DavesJunk.Com

No I am not being paid by Gamestop for this one.  I do, however, think it is a funny commercial.  Check it out.

In case you have not noticed, I have been overrun with spamming commenters with no other goal than to leave a generic message and a link to their prospective website.  These people are driving me crazy.  I just erased hundreds of these false comments tonight.  When the need arises for me to seek out Accai-Berry stuff, Japanese Rocket (whatever that is), or “how to remove a yeast infection” I may miss the convenient links that they plastered all over my website.  Thank you to the loyal and true commenters and to those who wade through the crap that some are posting on my page.  For the rest of you, if you want to advertise on my site show me some money!

I have recently been listening to some music that I have long since ignored.  I have heard these songs all of my life.  Yes that is 33 years of it for some smart alecks out there.  It just got me thinking about my taste in music in general.  It seems to me that these “ older “ songs seem to have more feeling and soul.  I don’t know if this is just a thirty-ish man’s perspective or if there is some validity to my theory.  I have a real hard time really connecting with some newer music.  I can look back on some of my favorite songs and really “feel” something when listening to them.  Ever since I was a young boy music has been more than background noise to simply help the mood.  Music is supposed to feed you, embrace you, and take you into the world that is being represented with the context proposed. 

A classic example is American Pie by Don McLean.  If you have not heard this song, shame on you.  Don’t read anymore, visit I tunes or your CD store, and buy it NOW!  Besides having a good beat, this is a prime example of having a glimpse into not just one person’s world, but an entire generation.  If you don’t know the meaning of this song, it is telling (through some fantastic imagery) how the death of iconic John Lennon affected the world.  Don McLean claims that this is the “day that music died”.  To many that is just the case.  If you really get into this song, how can you not, at least, well up a little as people are losing their innocence and perspective childhood. 

I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues is another real tear jerker as well.  Elton John (now with a Sir in front of his name) plays out a world where two lovers are at wits end and just trying to get a reconnection with their relationship. 

If you want some personal insight with many war heroes simply listen to Johnny Horton.  The man sings of the sadness of The Battle of Little Bighorn through Comanche.  He then continues his stories of Civil War times with such songs as Johnny Reb. 

Indian Reservation by Paul Revere and the Raiders tells us the story of the Trail of Tears and how the Indians were forever changed by their entire race being taken from their homelands.  Their trades were copied and stolen and their children forced into “white man” assimilation.  They end the song with the promise that “the Cherokee nation will return”.

Who could forget the royalty of Soul music: James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, etc.  These people pushed the boundary for modern music.  Without such influences the King would never have found his voice.  It was said that when Sun Records was looking for their next big singer, they were looking for a white man that could sing like a black man.  Thus a Memphis man answered the call and Elvis changed our lives forever. 

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a some modern music, but I just don’t “feel” what I feel when listening to these older songs.  I fear that music is so “made” nowadays that we have lost what it is supposed to be about.  It is an art form of telling a story.  It is not a recipe of creating a band of four good looking guys and putting an enjoyable beat behind some massive voice adjustments and lip syncing. 

Ask yourself, when going through hard times do you look to The Backstreet Boys for support or find a classic that seems to really know what is happening with you.  I found some of my roughest experiences were eased by Air Supply.  I don’t listen to them often, but when the mood is right they really will pull out that catharsis that you need.  Incidentally, I have found the group called Bread to be SO romantic that it is nothing short of musical poetry.  For you guys that just can’t seem to put those words into motion, take a page from their book.  If you want to relate to unrequited love listen to their Diary song.  Good stuff.

I am kinda concentrating on the slower more passionate songs right now but will follow this up other fields that also fit into my main theme.  Just some food for thought.  Has music lost its soul or have I lost my youthful perspective?

I have once again been blessed by the “brother does not need it anymore” fairy.  Yeehaw!  Nathan was overcome with anticipation for the latest cell phone…The Droid.  So overcome was he, that he went out and bought it and passed along his Blackberry Storm to me.  I have piddled with this for over a month now and have come to one decision.  MAN I love this thing.  How did I survive before having a Blackberry.  The apps are so cool.  The ability to access internet and emails is understatedly convenient.  And I can’t get my wife to leave the games alone on it, she is killing my battery.  And it has a 3.2 megapixel camera.  Sweet!

Yeah sure there is a newer version of this phone out, but I am ecstatic about this one.  You can read about his first decision to buy this phone here on his website.  I have been surfing apps like crazy.  Some of my favorites have been:

Obviously the email links directly on the Home Page

Web Browser (so much better than the standard Smart Phone)

Facebook

WBIR

Instant Messaging (this one rocks)

The Calendar (highly programmable and useful)

Calculator

Google Maps (just plain cool if using it with Latitude)

got’cha LIGHT (turns the flash of the camera into a flashlight)

Adorno Multi Alarm (phone only comes with one alarm, I need three to wake up)

Level (The Storm is sensitive to how it is moved, using this makes the phone into a virtual level…cool)

EBay

Quick Pull (reboots the whole phone automatically during the middle of the night, or whenever you tell it to, so to keep the phone less burdened)

Bible (a free eBook of the entire Bible in 23 versions)

Storm Taser (turns the phone into a virtual Sabre 120,000 volt taser complete with electricity flying from prongs, vibration, and blue lights.)  I love to act like I am using at my wife, he he

Whippho (turns phone into a virtual whip)  Again using the ability of the phone’s moving response, hold phone on side and make a whip motion with hand…….whippow….whippow.  Love to use this one at my wife too.

Slacker Radio (like Pandora, but no so memory intensive)

Radio Companion (stream any major radio station from a large city without having to adjust an antennae)

I love this thing.  You can arrange your apps anywhere you want and in any folder.  Best of all, almost all of the ones mentioned above were FREE!  You got to love that.  One last thing that is impressive to me is that lack of all the lights and music that happens in mere function of the phone.  Push the power button and it starts up.  No quirky music, just a loading screen.  Text messages are not followed by BEEP BEEP BEEP!  It is the adult phone of its predecessors.  It just has cool stuff too.

Well, the dog had been going crazy all evening yesterday, all the night, and most of the day today.  Upon further investigation, we found this guy just hanging in there….for dear life.

Here are two pictures.  One is without the flash.  It allows for no eye reflection, while the other does not show as much of the raccoon.  In case you cannot tell from these pictures, this is one very large raccoon.  It is probably the largest that I have ever seen alive.  Obviously, this one has been partaking of the dog food dish outside.

to all the generic websites that are putting fake comments on my site.  Their over generalized comments that are thanking me for services that I do not write about or commenting about how helpful my article on our Gatlinburg trip was to them has proven that they not only don’t mean what they add but also don’t even bother to read the articles.  Needless to say, I have deleted these comments and returned my site to its original condition (deprived and ignored by myself as much as others).  What I am really hoping is that some of these sites’ comments on this very entry.  This would truly be ironic.  Thus some pleasure would be gained in respite of my getting excited thinking that I have a new comment.  So fooey, to all you spamming comments on my site.  :p

I PASSED MY PRAXIS EXAM!  Not bad for a guy who has not had any classes in 7 years.

Well, I have put it off long enough.  My three year old daughter yelled for me the other day in a distressing voice, “Daddy, there are trees growing on the house.”  I looked up, and yep she was right.  Time to clean out those gutters.  I hate cleaning out the gutters.  In the past, I have found various forms of plant life, lizards, bugs of unknown origin, snakes, and worms.  I took today to get the job done.  So I begin the process and hate it just as much as I ever have.  Using my weapon of choice:

For those of you who guessed it, yes that is a kid’s hoe cut off so that it fits in the gutters.  I am here to tell you that this little gem works well.  You still wind up using your hands to get some of it out, but it saves a lot of cuts and headache.  Of course the ladder was necessary to get upon the roof.  duh.

Now I inspect the guttering.  Upon getting on the hot roof, I discovered maples, oaks, and poplars growing in the gutters.  Granted none of them were over 6 inches tall, but yes there were trees growing up here.  I can’t even get grass to grow in some parts of the yard, IN THE DIRT! 

So I got to it and finish the job done in minimal time.  I am sure that some tree hugger is going to be reporting me for destroying some type of rare ecosystem here.  I might have even depleted some of the oxygen to my house by destroying these plants, but now the guttering will not overflow and my daughter will not be able to go to school and tell her teacher that, “Daddy grows trees on top of our house.”

Nathan and I (mostly Nathan) have revamped the site.  Several new things have been added.  The cars now move across the top screen (something that I have always wanted to do).  There has even been an addition of the Pontiac GT 37 to the car lineup.  (Thanks Tom for getting that one ready).  Other new things on the site are a search option and a new category setup.   Also notice the new tabs along the top for more “junk” to look at.  Anyone just wanting to know more (or less) about me can click the “About Me” tab.  You can also contact me through email with the “Contact” tab.  I have also included a weather section in the bottom right hand corner, for anyone wanting to know the weather in Oneida, Tn.  Let me know what you think.  Leave some comments.  Or just browse around and check all of the stuff out. 

Yep I have bought me a new phone.  Actually it was free thanx to all of the promotions that Verizon offered.  I have had it for 3 days now and love it.  It has a 3.0 megapixel camera and tons of gadgets.  The memory has also improved, which helps with opening applications and browsing the internet.  This just shows how far that cell phones have come.  My phone is my primary camera.  It is my phone book, alarm clock, scheduler, and means of communication with the world.  I believe I am an addict, but I know I am not alone.