Next week I’m going to be on a business trip in England. That’s right folks, while all of you are suffering with $3.00 a gallon gas prices, I’ll be riding high with $4.00 a liter.

So, I’m going to attempt another MSPaint request event and will set up an automatic post for each day next week. I will only be creating four drawings, so be creative and make your request stand out.

I’m really disgusted by two of the quotes coming from New Orleans. Firstly, let me say that my heart goes out to all those people who have lost family, friends, and priceless posessions. It is a tragedy, and I am very concerned for the safety of those down south. I hope that Jen’s (of shamus&jen) family is not from New Orleans, and if so, that they are safe. BUT! I’ve heard two quotes said by government officials that seem to be a bit over the top. The first, “This is our tsunami” and the second “I can imagine this is what hiroshima looked like after the bomb.”

WHAT?

The tsunami killed over 212,000 people. The atomic bomb at hiroshima killed over 200,000.

While my only exposure to Katrina are the pictures from the news, and thusly I am not qualified to outright debunk the quotes, I would imagine that the residents of New Orleans would rather endure another Katrina than an atomic bomb or a tsunami of the likes of last December. To even compare Katrina to either of these events is insulting. This does not mean that Katrina wasn’t horrible, simply that in a world where nature and war have wreaked mindnumbing devestation on humanity, it seems wrong to compare levels of suffering. Especially when the death toll and area affected are so vastly different.

That said, Here’s how to help.

Tonight I’m taking a kung fu lesson.

Jill and I went to Tanglewood last night. Josh Groban was there.

he was pretty deece. Good voice, though I must admit, I wasn’t screaming his name like 90% of the 15000 women in attendance were.

Really though, we couldn’t have asked for a better night at Tanglewood. The weather was perfect, and it was Hollywood night. So, John Williams was conducting all sorts of hollywood hits. Including none other than the Star Trek theme, which, when you hear it performed live as you stare into the starry sky, is quite a phenomenon.

My Ti-82 has just been pumped up with four brand new triple A batteries.

I’m going to be unstoppable today.

We did quite a bit of work in the Garage of Disco last night. The rock wall is very near completion, only requiring a few big falling mats and a bunch more holds for variety. We’re feeling very accomplished however, because we got rid of all the trash. AND, we did it cheaply. A neighbor of ours is moving and had a dumpster. We paid him 20 bucks and dumped the whole lot of trash out of the garage. Mind you, there was a LOT of trash. We still have some wood and tool organization that needs to be done, but with about 2 hours work we could easily have two full car bays available for usage. This is KEY as we get closer to the ominous winter and the ominous September House of Rock party.

today will likely be a super-busy day at work. So I fear I probably won’t be able to post much. Just rest assured that antics will continue shortly.

My dad’s a new member of a band called TABASCO FIASCO. The band will be playing at a number of locations in the upcoming month. If you live in Massachusetts and you like mike d’s music, you’ll love mike d’s dad’s music.

The Schedule for Tabasco Fiasco

(sadly the picture on the home page of Tabasco Fiasco does not show my dad, I’ll have to let them know that they need a new photo)

Last night the HoR lost power. It went at about 7:30 and spanned the blocks surrounding us. When it died, we didn’t really know what to do. So we started with an impromptu jam session. Jesse on the drums, Sizzle on the steel drums, and me blaring away on Mark’s sister’s french horn. It was loud. And short. Soon it was 8:00 and we were bored.

So we did what anyone living in the House of Rock would do. We got a bunch of candles, went out into the garage, and climbed by candlelight for the remainder of the evening.

It was really fun. We developed a killer route that traverses across the wall twice before culminating in a move that requires your body to be fully horizontal.

9:50 am: 1.5 quarts water consumed.

1:16 pm: 2.5 quarts water consumed.

3:24 pm: 3.0 quarts water consumed.

5:00pm: Alas, only 3 quarts today. tomorrow I hope to return to four.

last night I went running with Mark. I think it’s the first time since late may or june. I felt great! no knee worries, and we kept up a solid pace for most of the trip.

In other news, Sander (sizzle) and Jesse did some more work on the rock wall. The Sizz posted a few pictures below. We still need to touch up a few spots and put in a more impressive padding system. But overall, it’s a good setup.

Today my goal is to drink a 4.5 quarts of water before 5pm.

Kurt and Shaun’s comments about MSPaint reminded me that I’ve been meaning to post this:

Sander requested a picture of giant bananas terrorizing some people awhile ago. This be the result.

Jesse and I are in line at Shaws and there happens to be a cute girl standing in line in front of us. She has only one arm and as she is loading up the conveyer she drops an item.

Jesse informed me afterwards that he almost leaned over and helpfully asked: “need a hand?”

Also, the sizz turned 23. Jill, the sizz, and I watched “A very long engagement” (amazing movie!), and I rode on my first rollercoaster since 1988.

It was a good weekend indeed.

we’ve been working hard on the rock wall, here’s a shot of Sander’s Torso and my legs and arm high in the rafters trying to secure the left angled wall.

We continued our work in the Garage of Disco last night. soon I hope to have a special entry detailing the processes that we’ve gone through in order to turn our garage into a more exciting place.

The question came up:
What could we do to the House of Rock that would make the place even cooler than it already is?

Jesse suggested a jacuzzi, but those things are killer expensive. The perfect idea would be something we could build ourselves. Do any of the faithful mikedidonato.com readers have a suggestion?

So much for my dream to be the first person to ever build a Viking ship out of popsicle sticks.

Over the past month or so I have been slowly increasing my daily water intake and I’m excited to report that today while at work I have downed a full gallon of water.

I have visited the bathroom 5 times.

The castle construction begins

castle carving is well underway…

Ruth with Old man Schenk… sad because they are so hungry for ice cream

The water begins its initial assault on the castle

people flee from the safety of the castle walls as the water forces its way higher and higher

I find that I am notoriously attracted to tall women. I mentioned this predicament to Patrick recently. He responded:

Maybe… you could become proficient at stilts. Just wear stilts all the time. It’d be a neat party trick, and it’ll work out with the ladies

hmm…

I’ve been accepted at graduate school for mechanical engineering at the University of New Haven. Hopefully it will be super convenient and super cheap. While I dread the thought of having to do homework again, I’m excited at the potential for some good learning.

I have a doctors appointment today. Which is entirely convenient, as I awoke with an ear ache today. The kind that causes you to regularly adjust your jaw and muck around with your lobe.

cursed ear! why do you cause me such irritation!

Also, I happened to open up a folder on my computer last night and found this picture that I drew. It’s called bananaman. I don’t remember drawing it and I have no idea why I would ever draw a man being crushed by a giant banana, but hopefully you’ll find it entertaining.

My vacation was fantastic. It included such wild adventures as an 8 foot sand castle:

more kiteboarding:

40 scoops of ice cream:

and the two following conversations:

Mom: I don’t think babysitting earnings should be taxable.
UncleSteve: All income is taxable. Even that earned by selling illegal drugs.
mom: what?
UncleSteve: it’s true. In fact for hard drugs like heroin you can’t deduct Cost of goods sold, but with soft drugs like marijuana you can. So if you sell 500,000 dollars worth of Heroin for one million, you’re taxed on one million. But if you sell 500,000 dollars worth of marijuana for one million dollars, you can deduct the 500,000 you spent to purchase the drugs.
Dad: what about prostitution? can you deduct the girls wages?
UncleSteve: yes you can.
Dad: Do the girls lose value over time?
UncleSteve: Yes, I suppose you could say that the women depreciate in value as they age.

Conversation 2.

Old Man Schenk: what’s so great about Bo Bice?
mike d: I think it’s his ability to remain true to himself and not be bought out by american idol.
Jill: Theresa did you see when he sang a capella?
Theresa: YES!
Jill: did you die?
Theresa: I died.
Jill: I’m dead!
Theresa: I’m dead too!

The Question

Kurt vs. Glenn Says:

April 22nd, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Is a porkus real?

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The Question

Glenn from work Says:
April 8th, 2005 at 8:21 am

What criteria do cable companies use to determine where in the volume is the best stereo? It has to do if you put your audio through the digital cable box and the volume through that. Its pretty much different on each model of cable box.

Kurt - I have no idea what Glenn is talking about here, but I just typed it in.

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Its my show now!

I figured that I’d post the news here while MikeD was gone: I’ll be a full citizen of the interweb on tuesday. Expect the usual news at jonabad.com.