Seasons of Love/Business Time/The Final Frontier

It has been another eventful couple of weeks. Maybe we are just trying to squeeze in a few more things before the baby gets here. Tiffany has already taken to calling the baby Ethan. It was a name that was mentioned a while back, and it seems to have stuck around. Either we really like it, or we are just too lazy to think up another name. You wouldn't think that naming a child would be so complicated.


Last week before heading to Dallas, we had an appointment with Dr. Tadvick. Everything still looks normal. We have another appointment this coming Monday. After that one, he will see us every week until the baby is born. I guess that means it's getting close. Monday will be 34 weeks, and apparently that is the major milestone to overcome. As I was saying, we spent three days last week in the Big D. We had some shopping and last minute baby errands to run. The first night we were there, we took it easy. We hit a couple of malls before checking out the new X-Men movie Wolverine. It was pretty good. The next night we went to see Flight of the Conchords. They were absolutely hilarious. In case you don't know who they are (most people don't apparently), you can check them out here. Some people don't seem to get it, but for those of us with a highly developed sense of humor it is one of the funniest things ever. Maybe I'm just chemically imbalanced. The next night we met my cousin Sarah and headed to the Music Hall at Fair Park for the touring version of Rent. The two male leads were the same two that opened the musical on Broadway. Not only were they great, but the rest of the cast was fantastic as well. This is the third time I have seen Rent on stage, and I think it was the best production so far. Again, it probably isn't for everyone. Put the movie on your Netflix list. If you like it, you may be ready to step up to the far superior stage version. The weekend was pretty boring around here. We worked most of it and did little else.


Last night in Abilene, we went to the last musical of the season at the civic center. It was called Rain, and it was basically a Beatles tribute show complete with costumes and "long" hair. I'm not generally a fan of these kinds of things, and this was no exception. They were really good musicians, and Paul was dead on. I did not say Paul is dead. They covered all major periods from Ed Sullivan through the psychedelic era and Abbey Road. I actually was pretty amused by all of the old ladies in the crowd that were screaming out loud and dancing the whole time. It isn't what I expect from a town that hates rock music. I have yet to figure out the difference between the music I listen to and the music our parents listened to. The main difference seems to be that our parents' music was all about sex and drugs, which are clearly appropriate topics for teenagers. As far as I know, there were no noise complaints. I guess I won't write a letter to the paper.


The show was over a little before 10. We weren't ready for bed yet, so we stopped by the movies on our way home to catch the new Star Trek film. It is definitely a rival for The Wrath of Khan in the best film category. My friend Jerry says it's better, but I think that might be blasphemy. Of course, he's a bigger sci-fi guy than me. I will say that it was well done, and the things they will have their work cut out for them when they decide to make the next one. This movie was directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Damon Lindelof. These guys are two of the masterminds behind the great TV series Lost. That show is concluding its fifth season tonight. Unfortunately, I am working late tonight. Thank goodness for DVR. Hopefully that catches everyone up.


To my faithful blog reader Betty: I will try to get some pictures of the reunion up this week. I don't have the pictures on my laptop, which is where I have been doing my blogging from.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

I just realized that I let two weeks go by without posting anything. I'm sure at least some of you missed me. I will try not to forget anything. We have pretty much gotten past the "Letter to the Editor" debacle. I say pretty much, because there is one more thing I have to add. A little over a week ago, we did get a piece of hate mail delivered to the house. I find it hilarious and creepy that someone would take the time to find out where I live (I'm in the phonebook) and write such a crazy letter. I'm not going to post the letter here. Many of you have seen it already. If you haven't, I will be glad to send you a copy. The letter is not particularly well written, and it makes a lot of assumptions about who we are and the kind of lives we lead. Deep down I want to write a response and send it to the paper, but I think I will probably just let it go.

Last weekend was our annual Murray family reunion. We had a wonderful time, and we got to meet a few family members that we hadn't met before. They even threw us a surprise baby shower, which was a lot of fun. We had another sonogram this week. Everything still looks healthy and normal, although the doctor did say that it would probably be a good-sized baby. I think that is freaking Tiffany out a little. Here is some help with the pictures: the first one is a foot (I think), the second is the heartbeat, and the third one is his face. We also had to go by the anesthesiology department and watch a video about spinal epidurals. I don't think we really learned anything, but they won't give you the drugs if you don't watch it. I think that about catches us up. At least that's the short version. We are both working this weekend, but Monday we are heading to Dallas for one final trip before the baby arrives. We have tickets to a couple of shows, but mostly we are just going to bum around and enjoy our freedom for the last time.

One final thing: Danny Gans died yesterday. We had the opportunity to see him a couple of years ago. He was a terrific entertainer, and surely he will be missed.

Celebrity

Yesterday my name was in the paper for the third time this week. Since the concert last Friday was shut down, there has been three articles in the paper, two letters to the editor, and over a hundred comments online. I guess at the very least the whole situation got people talking, which is what I really wanted anyway. The concert tomorrow night has been moved indoors to prevent noise complaints. I don't know if we are going to go or not. At this point, I will probably give up my political career--until the next time the mood strikes me. I will try to keep future rants to this blog. I would like to point out that at least half of the comments on the Reporter News website completely agree with me. The rest of them just missed the point entirely. The next few days promise to be trouble free. This weekend I have a million things to do around the house. I'm hoping to get at least two of them done.

In other news, Tiffany and the baby are doing just fine. He is starting to kick a lot. I have even been able to feel it a couple of times. We have an appointment on Tuesday, so I will possibly know more then. Have a great weekend!

15 minutes

Warhol said everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. I'm thinking I might have come closer to half an hour. I had my name in the paper for the second time in less than a week. It's really bizarre to me that people even read the paper in this town. After loosely quoting me in the previous article, they decided to print my original letter to the editor. Maybe it sounds a little negative, but I still agree with everything I said. It's probably better that I wrote it on Saturday. Now that I have had a few days to think about it, there is a lot more I wish I had said. If anyone wants to read the letter to the editor, you can find it here. As best I can tell, it is completely in tact. They did change the title. I guess I can live with it, even if it is lame. Nothing has really come of any of this anyway. The police seem to have differences of opinion depending on who you ask. Some say noise complaints, others cite bar closing time. The promoter blames the bar. The bar blames the band. Unofficially, we all know it's because Abilene hates rock music. There is another show at the same bar on Sunday night. I haven't decided if we are going to go or not. Either way, I will be curious to see what happens. I am going to try and keep my name out of the paper for the rest of the week.

I Burn.......or Abilene does not rock

I had to get up early Saturday morning for the satellite people to come fix my TV (yes again). I was a little cranky and tired, and while I was waiting for them to get here I decided to write a letter to the editor of the local paper. I am one of those people who believes that everyone is entitled to my opinion. It's one of the reasons I have this blog. Anyway, I didn't think much about it after that. At about 8:30 last night, I got a phone call from a reporter. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with her. There was a small write up in the paper today, and although I don't think it's particularly well written, it does have my name in it. She did tell me that they are working on a full column on this event to run Monday or Tuesday. Also, she said it would be up to the editorial department to decide whether to run my original letter. If they don't, I will post it here later. Perhaps later tonight I will give an account of what happened. Until then, you can read this.

Cleveland Rocks!

A couple of years ago, my cousin Chuck got married in Cincinnati. Tiffany and I flew into Cleveland (on the other side of the state) a couple of days early so we could check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My cousin Brad met us as well. At the time, my thinking was, "When am I ever going to be in Ohio again?" As it turns out, we decided to go back to Ohio. Once again this was Rock Hall related. It's possible that I have an addiction--not to Ohio, but to the music. 2009 was the first year that tickets to the induction ceremony have ever been sold to the public. Another deciding factor was that Metallica, one of our favorite bands, was being inducted this year. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity that we just couldn't pass up. We flew in on Friday afternoon. We ended up just ordering food from room service and staying in the rest of the night. Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the museum before the masses showed up. In 2007 we spent nearly five hours looking at everything. I figured we could do it much quicker this time. As it turns out, we were there just shy of four hours. I still could have spent more time there, but we did cover some stuff this time that we missed before. The top two floors were filled with Springsteen memorabilia this time, which I thought was awesome. By the time we left, there was a line around the block to get into the museum. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the ceremony that night. I don't think either of us knew what to expect, but we knew we were in for a treat. The induction itself lasted about four hours. Most of the inductees performed, as well as gave speeches. Metallica played Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman. The four current members were there, as well as former bassist Jason Newsted. Also present were many friends and guests of the band, including Ray Burton (father of original bassist Cliff). It was definitely a unique experience, and I am extremely glad we went. I do have one complaint though. The guys sitting to my left basically talked the whole time, and the two people to our right spent the whole time playing with their Blackberrys. Why do these people even bother to come? It seems like we always end up next to these people. All in all though we were there with a good group of people who came to enjoy themselves. I knew there were other people like us, I just didn't know we had to go all the way to Ohio to find them. At the end, all of the inductees came out, as well as a few special guests and played two more songs: Jailhouse Rock and Train Kept a Rollin'. My guess is that this is my last trip to Cleveland for a while, but I have learned to never say never. I hope it is not my last trip to the Hall of Fame. Recently they opened a branch in New York, and I hope we are able to check that one out as well.

Here is a list of the 2009 Inductees:

The performer inductees: Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack

Early Influence Category Inductee: Wanda Jackson

Sidemen Category Inductees: Bill Black, DJ Fontana, Spooner Oldham

"There's nothing wrong with Ohio, except the snow and the rain.

I really like Drew Carey and I'd love to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"

--Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling For Soup

Whiplash

So I said I would post these last week, but I just didn't. I don't even have a good excuse really. I have serious doubts that anyone can tell anything from these pictures anyway. They don't look any different to me than the ones we got last time. The doctor however assures me that the baby is growing and everything is normal. According to Tiffany the baby is kicking quite a bit. I cannot verify this because every time I get my hand anywhere near her, he stops. Already this child is rebelling against me. We are heading to Cleveland this weekend for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Metallica is being inducted this year. It's also the first time they have ever sold tickets to the public. It just seemed like something we needed to do. The whole thing is being televised on Fuse if you are interested. In other related news, Guitar Hero: Metallica came out this week. Mine came in the mail today, so I look forward to several nonproductive hours in the near future. One more thing about this fantastic band: They are coming back to Texas at the end of September. Like the responsible parents we plan to be, we will be attending these shows. We are still working out the final details, but I already have several babysitting volunteers, as well as a fun group of people to go with us. I know some of you are thinking that we should probably slow down a little, and all I have to say is that we already have.