Alrighty, peeps. I’ve been gone for a week and now…

Alrighty, peeps. I’ve been gone for a week and now you get to reap the rewards. Patience comes to those who wait. Whatever. Three, count ’em, three new photo slideshows for you, which explain what I have been up to over the last week:

Sunday – Tuesday @ Nantucket: first time on the island. I’ve been to Martha’s Vineyard quite a few times, and we had an opportunity to try out the other island for free thanks to some friends, so off we went. A very nice place. It’s the smaller of the two islands, and it’s a little more chill, which is probably suiting me just fine in my old age of 32. It’s also the only place in the world, I would surmise, that has a bar called The Chicken Box. Only 35 more years until I can retire. Anyway, click HERE to see some shots.

Thursday – Saturday @ Montreal: this was a work trip. Coincidentally (or not), Montreal’s Jazz Festival was happening concurrently with my trip to visit a client up there. Montreal is really an interesting town. Very fashion conscious and it was pretty obvious the natives were happy to get out under the thump of a nasty winter. There’s some nice architecture in old Montreal, a really ugly multi-colored building and a great candy bar that we need to have available in America as soon as possible. You can see it all by clicking HERE.

As if that were not enough, it was Stephanie’s birthday yesterday! Whooo-hooo Stephanie! So I flew back home from Montreal, landed in Boston at 4pm, got home, dropped my suitcase by 5:30pm, had packed a bag and was headed out to the totally amazing Nine Zero hotel for the night. Located in Downtown Boston, we stayed on the top floor (19th) and had a breathtaking view of the city, along with the ultra-modern flair of the terrific hotel. Much needed R&R, my friends. I forgot my camera on this one, so no city view pictures. Nobody’s perfect.

Finally, last night ended the non-stop week with a trip to The Paradise to see The Thorns and The Jayhawks. While The Jayhawks were their usual terrific show, The Thorns snuck up and stole the evening. Comprised of the great Matthew Sweet, the highly underrated Pete Droge and this other dude Shawn Mullins, The Thorns simply ripped the joint apart and I was wondering just how serious Gary Louris of The Jayhawks was when he said that The Thorns audience reception was “too good” on this tour and they were getting kicked off the tour. He was joking, but I wondered inside just how stinging it might have been. The Thorns really destroyed the place. You can see some of the pics by clicking your little mousey HERE.

So that’s all, right? Oh no, my peeps. Not even close. Through all this, we’re smack dab in the middle of trying to buy a house, which is one of the most insane processes I’ve ever had to endure, along with all the events from last week. That, lads, is another story alltogether…….for another time.

Song now playing: Warren Zevon – “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner”

I’m in Montreal right now for work and life is sim…

I’m in Montreal right now for work and life is simply crazy. Was in Nantucket over the weekend, had one day at home, where I am in the process of some crazy personal stuff, and then had to come here. Montreal is an excellent city. A very interesting mix of European and North American attitude. Last night was spent feasting on some kick-ass Mahi-Mahi. JazzFest is also going on, but I haven’t had the time to enjoy that. I haven’t had the time to do much of anything lately. So my point is this: I have no point. I’ll be back soon……

Sorry, but I cannot tell you the different between…

Sorry, but I cannot tell you the different between any of the following:

Brandy
Eve
Aaliyah
Ashanti
Tweet

I also know that one of these people is dead. Other than that, I couldn’t tell you in a million years what the difference is.

Occasionally my LaunchCast player, which I did pay $35 per year to subscribe to, gives me a song/artist that I haven’t heard before and I really like. This week it’s a guy named Jeff Hanson. He is not part of the pre-teen supergroup Hanson, I promise. The only thing I can tell you is that he used to be in a band called M.I.J. and he sings like a girl. I don’t mean this in any negative way whatsoever, ladies. He sounds like the girl the same way that Joe Pernice and Elliot Smith occasionally lift their voices into that territory, and those are two of my favorite musicians out there right now. So yeah, Jeff Hanson sounds a lot like them in style and vocals. So far, so good.

I wish the company I worked for put out internal memos like this one.

Song now playing: Marah – “Out In Style”

Well well well. It looks like Microsoft is finally…

Well well well. It looks like Microsoft is finally getting into the search game. Welcome to the jungle. Many people think that sites like MSN, Yahoo and Lycos have thier own search technology. They don’t – they pay to use other technologies. For an interesting overview of all that, click here. There are actually very few “search technologies” out there. Google is obviously the big one, but lesser heard-of technologies such as FAST, Teoma and Inktomi actually have some impressive reach out on the web. The fact that MSN is now getting into the business could very well shake it to the foundations. Add the fact that they’re essentially coming out to the public and saying they want to take on Google, and that makes for some very interesting times coming up. Stay tuned.

It occured to me this morning as I was reading this story that it’s quite possible the people targeted in this great “deck of cards” caused more harm to innocent civilians in the United States than any war or military struggle in the past 10 years. An exaggeration? Maybe, but maybe not, when you consider how much money these people may have lost and how it *might* affect the lives of them and their children. I have absolutely no respect for these people and they should pay dearly for what they’ve done, which is essentially prolong a very tough time in our country’s economy. I know too many smart, hard-working people who are still out of work and it’s really painful to see their confidence take such a hit.

Lastly, please take a minute or two to read the Larry Doby obituary. It’s not as easy for people my age and younger to truly comprehend how damaging the issue of racism and color-of-skin was 50 years ago and still is today, to some degree. It’s hard for me to comprehend because I just didn’t live in those tension-wracked times. Larry Doby was the second black man to play Major League Baseball and the first to play in the American League. More importantly, he was a good man. No good man or woman, colored or not, should have to endure the kind of things these pioneers had to endure. The fact that some of his own teammates wouldn’t even acknowledge him is just so sad and depressing. We’ve made great strides since those days, although we’re not even near perfect, but racism is a black mark on our society that’s just plain embarassing to be a part of.

Song now playing: Big Star – “My Life Is Right”

The Boston Globe has recently begun running a long…

The Boston Globe has recently begun running a long series on the life of Senator John Kerry, who is running for President of our United States. I’ve said here before that so far I support Howard Dean, not necessarily because of all his viewpoints, but because he seems like he’d lie the least. This is important. Anyway, the first two installments of the Kerry mini-biography running in the Globe has been great reading. Part one details his family and almost nomadic upbringing, while Part two is a specific and pretty fascinating look into his combat career in Vietnam. My initial take on Kerry is that he wobbles on issues. He’s more of a political talking head in that he doesn’t seem to really speak his thoughts, he seems to say whatever he thinks will get him elected. The Vietnam story seems to draw slight parallels to my conclusions. I don’t dislike Kerry by any stretch, though. I’m already more interested in this election that I have been for any others, and I think it’s because of our current president. He and his administration just seem corrupt and wrong on nearly every issue I’ve come across. They have enviromental plans that benefit us in the next two years, but nothing on the table for 20 years from now. Their old cronies are getting all kinds of backroom deals to rebuild countries. It’s really getting sickening.