jefferson would be proud

ArchCE: I love getting a king sized coke and then coming home and bourbon sizing it

damn right.

oh friday nights at home.

ho ho ho and a bottle of rum

merry christmas, everybody!

i hope you enjoy whatever it is you choose to celebrate. apparently, hanukkah is over, which was news to me. i'm not really culturally insensitive, i promise. i know the words to the hanukkah song! "oj simpson... not a jew"

anyhow, whenever i think christmas, i can't help but think of chinese food. chinese food places are always open on christmas, presumably because the people that own and operate them don't, traditionally anyway, celebrate christmas.

and whenever i think chinese food, i think yuan ho. yup, it's the greatest chinese food restaurant ever. in fact, it's the only one i've ever heard of that you can actually get "blacklisted" from for not tipping well enough. they have the best crispy beef you've ever eaten. where is this magical place? well in charlottesville, of course. you can check out their website if you're interested, or just in case you're a grad and feel like reminiscing.

i've been talking drunken gibberish

today's "top 5" list is, actually, a "top 8." david gray is today's artist, and quite frankly, neither charlie nor i thought we could narrow him down to a top 5 and feel any sort of comfortable. so, we agreed that a top 8 would be (somewhat) sufficient. if you're any kind of david gray fan, you'll notice we had a hard time not including tons of songs off of white ladder. if you're not a david gray fan, you should take note and understand that this is probably one of the best albums of the last 20 years. clearly, you should buy it.

this was one of those situations, for me at least, where i have 10 or 15 songs that would fall under the category of making this list. so, you can imagine that, of the 8 that made this list, it's simply the tip of the iceberg in terms of the fantastic stuff david gray has to offer. with the success of white ladder, most of his "older" stuff has been re-released, and a whole lot of it is available on itunes and at music stores/best buy.

so, long story short, this was a hard list to make, white ladder is a ridiculously good album, and life in slow motion comes in a close second. check them out. then get sucked in.

oh, right... the lists...

charlie's top 8 david gray songs, in no particular order:

1. please forgive me
   
2. say hello, wave goodbye
   
3. nos da cariad
   
4. ain't no love
   
5. babylon
   
6. sail away
   
7. this year's love
   
8. be mine
   

my top 8 david gray songs, in no particular order:

1. babylon
2. this year's love
3. say hello, wave goodbye
4. disappearing world
5. falling free
6. freedom
7. lately
   
8. slow motion
   

yelloooow

alright, so on to the next top 5. today's is something everybody might be able to connect with a little bit easier. sadly, i know that not everyone out there has even heard of van morrison. please do yourself a favor and grab those 10 songs we mentioned. illegally download them, i don't care. because you're missing out. i do know, however, that everybody has heard of coldplay.

a great staple of 'doug music,' coldplay is simply fantastic. all of this stuff is readily available on itunes.

charlie's top 5 coldplay list, in no particular order:

1. what if
   
2. green eyes
   
3. warning sign
   
4. a message
   
5. shiver
   

my top 5 coldplay list, in no particular order:

1. in my place
2. trouble
3. kingdom come
4. what if
   
5. the scientist

damn, that was tough. there were tons of songs that could go up there. i won't mention which ones they were, because i'm sure you, the reader, will come up with your own top 5 and comment.

do do do

an interesting question was posed to me yesterday. it got me thinking and so i figure i might as well pose it to you, my internet reader:

will we ever outgrow aim?

as a kid, most of us outgrew walkie talkies, knocking on neighbor's doors asking if they wanted to come out an play, etc. in college, some of us even abandoned the phone. we have all abandoned the land-line phone in favor of cell phones, seeing them as an unnecessary $20/month cost.

but aim? i still use it. i still communicate with many of my best friends through it, even after college. in another sense, it's a great informal way to stay in touch with people that you don't feel the need to talk to all the time once you get into the real world. old roommates, fraternity/sorority brothers/sisters, high school friends and the like. i've even been known to virtual drink with people via aim from time to time. sad? haha maybe, but it's better than drinking alone.

a lot of people still communicate a lot of their emotions through their profiles. in college, it was like reading peoples minds without actually having to see them. you could tell when somebody was happy, mad, upset, in love, etc. i myself had a relationship or two, or three... start with "im flirting" if you will. you could tell if somebody was home, out, etc. they don't call it profile stalking for nothing.

will we outgrow it? do you see yourself as a 40-something sitting down and im'ing old friends? surely it will be supplanted by some new technology. but, if we haven't outgrown it in 10 years, how much longer do you think we will hold on?

that was a wonderful remark

when i'm driving around or going through my normal day, i always come up with great stuff to blog about. problem is, by the time i get home, i've completely forgotten.

i was thinking the other day, however, that since all i do is listen to music, that i would start coming up with top 5 lists of my favorite artists/genres.

so, in line with the name of the blog, the first top 5 list will be, of course, Van Morrison songs. i'm also bringing in charlie as a special consultant for many of these lists.

charlie's Van Morrison top 5, in no particular order:

1. rough god goes riding
2. moondance
3. brown-eyed girl
4. bright side of the road
5. wonderful remark

and without further delay, my Van Morrison top 5, also in no particular order:

1. rough god goes riding
2. tupelo honey
3. warm love
4. caravan (especially live)
   
5. fire in the belly

talk about a really difficult list to come up with. but, i think if i was going to a deserted island, and i only took those 5 van songs, i'd be satisfied. there are many more, however, which could go on the list.

not a Van Morrison fan? well, you've got 9 real good songs to start from. disagree with either of our lists? comment.

hello, blog

well now! it's been quite some time since i updated the blog.

it all started the weekend before thanksgiving, when i got ridiculously sick sunday night. from then on, it's been a steady flow of visitors and fun, different, kinds of events.

between brian and pete's visit, lauriol with andy's crew and alexis, the redskins/panthers game (which included a case of beer drank before noon...), the 15-page paper i've had to research/begin writing, the 2nd annual acc/big ten challenge-glory days event, and more swim meets to coach, it's been quite a busy few weeks. oh yah, don't forget about work.

and it doesn't get any easier - i've got a 4 day meet this weekend (thurs-sun), and then a 3 day meet next weekend (fri-sun). i guess i'll find out how good of a coach i really am. it's championship season, and these two meets are really important to the kids. and of course, if the kids swim well, it reflects well on their coach.

phew what else? i learned of somebody else that was enjoying the blog in a conversation i had earlier in the week, or maybe it was last week. either way, i wish you people would comment on something now and then...

i'll be better at updating from now on, i promise, andy.