• Flashback Friday: Soul Asylum – “Summer of Drugs”

    February 3, 2012 / No Comments


    There were a number of comp albums from the 90s that I loved — the Singles Soundtrack, the Angus Soundtrack, and of course, the album that this song is off of, Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams. It was an album of Victoria Williams covers created to raise money for her since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and didn’t have health insurance. I love the song, and I love that one of my favorite bands covered it.

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  • New heart

    January 30, 2012 / No Comments

    Last night, at eight o’clock, my Mother-in-Law got the call. Five hours later doctors were cutting her open and giving her a new heart. We’ve been full of mixed feelings. On one hand it’s scary. She has been doing really well with her LVAD in. She is stronger than ever. The transplant will put her through a lot again, and may add some complications. I guess it’s a good thing though. The LVAD isn’t a permanent solution. It’s probably good that she got her heart now when she is strong. She should be able to recover from the transplant baring any complications. I had a coworker that had a lung transplant last year, and she was too weak, and didn’t survive.

    My Wife and most of her family headed down to the hospital this morning. I stayed back to take care of the dog. I haven’t heard how she is doing yet, so I’m assuming she is doing fine. She has been out of surgery for eight hours now. It’s going to be a long few weeks of recovery, but it will probably be nice for her to not have to carry around her LVAD battery packs anymore.

    I’m amazed by our scientific knowledge. It’s pretty amazing that we can cut someone open, remove their heart, and put in someone else’s heart, and they survive. I’m not going to be thanking a miracle, or some imaginary god, for her recovery. The reason this is possible is because of science, and the amazing doctors.

    Then there is the sad reality that someone had to die for her to get her heart. We’ve been looking at the recent deaths in the area, and are curious as to which one was the one. I’m sure we will never know, but to that person’s family, thank you. And to any of your who aren’t donors, why the hell aren’t you?

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  • Great “Heart Shaped Box” cover

    January 27, 2012 / No Comments

    I’m a sucker for a good Nirvana cover, and this one by a Boston band called Nemes is pretty damn good. It was so good that I bought their album that they are selling on their Bandcamp site for only $1. Seriously? They should charge more than that.

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  • Seeing stars

    January 26, 2012 / No Comments

    OrionLast night was my first chance at star gazing. It was a pretty nice night — 25º — a little too chilly for setting up my telescope, but nice enough to use my new binoculars. Most amateur astronomers will tell you to start with binoculars anyway. You don’t see huge detail in the objects in the sky, but it is easy to find things, and a good way to get familiar with the sky.

    I didn’t get out early enough to see the Moon. Tonight the Moon and Venus make a pretty nice pair in the early evening western sky. I’m going to try and get a view of them tonight.

    I was surprised how many stars I could see through my binoculars that I couldn’t see with the naked eye. My view of the northern sky isn’t that great because of all the light from the city. I couldn’t see any stars, but with my binoculars I was a least able to make out the Big Dipper. Facing west, Jupiter was bright and impressive through my binoculars. Again you don’t get much detail through binoculars, but still great to see. I usually can’t make out the different colors of stars, but with binoculars I could clearly see the bright redness of Betelgeuse, and the bright white Rigel in Orion. What I was probably most impressed with was actually seeing the Orion Nebula.

    I went out again early morning and got a shot of Mars. Again, no details, but it was obviously red, and just cool to at least get a better view than you can with the naked eye. I went out a few hours later to try and see Saturn, but it got cloudy, so I didn’t get to see Saturn.

    I agree that binoculars are a great way to start. It’s easy to find things, and a good way to learn the sky. I can’t wait until it gets warmer so I can spend more time outside. I may even have to find a good place where I can get away from a lot of the light pollution.

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