Pyramaze "Immortal"

The band Pyramaze is set to release their new CD on June 24th in the U.S (tomorrow 5/30/2008 in Germany). Why do I care about that?

Matt Barlow provided the vocals!

If you have read the blog in the past you will know that I am a huge Iced Earth fan. Matt used to be the singer for IE and after 9-11 he left to become a police officer. After several years away from the music scene he came back with the announcement that he was going to front Pyramaze.

Since then he has reunited with John and is now the singer for Iced Earth again. He decided to stay and record the vocals for Pyramaze, but is not going to be able to tour with them in support of it. The release is titled "Immortal" and here are the track listings:

"Immortal" track listing:

01. Arise
02. Year of the Phoenix
03. Ghost Light
04. Touched by the Mara
05. A Beautiful Death
06. Legacy in a Rhyme
07. Caramon's Poem
08. The Highland
09. Shadow of the Beast
10. March through an Endless Rain


It's a one shot CD, but I am going to pick it up for sure. Matt is an amazing singer, and in my opinion one of the best metal has to offer.

Say Goodnight Harvey!

Actor/comedian Harvey Korman passed away today at 81 after having complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Blazing Saddles = classic.

Always sad when one of the greats goes.

R.I.P Harvey

You are so money and you dont even know it

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend it in Las Vegas! Yeah I know I was just there in March, but can you really go to Vegas too many times? That is what I thought...so....I went to Vegas again.



What took me there this time? 10 of my oldest friends getting together for a weekend of drinking, gambling, stuffing our faces, and hookers. Okay not so much with the hookers, but the other stuff sounded really good. This particular group of friends are my oldest friends to date. Several of these guys I have been friends with since 4th grade and that was like....umm...yeah okay old age does make the memory go away. It was a long time ago, like 30 years ago. We are now all spread accross the country so we try to get all together once a year to catch up on things. This year was the first year everyone was able to make it.

We had a steep hill to climb as far as memories and moments go from last year. Last year we had the famous messing your pants at Luxor episode. This was followed by the "revolution" starting cab driver. There was the circle of pissed off cab drivers. The "it's not that far...let's walk" episode, and the strip club. Game on!

This year was a lot different than last time. We did not even go to a strip club this year. I know I know - how can I call it a guys weekend when we didnt even go see a stip club? It is time to face the facts....and that is we are all old. I think we all crashed out Friday night at like midnight or something.

Things we did this year:

1) Treasure Island gave us our own poker table to play against each other
2) Went to see Spamalot at the Wynn
3) Ate some food at "Dick's" (if you have never been - go)
4) Walked from Excalibur to Treasure Island and then back to Ceasar's.
5) Drank way too much while playing poker (Makers Mark and Coke)
6) Played everything from Texas to Craps to 3 card poker to Black Jack.
7) Checked out the Pussy Cat Doll's blackjack area

All in all it was a great trip. We went to see Spamalot at Wynn and that was fantastic. If you are ever in Vegas and want to see a funny show - go see it. We laughed our asses off.



This year there was not as many stories that are going to become legend like last year. It was a pretty mellow weekend all in all, but we still had a great time. It was fun playing at some casino's that I have not played at before. I think this year was a great stepping stone to next year. Next year I think we seriously need to trim our numbers down. This year we invited the brothers for one of our friends, and then one of their friends. It was just too many people to try to organize while down there. 3 people want to walk, 4 want to get a cab, the other 4 dont want to leave...bla bla bla. We graduated high school over 20 years ago, lets not revert back to that. It wasnt that great the first time.

It was my birthday on Sunday (the 18th) and I flew home this day. I had told my wife that I wanted to do kabobs on the grill for dinner. She picked me up at the airport and informed me that she already had them made and ready when we got home. We get there, I walk in, and there is a house full of people for a birthday surprise BBQ she put together. This was a fantastic surprise by itself, but what made it spectacular was the fact that my wife was finally able to keep a secret long enough to not spoil it. She has never been able to surprise me with anything because she seems to blow it one way or another. Not as bad as I blew it with the IPhone (see post from December) but never the less - she just cant do it. Not only did she manage to keep the surpise party hidden, she got me a really nice new watch that she didnt slip up on.

It was a great weekend.

Trailer to the Clone Wars have I found.

Here is the link to the trailer for the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Trailer

Enjoy!

Tonight debut the Clone Wars will

Tonight at 7:58 (in all time zones) on Boomerang, TNT, TBS, CNN and Cartoon network will be the debut of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It will be a two minute trailer for the upcoming theatrical release due to hit theaters on August 15 2008.

Here is the promotional poster:



I am so excited to see this. These are the only pictures from the actual finished product I could find:



If this is any indication on how the animation is going to look - sign me up!

Pizza & Ghost Hunters - it's a tradition (or something)

Wednesday nights have become my favorite night of the week. One would think it would be my least favorite night due to this being the start of my work week. Nope, it has crept it's way to the top of my list. Why? Well duh, it's the tradition - get with the program.

I really don't know where this all got started. Jayna and I started watching the show Ghost Hunters on SciFi. Well we started watching it a while ago but that really isn't important. Somewhere along the way the little Drewman got to watch an episode. Ever since then it has been "Daddy, I wanna watch Ghost Hunters." So we started setting the DVR to catch it weekly. This lead to the "I don't want to cook tonight so let's order a pizza and watch it." This of course worked it's way into every week on Wednesday we order pizza and watch the show.

The part that makes this my favorite night of the week is Drew. He gets so excited that it is Ghost Hunter night. He wakes up every Wednesday and the first thing out of his mouth is "It's Ghost Hunter night!" No "Good morning mommy and daddy" or maybe something like "I love you". Nope, it's all about the Ghost Hunters. This is followed shortly by "Do I have to go to school today?" He calls his daycare his school since he doesn't actually start kindergarten until this fall. What I find funny about this whole thing is the fact that Drew can remember every Wednesday a new Ghost Hunters is on. Yet he has absolutely no clue that EVERY Wednesday he also goes to school. Not even at the start of his academic career and he is blocking out school.

So, last night was a repeat episode. Drew doesn't care, he watches as if it is the first time he has ever seen it. The look in his eyes, the laughter, the jumping up and down, and basically everything about his reaction makes this the greatest night of the week. He can tell you what episode was the most scary, where they went, what they found, and where they are going next. He cant remember to let the dog in, he can not be troubled with such trivial things.

Oh yeah, and he has informed me that when he gets older he is going to be a Ghost Hunter. So Drew will be the worlds first:

Ghost-Hunting, transforming, space ship piloting, movie staring, race car driving hockey player

I can finally talk about it

I hate the Colorado Avalanche.

Okay there, I said it...I still don't feel better. I was so happy in round 1 of the playoff when they took out Minnesota Wild to move on. Then they met the Detroit Red Wings. In all my years as a fan of, and player of hockey there has never been a team I disliked as much as the Red Wings. Well okay, the Dallas Stars come in a pretty close second, but the Red Wings?

Have you ever watched the show Fear Factor? I always found that show amusing when they got the the second "stunt" of the show. Without fail it always involved some kind of eating of things sane people would not eat. You know, 2 year old cow bladders stuffed with a light breading made up of mashed stink beetles and mold, and nice shot glass of cow bile to wash it down. This was not so much a "stunt" as it was a test of gag reflex. Anyways...I would rather do something like this than ever say I enjoyed watching the Red Wings.

Yeah so, Red Wings took my Avalanche out back and bitch slapped them so hard they will be lucky to even make it to the start of next season. Took my boys out in 4 games. The thing about this that makes me the most upset is the way the Avs played. I was trying like mad at the start of game 3 to see faces to make sure the Avs even showed up to play. Did it help that Forsberg was injured (as if that is anything new) and Ryan Smith went out as well? Not so much. If the Avalanche had played the series like they played game 1, things might have been different.

Who in their right mind would continue, after game 2, to play Theodore? The Red Wings had his number and they were calling it all night, every night. The start of game 3 should have seen Budaj in the net. I have never been a fan of Theodore, even after he started stepping his game up this last season.

Can we just get Aebischer back? I really liked this kid and wish Quinvillle would have giving him more of a chance. Since that isnt going to happen, then get Budaj back in the net and let Theodore think about his "outstanding" display in round 2 this year. Oh yeah, and to the rest of the Avalanche here are some pointers you should take into next season to work on:

1) Don't let the other team beat you to the puck EVERY time.
2) Don't let people just stand around the front of the net wide open.
3) Skate 120% every time you touch the ice.
4) Shoot on net more
5) Skate 120% every time you touch the ice

and finally did I mention you need to SKATE LIKE YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY WIN!!!! ?

Okay, rant off.

The good thing is that we still have the Penguins and Flyers. I have always liked these two teams so it is a good match up to watch. Either way I am happy with who wins here. Even more so because the other match up is the Stars and Red Wings. So my two least favorite teams will produce a LOSS for one of them. That is always a good thing. That, and one of the teams I like will meet one I hate in the finals.

GO PENGUINS

GO FLYERS

GO AVALANCHE (back to practice and learn how to play in a playoff series)

I am way to smart for this place!

I know it has been said that one should never blog about ones work. Well, I am not one who has been very good at following the rules of what to and not to do. So here is my work post.

I work for a large grocery store chain in their IT department. The story does not require I give out names, locations, positions (other than my supervisor) and anything else about the workplace. Just roll with it.

My shift is 3 on, 4 off, then 4 on and 3 off. I work 12 hour days so when there is nothing going on the time just drags by. Well, we have this supervisor who works the same shift as we do that (for lack of a better phrase) is completely clueless. I say this not in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal sense. He really has no clue that the things he says and does are just rediculous. Example:

Our work day starts at 7am. When we are on our 4 day work week that means we work Saturday and Sunday morning. AT 7 AM START TIME! So, every other weekend we are here working like good little monkeys. This supervisor, EVERY weekend we work comes strolling in anywhere from 9:30 to noonish, if he even shows up at all. When confronted by us about why he cant be on time like the rest of us his response has been the following:

"You see, the hours I work are like a bank. Sometimes I make a deposit of more than 40 hours, and sometimes I withdraw hours and only work 35 hours." (note on this - nobody here has ever been witness to this guy ever, I repeat EVER working 40 hours in a week, let alone MORE than that. So according to his logic he owed the bank a huge loan payment)

A week or so ago I am sitting here at work with nothing to do. This isnt that unusual for my position. So anyways...My coworker and I are just sitting here talking when in walks said supervisor, 3 hours late for work, and the first thing he does is stands by his desk, pulls out an apple and says "You guys know that I am just way to smart to be working here? I am just way to smart for this place." We look at each other like "what the fuck?" and turn back to say something to him and freeze.

This is the part that is so ironic. The guy who just walked in late for work proclaiming his superior intellect is sitting at his desk attempting to slice his whole apple with.............a plastic spoon.

Yes, it is official........I work with idiots. The only thing that I can say to this spectical is: