Today's fortune was pretty accurate... Apple & Ping.

Some how the fortune cookie new what would come today from Apple. Crazy.
Sent from my iPhone

Total. Buzz. Kill.

       
Click here to download:
total-buzz-kill-xClxGhakenjxCscBjfDb.zip (5906 KB)

I was all excited and about to set up my sons fancy shmancy crib when I noticed this massive gouge in the head board. "WTF is this!" I shouted. Kristen came running into the room and within seconds was on the phone with Pottery Barn, "Hi, Our Crib has this massive gouge in the headboard. We're NOT going to pay for this, so what's the next step?" I love her!

Upon further inspection of the shipping box it was pretty easy to see how it was damaged. At some point in the process someone was even nice enough to cover the hole in the box with packing tape to avoid potential water damage. That was nice.

Long story short, New crib is on order and old one is going back. Certainly not the most horrible thing in the world, but a total buzz kill.

Joe

My beautiful wife and her belly!

   
Click here to download:
My_beautiful_wife_and_her_bell.zip (4232 KB)

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Take This Job & Shove It

Just read a great little article while waiting for printer software to install. I love my job on most days, but there are some great tips in this article that can be useful for anyone. 

Excerpt and link below. 


Tammy: One of my favorite parts of Take This Job and Shove It is your discussion of the F*** You Fund. Can you tell us a little bit more about the concept and what our readers can do today to start building an F*** You Fund?

Tyler: So, a F*** You Fund is the money you set aside while you’re still working so that when the day comes, you can walk into work and telling your boss to “take this job and shove it.” Of course, it doesn’t have to be so dramatic, but I found that giving it a name like that makes it more fun to actually keep up with.

I go into a lot of details in the free guide about how to build it and stick with it as well as some of the misconceptions around it like the idea that it has to take a long time or that it has to be a ton of money, but I think Rowdy Kittens readers are great candidates for building a F*** You Fund because their already predisposed to living what I call a “low overhead” lifestyle.

Anyone interested in minimalism that has a few personal finance skills already has exactly what it takes to be super effective with the information in Take This Job & Shove It.

My #1 tip for someone that wants to start today, though? Open a savings account and set up a weekly automatic transfer to it. Doesn’t matter how much. Just get it started.

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Ethyl Meatplow - Car

 

John sent an email today asking for me to send him a copy of Ethyl Meatplow's 'Happy Days, Sweetheart'. He had it long ago but apparently it had been lost as some point, most likely during one of our hard drive crashes of years past. Fortunately for John, I've started encoding my entire vinyl collection as I make an effort to de-clutter my house, one record at a time. The Majority of My CD collection needs to be re-encoded as well (Since I lost most of my digital collection and backup of said collection earlier this year), so why not get a head start with this gem from 1993!   

What a record this is!  Oh my! All the wonderfully horrible things I did while this record was on in the background. I was in 10th grade when this record came out, learning everything I could about Industrial Music and jockeying for the music director position at the greatest radio station in the world (in my mind at the time anyway) 88.5 FM WKPX; our High School Radio Station with a 3000 Watt Transmitter that reached downtown Ft. Lauderdale and the most northern tip of Miami.  We though it was pretty damn cool and for most people into the Alternative music scene back then, it was.

I didn't get the MD postion that year, but my friend Shannon did and I can still remember when she introduced me to the trio of noise makers known as Ethyl Meatplow.  I can remember her asking me, "do you think we can get away with this track? How about this one?" The Album was so filthy; full of sexual innuendo and drug references, it's amazing that we were able to play any of their music at all on our station. Of course we did find a few songs that weren't branded NFAP (Not For Air Play), one of which was 'Car', though listening to it now, we got lucky on this one. Obnoxious and Abrasive Keyboard Sounds, Shouting and well played & well engineered Drums that just pound their way through the whole song. What more could you ask for? Well the song 'Sad Bear' which is at the end of the album and adds a memorable chant to that mix, but that's not the song I'm posting today.

Ethyl Meatplow fit some where between Jane's Addiction, Silverfish, Thrill Kill Kult, Consolidated & Nitzer Ebb. They had a definite LA sleaze vibe, but they also mixed sounds and textures in a way that wouldn't become popular until a few years later with more subdued groups like Cibo Matto and Luscious Jackson. Certainly ahead of it's time, so much so they couldn't keep it together beyond this album, but they did tour this record, and I managed to catch them at the Cameo in South Beach with my buddy Mark Del Campo.  They opened for Front 242, who were heading full on into their spandex short phase, and just blew them off the stage as the opening act. Even though most of the music was pre-recorded and coming off of keyboard sequencers, Ethyl Meatplow's attitude and energy we undeniable. They had to change disks on the ensoniq keyboards in order to load to the new sequences and samples in between songs and they made tons or racket and distracted you with half naked dancers; one of which was a young woman who's head head was shaved bald, had black X's taped on her nipples and sported boxing trunks and suspenders. Obviously the distractions worked,  It was wild. When they got their act together and hit you with the songs it was mighty! They just delivered with such conviction, it didn't take long for me to be hooked. Again the Live Drums pounding away, the Synths & Samples blasting you in the head and the Guy/Gal trade off Sing Alongs just completed the package. It was Raw and It felt like the future, two things I always look for in new music. Front 242 didn't stand a chance, Mark and I left midway through their set in hopes of scoring some Ethyl Meatplow Merch, No luck.  But we did manage to get a few stickers, I still have one on a record box flight case in my garage (that will be finding a new home some time in the next year I hope, the case that is).

After this record Carla Bozulich went on to form Geraldine Fibbers, a band that was such a departure from Ethyl Meatplow's sound that I never gave them a chance, drummer Biff Sanders went on to play in Polar Bear with Eric Avery and Vocalist/Programmer Wee Wee is getting his masters in Social Work. "Hi, I'm Wee Wee your social worker..." I'm sure that's going well.

17 years later (yikes!), 'Happy Days, Sweetheart' stands up really well. Sure there a few crappy synth bass sounds here and there, but on the whole, it still sounds new, fresh and vibrant, highly recommended, especially if you find your self enjoying this tune..

-Joe

(download)

Today Show video: Can money buy you happiness? featuring minimalist blogger @rowdykittens.

Can money buy you happiness?

New York Times reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom and psychologist Jeff Gardere discuss contentment and its link to wealth and the pitfalls of keeping up with the Joneses.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/38655998#38655998

As we prepare for the birth of our 1st child (and I sit in the waiting area of my dealership as they run a diagnostic on my car to determine why my Check Engine Light came on this morning), the minimalist approach to living is becoming more and more enticing.

Some stuffed toys I'll most likely not be buying for my Kid...

But humorous none the less.

     
Click here to download:
Some_stuffed_toys_Ill_most_lik.zip (80 KB)

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