Recently went through my stacks of discs in hopes of digging out something refreshing/nostalgic to listen to while sitting in front of my work computer.   Stopped looking almost 5 seconds into my search when I dusted off my copy of Burning Airlines “Mission: Control!”.

The skinny on Burning Airlines is simply this…   J.Robbins (producer and indie gawd monster) started up this project in the late nineties after JAWBOX split up.

I recall reading a short blurb on the band in an early pressing/issue of Copper Press while living in Detroit… and if I remember correctly – I got word that they would be playing a show in Detroit around my 22nd birthday?

I had a hard time getting someone to go with me to the show…  I managed to convince some kid from Wisconsin who was living in a dormitory kiddie corner to mine to drive me back home so that I could get sauced up.

I sorta feel bad for forgetting the name of the guy who came out with me that night…   he’d never really been to a small venue to catch a show before so he was really out of his element.   Burning Airlines doesn’t exactly draw an alienating crowd…  but downtown Detroit has a certain way of really putting people from  Wisconsin on edge.

Upon arriving at the show… I saw that Burning Airlines were working a merch booth in the corner of the venue having a few brown-pops before the show.   I came over – said hi  and asked how their tour was going.  I wished them a good set – extended my hand and all three stood up.

When they did that, the makeshift merch table tipped over and their drinks flew all over me.

Things got freakishly quiet…  so I asked the band if they wanted me to buy em a round.   They scrambled a bit to clean off the merchandise and they said that I wouldn’t have to worry about paying for another drink for the rest of the night.

I took full advantage of being on the band bar tab so I got pretty sauced up.   Halfway through the set I got a shout out….   at the end of the night they wished me a happy birthday and they raised a glass in my honor and dedicated the song “Crowned” to me.

I recall them signing a set list and commemorating my copy of their album.

Anyhoo…  listening to this record this morning really brings back some incredible memories.

so its been a bit of a rough 2 weeks for people I admire…   got word this morning that George Carlin passed away at the age of 71.

Carlin was always a favorite of mine because his thought process is freakishly close to that of my fathers.  I really can’t add much to the thousands of incredible stories out there about him today.

If you’re not familiar with his work – just youtube him and flex your head.

.aCr.

While walking Elliot this evening, I realized that my father and I may have another opportunity tomorrow to see Tiger Woods win his 14th Major Tournament win.   To put that in some perspective to people who may not know much about Golf…   If you can win 2 Major titles in a life long career – then you’re considered a really good golfer.  Tiger Woods is second to only one other person and they have 18 titles.   A number that many thought would be unmatched.

But enough about the history of golf…   With it being fathers day weekend, I’ve had an opportunity to really sit back and unwind with my father over the extended break.  By unwind… I mean running errands around town together, doing some yard work and watching Sports on TV.

 I’m pretty fortunate to have solid relationship with my dad.  I can pretty much talk to him about anything on my mind…  but we rarely talk about anything serious because he’s a “man’s-man” and he’d be quick to point out that its not cool to yack it up like a couple of yentas.  But I digress…

I’ve spent an unusual amount of time on the couch this weekend, next to my father watching Tiger Woods on TV.  Admittedly… me watching televised sports on the couch isn’t all that unusual.  Me watching golf on TV sorta is.

Unlike other major sports (football, baseball, basketball, hockey sorta) I really couldn’t get into watching golf with my father.  Admittedly…  he’s sorta odd to watching sporting events with.  He really disliked me asking questions during sporting events and he really disliked me making uniformed comments of any kind.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of weekends watching sporting events from my room – while he watched the same sporting event in the living room.

Back to Golf… specifically Tiger Woods.   Woods mania sorta hit in the late 90′s while I was off at college.   My father loved everything about Tiger Woods from the very beginning.  He especially loved how close Tiger was to his father… as luck would have it the Masters occur just after my dad’s birthday so its sorta tradition for us to watch it on TV when its on.

In 1997, my father and I saw Tiger Woods not only win the Masters (his first Major) but he did so by slaying the field by 12 strokes.   Its really rare for my father to show disbelief of any kind… and I think it has a lot to do with him being in his 70′s.  

I wish I could describe the joy my father gets when he sees Tiger Woods play.   He’s the only athlete I’ve ever seen him fawn over obsessively… maybe with the exception of Willie Mays.

Anyhoo… tomorrow, I may get to see Tiger win another Major Championship and I’ll get to watch him possibly win another one next to my father. 

How awesome is that.

Finally got around to watching Pan’s Labyrinth last night…  I recorded an HD broadcast of it last November but never got around to watching it for one reason or another.  With my parents in town, I thought it would be dope to watch it with my mom whose native tongue is Spanish.

So the movie was surprisingly awesome.  I’ve only seen to Del Torro films and both have been very rewarding.  The other was Hellboy, a comic book film I was reluctant to see because I didn’t know much about the characters going into the film.

There’s something great about the insistence of not going CGI for his movies. There’s some CGI but it doesn’t lean on it like other films.

.aCr.

Fathers Day Weekend has kicked off for me in San Antonio…   I had originally planned to be in Dallas this weekend for a Scooter Rally but everything got tossed out the window when I discovered that Fathers Day was this Sunday and not next Sunday.

As luck would have it, my sister took a few days off this week and we convinced my parents (whom are retired and homebound) to come up to San Antonio so that we could enjoy each others company without really having to rush a visit to the rio grande valley.

Spending time with the rents here is pretty easy on my part.  I spend a good bit of my time attending to my old man and we usually get by watching the news or walking the dogs around the neighborhood.

The news is all a buzz with the passing of Tim Russert of NBC.  His passing  is not only alarming because Tim is a young guy (in his 50′s) but he’s also one of my favorite political tv heads.  With the exception of John Stewart-  I can’t think of another person on Television that would always ask questions I want answered.

He’ll be sorely missed.

.aCr.

So with Fathers day weekend closing in…  I’ve had a chance to hang back at home a little more than which means the DVD player has been in use almost nonstop.

I’ve seen two movies this week…  the first :

Jumpers

A sci-fi film about how a select number of people have the ability to teleport themselves to anywhere they want in the world.   To counter act that ability, there’s a group of people who are hell bent in killing them.

I had high hopes for the movie… but it failed miserably.  If you’re all about watching an Angry Ankin Skywalker hop around 6 or 7 spots on the globe – then I highly recommend it.

The other movie I got around to seeing is “Funny Games”.   A freakishly violent movie about a family who gets held hostage and gets tortured in house on the Hamptons.  The plot isn’t entirely original… I’ve seen a few movies over the years that play on this psychological mind fuck.  This one seemed a little interesting because the director decided to remake this film 10 years after he released it in the late 90′s.  The movie is a shot for shot remake…  so if you’re going to rent it – you can go with getting the original or go with the newer one that has familiar actors in it.

I can’t stress how upsetting the movie is.  The violence and a awkward turn near the end of the movie.

.aCr.

Anyone else get stuck with one of these recently?  While out running some errands this morning, I went out of my way to have correct change so that I could get a crisp dollar bill back from the teller.  My eyes grew quickly when I saw her reach for the change door…  I feared that I was going to get 4 quarters in return.  Instead I got a shiny James Monroe $1 coin.

Outside of having his term in office printed on it… there’s  nothing really interesting about it.   It’s not a side profile like the other coins…  which I sorta dislike because at first glance you’d totally mistake this thing for a Arcade Token.

At least it isn’t Regan.

According to the US mint website I guess we’re going to see a number of former presidents on these things…

.aCr.

Wings Win the Cup

N’uff said.   I’ve spent a good part of my adult life following the Wings and have been very fortunate to watch them win 4 of their 11 Stanley Cup wins.

Weezer released their 6th studio effort today and I’m about to bust out and pick up a copy.  I’m a huge fan of the Weeze and look forward to hearing what the whole album sounds like.

Review of the album to follow a little later.

Run out and get a copy if you’re down with =w=.

The Review

So I’ve had the album for a full day.  I’ve listened to it (from beginning to end) a few times and I can honestly say that I agree with a lot of the bad reviews out on the net.   It’s not “top shelf” material by any stretch… but there’s a number of cool moments on the record that hardcore Weeze0heads can really get excited over.   I haven’t caught (or wanted to catch) Weezer live since 2001, but I may go out of my way to check em out on this tour in hopes of checking out a few of these new songs live.  

I had high hopes after hooking up the Rivers – Alone Recordings – last year and hoped (like everyone else) that the Weeze would deliver.