Month: March 2006

Yuck

Still recovering from teh sick, plus I pulled something in my shoulder and got eyestrain at work. I think I’m done here for now.

Lord of the Rings musical

We’re going to see the Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto in a couple weeks (no, I’m not obsessed with LOTR, just David Gilmour from Pink Floyd), and I’ve been checking out reviews and other info (reviews aren’t just mixed – critics seem to hate it or love it). Anyway, one of the things I found was an mp3 from the show. Interesting – what I hadn’t realized was that the composer, A R Rahman, is the legendary Bollywood composer, who even sells out shows here (yanked from theonering.net, where I also found a news clip with performance footage).

Artists To Sneeze At

Friday we went out to Jammin’ Java to see Getaway Car. What I hadn’t realized until the day before, was that Adam Richman, their opening act, was an artist who almost made it to my Artists To Watch, so we got to see two of ’em. Unfortunately, my scratchy throat in the morning had developed into a runny nose, and we went home about 2/3s into Getaway Car’s set (but didn’t miss the cello, which was cool). I wasn’t in the mood to do much and finished watching the Last Samurai. DVRs are nice, because I’d been watching bits of it, and didn’t have to face the full 2 and a half hours at one. Cruise ain’t bad, but Ken Watanabe is excellent.

I slept poorly, and Saturday I mostly laid on the couch, besides walking Illa. We had an appointment with the folks at Paw Nanny. They’re dog walkers, and all of their employees are either current or former vet techs. I want to start having them come walk Illa when Jill is working a 12 (meaning she’s gone nearly 14 hours), and I feel I can’t work a 9 or 10 hour day because I’m worried about his bladder (inches away from all our books). They were nice, and I think they’ll work well.

Jill had a hankering for Sweetwater Tavern, but after I thought about it, I had to turn her down – I just was not in the mood to go out. So she had the good idea to go out and get thai at Thai Luang. I got Lemon Grass soup with chicken, and Fried Garlic chicken, both Thai hot. I’d intended to only get the entree hot, and was the soup was so spicy I didn’t finish it, although the entree was perfect. Later, I made a fire and we watched 24 (very romantic, I know).

Today, we both slept in and I’m feeling better. Caught up on newspapers and watched Austin City Limits. Finished both in time to watch George Mason’s upset of Connecticut (I think I’m an almuni even if I never graduated, right?). Now I’ve been surfing and launching my first eBay auctions of the year (never going to get rid of all the old comics if I don’t).

Gotta love the Dancing Ferret

Like I wouldn’t get this anyway, but who wouldn’t buy an album from a label like that?

An album inspired by the work of prolific author Neil Gaiman will be released this summer by Philadelphia-based independent label Dancing Ferret Discs. … The most high-profile contributor to the compilation is Tori Amos, a longtime friend of Gaiman’s who occasionally name-checks the writer in her lyrics.

Nick Hornby

We went to see Nick Hornby last night at the Reston Community Center. He came out a little after 8 and started reading. The first story he read, “Nipplejesus”, was told by a big English bloke named Dave who used to be a bouncer. Since we have a friend by that description, I vividly had an image of him in that story, which added to its reality. He also read a column he wrote about what Rod Stewart meant to him (first band (with the Faces) to feel real, not strung out on heroin but just drunk) and a couple of passages from his new one, “A Long Way Down”, which I read on vacation. All the things he read had some funny bits in them, just like his books, he’s a good storyteller. After he finished reading, he took questions. When he answered one about music, he mentioned he needed a “constant injection of new music to keep all of it fresh”, which I really identify with, since it’s similar to my music habits. We got out quick to get in the signing line, here’s a photo of him right before I spoke to him and told him why I didn’t bring “High Fidelity” or “A Long Way Down” (because they were signed when I got them), which amused him.

A new experience

My favorite part of the weekend was giving Illa a belly rub so long on Saturday (at least an hour), that he fell asleep, and eventually started dreaming – twitching legs and everything. This photo is from last week, but it’s the same position he was in.

Good weekend in general. Finished my back stock of comics and some TV, made an omelette for lunch and Reubens and asparagus for dinner on Saturday. I just started getting a free subscription to Money magazine, and Jill and I took their financial compatibailty quiz for couples. Good news, we can stay together! Seriously, it was interesting finding out some misconceptions we’d had about the other, though I think we argue more about other things.

Sunday I was busy. Got up and made breakfast burritos, then went to identify dead trees with a fellow HOA board member. Illa was happy because I took him along, and we were out for an hour. Then we cut some of the dead trees down (ok, I didn’t cut, I don’t want to hold a chainsaw, but I did everything else). Later on, I has hot enough to want to read the paper outside, then Illa saw another dog, Bear, that he plays with sometimes and I had to take him back out to play. I read half the paper outside until I got cold, then finished inside. A little cleaning after that, then it was time to go to my mom’s for corned beef and cabbage (lots of corned beef this weekend, but I’m ok with that). A weird situation over there as my sister’s cat is there since my sister’s overseas, and my mom’s dog is scared of the cat.

St. Patty’s

We had a potluck lunch today at work for St. Patrick’s Day. Since my mini burgers were a hit at one last year, I tried out mini-Reubens today. The centerpiece was a cocktail size loaf of rye bread, just got the rest of the ingredients as usual (corned beef, thousand island dressing, swiss cheese and sauerkraut) and cooked them on an electric grill we had in the office. They were a success – now I’m wondering what else can be shrunken down for a future one.

Jill had a potluck lunch today as well, she made a veggie platter. Neither of us were that hungry and she went to bed after she took the dog on a long walk, but I had bought some Guinness and I had one and a mini pizza. I watched the David Gilmour DVD and read the paper, then read some comics. Now I’m wiped, and headed to bed.

Massage tools

A coworker asked me today what massage tools I use. Took me a couple minutes to remember and I figured I’d share them here. I can divide the tools I use into two categories, the Sticks and the Nobbers.

The Computer Stick is great for working on the big muscles in the arms, legs, and back. The Stick is used to “segmentally compress and stretch muscle”. I’ve also got a longer one, but that’s not really necessary.

The TriggerWheel is based on the same principle as the Stick, but best for smaller muscles, like your wrist or ankle.

The FootWheel is perfect for achy feet, especially if you have plantar fasciitis. It looks and feels weird at first, but it really works out the feet.

The Posture Curve is new to me, but it’s for stretching the back, think I’m going to have to order one.

The Backnobber II (ignore any nobber not a II, the first series weren’t as good) is ideal for working on your upper back and sides.

The Jacknobber II is good for targeted work, can be left on the floor or against the wall then bring the area you want to hit against it.

The Indexnobber II is also good for targeted work, but smaller areas in front of you, like hands or feet.

The Orbit Massager isn’t quite the one I have, but it looks pretty similar. Like the TriggerWheel, it’s good for rolling on smaller muscles, but also feels good on the back.

Of course all of this isn’t that helpful without a guide, which is why I use The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook to help find out what I should target.

Blustery day

Monday it was nice so I got a sandwich at Subway when I went out to fill up on gas and ate outside – we’ve got a couple of benches out near our building. I thought it was a little windy as my napkins kept trying to make a run for the border, but it’s been getting worse, peaking today.

The forecast for this morning was winds of 25 to 35 mph with gust up to 50 mph, and I believe it. My window cube is not as relaxing with the window panes creaking and groaning under the stress, and driving in it was no picnic either. Got a haircut during lunch and when I got out of the car, the wind blew the car door shut. The nice weather over the weekend was just a tease – one of my coworkers called it “indian winter”.