From the archives: George Strait Troubadour review

OK, with this weed remembering the deaths of Diego and Paul, I need something a little more upbeat. So here's a review I made of George Strait's latest CD - Troubadour. George Strait is my favorite singer, by the way.



Thursday, April 03, 2008
Review of George Strait’s Troubadour Current mood: excited Category: Music
Well, I bought George Strait’s new CD, Troubadour, on Tuesday. I would have to give the CD an A. I had heard from the George Strait Fan Club that it was a really great CD, and I think that caused my expectations to be too high at first, but after listening to the CD a second time, I love it! It’s hard to top his last stuido CD, It Just Comes Natural, and I’m not sure yet if this will, but it’s very good. It’s a very diverse CD, with songs reminiscient of songs throughout George’s career. The title track, which I first heard at King George’s concert last Friday, is very good.

My favorites are the Western Swing songs ’Make Her Fall in Love With Me Song’ and the duet with Dean Dillon ’West Texas Town’. They’re both a lot of fun. I’m not always the biggest fan of George’s duets - even though I love Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney - they just aren’t usually my favorite songs. But West Texas Town is, and I think it’ll be a hit if he releases it. It’s only about a minute, forty-five seconds, so it’s kind of short.

Brothers of the Highway and River of Love are also a lot of fun and a little different from most Strait songs. This CD definitely displays all the different styles of Strait songs. House of Cash is one of those duets I talked about before. I love Patty Loveless, but I’m not the biggest fan of this song. It’s just not my favorite, but it is a good song and George sings it well.
I’ve heard a national reviewer say that such formulaic songs as ’I Saw God Today’ are beneath George. Maybe it is a bit formulaic, but it’s such a great song with a great message, and George sings it so well that who cares.

The other songs on the album are good too, but I imagine the releases from the album will be among those I’ve written about. It’s a great album and it’s amazing that George Strait continues to put out such quality during his third decade as a singer. Simply amazing!

3:02 PM

From the archives: I hate cancer

It's been one year since my cousin's husband, Paul, died of cancer at the age only 28. In two weeks will be the anniversary of when my friend Shara left us. I hope that we may someday find a cure for this thing. We miss you, Paul!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I hate cancer! Current mood: frustrated Category: Life
I *^%$ HATE CANCER!!!! My cousin's husband, Paul Hutton, died a little over an hour ago from testicular cancer. Last Veteran's Day my friend and coworker Shara Franyovich died from cervical cancer. I hate this disease. I wish I had the ability to stop it to find a cure. Paul was only in his late 20's, with a wife and two children, one just a few months old. Shara was 41 and had a husband and a little girl. They were both such inspirations to me. Not that I want anyone to suffer from AIDS, but at least there are pretty good ways of ensuring that you won't get that disease. There are ways to help prevent getting certain forms of cancer, but basically anyone can get it. And it can be so painful to have treated. I am glad that Paul no longer has to suffer, but I look forward to the day when nobody has to suffer for this horrible disease.
7:40 AM

It's been three years.....

....but I still miss you, Diego. Thank you for being such a good dog. I look forward to the day when I get to hug you again in the next life. Rest in peace, my dear companion.

To All The Cars I've Loved Before.....

(To those who don't know, the title of this post is a spoof off of Julio Iglesias' To All the Girls I've Loved Before)

I just got my 2006 Honda Civic back after it being gone for a week in the shop. I had an odor coming out of my car and knew it was probably a coolant leak. It turned out to be a coolant leak from the engine and they had to replace the whole engine block. Ouch! Luckily, it was covered under warranty! But in the meantime, I had a rental car. It was a cute little Nissan Versa, and other than the fact it was the base model and therefore didn't have the fun features on my car, it was nice. But I REALLY missed my car. And it got me thinking about the four cars I have owned. So, here's a tribute to my 1980 Honda Accord, 1988 Nissan 300ZX, 2003 Nissan Altima, and 2006 Honda Civic.

Unfortunately, I don't believe I own a picture of my first car, a 1980 Honda Civic. This picture I found on the Internet. It looks just like my first car. I remember fondly coming home from BYU after my freshman year. The Reynolds dropped me off at about 1 in the morning, and I remember seeing this strange car on the street. My mom then told me that it was my car. I loved that little car, even though I had fuel pump problems, head gasket problems, and master cylinder problems with it. In fact, it was broken down more than it was running. Still, it was my first car, and it was fun to drive (my first time driving a stick shift). The master cylinder went out while driving down 2230 North, which is right downhill. That's also when I learned that master cylinders control the breaks. Yeah, that was a scary time, and luckily the light turned red before I got down the hill, because it forced me to quickly turn right onto a desereted street rather than go down and smash into some other cars. After the second head gasket blew, I had to leave the car where I used to live. A friend was supposed to go over and pick it up later and fix it, but it didn't quite work out that way, and it was eventually towed away and is probably now in some junk yard with people robbing it for parts (at least, I hope that's its fate, and not that it's a little cube of steel. But here's a picture of what he looked like. I called him Kermit and I had a license plate frame that read 'If you can read this, I'm still in first gear.

My next car was a 1988 Nissan 300ZX. I got it my senior year of college. It was so much fun, but ended up having so many problems that I sold it for only a few hundred dollars. If I had a house, I would have kept it and perhaps have fixed it up. When we bought it, it was salvaged. The driver's side door never closed correctly, which meant I had a lot of fun whenever I went through a car wash. But it was such a fun car. It was powerful too, having no trouble going up Lombard Street. And up a dirt hill at Saltair in Salt Lake City. Eventually the passenger window wouldn't roll down, there was no air conditioning (causing many a humerous trip home to my parents in the middle of summer), a failed attempt to steal the car caused the door handle to work correctly, but I still loved that car. It was fun to drive.

So I bought my first car, an Altima, in 2003. I never liked sedans, and before this had thought about getting an SUV. But then I saw the restyled Altima and fell in love. I just love those rear taillights. I didn't like the color of blue they had, but at the dealership I liked this color, and I liked the leather seats, LOVED the Bose speakers, and liked the sunroof and heated seats. So I bought it. It was my 'luxury' car - it had all the cool things I wanted in a car. It had a ton of room and Allison and everyone loved to hear that stereo. I would still have that car if the engine didn't go. I was driving from temple pageant and it started making sounds. It ended up that the catalytic converter somehow messed up and went into the engine and messed it up. The local Nissan dealership told me that it would be $4000 to fix it. I looked at how to get a new car, and only later did the dealership tell me that it was covered under the emissions warranty. By that time, I was already in the process of getting a new car, but my brother decided to buy the car off of me, so at least it's still in the family.

Here are my Altima and Civic together.

So I bought my 2006 Civic. It's a fun, sporty car. It has the audio controls on the steering wheel and the sunroof, but no leather, and the stereo isn't nearly as cool. But it's a lot of fun. I love the smaller steering wheel and the digital spedometer that makes it look like a cockpit. And I really missed it the past week I wasn't able to drive it. Thank goodness I have it back.

Yep, I loved each car I've had. Two Hondas, two Nissans. They've been good and fun cars. Hopefully I'll get to keep this Civic for awhile so I can buy the next one in cash.

Travellin' Through the Corn Maze

This last Saturday Amy and I joined other 'midsingles' in going to the Dixon corn maze, http://www.coolpatchpumpkins.com/ First we went to Mary's Pizza Shack, but we were both too chicken to introduce ourselves to the group, so we ate on our own. We then met everyone at the maze and followed some people around. It was fun, and we got to know people enough to join them at Dennys afterwards. It was a lot of fun getting to know a bunch of new people. I really like true midsingles activities, because it gives me hope that there are some normal guys my age out there. Singles dances instead either have a lot of weird guys or much older guys.

The maze was a lot of fun. Evidently, it's the largest in the world. Amy and I got lost from the group once at the beginning of the maze and thought we might have to traverse the maze on our own, kind of defeating the purpose of going with the group, but luckily we met them again at the first station, Ducati station. I know I felt relieved, as I didn't bring a flashlight. Amy had one, but it ended up dying, even with new batteries. So we might have got stuck in there for awhile. And it's always more fun to be with a group of people.

I'm very glad we got to go on this little trip and meet midsingles at an event other than a dance. It was a lot of fun and I hope we get to hang out with them again soon.

A different world

Every once in awhile you hear a song you've heard a million times before but for some reason, those lyrics get to you that one time you hear it. Yesterday that was true with Bucky Covington's 'A Different World.' Sometimes I think of just how screwed up our society's become just since I was a kid. The part that got to me was
'Not every kid made the team when they tried
We got disappointed and that was all right, we turned out all right'

I think as a country we've become so weak. We try to appease everybody, and worry too much about people who complain. Case in point is a parade in New York that will no longer be the 'Christmas' parade because one or two people complained about discrimination. Most likely, those people who complained are atheists. We've just become such a nation of veal calves, as my favorite talking head likes to say. Oh, and I got daddy's belt many, many times.

A Different World
Bucky Covington

We were born to mothers who smoked and drank
Our cribs were covered in lead based paint
No child proof lids no seat belts in cars
Rode bikes with no helmets and still here we are, still here we are
We got daddy’s belt when we misbehaved
Had three TV channels you got up to change
No video games and no satellite
All we had were friends and they were outside, playin’ outside

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

School always started the same every day
The pledge of allegiance then someone would pray
Not every kid made the team when they tried
We got disappointed and that was all right, we turned out all right

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

No bottled water, we drank from a garden hose
And every Sunday, all the stores were closed

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

It was a different world

Flu shots suck

At work we are able to get free flu shots. I have never gotten a flu shot before and have never got sick with the flu (at least not longer than a day or two). So I didn't plan on getting one this year, but yesterday I felt like I should. I can't say I prayed about it because I didn't really have time, but I really felt like I should get it. So I did. And I got sick.

Last night taking kids home from Mutual, I started coughing and being a little short of breath. I finally got home, called home to say hi to the parentals and then took some Nyquil and went to bed about 10 PM (that's REALLY early for me). When I woke up at 6 this morning, I was still dragging, but took my shower and started getting ready. But soon after I just felt exhausted, and decided I had better call into work. So I called my actual IT boss and my RM boss and told them I'd probably be in later. I went back to bed and slept until about 10:30, then slowly got ready. I thought about not going into work at all, but it was 1 and I knew I wouldn't get anything done at work, and it was getting warmer, so I wasn't feeling that great, so figured I might as well go to work. So now I have three hours of sick time to use sometime else.

I really hope I was inspired to take the flu shot and this will help me not get the flu later this year, or else this was a big waste of a sick day.

I miss my car

I started smelling a 'sweet' smell coming out of my car last week. It was kind of like a maple syrup smell, but not as good. From my really old 1980 Honda Accord I had in the past, I knew this could be the head gasket, but there wasn't a whole bunch of white smoke, so it most likely was a leak in the coolant system. So I took it in yesterday to the dealer and they called me later to say the leak was coming from the bottom of my engine and the engine bloc would have to be replaced. They had a bulletin on it though, so it's all going to be covered. But since they basically have to take my engine apart, I'm going to be without it for up to a week, so I get a rental.

My rental car is a Nissan Versa. It's the base model for it, and although I like the looks of the hatchback version of it, the sedan is kind of boring. Especially in silver (I usually don't like silver cars, they're boring to me - sorry to anyone with a silver car - your car looks beautiful in silver :). Still, it gets me from Point A to Point B. I wonder if I would like it better if it was an upgraded version. But it makes me miss my Civic. I miss my audio controls on the steering wheel, the input jack for my iPod, and my sunroof (I didn't realize before how much I like the option of looking up to see the sky if I would like to.

I didn't like sedans for the longest time. They all looked boring to me and seemed like they were just family cars, like minivans, but a little cooler (not much). Then I saw the 2003 Nissan Altima which I fell in love with and bought. It was a great car before it's engine acted up. I like the looks of my Civic, although I do believe someday whenever I buy a new car, I'm going to go for the coupe version of a car.

Well, hopefully I'll get my car back before the weekend. It'll make me really appreciate that car!

From the archives: George Strait Concert Review

I've got to see many George Strait concerts over the years. He is definitely my favorite singer. I just love almost every one of his songs. He could go on and sing for 4 hours and still have PLENTY of songs he wouldn't have played that I would have liked.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008
George Strait Concert Review Current mood: calm Category: Music
Last Friday night, March 28th, I got to see George Strait. It was a fantastic concert. I had a lot of fun.

My friend Jennifer invited me to go to the concert with her and some friends. I gladly accepted. The tickets were only $35. When my mom and I were thinking of going to see George Strait in Fresno, by the time she was able to call them, they only had nosebleed seats left and they were still $70. So we passed. These were nosebleeds to, but for only $35, I’ll gladly take it.

I went with Jennifer, our friend Chris, and two other friends of Jennifer’s. Chris isn’t much of a country fan, but someone else canceled, so he went.
This was at least my tenth George Strait concert (let’s see, about three at least before going to school - one in SLC, one George Strait Country Music Festival in Provo (that was probably the weirdest GS concert - no beer or cigarettes - it was great), one other festival in Las Vegas, one concert in Sacramento, one at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, and this one at Oakland’s Oracle Arena. I’m sure there are two other ones I haven’t accounted for here. Anyway, the GSCMF concerts were actually a low point for George. They had gotten boring, especially compared to Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. He played a lot of other people’s old school country, and it just wasn’t that exciting any more. The concert in Sacramento, when I went with my sister and her friends changed all of that. He now plays a LOT of his own songs. It’s cool. And the last three concerts have had a different mix of songs. He’ll always sing Amarillo By Morning, end the main concert with Unwound, and end the encore with The Cowboy Rides Away, but most of the other songs were either different, or not as often heard as those ones. He didn’t even sing one of my least favorite songs, which I’ve heard at EVERY concert for years, Milk Cow Blues. I was a little shocked at that.

The concert was great. GS seemed to enjoy himself and so did we. Even Chris seemed to enjoy himself, especially making cat calls and yee haws. I did get beer or something pouring down my back. The people behind me had dropped it. I didn’t realize it right away, and they didn’t acknowledge it at all. It was annoying, but it wasn’t too bad. It quickly dried enough that I was able to enjoy the concert. I had kind of expected to hear some more of his songs from the 80s and early 90s, to tell you the truth, but this concert seemed to be heavier on songs from the last ten years. Man, I could easily listen to a ten hour concert from him. With breaks, of course, but man, he has so many songs he could sing!

George Strait doesn’t move around the stage much, but his music moves for me. I guess that’s why I enjoy his concerts for me. I always get a little sad when I start to hear Unwound, knowing the concert’s almost over. And then when I hear the Cowboy Rides Away, I get prepared to say goodbye to George until next time. See you next trip!




[New] Link to review: http://www.ibabuzz.com/concerts/2008/03/29/george-strait-is-king-of-country-in-oakland/

Beautiful Monterey

I've always loved Monterey, and it's one of the places I'd really love to live. I went this weekend to visit my mom and her best friend Colleen who went to get away for the weekend there.

I got there Friday night, in time for us to go to Bubba Gumps. The next morning we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. What was really funny was that in line I saw one of my coworkers. Small world!
Here's a cool fish without much of a rear fin. He's a slow eater or something like that. We also explored a bit of Cannery Row and ate at Willy's BBQ. It was pretty tasty!

That night we went to see the beach at Pacific Grove. That place has such beautiful beaches.

The next day we went on the 17 mile drive (my first time). The beaches are so beautiful and it made me want to take up golfing. We got to see the Lone Cypress, which has been standing for 250 years being battered by wind and the ocean. It's cool to look at.

And we got to see Pebble Beach. It was a very fun weekend and I'm so glad that it's so close!

General Conference Rocks!

This was my first time actually attending Conference in person. I got close to getting into President Hunter's solemn assembly, but just missed, and it was too cold to wait for the afternoon session (at least, it was for everyone else but me).

Anyway, it was incredible, and I'm so glad I was able to go. Look at all those Mormons there for Conference!

What to do...

This weekend I went up to Utah for a very quick trip to see a session of conference, see my friend play the Grinch in Seussical, and my sister-in-law play a napkin in Beauty and the Beast. It was a lot of fun, and I'm going to talk about some of those later. I'm really greatful for the opportunity to spend so much time with my friend Amy. It was great to talk about life and some of the challenges we both face and are dealing with. Man, that girl can drive! She drove both ways straight through. We only stopped one time goint to Utah and three times coming home, but one of those stops only because we couldn't find any food at the second stop.

It was also great to visit the A. family (I try to keep people's last names off of this blog to protect everyone's privacty - including my own). I really care a lot about Linda, Saffron, and Allison (not technically a part of the A. family, but living there). I'm good to see they're doing well, although Allison needs to get a job. It was great seeing Linda, who will be leaving the country for a year.

The plays were awesome and I'm glad I was able to see them. I really enjoyed seeing so many friends and my brother and sister-in-law. And as usual, Robbie cracked me up. And even with all the people I got to see, there were so many more that I really wanted to get to see. I'm so sad that for the second trip to Utah in four months that I didn't get to see Ashley. And I didn't get to see the W or T families that I haven't seen for years.

And that's something I love. So many friends I already have in Utah. Now Amy is considering if she should move there, although it would just be temporary (she says). There just aren't a lot of single people in the Church out here, at least not many that are in an hour's drive.

Since I graduated from BYU, I've always had a part of me that wanted to stay in Utah. But I really like being close enough to my family that I can visit them frequently. So since I had no family in Utah, I came back to California. Now my brother lives there and is planning on living there for at least a few more years. So there's a part of me that really yearns to move back to Utah. I couldn't move for a little over a year, as I promised where I work that I'd be here for three years, and I really like my job so I wouldn't want to upset anyone here.

But I'm so tired of seeing friends leave all the time. You know, it's really not that bad being single, as long as you have enough friends to do things with and help stave off the feelings of lonliness, but I've watched so many of my single friends move off, most of them to Utah. In Utah, just hanging out occassionally with Robbie will introduce me to a ton of new people.

I'm pretty sure that I'll end up in Utah in about a year and a half, although I would still need to have a lot of things fall into place - mainly a good job to go to. I kind of need the housing market to improve, at least a bit. My condo is still worth more than I bought it for, but not enough to provide for a decent down payment. Then I have to fix up my condo, move out of it to sell it (I have way too much junk to have there while I'm trying to sell it).

And I still need to find out if that's where the Lord wants me to be. I'm just not the best at receiving personal revelation, so that's something I'm trying to work on.