June Consumption

Music

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell
Tiger Army - Music from Regions Beyone
The Almost - Southern Weather
Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life
Justice - Cross
Tiesto - Elements of Life
The Forces of Evil - Friend or FOE?

Books

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

D.I. Alert

In packing up for the big move, I am going through all of my old stuff. Just a heads up, I am giving both my Gerardo and my Robin Hood Prince of Thieves cassette tapes to the Deseret Industries. I am, however, keeping my copy of P.M. Dawn The Bliss Album and Mack Daddy by Sir Mix-a-lot.

Tag Team Back Again

Traci's new favorite radio station is Movin' 100.7, which specializes in hits by such bands as C&C Music Factory, Madonna, Janet Jackson and Sir Mix-a-Lot. You would think that if I am fine with her listening to it, that she would be fine with me rolling down the windows, pumping up the volume and singing along with "Whoomp, There It Is" as our little family drives home from the Old Navy on a Saturday night. She wasn't fine with it. She wasn't fine with it all. How is she going to react the next time we hear "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Woof. Woof.

I dance, I dance, I dance around the Mexican hat

Traci and I celebrated our five year anniversary this week. Looking back, I didn’t think that much had really changed. Then yesterday, as we were packing up for our big move, I discovered a memory from 2002.

When Traci and I were setting up our wedding registry I didn’t really have a strong opinion about much at all. I didn’t care what type of silverware we bought or what color our plates were. There was only one thing I wanted – a nacho hat.

Target sold a plastic nacho plate that looked like a sombrero. The brim of the hat is for the chips and the top of the hat has a secret compartment the salsa that can only be opened by pushing a button that plays the Mexican Hat Dance. I told everyone how much I wanted one and I think we ended up getting three of them.

As I looked at nacho hat yesterday, though I did smile, I thought ‘I would never buy a nacho hat now.’ How’s that for maturity? I am sure that I have a similar reaction when I start packing up the basement and I find our tiki hut cookie jar that plays the theme song to Gilligan’s Island.

I am not sure that I am ready to part with either of these items. I let Paige play with the nacho hat yesterday and I now I have heard the Mexican Hat Dance 50,000 times, so maybe I will get rid of it.

Sutherlands Go to Sweden

Well, we got as close as we could get to Sweden without actually leaving the Salt Lake Valley. Utah recently got its first Ikea. It was the top news story for like two weeks straight. (I heart local news. It's the best!)

We figured we best go see what the fuss was all about. Traci had never been to an Ikea; my only visit was the time a crazy inactive Dutch church member invited my companion Wix and I to ride our bikes 25 kilometers to the next city over so we could eat the meatballs at the deli located on the top floor. We were so excited to see our first freestanding soda fountain in Holland that we spent the whole night getting free refills. (We came to find out later that refills weren't free. Whoops. Silly Americans.) I digress.

Even several weeks after the grand opening, the store is still amazingly busy. Here's what I noticed:

• You can only walk in one direction and because you are walking in a wave of people, it feels like you are on a walk-a-lator and you should just wave at the furniture as you pass by
• No matter where you are in the store, you're still 20 minutes away from the check out register
  
• The majority of the living room furniture looks like stuff that the Deseret Industries didn't want
• A store is too big when you are given a map and pencil
• The furniture was cheap-ish, but not cheap enough to justify its crappiness
• It looked as though several families from Utah Valley had come up to the Ikea as part of a Family Home Evening activitiy
• It had really sweet European shopping carts - meaning all four wheels turn (not just the back two like here in American). That meant I could spin Paige around in circles, which she absolutely loved
  

What's Up, Inspector?

In the continuous line of things to do in order to buy a house, we met with a home inspector last night. I knew immediately that we had chosen a professional when I pulled up to the house and saw a car parked out friend with a license plate that said "INSPCTR."

Justin Timberlake and Good Charlotte

Man, I bet Chris Wilson is so sad that he's not in Good Charlotte anymore. His former band is going to be the opening act for Justin Timberlake's summer tour. That's so punk rock!

From Rolling Stone:

Good Charlotte will spend the summer touring our nation’s finest arenas with Justin Timberlake. The pop punkers will open up for Timberlake beginning Monday, August 6 in Memphis, and concluding with two dates at the Staples Center in L.A. on September 16 and 17. Other noteworthy dates include a two-night stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden August 15 and 16.

Sadly, there is not a stop in Salt Lake City.

Good News for Troops

Hey Utah troops in Iraq, has the endless war got you down? Well, not for long. You will be ecstatic to know that you will be soon be visited by two of your biggest local celebrities.

From today's Salt Lake Tribune:

Two Utah basketball stars are in Iraq. Former BYU and NBA player Shawn Bradley and Utah Jazz great Thurl Bailey are visiting Utah troops. Before they left the two visited Camp Williams and received giant uniforms. The 7-foot-6 Bradley and 6-foot-11 Bailey needed special fatigues.

If this visit doesn't boost your spirits, nothing will. I'm surprised that Thurl didn't tailor his own fatigues.

Kanye Channels Daft Punk?

Roger Meyers Jr. once said, “You take away our right to steal ideas, where are they going to come from?” That's pretty much how I feel about most hip hop. One of my favorite musical plagiarists is Chicago's own Kanye West.

Kanye has crossed over into sacred ground, sampling one of the best songs of all time, Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." I feel slightly violated just listening to it. Kanye's version is adequate, but mostly just makes me want to listen to Daft Punk.

Take a listen here [via Cause=Time]: Kanye West - Stronger
--
Other favorite Roger Meyers Junior Quote: "You kids don't know what you want. That's why you're kids, because you're stupid!"

Matt & Kim (Again)

I went to the Matt & Kim show tonight at Kilby Court. Looking back on my life, I think the Matt & Kim show that I went six months ago was the last show I've even been to.

They rocked just as thoroughly as last time. There were more people there and they played a lot longer. (Last time they only played for about 15 minutes, this time it was 30+. Almost epic by comparison, really.)

Highlights:

--They were wearing the exact same clothes that they were six months ago
--They played a rock-i-fied version of my fav M&K song "Light Speed"
--Because there were more people, it wasn't as obvious that I was the only one over age 17

Before the show I told Matt and Kim how much Paige loves to dance to their music (giving away that I was older than 17). They seemed to think that was radicool. I told them I would send them a video of her sweet dance moves.

Scared, well, you know...

Paige loves pushing buttons. The VCR, the remote, cell phones - no piece of electronics is left untouched if she has anything to say about it. Last weekend we were at Traci's parents and Paige was busy pushing every button and turning every knob on the stereo. After about five minutes of playing with it, she finally found the on/off button. Because she had been playing with the volume knob, when she finally turned the thing on it was really LOUD. The music blasted and she jumped back with a look of absolute terror on her face. And then came a very bad smell...

Extra! Extra!

What's great about the Simpsons is that it creates such crazy fanaticism. Yesterday I needed to see my favorite Simpsons headline "Local Man Loses Life, Pants." Of course I was able to find a site that shows all of the different newspaper headlines that have appeared on the show. Here are some of my favorites:









For more, check click here.

Atak Of Da Bal-Hedz

I have been mostly uninterested by the thought of a new Smashing Pumpkins album. Because I really like both D'Arcy and James, I don't like the idea of reuniting a four-piece band with just two of the pieces. But hey, as far as recording goes, it was always Billy's thing anyway.

I finally heard the new single, Tarantula, over the weekend. I was very pleasantly surprised. There is a myriad of directions Billy could have gone with the new material - faux new wave like his solo record (which completely sucked), soft and pretty (which worked okay with Zwan), or deep and sludgy (like SP's last record, Machina).

What we get with this new single is the metal of Zero mixed with the swing and fretwork of Van Halen record. Totally rockin. Totally the right move. I am now officially curious to hear the rest of the record.

As for going to see the band in concert, still not interested. I can't really think of anyone to replace D'Arcy and James. Melissa Auf der Maur, maybe. But for James? Buckethead?! What's he doing since he quit Guns 'n Roses?

Tarantula [Mp3]