Happy Soltice

Lots of snow removal this week. The gas cap of my snow blower broke off in my hand and I had to order one via the web. I also bought new boots this year in the hope that by actually spending money on them therefore we would have only a little snow. Nope. After returning from Xmas shopping tonight I saw a guy jogging with a light on his head. I can't believe his wife let him out of the house like that.

I am winding down the working out for the year and things are going well. I am also developing a new drinking game. If I watch "Cops" I drink every time I See a perp with his shirt off. An ambulance is usually nearby.

On the MikePod:

Muddy Waters: "King Bee" A classic by a classic

UB40 "Labor Of Love" Reggae classic. Should have listened to on Labor Day

John Mellencamp: "Scarecrow" Heartland classic

Nine Inch Nails: "Pretty Hate Machine" Industrial (member that musical term?) classic

Beer brought to me by Miller, TV brought to me by Celebrity Rehab

Bye Bye Blago

Wasn't that a play? Wow, that was a good wake up call on Tuesday huh? Not a good day for George Ryan seeking a pardon either. Blago's hair is not going to hold up well in the pen. Anyway, I am having a blast on Facebook. It is an easy way to keep in touch with friends and to meet new ones. You can share interests and pictures, etc. OK, enough with the politics and here's the info:

On the MikePod:

Muddy Waters: "Electric Mud" Great psychedelic blues LP. He got beat up over this when it came out in 1968, but it has endured well.

The Knack: "Round Trip" Yes they had more songs than "My Sharona"

Siousie and the Banshees: "Tinderbox" Great goth album

Marshall Crenshaw: "Life's Too Short" Excellent harder edged pop

XTC: "Skylarking" One of my faves, great britpop.

Beer brought to me by Zywiec, news brought to me by Nancy Pender

Winter

I hate winter. I always have. I had a teacher in middle school named Mr. Winter, but I did not hate him. I did have a cold relationship with him. HA HA. Anyway, I saw a dweebie guy on the Metra last week wearing only shorts, t-shirt and sandals when it was below 20F. Some people won't conform and some people won't even conform to the weather.

When I was in high school, one year I had gym the last class of the day. We always had swimming in the winter and I would walk home with icicles in my hair. Not a good look. Anyway, the working out continues and the ab muscles are getting there. I also joined Facebook, be my friend!

On the MikePod:

Beatles: Anthology 3: Great compilation of unreleased stuff from 1968-1070.
Van Halen III: Wha?
Fred McDowell: I Don't Play No Rock N Roll: Great Bluesman who was covered by the Rolling Stones.

Beer brought to me by Miller, news by Tera Williams.

Happy Returns!

Back to musing after a couple of family medical issues.

I am messing around with Google Forms You can set up an invite, ask a question and decide where to eat etc. I am thinking of doing a monthly question here and then posting the results.

I have been listening to a lot of the Dr. Ebbetts needle drops of out of print Beatles LPs. If the Beatles continue to stay off of iTunes and will not reissue remastered CDs of their recordings, fans will just gravitate to the good Dr.

Back to the usual stuff like the Mikepod next post!

Bimbo Eruption

While I was @ a local grocery store, I saw a police car in the parking lot near mine. The officer got out and looked towards my car and I started thinking "OK, so maybe this was not the day to start my bank robbing career." I was in the check out when a woman who was spilling out of her top dropped her groceries and pushed a person out the door. The cop turned his lights on and she ran to her car. She was crying and he was writing a ticket. I walked out and then realized the chick was being busted for leaving her infant in her BMW 525i wagon. She was taken to the station. Wow.

Some things I have been wondering about lately:

If I am feeling sick, I am under the weather, but if I am well, am I "Over the weather?"
If one has a stone in the gallbladder, is it Mick, Keith, Woody or Charlie? How about Bill, Mick Taylor or the late Brian Jones?

On the MikePod:

Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist: Reunion album that falls flat
David Honeyboy Edwards: Mississippi Delta Bluesman: Outstanding acoustic blues
Led Zeppelin: Presence: Great blues based rock.
Beatles: Past Masters Vol. 2: Great compilation of 1966-1970 non album singles. When are the UK remasters going to be available?

Beer brought to me by Miller and weather brought to me by The Weather Channel and Dr. Anna Marie. I saw a segment with her washing her Rolls Royce. Nice way to rub it in babe!

Coming Soon:

Celebrity Encounters, what should I use as a street name?

Tough Week

Took 2 family members to the hospital in the past week for medical issues. One surgery, one more to go. The economy is going to hell as are the creators of The Hills. So with that all in mind, I thought it might be appropriate to inject (no pun intended) a little humor:

Things I am Sick of Currently:
1) Celebrity Chefs: Just cook damnit. If you watch the Food Network, several chefs seem to think they are in the clown business. If I want bad comedy, I'll just watch
"What I Like About You" or "Hannah Montana"

2) Home Improvement shows: You would think that by watching HGTV that no one in the US has a decent home. I really love shows that have inept people trying to flip homes for a profit. I always think "@ least I'm not that stupid."

3) Reality shows: You call this reality? Let's see The Girls Next Door, one is married, so is Hef, one is dating a football player and the other dumped Hef because he won't marry her. We'll just have to watch. I never thought 3 babes with plenty of boobs could be boring but I have been proven wrong. How come all these matchmaking shows come back for additional seasons because the relationships "didn't work out?" If I want to be bored, I'll read my HMO Coverage policy.

4) Celebrity blondes: Paris, Britney, LC, Heidi, Lindsay, etc. Go away! How about some redheads, brunettes (evil word according to Hef) etc.

Back to my reality:

Beer brought to me by Miller High Life Blues Radio brought to me by WDCB

On the MikePod:
Page & Plant: The Simple Truth: FM broadcast of a 1995 concert: Good Zeppelin tribute band
Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers: All time great classic album. I used to hide stuff in the zipper
Traveling Wilburys: Collection:Very good laid back roots music by 5 great musicians

Baseball Fever

Nice to see both Chicago teams in the playoffs. Not so nice to see them run over by trucks. As a Sox fan, I wore my Konerko jersey to work on Friday and in all black. See photo. Didn't help. The Bears are 2-0 when I wear the Erik Kramer jersey, 0-2 with the new Hester jersey. Guess what I am wearing Sunday. The Cubs are reaping what they have sown by just being considered programming for WGN TV and Radio. Now they actually have to perform. The Sox are paying for being on Channel 44 for years when nobody could see them. One night of programming on Channel 44 had more snow than the blizzard of 79. That reminds me when they started ON-TV and you tried to watch the scrambled signal for a boob and I don't mean Bill O'Reilly. Yeah c'mon you did too.

And why is Harry Caray still being promoted like he is Hendrix? I don't care who is in town to promote their awful booktvshowmoviealbum by singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

Alright, enough of my maladjusted (I used to use that as a radio name in college) ranting and on to the record:

MikePod:

Coverdale/Page: Good Zeppelin Tribute band

Whitesnake: Saints and Sinners: Good Zeppelin tribute band

David Lee Roth: Skyscraper: Good Van Halen tribute band

Game Theory: Big Shot Chronicles: Great alternative indie rock from the 80's.

Still working on the celebrity encounters I've had. Beer brought to me by

Tetley's I dropped my shitty Tracphone in the liquorstore. I was mesmerized by the sign that said "Schlitz now in coolers!" I thought they are branching out, but then I figured that instead of wine coolers, they acutally had the beer in the coolers. I came back a little later and picked up my phone. It's a shitty phone, but it's my shitty phone.

Coming soon: Celebrity encounters and Volume one of "Things I Can't Stand Lately"

Viruses!

I had a bad cold or something last week. My computer also fell victim to the Virtumonde virus. So on a beautiful Saturday I spent over 8 hours restoring my machine to normal. That's why I back up every week.

In other news, I am still doing the workout thing. The six pack is still eluding me, but I seem to be getting a 2 pack and I don't mean the late rapper.

One six pack that did not elude me was Schlitz, the 60's formula. I think it should have stayed in the 60's. I walked into a liquor store last week and saw a big display of them. A couple of days later I picked up some up after a haircut.

I am making a sandwich sign that I will wear in case the economy collapses that says "Will work for beer. "

Coming soon:

My celebrity encounters, MikePod update.

It's not my new york, it's my new jersey!

So we were bored this weekend and were thinking of things to do. We decided to go to the mall. Economic engine that I am, I tried to think of things I needed. I thought how about getting a new Bears jersey. It might be nice to actually go to work on a Saturday and not get razzed over the 14 year old Erik Kramer jersey I have. (Spilled a lot of beer in it.) I got an orange Devin Hester jersey.

Happy Fall

First post of the Fall. On Friday I was working out in the gym and the one TV not tuned to that awful "What I Like About You" show had the local news and it told me that there was a hostage situation in Wheaton that had all trains stopped. So I was making plans to go elsewhere. Luckily the perp did me a favor and took himself out. Ain't I sweet? This meant my train was only delayed 10 minutes. See shot of scene.

On the MikePod:

1) Ozzy Osbourne: The Ultimate Sin: Spilled a lot of beer listening to this in college.

2) U2: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: Very good album, even better iPod commercial

3) The Cult: Manor Sessions/Rain & Revolution/White EPs: I loved these guys in the 80's.

Beer by Miller High Life

Observations

Here are some recent observations:

The Plot To Destroy Lauren of the Hills: I saw this over the summer on a magazine stand. My first thought was "Count me in!" What do I have to do? I'll sell tickets, bake cookies, and organize a busload of angry senior citizens. My 2nd thought was "What government agency wants to take this girl out?" Then closer inspection of the cover showed this was blonde on blonde crime. We can't tolerate this in America. Brunette on blonde crime, sure, but not blonde vs blonde. My 3rd thought was "Is this girl a genius for getting people to think she actually designs things and is written about. "

Duffy Atkins: CLTV has a new weather woman. She is rather unpolished compared to her peers but I like that. She is also cute. Her name sounds like a law firm. Maybe I can be president of her fan club.

Super dog: I was walking my 8oLB black lab last week and about a block from home this neighbor dog leaped out of his window (took a screen out) and jumped over some bushes to come say hello. He just sniffed my dog's butt (lucky him, if he asked I could have given him an educated guess as to what it would smell like). My dog slipped out of his collar/leash, but I managed to use my extreme athletic prowess and catch him and get it back on. I saw the neighbor dog running around the block for awhile. Hopefully he is neutered, like we need to see a bunch of him running around 9 months from now. What is a canine gestational period anyway?

Beer provided by Miller High Life and news provided by Jackie Bange

On the MikePod:

Elton John: Greatest Hits Vol. II Long before he started doing Disney Soundtracks

The Clash: London Calling Great album I had forgotten about

John Mayhall: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton: Now I see why EC left the Yardbirds

On the Mikestand:

The Chris Farley Show: Extremely talented comedian and actor with a kind heart and his tragic life.

Misc Stuff

I saw more dweebie bike riders on Metra this week, more Larry Galloway. I killed off a 4pk of Bud in aluminum bottles and news was provided to me from Tera Williams (Wow!)

On the MikePod:

Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Heaven & Hell: Live From Radio City Music Hall

Let's Active: Big Plan For Everybody

Dweebie Bike Riders on Metra

Saw several dweebie bike riders on Metra this week. I went in late 3 or so days this week and each day I came across some dweebs who were bringing their bikes downtown.

One guy made a fuss and could not figure out where to sit and then ended up going to the upper deck and standing. I ran in to him again in the PM and he was @ it again. Most biker riders aren't like that. I just happened to catch all the dweebie ones last week.

Conductor Busted

Meet Larry Galloway. He is/was a conductor on the Union Pacific Rail Road Metra/West Line. I rode the 5:04PM that he worked on. He is being charged with a 27 year old murder. I make no judgments about guilt. It just goes to show that you never know about people.

I also knew Paul Runge.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I was off from 7/4-7/13. I went to some libraries, read 3 books, consumed a fair amount of beer and went to Galena, IL. I listened to a lot of music and relaxed.

Here's some things I read/listened to:

Robert Plant, "Principle Of Moments" Remastered & Reissued classic album with bonus tracks. One of my all time favorites

Loretta Lynn, "Van Lear Rose" No not about Norm Van Lear but an excellent roots country album produced by Jack White

Catch A Wave: Excellent biography of the Beach Boy's Brian Wilson, does not really add anything to his story though

The Yardbirds: Pretty good bio of a classic rock band

Happy 4th/I love the Internet!

Happy 4th of July. I'm celebrating with some Stella Artois Beer. Music provided by WLNX. I was Station Manager/Program Director there from 1985-1986. I was a DJ there from 1984-1990. Hard to believe that a little Mono radio station with an effective radiated power of 225 watts is now available to the world.

I saw this giant chair on Thursday on the way to work

I Love Summer Solstice!

I like that in the Chicago area this time of year it is light out until 8:30. I sat outside tonight in what I hope will be numerous blues nights killing off some beer and listening to blues radio. I hope I don't get west nile. Anyway, I picked up more music and listened to more last week:

Snow Patrol: Eyes Open: Not as good as Final Straw, but good alternative rock

Minute Men: Double Nickles on the Dime: Brilliant Post Punk. Long Live D. Boon!

Elvis Presley: Elvis 30 #1 hits. Da King

Eric Clapton: Me & Mr. Johnson: The blues album purists were waiting for Clappy to make. I really like it.

Beer brought to me by Miller High Life Weather brought to me by Kristin Dodd

Coming soon: More Women of CNBC, Howlin Wolf, Bad Company, Loretta Lynn/Jack White

Road Warrior

So I went to give 4 presentations this week. 2 in Chicago, 1 in Madison WI and 1 in Elkhart IN. It can be daunting speaking and demoing in front of people, but I managed to do it. I enjoyed the trips and seeing Madison and Elkhart. I also enjoy learning new programs and an considered am "E-Pro Champion"

Coming soon on the MikePod: Eric Clapton/Robert Johnson, Oasis, Snow Patrol, Elvis, Minutemen.

I just finished Clapton The Autobiography: Interesting read from one of rock's greatest guitarists, but some details of his friendships seem to be kept close to the vest and glossed over like his friendship with George Harrison

Coming soon: Part 2 the Women of CNBC

On Message

For once I am actually blogging about Purchasing. We are rolling out a new web-based E-Procurement system in our firm and I am doing some of the training. I will go to 4 of our offices and do a 1-2 hour presentation demonstrating the system's functions. I will conclude with some live orders.

Because this post is not terribly exciting, I will throw in what is on the MikePod lately:

Snow Patrol-Final Straw- Well done pop/rock from 2004

The Greatest In Country Blues (3CDS) Great Collection of Acoustic early blues

Shemekia Copeland Turn Up the Heat Powerful Blues belter with a killer band!

Weekly Check in

Beer brought to you (me?) again by Heineken
News brought to me by Nancy Pender

Music by:

Beatles: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (mono Mix) Punchier version of the LP. The Beatles themselves attended the mono mix sessions, but not the Stereo

Quiet Riot: Quiet Riot I: Raw and underproduced debut from an LA Metal legend. You can see however how Randy Rhodes and Kevin DuBrow developed their skills in this genre

Led Zeppelin: LZ I, II, II, IV & Houses of the Holy.- 70's Masters of AOR.

CNBC gives me wood for 2 reasons: 1, the drama of the financial markets and the gorgeous women who work there. "Fast Money" was in Chicago on Friday, I should have gone

Women of CNBC part 1:

Maria Bartiromo: An uncommonly beautiful woman who has uncommon talent as an anchor/reporter. Does anyone care about Dylan's hair?

Erin Burnett: Beautiful woman who does a great "AFLAC" impersonation. Love the giraffe dress!

Trish Regan: Fresh faced beauty knows her stuff

Coming soon: Beatles Complete BBC Sessions, Quiet Riot II, Beck "Guero", Meat Puppets "Up On The Sun", Led Zeppelin and women of CNBC2.

This Week's Report

Beer provided by: Heineken

Weather forecast provided by Domenica Davis

This week's music provided by:

1) Beatles=White Album (Mono mix)- Different and punchier version than the current stereo CD available from EMI

2) Essential Texas Blues- Nice sampler of blues from Texas

Coming soon:

Beatles= Complete BBC Sessions

Beatles= Sgt. Pepper=Mono Mix

Sonny Landreth= Levee Town

The women of CNBC

Music/Beer

This week's post inspired by Tyskie Gronie Beer

On the MikePod the past week:

Eagles: Very Best Of Great collection from a great band

Honeyboy Edwards: Mississippi Delta Bluesman Excellent example of acoustic blues

Beatles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_at_the_Hollywood_Bowl- Excellent document of Beatlemania even if they forgot the words and stepped away from the mics @times.

Coming soon: Essential Texas Blues

Beatles "White Album" (Mono)

Beatles "Complete BBC Sessions" (10 cds!)

MikePod Update/Pamela Harriman

Latest adds to the MikePod:

1) Albert King: Blues From The Road Great Live Album

2) Elmore James: The Sky Is Crying Great Collection from on eof the post WWII Masters

3) Johnny Winter: Blues In A Box Great Collection from a master guitarist

Coming Soon: Beatles @The Hollywood Bowl

We watched a PBS documentary about Pamela Harriman, a native Brit whose dick garage ways led her to become a large influence in the Democartic Party

Crash!

Hard Drive Crash that is. I came home last Saturday, 4/12 after work and my desktop would not boot up. After trying a safe mode boot, I had to reformat. I picked an option that creates a data file back up and was able to get my almost 2 years old XP Gateway to reboot. The only problem was that the back up file was 85 gig, leaving me just 6.25 gig. XP does not let you delete these files so using my Simplex portable HD I was able to restore everything with no apparent data loss. To get rid of the back up file, I nuked the HD today, 4/19.

That's why I do my back ups each Sunday. I now have over 110 gig of free space and things run better now. I may do a spring cleaning each year and nuke the HD on purpose each spring in the future.

Medical Emergency on the train

I was on the UP West line on Saturday afternoon and we were stranded in Maywood for 20 minutes due to a medical emergency. Thanks to my cellphone camera, here is the Mike report action. The ambulance came up the platform instead of the street. I never did hear what happened, I did see the conductor escorting people to ambulance via our car.

More Blues

Bessie Smith "Empress Of The Blues"

Son Seals "Living in The Danger Zone"

James Cotton "V8 Ford Blues"

Blogs of note

A couple of things I am viewing lately:

Office Freaks (For those who toil in cubicle farms)
Eric 2.0 Blog from the Zellsters
Philadelphia Will Do- Catch up on Alycia Lane news
Po Buckra- Ex Game Theory & Loud Family drummer Gil Ray's blog.

On The MikePod Week Of March 24 2007

New Pornographers "Twin Cinema"

Brian Wilson "Smile"

Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways

Blog update inspired by Coors

MikePod Easter Update

I am still on the Blues kick:

Muddy Waters "I'm Ready"

Muddy Waters "Electric Mud"

Jelly Roll Morton "Absolutely The Best"

Blues/Reading

I have been using my Griffin iFM to listen to local blues radio. On Fridays, I check in with WNIJ for Friday Night Blues I see they have a Saturday Night Blues Show I need to check out. There's also a Saturday Blues show during the daylight hours.

On Saturdays I listen to WDCB Blues Edition You hear all the great artists and some down and dirty stuff. I love it! There is nothing like having a few beers and exposing yourself to some great music.

The past couple of weeks I have been listening to a couple of Muddy Waters albums on the MikePod. The Real Folk Blues Excellent collection of Muddy's best Chess recordings.

I also have listened to a album credited to the Muddy Water Blues Band. This disc has it's moments but the sound quality overall is disappointing.

I have been reading another Richard Nixon bio, A Life In Full Fascinating account of our 37th president. A dry read and over 1000 pages, I like it a lot. Authored by Conrad Black who went to jail this week. He has 6 years to write something else.

Back up drives

I have had PCs crash and eat up data that for years I have been doing a weekly back up. Started with CDRWs in 1999. Moved to DVDRWs in 2005. In Fall 2007 I bought a 320GB Simplex portable HD.

I connect it @11:30AM each Sunday. I prepare/update my data and the software begins the back up @Noon and runs about 6 hours. I take the finished drive to work for the week away from the home PC. I even back up emails.

Hi Dan

A big hello to the audience of this blog. (Even my mother does not read it!)

Griffin iFM

Ordered & received a Griffin iFM for my 2G Silver Nano. I can listen to FM radio and control the music on the Mikepod. Nice to have the FM option, I think Apple should build this in.

I would also love to see an AM stereo tuner and maybe even HD radio.

Old Speckled Hen

Killed off a 4 pack of Old Speckled Hen. I bought this on the name alone.

Pretty good.