My New MP3 Player and a very funny comic

With the money I got for my birthday, I bought myself a new MP3 player on eBay. I got it for less than it is sold for in the stores, so I am stoked.


Here is what I put on it to start off: Bruce Springsteen's Devils and Dust and Darkness on the Edge of Town. And a new Irish band called "U2." I put an album of theirs called "The Joshua Tree" and a new recording of theirs calls "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." This band is really talented and mark my words, they will be a big success. Seriously, though, I only just recently started listening to The Joshua Tree. I always loved Rattle and Hum and Zooropa, but never got into Joshua Tree. Let me say this now: that album is really really good and it as a song on it about a coal mining town called "Red Hill Mining Town." which led me to think of good songs about coal mining (or in some cases, just mining in general):


North Country Blues by Bob Dylan
North Country Blues by Joan Baez
Fare Thee Well Old Ely Branch by Aunt Molly Jackson
The L&M Don't Stop Here Any More By Michelle Shocked
The L&M Don't Stop Here Any More By Johnny Cash
Red Hill Mining Town by U2
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean
Blood On The Coal by The Folksmen
Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen
Working in a Coal Mine by DEVO
1913 Massacre by Woody Guthrie


Shall I put them in order of best to worst? I shall.
1. North Country Blues by Joan Baez... (oh yeah, you heard me Dylan, I put Joan Baez's ahead of yours. I think her voice in the song, the narrator being a woman is more powerful than a man singing... when a woman tells the tale, it is of woe and helplessness... when a man sings the song it is of anger and emasculation.)
2. The L&M Don't stop here any more by Michelle Shocked
3. 1913 Massacre by Woody
4. Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen (When I die i don't want no part of Heaven, I would not to heaven's work well, I pray the devil comes and takes me to work in the fiery furnaces of Hell."
5. North Country Blues by Bob Dylan
6. Red Hill Mining Town by U2
7 Fare Thee Well of Ely Branch by Aunt Molly
8 L&M by Johnny Cash
9 Blood on the Coal by the Folksmen - that is the band in The Mighty Wind
10. Bad John by Jimmy Dean - my dad used to sing this song to me when i was a kid.
11 Working in a Coal Mine by DEVO


Other songs I remember my dad singing to me when I was a kid:
Rockin' Robin






peace,
mph

My Birthday

So I had a birthday yesterday. I am now 35 and I only have to work for like 28 more years. Niiiiice.



When I got home from work yesterday, Fiona was standing at the back door waiting for me. When I opened the door she yelled "Haaappy BIRthday, Daaaaddy!!!!" that was really awesome.



We had my favorite, Cream of Broccoli Soup. Along with it, we had Baked Brie and crackers, and then some Ice Cream Cake. You can not go wrong with ice cream cake.



Amy, Fiona, and Mom Z gave me a gift certificate to the local hobby shop to help me start building my model railroad layout. Here is what i am hoping it will look like:





Seriously, though, Larry has a really cool layout and I am thinking of setting something up in the basement. Fiona really likes Larry's layout and I am thinking it will be something she and I can do together.





Here is a comic that I think is kind of funny. It is a true story of something that Amy said a few months ago. I don't know why, but lately I have been coming up with decent comic ideas, I write them down, and then, like 3 months later, I draw them. I'd like to start drawing comics a lot more, like I used to.





Amy is concerned that you can't tell that the woman in the comic is Amy. I think it goes without saying. She says it is easy to pick me out because I am wearing a Phillies hat. She said "maybe when you draw me, you can draw something at people associate with me" So I think that all future Amy comics will be of her doing pottery. I don't know how that will play out, but I suppose we will see. Or perhaps, I will just start drawing her with a flower on her shirt or something like that.

Peace
mph

Couple of Things and an outdated comic

The Eagles season is over. It was a fun season. My favorite thing about the Eagles season was that Fiona and I (and sometimes Amy) would go up to Mom and Dad's to watch the game every sunday. So I will miss that. Mom asked me if I'd want to come up and watch all the Phillies games this year. That would be a monumental endeavor, but I think it would be fun. I don't suppose it will happen, though.



My favorite part of the Eagles game on saturday was when they showed that woman in the crowd with an offensive t-shirt . Mom missed it and i said "that will be on YouTube by halftime."
YouTube proved me wrong, but it was up there by Noon on sunday.



Here is a comic I wrote around Halloween:

I think it would have been funnier if Amy would have said "makerel" or "walleye" but then i could not have written "a true story" behind it.

this and that and 3 crappy comix

the work year is over and i managed to do something i have never done before - i actually carried over some vacation time from this year to next year. Somehow I managed to not use 1 hour of vacation and will have the pleasure of 3 weeks and one hour of vacation time in 2007, instead of merely 3 weeks.

Andrew Patrick now has his own blog and it is a lot of fun to look at. if you look closely, you may see some of the familiar faces you see here at scrapple dog.

Christmas Day at Mom & Dad's house was awesome. Instead of giving a detailed description of everything that went on, i have decided to just throw out the following words:

Cheesy Potatoes.

Tigger Fishing Rod.

Le Cruset Pot

Swiss Army Watch.

Dad's Home-made Hot Sauce.

The Eagles Rule.

The new beck cd rules. It is reminiscent of Odelay and I find it more enjoyable than Midnight Vultures and Guero (i never really was all that nuts for Guero). I think Mutations and Odelay are still his best two "popular" albums. And One Foot In The Grave is still his best album. Stereopathetic SoulMaure still has the best name but is not his best album.

And to anyone who confuses Beck with Jeff Beck, let me say this - Jeff Beck sucks. I don't care if he was in the Yardbirds... the only decent member of the Yardbirds was Jimmy Page... you all know that Eric Clapton never did anything original - NEVER. He made millions ripping off the poor black musicians of the deep-south and then ripped off George Harrison. Screw Clapton.

We hung out with the Zecchinellis and Steiners on Dec 26 and a good time was had by all. It was great to see Jason and Fiona was super excited about seeing Kellen.

somthing funny that was put into the Michael P. Holland lexicon a few days before Christmas was saying "nothing says 'blessed be the Christ child like ..... "

Examples: Amy said "I'm hungry." Then I said "How about Burger King... Nothing says 'blessed be the Christ child like a Bacon-Double Cheeseburger."

or: Mom Z says: "What's on tv?" And I say "Nothing says 'blessed be the Christ Child' like a little Law and Order:SVU."

Also, you don't actually have to say it out loud... you can just think it. Like when I went outside to have a ciggie on Christmas Eve. I thought, "Nothing says "blessed be the Christ Child' like a nice Camel Light."

now: 3 unfunny comix. All three are TRUE STORIES!!

Zonenbrilla involves a young woman i work with.

Teamwork involves two women i work with and Blythe's response to their 'comversaion.'

Beach is just not funny.

this comic is also reminiscent of when Dritsas came to visit me in Vermont and was wearing a black leather jacket and i asked him if he got it at Donny Brosco's Garage Sale.

all right.

peace. see you in 2007.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas!!

So far we are having a wonderful Christmas Day. We got up around 7:00 and went downstairs to see what Santa Claus brought for Fiona.

Fiona was very happy with all the loot under the tree.

Santa brought her an Easel and art supplies.

He brought her an Easy-bake oven, cooking utensils, an apron and a chef's hat.

He brought her a train.

Santa brought Fiona a backpack.

Santa brought her a Greetings From Asbury Park t-shirt.

And he he got her a sled... now if it would only snow a little.

I guess I avoided the naughty list, because I received a few gifts myself. Fiona gave me the Onion's Page a day calendar, Amy gave me the new Beck CD. And Mom Z gave me the most awesome Christmas any son-in-law could possibly ask for: A bottle of Woodford Reserve Whisky!

Santa was very good to Amy also, she got a Yoga DVD and she got Amy Sedaris' "I like you: Hospitality under the Influence" book.

Mom Z also got a visit from St. Nick. He brought her a crucifix for her new home.

We had a wonderful Christmas Morning and we are looking forward to spending the rest of the day relaxing with our family in Reading, Celebrating Aunt Louise's birthday, and of course, watching the Eagles play the Cowboys. I do hope that the icing on the Christmas Cake is a big win for the Eagles.

Peace be with you all.

Merry Christmas!

Rudolph

Last week, I watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I remembered why I hate it so much. The only good thing is that Burl Ives sings in it, but even that is countered by the fact that he holds a banjo, but there is no banjo music. Whatever.

Any way, I decided to re-release the interview I did with Rudolph a few years ago.

This was originally published in Smokin' Dog, Volume III, Issue 5, November/December 2000. I hope you enjoy.

INTERVIEW WITH RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
Last week, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer came over for dinner and to be interviewed.
During the interview I found out some thingst that I later wished I hadn't (he's been to the Betty Ford Clinic several times, he's thrice divorced) and some things which, quite frankly, shocked the hell out of me (graduated Suma Cul Laude from Yale and he once had his name legally changed to Rudolph X). All in all it as been a roller-caster ride for one of Christmas' most popular icons.
So here it is, the interview with the Red-Nosed Reindeer. (I have taken te liberty to remove all expletives.)

SMOKIN' DOG: There has been a lot of specuation about yor childhood not being a happy one. Tell me about it.
RUDOLPH: Well, it wasn't a happy one at all. My parents, especially my father, were very ashamed of me. He made that abundantly clear. He would cover my nose with coal so that people couldn't see it. I was his only son and he was ashamed of me. And then he'd yell at my mother telling her it was her fault... because she drank when she was pregnant with me. But that was his fault as well. he was a speed freak. He was on coke all the time, I mean, he was the lead puller and all.

SD: How about the infamous flying tryouts?
R: Well it's all right there on tape. I flew further than anyone else, and I got cut because of my nose. I mean, what the hell is up with that? My nose has nothing to do with my ability to fly.

SD: But you did lead the sleigh later. Was that a bittersweet victory?
R: Hell no. The only reason I lead the sleigh was because they could exploit my freakish quality. I mean do y ou honestly think they would have let me lead the sleigh if I didn't have the nose? And when I did lead the sleigh, you hear my dad singing a different tune. He was all "That's my son!! That's MY son!" Two days earlier he verbally abused me to the point that I decided to run away and now he's proud of me?

SD: Why did you run away?
R: Well, I got to the point where i just wanted to kill. I mean I wanted them dead, but I am not a violent person, so I removed myself from the situation.

SD: Ket's talke about Santa a little. Do you have issues with him?
R: Yes I do. For starters, he doesn't pay his people what they are worth. He works them elves ten hours a day six days a week at starvation wages. He owns the company store and all the houses that the elves are required to rent. All the wages he pays them, he takes right back. And if they miss one day of work, he docks them a week's wages... Santa is a very greedy bastard, he's aobut one thing and one thing only: money, money, and more money. And that guy is worth well over $100 Billion. He's got that sweet deal with Coca-Cola, he's got deals with every single company, and he's got a contract with every mall and department store in America.

SD: But he does good works, right? I mean he gives to the rich and poor alike.
R: Yeah, but it's all about image. Image is everything to that jerk. He ain't out there giving the poor kids the PlayStations and the rich kids the misfit toys. He gives the poor kids the crappy toys.

SD: How about the working conditions?
R: Horrible. I tried like mad to unionize that place, but I couldn't get enough people to stand together. I mean, a strike on December 24 would have shut that place down, man. Do you know how much potential for power there is for the elves on Christmas Eve? They could cancel Christmas if they wanted, but any time there is a Union talk around the shop, Santa comes in and throws them a couple of bucks and that quells the uprising...And it's even worse for the Reindeer. We're expendable. There are literally tens of thousands of deer out there...The reindeer fly around the world, the entire world, in one night. Santa goes home and has a nice meal and goes to sleep for ten days in his huge bed. Do you know what the reindeer get? An apple, some carrots and wool blanket in the stable. Do you know how incredibly cold it gets at the North Pole in the middle of winter?

There isn't anything eles to really report. He went off about the pressures of being the only reindeer in the world with his own song adn how the other deer can't handle the pressure, etc. etc. That part of the interview was so laden with foul language that I couldn't even put it into a coherent sentence.

He did have one parting thing to say: He does hope that everone in the world has a very Merry Christmas.

Nona's Big Girl Bed

God Bless Ikea.

Amy and My Mom went down to Ikea a few weeks ago and picked up a bed for Fiona. Today Fiona and I put it together. She loves it already.

Fiona showing WHY she needed a big girl bed!

Me trying got figure out which 2 of the 837 pieces I needed to put together first.

Nona helps me put some of the bolts in place.



Nona in her New Big Girl Bed!!

After putting her bed together, Fiona and I went up to town to celebrate with some pizza at Nino's, we went to Lititz Springs Park to feed the ducks, stopped by the Lititz Welcome Center to see if there was a Christmas Parade (there is not), we stopped by the Manger Scene to look at Baby Jesus, we got some Chocolate Milk, and then we went to Bombergers to get something to fix our leaky pipe.

Then we came home and Fiona went right up to her bedroom to lay in her big girl bed... She seems too excited about it to sleep though. She is down there right now climbing in her bed then climbing out of her bed. Climbing in, climbing out.

It makes me happy that she is so excited about her new bed.

Before it was even close to being done, she started putting stickers on it. She is already personalizing it and I am thinking it will only be a matter of time before it is completely covered in stars, hearts, bird, and hello kitty stickers.

Peace,

MPH

Trip to the Hunting Camp

Veteran's Day weekend is my favorite weekend of the year.

I go up to the cabin with Dad and Larry and we hunt grouse. My dad and Larry are both Veterans of the Armed Services, so I am glad to be able to spend the weekend with them.

I rode up to the camp with Larry on Thursday evening. We stopped at Mom Zimmerman's house to pick up a recliner for the camp. Amy's Mom no longer needs the chair, and it is still in great condition, so it will make an excellent addition to the camp.

Dad tests out the new recliner

We got to the camp around 10. Dad was already there with jackdog.

On Friday morning, we got up and hunted. Jackdog sniffed out a few grouse and the tried to make a break for it. I shot one, but the other three got away. I thought I shot another one, but apparently I did not. As the second bird was flying I was already hoping to revel in the glory of having two dead birds in the air without Dad and/or Larry even taking a shot. After I shot the bird, Jackdog sprung into action. He ran directly to the bird, pinned it down, picked it up and retrieved it to Dad and handed it to him. It was really neat to see.
Me and Jackdog with my first grouse.

We then hunted on Larry's property along the old logging road. Jackdog flushed one bird that Dad shot. Dad and I both saw the bird on the ground and Jack went right to the bird but it was no where to be found. Dad and I both swear we saw Jackdog pick up the bird, but apparently we were mistaken. We looked and looked and could not find that bird.

We then hunted down along where the old electric fence was. We always get birds out there. One took off but none of us got a shot at it. We had a few more flushes, a few more shots, but no more dead birds.

After hunting, Dad went down to Long Pond to try to catch Mr. Big, the gigantic brown trout that has been taunting him for 3 years. On Thursday, dad got him to take the bait, but was unable to set the hook and Mr. Big swam away. Friday was no better. Dad fished for about an hour and a half with no bites at all. That fish is the bane of my old man's existence.

On Friday evening we had some stew I made and we watched Patton on AMC.

Saturday was dreary, so we got out early to hunt Larry's property again. As we walked the old logging road it started to really pour. We had no luck. So we went back down to the electric fence and hunted that. One bird took off, Larry fired and got it. Again, Jackdog went to the bird, pinned it down and retrieved it.

We got back to the camp, made a fire and relaxed for the evening.

I had brought a bottle of Ridgemont Reserve 1792 Bourbon and we put a hurting on it and on a bottle of Woodford Reserve that Larry had brought with.

It was a great weekend and I am already looking forward to next year's trip.

Acorns - horrible horrible acorns

The oak tree out back has blessed us this year with literally thousands of acorns.

Today i raked almost all of the acorns out into the street. It was a gignatic pain in the neck.

I also got 5 blisters from it.

I was thinking of making an acorn pie for thanksgiving, but have been unable to come up with a recipe for it. i did, however, find a bunch of recipes for other acorn stuff. Like acorn bread, acorn stew, and acron griddle cakes. The more i think about it, the more i think it is a crappy idea.

when i oribinally went to google to search for recipes for acorn pie, it came back with a ton of sites. However all of the recipes for "acorn pie" were actually for pecan pies. ??? that don't make no sense. I have never heard of a pecan pie called an acorn pie.

My sister makes the best pecan pies. I was never a big fan of pecans, other than when my mom would make Pecan Puffs at Christmastime, but two or three years ago, Reen brought a couple of pecan pies for thanksgiving and they were delicious.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and here is why: It has all of the best parts of Christmas - the family togetherness and the gigantic meal - without all of the expense of buying gifts. There is no pressure with Thanksgiving - I don't have to worry about someone not liking what I got them. All i have to do is show up with a Pumpkin Pie, hang out with my family, listen to dad and snook talk about their folks, listen to Christo and Maureen make fun of me, and eat a ton of food. Then i get to sleep on the couch and watch football. What on earth could possibly be better??? oh yeah... and I have off from work the next day.

peace.

Trip to Massachusetts

As you all probably know, My sister had a baby 3 weeks ago, Andrew Patrick. This past weekend was Andrew's baptism. Amy is Andrew's Godmother. Saturday morning at 4:23 Amy, Fiona, Dad and I loaded up the Trailblazer and got on the road. It was windy and rainy the entire drive. It was possibly the 7 worst hours of driving i have ever done. But we arrived all safe and sound in Mashpee, MA and were very happy to see Maureen, Mark, Mom, and of course, Andrew Patrick.

About an hour after we arrived, Christo, Becky, Sara & Samantha arrived. We then spent the afternoon hanging out with Maureen, Mark and Andrew. It was very nice.

For Dinner, we went to Mark's parent's house. Amy and Fiona and I stayed at the Osler's house overnight. On Sudnay morning, we went to the church for the batism service which was very nice. (The baby that Rev. Showalter is holding in the picture on the website is not Andrew.)

We then adjoined to Mark & Maureen's house for lunch. Mark grilled some home-made sausage. He had pepper sausage and mole sausage. (It is pronounced moe-lay and has nothing to do with the annoying critters that make tunnels in your backyard.)

We then watched the Eagles get demolished by the Jaguars. And then watche the New England Revolution beat the Chicago Fire to advance in the MLS playoffs.

Then the real fun began. At around 7:30, Chris called Taylor to see how her weekend was. She said that Mom & Dad's neighbor, Joe, left a message on Chris' answering machine saying that there was a loud noise coming from Mom & Dad's basement. We tried to figure out how to get Joe into my folk's house to figure out what the problem is. To no avail. so the next thing you know, it is 8:23 and Amy, Fiona, Mom, Dad and I are loaded up in the Trailblazer heading south. Needless to say we were not planning on driving home to pennsylvania at 8:30, and I can not for the life of me remember the last time I stayed up past 3:00 a.m., let alone driving at that hour. ALSO, let me remind you that sunday morning, we turned the clocks back, so not only was it 3:48 when we got home, but my mind and body was thinking it was 4:48. But we got home just fine. Fiona and Amy slept from Mashpee to Maiden Creek, and Mom and Dad stayed up with me the entire ride. I was glad that Amy slept because I knew that if I needed her to drive, it would be best if she had some rest. I was concerned that we would get to new Jersey and I would start getting really sleepy and I might need Amy to step in and take over.

We stoped once for gas and some Newman's Own coffee at McDonalds. The coffee kept me wide awake from Connecticut straight through to M0m & Dad's house. God Bless Paul Newman... is there anything he can't do?? Anyway, we got home and everything was fine... the sump pump was stuck in the "on" position. About 10 minutes after we realized everything was okay, i crashed out and went to sleep. I got up this morning and had some dunkin donuts, relaxed and then cam home to Lititz.

What an exciting weekend. We had a great time seeing everyone. I thought it was great that Andrew Patrick got to see all of his grand parents, aunts, uncles, and all but one of his cousins.

Maureen and Mark look really good and Andrew is just a little angel. Throughout the entire church service, and during the baptism itself, he did not make a peep.

Fun fact: He was the 30th baby to wear the McDevitt family baptismal gown. The baptismal gown is over 60 years old.

I am looking forward to our next trip to Massachusetts... I only hope that the drive to and fro are considerably less memorable.

It's CIDER TIME!!!

On a beautiful crisp fall day there is nothing more fun than pressing out some apple cider.

Larry called me on Thursday to tell me that he had picked a bunch of apples to make some cider, so on Sunday, Fiona and I met up with Dad up at Larry's house to make apple cider.

We got to Larry's house around 10:00 and 4 hours later we had 6 and a half gallons of fresh apple cider.

Fiona helped every step of the way. She would take the apples out of the wheelbarrow and into the kitchen where they were washed and cut by Larry. Then the quartered apples were brought out to the press. Fiona helped put the apples into the grinding mechanism and tried to turn the grinding wheel. (She usually got help from her dad or from her Pop-pop. As we were pressing the cider, she was very instrumental as the qualty-control department. Larry gave her a little plastic cup that she must have filled 4 or 5 times to drink the freshest possible apple cider there is. After we would press a couple of pecks, we would put the pomus into a bucket that Fiona helped carry to the compost pile.

She also helped as we bottled the cider holding the strainer so that no apple chunks or seeds got into the bottles.

It was a perfect day. Spending time with Fiona, Dad, and Larry making apple cider.

Here are some photos from the day.

peace






oh yeah, after the cider operations, we went back to mom & dad's house and watched the Eagles beat up the Cowboys. Awesome.

Reen and Mark and Andrew

Congratulations to Maureen and Mark on the birth of their son, Andrew.

I love Maureen and I love Mark.

I know that their family love will only grow with the birth of Andrew.

I love the name Andrew. There are about 30 Saints named Andrew, so I will focus only on St. Andrew the Apostle. He is the patron saint of fishermen. I think that is very appropriate considering Little Andrew will probably be a fisherman if he follows in his father and grandfathers' footsteps.

BRUUUUUUCE!!!!!!!!

Today, as you all know, is Bruce Springsteen's Birthday.

I will spare you the "why Bruce is so important to me" speech, i think everyone who reads this blog has already heard that little speech and also, i don't think many of the care. Therefore, I will go straight to Listville.

Number of Times I have seen Bruce with a state-by-state breakdown
9 - 4 times in New Jersey, 3 times in Pennsylvania, once in Massachusetts and once in New York.

Ranking of the concerts by best OVERALL BRUCE experience
1. 8-27-99 - Boston Mass (Front Row Show)
2. 11-8-05 - Philadelphia, PA - Bruce Solo on the Devils and Dust Tour
3. 8-9-03 - Philadelphia, PA - The Rising Stadium Tour

Ranking of the concerts by MOST MEMORABLE for me
1. 8-27-99 - Boston Mass - I sat in the front row.
2. 6-20-06 - Camden, New Jersey - I went with Seamus, Maureen, Mark, and Amy
3. 11-8-05 - Spectrum, Philadelphila PA - Devils and Dust tour. I went by myself and really enjoyed it. It was, by far and wide, the best Bruce concert I have seen.
4. 7-27-03 - Giant Stadium, New Jersey - I went with my Mom and Aunt Louise, Amy, and Jason & Kristin.
5. 4-26-06 - Asbury Park New Jersey - Dude, it was Bruce IN Asbury Park playing the 4th show with his new band... AND i met his banjo player before the show.
6. 6-26-93 - Madison Square Garden, NY - Dude, Matthews called me with free tickets 2 days before the show. He sang Atlantic City.
7. 8-9-06 - Lincoln Financial Field - Phila PA - I went with Amy, Matthews, and Jamie. Two Words: Trapped and For You played back to back.
8. 8-7-99 - Continental Airlines Arena New Jersey - We drove down from Vermont with Joe and Tammy - It was Amy's first Bruce show and my first show seeing the E Street Band. We had really bad seats, but dude, it was the boss.
9. 8-29-02 - My First Bruce show. It was awesome and he sang Atlantic City and it was at the end of a really shitty summer for me, so I was stoked.

Ranking of concerts by SETLIST
1. 08-09-03 - The Linc in Philly - He opened with Adam Raised a Cain, and played Trapped, For You, She's the One, Spirit in the Night, Badlands, and Thunder Road. THEN he played Hungry Heart, Glory Days and Born to Run back-to-back-to-back. THEN Rosalita and Dancin' in the Dark.

*I am not even going to have a second place because first place was so freaking awesome. Dude, he played Trapped. TRAPPED!!! Can you believe that???? How great is that? When it started, I grabbed Amy's arm and yelled "IT'S TRAPPED... HE'S PLAYING TRAPPED." I then looked at Jamie and yelled "DO YOU KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE? HE'S PLAYING TRAPPED!!!." It was like that zen moment when you just thinking "man, this is awesome, I am seeing Bruce with Amy and Matthews and it's cool... the sound it this place isn't the best, but hey it's cool, I'm seeing the boss and he's rocking The Ties that Bind..." and then the moment you've been waiting for at every single Bruce Concert you've ever been to actually happens. The organ starts... by the 3rd note, all the knowledgable Bruce fans in the crowd know what is happening and simultaneously roar their collective approval of what they will know will possibly be the best 5 minutes and 30 seconds of all the Bruce concerts they have ever seen combined. And it is true, it was the best song I have ever heard live. Of all the bands and all the concerts I have ever seen, hearing that song was the pinacle of all songs ever.

Bruce played that songs in the United States only 3 times that summer. He has like 500 songs in his arsenal and I was lucky enough to get to hear Trapped.

3. 08-27-99 - Front Row Show - He opened with Candy's Room, The Ties that Bind and Adam Raised a Cain. He then played a five-song string of Mansion on the Hill, Point Blank, Youngstown, Murder Inc. & Badlands. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out, New York City Serenade, Jungleland, and Raise Your Hand.

Kind of like Trapped, New York City Serenade was just so awesome... it was just bizarre that he would play it. It was almost surreal and I looked at the Bruce Geek sitting next to me and said "Is this New York City Serenade?" And he said "I think it is..." And we just kind of had this puzzled look on our faces. I remember thinking "at what point did Bruce say 'Tonight I am going to play what is possibly the weirdest, arguably the most audience-unfriendly song of my entire catalog.'" It is a song that is almost impossible to sing along to and would seem best suited to be played at a tiny theater with just a group of hard-core fans in the crowd. But who cares... I got to hear it and it was awesome. (again only played 4 times on the whole tour.)

4. 11-08-06 - The Spectrum, Philly on the Devils and Dust Tour - A handful of my favorite bruce songs played accoustic - you really can't go wrong. Atlantic City, Incident on 57th Street, Be True (on piano), Highway Patrolman, Devils and Dust, Johnny 99 sung through this thing that distorted his voice... it was really cool.

5. 08-07-99 - Continental Airlines Areana, NJ - Meeting Across the River and Jungleland back-to-back. Factory, Point Blank, Youngstown, Murder Inc, Badlands, Out in the Street, and Tenth Avenue Freeze-out in a row! Don't Look Back. Awesome.

Ranking of Concerts by PEOPLE I WENT WITH
1. 06-20-06 - Camden N.J. - Seamus, Amy, Maureen & Mark
2. 07-27-03 - Giant Stadium - Mom, Louise, Amy, Jason & Kristin
3. 08-27-99 - Front Row Show - Amy
4. 06-28-93 - MSG NYC - Matthews
5. 09-07-03 - Linc - Amy, Matthews, Jamie
6. 08-07-06 - Continental Airlines - Amy, Joe & Tammy
7. 08-29-92 - Manny, Choniere

SINGLE BEST BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CONCERT MOMENTS
1. Bruce slapped my hand - i think everyone knows that would be number 1.
2. Trapped
3. Candy's Room to open the Front Row Show
5. Seamus singing along to "Pay me my money down."
6. Seamus singing along to "Oklahoma Home."
4. Seamus asking me "What's for dinner?" while Bruce was singing Maria's Bed for the first time on the entire tour.
5. Be True on the Devils and Dust tour - he played it on the piano and screwed up really bad and had to start over... it was really neat to see.
6. Seeing my mom and aunt Louise rock with the boss.
7. Badlands at the Front Row Show - the crowd was really really into the whooaaoh - whooaoh- whooaoh part so after the song was over, bruce started playing the riff on his guitar again and the crowd picked up on it right away even though the band didn't know exactly what Bruce was doing... then Max picked up the beat and then the rest of the band... that was freaking awesome.
8. Amy rocking with the boss in the front row and pumping her fist in the air and singing the words all wrong.
9. Jungleland at the New Jersey show.
10. Atlantic City on the Devils & Dust show.

Peace.

p.s.
when bruce sings Atlantic City, he says "Now there's trouble busing in from out of state."
A few weeks ago at Fiona's birthda party, seamus was playing my banjo and started to sing Atlantic City, and he said: "Now there's trouble coming in from outerspace."
seamus is part of the folk process. I hope someday seamus records an album and uses his alternate lyrics for Atlantic City.

I drew this picture of Seamus singing his version of Atlantic City:

Birdhouse

My dad made a bluebird house for us. Amy painted the bird on it. We have a couple of sparrows who are interested in renting it, but none have signed the lease yet.

Another Unfunny Comix

Yeah, I like this one, but it is really not that funny and is a fairly obvious joke.... but I suppose that is why I am so easy to please - obvious jokes make me laugh.

Unfunny Comix

Addendum to my allergy math problem

1 - the equation i wrote should have said A + B > C. But I suppose there was a typo in there.

2 - after a long conversation with Jason, I came to realize that is should have actually been more like A x B > C.

Jason and I went to the Reading Phillies last night with My Dad and Christo. It was a good time. We had seats right behind home plate right down in front. It was the last home game of the season and there was a tribute to Scott Wertz, a Police Officer who died in the line of duty about 3 weeks ago. It was sad and very uplifting. Before the game, for the singing of the national anthem, about 40 kids ran out onto the field... they were all kids that Officer Wertz had coached in Little League. I thought that was very special and really neat to see. The Phillies wore these really cool jerseys that said Police with the first letter in the style of the Phillies Trademark "P."

peace

Amy and Nona are away so Mike will play

Yeah, Amy and Fiona are in Shamokin for a few days, (i am sure fiona will blog all about it), so i had two whole interrupted nights to play Risk on the computer.

I am practicing. Some day Zecchinelli and Dewey will be up for a game and I need to be prepared.

Here is a list of things I didn't do while Amy and Fiona were in Shamokin:
1. The laundry
2. The dishes
3. Cook for myself
4. Clean the car
5. Make the bed
6. Take out the trash
7. Take out the compost

I hate when I am home alone. I am wicked unproductive and I just feel like a lump on a log. I sit at work and make a list of things I need to do when I get home, like work on my calendar and get stuff ready for Fiona's b-day party. But instead, I get home, eat too much food, watch some tv, play Risk, eat some ice cream, and go to bed at like 11:30.

I am not faulting Amy and Fiona for going to Shamokin, I am actually happy that they go. Fiona loves seeing her MamMam and Aunt Sissy. It certainly is not their fault that I am lazy.

So Amy and Fiona will be home today. When I get home from work I will be back to normal. Hopefully I will be able to get some of my projects done.

peace

oh yeah... if anyone likes podcasts, i recommend The Monkey Box. It is wicked funny. Kind of reminds me of Dritsas's Bad Hair group. I feel like such a Gen-X loser when I recommend podcasts that I like. Like I am cool because I have an MP3 player and I don't think many of my friends do. So I am like that rich jackass from high school who always had the new gadgets 6 months before anyone else. That being said, i think MP3 players have been out for like 10 years, so instead of me feeling like a Gen-X loser for recommending a podcast, all you 24 - 38 somethings who are in the target market for electronic gizmos who DON'T have an MP3 player - perhaps it is you who is the losers.

Disclaimer: I don't actually mean that you are losers, I was just saying it to be sarcastic and/or funny. Please don't be insulted... unless you truly are a loser, in which case I might recommend some therapy or a Dr. Phil book.

Disclaimer 2 - i wrote this before work and didn't spell check.

Thank God For the Rain

In Taxi Driver, psychopathic self-righteous cabbie Travis Bickle says: "Thank God for the rain which has helped wash away the garbage and trash off the sidewalks."

Here in ScrappleDog, handsome and slender self-righteous idiot Michael Holland says "Thank God for the rain which has helped wash away the dust and pollen out of the air."

It is a beautiful Sunday Morning here in Lititz. It is beautiful because it is raining. As you know, we had a really really heavy storm at the end of June. Since then we have had extremely dry weather for about. The aforementioned storm gave all the plants and trees and flowers and other leaf, acorn, and pollen-producing entities all the juice it needed to do their best to agitate my allergies. And they are doing a great job at it. But they are not alone as the culprits in bothering my extraordinarily sensitive sinuses... I am as much to blame as they.

It's an algebra problem, really. A +B <> is the amount of pollen, dust, mold spores, dog hair, etc. B is how much time I voluntarily spend in the pollen, dust, etc. And C is an allergy reaction that will pretty much incapacitate me for the rest of the day.

The big thing here is NOT the amount of things in the air, it is how much time I spend out there. The things in the air are just doing their own thing. Their job is to create new life by spreading their spores all over the place. And the dust, it doesn't really have a job, it is a vacuous non-entity that just goes where it is told to go by the air currents that are it's masters. The big thing here is who on earth I think I can just go out there and work in the dust and pollen and get away with it. Let's look at the case studies, shall we:

The past 3 weekends have been marked by allergy attacks.

August 13: I spend the preceding 2 days and the morning of the 13th at the Buck Hollow Hunting Camp. There is a dirt road in front and near the camp and dump trucks working on the Lyman Run Dam project kick up an ass-load of dust all weekend long. Also, there are a lot of allergens in the air that my body is not used to, so I have very little immunity against those things. Result: After spending a day at Larry Land, riding in a covered wagon on a dirt road, sitting outside in the dusty air, and vacuuming the camp, the ride home was a very very long one with me sneezing and wiping my nose incessantly.

August 20: About 2,000,000 acorns have fallen off our oak tree. I decided it would be the perfect time to rake them. So I did. I over-exerted myself, did a fair amount of heavy breathing that brought in a lot of allergens and spent the next day at Charolotte's baptism and party sneezing and wiping my nose incessantly.

August 26: I replaced a few pieces of wood on the back porch. Again - outside, some physical exertion with heavy breathing, but more importantly: A whole lot of saw dust. I wore a bandana around my nose and mouth, but to no avail. My allergies started bothering me. Fiona and I then went to Mom and Dad's where Jackdog didn't help my allergy situation. I am not "allergic" to Jackdog, but because I am not around him too much, he does have the ability to assist in working my allergies. So I spent the balance of yesterday at my folks's place and up at Cabela's with dad sneezing and wiping my nose incessantly. The nice thing about yesterday was that it was a Saturday and I didn't have to work the next day... Therefore, I was able to treat my allergies not only with Fexofenodrine, but also with my favorite over-the-counter medicinal aide: Maker's Mark Whisky.

If I want to NOT have allergy attacks, then I need to stop over-doing it when I am outside. I can mow the lawn, but I shouldn't follow it by trimming the hedges and turning the compost. If I am going to fix the back porch, I need to subcontract the cutting of the wood to someone else, i.e. Dad, Christo, Jason, Amy, or Fiona. Doing projects is not the problem, the problem is that I am an idiot who needs to be doing projects in order to feel like I have accomplished something. Otherwise it is Monday morning and I get to work and Miranda says to me: "What did you do this weekend?" And I say "Nothing," and I feel like I wasted two days.

So the problem here is this: I do things that I shouldn't do that are going to bother me. But I can't spend the entire summer not mowing the lawn or getting chores done either. So what can I do? I can resign myself to fact that I have some problems that really bother me and I have to live with it. There are people in the world who have it a lot worse than me so I can't really complain too much about it. I think this attitude is the best thing to have because I can either sit around being incapacitate and being really pissed off about it, or I can say "hey, this is my body telling me to sit down and relax for a few hours. Have a tea-party with Fiona, watch Baby Einstein with Fiona, do the crosswords (which is kind of hard because I am sometimes out of it mentally and the crosswords are a lot harder that way), rent a movie, watch the Phillies on TV, play Risk on the computer, or take a nice long nap."

But, I can still be thankful that the rain is here and will hopefully keep some of the nasty allergens out of the air for a few days. And I can count down to November when the hard frost comes and kills off all the pollen producers.

Peace.

Not much going on

Nothing exciting in the world of MPH the past few days.

Our windows are going to be installed in a few days. I am stoked about that. Hopefully our gas bill will go down significantly in the near future.

I put up the birdhouse that dad made for us. That was fun. I hope we soon have birdies living in it.

I raked the acorns in the yard. It didn't take as long as I expected, but it was a gigantic pain in the thumb. I got a really nasty blister. Here is the kicker: I raked a few thousand acorns and there are about 20,000 more to rake over the next few weeks. They rain down and they hurt quite a bit if you get hit on the head. I am concerned that Nona's b-day party will be somewhat dampened if there is a downpour of acorns while everyone is sitting under the oak tree.

Sunday we went to Charolette Huck's baptism. It was nice to see Bayard and Emelie and get to hang out with them for an afternoon.

Peace.

Sorry so boring.