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Thoughts on just about everything from rock-n-roll, sports, kids, to geek speak -- by John Bullock About John Subscribe to this blog  |
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February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 September 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 |
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Friday, May 27, 2005 |
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My Generation: Who's Still Who | |
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I had read little tidbits here and there about a brand new Who album but found out today that a new rockumentary is also in the works. It is called My Generation: Who's Still Who. On the web site, there is a page about the band for those of you that are interested. Just to pull a few quotes out of it to emphasize why they are my favorite band (did you know the name of this blog is the title of a Who song?):
Rock-n-roll is dead. Long live rock! |
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Congratulations Alex & Lindsay! | |
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Last night the kids did a very short production of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and then had their Kindergarten graduation ceremony. Today is their last day of Kindergarten and to celebrate they have decide they want to go to Red Lobster for popcorn shrimp. I can't believe they are now first graders. It seems just like yesterday that they just started kindergarten. Here is a photo of them before graduation last night. p.s. Suzanne and I did not make the kids dress up, this is something they actually enjoy doing on their own. WTF??? :) |
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Thursday, May 26, 2005 |
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House Update 05/23/2005 | |
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We went by the house this weekend and checked it out some more. They have completed at least 95% of the siding and started some work on the inside. It appears they have the duct work done as well as the plumbing including showers and tubs. They also got the basement stairs installed so we were able to go downstairs for the first time. They had the hot water heater and furnace installed when we went down. The final note I would add was that they had the fireplace in a box ready to be installed sometime this week. p.s. Sorry about the duplicate post but people were nagging me about using the wrong date last time and Blogger doesn't allow you to edit the headlines :( |
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Bargains | |
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There is a cool site that I stumbled across a couple of months back. It is called SlickDeals.net. Their own description reads: The most frequently updated and complete deal site on the web! We provide you with the day's hottest deals every day. We also have over 800 coupons for all your favorite online stores. Browse around and you're bound to save more than a few bucks! Basically they have everything from coupons to free deals to one time offers. It is a wide range of items including computers, electronics, toys, food, etc. I know I even posted something one time to get free concert tickets. Another example is just from today there is a coupon for a free large or extra-large pizza from pizza hut (not that I'm a fan by any means). For any of you techies out there, they do have an RSS feed so you can get updates in your news aggregators. |
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Wednesday, May 25, 2005 |
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Priorities | |
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Do you ever find yourself questioning somebody about their priorities after a decision they have made between a couple of things? You know, where they are doing something when you think it is obvious they should be doing something else? Along these lines, last night I was working on a couple of tasks when I caught myself and had to laugh at my own priorities. Last night I was watering the back yard (because I have not fixed the sprinklers that were broken over the winter so have not turned on the sprinkler system) and also giving my bike a nice cleaning (mostly the drivetrain). So I went out back to move the water and in the process my hands got a little muddy from the hose that had been in the water and such. Instead of just going right back to working on my bike, I went and washed my hands so that I wouldn't get a little dirt on my bike chain that I had just cleaned. Some of you that know me really well will not be surprised by this. This is from the guy that kicks his own car out of the garage for all of mountain biking season so that I can use my half of the garage for my bike. This is why one of the top priorities for a new house was a three car garage. | |
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Monday, May 23, 2005 |
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Doggie Brain Freeze | |
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Today Suzanne went grocery shopping after work and decided to get a a treat for Toby (our chocolate lab). The poor guy has been through the ringer lately. Apparently there are some new ice cream treats, called Dogsters, that have just recently come out. The kids thought Toby would like the peanut butter and cheese flavor. Well, old iron gut (as I like to call him as he once ate 32 pop tarts (with the wrappers) and two bags of cereal in a single sitting), wolfed it down in record time. Maybe he ate it so fast he didn't get brain freeze? I know if I tried that my lower lip would be up above my eye brows! | |
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005 |
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Star Wars Flu | |
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"Star Wars" induced absenteeism on Thursday and Friday is expected to cost U.S. employers as much as $627 million in lost productivity, according to a report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. (source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&e=3&u=/nm/20050517/en_nm/leisure_starwars_fans_dc). The architects at work will be part of this bug that is set to hit on Thursday. I can't wait. May the force be with you. |
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Monday, May 16, 2005 |
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Siding | |
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Last week they started putting some siding on the house. They have most of 3 sides done and hopefully will be doing the front today.
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Pele Jr. | |
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So there is a new rising star in the family. Alex had his very first soccer game on Saturday. During his first shift he had been in about 30 seconds when he scored his first goal. He wasn't quite sure how to react as we had been talking to him and his sister lately about what it means to be a good sport (win or lose). He was happy but didn't want to rub it in the other team faces so was fairly subdued. I believe Alex had four (maybe five) shifts in all and ended up scoring six goals! Although they don't keep score, I believe the final was 9-4. He scored at least once every time he was in the game. It just might be time to get him some cleats! This photo is a picture of Alex racing down to his very first goal!  This is just a photo that ended up looking pretty nice. 
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Happy Birthday Alex & Lindsay! | |
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Happy 6th Birthday Alex and Lindsay!!! Yesterday we had the family birthday party which was at Suzanne's parents house as they have a nice large deck and big yard. Hopefully next year we will be able to do it at our own house! Also in attendance at the party were my parents, my sister-in-law (my brother was camping), and Suzanne's cousin with her three daughters. The kids had a blast. Their birthday themes this year are (Disney) Princess and Star Wars. I think it might help explain the photos!  We will take the kids out to dinner tonight to the restaurant of thier choice (probably Cici's Pizza). Today is field day at school but Suzanne is taking in treats both their kindergarten and Kindie Enrichment classes. We saved a couple of their presents for today as well. This weekend they will have their party with all of their friends from school at Fat City. Party week! |
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Thursday, May 12, 2005 |
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Electric Church | |
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Those of you that are close to me will be shocked to hear that I went to church last night and enjoyed it very much! It was an electric church and there was a minister of rock-n-roll, Lenny Kravitiz. So now you aren't as shocked right? Lenny is one of my favorite artists and I've never been able to see him in concert before so I was VERY excited to say the least. He opened the concert proclaiming "I'm a minister of rock-n-roll". He then just stood there for about a minute while the crowd worked itself into a frenzy. He then proceeded to play the remainder of the song (Minister of Rock-n-Roll). The bland played for just about two hours. Covering several songs from his last album, Baptism, and many of the greatest hits. Lenny has so many excellent songs that I don't think I have a favorite of his (whatever is currently playing is usually my favorite). During the concert, however, I think my favorite was an excellent version of Let Love Rule. They really extended the song and gave the band members an opportunity to strut their stuff during some nice jams. Song titles they played that I remember off the top of my head include Fly Away, American Woman, Always on the Run, Lady, Are You Gonna Go My Way, Fields Of Joy, Believe, Stand By My Woman, and Dig In. I mentioned earlier in the week that I wasn't overly excited to go see Elton John, and I know that Suzanne had the same feeling about Lenny Kravitz. I was concerned that it might be too much hard rock for her and she would not enjoy herself. However, she said after the show that was one of the best concerts that we had seen in a while. There were only two songs that she was not familiar with and he even played her favorite (Lady). Outside the group of drunken, overly talkative swingers in front of us, she had a great time and said that she would be willing to go see him again with me! She did have a couple of other complaints unrelated to the show itself. One was the venue. It was the Fillmore Auditorium which is pretty much standing room only. The other complaint was the warm up band, Nikka Costa. It seemed like she was trying too hard to be something that she wasn't (mostly Janis Joplin). Suzanne remarked that Lenny obviously enjoys what he does as he was smiling just about the entire time. He definitely played to the crowd and had lots of fun with them. Towards the very end he even went into the crowd and signed some autographs and such while the rest of the band was jamming along. He continually made lots of Denver references and said how much he was enjoyed the town, all the beautiful things and people and diversity of the area. At one point he (jokingly) said that he was going to move here which got a huge roar. So the night go two thumbs up and a recommendation for anyone that hasn't seen him to definitely go see him and if you have (like us) just remember how good he is and go again! BTW, for anyone that is not familiar with his musc, he sings a lot about peace, love and understanding. He just does it in the most exciting way I could imagine. He definitely carried the theme throughout the entire show. First acting as minister he preached his message. Even between songs he would talk about items that related to peace, love, and understanding. |
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Wednesday, May 11, 2005 |
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House Update | |
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I have to admit that the new house is one of the main reasons that I've been neglecting my blog lately. Yesterday we had our appointment to make all of our interior design decisions for the house. We have visited the design center several times to try to narrow in on what we wanted. We most recently went on Saturday to nail down all the fine details before the big day. During this appointment we had to make selections for the kitchen floor, kitchen counter, kitchen back splash, and kitchen cabinets. We had to do the same for the butler's pantry as well. We also had to figure out how to decorate the front entry way, the main flooring selection, shower and counter selections for the two bathrooms upstairs. The cabinets in the upstairs baths have to be the same as the kitchen & butler's pantry cabinets. We also had to make the floor selection for the powder room downstairs and cabinet, floor and counter selections for the laundry room. Although I took pictures of all of our final selections, I am not going to post them as it was really hard to get good photos that provide an accurate representation of what they really look like. I will say that we are really excited about our selections. Most of the options that we did are not the standard items but I think the house will look much better with the upgrades. We decided on tile for the kitchen/butler pantry as well as all 3 of the bathrooms. Additionally, we are putting tile in both showers and on the two upstairs bathroom counters (the downstairs bath has a pedestal sink). We got the upgraded cabinets for the house excluding the laundry room. The laundry room is the only area where we picked standard options. We upgraded the carpet and pad for the all of the areas that we are not putting tile down. We also had to figure out how to decorate the fireplace (it is a three sided fire place that can be seen from the front entry, the living and dining rooms and the family room). We are putting a really nice listelle on it that we will carry into the kitchen and butler's pantry. During all of the visits to the design center the only thing that never changed was the main carpet and pad. Everything else changed quite a few times. Although we had decided what we wanted in the master bath, when we told them about the final selection we found out that what we chose was not possible because it was natural stone and would absorb water and would be ruined about a year later. As Suzanne said though, I would rather be disappointed for a few minutes now than find out a year later that we got screwed. So we changed all three (shower/bath, floor, counter) selections as well as added a really cool listelle. I think I am more excited about our new selections than our original ones though. We also had to make a minor change in the kids bathroom to help make it look better (only use two tiles instead of three). We also decided to put a listelle around the tile in the front entry way to really jazz things up. I think the last change we made on the final appointment was the splash throughout the kitchen and butler's pantry. Both Suzanne and I were very please with all of the selections and she had done her homework so well she was within a thousand dollars of what we had budgeted so there were no surprises or disappointments. Last weekend was the first time that the whole family got to walk around inside the house! It was really cool to get a feel for the house. The layout of our house is opposite of what the model is so it is helping to get my brain right. After doing our walk-through, we are fairly confident that we will have some great views even after they put house up behind us. The cool thing that happened last weekend was they installed all of the window and patio doors to the house. It appears like they are doing some of the plumbing and duct work now so nothing really visible from the exterior. It appears they will be starting on the siding this week as it is now sitting in the front yard of the house. View from the master patio door.  The new windows looking (Windows 2005!) at the back of the house.  We also bought some new (matching!) bedroom furniture from a consignment store a little over a week ago as well as some lamps this past weekend that we just got delivered and setup. 
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Tuesday, May 10, 2005 |
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Elton John | |
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Last Tuesday was the Elton John concert. I can't claim to be a huge fan but do admit that I enjoy his older stuff. My wife, on the other hand, is a big fan of his. In fact, Elton is second only to Eric Clapton. So needless to say, if Elton is in town then it is a safe bet that we can be found wherever he is playing. He opened the show with about an hour of music from his new album, Peachtree Road. Before they got started Elton said that they would play some of the new stuff and then they would play the classics. So after playing the new stuff for a while they cranked the amps up to eleven and started playing the classics for about an hour an a half. I have to admit when they play those old tunes, like Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man, Love Lies Bleeding, etc., that it is a whole lot of fun. They have played the songs enough to where they really know how to rock the house. The big surprise for me was the version of Rocket Man that they played. It was a nice jam session where the boys really got rocking. Suzanne and I never agree on our favorite song of the evening so it was quite a surprise that we both said Rocket Man. This was the fifth time that the two of us have seen him and something tells me it won't be the last but if he and the band continue to rock the house like they did, I won't mind being drug along yet again. This is the first concert of the season for us. Tomorrow night is Lenny Kravitz. I'm totally psyched up for it as I am a huge fan of his but have never seen him live. In June, my brother and I are going to see George Thorogood and the Destroyers and then in July we have a couple more shows including Jack Johnson as well as Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers with the Black Crowes. |
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Apology | |
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Just a quick note to apologize for the lack of blog entries lately. Most times it is because I don't have much to say, but this time around I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've been so busy lately that I have not had any time to update everyone on my happenings. Hopefully I will get a chance tonight to blog about Elton John, the (home) design center, house photos, mountain biking, and Toby's Adventures. | |
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Thursday, May 05, 2005 |
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Roof | |
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They have most of the framework in place now. The roof is complete, they have all the front windows, and the pillars on the front porch. 
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Tuesday, May 03, 2005 |
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DEFCON 1 | |
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This morning started off with a real scare for the family. It started normal enough: shower, feed the dog, put the dog out, pick up in case we have showings, go to work. However, when I was leaving for work I saw that I had left the back gate open last night and the dog was gone! I mowed last night as the lawn was totally out of control from the rain (helping it grow and preventing me from mowing). Last night when I was mowing I left the dog in so that he wouldn't get muddy and because I was in a hurry and didn't want to deal with him in the back while I was trying to mow. I left him out back a couple of times last night for a quick potty break but he was in for most of the evening. Anyways, I ran inside and alerted the wife of what I had done and got back in the car and started driving around the neighborhood looking for him. However, the more I was driving around, I thought I had the wrong idea and that I needed to go get on my bike and explore the green belt areas near the house. So I went back to house and Suzanne had talked to somebody who thought they saw him heading towards the green belt. I quickly grabbed his leash and got on my bike. I found him after about 2 minutes on the bike and was extremely relieved. I will say in the five or so minutes that he was gone, I had all sorts of awful visions about what had happened. Toby, short for Sir Toberlone III, is a well mannered chocolate lab who is 8 years old. He is great with all people (never had any issues). However, the poor dog has epilepsy which has been a strain on all of us (mostly him!). He is currently on 4 medications. Two are to help prevent and decrease the severity of his seizures, another is to help his thyroid help prevent the side affects of the previous two meds, and the last one is a steroid his is on for a short while due to an injury he sustained to his right shoulder during a recent seizure. He is also a very large lab, tall not fat. He stands quite a bit taller than both of my brother's labs. Most everywhere we take him people comment on how well mannered he is and what a nice looking dog he is. I will take some pictures soon and post them for everyone to see (maybe once he stops shedding his winter coat though!). So although despite the temporary rise to DEFCON 5, we are now back to DEFCON 1 and happy to be there! | |
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Monday, May 02, 2005 |
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Community Map | |
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Several people have been asking about which of the many houses Ryland is building is mine so I decided to post a copy of the map (digital photo as I'm too cheap to buy a scanner as I rarely have the need). Our lot is 224 towards the far left bottom. The road that is not labled towards the bottom right is Waterton Road which is the only road you can take to get into Phase II of Chatfield farms. Ryland really only starting building homes out in Phase II late last fall and I believe they said it will be 3 years or more before it is completed in it's entirety.
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Looks Like a House | |
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So the new house is actually starting to look like a house now.
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Father's Day Gift | |
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There is a new washing machine that will not let the same person do more than one load of laundry consecutively to help share the load. The link mentions that this is to get husbands to do share of the work. Well, as I'm the one that does most of the laundry in our household it really would be a Father's Day gift. One thing I don't like about the machine is that it won't work for the kids. I know that my Mom taught me to do my own laundry very early in life and it is a skill all children should have. My sole purpose is not catering and waiting on my children hand and foot full time. | |
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