glass ceiling being lowered. Angela Lansbury, on the other hand, blew me away. Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen her in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Murder, She Wrote so I wasn’t expecting much, but in my opinion it was a great, meaty role and she rocked it. In addition, she had 3 times the screen time of Janet Leigh. I guess it just goes to show how far a few bats of the eyelashes will go.
• I cannot believe how unhot Sinatra got with age. At the end of the video was an interview with the director, producer/writer, and Sinatra filmed in, I’d say, the early/mid 80s. Boy did he start packin’ ‘em on in his old age. We’re not talking Marlon Brando huge, but huge nonetheless. What a shame. He should have taken a few lessons from Sean Connery.
• Again with the female thing. Now I’m no feminist, but watching older movies helps me appreciate how far we’ve come. I find it rather amusing that the only female character in the film with any character development, or backbone for that matter, was a villain.

There you have it. Now watch the movie and tell me what you think.

My handsoap has gone missing. I'm blaming those infernal crafty ants. Don't ask me what ants would want with aromatherapy handsoap. How should I know? Those bugs are crazy. There's no reasoning with them.