Burning Xmass Spirit

Athens' giant Christmas tree burns in front of the Greek parliament in Athens December 8, 2008. Protesters set fire to a major department store in central Athens and torched the city's giant Christmas tree outside parliament as anti-government protests worsened.

The last march of the Battle Bus

I finally listed the Battle Bus for sale today. I can't express the sadness in my heart at seeing her go.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/957730248.html

Some times I miss the old days

I was looking through some photos tonight trying to find some stuff for a Station's ad. I came across pictures of my first Muay Thai fight. It's hard to articulate the feelings it stirs up. I'm happy at Nak Muay gym and where things are now, but I also miss the old days. That fight was one of the best experiences of my life.

Stations and Lost Cause "Speak Truth To Power" winter tour

Lost Cause and Stations are going out for a three show mini tour first week of February 2009.
Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit.

I can't wait. Both bands have been wanting to do this for awhile. It's hard getting everyone's schedule together.

These little one off tours always make me happy. They're the kind of show I hope young kids see and ten years later they remember it as " I saw them back in the day for ten people and they destroyed". I saw Aspirin Feast in 1989 when I was 18. There were less than ten people, and it was awesome.

Lots of work to be done getting ready. Long practices, putting together outreach materials, rent the van, book the gigs, get in the van.

Midwest here come the angry adults.

Reduce. Reuse. Object. Refuse - frugal living

Kristi and I have been trying to reduce our consumption and improve upon our urban perma-culture work. The main reason for becoming more frugal is money. The main reason for being more environmentally conscious is it aligns with our politics regarding capitalism and consumerism.

There is a great blog i read called Frugal For Life. They recently had listing of ways people are trying to live more frugal. Here is my contribution to that train of thought.

1. Shop at food co-ops and CSA farms when possible
2. Netflix instead of renting movies from video store
3. Buy some of our clothes and other items at thrift stores and yard sales
4. Drove a mini school bus that ran on used vegetable oil
5. Now just have one car instead of two (bus engine went)
6. Grow a good portion of our own food in an urban garden
7. Pay off our higher interest debts with a low interest loan from credit union
8. Sell off things we no longer are using
9. Torrent books and music
10. Follow a monthly spending budget for non-essentials
11. Bring lunch to work
12. Do our own home maintenance

Let the Right One In

I checked out "Let the Right One In" last night. Rather awesome. Creepy and atmospheric. It's a movie about a vampire without having to be blatant about it. Just another case where it seems like foreign movies overshadow what passes for creativity in the US.

Will work for food / .NET experience

I've been at my current position for six months now, and I haven't been doing much .NET work. I can already feel the limited knowledge I have starting to fade. I've been working pretty hard for the last two years to make the transition from "get it working" scripter to knowing what I'm doing .NET programmer. Problem is finding a job willing to take someone on with limited experience.
Suggestions?

Derek