Is Perry Farrell The New Mayor Of New York?

This is a pretty loose connection for a title - I just heard once that Perry Farrell loves pajamas. Anyway.

A pillow fight in the middle of New York city? This sounds fantastic (be sure to listen to the commentary from some of the participants - particularly the part where the reporter asks his interviewee to strike him with the pillow). Check out video and info on the organizers here.

Syllable Counting LIVE

I had the opportunity to see ex-Hot Water Music frontman Chuck Ragan's show on Monday night at Tangier in Los Feliz, CA. He was recording a portion of his Side One Dummy debut in an intimate live setting in front of about 80 onlookers, goof-ups and all. He brought out mandolin and violin players to supplement his blue-collar folk anthems. As my roommate put it, "I had a smile on my face for the entire set." His rugged and powerful voice kept the room completely riveted for over an hour. I better get on to the haiku, or this will be a worthless post. Look for Chuck Ragan's solo record on Side One Dummy later this year.

Beers are six dollars?
Seriously, what the hell?
Great show, however.

It's a Good Thing He's The Best Point Guard In The East

From espn.com:

Gilbertology update: Arenas offered up his best excuses for dodging reporters this week. He said he left quickly after Tuesday's victory over Minnesota because he wanted to see the movie "Hannibal Rising" -- he shrugged his shoulders in disappointment when asked for a review -- and said he would have to beat a quick path out of the arena Thursday to prepare for the upcoming road trip. "I have to pack," he said. Why couldn't he pack before the game? Because, Arenas said, a power outage prevented him from getting into his own house, which has a sophisticated security system. Apparently, he's saving "the dog ate my homework" for a later date.

Whatever. Can't argue with 10 games over .500 for a team that traditionally wins no more than 10 games in an entire season.

Syllable Counting 7

Comeback Kid Broadcasting... (Victory)

This record sounds huge.
Way better than Wake The Dead.
Youth crew renaissance?

Syllable Counting 6

Fall Out Boy Infinity On High (Island/Def Jam)

The Babyface song?
Actually not terrible.
The rest of this blows.

Kevin Feedback

I recently (actually, it was today) delivered a speech for my "Professional Development for Leaders" class (read: public speaking). I'm a terrible public speaker. For that matter, I'm a terrible private speaker as well. By some miracle, or possibly a voting box mishap, I received "best in room" votes for my speech today. I probably only received one, but it sufficiently stroked my ego, since there were 14 speakers. I'm still a terrible public speaker. Everyone in the audience had to provide feedback, so.... let's hear from the audience:

Pros
"Very persuiasive"
"Passionate"
"Good stories"
"Good intro"
"Good conclusion"
"Good hook"
"No notes! Good job"

Cons
"There wasn't any structure after your intro, so I was not sure on what your point was, but then I figured it out."
"Tentative"
"Stop playing with your hands"
"Monotone"
"Your purpose wasn't clear"
"Eye contact. More eye contact"
"How long is your intro?"
"Needs structure. What's your point?"
"Disorganized."
"Avoid technical difficulties - though not really your fault"
"You sounded nervous."
"Work on your transitions."
"Seemed all over the place."

Oh yeah, I spoke for five minutes on why music downloading is a pox on our society.

Bowling? Drunk? The?

Do I always speak with a drawl when I drink? I am that self-unaware?

Sean and I made our way to Vegas a couple weeks ago for the annual Punk Rock Bowling Tournament. We bowled with the always affable and mostly Canadian gentlemen from punknews.org, and finished somewhere between 97th and 192nd place. Not good. We did, however, find some time after our hopeless bowling performance to drunk dial not only Mr. Dickerson's Drunk Dial Hotline, but also his hotel room a mere 2 floors above our own. While Virgil's bowling team was equally as miserable as our own, he fared a bit better at the blackjack tables. Congrats to Epitaph for winning the tournament for the eight millionth time in a row, and congrats to Sean and myself for leaving the following drunk dials.

Sean's phone call
My phone call

Mundane Basketball Names Restated

If you ever play the video game NBA Street, you're familiar with the ground-swell to create more entertaining basketball nicknames. We've created an entire 12-man roster* of obscure and curious basketball nicknames, should I ever decide to coach a team and have the final say in naming rights. This is a bit of a tangent from the term redifinition project, but we'll get back on track soon enough.

Starting 5
The Skillet
Tough Juice
ATM
Homeland Security
Dr. Hoops

Bench
King Sir
Cotton Gin
Bill "The Filabuster" Flennington**
Side Arm
The Human Piñata
Poor Man's Isaiah Thomas
Thumbs McMurtry


* names have pending copyright protection.
** not to be confused with mid-90's Bulls center Bill Wennington.(pictured above).

Syllable Counting 5

The Bled Pass The Flask (Reissue) (Vagrant)

I haven't listened.
CD's copy protected.
Come back in two months.