My final post of 2003 will be a short one. This mo…

My final post of 2003 will be a short one. This morning I woke up with the truly awful song, “Rockin’ The Paradise,” by Styx in my head. How do these songs get into my head? I’ve really had some interesting songs in my head upon waking up lately and this one takes the cake. Embarassing! I had this album on vinyl as a little kid – the one thing I remember about it is that on Side B of the vinyl, there wasn’t the usual sticker with the song listing on it – there was nothing. But if you help side B up to the light, you could see a fancy Styx logo, holographically etched into the vinyl. I thought that was totally sweet back then. What a horrible album, though.

Have a safe & happy new year!

This is classic! If you see someone you don’t know…

This is classic! If you see someone you don’t know carrying an almanac in the next couple of days, John Ashcroft now gives you permission to kill that person as soon as possible. Seriously. Don’t wait for them to hit you over the head with the almanac – take matters into your own hands before you are brutally assaulted with a binded, soft covered book by a man most likely over 65 years old. I have officially increased my terror code to red.

Saw Something’s Gotta Give last night, the newest Jack Nicholson film, which also featured Diane Keaton. Both were excellent in the film, which fell a little short in the truly compelling category, but was still good for many laughs and well worth your $9, which is a rarity these days. Some great scenes in the movie.

By the way, I am not sure which is funnier, suspecting someone with an almanac or watching and hearing Michael Jackson say “doo-doo” on 60 Minutes the other night. Still deciding on that one….

Song now playing: The Byrds – “Nashville West”

Greetings Robots! 362 more shopping days! I’m bask…

Greetings Robots! 362 more shopping days! I’m basking in the aftermath of what was a terrific Christmas. I’m also relieved at the completion (finally) of my home theatre system, with the addition of a Cambridge Soundworks Newton Subwoofer- thanks mom & dad! Now when I watch movies, it hits you right HERE (I’m banging my chest). It’s going to be fun in 2004, watching sports in HD and movies on the big screen with the full arsenal of audio power to go with it.

Back on November 1st, Stephanie and I drove up to Salem, MA to have dinner with our friends Dan & Kerry and we had a great time witnessing the Halloween leftovers the town had to offer. There were still some strays left, decked out in their costumes, as we wandered around the streets of a downtown that has really made great strides in recent years, much like a lot of Boston’s surrounding areas. Salem has a lot to offer. The highlight of the trip, though, was our visit to the Peabody Essex Museum, one of the largest museums on the east coast.

We didn’t get to see everything, but we’ll save the rest for another trip. I was able to get some good pictures, though, documented here. Simplebits Dan makes a hilarious guest appearance in this slideshow.

It might be a bit early, but I’d love to hear some feedback from all of you folks who received one of the “Top 10 CDs” which I was sending out. I’d be interested to know what you think of my taste for the year.

The weather, dare I say, has also been so delightful ’round these parts. If only it would stay this way all year. On my way to work this week, I was at a stop light when I looked up, opened my sunroof and shot this picture:

Song now playing: Nothing. It’s 12:07am.

Hey! Does this come with “cat & pinion steering?”U…

Hey! Does this come with “cat & pinion steering?”

Uh, does the smack in the head and the kick in the balls come with this?

Bah, humbug, right? This guy thinks so. The story isn’t nearly as ridiculous as his name.

RustedRobot update: I’ve added a “Fiction” section to the site, over there in the right-side column. I occasionally get the hankerin’ to write some fiction and I feel like it should see the light of day instead of me reading it over and over and over again, trying to make it perfect. So screw it, I’ll post some here now and then and hopefully get some feedback from readers. Hopefully. Hint hint. I’ve only posted two stories. Note to Rick Crawford: one of them has an ending. Kinda. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. These are works in progress!

Merry Christmas to all! I find it surreal that people I don’t know read this page on a regular basis. I appreciate that.

Song now playing: Nick Lowe – “Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart”

How great is tin foil? I try to incorporate tin fo…

How great is tin foil? I try to incorporate tin foil into my life every single day in which I possibly can. You can have your ziploc bags. You can have your tupperware. I loves me some shiny, tinny tin foil. I once, by accident, placed some tin foil into my mouth – that was wrong. So wrong. One thing I would advise that you never do with tin foil is put it into your mouth. Ever. Trust me on this one.

Anyway, tin foil is the savior of everything kitchen-related. It hugs and grabs snugly. It tightly seals. Screw your saran wrap. Let me tell you one thing about saran wrap – it’s worthless crap. Screw Saran Wrap. I can’t even get that shit to stick to the side of containers to give me the complete, tight seal that I so desperately need for my sealing purposes. Don’t even get me started on trying to rip an even piece of Saran Wrap or keep it flat. The only thing Saran Wrap sticks to is itself. Damn you, Saran Wrap – you are the biggest scam since NyQuil (don’t ask).

You know what else I use a lot of – paper towels! Oh, how I love the paper towels! I use paper towers for everything. Ever since my friend Dave Klug sent me an article a couple of years ago that said cutting boards have more germs than toilet seats and that hand towels (sometimes) have even more, I’ve used paper towels at a rate that could only be described as excessive and ridiculous. Long live paper towels, although I think it’s high time that the Brawny dude had a makeover. He kinda looks like a dude in the first row of a Bob Seger concert in 1981.

Remember, my offer below is still out there – first ten people to send me an email requesting so get a CD of ten songs – one from each of my top ten records of 2003. I built it yesterday and it’s a killer!

Song now playing: The Thrills – “Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)”