Stupid singers becoming nuts!

I got an email from the Friends of Live website telling me that Live broke up. I'm more than a little bummed about it, but it doesn't surprise me very much. As a nerd that goes to their message boards often I knew that the singer, Ed Kowalczyk, and the rest of the band have been growing apart over the last few years. I made a previous post where I discussed how disappointed I've been in them lately, but I can't find it for some reason.

Because I'm lazy, I'll just re-post the letter that was sent out:

A personal message from Chad Taylor:

Dead Friend of Live,

Let me start by thanking you for your many years of devoted loyalty to our music.  Bands are lucky if they have one hit and fade away but in the case of Live, you kept us relevant for more than 20 years.  Today I am writing you as a fan of the band with sad news.

As many of you know, Live was having a hard time keeping things together.  After many years of friendship, love and laughter it became clear that things had run their course.  I was in denial.  Our working relationship with Ed had grown cold and we were only on limited speaking terms for the last several months.  We agreed for the sake of the bands future to take a break and announced the hiatus.  During that time period we discovered a contract executed in 2005 that engaged the bands company into a legal obligation that did not have majority consent from the band.  Ed’s signature was the only one required.

We were fast to try and open communication with Ed or his legal team but got no reply.  Our hiatus had fast turned into a break up.  Chad, Patrick and I have no plans to replace Ed at this point in time, however, he will no longer be a member of our band.  We are excited by the opportunities ahead of us and will look to enjoin forces with vocalists and instrumentalists that will hold high the ideals set forth by the band and its fans.  Yes, there may be future Live recording and tours but we are all very realistic that it will never be the same without Ed.  That doesn’t mean that it can’t be great.

Like you, we are greatly saddened by the discoveries we made but as many of you know, life has a way of sorting things out.  Ed will always be tied to Live and we will never make attempts to shadow his considerable lyrical and melodic contributions to our music.

Stay tuned to FOL for more details on our future plans.  I would also ask that we all take the time to remember the positive energy Ed, Chad, Patrick and I spent so many years pushing forward.  I’m trying hard myself to not be judgmental and let life flow freely around me.

Love,
Chad Taylor

On behalf of Chad Gracey and Patrick Dahlheimer

That would go great next to my water bed!!

Classy!

This gem is at one of the many local antique shops around town. I wasn't sure that the late 80's/early 90's is considered "antique," but apparently it is!

Very little to report today kids. We went out for some drinks, had a lot of fun & learned many things about Josiah that I would have rather not learned. Now the ladies are downstairs & slightly inebriated. Countdown to Madanna / Lady Gaga dance party in 3...2....

Thank you for shopping at Kroger...

"James, why are you showing us a picture of your car parked next to Paige's?"

Because, Internet, our cars are total BFF's. Duh! It has nothing to do with the fact that I forgot to carry the camera around today........

Dustin came in town to go shopping with some of the students because he did something horrible recently and had to atone for it. We saved him from this perdicament for about 2 hours then threw him back to the wolves.

And now for your consideration I present Jo amusing herself at Kroger..........

I'm thankful for not wrecking & good gas mileage.

I just wanted to show you guys how much driving we did yesterday.

Why don't you get a job?

Look at him.... begging... pathetic!!

Yes everyone, Jo finally got to meet Raoul. We had dinner at the Boswell's and started to watch a movie, but it turns out the movie was boring and 75% of us fell asleep on the couch. Ross stayed awake so he wins a cupcake.

The cupcakes are available a any grocery store for a small fee + sales tax. Congratulations.

It's time for STUPID QUESTIONS WITH JAMES MCDONALD.....  I've heard several times over the past few weeks that Taylor Swift shows that someone can be successful without dressing like a total slut, a fact that I agree with to an extent.  I now pose this question for you people: would she be nearly as famous if, while sounding exactly the same, she were an overweight mexican woman with a skin disorder?

Squishy foam soles!

Thats right kids, i phoned it in again. I did nothing today so I decided to show you the new pair of slippers I bought. My spongebob houseshoes have holes in the bottom.

We also have a free copy of Windows 7 but I haven't installed it yet. I have the option of installing the 32bit version or the 64bit version but I have no idea what the differences are. I know that the 64bit version will utilize more RAM, but is there any kind of visual or performance differences.

64 is also my favorite number.

We could have burned most of it......

Our parties certainly do create a huge pile of garbage! Good thing aluminum cans, wine bottles, and pizza boxes are recyclable.....

Yes, I just went 3 straight days without posting a "picture of the day." You'll just have to get over that. Friday was the big surprise party for Jo (special thanks to all my secret agents,) Saturday was our Thanksgiving dinner with our local peeps, and I don't post pictures on Sunday, the day of our Lord. As you can see, I had valid excuses every day.

braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains

I spent tonight at the home of Derek and Lindsey Harris eating. There was some talking and we watched some football, buy mostly eating.

I thought I would be nice and bring a pie..... 2 other people thought the same thing. There were 4 pies for 9 people. Good times!!

creepy yet delicious.....

Calamari?

Sorry folks, nothing interesting to type today. I did find what may be a solution to my little "can't keep a scooter" problem.

2 of these properly installed in our driveway should be more than enough. I'll check into it next time we have disposable income.

We're watching the DVD's of Rescue Me, which I've never seen before. Hopefully it won't suck.

I don't always drink soda; but when I do, I prefer Pepsi...

This is Adam "The 2nd Most Interesting Man In The World" Jones classing up the joint.

Today I, along with Lindsey, Abbey, and Ma & Pa Harris took in a performance featuring Adam, Derek, and several dozen other people that I don't know or care about. It was fun and I made loud, distracting noises through the whole set. After the concert we went to Ramsi's where this fun picture, as well as many others that I will save for day's that I don't take a picture, were taken. Good times.

Dustin Harris was not present. This, to me, is a hard blow.

ngata = fun last name

It's passport gettin' time!

Actually, it's passport application filling out time. Hopefully soon (after a trip to the post office & a $100) it will be passport gettin' time.

Our trip to the land of chocolate and army knives is a mere 5 months away. Jo was dancing and bounding about while we walked to get our pictures taken she was so excited. Cute as hell that woman is.

I, for one, welcome our new Robot Overlords.

That red glowing thing in Cheryl's had allows her to control Tennille. Unfortunately it only has one button that switches her from "sleep" to "eat" then back to "sleep." It was a very expensive set up that Jo said wouldn't be worth the money.

She was wrong.

Our trip to Cincinnati today was canceled due to Josh's ailment. We would wish him all the best if I weren't convinced that he did it on purpose because he didn't want us to come visit him. Jerk.

Yesterday was my first day skipping a picture of the day since I started it back up. Hopefully this won't be a slippery slope that leads me to another few months of no pictures.

On another note, I'm trying to find scooter storage solutions and would like any suggestion that anyone can think of. As most of you know, we have no back yard but we do have a large parking spot that I could probably fit a small shed in. I don't want to use a garden shed because that would be ugly as hell.I don't know if there is a company that makes sheds that are shorter than most so that a scooter will just barely fit in there.

If Jo would let me, I would just park it inside the front door but I'm sure that would never happen :D

The only reason God hasn't wiped you from the face of the Earth is that he somehow finds you amusing

It's not quite Oscar's Chicken Special, but it's damn close. It's really, really good either way.

If Oscar's Chicken is Joe Montana or Steve Young, then this recipe is Steve Bono. It'll never be a hall of famer, but it will be a more than adequate backup going 5-1 and finish 4th in the league in passer rating.

I'm going to try a few changes. I'm going to use rice that was cooked in chicken broth instead of instant rice & I need a creamier cheese. Any suggestion would be helpful.

I've been texting recipes back and forth with Paige (otherwise known as Old Gertie Mae) and hope to have something presentable soon.

Better yet, someone go to Lowes and ask Oscar how to make it!

Bury them up to the neck & break out the lawnmower!!

"james, some drunkard ruffian is hitting on your wife!"

For being so full of facts you sure are a moron, Internet.

This is our dear friend Adam and he is telling Jo how his band got screwed out of playing their show at Flannigans on time today. There was some private party in the space they were going to play so they got bumped. Sucks ass for them, but what are you going to do?

"Drag the 'private party' people outside and beat them with tire irons, or gut them and jump rope with their intestines?"

I like your thinking, Internet!!

"Roll their bodies in a carpet and set them on fire!!"

Now you're talking!

bawk bawk....

My friends, I am hopeful. Earlier this year a restaurant that I loved more than I love most of you closed, taking with it my favorite dish in the history of ever. Los Quatros Amigos was an eatery on Carter Rd. in Owensboro, KY owned by a nice man named Oscar. Oscar was a fine Mexican gentleman who created a dish that was called "Oscar's Chicken" which was as delicious as the title is imaginative. With his restaurant closing, I was afraid that I would never have this meal that I've forced upon many of you many, many times. Through an exhaustive google & food network search, I believe that I found a recipe that may closely resemble what I lost. I hope....... i hope.....

While walking home from Kroger with a backpack full of raw chicken I saw a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. I know it was a hybrid because I walked behind it to cross the street and checked out the decal on the back. I should have tried to get a look at who was driving it because those things start at $75k I think. I wonder how much fuel the hybrid version saves. The regular Escalade gets something like 12mpg, does it really save enough to justify the extra $20,000?

I also saw our dear friends Josiah and Marcy while I was walking home. This is why I like having so many places to eat near our house, you run into your friends a lot.

Norman

She sleeps 19 hours a day, the other 5 are spent eating.

Here is my impression of James when he can't think of anything to type....

Cavolo

This, my friends, is cabbage.

"But James, Cabbage is spherical not unlike iceberg lettuce!"

You're stupid, Internet. Cabbage, like lettuce, is a flowering plant that we eat before it blooms. Artichokes are floating on this same boat.... on a sea of butter.

These particular plants are in front of Ditto's, which is a restaurant that I love locacted on Bardstown Rd. They also have red (or is it purple?) cabbage in another flower pot.

I had a disgusting adventure today. I noticed that our dryer was taking 2 cycles to dry certain loads & figured there was a block somewhere. I pulled the lint filter out of the dryer & disassembled the front part so I could clean out all the lint. It wasn't clogged so I moved the dryer and unhooked the hose, it wasn't clogged either. I went outside to the vent outlet on the side of the house and I wish I had thought to go grab the camera. There was a softball size plug of wet, hot purple dryer lint blocking the outlet. I yanked it out & reached my arm into the outlet and found another giant clump. I threw both of them away and sprayed out the vent cover thingy so hopefully everything will work good now. I'll have to remember to start doing that every few months.

He only owns 7 cats......

I don't know this guys name, but I see him all the time walking around our neighborhood. He's always wearing a long jacket, even during the summer. He's a bit of a celebrity in our lives & we just call him "the coat guy" because we're too scared to break the mystique that he embeds himself in.

Our car got towed today. Cost us $130. Good times.

Finding crap to type about every day is difficult.

I title this one "Self Portrait While Walking Home." It's a picture that I took of myself while I was walking home the other day.

Somehow I managed to cut my ear while shaving my head this morning. In other news, Jo bought a teapot looking thing that pours water in one nostril and out the other. These are exciting times in the McDonald household.

And you thought Macbeth was a tragedy!

Jo and I went on our cookie date and I was angered greatly & feel as if I have been wronged by the good people at Highland Coffee. They will go weeks and weeks at a time without serving my beloved lemon poppyseed muffin & on the one day that they've had it in what seems like months THEY ALSO HAVE DELICIOUS MACAROON BROWNIES!! EATING THEM BOTH IS NOT AN OPTION SO I AM JUST A BIT BOTHERED BY THE SITUATION!!

I got over it. I ate my lemon poppyseed muffin & hopefully next week they'll have the macaroon brownies again.... hint hint Chris & Erin.....................

Quality law firms advertise on TARC buses

If you live in Louisville, you understand why this is a bit of a landmark.

The Heavy Hitter's office is 3 blocks from our house :)

Witty title.

This is me sitting on a target ball. I wanted to take a picture of me standing in the middle of the bejeweled "Target" that is on the ground outside of the store with my arms extended & looking skyward a la Terrell Owens, but alas we have no boom camera and my wife is very short.

I had to buy a new hoodie today. The elbows in the one pictures above have completely worn out. I don't know what it is with my desk at work, but it shreds clothing like sandpaper. I work with someone that has stopped wearing long sleeve shirts to work for this very reason.

Thanks to the party on Saturday & the football game last night I must spend tonight doing the laundry. Fun!

Foosball is the devil!!

I took in the Colts-49ers game with Adam today and boy was it an adventure!!

We get to the gates with our tickets, but the ticket reading laser things told them that we weren't allowed in. We went to the customer service window on the other side of the stadium & they told us that since the tickets were transfered to us from a season ticket holder, those tickets were no longer valid. We'd need the printout of the new tickets with the new bar codes. The only problem with this was that those tickets were on the desktop at home. I called Jo & woke her up so she could email them to me & Adam and I proceeded to prance about downtown Indy looking for someone that would let us print the tickets. After being disappointed, we found the nice and lovely people from the downtown Hotel That I Can't Remember. I told them of our plight & after assuring her that despite our 49er jerseys, we were both massive Colt fans with respect for the organization that is almost a great as that GIANT melon on the top of Peyton Manning's neck. They let me log into my email from the desk PC & print up the tickets and Adam and I walked the several blocks back to Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lucas is HUUUUUUUGE. It's an awesome stadium. I had a bratwurst & a drink, Adam had 7 or 8 beers. It was a good time. I'd like to start doing that more often, but since my hook-up for the great seats moved to Miami I don't see that happening too much in the near future.

I also got quite a few comments because I was wearing shorts and the roof was open for this game, stuff like "aren't you freezing" and "are you cold."

Overall, good times. We even got crap from the waitress about our jerseys when we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner.