Transient Thursday - Spencer G.'s Look at Life Through Quotations

I love to read quotations from various sources. I've decided to take twenty quotations and put them together in this write-up. The main focus is life. Take the time to read each quote and enjoy them for yourself.

Transient Thursdays - Autumn Cookin' with Kyle

I feel the dust slide between my hands and the winter squash as I rifle through the giant cardboard bin at the farmer's stand. With the smell of hay and fires in the breeze, staring into a kaleidoscope of earthy vegetable colors, I whisper, “man, I love autumn.” The crisp air, the colors, the scritching sound of leaves blowing along the street kindle a quiet joy in my heart. Choosing some for their aesthetic gnarliness, and some for eating, I bring as many squash to the checkout as my arms can carry. Squash are beautiful, inexpensive, rippin' with nutrition (see?), and a versatile cooking ingredient. There are tons of types of edible winter squash, far more than what is typically seen in the grocery store.

MikeD's Ten Instrumental Songs You May Have Never Heard

On Monday, Scooter posted his Top 10 Instrumental Songs. Using his criteria (listed below) I compiled my own list.

No themes from movies or television are allowed. (Love Theme, Peter Gunn theme, Guns of Navarone, TSOP)
Not a single word may be said during the whole song. (Reel Big Fish's 241, Tequila, Wipe Out, The Hustle, Daft Punk's Musique)
Lyrics may not exist for the song upon recording. (Jeff Beck's A Day in the Life, SRV's Little Wing, Sing Sing Sing)
No overly campy songs featured prevalently in media. (Dueling Banjos, Star Wars Cantina, The Entertainer, Soul Bossa Nova)
Cannot predominantly feature a solo as the majority of the song. (Moby Dick, Eruption, I Know You're Here)

Music is a powerful tool that I think helps exemplify many aspects of life, whether ones life experiences, hardships, celebrations, or misery. I've always had a interest in instrumental music though, even at a young age when I first bought my first Metallica album, actually cassette Master of Puppets in 1989, which features of course Orion, which Scooter mentioned in his post. (Which you can purchase on the left in it's amazing lo-fi sound.)
It's emotional impact ran deep even without words you get a keen sense of what kind of moods they were expressing throughout the passage. Since then I have greatly expanded my musical influences; whether it's traditional folk, classical, jazz, rock, metal, electronic or anything in between. I like music that takes me on a journey, something to ponder, or simply zone out to.

Words never meant much to me too often in music because I think of them as more personal to the artist, unless the subject is more historical. This is probably one reason why I got very into heavier death and black-metal as the vocals were used more as instruments of rage and fury.

This post is not intended to be a 'best of' by any means. This list was sort of thrown together from bands off the top of my head that I greatly enjoy. These also are not listed in any particular order. I could probably go on and list 50 more ranging from all different genres but I'll keep this short and to the point. Hope you may find something you enjoy. If you do, check out their albums or buy them HERE.

Guest Blogger Thursday - RMaynard's Musical Chairs

My friend Scooter has invited me to contribute to this blog, and I am happy oblige. First, let me make one thing clear: I have never blogged before. The very word "blog" conjures up strange thoughts in my mind. It sounds fecal to me. "You wouldn't believe the size of the blog I just dropped in there." Furthermore, I firmly believe that opinions are like assholes: everyone has one and they usually stink. So why would anyone give a damn about my perspective? It's a mystery to me, but here we are, so here we go.

Recently I decided that after almost 15 years of dedicated playing I was going to hang up the guitar. When I announced this to my friends I was met with shock, disapproval, words of encouragement to continue playing, and disbelief. Nobody seemed to be able to understand why I would do such a thing. I don't know if I can fully explain what led me to that point, but the best analogy I have come up with is this: Being able to play the guitar the way I can without achieving any real level of success or fame is like having the keys to a Corvette and not being able to get it out of the parking lot. So I decided to get out and try to enjoy the walk. Make sense?

Guest Blogger Thursday - Keon & How to Fix the Economy (Part 1)

DUM-DUH-DUH-DAH . . . better late than never, right??? More than 2 years after the founding of the Scooter and Keon blog, after having been called out by Scooter noting that the blog had Keon Clark but no Keon Weigold…..after Scooter pretended I had written on the blog by posting the synopsis of a conversation we had had discussing our Australian Open favorites...and after Scooter finally gave up and renamed his blog, deleting my name from the title...Keon has finally arrived and written a blog entry. Maybe now that I finally broke down and posted something, maybe I will become the regular contributor that Scooter intended that I should be back at the founding of this blog.

Guest Blogger Thursday - CMuck's Life in Frisco

I have begun bicycling again in San Francisco. I never feel more alive in this city than when I am in motion from it. Zipping by through the Sunset neighborhood (South West SF just under the park for you out of towners) I live for the almost dying several times on my commute dodging the many cars that seem to mindlessly almost kill anyone without there whits several times in just a moment. I have dodged cars to have them almost hit someone else., but that's not what this blog is going to be about.

I want to talk about getting on and off the public transport on the days I am either too sleep deprived or just too lazy to charge through my daily three to seven mile pedal trek through the city. Without really meeting any of them, several people have made an impression this past week.

Guest Blogger Thursday - Mike D's Trappist Monks

Anybody that may know me, probably is aware that I am not the biggest fan of organized religion. I`suppose that might be a little strange considering the topic for today is on the Trappists. Trappists, who are part of a Roman Catholic order abide by the very strict rules set forth by Saint Benedict who lived in the 500's AD in Italy. These philosophies and rules are intriguing as they follow an almost extreme sense of seclusion and solitude. They live a life mostly in silence, speaking only when necessary. Most of their time is spent between studying, prayer and work related activities. They are almost entirely self sufficient, as they are known to grow their own crops and live stock as well as produce many goods such as cheeses, breads etc. The ones that interest me the most are the ones that (you guessed it) brew beer!

Guest Blogger Thursday - JBrown's Political Rant

So here it goes, get ready. This is going to be more like a political rant than anything else, just some things that have been specifically bothering me and some other people I've talked to about it... ready. set. FRUSTRATION!

O-O-O-bama. Seems to be the man of the new millennium these days. To be honest, he's not doing such a bad job now is he? First of all, the first 100 days in office was like sex. All we could do was stare and oogle. I personally was drooling. Here's the thing about his first one hundred days, there were a lot of reversals from the previous administration and some big promises. He certainly had some large shoes to fill, actually, he brought some new, large, shoes to the table. Health care, Guantanamo bay, Iraq/Afghanistan/North Korea/The rest of the World, climate change, apparently the 2016 Olympics (which I say, if Chicago really wants some Olympics, give them the Special ones...) and whatever else happens during the presidency, for instance, getting a cop and a professor together for a beer. Anywho, there's a lot going on that have all been placed in front of that one man. It's pretty intimidating. Thank god he has a lot of people to help him... wait. No. The people who are supposed to be helping this process, the select few people who are to represent us more individually, Congress, seems to be in a world of their own.

Guest Blogger Thursday - Amanda K.

Quite possibly my favorite time of the year is autumn. In Central New York, fall comes when the weather turns from warm (mid 80s cannot be considered hot) to cool (after mid-Septemtber, CNY should be considered lucky to see temperatures above 70 before May). The sun is hidden most days by gray clouds that bring with them rain and the leaves on the trees turn from green to all shades of orange, red and yellow. Come Fall, New York State Tourism releases foliage reports and updates them weekly to keep the public up to date on the best areas to visit according to whether or not they are close or past their peak.

Guest Blogger Thursdays - Spencer G.

How to get TV, Internet and a Phone with Long Distance Calling for about $40 a month!!
Yeah it sounded too good to be true to me too, BUT IT'S NOT! Ask President Grant!

Most things you read about that seem too be good to be true leave the $$$ issue out 'till the very end, so I will get the money part out of the way first. Plain and simple- You have to get high speed internet, and this may cost you about 40 bucks a month. Oh, you already have it? Great!

Guest Blogger Thursday- Szwejbbie's Blower Beatdown

Ever wonder how any yard work can be accomplished when you see people taking a glorified hair dryer to their yard debris? Everyday to and from work I see numerous landscapers and occasionally homeowners working hard, or hardly working, blowing leaves and soil into a whirling dust devil. How can this be accomplishing anything in the way of picking up landscape debris? While I've never actually used one, I do know that any equipment requiring personal protective gear may have a more viable alternative available (aka broom). Many city's across the country have pondered this exact question at their city council's determining that this obtrusive piece of equipment was better left on store shelves. There have been 100 cities that have banned the use of leaf blowers, while Hawaii, Arizona & New Jersey have all considered bans at the state level as well.