ok, i have no excuse for not updating this more often, just laziness. especially now that i have access to high speed internet daily.

i am in pittsburgh getting ready for my wedding! it is beautiful up here, the rolling hills and trees remind me of the beautiful state of tennessee. the weather is great, high often in the 70s, in july! and no humidity. i definitely don't miss that about the south.

i saw two concerts last weekend, fountains of wayne and the juliana theory. both were great shows but entirely different. the juliana theory was in a club in downtown, a very high energy environment for an extremely tight band. fortunately they aren't as goofy as they used to be on stage; but their sound is great as always. and it is so fun when the entire crowd sings along to all the songs. fountains of wayne was a free outdoor show and their were thousands of people there. most were not fans, just throwing the frisbee or having a picnic in the grass. but, there were at least a few hundred people into it, and of course all the kids went crazy when they played 'stacy's mom.' being a huge fountains of wayne fan, i was happy with every song they played. they did a great acoustic segment of songs off the new album. overall i would say they played about 20 songs, and close to an equal number off each album.

i have heard lots of new music lately, the best being the new brandtson cd. 'send us a signal' is the best album i have heard this year.

i get to see lovedrug this weekend! that is saturday night, then on sunday i am flying to nashville to spend time with my family. if i haven't seen you yet and you are in the TN area email me so we can get together.

(listening to: rose blossom punch- ephemere)

detroit pistons, 2004 NBA champions!!!

i got up at 3 to watch the game and saw all of it live, pretty great. this championship is so sweet because the pistons were such huge underdogs. everyone- my friends, the media, random basketball fans all said the lakers would kill the pistons. but, the pistons killed the lakers! it could have easily been a sweep, but i'll take 5 games. and the pistons wins weren't even close, they dominated LA by winning by an average of more than 10 points a game.

another great thing about all this is that the pistons beat the lakers, by far my least favorite NBA team. it would be like the redskins beating the cowboys in the super bowl (even though that is impossible). also, the pistons will be great for years to come. the starters are set, and they can only get better as far as their bench goes.

(listening to: pedro the lion- 'control')

for all you kerith ravine fans out there (all 17 of you), michael shepard, lead singer and songwriter has a "new" band called lovedrug. the sound is fairly similar to kerith ravine, not as hard, this time with piano. their debut album comes out in july on the militia group. brandtson also has a new album coming out on the same label in june.

a week has passed, and i am still sick. i could be flying down to south africa as early as today to see a doctor there. zambia just doesn't have the proper equipment and technology here to properly diagnose me.

the second week of the bowling league was last night, i did much better. i rolled a 159, 175, and 115. i am still too inconsistent. my average in the league though after two weeks though is 140, i am happy with that. our team did a lot better as well, possibly winning our match (results aren't in because handicaps haven't been calculated).

the pistons won game 2 of their series against the pacers, so it is tied 1-1 going to detroit. tayshawn prince had the most amazing block i have ever seen to end the game. he swatted away reggie miller's breakaway layup attempt that would have tied the game with 15 seconds. i was able to watch the replay of the game last night. go pistons!

(listening to: kerith ravine- 'the drafting sessions')

i got the new tess wiley album, 'not quite me,' in the mail on friday, i was extremely excited to say the least. most highly anticipated album for me in a long time. i have been listening to it non-stop ever since, and will continue to do so for awhile.

the pistons are finally playing well again, the rasheed wallace trade is paying off. they have held their last three opponents under 70 points, an NBA record. when they beat the nuggets a couple of nights ago by 30 no one on denver's team scored in double figures! that is the first time that has EVER happened since the NBA got a shot clock in the 1950's.

(listening to: tess wiley- 'not quite me')

i am taking care of someone's hamster right now, i had no idea a little cute furry thing could make so much noise!

the pistons have now lost 6 games in a row. wasn't that long ago that they had won 13 games in a row. a little consistency would be nice. all that matters is the playoffs though, and hopefully detroit will have the honor of losing to the western conference champion in the NBA finals.

chris simpson, lead singer/songwriter of mineral and the gloria record, has always been one of my favorite writers. his lyrics for this song, appearing on mineral's 1996 release 'the power of failing,' have been really meaningful to me lately:

'if i could'
"she stepped outside into the morning air to watch the cars go by and let the sun dry her hair i wanted to tell her how beautiful she was but i just stared i sat behind the wheel and watched the raindrops as they gathered on the windshield and raced down into the humming motor and she folded up her fears like paper airplanes and lost them in the trees and i know i don't deserve this: the capacity to feel (to laugh and to cry and to praise) for that i live and breathe and wake each day clean is nothing less than your grace (in awkward and glorious movement)."

(listening to: city on a hill- 'the gathering')

Best of 2003

the turn off the radio top 12 albums of 2003:

1. fountains of wayne- welcome interstate managers
www.fountainsofwayne.com

2. thrice- the artist in the ambulance
www.thrice.net

3. death cab for cutie- transatlanticism
www.deathcabforcutie.com

4. over the rhine- ohio
www.overtherhine.com

5. nada surf- let go
www.nadasurf.com

6. the appleseed cast- two conversations
www.theappleseedcast.com

7. sleeping at last- ghosts
www.sleepingatlast.com

8. elliott- song in the air
www.elliottintransit.com

9. zwan- mary star of the sea
www.zwan.com

10. mates of state- team boo
www.matesofstate.com

11. brown feather sparrow- wide awakens everything
www.brownfeathersparrow.com

12. the jealous sound- kill them with kindness
www.jealoussound.com

i have become aware that this page does not look like it is supposed to. i am working on the problem, but it is due to my lack of html knowlegde. i am learning.

today i spent 7 hours at a swim meet. mainly to coach the AIS team, but i also swam in it. while it had been over a year since i had bowled last, it has been almost 10 years since i have swam competitively. amazingly, the times i swam are comparable, while slower, to what i did in my prime. maybe now i'll start training hard and see what i am capable of. these times are for meters, so i need to convert them to see how close they are to my yards personal bests:

50m fly: 30.37
50m breast: 37.06
50m free: 28.15
100m fly: 1:08.57
100m free: 1:01.07
100m I.M.: 1:10.25

(listening to: pedro the lion- 'it's hard to find a friend')

two weeks ago the company who hosted www.turnofftheradio.com decided to delete it without informing me beforehand. ironically i used to work for this company. all of the work i put into it is gone.

i am starting over here. there is no content yet, so go to the link to the right to see my pictures.

the biggest news in zambia today is that i just bought tickets for 'return of the king.' i will be seeing it at 1 p.m. on december 17. that is 6 a.m. EST in the states. so yes, after a year of seeing movies at least two months late, if ever, i will be seeing this movie before almost everyone in the states!

(listening to: coldplay- 'a rush of blood to the head')

welcome.