(It) Feels So Good, Steven Tyler...why is this still on the radio?!
First, I know the right way to look at this song is that it is a reflection of a memory rather than present day. However, given the lyrics and general mood/tempo of the song, I cannot help but interpret this as creepy old man hitting on young girls.
Here we have a song about a gentleman and a young girl. There is no mention of either age, but I think the age of the girl is fairly clear, and Steven Tyler sounds pretty much like...well, Steven Tyler...so we know his age. There are lines about being locked in a bedroom for a week and the girl being a superfreak so we can interpret the general theme without much thought. While I'm listening to this and thinking, "It's a little creepy that a man, at the age of 63, is singing in this manor about someone," we get to the chorus...
It feels so good, loving you
Yeah, it’s so good, the way you do the do
It feels so good, and I need oxygen
"I need oxygen." I don't even need to crack a joke about age. He stole any punch line I could think of and made it part of his song. Seriously, the oxygen tank is typically for the elderly. I'm willing to bet that is not his intending meaning, but once I get on the track of thinking, "He's too old to sing about this," that's really all I can think when he gets to this line in the chorus.
I hope I'm not alone when I say it's creepy when someone is singing about subjects that are more youthful or juvenile than they should be. This isn't Green Day singing a fan favorite from Dookie or any number of truly classic artists that have remained popular and continue to play songs from their youth in concert. This is a new song, and it is targeting a far younger audience and from a far older person than it should be.
It's kind of like New Kids On The Block's attempted come back with Summertime or the less creepy (but equally age inappropriate) If It's Love by Train. Come on Patrick Monahan, you're 42...lose the fohawk and stop pretending you're out partying all night.
Of course, the age of the girls in the video don't help the creepiness or my inability to stifle laughter. At least Train's video decreases the creepy factor slightly by laughing at themselves (I think).
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Catching Up
It's been a while so here's an update on the past few months. I might take the time to add some pictures eventually, but since this is 4 months worth of updates I wouldn't get too hopeful if I were you. Maybe Ben will help. :)
In April we took Patriot's day off to catch some re-enactment activities & the Boston marathon. In Lexington we learned that Jackson does NOT like gun fire (British Red Coat or MA Regulars), but he braved the noise to take on the challenge of making friends with every person in the crowd. He's such a glutton for attention.
The Boston Marathon was awesome. I had never seen the elite finishers before and it was Ben's first time there at all. I told everyone I was going to see history because I thought a US runner could win either the Men's or Women's race. Ben & I were there before the men started & kept updated via Twitter on the status of the elite runners as we waited for them on Boylston (within 200 m of the finish...awesome!). The wheelchair racers started coming in shortly after we arrived so we had the occasional competitor to cheer for as we waited anxiously for the first runners to come in. Every elite finish was down to the last few hundred yards for all categories.
We saw some of our favorite runners (Kara Goucher & Ryan Hall), record finishing times for overall & US, nearly a 1st place finish for the US women (Desiree Davila...from the Hanson Brooks Distance Project based out of Rochester Hills, MI), and Joan Benoit Samuelson passed within inches of us for her sub-3hr finish (at age 53). Pretty impressive, both her time and the fact that I could have reached out and touched a running legend. I may have gotten tackled by race authorities if I had, but, consequences aside, I could have touched her if I chose to. Then we moved further away from the finish to help Pete, my best bud from the UP, cheer for some of his friends. He never has time off from Brigham & Women's at this point in his residency so it was a lot of fun to see him. There were no US winners this year, but we did see history with all the close finishes & record times. There was even an unofficial record for the fastest marathon ever that day.
The Detroit Tigers came to town in May & we managed to get tickest to both games. The first was miserable, but the tickets were free from one of Ben's friends from work so we couldn't complain. I heard the announcers had called it "fog" in the air, but trust me it was a heavy, steady mist punctuated by moments of pouring rain. Awesome. It must be nice sitting in the press box. Game 2 as much better weather & we got to go with our friends Beau & Michelle who we actually spoke to even though they were cheering for the enemy. The Tigers barely lost both games (boo) but it was still a good time.
Ben & I ran a couple races in the spring. The best one was the Run To Home Base at Fenway Park. After the run we got to wander all over the park & warning track to get the pictures you never have time to take at a game or during the park tour (including some you never have the opportunity to take...ever). Plus it was for a great cause. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a very fun and unique run, any Red Sox or baseball fans, or anyone looking for a good charity to support. I would definitely do it again if we weren't moving away.
We also ran the Run to Remember which honors MA police who lost their lives serving. That run was terrible. It was incredibly hot/humid & there wasn't enough water stations for the distance. I was running with my friend Abby & I actually was on the lookout for a store (money in hand) to duck inside and buy her some water because I thought she was going to pass out. If you ever think about running it, just do the 5 mile race. They aren't set up to support a half-marathon. This is the 2nd time we tried the race & they failed miserably in the support department. Too bad, it's a good cause & a nice half-marathon route. They just have horrible support & event execution.
The Run to Remember was during Nick & Christina's visit to Boston. We took an extra long weekend to show them all the Boston sites. Well, we tried to show them everything, but we had a great time seeing a few new things & showing them some of the Boston must-see's. By the time we got to Sunday's run, they knew their way around enough to self-navigate to Harvard for some site seeing (where they actually saw Ben & his friend Carmen run by) & then meet us at Faneuil Hall for some lunch, one last Boston Brick Red beer and so Nick could get yet another cup of clam chowder (pronounced ChodAAAHHHH by Nick).
June was our summer vacation. We made the 14 hour drive to Macomb, spent a full day hanging with the Wolak's, then headed Les Cheneaux for the Bourque reunion. A lot of fun was had as always including a trip to Tahquamenon (since Ben had never been to the upper falls), Mackinac Island with Jackson (who again tried to make friends with everyone...except the horses), some kayaking, and discovery of possibly the most fun "board" game in existence (telestrations). Then we went back to Macomb for 4th of July weekend & hung out at Ben's brother John's new house for a barbecue. We also managed to catch Jeff, from the farm Ben used to work on, and Ben's friends Steve, Nick & Christina in those few days. All of that plus squeezing in a Tiger's game with Ben's dad, where at least one person must have had a heat stroke, and a trip to Ernie Harwell Park (the site of the old Tiger Stadium and roughly maintained original field). Of course, there were also birthday celebrations for Ben at both stops in MI.
Then came my birthday, which was generally uneventful overall but was mostly just relaxing...between preparations for our house repairs. The past 2 weeks we've been living on our porch & upstairs while most of our 1st floor and master bedroom had some repairs done. They should be done today or early next week. Maybe.
Next up: figuring out how to sell a house so we can make the trek to California. We'll be there by Thanksgiving if all goes as planned. That should mean a few weeks to hang out with Ryan and Katie as we move in and they move out.
We are not-so-secretly hoping Ryan & Katie will end up there for 3-4 more years...not that I won't be happy for them if they get to head to Florida.
I think those are all the highlights, but I probably missed something.
In April we took Patriot's day off to catch some re-enactment activities & the Boston marathon. In Lexington we learned that Jackson does NOT like gun fire (British Red Coat or MA Regulars), but he braved the noise to take on the challenge of making friends with every person in the crowd. He's such a glutton for attention.
The Boston Marathon was awesome. I had never seen the elite finishers before and it was Ben's first time there at all. I told everyone I was going to see history because I thought a US runner could win either the Men's or Women's race. Ben & I were there before the men started & kept updated via Twitter on the status of the elite runners as we waited for them on Boylston (within 200 m of the finish...awesome!). The wheelchair racers started coming in shortly after we arrived so we had the occasional competitor to cheer for as we waited anxiously for the first runners to come in. Every elite finish was down to the last few hundred yards for all categories.
We saw some of our favorite runners (Kara Goucher & Ryan Hall), record finishing times for overall & US, nearly a 1st place finish for the US women (Desiree Davila...from the Hanson Brooks Distance Project based out of Rochester Hills, MI), and Joan Benoit Samuelson passed within inches of us for her sub-3hr finish (at age 53). Pretty impressive, both her time and the fact that I could have reached out and touched a running legend. I may have gotten tackled by race authorities if I had, but, consequences aside, I could have touched her if I chose to. Then we moved further away from the finish to help Pete, my best bud from the UP, cheer for some of his friends. He never has time off from Brigham & Women's at this point in his residency so it was a lot of fun to see him. There were no US winners this year, but we did see history with all the close finishes & record times. There was even an unofficial record for the fastest marathon ever that day.
The Detroit Tigers came to town in May & we managed to get tickest to both games. The first was miserable, but the tickets were free from one of Ben's friends from work so we couldn't complain. I heard the announcers had called it "fog" in the air, but trust me it was a heavy, steady mist punctuated by moments of pouring rain. Awesome. It must be nice sitting in the press box. Game 2 as much better weather & we got to go with our friends Beau & Michelle who we actually spoke to even though they were cheering for the enemy. The Tigers barely lost both games (boo) but it was still a good time.
Ben & I ran a couple races in the spring. The best one was the Run To Home Base at Fenway Park. After the run we got to wander all over the park & warning track to get the pictures you never have time to take at a game or during the park tour (including some you never have the opportunity to take...ever). Plus it was for a great cause. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a very fun and unique run, any Red Sox or baseball fans, or anyone looking for a good charity to support. I would definitely do it again if we weren't moving away.
We also ran the Run to Remember which honors MA police who lost their lives serving. That run was terrible. It was incredibly hot/humid & there wasn't enough water stations for the distance. I was running with my friend Abby & I actually was on the lookout for a store (money in hand) to duck inside and buy her some water because I thought she was going to pass out. If you ever think about running it, just do the 5 mile race. They aren't set up to support a half-marathon. This is the 2nd time we tried the race & they failed miserably in the support department. Too bad, it's a good cause & a nice half-marathon route. They just have horrible support & event execution.
The Run to Remember was during Nick & Christina's visit to Boston. We took an extra long weekend to show them all the Boston sites. Well, we tried to show them everything, but we had a great time seeing a few new things & showing them some of the Boston must-see's. By the time we got to Sunday's run, they knew their way around enough to self-navigate to Harvard for some site seeing (where they actually saw Ben & his friend Carmen run by) & then meet us at Faneuil Hall for some lunch, one last Boston Brick Red beer and so Nick could get yet another cup of clam chowder (pronounced ChodAAAHHHH by Nick).
June was our summer vacation. We made the 14 hour drive to Macomb, spent a full day hanging with the Wolak's, then headed Les Cheneaux for the Bourque reunion. A lot of fun was had as always including a trip to Tahquamenon (since Ben had never been to the upper falls), Mackinac Island with Jackson (who again tried to make friends with everyone...except the horses), some kayaking, and discovery of possibly the most fun "board" game in existence (telestrations). Then we went back to Macomb for 4th of July weekend & hung out at Ben's brother John's new house for a barbecue. We also managed to catch Jeff, from the farm Ben used to work on, and Ben's friends Steve, Nick & Christina in those few days. All of that plus squeezing in a Tiger's game with Ben's dad, where at least one person must have had a heat stroke, and a trip to Ernie Harwell Park (the site of the old Tiger Stadium and roughly maintained original field). Of course, there were also birthday celebrations for Ben at both stops in MI.
Then came my birthday, which was generally uneventful overall but was mostly just relaxing...between preparations for our house repairs. The past 2 weeks we've been living on our porch & upstairs while most of our 1st floor and master bedroom had some repairs done. They should be done today or early next week. Maybe.
Next up: figuring out how to sell a house so we can make the trek to California. We'll be there by Thanksgiving if all goes as planned. That should mean a few weeks to hang out with Ryan and Katie as we move in and they move out.
We are not-so-secretly hoping Ryan & Katie will end up there for 3-4 more years...not that I won't be happy for them if they get to head to Florida.
I think those are all the highlights, but I probably missed something.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Home For A Bit
You know you're on the road too much when you repeatedly refer to your hotel as "home", and Ben and I have both been traveling too much lately.
Lucky for us I've been able to swing some earlier flights home a couple times these past few weeks, but we've still barely seen each other since early Feb. Those early flights make for rough trips with late night flights and early morning arrivals, but it's nice to be home sooner.
First, Ben went to California for 2 consecutive weeks. The time difference and long flights are not fun to deal with on either end. We're heading to bed in New England for an early morning wake up by the time California is getting done with work.
Then I went to Colorado for a few days. I got to catch up with some friends from Ohio and meet their new addition to the world while I was there. I learned that babies can projectile vomit during burping...funny for those of us not holding Jake. I also re-learned that running doesn't work at that altitude until you're acclimated. No matter how slow or how short I plan to run, my lungs always feel like I'm sprinting within seconds and I'm cursing my motivation to run at altitude.
Then I went to Florida the next week, where I got to see a couple old friends from Tech. I also squeezed in a couple runs wearing only shorts & a T (no pants, hat, multiple long sleeve layers, gloves). The last day I ran into one of our ROTC instructors in the hotel lobby. Crazy! Unfortunately I was leaving that same day so we didn't really get to really catch up. My meeting got done early so some of us tried to catch an earlier flight since we kept hearing about terrible weather coming our way. We switched flights and moments later our new flight was delayed. Then, delay after delay came our way while our plane waited out a tornado from a nearby airport they were able to land at. Finally the weather passed, our plane made it, and we were re-booked to land in Boston 5 hours later than originally planned (yuck). The good news is the flight we switched from would have gotten in even later.
Finally, I just got home from Ohio Friday night where I got to see some old coworkers & friends from my first office. The trip sucked because it was yet another trip, but it was great to catch up with people again. I saw part of both "Dinoshark" and "Mega Python Vs Gatoroid" (staring Debbie Gibson & Tiffany...seriously, I can't make this up)...both comically terrible movies, as expected with the titles. Running was even better in Ohio with 2 days in shorts & long sleeves and 2 days in shorts & a t-shirt. Beautiful 65 and sunny twice! I also got some real hot wings, some Young's Double Chocolate Stout on tap, and managed to get an entire 6 pack of Shiner Bock safely home for Beau (hopefully he'll share with Ben & me).
We're both home for at least the next 2 weeks now. Yay!
Lucky for us I've been able to swing some earlier flights home a couple times these past few weeks, but we've still barely seen each other since early Feb. Those early flights make for rough trips with late night flights and early morning arrivals, but it's nice to be home sooner.
First, Ben went to California for 2 consecutive weeks. The time difference and long flights are not fun to deal with on either end. We're heading to bed in New England for an early morning wake up by the time California is getting done with work.
Then I went to Colorado for a few days. I got to catch up with some friends from Ohio and meet their new addition to the world while I was there. I learned that babies can projectile vomit during burping...funny for those of us not holding Jake. I also re-learned that running doesn't work at that altitude until you're acclimated. No matter how slow or how short I plan to run, my lungs always feel like I'm sprinting within seconds and I'm cursing my motivation to run at altitude.
Then I went to Florida the next week, where I got to see a couple old friends from Tech. I also squeezed in a couple runs wearing only shorts & a T (no pants, hat, multiple long sleeve layers, gloves). The last day I ran into one of our ROTC instructors in the hotel lobby. Crazy! Unfortunately I was leaving that same day so we didn't really get to really catch up. My meeting got done early so some of us tried to catch an earlier flight since we kept hearing about terrible weather coming our way. We switched flights and moments later our new flight was delayed. Then, delay after delay came our way while our plane waited out a tornado from a nearby airport they were able to land at. Finally the weather passed, our plane made it, and we were re-booked to land in Boston 5 hours later than originally planned (yuck). The good news is the flight we switched from would have gotten in even later.
Finally, I just got home from Ohio Friday night where I got to see some old coworkers & friends from my first office. The trip sucked because it was yet another trip, but it was great to catch up with people again. I saw part of both "Dinoshark" and "Mega Python Vs Gatoroid" (staring Debbie Gibson & Tiffany...seriously, I can't make this up)...both comically terrible movies, as expected with the titles. Running was even better in Ohio with 2 days in shorts & long sleeves and 2 days in shorts & a t-shirt. Beautiful 65 and sunny twice! I also got some real hot wings, some Young's Double Chocolate Stout on tap, and managed to get an entire 6 pack of Shiner Bock safely home for Beau (hopefully he'll share with Ben & me).
We're both home for at least the next 2 weeks now. Yay!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Excited!
I am officially excited. I found out a few weeks ago that I got into Test Pilot School to become a Flight Test Engineer. What does that mean?
I spend a year in California learning how to test aircraft and flight hardware while studying engineering and flight, beginning in about 1 year. I get to fly at least once a week on a bunch of different aircraft. Plus, I walk away with a Master's degree, and, better yet, Ben and I should be stationed together the whole time. It took some strategizing and luck to pull that last part off.
That's not why I'm excited though (although I am pretty excited about that). I just realized today, while finally checking out the Wachusett brewery with Ben & Beau...they sell Fat Tire in California! Why it took me this long to make this realization, I don't know. Maybe it was the stock piled Octoberfest in our basement distracting me from deeper thinking (like what kind of beer can I buy in CA).
So yay for us...accessible Fat Tire beer for at least a year! No more squeezing a 6 pack into luggage, hoping it survives the trip.
Well, only a little more of that, but you get the point.
I spend a year in California learning how to test aircraft and flight hardware while studying engineering and flight, beginning in about 1 year. I get to fly at least once a week on a bunch of different aircraft. Plus, I walk away with a Master's degree, and, better yet, Ben and I should be stationed together the whole time. It took some strategizing and luck to pull that last part off.
That's not why I'm excited though (although I am pretty excited about that). I just realized today, while finally checking out the Wachusett brewery with Ben & Beau...they sell Fat Tire in California! Why it took me this long to make this realization, I don't know. Maybe it was the stock piled Octoberfest in our basement distracting me from deeper thinking (like what kind of beer can I buy in CA).
So yay for us...accessible Fat Tire beer for at least a year! No more squeezing a 6 pack into luggage, hoping it survives the trip.
Well, only a little more of that, but you get the point.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A Busy January
When we moved here with all our new wedding gifts we discovered some of our stuff didn't fit in the new kitchen. So a lot of our serving and dining stuff went in the basement. Every time we needed any of it we would dig it out of a box, wash it out of paranoia since it was kept in a dusty basement, and store it back in the basement when we were done with it.
Since the time we moved in I have been telling Ben that we needed to get some type of cabinet for our dining room or kitchen. And we finally got it...
So now we don't need to go into the basement if we have more than 2 people over. :)
Oh, and we did some snowshoeing after one of our big snows. It's starting to look like a real winter around here (for the first time sine we arrived). We've already had 3 snow days, 2 delays, and an early dismissal so far this year!
Before you think we're lucky we get so many free days off, remember that a snow day is due to large amounts of snow...snow that requires shoveling to get the cars out the next day. Worse yet, a delay just means you wake up at the same time you usually do to spend a couple hours digging out your car in the dark and then drive to work on busy, snow-covered roads. Then you spend the entire day hoping it doesn't snow more before you get home so you have time for dinner instead of spending the whole night shoveling.
We also finally got the Christmas cookies Ben's parents shipped to us after our holiday visit. Ben was so excited when he finally saw that box on the porch it was too funny! I think he may have been skipping to the door.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
A Christmas Cannon
Yes, we realize it's a little late for Christmas posting, but considering the last post was from October you shouldn't complain. Besides, this isn't really about Christmas. The title isn't misspelled either.
We were on our 6 hour drive from Newberry to Macomb on Christmas Eve listening to some Christmas tunes. Ben took over driving after lunch and I was sitting in the passenger seat with my eyes closed to shield the brightness of the sun reflecting off the snow covered surroundings.
Christmas Canon by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra quietly begins playing on the radio. About 8 bars in, just as the violins begin playing, Ben makes a sound. It sounds like he's clearing his throat or trying to hack something up. This isn't especially odd since we're both recovering from a splendid pre-Christmas cold.
About 2 seconds later he makes the same sound, but at this point I am looking at Ben, prepared to offer him a tissue. This time I notice as Ben softly clears his throat, his cheeks puff out more than a typical throat clear would. Before I can say anything a third soft cough comes a couple seconds after the previous one.
"What are you doing???" I ask this as if he's crazy, which is pretty common around us because he acts a little nuts fairly often.
Ben looks over at me as he makes his fourth soft hack and says very matter-of-factly (making me sound crazy for even asking), "It's a Christmas cannon."
This is when I realize he isn't clearing his throat but making soft booming cannon noises like a five-year old kid play war. I guess the boredom of the long drive caused him to take the "Canon" portion of the title literally and provide a little comedy to our trip.
Too funny!
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