Revenge of the computer monster.

Yep, Thursday I was fat and sassy thinking that perhaps this computer thaaaaang was in the rearview mirror. Like a cheesy horror movie, the computer monster that I thought I slayed came back from the dead!

I spent about 5 hours fixing the latest issue. Our new router was the culprit. I figured out the right settings to get it to play nice with our modem. Now we have speed on a regular basis. ( I am still listening from rustling from the deceased :-)

Spent a fair amount of Saturday helping out with Steven's Student Council. They gather yearly to help out the elderly rake leaves. We raked 2 very large yards and 2 smaller yards. It felt good to do something good!

Have all of you pushed time back a hour? As you can tell by the early hour of my post....I did! I am not a huge fan of waking up in the dark and then coming home from work in the dark. Ahhhh well I will play nice!

Information superfrustration!

Funny how quick we become for lack of better word....addicted to the speed on which we get our information on the internet. That becomes more of an issue when that information is dependent on the ability to do a job and not just really important stuff like YOUR FANTASY FOOTBALL SCORES!.

As some of you may know, my Medical Records Technician wife Cherol, is now working from home. The journey to the point of getting her home to code was nothing short of a modern miracle! ( the movie of this struggle is in production at the moment and Mel Gibson is producing!). All of the excitement of getting home to code became a bit of a frustration when our internet connection became "all over the map!"

I started to be able to detect the sounds of Cherols chair ( she works in the computer room right above our bedroom) by how wildly it was rolling around to how good the speed of the internet was. Fast rolling= bad connection Slow rolling to little rolling = good connection. I knew if she was rolling around really good , I was about to be summoned to try and fix the connection. She starts work around 4:30am, so getting up that early for me can be a bit of a test of my normally jolly "I like to help" motto!

Well, long story short. After several dozen calls to our internet provider and 2 routers. My raspy, cold damaged vocal cords demanded that they send someone out here to look at what was going on. Must have scared them with my yodeling vocal style and they made a appointment to come out here.

They installed a new modem and created a "cleaner" connection. Fingers are crossed and the sky is now bright. Let us hope that this is the last I have to write about this topic!

My Mom is in California visiting one of my "proxy moms" Mavis Teal. Mavis is a person I will always hold dear to my heart because she was one of those that was there for Mom, Dave and I when we were going through hard times. Mavis recently lost her husband Bill and is making the hard adjustment of living alone. I am glad Mom is out there and I hope they can share some laughs and some tears.

Thats it for now!

Checking in.

Feeling a bit of a cold coming on. Should be heading off to bed, but.....I must carry on.....for the readers....its all about my readers :-)

So far the World Series has been entertaining....baseball wise. Being that I am rooting for the Astros means that I havent enjoyed the end result of these games.....still have faith though and think the Astros have a good chance of winning a couple of games down in their home park.

The Vikings pulled off a dramatic win over the Pack. Always a big deal when you get to send a drunken cheeser home all sad, because they lost to the Purple Clad Warriors. One funny observation. The Vikings enter the field through a big inflatable Viking ship. Before they enter, the Vikings Cheerleaders run out of the ship. It gives the illusion ( now because of the Vikes "love boat" exploits) that the Vikes cheerleaders are running away from the Vikings as they chase them off the ship. Yep my nyquil sparked mind is running wild!

Bought a new CD today. Aerosmith Live at the Hard Rock Hotel. Target has a special edition that has 2 bonus tracks. All for $9.99! Very good live CD from the lads. Pick it up!

Time for your illlin author to lay down and get some rest.

A day off!

Decided to take the day off from work to spend some time with the family! We decided to go to the rat that serves pizza ( ie: charles e. cheese), we had a great time!

Saw the movie Wallace and Grommet, Steven laughed at most of it and I caught only about 10 minutes of a cat nap! Not bad!

Purchased a new router for the home network. The hospital provided one has been nothing but irritating and it was time to take matters into my own hands! Better router, happier wife, Mike gets more sleep! Ahhh yes solutions solutions!

Capped the evening off with another movie ( yep 2 in a day!) The life and death of Peter Sellers. Very good movie. Geoffrey Rush is great in the role, and really shows a side of Sellers life that most fans probably had no idea about. Recommended!

Mikes Music Corner

I have slipped on the smoking jacket, settled into my favorite cozy chair and have a small fire roaring in the background. The scene is set for another chapter of Mikes Music Corner. ( good start considering I have no fireplace or smoking jacket.....how about a Robe and a nice computer chair!)

Lets start with a couple of my current library projects. I have spoken in the past about my love of going to the library and finding music. In the last 4 months or so I have been ordering and collecting cds on my computer hardrive. I then make cd's out of these collections. I stumbled into the Time Life music series that has a collection of year by year hit cd's from the 70's. So if I want to hear Kung Fu Fighting ( and who wouldnt!) from Carl Douglas (1974) I dont have to buy a entire CD from him! I have about 6- 80 minute cds worth of the stuff! I did the same thing with KISS music. Steven is into them in a big way at the moment. I collected all of the quality stuff I could get my hands on, that resulted in 5 cds worth of GOLD! :-)

Now on to the stuff I have purchased recently.

Stevie Wonder - A time to love-

I am a huge fan of early Stevie, ( Talking Book, Innervisions, Fullfillingness first finale, etc....) great creative music. Then came the 80's , Hotter than July was a solid piece cd. After that, Stevie has made music that goes against the grain of those great 70's records. I think the problem is that he tinkers way too much with technology and the sound of his music sounds too sterile. Please, just lock yourself into a room with a electric keyboard, a real drummer and a bass player and sing......I will buy many copies and recomend it to all my friends! :-) Now on to the review. This cd is a mixed bag. It took 10 years for him to release this. So its hard for me not to have big expectations. After a couple of listens, I feel a little let down. Too much of what he has been doing after 1985 and too little of what "uncle mike" would like him to do. It still is great to hear his voice singing new material after such a layoff. Also it is worth noting that he sounds as great as ever. Maybe its time for him to find a producer that kicks him in the butt and makes him focus on what made him great.

Rory Gallagher -Self titled ( 1970)

I know most of you are saying "who?" This guy is a great lesser known gem for fans of the blues. Born in Ireland...this guy sounds like a cross between clapton and a little of jimi hendrix. He had a strong folowing in europe , but not very well known in the states. His career was cut short by illness and alcoholism. This is his debut Cd. At 24 years of age you would never think a young guy could write such songs about hard living and loss of love. Its not entirely a sad cd, because of the stunning guitar work. The blues are like that, the sadness of the lyric mixes with the joy of the instrumentation and you find yourself smiling at it all. I strongly recomend this and just about any Rory CD. You will not be let down.

Ok... writers cramp setting in...smoke is billowing from my imaginary fireplace. Smoking jacket is making me sweaty. Till next time.

Random News

Its been awhile since my last post. Rather than my traditional multi-paragraph novel like ramble ( have I developed a tradition???) I will just scatter some thoughts and news.

Looks like a World Series between 2 teams that have very little World Series Experience. White Sox ( last time 1959) and Astros ( maiden voyage). Should be fun to see a couple of "greenhorns" face each other.

Speaking of voyages. The Vikings "love boat" scandal has dominated the news around here. I cant believe the stupidity of these guys. One good quote from one of the clueless lads was priceless. "uh they cant do nothin to us because we are in international waters"! He must of heard that on a epidsode of Cops or something....I am sure it wasn't in a geography class!

The Shed ( geez he is still talking about that thing!) now is spruced up with some fencing to cover the blocking and to keep little rodents out from under the blessed building. I am very proud to report that I used major power tools to construct a loft for storage and did a great job! All ten fingers are still wiggling!

Well that is all for now.....have purchased some music that needs to be reviewed.....stay tuned...I am sure you cant wait!

Great News!

Found out today that my Son Steven has been chosen to be on 5th grade student council! I am very happy for him. First of all because he decided to make the effort to try something new, and second because he will have a great chance to meet a lot of new people.

Those who know Steven, know of his early talent of being able to name all of the presidents. He has always had a interest in Government. In fact his "greatest place on earth" is Mt. Rushmore!

Congrats Steven! Remember your Pops when you make the Whitehouse! :-)

Sunday Service With The Black Crowes

It indeed felt like going to church....for a music fan. Last nights concert was one of the best shows I have ever been to. Almost every style of music was represented in the show. Rock,gospel,soul,country was all mixed up into a 3 hour blast of fun.

Its really hard to put into words what last night was really like. I guess the best way to describe it was, after 5 songs I looked down at my arms and the hair was standing up. Chris Robinson is a total rock star. Works the mic. stand like a young Rod Stewart, struts around like a hybrid of Mick Jagger and Robert Plant....and yet is a total original. The rest of the band is playing better than ever.

Below is a setlist of the show....I will give some short comments by some of the songs.

-Set One-
STARE IT COLD -Great song to kick start the night off.
STING ME - One of my favorites...great Stones like riffs
SOUL SINGING -Cd version is a nice sing along.this live verson takes you to church for 15min.
SEEING THINGS -Another deep cut...another fave.
GO TELL THE CONGREGATION-Geez another fave....great hammond b-3 organ
DARLING OF THE UNDERGROUND PRESS - A rare electric version
NEBEKANEZER -A fun little cosmic ditty :-)
YOUNG MAN,OLD MAN -Nice percussion...
LONG LONG LONG - Brother Rich Robinson does a nice verson of the George Harrison song.
MY MORNING SONG -One of my favorites
VIRTUE & VICE - My favorite!

-Set Two-
SONG OF LOVE -Great jam
THORN IN MY PRIDE - Best song of the night....complete with drum solo that wasnt boring!
SING ME BACK HOME
CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS
SOMETIMES SALVATION
WISER TIME
SHE TALKS TO ANGELS
HARD TO HANDLE
A CONSPIRACY
REMEDY

-Encore-
HAPPY- Nice way to end the night...nice cover of Keith Richards Stones classic.

Great night....my hearing is back....and I still have a smile!

Black Crowes Concert

Tomorrow night I am going to the Orpheum Theatre to see one of my favorite bands The Black Crowes.

Its been about 3 years since I went to my last concert ( The Who.....ticket price forced me to wait 3 years before I could afford another concert!). The Crowes have been off the road for about 4 years and have been getting rave reviews about the shows. I am sitting in the 4th row! If you are going to go....might as well see well! Tickets were reasonable....for today's prices..$50.00 ...then you add the taxes and other ticketmaster fees and you are at 63.00.

For those who do not know...lead singer Chris Robinson is married to movie actress/Goldie Hawn daughter Kate Hudson. Thank goodness this hasn't ruined the music. I am sure everyone was waiting for a Yoko Ono moment when the news broke that he was marrying her.

The Black Crowes usually play 3 hour shows....so I should get my moneys worth!

A review will follow!

Happy Birthday Dave!

My brother Dave is 40 today!

Dave and I are one year and change apart in age. Its funny as you get older you see the similarities in your personalities instead of the differences.

Growing up, Dave and I were a little different than each other. Dave was the guy that could make friends in a blink of a eye, when I was the one that had maybe one or two people that I would call good friends. When we moved to Minnesota, I was known as "Dave Youngs brother" because he was known by the whole neighborhood in a matter of minutes! :-)

Dave is the kind of guy that would take chances and I was more likely to be cautious and slow to make big leaps. Dave likes to live in the moment and doesnt remember the details of the past like I do. Dave lived life like a young kid should, I tended to try to be a adult.

As we have aged very gracefully and kept our athletic builds :-) I have seen Dave grow as a person and as a brother. We like to go to the movies once a month or so, its a good time to catch up on whats going on. We both share the love and responsibility of being fathers and husbands. I have learned from him to enjoy each day....I hope he has learned some things from me also. I always know that Dave and I will be there for each other. Its a good feeling.

Happy Birthday Bro.

Love ya!

The Shed is here!

The wait is over. Our storage shed is in place!

As you can tell, its a pretty cool process how they deliver these things! That trailer had 3 full sized sheds on it, they just pull it into your yard , tilt it into place and then ( as in my case) use blocks to level it. The building ( geez calling it a building already and not a shed!) is 12x10 and was made in Millbanks SD. These two guys build them there and then drive them all the way here in the twin cities.

I am pleased! Ok enough shed errrrrrr building talk! :-)

Bye week on the horizon..bye bye Tice???

The locals have lost another one. This time to the hands of the Michael Vick "less" Atlanta Falcons 30-3.

After a victory over the "team on the road more than Bob Dylan" New Orleans Saints, the Vikings had a little bit of optimism coming into this matchup. It was apparent early that this game would not be competitive. Tices crew looked unprepared and offered little resistance. Normally I am not one that screams for a coach to be fired, but I think if they are going to make such a move...now is the time.

We are entering into our bye week ( for the less hardcore football fan...that means we have a week off on the schedule) and we would have some time to regroup if we were to find someone else to come in and shake things up. Owner Ziggy ( isn't that a cute first name!) Wilff is pushing for a new stadium and needs to have strong fan support to do so. Having a team that is a embarrassment this early in the season is not a product that the zigster wants to have staring his fans in the face. He needs results, and Tice will be his 'sacrificial lamb".

The pressing question is, who do we bring in? The local media has floated names like Mike Ditka ( would drum up publicity and color but is he the solution?) and Jim Fossil ( His last name tips off how I feel about his creativity). Those two names show you how bottom of the barrel we are at the moment when it comes to coaches available.

My opinion stands....do something now or just sit back and let this team finish the season 5-11 and start from scratch.

It will be a interesting week at Vikings Headquarters!

One funny little comment was made by my Mom at halftime ( I call her at that time so we can vent about the game!) she said that I "Remind her of Vikings Quarterback Daunte Cullpepper, beacuse when he makes a mistake you can see every little bit of anguish on his face!, Just like you!" Yep, Moms always know your achilles heel...that is exactly why I never play cards! My face is a "big screen" tv look into my insides!

For all those on pins and needles....18 hours until shed time! :-)