Andy Lester

How awesome is my daughter?

andy@petdance.com — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:24:32 GMT

How awesome is Quinn Lester? When we go to used CD stores, she looks for the red Rhino oval for me.

It only lasts about 10 minutes before she gets bored, but it's something!

Foreigner in the news

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:04:09 GMT

From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090211/odd-fake-drummer-arrest/

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Authorities said a transient man convinced a woman that he was the drummer for the rock band Foreigner, stole her Corvette and then crashed it. Police said a 48-year-old man befriended the woman at a Tampa hotel, claiming to be Cory James, the drummer for Foreigner.
The band has had more than a half dozen drummers over the years, none of whom were named Cory James.

Meanwhile, the real drummers for Foreigner are wondering how the hell this guy "befriended a woman" with the line "I'm the drummer for Foreigner".

(Stolen from here....)

The weekend's musical acquisitions

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:36:06 GMT

Lots of good cheap stuff this weekend. Hooray for Electric Fetus in Minneapolis!

Buzzcocks, Small Songs With Big Hearts
Rainbow, Bent Out of Shape
The Left Banke, There's Gonna Be a Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966-1969
Bruce Dickinson, Accident of Birth
Sherwin Linton, Hello, I'm Not Johnny Cash
Elvin Bishop, Hog Heaven
Tift Merritt, Tambourine
Judas Priest, Nostradamus

Up in smoke

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:36:56 GMT

So Michael Phelps got photographed smoking a bong. Oh, the tizzy!

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/socialstudies/archive/2009/02/01/michael-phelps-s-golden-ticket-up-in-smoke.aspx

If he was drinking alcohol, no one would care. TMZ and the celebrity slime churners would chuckle, but it wouldn't cause him to make big statements about what a terrible person he was. Newspapers wouldn't cluck "how to break it to all those kids who look to Phelps as their role model?" when they wouldn't think twice if he was to be drinking or smoking tobacco.

Seriously, please, can we get over the hysteria of pot?

Underwhelming

andy@petdance.com — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:26:48 GMT

Just saw an ad for Stouffer's frozen foods that said that it was "made with real ingredients."

I wonder what the other guys use.

iTunes Genius is kinda smart

andy@petdance.com — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:21:23 GMT

OK, iTunes genius is kinda smart. While I played "The Needle Lies" by Queensryche, it recommended
"Cindy's On Methadone" by Screeching Weasel, "Junkie" by the Dead Milkmen, "Sister Morphine" by Marianne Faithful and a Syd Barrett track.

I wonder if there's some sort of topic database back in there.

Merry Christmas from Colon Flush

andy@petdance.com — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:44:58 GMT

It's nice to know the spammers still want me to cleanse my colon of excess weight. They know that we have tons of Portillo's catering awaiting the family party, I guess.

I got a Wii. What games do I want to get for it, besides Rock Band 2 that we don't have the money for now?

For that matter, which is better, Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour? Specifically interested in the drumming aspect.

Why have I never seen a cartoon with one cannibal saying to the other "mmm, this holy infant... so tender and mild."

Kid....

andy@petdance.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:25:32 GMT

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

Have you ever noticed...

andy@petdance.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:23:17 GMT

"Have you ever noticed you never seem to get laid on Thanksgiving? I think it's because all the coats are on the bed." -- George Carlin

The worst part is they're not kidding

andy@petdance.com — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:50:00 GMT

Man, as if Mudvayne's music and their name weren't bad enough, please enjoy this band photo:

Because nothing says "douchebag" like a nu-metal front man in a bowler.

Current Joneses from iTunes

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:37:08 GMT

"Academy Fight Song", by Mission Of Burma from Mission of Burma
"American Idiot", by Green Day from American Idiot
"Awake & Dreaming", by Courtney Jones from Plug In Portland
"B.O.B", by Outkast from Stankonia
"Bad Time", by The Jayhawks from Tomorrow The Green Grass
"Battle Without Honor or Humanity", by Tomoyasu Hotei from Electric Samurai
"Behind The Wall Of Sleep", by The Smithereens from From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology
"Blatant Dis", by Poster Children from I Love Disco, and I Hear It's Making a Comeback!
"C'Mon Marianne", by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons from The Very Best Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons
"Carl Perkins' Cadillac", by Drive-By Truckers from The Dirty South
"Chariot", by Gretchen Wilson from Here For The Party
"Detroit Rock City", by Dee Snider, Doug Aldrich, Marco Mendoza & John Tempesta from Spin The Bottle: An All-Star Tribute To Kiss
"Falling Off The Edge Of The World", by Black Sabbath from The Mob Rules
"I Won't Give Up My Train", by Merle Haggard from Going Where The Lonely Go
"I'd Love To Change The World", by Ten Years After from A Space In Time
"Long, Long Way from Home", by Foreigner from No End In Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner
"Monkey Business", by Skid Row from Slave To The Grind
"Muddy's Gold", by Mogg/Way from Chocolate Box
"Never Again", by Kelly Clarkson from My December
"Rich Girl", by Hall & Oates from Ultimate Daryl Hall & John Oates
"Roller Queen (Live)", by Naked Raygun from Jettison
"Slit Skirts", by Pete Townshend from Best Of Pete Townshend
"Slow An' Easy", by Whitesnake from Slide It In
"So It Goes", by Nick Lowe from Pure Pop for Now People
"Something About You", by Boston from Boston
"That's When I Reach For My Revolver", by Mission Of Burma from Mission of Burma
"Treat the New Guy Right", by Silkworm from Lifestyle
"Tweedily Dee", by The Backyardigans from Born To Play
"Vienna", by Billy Joel from The Stranger
"Youth Gone Wild", by Skid Row from Skid Row

Holy cow, freeeeeaky

andy@petdance.com — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:22:51 GMT

So in the car I'm listening to the audiobook of David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed In Flames and in a piece on his fashion history he tells of flirting with wearing bow ties. The passage goes something like:

I told her that a bowtie makes me look like that guy who sold popcorn, you know, that guy who died, and she said "What, Paul Newman is dead?" and I said "No, the other one, Orville Redenbacher."

That was about two hours ago. And then I look at MSNBC just now and Paul Newman is dead!

EEEEERIE!!!!!

Songs about girls

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:07:59 GMT

Currently listening to songs with "Girls" in the title.

"As Girls Go", by Suzanne Vega from 99.9 F°
"Bad Girls", by Donna Summer from The Disco Years, Vol. 3: Boogie Fever
"Big Girls Don't Cry", by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons from The Very Best Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons
"Buffalo Girls and Boys", by The Backyardigans from The Backyardigans
"Don't All The Girls All Look Prettier At Closing Time", by Mickey Gilley from Greetings From Texas
"Girls Got Rhythm", by AC/DC from Highway To Hell
"Girlschool", by Britny Fox from Youth Gone Wild Vol. 3
"Good Girls Don't", by The Knack from POPTOPIA! Power Pop Classics Of The '70s
"Hot Girls In Love", by Loverboy from Loverboy Classics: Their Greatest Hits
"Looking For Girls", by Pursuit Of Happiness from Love Junk
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", by The Smiths from The Queen Is Dead
"Southern Girls", by Cheap Trick from In Color
"To All The Girls I Loved Before", by Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson from Half Nelson
"Two Girls In One", by Pursuit Of Happiness from One-Sided Story

We got a new pupper

andy@petdance.com — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:42:49 GMT

His name is now Milo (the shelter had him called Brutus for the four days he was there) and he's only 106 pounds and he should be about 150 so we'll have to feed him good. He's about five years old and came from a pound in downstate Illinois and from the matting that the shelter removed from him and his low weight I have to think that he was abandoned. :-(

Sarah Palin is no friend of libraries

andy@petdance.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:55:48 GMT

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1837918,00.html

[Wasilla mayor John] Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

In a world where Don LaFontaine is dead...

andy@petdance.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:13:34 GMT

We'll miss you, Don.

Here's Don and four of his voiceover buddies:

McCain and Palin

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:19:43 GMT

Why hasn't anyone talked about McCain's choice of Michael Palin?

"Is your military... a goer? Know what I mean say no more?"

"Beaaaautiful plumage, the Alaskan blue!"

"Nooobody expects the Gitmo Inquisition!"

Queen songs

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:16:35 GMT

Here are the "queen" songs from my iTunes at work.

"Ballad Of A Teenage Queen", Johnny Cash from ...And The Answer Is (Vol. 1)
"Ballad Of A Teenage Queen", Rodney Crowell from Dressed In Black: A Tribute To Johnny Cash
"Ballad Of A Teenage Queen", Rosanne Cash from I Walk The Line: An All-Star Tribute To Johnny Cash
"God Save The Queen", Queen from A Night At The Opera
"Hotel Queenie (Demo)", The Cars from The Cars - Deluxe Edition
"Killer Queen", Queen from Sheer Heart Attack
"Pearly Queen", Traffic from Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic
"The Queen Is Dead (Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty)", The Smiths from The Queen Is Dead
"Queen Of Hearts", Whitesnake from Snakebite
"Queen Of My Nights", The Blues Magoos from Kaliedescope Compendium - The Best Of The Blues Magoos
"Queen Of My Soul", Average White Band from Pickin' Up The Pieces
"Queen Of Spades", Styx from Pieces Of Eight
"Queen Of The Deep", UFO from Phenomenon
"Queen Of The Forest", Ted Nugent from Ted Nugent
"Queen Of The Hop", Bobby Darin from The Hit Singles Collection
"Queen Of The House", Jody Miller from ...And The Answer Is (Vol. 1)
"Queens Are Never Wrong", The Backyardigans from The Backyardigans
"Return Of The Teenage Queen", Tommy Tucker from ...And The Answer Is (Vol. 1)
"Rock Queen", Love/Hate from Youth Gone Wild Vol. 3
"Steve McQueen", Sheryl Crow from C'mon C'mon

Of course, I have many Queen and Queensryche songs, but that wouldn't have been as much fun.

My book is approaching

andy@petdance.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:49:55 GMT

My book's been announced. We don't have a cover yet, but we do have a title and description and all sorts of other goodness.

http://www.amazon.com/Land-Tech-Job-You-Love/dp/1934356263/

Cry Me A River

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:13:05 GMT

Did the expression "cry me a river" predate the song of the same name?

How about "Different strokes for different folks" predating "Everyday People"?

Fred Phelps is coming!

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:15:43 GMT

Fred Phelps' wackjob Westboro Baptist Church is coming to the Chicago area for two special pickets!

First, Trinity United Church, famous for being Obama's church and home of Rev. Wright, down on the south side!

Then, more conveniently for me, a performance of "Laramie Project" in Vernon Hills, a mere 30 minutes from my house. MUCH closer than hauling ass all the way down to 95th street.

The WBC's picketing schedule could do with a bit of some HTML lovin', no?

Anyone want to go with me to visit the picketers in Vernon Hills? sachmet?

Lady Redundant Woman writes for ZDNet

andy@petdance.com — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:31:02 GMT

On Quinn's beloved WordGirl, one of the villains is Lady Redundant Woman. Apparently she's also a man writing for ZDNet.

At the present moment I run three blogs...

I think he means to say "I run three blogs...."

I don't mean to pick on this guy specifically, but it's frustrating to see professional writers puff up their writing with no eye to trimming the fat.

Also docked points on a different scorecard for referring to "the media" as a single entity.

Please stop posting about Dr. Horrible

andy@petdance.com — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:27:20 GMT

Dr. Horrible!

Dr. Horrible!

Everyone loves Dr. Horrible!

OK, be done with it!

Mac and Me

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:33:30 GMT

I so need to see this:

It's all one big McDonald's ad, although you can't tell from the trailer. However, dig this dance scene in a McDonald's.

Carlin

andy@petdance.com — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:56:50 GMT

I can't overestimate the effect that George Carlin had on me. His skepticism for the world around, his love of words, his ability to find the humor in anything and everything, his love for the absurd.

He has a bit on Ed Sullivan. (not quite quoted, but from (my pretty decent) memory) "We never got a chance to thank Ed Sullivan. The show was in reruns over the summer when it was canceled. We never got to say 'Hey, Ed, thanks for all them crazy acts! Thanks for the Beatles, Ed'!"

Thanks, George.