Songs to listen to death...

Ever notice how bad pop music is these days?

Ok, I'll stop being so obvious.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is because I was flipping through the channels on the boob tube a week or so ago and noticed a very interesting song on MTV2, called Freetime by Kenna. If you haven't seen the video, I'd highly recommend it. Quite entertaining, and the song is one of those songs I can just play over and over again. It's not often that I find a new artist with a song that allows me to do that.

Thanks to the magic of iTunes, I have a list of my 100 most played tunes. These are the songs that I can usually listen to over and over again. Here's my top 10. Try not to laugh too hard :-)

1. Radian - Air
   
2. High Roller - The Crystal Method
   
3. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
   
4. H. - Tool
   
5. Something About You - Level 42
   
6. Rock With You - Michael Jackson
   
7. Running - Stereo MC's
   
8. Ricky's Theme - Beastie Boys
   
9. Around the World - Daft Punk
   
10. The Message - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
    

So, what songs could you listen to over and over and over again and not get sick of?

Lollapablahblah

Saturday, Nicole and I went to the White River Ampitheatre for the newly reincarnated Lollapalooza. Not a bad show, but I have to echo some complaints I've seen:

• No staggered seating, which creates horrible sightlines to the stage.
  
• Pretty abysmal sound (although if you wear earplugs, it's almost bearable)
  
• Uncomfortable seating. Take a cue from Safeco Field in Seattle, and aim for the seats they use.
  
• Long lines at the bathroom. In fact, so bad, we saw a line of guys pissing behind one of the restrooms.
  
• Who wants to go to a covered ampitheatre?? I mean, c'mon, that totally fucked the sound up.
  
• Not very diverse food choices. After waiting in line for ten minutes, a woman came out and informed everybody that this was the beer line. Oh great, thanks for putting up a sign!
  
• Pretty bad traffic before and after. When leaving the ampitheatre, we couldn't turn left (west) to get back to Seattle, so we had to drive east past the long line of cars and then turn around. It was pretty funny to see a Canadian getting handcuffed after failing a field sobriety test, though. I'm glad I didn't drink.
  
• It faces away from the sun, which is actually a disadvantage. Seeing a concert in front of a beautiful sunset was one of the nice things about going to the Gorge.
  
• No view! One of the things about the Gorge is kicking back on the lawn, sunning yourself and catching the view of the Columbia. But at White River, you get a little bit of Mt. Rainier through the Seattle haze, and that's it. Oh, there are some trees off in the distance. Woo.
  

Apart from that, the show was good. Audioslave rocked my ass off, and Jane's Addiction brought a little tear to me eye when they played Jane Says.

Oh, I don't know if this has anything to do with the urinators, but at about 9:30pm, we noticed the smell of manure wafting its way through the ampitheatre. Yeah, so the ampitheatre's out in the middle of farmland, but it was pretty foul.

White River's all shiny and new, and I'm sure there were some deals struck to get acts to come play there, but I'll stick to the Gorge for concerts, where possible. It's just a better venue.

Alabama, land of RIGHTeousness

I've mentioned cases like this in previous journal entries, but I'm hugely opposed to ANY religious artifacts being on display at a government institution, building, assembly, or what have you. I'm all for separation of church and state, and I believe there is no place for religion in government. Alabama, of course, is no exception. Listening to Roy Moore speak is like listening to the Segregationist Gov. Wallace speak in the school door. I can just hear him saying "10 commandments in the rotunda now, tomorrow, and forever!"

Hey Moore, my girlfriend tells me that the Bible says you should kill anyone who works on the Sabbath. Why isn't this allowed in the constitution, or in Alabama state laws? Why are you a judge? I thought that was forbidden in one of the 10 commandments. Aren't there other rules in the Bible you should be following?

So I'm ranting, but really, this right-wing bullshit has got to stop, or I think I'll seriously consider moving to a place where society progresses, not regresses.

Here's another interesting opinion, from Slate.

I welcome discussion on this, pro or con, flamebait, or not.

I love The Onion.

I Have An iPod -- In My Mind

Funny stuff.

Breakin' the law... breakin' the law... (and gettin' caught)

I turned 25 on the 13th. I don't feel much different now, although now I know what getting pulled over on the freeway feels like.

78mph in a 60mph zone, or that's what the trooper said. And, I was on my way to my mother's wedding (there's no way I could make that up in a pinch). Fine: $153. After running a quote on Progressive.com, it looks like my insurance might not go up - I fall into the 19mph and under category for speeding. I'd imagine 20mph and over might make insurance worse. Who knows.

I guess I've gotten to used to speeding for the past couple of weeks. I'm bummed I got caught, but it just goes to show why Washington drivers don't go much over the speed limit, at least on the freeways. I've never seen more state patrol cars than on I-5 between Seattle and Olympia. I think I counted 8 total on Saturday the 16th. Tricky fuckers.

My radar detector caught the cop, but he was quicker than me - by the time the detector squawked, he was already moving out of the median turnaround.

Oh well. Had to happen to me sooner or later. :-)

Pics and coming of age...

The company I work for is being bought. I found this out during the cross-country trip in Menomonie, Wisconsin at an overnight hotel stop. A little nerve-wracking, to say the least.

Oh, what else is going on - Here are some photos from the trip. Enjoy. Comments are very welcome.

Tomorrow I turn 25, and according to a long-since laid-off co-worker, I'll finally be an adult. Of course, he told me this when I was 18 or 19, so I can understand his point. Of course, he was a bitter and jaded old man, so perhaps I shouldn't have read too much into what he had to say. No big plans for tonight or tomorrow... I'm still recovering from 7221 miles of road tripping. Happy Birthday to me!

Drive times and variable-message signs

Every now and then I send in a question to the Getting There column in the Seattle P-I. Surprisingly enough, they usually print it... here's this week's (it's the last question).

I find it interestng that WSDOT is using an old VAX for its variable signs. With all of the new signs they've recently put in on Washington freeways, I thought they'd have something a bit more modern. Oh well...

We're home...

So, two weeks on the road have brought us back to our humble abode in Seattle. It's great to be home, but now we have to return to real life and unpack our gear.

We came back to a different color house (the owners decided to paint it two days after we left)! Instead of the little red house we had, we now have a white house. I'll get photos up soon.

What really sucked is that when we came home almost all of the windows were sealed shut with paint. I managed to get the bedroom window unsealed, which gives us our window fan again (thank goodness), but the rest will be a chore. Fun fun.

As soon as we passed into Idaho, the Washington drivers slowed us down. I just don't understand why they don't understand the concept of stay right except to pass! I want to pass all of them, because yes, I'm in a hurry. Just move the fuck over and let me by. I won't tailgate them or flash my brights at them (although I'll think about it), so just they should stop it with the "2 mph faster than the next lane over" crap, and move over. I want to go fast!

Anyway, the road weariness is taking over and I need to get to bed. It's going to be so nice to sleep in my own bed tonight. It's nice to be back in Seattle. It's right where we left it.

In Billings, Montana now...

I'm typing this from the KOA campground (or is that kampground?) in Billings, MT. They have a small little closet-like thing with a power plug and phone jack. I've only managed to get a 31200 connection, but I'm not complaining - it's certainly better than nothing. In fact, it's downright cool. They have some full hookup sites with phone lines. I would've loved to have gotten one of those.

Barring any unforeseen problems, tomorrow should be our last day on the road. Since I last wrote, we've been to quite a few places - Gettysburg; the Spam museum in Austin, Minnesota; the South Dakota Badlands; Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota; and Mt. Rushmore.

This has been one incredible trip and I've got many pictures to show from it. Nicole and I are holding up pretty well, considering being stuck in a Jetta for the past 4 days. Traffic through South Dakota was great, giving me hours of 90 mile-per-hour driving. Today I managed to get the little beast up to 120mph.

The Sturgis motorcycle rally has been going on for the past week and there are motorcycles up the wazoo. We've got a group of bikers from Alberta in the next camping spot over from us. And man, have they been nice to us... not once, but twice, did they offer to take a picture of Nicole and me at the areas we've visited. Very cool. Of course, we did see one guy with a swastika tattoo and underneath that, another that said "Born to raise heil!", but overall they've been great.

Due to the great success of this trip, I foresee many future roadtrips like this. Any suggestions of routes to take? Perhaps a more southerly route, or more through the middle of the country, rather than the northerly route we took.

Anyway, time to go read up other /. journals. Happy trails!

Back on the road...

Today Nicole and I left Torrington, CT, bound for home, in Seattle. We didn't get as far as we had hoped, thanks in great part to major traffic backups through New York City and Philadelphia. But, we did made a stop at the Quick Stop in Leonardo, NJ, featured in Clerks, and at the Apple Store in King of Prussia, PA. Right now, I'm typing this from a Motel 6 in Harrisburg, PA.

New Jersey is one piece of shit state. Really. Just about the only thing going for it was separate lanes on the turnpike for trucks and cars, but other than that it pretty much sucked. Everybody in the state had this horrible scowl on their face like they were mad at the world. Maybe they're just mad that they're stuck in New Jersey. I would be. But hey, at least we got to see some of the sights featured in the Sopranos opening, like the Hydro P.U. plant, and the Drive Safely storage container. Woo.

Pennsylvania, once again, is a beautiful state, once you get out of the built-up areas. Gorgeous farmland and plenty of scenery to keep me happy while driving. I've made up my mind that we're going to Gettysburg tomorrow morning and then we'll continue on to Columbus. Because we left Connecticut a little bit early, we've got extra time to do some sightseeing on the trip home.

Getting back to today's traffic backups - the one in NYC was particularly funny. A car with a license plate holder from "Rent-a-Wreck" had broadsided a semi on I-95 in the Bronx. How appropriate. Less than a mile away, another wreck held up traffic. I think those two accidents delayed us about 90 minutes.

Tomorrow I'd like to make it almost all the way through Ohio and into Indiana. If that happens, I'll be happy, but from here on out the states start getting bigger so we'll be in them a lot longer.

I'm going to try to compile a few stats about this drive, but I don't have fuel usage details because I stopped doing mileage in Montana on the way out. But, in the meantime, here are the states we've driven through:

Washington
Idaho
Montana
North Dakota
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
New York
Connecticut

Seattle here we come.

The air's thick here....

I've been to Connecticut several times, but never can I remember such incredibly humid weather. Current conditions in Torrington are 72F with 94% humidity. Earlier today it felt like a freaking rain forest.

So, Nicole and I went down to New York City today. We drove into Manhattan, checked out Times Square, SOHO, the Empire State building, and the subway. It was really a fun trip, but the heat and moreso the humidity put a damper (really, really damp) on the fun. Nicole and I have decided that we want to go back again, but in late fall or spring, when it's a lot cooler.

The air in NYC is a mix of other peoples' stink, urine and/or excrement, and auto exhaust. Sweaty was another way I could describe it, and it's about twice as worse in the subway. I was covered in sweat pretty much the whole time I was in NYC and it was pretty embarrassing.

The only assholes I encountered were the ones stuck behind me in traffic. Sorry Mr. Cab Driver - I do NOT block intersections. Being familiar with Seattle traffic, I know how annoying it is when this happens to me. Besides, I would have done it in front of a cop, so um, no, not gonna do it.

The sheer madness of the city amazes me. Parts of it are so incredibly run down that it makes me wonder how they function. The subway has this greasy look and feeling that transfers all the way from the walls and floors to the handrails. I wasn't sure if I was feeling handrails that had been tampered with by some joker, but since every one I grasped felt greasy, I figured it was normal. At least the subway cars are air-conditioned.

My car's still in one piece, luckily. Driving through Manhattan is like driving through a never-ending series of potholes, and it really sucks. I feel sorry for anybody who's unfortunate enough to own a car in Manhattan.

So anyway, Times Square is fascinating and I do think it should be seen to be believed. Next time we go, I want to see it at night. Wow.

Nicole wants to see some covered bridges here in CT, so we'll probably make a trip down to Cornwall to see them. I also still have a lot of family to see, so we'll be busy with that, as well.