Insanely Awe-dical

Rock out at the new 160Rawkviews blog (also linked on the right).

It started off as an idea to work on some consistent non-personal life writing, and the root of all of it was great music. Also, it came off as a good side project for Christine, as an English major.

As of right now, it is a joint project to work on consistently writing, posting and sharing great music/artists (probably eventually work with some tv shows/movies at some point).

I wouldn't mind getting some suggestions for music/artists to listen to. Feel free to comment.

Enjoy the rockviews for the music that rocks you.

I was just thinking about all the pictures in my room. It's so nice to have these memories of Kate. Prom, San Fran, Magic Mountain, the Getty the beach, Palm Springs, etc...

Those frothy root beer floats look freakin delicious.

I looked at the awesome picture-clock thing Kate gave me for our 3-year anniversery. I remember her tricking me into teaching her how to resize/crop pictures in Paint so she can put pictures of us in it.

Smart girl.

She's super sweet, super cool, and one of the more focused girls I know. If she was just a friend to me, I would tell her that any man would be lucky to have her.

Of course, she is my best friend, so I will probably call her tonight and tell her that I'm lucky to have her. Of course, the weight of the statement will not have its correct effect, and she'll probably respond with "um...okay babes."

I'm looking at what kind of car to buy. Not being much of a car nut, the most important things to me are simple. I want a simple car with good mpg, that doesn't look stupid (read: box-like), and something that will be an effective investment.

My thoughts lead me directly to hybrid cars. Yes, the price tag is a little higher, which is why other Toyota options sound inviting (Echo at 10k w/a 41mpg or a Corolla at 13k w/40mpg).

This goes back to a discussion where I had with my brother. Is the higher mpg going to save money in the long run?

To be fair, let us compare a Civic and its hybrid brother. Hybrid pulls 58mpg at a near 20k price tag, while the gas-guzzler goes 33mpg at a 13k price tag.

Only considering gas usage/prices, making a car lifetime of 125k miles, with a static $2.75/gal gas price, the diffrence is $3,303 and 1201 gallons (90 refills). Considering the price tag, it doesn't quite seem worth it.

Of course, there are other major pros: less parts that may fail in a hybrid engine, a solid extended warranty for Hybrid-components (an even better one in CA), $2000 fed tax write-off (in 2005), environmentally-friendly (mostly karma/personal conscious), and possible carpool usage.

I digress.

Honda's Insight was ruled out due to 2-person max occupancy. The alternatives are the Honda Civic Hybrid (58mpg at 20k) and the Toyota Prius (51mpg at 21k).

What is the warranty for Prius?

Toyota says: Hybrid-Related Component Coverage: Hybrid-related components, including the HV battery, battery control module, hybrid control module and inverter with converter, are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles. The HV battery may have longer coverage under emissions warranty. Refer to applicable Owner’s Warranty Information booklet for details.

However DriveClean said,

PZEVs and AT PZEVs meet the ARB's most stringent tailpipe emission standard (super ultra low emission vehicle), have a 15 year/150,000 mile warranty and have zero evaporative emissions.

This chart clearly displays the new '05 Prius as an AT PZEV.

This chart also includes the cars that will be eligible for single-occupant carpool lane usage IF the federal legislation goes through (Arnold has already signed state legislation, so still waiting on the feds).

Lots of thinking to do, but still very coool to look this stuff up.

113/94
115/68
112/68
114/62

My latest blood pressure counts.

I can assume the first number was a fluke -- I sneezed perhaps 3 times during the process, and I believe that affected it. I'm so freakin happy that I am no longer in super danger zone, but that is no reason to resume a high salt intake.

I am currently 210 pounds, and have maintained a 4 workout/week schedule (minus last two weeks when I was feeling pretty sick). Time to stay on track!

Kate was asking me about the whole story about Reggie and the Full Effect, and my story kept sounding dumb: "It's really James Dewees...well yes it is 'Reggie' but the band behind him isn't The Full Effect -- its just a character. Well, yes Common Denominator is yet more characters...."

You can freakin imagine me stumbling.

So here is the bio from the Vagrant website. There is more info after it, but it is mostly concerning the newest record, which is drifting from the point of this post which is to talk about the backstory of RATFE.

*****************************************************

Reggie and the Full Effect have always been a mystery. Who are they? What do they want? Where do they come from?

There have, of course, been explanations. Studio fires, faked deaths, cryptic bios and tall tales of many sorts were countered by rumors that James Dewees—keyboardist for rock heroes The Get Up Kids' and drummer for seminal metalcore act Coalesce—was somehow behind all the crazy characters taking credit for Reggie and the Full Effect’s synth-rock goodness.

First there was the enigmatic Reggie, the band's apparent namesake and protagonist in a strange musical tale beginning with the release of the band’s Greatest Hits 1984-1987 in 1998, followed closely by Promotional Copy in 2000.

Then there was the mustachioed frontman Paco, who came to the fore on 2003's Under the Tray, and album which also featured an ever-growing cast of characters—Finnish metal band Common Denominator, English synth-pop god Fluxuation, death growler Hungary Bear, the ubiquitous Drunk Guy at the Get Up Kids Show—increasing both the band's popularity and perplexing mystique.

Me: what do you eat?
Me: chili by the can?
Alex: oh yeah
Alex: meat by the can
Alex: and then cookies from cosco
Alex: and sometimes a beer
Alex: then i sit and play wow

haha I envy my brother.