A local radio station, 97.5 the Blaze, along with about a zillion other partners, sponsored a concert series in the month of August where they brought in a few national-act rock bands for free concerts.  The show took place in the Gallivan Center, which is a plaza smack in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City.  This plaza is a cool place, with lots of shady trees and meeting areas, along with a big pond that freezes in the winter time for ice skating.  In the summer though, it’s a great place for beer drinking and concerts.

My excitement was almost bubbling over.  Headlining the show would be a band called Shinedown.  They’ve been around for a while, and left quite a few hit songs in their wake.  They’re a good solid, hard rocking band.  Opening for Shinedown were Red, and a  just-signed band called Jet Black Stare.  Personally, the band I was most looking forward to was Red.  I’ve been a huge Red fan since they hit it big, and I love their songs.  To see them up close and for free would be spectacular.  I’m also a pretty big Shinedown fan, so I was looking forward to them too.  Never heard of Jet Black Stare before, but I’m always looking for good music and new talent, so throw them in too!  The more the merrier.

Things started out well.  I took TRAX up and got there way super early, so I could scope the place out and find myself a good standing location.  There were a few people there already; die-hard rockers and the like.  I settled onto a bench in the shade and listened to the mic checks and setup.  Things were looking up at that point, although it was all downhill from there.

I got myself right up front, right by the stage.  If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it right.  It concerned me a little bit that the speakers were right at ground level, and very close to the stage, but I’d hoped it wouldn’t be an issue.  After all, I’d heard the sound checks and everything seemed fine.  I was wrong about that one big time.

There’s been a disturbing trend lately in concerts I’ve attended.  I’m sure it’s not limited to just the ones I go to either.  That trend is for the venue or audio techs for bands to say "hell with it!" and grab every single knob on every single piece of equipment and twist it as high as it will go.  This has the effect of boomy bass, distorted highs and mids, and completely washed-out vocals.  In short, it makes everything sound like crap.  Every single gain on every single amp must have been cranked past eleven tonight, basically reducing what should have been a hard-rocking concert into a cacophonous mess of mush and ear-splitting distortion.

Jet Black Stare was probably a good band.  It seemed like they had a good beat, but it was hard to tell over the whine of feedback and static-filled vocals.  By the time they were finished my ears has already started ringing.  I’d hoped it was just inexperienced techies running the boards for an inexperienced band, but no such luck.

Red came on next.  They were even louder and more distortion-filled than JBS, and my hopes of finally getting to see my latest favorite band evaporated into pure noise.  I couldn’t understand a word the singer was singing, couldn’t discern the different guitars from one another, and didn’t hear any of the subtle details of the music that I know had to be there.  It was a loud, ringing mess.  I even left my cherry spot at the front for a walk around the back part of the plaza, thinking I was just too close.  Nope.  Everything was just as muddy everywhere else.  It was absolutely horrifying.

The song directly above is amazing, and one of my very favorites.  Throughout, and at the end especially, there’s a very lovely string part that really makes the song.  I know they had this string part at the concert tonight, set as a drum trigger, because I heard them using it in sound check.  During the song in concert however, I couldn’t make it out at all.  Everything else was so overdriven, it completely drowned out the strings.  Now tell me, what kind of band screws up their own song?

At the end of Red’s set, I started to feel very uncomfortable.  My ears were ringing loudly and the sounds around me all sounded tinny and distant, like a bad phone connection.  Good, clean, quality sound does not have this effect, no matter how loud it is.  Only massive distortions and improper amplification and gain levels do this.  It was bad.  I remember when I was up in the front actually hearing the speakers pop.  These are concert quality venue speakers, capable of outputting hundreds of watts, and they were being so overdriven that they were popping!  It was absolutely insane. 

So what about Shinedown, you ask?  Well, I wish I could tell you, but I left before they even came on.  My ears literally hurt, and I didn’t want my impression of one of my favorite bands to be tainted by bad sound management.  I prefer to listen to the CD, and rock out to my band when I can understand and appreciate them.  It’s a sad day when I actually leave a free concert with one of my favorite bands before I even get to hear them perform.  It’s hard to believe.

I’m sitting here now, at home in front of my computer, and my ears are still ringing.  I feel like I’m under water.  It was a bad night at the Gallivan Center for sure.

Right at the beginning, I notice the words "unemployment" and "job" rearing their ugly heads.  This could be a sign.  I also see "hair", which indicates a possible fixation. 

I’m not sure how accurate this is, but it’s kinda fun.  Test it out on your own blog, and post the results!

Enjoy.

I’m still plugging along though.  I’m not in dire straights or anything, but money is tighter than I’m used to.  This is likely the reason for my lapse in judgement and common sense in filing for unemployment insurance.

You know those little terriers that perform in fairs and sideshows?  Little circus dogs that jump through hoops like little yapping fools for the entertainment of others?  That’s exactly what filing for unemployment is like.  It’s a humiliating experience so chock-full of red tape and bureaucracy that it makes your head spin like Linda Blair at a baptism.  You’d think that in this day and age, filling out some government forms would be as simple as logging onto some dot-gov  web site and typing in some info.  Well, they make you think it’s that simple, but not long after typing the equivalent text of War and Peace into Utah’s wonderful web site, professing secrets and useless information about myself to government employees, the response of the state is to send you more forms in the mail.  These forms contain the exact same questions that were answered online, only in convenient annoying manual form, destined to be lost somewhere in the back of a mail truck on their way to not being read by anybody.

Then there’s the tease.  According to some random formula, possibly involving horses stomping out numbers, Utah came up with the amount of $430 per week that I would receive, should I qualify of course, of unemployment insurance.  That’s a little exciting.  After all, that’s roughly ten dollars per hour.  I could sit around and collect unemployment whilst continuing my vegetative state.  Putting a damper on that idea though is the fact that you are required to send them proof of at least two job prospects every week, complete with contact names, dates, and outcome of the request.  So much for sitting around.

That’s not such a bad deal though.  The whole point is to get a job, and forcing you to look is a good thing.  I had no problem with it.

Then they sent me a debit card in the mail.  A shiny little card with a MasterCard logo on the front, promising untold riches at the expense of my former employer.  This card is the method of which the state pays the insurance, forcing you to use it whenever you want to pay for something.  I chuckled a little at the little pamphlet that came with the card, detailing the fact that a service charge would be incurred each time I used the card at an ATM.  Government programs are so wonderful!

This whole situation culminated in a phone call from a "helpful" asshole government employee who called to ask why the hell I don’t have a job.  His intent was to ascertain my eligibility for unemployment insurance, asking me the same type of stupid questions that I could swear I already answered in electronic as well as written form at least twice.  Government is nothing if not thorough.  Interestingly, he seemed to have copies of all of the statements from employees and the corporate office of my former employer at his disposal.  These are documents I had no access to myself.  I wasn’t allowed to see them or know their content, but the tool on the phone apparently did.  He even read bits of them to me in a mocking tone, asking me to explain my actions and defend my position on why I got fired.  I told him I’d never seen those documents, and I countered his argument with my own story, which should have been plainly obvious by that point.  He didn’t buy it though.  He told me they’d "have a decision" by the end of the day.  I wasn’t too hopeful.

Yes, Best Buy challenged my claim, and I was denied unemployment insurance by the state of Utah.  No surprise to me at all.  Seems my firing was "justified" by my actions, and Best Buy was "justified" in canning me because I broke a DVD case after ten years of faithful service.  Government protects the big companies, and I don’t get to peck at the little crumbs of help they throw in the dirt.  Seems logical.

Ah well.  Back to the job search.  This whole experience was an exercise in frustration anyway, so I’m glad it’s over.  I wish I’d have know ahead of time though.  Live and learn.

Since I lost my job, I’ve more or less just been letting my hair grow long.  I’ve had it cut four or five times, but nothing more than just a touch-up or a trim.  Right now, the bangs are long enough to chew on, and the sides are pretty much the same.  The back is shorter, but not by much.  I’m pretty fuzzy overall.

Problem is; I rather like it when it behaves.  It actually looks pretty good when styled up really nice, but my hair and I have never gotten along.  It insists on doing whatever it wants as soon as I look away from the mirror.  Lately, that means forming a part like the Red Sea right down the middle, and flopping the rest over the sides and front.  It’s obnoxious, and no amount of gel or greasy product will tame it.

I hate my hair hanging in my face.  I hate, hate, hate it.  I don’t know how people with long hair can stand it.  It’s so annoying and bothersome.  If I drive with the windows down, it constantly blows into my eyes, obscuring my vision.  Not only that, but it won’t stay in place if I push it back, and oftentimes you get those single strands that tickle your nose and forehead. 

So you may be saying, "well, if you hate it so much, cut it off!"  And you would be correct in thinking that.  I’ve decided that it is indeed time to chop off the offending shag.  It’s a little sad though, because I do like the look of long hair on guys.  Lots of guys seem to be able to rock it, but apparently I’m not one of them.  Right out of the shower, when it’s wet, or if I glob in tons of sticky product, I can trowel it into a form resembling something socially acceptable, but the sexiness wears of very quickly.  Not fifteen minutes into my day, after a wetting and combing session that takes far too long, my hair snickers playfully and then proceeds to swirl and flip into a confusing mess, like a gymnast on crack, tangling and poofing, before finally settling down to hang directly into my face.  Running back to the mirror, I discover the horror show that looks like a bad rug from the 70s that’s collapsed on top of my head and started sliding down the front.  Tackling it quickly with a comb only results in a temporary solution.  It’s folly, I say.  I’ve even threatened it a couple of times with the clippers, but it knows I’m bluffing.

Or am I?

Going to the hair place tomorrow to teach my locks a lesson.  Gonna hack several inches off too.  That oughta learn it good.

Doesn’t matter what stage your hair is in.  Of course, there are times when your hair looks great, maybe a couple days after a cut, or when you see a stylist and have it done up all professional-like.  Still, it only takes a few days or maybe a week for it to hit another "stage" where it looks like crap again.  These stages occur at any length too.  Even so, there are people that always just seem to have perfect hair.  I don’t know how they do it either, but surely they have bad days too.  Don’t they? 

I guess I shouldn’t care, really.  I’m a guy, and as a guy daily hair maintenance should involve nothing more than running my hands through it and messing it up a little.  Then it should settle down and look cool.  I’m blessed in some ways; my hairline is in the same place it’s always been, and there’s no gray anywhere.  I’ll always have a full head of hair if I want it, and it will always be red.  Even when I’m old.

I just wish it would behave. 

I’m not suffering from any type of writer’s block or anything.  Quite to the contrary, my mind is all abuzz with different topics and insights.  It’s not really a time issue either, because lord knows I have tons of time on my hands.  It’s more of just a "break" if anything.  I’ve been reading a lot lately, something I enjoy more than just about anything else, including writing.  I’ve read three 700+ page books and one big 1000+ pager in the last week and a half, and I’m about to start another series of four tomorrow.  I just can’t help myself; I’ve always been a reader.

I’ve also tried to spend less time in front of the computer.  I still have issues with my forearms and wrists, simply because of the position on my desk, so time away is helping that situation.  I’ve ramped up my job search considerably, filed for unemployment, (which is actually a decent amount of money) and started doing longer hikes.  I’m also considering taking photography more seriously, something I’ve always wanted to do, and I have thought about taking a trip in the near future.  I think I just need to get away for a couple of days, you know?

Hopefully soon I’ll be able to put a few personal issues aside and focus on my quality of life more.  My blog can be more fulfilling that way, getting back to the thousand-word monsters that I like to write.  I the meantime, I’ll still update, although perhaps not as frequently.  I do have a couple of cool things planned for the very near future, so don’t think I’m gonna just slack off, I just need a breather.  Keep reading, Ok?

Actually this mask is a bit on the small side for me, but it’s cool, no?  It was made by a friend of mine, who together with his twin brother and his two nephews, stormed Comic-Con recently as the old-school Batman and Robin.  Not only is he a fantastic make up artist, but his other creations are no less professional.  Their costumes were cool, because the two kids dressed up as miniature versions of the twins.  I’m sure they were popular, and I’ve seen pictures from the trip with celebrities alongside, so I know they were a hit.

I think I happen to have a pretty good chin for Batman, if I do say so myself.  I’m just not sure Batman smirks quite so much.

Well kids, I’m down to 194 pounds as of a couple of minutes ago.  This is according to my bathroom scale, which I bought at the start of this whole thing.  Nothing much to report though.  Not too much has changed, and although I feel better, my gut is still being stubborn.  I’ve lost the roundness of my face and my second chin, but the actual belly itself is still holding on.  I shall eradicate it soon enough though… it can’t hide much longer.

Here’s my nutrition report from last month.  I think I’m doing fairly well.  Fitness will soon be mine!

Nutrition Report

This shot was taken a while ago when we were up on Antelope Island, which juts out into the Great (WTF is that smell?) Salt Lake. I was at my most massive then, at around 210. As you can see, it’s horrifying. I didn’t have a clue myself until I saw this picture.

At first, I thought that perhaps the wind had gotten up into my shirt and puffed it out. It was a pretty windy day, after all. However, upon closer inspection, my arms are actually pinned up to my sides as I hold the rock in anticipation of some serious (albeit unsuccessful) skippage on the water in the background. So I guess I can’t use that excuse. Also note the roundness of the face and the plump cheeks. Frightening! There is a little wind puffage in the shirt, but 99% of that bulk is pure me. Sad, I know.

Many of my readers are looking at this picture going, “well, that’s just some normal fat guy on a beach.” However, my friends back home and those who have known me in the past are saying, “DAAYYYYYYYYUUM!” I know, I know. It’s pretty bad.

The real kicker came to me a month or so ago during the Bountiful parade up north. I volunteer some of my time as a cadet in the 501^st Legion as a spotter and photographer. The 501^st is a charity costuming organization based on Star Wars characters, and the costumes they wear really draw crowds and put smiles on the faces of many people, and help raise a good deal of money to boot. Typically, I’ll shoot some video during parades to use later in PR and DVD presentations to promote the group, but this time I turned the video camera over to my friend while I took stills. She did a spectacular job too, much better than I normally do, but upon watching the video when I got home I’d notice that on occasion a huge, blobby creature would lumber into frame during the walk at various times. I had to wrack my brain for a second, thinking, when did we get a Jabba the Hutt costume? Until I realized it was me! AAAAHHH! I made up my mind that very day to change.

So far it’s working. I’m down to 198lbs and lost an inch or two in circumference. I can see some definition starting to creep back into the layers of fat, and I feel healthier than I have in years. Just gotta keep it going.  I will be again be a sexy beast!  I just need to buckle down.

No more Humongosaurus!

The whole reason I took the picture, despite my non-photogenic-ness, is to show you the new color of my skin as of tonight.  I had to restrain myself and forego my usual tendency to Photoshop the shit out of everything so as to give you an accurate representation.  Yes, my neck (and to a slightly lesser degree my face) really is that red.  Bright, shiny, almost pulsating red.  My forearms and my calves are roughly the same color as well, and oh boy is it just as painful as it looks.  No Photoshop trickery.

Wear your sunscreen kids.  Let my pain be a lesson to you all.  Well, those of you that are mutant redheads like me.  Whereas most people can develop a pleasing tan in the summer, my skin is one of two colors.  I get:  Pasty white, or bright red.  Sometimes, like now for instance, I get to be both at the same time!  So much fun!  I won’t be wearing a collared shirt for a couple of days.  (Like I would anyway, sheesh.)

So I forgot the sunscreen.  Kinda sucks, but in trade I got a wonderful day with my friend Sra at the Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake, up behind the University of Utah.  Such a cool place!  There is a botanical garden and arboretum near the front, and tons of hiking trails behind that going up a little ways into the mountains.  You know I love the hiking, and I’ve finally gotten used to hills and terrain, so the exercise benefit is quite extraordinary without all the wheezing (or less wheezing at least.)  Plus, the scenery and the view over the valley is exceptional too.  Exquisite!  After hiking the trails for a couple of hours, we hit the gardens for some shade.  Sadly, summer in Utah isn’t conducive to happy plants, so there was some much needed work to be done, but a few of the flowers were in full bloom and quite interesting to see.  There were also some interesting animal-shaped hedges, some indigenous fauna scampering about, and a couple of rowdy kids chasing ducks.  (I was hoping the kids would fall into the lake, but no such luck.)  A very cool place, and I recommend it highly to anyone visiting Utah.

Just make sure and bring your sunscreen.