The Andy Rooneys - Week 3

I missed week 2 of bowling league due to a prior commitment to a show at the Minnesota Orchestra, Kodo. A good show, but the crowd was atrocious in behavior. Anyways, week 3 brought an absolute rout of the Andy Rooneys by Team Fun. Team Fun may have the best bowler in the league. His normal 187 average was beaten by a good 40 points in every game. Oh well, it's all fun and games until someone throws a ball backwards into the spectators.

Performance this week was pretty bad until game 3. Handicap was 71 this week. I went with a heavier ball (14 lbs) and a more traditional delivery this week. I need more refinement.

Game 1	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10			Total
Aaron	4	-	X		3	-	s8	-	7	/	7	-	4	4	6	2	X		3	/	7	score	105
	4		17		20		28		45		52		60		68		88		105			w/HDCP	176

Game 2	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10			Total
Aaron	s6	1	9	/	X		s8	-	4	5	6	/	7	2	9	/	7	/	s7		1	score	130
	7		27		45		53		62		79		88		105		122		130			w/HDCP	201

Game 3	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10			Total
Aaron	X		X		X		s8	1	9	-	X		s8	-	X		9	/	9	/	7	score	177
	30		58		77		86		95		113		121		141		160		177			w/HDCP	248

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

This past weekend Kelsey, myself, Kristen, and Cameron all headed up to Bayfield, WI to check out the sea caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It was about a 4 hour drive up there, where we had a cabin at Woodside Cottages for the weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture, but it was very nice, and the staff was great as well.

Saturday after lunch we drove around to Meyers Beach, where you park and walk out. It's about a mile to the first caves, right across the frozen ice of Lake Superior.

Here's Kristen and Cameron, ready to head down the stairs to the beach.Kelsey and myself.
There's a bit of an ice wall where the surf freezes over.
There were a lot more people than I expected. It seems this is quite the attraction in the area. The caves aren't accessible in the summer, as there's no beach in front of them. Here you can see a bit of the crown walking to/from the caves. We're headed out to that point.
An example of what lies ahead.
The sandstone in this area was quarried out and hauled to Minneapolis, Milwaukee, or Chicago to build buildings.
Kelsey under the ice.
This was a pretty cool ice damn. It was about 12 feet tall at the highest point, maybe 8 on the right side. There's no ladder, just the indentations in the ice from previous climbers, and stalactites and stalagmites to hold on to.
I did make it up, which was pretty cool.
A break in the rock behind the ice damn. It's probably 75 feet to the top.
A panoramic view of Lake Superior. You can't see it in this one, but in the original you can see right across to Minnesota. Our friend Anton was in Two Harbors the same weekend, and I bet we could've walked across the lake!
Time for some hot cocoa before we head back to the car.
Our beach vacation for the winter.

Alex Rodriguez Takes Shteroids

And he has a funny lisp.

Shteroids.

The Andy Rooneys

Anton, Steve, Ian, and I have joined the Sunday night bowling league at Memory Lanes. We are, The Andy Rooneys! Now, none of us are spectacular bowlers, by any means. But I feel that in week one we all put forth a valiant effort. Which could come back to haunt us, as it's all based upon average. My week one scores, if anyone cares.

Game 1	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10
Aaron	6	2	8	-	8	1	X		3	5	6	3	7	-	7	/	8	/	9	/	9
	8		16		25		43		51		60		67		85		104		123

Game 2	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10
Aaron	9	-	9	-	s8	-	9	-	X		9	-	5	/	9	/	3	4	9	/	-
	9		18		26		35		54		63		82		95		102		112

Game 3	Fr 1		Fr 2		Fr 3		Fr 4		Fr 5		Fr 6		Fr 7		Fr 8		Fr 9		Fr 10
Aaron	-	7	X		7	-	6	3	7	1	-	/	s8	1	9	/	1	5	6	/	7
	7		24		31		40		48		66		75		86		92		109

These Beats Are 20 Years Old

I've taken a hiatus from keeping up on new music lately. It just got to be too much work trying to listen to everything. I'll stream The Current, but I probably haven't seen a show in a year plus. I'm trying to fix it, get back to being "hip" and "in the scene." It's tough.

Rob gave me a hint to check out the new David Byrne / Brian Eno work. The song "Strange Overtones" is damn good, and has the post's title line. Why is this relevant?
Well, last week I was driving out to Hudson, and heard a song on the radio I just loved. It sounded very 80s (a decade I enjoy maybe too much), yet still modern. It could've been released in 1986, and it would've sounded the same. The drum beats had an immediately recognizable sound, a somewhat vocodered vocal part, and a very synth bass line. It put me into an immediate good mood. I needed to know what song it was. NOW.

Well... those beats weren't 20 years old. Hell, they weren't 20 months old. Who was it?

Kanye. Kanye West.
The album title explains the sound, that's for sure. The Roland TR-808 is the quintessential 80's drum machine. And I guess if he's co-opting a sound I like, it can't be all that bad, right? But Jen brought up a good point last night, that it's hard to overcome the preconceived notions. I'm not really a fan of Kanye's ego, but if he's gonna start making music I like, then maybe I should start tuning in.