Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Visit her blog and wish her a happy birthday.

Goodbye, 1985.

I don't know who's driving this bandwagon but I'm getting off here. According to iTunes, Ashlee Simpson's new CD "I Am Me" is inspired by the sounds of the 80's The Cure, Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, and Joan Jett. So here's to all the bands that made that 80's sound popular again. Below is my "New Wave Revival" final playlist, casually collected over the past two years or so: the veterans, the early indicators, the punk rockers, the electropoppers, the blatant imitators, the unknown college bands, and the free downloads of the week. It's been fun. Now I'm going to see Nickel Creek.

(Alphabetically by song)

1251	The Strokes
An Honest Mistake	The Bravery
Another Sunny Day	Belle and Sebastian
Banquet	Bloc Party
Black Math	The White Stripes
Blood On Our Hands	Death From Above 1979
Bohemian Like You	The Dandy Warhols
Bom Bom Bom	Living Things
Born Into The World	Supersystem
C'mon C'mon	The Von Bondies
Can't Stand Me Now	The Libertines
Carpe Diem	Nebula
Chicago	Sufjan Stevens
Clocks	Coldplay
Club Foot	Kasabian
Cosmopolitan	Nine Black Alps
Danger Zone	Gwen Stefani
Decent Days And Nights	The Futureheads
Desperate Guys	The Faint
Eleanor Put Your Boots On	Franz Ferdinand
Everybody's Changing	Keane
Fall Behind Me	The Donnas
Float On	Modest Mouse
Freedom Fighters	The Music
Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine	The White Stripes
Good Sons	Starflyer 59
Gray Ghost	The Fever
Hello? Is This Thing On?	!!! Chk Chik Chick
Hung Up	Madonna
I Love You 'Cause I Have Too	Dogs Die In Hot Cars
I Predict A Riot	Kaiser Chiefs
I'd Rather Dance With You	Kings Of Convenience
Jerk It Out	Caesars
Kissing The Lipless	The Shins
Love In A Trashcan	The Raveonettes
L-L-Love	Astaire
Maps	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Me Plus One	Annie
Munich	Editors
My Coco	Stellastarr*
Never Win	Fischerspooner
No Revolution	The Explosion
One Of These Days	Doves
Ooh La La	Goldfrapp
Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)	Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
PDA	Interpol
Publish My Love	Rogue Wave
Reason Is Treason	Kasabian
Rebellion (Lies)	Arcade Fire
Reptilia	The Strokes
Shot Down	Nine Black Alps
Slow Hands	Interpol
Somebody Told Me	The Killers
Soul Meets Body	Death Cab For Cutie
Spitting Games	Snow Patrol
Still In Love Song	The Stills
Stop	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Stumblin'	Powderfinger
Submit	Hibernate
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand
The Air Near My Fingers	The White Stripes
The Rat	The Walkmen
The Sound Of Settling	Death Cab For Cutie
The W.A.N.D.	The Flaming Lips
Time Is Running Out	Muse
TKO	Le Tigre
Unconditional	The Bravery
Walk Idiot Walk	The Hives
Walking With A Ghost	Tegan and Sarah
Warning Siren	Tiefschwarz & Matty Safer
We Used To Be Friends	The Dandy Warhols

Dump Truck + Going Fast + Concrete Wall = Fun

Testing the strength of the concrete barrier used to protect government buildings. The 65,000 lb truck is going 50 mph.

Coupla fast bikes.

I'd like to know what these guys eat for breakfast.

Friends Worth Keeping

Meet the Muller family. From the left: Kaley, Deanne, Carol, Brooke, and Dan Muller.

Dan and I have been friends for so long, I can see the family resemblance in his kids. I met Danny in my first grade class, when he was just a little guy and his favorite word was “eyeball”.

We became best friends in third grade. He was a goofy, pesky kid; I was shy and withdrawn. Rejection from the social order cemented our relationship, in fact, for a few years it was pretty much the foundation of it. To be friends with us was to be a social outcast, so no one bothered to be our friend. I think we actually liked it that way, because we both feared that if a third person joined us, one of us would get left out.

Things changed a bit when I was home-schooled in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. Dan faced middle school alone, along with all the problems that come with it. But we had a paper route together, and Danny never hesitated to let me know all the things that were going on in his life. I think it was during this time that Danny became interested in spiritual things, and he often called on me for guidance. I always tried to answer the best I knew how, even though I had many questions myself.

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The paper route ended in tenth grade, and Danny’s father’s job transferred him to Minnesota at the start of our Junior year in high school. For three years, the only communication we had was one letter from him (I don’t remember if I ever wrote back) and a few phone calls. As I graduated from high school and left for college, I thought the time we had as friends was drawing to a close.

Unbeknownst to me, Danny grew up in those three years in Minnesota. Alone in a strange place, Dan soon found himself a social outcast. But he was determined not to let a repeat of New York happen there. He gained a reputation as a fighter, and with it, the self-respect that empowered him to move on from his past and create an identity he could be proud of.

I got a call toward the end of my Freshman year of college that Dan was getting married, and that I was to be in his wedding. I took a train out to St. Paul that summer, and met Dan at the station. He had become a stocky guy with a job as a garbage man. I met his new friends and his fiancée, and saw his apartment and the nice house his parents had moved into. But once again, when we were alone our main topic of conversation was spiritual things. Dan explained that there were a lot of different religions there in Minneapolis, and he informed me that he had become interested in Wicca.

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Dan called me during my Senior year of college, saying that he had been trying to lead his father to Christ. At first I was taken back by his statement, but it became clear to me in our conversation that he had become a Christian. At what time I can’t say, but it may have been as far back as the paper route days. I made it a priority after I graduated to go and visit him and his family out in Minnesota.

I took the trip in late August of this past year. We spent a week together, cramming as much activity into it as possible. We must’ve watched a half-dozen movies, went to the State Fair, went to the Renaissance Festival (where it always rains no matter what), made a couple of bonfires, shopped at the Mall of America, went to a Tagine show, and a whole bunch of other things, basically cramming two weeks into one. I had a great time with his kids. Carol and Kaley are two of the smartest and most sociable three and four-year-olds that I have ever met. How many three-year-olds can make a conversation with complete sentences and paragraphs? I would make the trip again just to see them. When the topic turned to spiritual things, we had to admit that neither of us were as close to God as we should be. I was encouraged though, that Dan has found a great church that he attends about once or twice a month.

I developed my definition of a good friend on that last trip to visit Dan. It’s a simple one: a good friend is someone who doesn’t want to see you leave. That’s really what being friends is about, just relishing the time you have together. Maybe it’s because I have so few really good friendships that I especially cherish this one. Not many people are blessed to have a childhood friend that stays your friend into adulthood. I count myself among the very blessed.