Sacramento

The work year has started. Spent a few weeks of the new year working in Ann Arbor. The fun actually started this week as my first official project of 2008 sends me to Sacramento. I've only been here once before and that may have been 15 years ago. I stopped and meet my friend Kathy for lunch on my way to San Fransisco. This time I'm here for one week. The down side to this visit is my work is during the overnight hours. When the project ends, I do the cross-country flight to JFK. It leaves me no real time to see the city. Right now this is my highlight. Somewhere my bags are in there.

The great part about being back on the West Coast will be my junk food diet will be in high gear as I get to eat In & Out burgers. My other favorite place to eat fast food is Panda Express. Neither of these fine places are in Ann Arbor. I tend to go a little crazy.

Kicking off 2008

This is the year of hopefully a lot of travel. So to kick off the year I thought Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles would work. The fun of seeing Dane Cook break the world record for the longest stand-up performance or the Supersuckers at the Whiskey did not happen. It wasn't a wash since I had dinner at a great bar and ended the night with drinks at the Rainbow Bar.

New Years day was the day of magic. I spent the first day of two thousand eight in Disneyland. It was my first time at the amusement park. Space Mountain was well worth the 50 minute wait.

2007 - Year In Music

I spent a lot of the year listening to music while I traveled around the country. This past year I’ve seen some great music and heard some incredible CD’s. Now if you listen to mainstream radio, you may not have heard any of these artists. If you feel like challenging yourself to listen to some new music that you haven’t heard 10 times in the last hour, give these radio stations a shot.

I’ve been listening to this station for over 10 years. They put out a great compilation of music every year that shows off some of the best music of the year. Plus the station is located in the heart of Texas. KGSR 107.1 will give you all the great music that has been released and all the best that Texas has to offer. I’ve learned more about music from this station that I ever would have thought.

A new station that has joined my list of stations that I listen too while on the road. Where was this station when I lived in Minneapolis. The Current 89.3 has all my friends that I worked with from days gone by. I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of these people. The music is great and I get to hear all the local Minnesota bands that I've missed seeing along with new groups from the region.

I spent the last few weeks pouring over all the CDs I’ve purchased or the MP3s I’ve downloaded from 2007. Trying to narrow a list of new releases from the past year has been very rough. After a few weeks of listening to about 50 releases over and over, I've come to the final list.

My Favorite CD's for 2007

<01> Radiohead - In Rainbows
<02> Okkervil River - The Stage Names
<03> Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
<04> Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
<05> Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
<06> New Pornographers - Challengers
<07> Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
<08> Bruce Springsteen - Magic
<09> Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
<10> Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
<11> Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
<12> Travis - The Boy With No Name
<13> Son Volt - The Search
<14> Jason Isbell - Sirens Of The Ditch
<15> Grinderman - Grinderman
<16> Iron & Wine - The Shephard’s Dog
<17> Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
<18> Frames - The Cost
<19> Eleni Mandell - Miricle Of Five
<20> Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade

Please click on the link below if you wish to purchase any of the above music.

Travels - 2007

Travels - 2007

The year is over. I have a new blog area. I thought I would take some of my thoughts from other blog sites that I tried out last year and move them over to this new site that I will be using for the 2008 year. This was originally written on December 10th.

I was not good person to my friends over the last year in my travels. I never wrote about the trip nor did I send postcards from all the places I worked or visited.

The new year started out in Boulder, Colorado during the January blizzards. You get very use to the cold when you’re in it. I vowed to never go back to the cold when I first moved to Phoenix in 1999. Yet today it is 15 degrees, sunny and I’m just wearing a just a hoodie as I sit here in Minneapolis. I went skiing for the first time in about 20 years while I was there. Couldn’t believe how much my legs ached during the runs. Growing up on the small hills of Minnesota, these mountain runs gave me a thrill, even though the legs were not too happy.

I stayed out in the mountains as I found Boise to be my next spot for work. I didn’t really do much while in town. The food in Boise was outstanding though. More variations that I would have expected.

Dallas was next up. Didn’t do anything here expect drove to Austin a few times to see the Texas Roller Derby and SXSW Music Festival. My friend Chris lives there with his wife Lisa and little rug-rat Ryan.

Boca Raton, Florida in the summer is nice. The humidity is not. I did take the time to do a swamp ride and a drive through the Keys. Watched my first baseball game at the Florida Marlins stadium as they played the San Diego Padres.

Stayed close to home to do a project in Novi, Michigan.

Edwardsville, Illinois was up next. A small town just NW of St. Louis. Spent a lot of time running around the St. Louis area. Watched the Cardinals play in their new stadium. Spent time at the City Museum. Saw the movie Once (my favorite of 2007).

Austin City Music Festival. One word, incredible.

Monterey Jazz Festival. Two words, also incredible.

Ended the year in Holyoke, Mass. Watched the leaves change. Felt the first snow of the winter. A lot of hard work during this project and with spotty internet at the hotel. That didn't allow me to get out and explore the area as much as I would like.

During the year I did a lot of mini trips. Phoenix, Indianapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Minneapolis saw me multiple times.

I had the opportunity to see my friends who are performers in the odd business of professional wrestling in various parts of the country. Meet some new friends in St. Louis who skate in the roller derby called the Arch Rival Roller Derby. Had the opportunity to see the one of the best roller derby league in the country, Texas Roller Derby. They run on the banked track, you also might remember them from the A&E show Rollergirls.

Also must give a shout-out to the gang over at the Detroit Roller Derby. I don't want to meet them in a dark alley. In a bar, yes. Alley, no.

Spent the year with two of the nicest people in the world. Wiggy and Joe of the Smart Wrestling Fan podcast. They were nice enough to allow me to spend about 20 minutes of their podcast each week to talk about the independent wrestling promotions. I give an update of what happened the previous weekends and speak about the upcoming shows that everyone should get out and see. In upcoming weeks I'll talk about the road trips I go on to see shows around the country.