Jumpin' At The Woodside

Today I started a big project to reclaim the backyard from the ivy, weeds and what not. It turned out to be more of an archaeological expedition than anything else, but unlike “Indiana Jones,” I went with the T-shirt and shorts sans leather jacket and fedora. Because our house had been empty for some time before we moved in, much of the back yard was overgrown with ivy, including many of the trees. The photo below taken last September before we had the tree in the photo removed gives a good view of the overgrowth. It wasn’t until recently when I started to take a look at other homes around our neighborhood that I realized how bad the ivy growth had become. Most yards had little or no ivy. Yards that did, especially ones that back up to the creek like ours, only had a little ivy growth near the creek, nothing more. Other things to deal with... There were these bricks all over the yard that a previous owner had set up to line dirt/mulch walkways. After the “Great Septic Tank Discovery” ...

Buona Sera! Hope y'all had a great week. Discussions have commenced for the DMB shows we might attend this year, but at a leisurely pace since we have more than a week to decide. Lago is busy preparing some tilapia for this evening while enjoying a glass of Clos Du Val Chardonnay. I'm enjoying a Modelo Especial. Meanwhile... The Monkey enjoys some Troegs, but remember don't Hassle The Hoff! ( watch closely ) Last 5 songs on The Lounge jukebox: "Thorn in My Pride" - The Black Crowes "Get Me to the Church on Time" - Frank Sinatra ( Vegas ) "Suck My Kiss" - Red Hot Chili Peppers "Seek Up" - Dave Matthews Band ( 7/30/2001, Saratoga Springs ) "I Alone" - Live On Tap for this weekend... I'm planning on reclaiming the backyard from the ivy, which will also help for when our shed arrives in a few weeks. Last weekend I was finally able to get a good amount of screens in place so we can open some windows with the fine weather we...

Dates for the Dave Matthews Band 2007 Summer Tour were announced today. The tour looks like it's running a little short most likely due to the fact it doesn't kick into full gear until August. Dave and his wife are expecting a child in June or July. Normally, Dave and the boys are on tour all summer long. Lago and I haven't picked all our dates yet, aside from the local date here. We have until April 9th to put our ticket requests in through the Warehouse. Dave Matthews Band Summer Tour 2007 Sun / Jul 8 / Toyota Park / Chicago IL with Guster With Xavier Rudd Wed / Aug 1 / Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts / Mansfield, MA Thu / Aug 2 / Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts / Mansfield, MA Sat / Aug 4 / New England Dodge Music Center / Hartford, CT Sun / Aug 5 / New England Dodge Music Center / Hartford, CT Tue / Aug 7 / Tweeter Center at the Waterfront / Camden, NJ With Toots & the Maytals Wed / Aug 8 / Tweeter Center at the Waterfront / Camden, NJ Fri / Aug 10 / ...

I used to work with Mike at Adelphia and he recently took a trip back to the "old stomping grounds" in Staunton. He snapped some picts of the old Adelphia offices and around town. Comcast took over the office there and then shut it down. The once buzzing offices now lay empty.

We've been having great weather since last week. Today we saw a high of 84, but with the good I suppose comes the bad. It's been so warm we've had a proliferation of pollen that has turned our vehicles and anything outside from their original color to a lemony shade of pollen. My car is blue on most days, but not of late. Lago's truck is black, well it used to be.

Tonight's "On Tap" is being presented by Lago this evening. We began the festivities this evening at Boardwalk Billy's down the road. They are known for their oyster bar, but Timmay always gets the ribs and somethin' else (chicken, skimps, crab cake). Tonight I had me some BBQ shrimp and tasty beverages. I have to say that tonight the beverages tasted better than the dinner! It's a cool place, though. The service is good and one can dine out on the patio and drop peanut shells on the floor. As you can see, Bubba started his Saturday night festivities without us. So, today in Charlotte, NC it felt like the first day of summer. The truck thermometer read 82 degrees on the way home from the gym at 3PM!! The order of things at the Lounge is that once summer feels like it's coming on, Lago indulges in some Corona and we add some Modelo Especial to the menu. Soon it will be time for the Sangria..cinco de mayo is on the way!!

The Monkey enjoys a Yeungling... ... argh, my last Stella. I need to make a run to Total Wine tomorrow. Last 5 songs on The Lounge jukebox: "Doin' Something" - Soulive "My Blue Heaven" - Harry Connick Jr. "Manic Depression" - Jimi Hendrix "Yellow Ledbetter" - Pearl Jam "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People" - Yes Jukebox update: 1,185 songs, 3.8 days, 5.16 GB. Tonight's (scheduled) menu: Was Lago's homemade pizza - just got a call Lago got held up at work so we're doing Johnny Carino's pick up. Spring has really sprung here at The Lounge. Had a high today of 79, tomorrow they're calling for a high of 84, and 79 again on Sunday!

This line popped into my head this evening after witnessing a trying day for a co-worker. On one hand, at least it was work-related stress and not a family issue. This is hardly a comforting thought, especially because work, good or bad, takes up a large part of our lives. Work is a necessary evil and why I’ve always found it important to enjoy what you do, or at least tolerate it well. All jobs have their up and downs, and as Lago put it earlier this evening, if you don’t tell anyone how you feel, then how will they know you’re unhappy? They probably won’t. Remember those old black & white TV shows where the friend, parent, teacher or maybe even the boss could take one look at a person and know he or she is unhappy. In the real world, most people have issues of their own and unless they hear otherwise, they will assume everything is fine. In time, you might be able to read someone like the old TV shows, but it doesn’t come quickly. It took me awhile to realize that there were time...

Last night, Lago and I attended a St. Patrick’s Day party. We weren’t sure if we would make it or not, depended on when Lago got home from work yesterday. I had picked up some Murphy’s Irish Red earlier in the day not knowing if the party was B.Y.O.B. or not. I had one before we left, so Lago drove and she was also the designated driver for the evening since she had to work again today. The party had kicked off around 2 p.m., so most folks were feeling that ol’ St. Paddy’s magic by the time we got there after 7 p.m. They had already tapped their 2nd Yuengling Lager keg at this point. They had a kegerator, which made for a fine pour and no keg pumping needed – sweet! Our host Chris is a lab tech at Lago’s animal hospital. Chris had a big fire going out back. Someone had thrown a bench on the fire shortly before we ventured out. I didn’t notice this at the time, but check out that big belly in the photo on the right. That’s a whole lotta belly! Back inside the garage, one of Chris’ buds ...

Top O' the Afternoon to ya! A fine St. Paddy's Day it be me laddies and lasses. Thought I'd share an audio clip from an episode of NBC's "30 Rock" titled "The Fighting Irish." The episode features Nathan Lane as Jack Donaghy's brother. Jack Donaghy is played by Alec Baldwin. The audio clip showcases the best names for ye Irish fists. 30 Rock - Irish Fist Names - ( MP3 Audio, 206KB ) Watch the entire episode at NBC.com This morning I obtained the first concert tickets of the upcoming summer concert season when I picked up a couple tix for the John Mayer show here in August. The Dave Matthews Band is starting their summer tour late this year, also in August, most likely due to Dave and his wife expecting a child in June/July. Announcement of the tour dates are coming soon. Raise a pint o' green ale... "May your home be filled with laughter, May your pockets be filled with gold, And may you have all the happiness, Your Irish heart can hold...

Aye me lads, how are ye on this fine St. Patty's Day Eve? What's going down at your lounge, grotto, pub or bungalow? The Monkey has gone with an excellent and rather appropriate Harp Lager... ... ol' Lazy Acres is enjoying a "St. Patty" and a Fat Tire brew ( nice choice ) & listening to DMB's "Tripping Billies"... ... while I'm enjoying a glass of Dynamite Vineyards Cabernet. In other news, our annual Dave Matthews Band Warehouse package arrived today. The CD collection looks pretty cool with a variety of older and newer tacks. I haven't listened to it yet, but I think I may go ahead and add it to The Lounge jukebox. BTW, for you Warehouse newbies, we get an extra 3 tracks on our CD because we've been members since 2002! :~) Speaking of tunage, last five tracks on the jukebox... O.A.R. & Robert Randolph's cover of "Fool in the Rain," a live version of John Mayer's "Biggger Than My Body," The Rolling S...

The Monkey shared his love of Lago's Lounge stuffed mushrooms via video, but unfortunately the video is no longer available -- crazy Monkey!

"I want to bowl and get a tattoo." - The Monkey, from The Big 40 Video Now that the DVDs have been shipped, thought I'd share The Big 40 video online with all y'all. Even compressed, it's a pretty large Windows Media Video file, 103 MB. This version is also slightly edited, not for content, but for time and file size. Be sure to check out two photo montages set to music, one near the beginning and one at the end of the video. If you want to see the video in its entirety, please contact your nearest Big 40 attendee. For best results, download the file first then play it from your computer. To do this, right click on the video link below and select "Save Target As..." then select a directory to save the file, preferably somewhere you'll remember so you can go back to it such as "My Documents" or the Desktop. The Big 40 Video ( Windows Media Video - 103 MB ) Below are links to Big 40 posts that have all you need to know about The Big 40: :: T...

It started as funny emails with the Monkey and I sharing picts of our beverage of choice for a weekend evening. I thought it might be even funnier to share these picts here in the recurring feature I started a couple weeks ago dubbed " On Tap at The Lounge ." Just so you know, it's not all fun and games here at The Lounge. It was sunny and in the 60s today so I did some work in the backyard. It definitely feels like Spring has sprung early here. After the yard work and some clean up, Lago and I ventured over to the Total Wine to restock The Lounge. Beer : Carlsberg - Copenhagen, Denmark Anchor Steam - San Francisco, Calif. Wine : King Estate Pinot Gris 2004 - Eugene, Oregon Martin Ray Pinot Noir 2005 - Santa Rosa, Calif. Clos Du Val Chardonnay 2004 - Napa, Cailf. As you can see from the picts we have some Casillero del Diablo Chardonnay left from last evening. Believe it or not, I've never had a Carlsberg. They're good, I think they taste like Becks, another ...

U2's "The Joshua Tree" album was released 20 years ago today. I have much more to write on this subject, but not the time. Please check back soon for more. For now, I leave you with this... where were you when "The Joshua Tree" came out? As for me, I was on my first sojourn to sunny Southern California.