Monument Avenue...<*dispair*>

This is the "Sons of Confederate Veterans" Parade - a mile long cavalcade of small squads of old men in gray uniforms, pickups pulling period artillery pieces, horses and another course of slightly arrogant wallowing in immoral defeat like only Richmond VA knows how to serve up. I shouldn't be so negative - I love Richmond's history, it never ceases to amaze!

Handlebars

Confession time. My current facial hair arrangement is old enough to be considered at least semi-permanent, which warrants posting the evidence on the internet for posterity and the amusement of the general public. I've always wanted to look a bit like Morgan Spurlock, and be like him too...thus I have embarked on my own incarnation of 30 days by immersing myself "in a mode of life markedly different from their norm" -- ie, wearing a handlebar moustache. After overcoming the three day hump of being labeled a Redneck, and eventually addressing issues of asymmetry, I think the new look has come together well. Now I just need to wait thirty years for it to develop into the sophisticated whiskers showcased by the likes of Terrence "Terry" Gene Bollea and Paul John Teutul.

North Caorlina

Kristal and I took another weekend vacation to the beautifully photogenic Outer Banks, NC, and this was the only picture I took...what can I say, I was on holiday! It was out six month anniversary, so there were more pressing concerns than filling the photo album. Recommendations from this trip include, but are not limited to: Ocracoke Island, the North Carolina Aquarium, and trying to cook shrimp and tuna kebabs over an open fire without burning one's fingers.

We stayed at the KOA campground, which sadly gets no recommendations on account of employing staff possessing no common sense, of closing 90% of the facilities at any time vaguely off season, of being full of RVs and overpriced. Its a shame because I have fond memories of KOA sites in NY state during our family trip to Niagara.

MobileMate SD+

My ability to post photographs has been temporarily interrupted because I've lost the USB cable. I'm assigning blame to my housemates (but haven't told them yet). Someone did some 'cleaning up', and transferred all my belongings from the living room to my bed. I say "all", but in reality one item has always and forever departed from this world.

Now I have a new card reader - apparently it is impossible to replace camera cables... The SD reader has a green light, though, so I'm happy. OK, so here are some posts.

The Chilli Cook-Off

Yo. Check it. Chili Cook-Off 2007. Local radio station 102.6 The X organize an annual chili competition /slash/ heavy metal concert and the Raceway Complex.

An inch of snow fell in the morning, setting a new record for April, and making for a cold day hanging out on a windswept lot drinking beers and imbibing shots of chili, caring little for how they taste, only that they are warm.

The bands were pretty terrible, even after taking into account the genre. We kinda wanted to see Buckcherry, since they were the only band on the lineup that we'd heard of, but left early on account of extreme coldness and boredom.

Introductions...

I'm sorry, I'm terrible at Introductions. These are my new housemates, the poor people who have to put up with my strumming and singing, the hair in the bathroom, the smug way I cruise through life, never seeming to try very hard...

(l-r) Whitney - 2nd Grade teacher, Liz - in Advertising and fastest member of the house, Uh ME, and Rob - Bank Analyst works 80 hours a week. Aren't we beautiful?

Yamaha FG 700S

Since moving out of Chris' Apartment at Honey Tree I have been deprived many things. Regular grill-outs (that's a BBQ to the Brits), sports on huge, hi-def flatscreen, and guitars, to name but three. Well, rumours abound of a gas grill being on the way, there's a sports bar round the corner and I've just purchased a sweet new baby, so order in the world is beginning to be restored.

I did my shopping at Guitar Center which is full of friendly staff. On my first visit, Joseph help me pick out something cheap and cheerful. I went home with a second hand Epiphone in good nick, at a bargain price. However, after attempting to launch into the Intro from 'Sweet Child O' Mine' I discover a bump in the fretboard where the neck joins the body. Apparently this is common in cheaper models. Thus I returned to GC, whereupon Seth helped me dig around for something more suiting my expectations of quality. I noodled around on five or six, gradually sneaking out of my envisioned price range. This Yamaha really caught my fancy, and trusty Seth went to chat to the manager about approving a discount... Behold and Lo, a deal was struck, and I am now the proud owner of the beautiful example of craftmanship pictured above.