And tonight at Detroit Bar

I'd do some guest list action but... it's free.
So come haaaaaannngggg!!!

Doods and Doodettes

We Ann Lynn boys will be playing at Spaceland tomorrow evening with The Colour boys, so come hang. If indeed you do want to come le' may know, and I'll see about doin' some guest list action. Sweet? Sweet.

I like the new Shins.

Other things get crazy.

Weekend - Rose, Suz, Jen and Shant in town, smokin' Church Warden's, and puttin' cocktails away.
Yesterday - Rio Bravo rehersal in Pasadena.
J11 - Rio Bravo show at Spaceland.
J14 - Ann Lynn rehersal in Riverside.
J15 - Ann Lynn recording at Sage and Sound.
J16 - Ann Lynn recording at Sage and Sound.
J17 - Ann Lynn recording at Sage and Sound.
J18 - Ann Lynn show at Spaceland.
J22 - Ann Lynn show at Detroit Bar.
J26 - Ann Lynn show at Morongo.
J27 - Wife and I to Vegas, maybe? By the looks of things, maybe not.
F11 - Possible Ann Lynn show at The Knitting Factory.
F24 - Possible Ann Lynn show somewhere else.
In Between - Work and Date Wife as much as possible.

Work gets crazy.

When I first began working at DED&C, I was put out in the field, on the jobs, picking up trash and driving the rickety old trash truck to the dump and back. Work was easy above all, in fact the most difficult issue to cross my mind at the time probably went something like, "Do I, or do I not have enough time to finish a cigarette right now."
That was a few years back, and things have changed a bit. For example, yesterday I had to draw a picture half the size of a windshield, perfectly based on the following:

EXHIBIT "A" LEGAL DESCRIPTION

ALL THAT PORTION ON THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 11, TOWNSHIP 2 NORTH, RANGE 1 WEST, SAN BERNARDINO MERIDIAN, IN THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL PLAT OF SAID LAND, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:

BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE WEST LINE OF SAID SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 11 WHICH BEARS SOUTH 16'38" WEST 277.92 FEET FROM THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF LOT 339 OF TRACT NO. 1876, AS PER MAP RECORDED IN BOOK 27 OF MAPS; PAGES 49 TO 53 INCLUSIVE, RECORDS OF SAID COUNTY; THENCE SOUTH 89° 43'22" EAST 79.30 FEET TO A POINT ON THE WESTERLY LINE OF STATE HIGHWAY; THENCE ALONG THE WESTERLY LINE OF SAID STATE HIGHWAY SOUTH 7° 19'30" EAST 348.72 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING THENCE NORTH 39° 43'22" WEST 125.762 FEET TO THE WEST LINE OF THE SAID SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 11; THENCE ALONG THE SAID WEST LINE OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 11, NORTH 0° 16'38" EAST 126.08 TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE PROPERTY CONVEYED TO ROBERT M. LEONARD, ET UX IN THE DEED RECORDED DECEMBER 8, 1961 IN BOOK 5606, PAGE 413, OFFICIAL RECORDS; THENCE EAST ALONG THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID LEONARD PROPERTY TO THE SOUTHEAST CORNER THEREOF, SAID CORNER BEING A POINT IN THE WEST LINE OF THE STATE HIGHWAY; THENCE SOUTH TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING.

It was gnarles.

Happy '07

Merry Christmas

I'm stuck at work for a couple hours, thus I blog.
This morning I was thinking about the days when Derek and I, being about ten or eleven years old, would call each other on Christmas morning to tell each other what we had recieved. Things like Rock'em Sock'em Robots or F-Zero for Super Nintendo. Those were the golden days of being a kid.
We went to church last night for the Christmas Eve service where it was mentioned briefly that amongst the gifts that came with unending life through Christ on the night He was born, was our celestial body awaiting us in paradise. This reminder stuck with me pretty hard while I sat there with my head ache, my stye, my ever worsening eyesight, my sore back, and my heart burn. I can't tell if I sound like a big baby or a seventy five year old man, but oh how I look forward to better days sometimes.
Back to the aforementioned topic of gifts, I'm going to re-live a moment from those golden days and make my "phone call", which will only work if you reply in the same way.
A painters easel.
The complete Calvin and Hobbes hardcover boxset.
An Atari with built in games.
A new Wilco shirt and Tweedy tour DVD.
Muswell Hillbillies on vinyl.
An electric fireplace heater.
Reservations for dinner and a hotel in San Diego.
Bulfinch's Mythology
1000 places to see before you die.
And a book about the art of the Disney imagineers.

Now it's your turn. If you want.

So Pine Summit, or Nazi Germany, as our little circle of ex-employees like to call it, has given my parents the ol' boot due to their need for more prisoner hou-, I mean staff housing. The date that Der Führer gave mom and dad was Feb. 1st. However my old man is going to sit tight until at least the first of March, so that they can look for a house to buy or build.
In the twenty years that I've spent growing up in that house, I've racked up a few memories, and I would think most of my friends have as well being that we spent the better part of our high school days there bbq-ing and watching movies and playing games. So we were thinking of having a little get together before they leave. One last hurrah, and then we'll burn it down. Or if you happen to be in town between now and then, we'll max out there until they leave, and then we'll fill the house up with styrofoam popcorn. Or something. Let us know.

Awesome

The word, to me, can have several meanings.
1. To be more than just cool. "Man, that's awesome."
2. Being or getting inebriated. "Let's get awesome!"
3. To be super super dumb, and evoke feelings of, "Man I hate this" and "Why am I here" and "I just want to die".

With respect to reason #3, work today was, well, awesome.

Gladden Christmas party...

...after many a Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog.

Please pardon the lack of light.

I'm looking for a Clark W. Griswmmnnn.

It's that time of year, again.


I stole the following from Lindsay. I had to. I'm a sucker for these things. And Lindsay, yours ruled. Particularly your birthday.

11 LAYERS OF YOU

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE
Name: Matthew D. Pool.
Birth date: August 16.
Current Location: Big Bear.
Eye Color: Kind of brown on the outside, green inside.
Hair Color: Dark brown.
Righty or Lefty: Righty.
Zodiac Sign: Leo.

LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE
Your heritage: Irish, Italian, Danish and Welsh. My dad swears there's some African American too. I'll have to check on that one.
Your fears: Getting stuck in a long Taco Bell drive through, while having to pee.
Your weakness: Cream Cheese.
Your perfect pizza: The Vato from Maggios (shrimp, ham, roni, jalapeno, onion, cilantro).
Goal you'd like to achieve: Make a living.

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW:
Your thoughts first waking up: First, I'm going to slit those dog's vocal cords, then I'm going to burn them alive. And watch. Over a beer.
Your best physical feature: My double chin.
Your bedtime: In bed about 10:30, sudoku or book until 11:15ish.
Your most missed memory: Right now, Christmas as a kid.

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:
Pepsi or Coke: Diet A&W.
McDonald's or Burger King: Taco Bell.
Single or group dates: Group dates? Like me with my wife and Rosie? Sure.
Adidas or Nike: Vans.
Lipton Tea or Nestea: Tetley.
Chocolate or vanilla: Dark chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Double vanilla soy latte.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Take a shower: Usually every month.
Have a crush? YES!
Think you've been in love: It's known.
Want to get married? Too late.
Believe in yourself: Often enough.
Think you're a health freak: Every month, for about a day and a half.

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Gone to the mall: Does the Big Bear mall couNT HAHAHA?! no.
Been on stage: Once. We're slacking.
Been dumped: Nope
Gone skating: Skateboarding, for about 45 seconds.
Dyed your hair: With wet concrete? Yup.

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER
Played a stripping game: Like making candy canes? Sure.
Gotten beaten up: A homie punched me real hard once. Ask me sometime, I'd love to tell the story.
Changed who you were to fit in: I had alot to drink one time, and told some dudes that I liked them and their music, which I don't, very much.

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD
Age your hoping to be married: Why is this under "Getting Old"? C'mon.
Age you wanna have kids: Between now and 31.

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY
Best eye color: Brown
Best hair color: Dark.
Short or long hair: Long. I've come around.

LAYER TEN: WHAT WERE YOU DOING
1 MINUTE AGO: Thinking about when I want to have kids.
1 HOUR AGO: Doing some online Christmas shopping for the wife.
1 YEAR AGO: At this very moment? Not sure. Maybe pooping.

LAYER 11:FINISH THE SENTENCE
I LOVE: The ol' lady.
I FEEL: Like having a coctail, a Colorado Bulldog, real soon.
I HATE: Stupid, not smart, dumb ass little dogs.
I HIDE: A hammer under my bed, until I buy a gun.
I MISS: The Talbots, the Chapmans, Ty Watts, Rosie, Suz, the Blacks (all of them), Zack, beer, the shaggin wagon, Disneyland, Screeching Weasel, paintball, the tooth fairy, jr. high, King's Quest 5, Buck (the dog), Buck (the Matt), Chicago, concerts, crossing the line, 94.7 the wave, Norpain, and Nintendo. And probably a few more things.
I NEED: To do my fafsa.

Thanks.

"It would be easy to write a couple of fraudulent pages out of contrast between this shining spring day, the ripening fruit, the chicks filling plumply out in the barnyard, the rising wheat-and death at our elbow. I shall not write that couple of pages because I see no reason why the peace of a spring day should constitute a contradiction of the idea of death. Why should the sweetness of life be a matter for irony?" Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Flight to Arras
-a

I am depleted

And that doesn't even begin to describe it. But I'm stuck here at work for two more hours, thus, I blog. There are some days when music just sounds better. Today was, and is one of those beautiful days. Why is that? Could it be that these just happen to be the days when we slow down and listen? I mean really listen. There is always music. Always. Consuming the silence. And seldom do I hear it. Today I do. In particular a track called Feb. 14 from Drive by Truckers, and Don't Come Around Here No More from Mr. Petty, and what is fast becoming my new favorite record, a little piece called Muswell Hillbillies from The Kinks. They're good to me.
Back to being depleted, and that not even beginning to describe it, we did Disneyland yesterday with Nick and Laura, and got it done. We did Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates*, Jungle Cruise, Thunder Mountain, and picked up fast passes for Indiana Jones. That was all before lunch, which was at the Pizza Port. We then did Indiana Jones, went over to California Adventure, did Tower of Terror**, ate ice cream, met Jen and Shant, did California Screamin', Maliboomer, went back to Disneyland, did The Haunted Mansion***, The Tiki Room, followed by dinner in Downtown Disney, followed by the long ass drive back to Big Bear. So with that as well as work at 8am today, work being digging and installing a fence, I am depleted.

* I thought the changes were quite subtle, and this made me happy.

** Apparently there are 50 some possible variations of this attraction that one might experience. The one I got ruled!

*** This was my first Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion experience, and I was very impressed.

A big day for the donkey.

Due to the election results there have been a few things bouncing around the ol’ cabeza. A little change could be exciting. We shall see. Will the media, by and large leaning left, put some sort of halt to the doom and gloom economic predictions and the consistently negative reporting of the war in Iraq? And why is it that when an elephant wins, it’s due to corruption and cheating, and demanding a re-count? Just thoughts. Trust me, there’s no side taking. Actually, I’ve been leaning lately toward a sort of independent/libertarian fusion type of thing. Sometimes. Local results? I’m 50/50. Jessica’s law passed. That’s nice. Eminent domain, not so much, and that’s not nice. And what’s the deal with Parental notification? 80% support in the polls a week ago, and now nothing. Weird. Anyway, the first female Speaker of the House is elected. That’s cool. I’ve always thought that she looks like an aged Kate Beckinsale. And I like the College Access For All part of her Six for ’06, among other parts. So that’s that.

I’m trying that fruit detox fast for a couple days. Today is day one, and while I was out in the field spotting tree’s and shooting grades for a plot plan, I got the shakes. I heard you get weak but then it’s supposed to turn into energy. We’ll see. There is a tray of bread with this sauce that you put on top sitting next to me right now and I’m about to lose my mind. I will power through this. I will prevail.

Lost tonight.

"Ever’thing in Winston Salem is aginst th’ law

I’ma low pay daddy singin’ th’ high price blues."

More true than you know. Know what else is?

"I don't even care to shake these zipper blues, And we don't know,
Just where our bones will rest, To dust I guess."

Sorry. iTunes on shuffle. I'll stop.

Just an update. Nothing focused.

It get's dark early, and for the first time in my life, I don't mind it. What's the deal?

Remember this guy?



I carved him into my pumpkin, because he makes me laugh.

So Halloween is the night when 5th, 6th, and 7th grade girls dress up like harlots and hookers and walk around freezing their uncovered asses off all night. I forgot. I remember now. I can't wait to be a dad. Sweat pants and sweat shirts will be worn, covered with towels, and then a tarp, until the age of 18... I joke, but seriously.

We saw "The Prestige" last night. It's quite good. And Christian Bale is a great actor, and hot to Amber. And to me. Amber's hot to me too. They both are.

John Kerry is kind of a boob. Kind of a booby.

KBHR 93.3 The Bear acually had a good streak this afternoon. Short-lived, but good. It was Fleetwood Mac, followed by Ryan Adams, followed by Aimee Mann, followed by the song "mushaboom" by Feast. Yes, she said Feast, and that was the end of it.

Lost tonight.

Get informed.

I think that's it for now.

How was everyone's November first?

Create honkin' new post? O.K.

As I said a while back now, we unloaded our camera of a couple hundred some odd photos. Here are a few of them, in the order they were taken.

Josh and I sitting on a curb last Fall.


Christmas at our humble abode, pre snow.


Our humble abode, post snow.


Supper Club, pre Calzones!


Birthday Cake.


The wife with the new nephew, Owen, or Owee boy.


The Happiest Place on Earth.


Croquet at The Dunlap's.


Esme borrowing my boots for a day.


Amber saying goodbye to the old yeller lady.


Supper Club in Silverlake.


The Blair wedding in Laguna Beach.


Our hike to Castle Rock (site of first smooch).


Our couple of months living in L.A.


Esme meeting her distant Uncle Joey.


Bachelor party, pre Black wedding.


Black wedding.


John Steinbeck's house, Salinas, CA.


The Gamble House, Pasadena, CA.


Still The Happiest Place on Earth.


Our house #1. Bedroom.


Our house #2. Still Bedroom.


Our house #3. Bathroom.


Our house #4. Throne.


Our house #5. Dining Room.


Our house #6. Kitchen.


Our house #7. Living Room.


Our house #8. Still Living Room.


Josh at work.


Pumpkin pickin'.


Singing love songs at Big Sur.


On the grass at Bridge School.


And that pretty much brings us up to date.

Adieu.

(Sing)

We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Bridge-School-Benefit-who's-name-is-Neil-Young,
Because because because because becaaauuse,
Because of the wonderful skills-he-has-at-singing-and-playing-guitar-and-some-of-the-other-people-on-the-line-up-too.
Badabumbumbumbumbumbumbump.

This weekend will be alot cooler than that just was.

Wine.

Cheap Wine.

So the line-up is as follows:
Neil Young
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Brian Wilson
Foo Fighters
Trent Reznor
Death Cab for Cutie
Gillian Welch
Devendra Banhart
plus special guests!

Out of those, I'm excited to see the following:
Boris
Neil Young
Pearl Jam
Thee Brian Wilson
Foo Fighters
Death Cab
G. Welch
D. Banhart
and maybe the special guests!

Photos to follow will be many in numbers.

I like all my friends alot. All of them.

Catch you on the frip side.

Last night...

...was a blasty. Thanks to those who came. I kicked back quite a few, and there were times on stage when I thought things could get scary, but we managed and had lots of fun.
We were, and were amongst, performers who tend to make mistakes. When these errors occur we performers either brush them off or get a little sad and go home. No big deal. This weekend I will be watching performers who, when they slip-up... could die.



This is called the Opposing Climb. If you look closely you will see the #5 plane pass in the opposite direction just before they pull up. This will rule.

Son of a b.

When I left my parents house last night the score was tied at two. In the time that it took me to drive to the f-ing pub the Card's gained a four run lead and eventually beat the Padres out of the m-f-ing series. It was a bummer. Next year.

It costs $275.00 to replace my lost, piece of s, pain in the a, car key.
F! I think Amber and I will be sharing hers for a while.

Who enjoyed the Lost premier?

Who wants to be a buddy and join us at Detroit Bar on Thursday?

We play at nine.

Thats it.

Welcome to October.

My wife and I awoke this morning to the pitter patter of the first Autumn rain. I oozed out of bed with swollen eyes and felt my way along the bedroom wall, past the dresser to the cold metal of the bathroom door knob. I quickly came to after a hot shower. Coffee. The scent was thick and I was hot on the trail. I pulled on a pair of polyester pants and an old t-shirt. I tied my blue shoes and lobbed a corduroy jacket over my back. My wife handed me a cup of coffee and a fried egg sandwich. I kissed her twice and walked out the front door.

So it's Monday morning and I'm at the office in front of the computer. News readin'. Blog checkin'. Bill Handle listnin'. Phone answerin'. Calculator calculatin'. Not much else to say, I just felt like writin'.

I'm glad the Padres will play in the National League Division Series.

I'm excited to watch Boris rip my face off.

I'm excited to go camping, and go to Bridge School.

I'm getting a gold tooth today.

Welcome to October.