I hear that kilts are mighty comfortable...

"Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"

So Paris Hilton has been freed from jail. I figure she can relate to ol' William Wallace now.

No?

Yeah, you're right.

I'm a little confused why this is such a big deal. Rumor has it that some networks were ready to pay her $1 million to get the first post-jail interview. When sanity returned, however, they dropped the offers and tomorrow night she will speak to Larry King for free. How very fortunate for Larry.

As for me, I'm through thinking upon the spoiled heiress. No more will I talk, rant, or write anything about her, unless it has to do with the fact that her recording of "Stars Are Blind" was actually halfway decent. I'd encourage you to do the same.

Then, from her nonsense, we'll all have our own "freedom."

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's

You're not an ordinary fella...

Oi...what a day yesterday. Was too busy to find time to write, but that's ok. You forgive me, right?

So I flipped open my little calendar to see if today's "holiday" would inspire me in some sort of way. It marked today as "Stupid Guy Thing Day."

It's as if it was watching my life last night...

The other day I spoke of Dance, Dance, Revolution (DDR). Well, last night a buddy of mine came over and brought it with him. It didn't take long to get completely wrapped up in the game, and soon there were a bunch of grown men (ok, that's arguable) competing on this game and talking trash like we were outside playing ball or something. At one point it got so competitive that one player was calling out the other one, "Dude, don't bounce when there's no arrows! That's distracting!"

It...was...AWESOME!

Ordinarilly, I'm not so competitive and I think that getting so wrapped up in a game is a little weird. Last night, however, I saw how truly hilarious it can be.

So is that a "Stupid Guy Thing?" It might be, but the clincher was deciding (after 2:00 a.m.) that we should go out for burritos, only to find that Tapatios was closed.

Ridiculous.

Yet totally fun.

Which I think perfectly sums up "Stupid Guy Thing Day."

So do something ridiculous, yet totally fun, today. You owe it to your inner stupid guy. (For those of you who aren't a stupid guy on the outside as well.)

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Good Intentions" by Toad the Wet Sprocket

Rob Van Winkle was so cool...

So last night a little something happened that may have changed the course of my life forever...

I finally played Guitar Hero!

Oh my gosh! What an amazing game! It was so fun to rock out to tunes like Cherry Pie, Rock This Town, Monkey Wrench, etc... If Josh hadn't kicked me out of his place I'm pretty sure I'd still be rocking out right now.

Of course, I am now torn between the passions of trying to become a true Guitar Hero or a Dance Master (Dance Dance Revolution). A man divided between two such passions will surely fail to achieve either, right? It's a tough decision, and I fully intend to waffle between the two. For the record, I think that DDR still might be more fun, but the fact that Guitar Hero doesn't leave you a sweaty, smelly mess when you are done is a pretty big plus.

It's only a matter of time until these two powerhouse rockin' games are combined into one uber-game in which you must dance and jam at the same time. It's probably on that day, my friends, that Jack Black will probably be named president of the world and the world will rock as never before.

Speaking of rocking as never before (and hopefully never again), here's a video clip of Vanilla Ice and some Ninja Turtles getting their groove on! Go ninja, go ninja, go! (This song came on last sunday while I was at Jimmy John's having lunch. True story!)



Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "In My Place" by Coldplay

I think that Vegas has the buffalo as an 8-1 favorite...

Ok, first, I'd like to apologize for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I love that I lucked my way into linking that song to the site for yesterday's little musing, but I don't know how to have it not automatically play. So odds are strong that it started playing again while you're looking at this, and you'll just have to scroll down and pause it. I'll look at the code a bit and see if I can change it, but that's rather doubtful, since I have no idea what I'm doing...(I think it worked!)(No, it didn't, and I'm giving up on trying to figure it out, so I've altered the settings so that only one "musing" shows at a time. That should help.)

Ok, today I'd like to share another little video clip that my dad sent my way. It's an amazing display of the "family" instinct that exists even in nature. I'll preface this by saying that the little buffalo survives. So while you might be tempted to stop watching and wince occasionally, stick it out. It's not gruesome, I promise. The video is about 8 minutes long, and if you watch through to the end it's totally worth the time spent.

Check it out:



King of the jungle? I guess not always.

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Free" by VAST

Oh, fiddlesticks...

Welcome to just another manic monday, folks. However, this monday is not like other mondays. No. Those other mondays pale in comparison to this monday, for today kicks off National Fiddlers Week!

Naturally, it leads me to think of The Charlie Daniel's Band playing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Great song.

Kind of a strange song, though. If I understand it correctly, the devil was behind in his "soul collecting" and decided that trying to strike up a deal over a fiddle contest in Georgia would help him meet his quota.

Now, don't get me wrong, but there's got to be a better way, no? You'd think he could just plop in for a visit in the audience at a showing of The View and there'd be more souls than he could handle right there.

Still, the devil decided to square off against our young protagonist, Johnny, in a fiddling contest. Johnny fiddles his booty off and wins, putting the devil in his place, even swearing at him, before claiming a golden fiddle as his reward and taunting him with a possible rematch.

Then the lyrics go on to make no sense whatsoever...

Wouldn't a golden fiddle be too heavy too play, anyway?

So what's my point? None. Just wanted an excuse to try and link you to the song: (This might not work, I haven't tried it before.)






Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Waiting for Tonight" by Jennifer Lopez (I like tacos and burritos!)

Hmm, usually the blood gets off on the third floor...

So as I was coming back from my Lunch Break: Extended Edition today (absolutely killer mexican buffet at La Magdelena's on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays...if you're ever in the area) I heard a familiar tune on the radio.

It was Peter Gabriel's classic, "Solsbury Hill."

Most songs that I hear trigger some sort of memory or emotion. This one has a pretty funny connection. Whenever I hear this little ditty, I think of a video that I saw on the internet.

This video, to be precise:


Now, for any of you who have seen The Shining, you know that trailer doesn't really give you a good idea of what the movie is really like. It's actually quite creepy, not the light-hearted little romp that is presented so cleverly there.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Looking at things slightly skewed can drastically change the what you see. Sometimes even making it less frightening. Give it a shot!

Have a great weekend!

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Rebirthing" by Skillet

Now there's a frood who knows where his towel is...

So some ancient dead dude (likely Socrates) once said, "Know thyself - and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe. "

Hmm, interesting. Having read The Hitchhiker's Guide, I already know that the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything is "42."

Still, I'm rather certain that I don't completely know "myself."

But I'm still learning. For example, I learned last night that when it comes down to it, I simply find the lure of lists irresistible.

Given the opportunity to go to bed at a decent hour, I found that my extra time was commandeered by the television. You see, on Comcast Sports Channel (home of your Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, and Sox) was counting down the Top 50 Best Damn Unforgettable Plays in Sports. It was crazy! I found myself glued to the set awaiting amazing play after amazing play. (For the record, the Cal-Stanford/Band play was #1, beating out poor Buckner.)

And as if that weren't enough, as that show ended at midnight, a new list was just beginning over on VH1 (home of bad reality television and Behind the Music specials). They were counting down the top 40 Most Awesomely Bad Break-Up Songs. From the moment that list kicked off with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, I was hooked again. For two hours I watched and listened to awful song after awful song while comedians riffed on the ridiculous lyrics. ("Toni Braxton wants me to unbreak her heart and uncry these tears...Toni, that's UNpossilbe!") The list wrapped up at 2:00 a.m. with the ultimate in Awesomely Badness, Milli Vanilli.

Did anyone realize that "Blame it On the Rain" was a break-up song?

You can blame it on the rain
Cause the rain don't mind
And the rain don't care
You gotta blame it on something

Anyway, that's beside the point, this is supposed to be about me learning about myself, right?

So what is it about a countdown that is so irresistible? I'm not certain, but for some reason I just can't ignore them. Perhaps it's a matter of trying to guess what should be on the list. Perhaps it's the fun of the inevitable discussions that follow such a list. Perhaps I just need to get out more...

Probably that last one.

Too bad there was no VH1 around for Socrates...next time that Bill and Ted kidnap him, they should bring him to 2007.

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Red Red Wine" by UB40

Mmm, caramelicious...

I've just finished downing my third caramel frappuccino this morning...I feel slightly jumpy. I could probably dominate a game of whack-a-mole right now.

Over the weekend, I learned that there are actually a few people who still read this little blog. Believe it or not, that's encouraging. I'm not really sure why I even do this. It started off as a way to vent a bit and express what I was feeling or share something I had learned. It didn't take long to develop into generic randomness, though, where it seems to be stuck now.

Another thing that I learned this weekend is that when a little child grabs you by the hand and asks you a question, you simply have to say, "Yes."

What is it about kids that drops people's guard and makes us happy? Maybe we just catch a glimpse of innocence and want to help foster it before it is lost forever to "growing up." (Although we all know that kids aren't necessarily "innocent.") The ravages of time wear away at the simple happiness that is present in kids. When they're not screaming, yelling, or crying, that is.

Still, as I skipped through the church building holding hands with this little child I couldn't help but be filled with joy, no matter that we went outside in the drizzling rain to look at a balloon. For some reason, it just seemed right.

Perhaps if we took a few minutes each day to just simplify and look at the world through the eyes of a child, we could all find little "joy moments" like that. Give it a shot.

Or, failing that, pound a few frappuccinos. That'll get you going, too.

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "The Water Buffalo Song" by Superchick (originally a Veggie Tales tune...keeping with the "kids" theme of the day.)