A Yankee in Texas

The Bare Naked Ladies recorded a live album and DVD in my home state of Michigan called Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan. When I saw it I knew I had to see it. I have been an avid BNL fan since college and if you are from Michigan you can’t help feel half Canadian. The entire time I was growing up, in Harbor Beach, Canada was just over the watery horizon of Lake Huron. When you turned 19 you made the ceremonial journey to Canada to have a drink, Canadian coins were as good as US currency, and eventually, when I was older Canada, was the place to go to gamble at the casinos.

(As a side note gambling has since been legalized in the Detroit area. From what I remember it’s a weird law that makes it only legal with in certain distance from the Canadian border. This all happened after I moved out of state so I am not up on all the details.)

In college I had a friend, Matt, who was from Port Huron which is a border town with a bridge to Canada. He had these tapes of this band called the Bare Naked Ladies. I had never heard of them, but I dug their music. Over the years I have had other friends that were big BNL fans. While I am still not a die hard fan I do like the majority of their music.

So I put Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan in my Netflix cue. And a few days later I get an email saying they don’t have the DVD at my local service center and that it will be shipped from Lansing, MI. At this point I can only assume Netflix only has one copy and it’s in Michigan.I got the disc in the mail today and it looks like I might be the first one to ever rented it.

I watched it tonight and I really got a kick out of it. The venue they played at I have been to several times. In fact I saw my first concert there: Huey Lewis and the News. To me it will always be known as Pine Knob Music Theatre or simply Pine Knob, but apparently it has been renamed: DTE Energy Music Theatre. Blah! Anyway if you dig BNL then you will dig this DVD. The unfortunately left off some of my favorite songs even though they played them at the show. A few of the songs I had not heard before, but I enjoyed them just the same. The “Ladies” are great musicians and you can’t be amazed on how well they play live.

– Jeremy

I am a pizza junkie and in my opinion NY pizza is the best. So when I read about Home Slice on Eryn, a co-worker’s,  blog I knew I had to check it out. Nicole and I headed down for a late lunch. The place was pretty packed but we quickly found a seat. I ordered 2 slices of pepperoni and Nicole got 2 slices of regular. The pizza was very good. I am not sure it’s on the same level as true NY pizza, but it’s a very close facsimile.

The last picture is kinda of blurry, but you might be able to make out Guy Fieri of Food Network fame. He was there with his wife. I think they were checking the place out for a show. He was asking the manager a bunch of questions from what I overheard. What can I say he has a loud voice.

– Jeremy

I am not talking about my need to be the center of attention. In an act of uber nerdiness I spent most of my free time last week studying for the Amateur (HAM) Radio Technician License Exam. The Tech. License is a basic license with very limited privileges, but it’s a first step in to the world of HAM radio.

When I was younger, around Jr. High age maybe even younger, a few of my friends and I started to study under a local HAM operator. At the time this was more commonly how it was done. HAM radio was the thing to do for pre-internet age geeks. However we never finished and eventually the guy moved out of town. Ever since I have time and time again been drawn back to HAM. I am not 100% way since my general nature is to be antisocial and HAM radio is about reaching out to meet new people.

So Saturday morning I got up, threw on my cloths, and went down to take my exam. I passed!!! Now I have to wait till my call sign is entered in to the FCC database before I can actually use any of my new privileges. Of course that being said I don’t even own a radio.

Eventually I want to take the General Exam which is the next step up and grants you more privileges that would allow me to, with proper radio, talk to people all over the world. For now though I think I will take my time and learn the ins and outs of using local repeaters to get more distance out of a small low powered radio.

– Jeremy

Lately Nicole and I have been, when weather allows, eating on the balcony. We have a decent sized balcony, but we haven’t invested in any outdoor furniture. So we’ve been taking one of our folding tables and a couple of chairs out when we want to eat outside. Tonight it was a little cool but it was nice to be outside. Nicole made grilled chicken and veggies. Dinner was very good!!!

When I was researching apartments in Austin one of the complexes I came across was called Veranda. The apartments were a little smaller, but they had huge “verandas”. I was intrigued, but I never went to check them out because the floor plans were too small for what we wanted. Besides I am not really sure how much use you’d get out of it. In the winter it’s a bit cold to be outside and in the summer it’s a way to hot to be comfortable. If you’re lucky I think you might get 6 months of good use out of it.

We are interested in finding a good electric grill and possibly some more permanent furniture.

– Jeremy