I was just reading Darin's blog and he's over there talking about how GREAT this weather is. As if I needed any more proof that that dude is 100% certifiable. The paddy wagon was heading over with a straightjacket to pick him up, but I convinced them to wait until we finish the new HZ record. They told me that it's on MY head if Darin Kills Again.

I can live with that action.

I'm typing the wireless keyboard over here while the Macbook sits on the table, in the middle of importing another in my rather shockingly huge number of weird demo bits. PC and Macintosh, working together side-by-side. See, Rodney? We CAN all get along.

Seriously, DDP. Ask my dogs (who are currently flat on their backs on the sofa, tongues hanging out) if this is GREAT WEATHER. Don't get too close when you ask 'em. They're a little snippity.

Ugh. What else happened this week? Oh yeah, the Seattle Sonics (and by extension, my beloved Seattle Storm) were sold by the King of Starbucks to some rich hayseeds in Oklahoma. News of the sale actually reached me as I was watching a mid-day Storm game this week (which I snuck out of work to attend). So that was bad enough, and then while the entire crowd is sitting there in a depression, the Storm got the crap kicked out of them, because almost all of our best players are injured or playing hurt right now.

I do take solace in the fact that the Storm beat the ever-lovin' SNOT out of the New York Liberty today on the road (by nearly 40 points!).

I like sports in general. I think sports are fun to watch. I don't particularly love the NBA anymore, not really since Jordan retired have I really cared what happens in that league. The Sonics have been horribly mismanaged over the last ten years, so now they pretty much suck.

But the Storm - I give a shit.

Maybe it's because it's the only pro sport in town I can afford season tickets to. Maybe it's because some of our players are hot. I dunno. I've been to many an NBA game, and all I can say is that the vibe at WNBA games is completely different. Not even the same universe. I think the crowd at a Storm game much more accurately reflects the actual population of this city than does a Sonics crowd.

The ladies on the Storm are fairly "blue-collar" for what they do. The superstar salaries max out at $90,000. Most of the players are making about $30,000. What's the average NBA benchwarmer make?

The ladies play a team game. Maybe they do because they aren't as athletic as their male counterparts. I don't know. I've never seen a dunk in the WNBA, though there are apparently some players who have done it (usually in exhibitions, like the All Star game). They play HARD. It doesn't hurt that Seattle does happen to have some of the best female players in the world on their roster. Would I be as enthusiastic if they were, say, the New York Liberty, who have no prayer of winning just about any game they're in? Maybe not.

Storm games are a blast. I will be pissed if they leave.

It is still "if", for now. While there is no way the Sonics will continue to play in Seattle (the arena we have is unacceptable to the new owners), there is very real talk of a new building going up over in Bellevue.

And even if the Sonics leave, it's possible the Storm can stay. The Sonics and Storm were purchased for $350 million.

The going rate for WNBA teams these days is - $10 million.

The Storm were like the free vegetable peeler thrown into this deal IF YOU ACT NOW! The new ownership doesn't care about the Storm.

There is a lot of money in this area.

I went to a meeting of people this morning who are going to work really hard for the next year to keep the Storm in town.

Not worth the effort?

Perhaps.

But I'm gonna help out any way I can.

Sue Bird is hot, man.

The Lake House

The Break Up

A Prairie Home Companion

Superman Returns

Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

OK - so here's the list of 2006 flicks thus far:

The Family Stone *$
Brokeback Mountain *
Munich *$
Night Watch
Match Point *
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada *
Winter Passing
V For Vendetta *$
Inside Man *$
Thank You For Smoking
Brick *$
The Sentinel
American Dreamz
United 93 *
Friends With Money
The Notorious Bettie Page *
Mission Impossible 3
Poseidon
The Da Vinci Code
X-Men: The Last Stand *$
An Inconvenient Truth *$
Cars
Hard Candy *$
The Lake House *
The Break Up
A Prairie Home Companion
Superman Returns *
POTC: Dead Man's Chest

A (*) indicates a movie I'd recommend to someone else. A ($) indicates a movie that I plan to buy on DVD when it's available (some of them are already out.

So that's it for movies for the first half of 2006. And I am once again caught up.

I am loving my Macbook, though.

I finally broke down and got a Mac because I wanted to get some kind of Pro Tools setup going at home - Pro Tools being the audio software that Darin has been recording my stuff with since mid-2001. While DDP originally started using Pro Tools on his old PC, at some point he picked up an iMac, then a full-blown G5 box. And now he's turned - he'll never go back to PC's. Part of the appeal of having Pro Tools for me is having access to the work we do at his studio when I'm not there - and since my hard drive full of music files is Mac-formatted, I decided that no boat-rocking would be necessary, and that it was time to finally grit my teeth and shell out the not-unsubstantial cash required when one wants a Mac.

It's a beautiful device, and so far, so good - it's running Pro Tools wonderfully. Hopefully my tinkering won't create any new headaches for Darin when we head back down his way for sessions at the end of next week.

As usually happens when I switch my home recording platform, I'm now in a manic phase of archiving my old stuff. One of the biggest appeals to getting my own setup is that now I can finally get ALL of my recordings (some dating back to live cassette dubs from 1985-86) into ONE format, and thus easily accessible. For those that enjoy the music I do, that means that pretty soon, the various Web sites are going to be inundated with lots of free content - all kinds of bits and songs and demos that I would never charge anyone for, but that they might enjoy listening to anyway.

But for that to happen, I need to get back to work.

I meant to write more about the LA trip a couple of weeks ago. I saw Mike Keneally and his band at the fabled Baked Potato while I was there, and it was a great time. My bro-in-law who had never seen the MKB play tagged along, and I think he had a fun time. I know I had a blast.

I've seen like four movies that I need to say something about, and I suppose I will. None of them were that spectacular, really - I think the list is The Lake House, The Break Up, A Prairie Home Companion, and Superman Returns. I might be able to sneak away and see the new Pirates movie this weekend - but then again, I might not have time. Something tells me it will still be in theaters next week. Or the week after.