Black Friday is Not a Racial Holiday

Black Friday?!

This post could be titled “Good Son/Bad Son”. Good Son because I drove to Houston and back twice so my Mom could spend Thanksgiving with me. Bad Son because I’m totally about to make fun of her.

“Black Friday” was originally so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit)

On that very day I was taking my Mom downtown to do touristy stuff (like see the Alamo, tour the Riverwalk, all the things I don’t do now that I live here), and one of the best places to park is the mall parking garage downtown.

I mentioned this and immediately retorted, “Ooh, wait. We can’t park there, it’s Black Friday. Going to be a madhouse at the mall.” (Luckily, nobody seems to like that mall so it was quite empty with plenty of parking.)

My mom, confused look on her face, says, “What does that mean?”

“Black Friday, ya know.” I respond, thinking she would understand the term by me simply repeating it. Why doesn’t that ever seem to work?

Pause, looking sheepish, almost whispering. “… is that when all the Black people come out?”

I laughed for a good minute before replying, “Yes Mom, that’s the one day they come out of their houses, but if they see their shadow they go back indoors for another 6 weeks.”

“Oh shut up,” was her only response. I <3 my Mom. XD

Link: Black Friday is Not a Racial Holiday



2

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


Five Thousand Words

I’ve been quite the shutter bug since I finally got around to buying myself a digital camera again after I lost the last one in California. I try to find any opportunity to take photos now just to fulfill the secret desire to be a decent photographer.

I switched from Flickr to Picasa Web Albums a few months back (which I recommend everyone do, they offer 2gb of photo space and unlimited albums without the 200-picture restriction Flickr has), and I’ve gotten quite the collection built up.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s five thousand of my recent words:

Brackenridge Park is right across the street from my apartments, and I finally remembered to take my camera with me on a few trips to the park. This was from a rose bush right outside one of the main entrances. The light was just right in that part of the day that it made the whole picture glow.

More after the jump…

Link: Five Thousand Words



0

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


On Vacation

I’m off to Houston for the next four days to help spend my friend and sometimes-very-rarely-contributing editor Smokin’s 30th birthday!

No Flashback Friday this week, but normal schedule will resume next Monday.

Have a great week, and a great weekend!

Link: On Vacation



1

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


The Birthday on the River Comal

The Birthday on the River Comal

I wanted to do something special for my thirtieth birthday this year, which is no small feat in itself as my luck with planning birthday parties has always gone awry in some fashion.

It was also that much more difficult that I now have two cities that I call home: the current home of San Antonio, and my home town of Houston. It appears that I may also be turning Austin into my “weekend home” as of lately, but that’s a whole other story.

Despite all odds against us–and that includes some of the worst weather in Texas in the past twenty years–fate and good fortune were to shine upon us that day.
More after the jump…

Link: The Birthday on the River Comal



3

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


deviantHaggis

I finally decided to update my deviantArt gallery a little with some of the nicer photos I took from last years trip around the country.

Here’s a few samples of what I added:


Sunset in Nevada by ~onefryshort on deviantART

And:


The Salt Flats in Utah by ~onefryshort on deviantART

And of course:


Mr. Haggis Goes to Washington by ~onefryshort on deviantART

Click on any to navigate to the full size version of the photo, or click here to visit my deviantArt gallery.

Link: deviantHaggis



0

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


Links & Lederhosen

bratwurst.jpg

This weekend I get to experience the German love-in that is Wurstfest, held annually in New Braunfels, TX. The festival is a salute to all things east European and includes live shows with polka bands, beer from all over the world, and enough bratwurst and sausage to feed the entire French Foreign Legion.

We’re leaving tonight after work and heading straight there, although the festivities don’t start until tomorrow at 11am. Spending the entire weekend bloated on pork and beer sounds exactly what I need right now, so until next week aufedersein!

Link: Links & Lederhosen



3

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


Jamie Cullum Is Da Shiznit

cullum1.jpg

I was lucky enough to be invited to see Jamie Cullum perform last weekend in Austin, TX at Stubbs’ BBQ. I can mark that show down as being one of the most entertaining concerts I’ve been to since Barenaked Ladies.

I’ve been a fan of Jamie since his first album, Twentysomething, which contained a handful of original material by him, as well as covers by Sinatra and other famous Jazz artists of the past (and even Hendrix!) His two singles off the album, All At Sea, and a cover of Radiohead’s High and Dry, had moderate radio play and made a name for himself (mostly in the UK). His second album, Catching Tales, is by far a huge leap of accomplishment for the artist in originality, tone, and overall excellence.

I was surprised when I heard he was playing at Stubbs, and even more surprised when I found out how cheap the tickets were ($20!). Other more “well-known” neo-Jazz artists like Norah Jones sell tickets for upwards of $80-100 a pop, and don’t put on half the show that Jamie does.

For a piano player, you wouldn’t think the stage show would be all that exciting. Anyone who thinks Jazz is boring NEEDS to see this man perform live. He was all over the stage, jumping off his piano, climbing underneath, and beating on it to make acoustic drumming sounds. He even had a four-track sampler by the piano hooked to a mic which he used to sample himself doing various phonetic sounds that eventually turned into the full beat of a song. He simply put it on a loop and sang the song–all by himself.

For most of the act he was backed up by an upright bass player, drummer, keyboardist, saxophone, and guitarist, but Jamie did most of the work himself. He covered almost everything from his two albums including a few cover songs (his rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” was both hilarious AND awesome) in the span of two and a half hours.

Set List (as much of it as I can remember)
Get Your Way
Mind Trick
Fascinating Rhythm
Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson)
7 Days to Change Your Life (inspired by Tony Robbins)
London Skies
My Yard
Twentysomething
But For Now
Photograph
I Could Have Danced (the four-track sampler song)
Nothing I Do
All At Sea
Our Day Will Come
Frontin’ (Neptunes/N.E.R.D. Cover)
High and Dry (Radiohead)

Thanks to Jessica & Mark for inviting me! I had a BLAST.

Link: Jamie Cullum Is Da Shiznit



3

Comments

Tag @ del.icio.us


Design ©2002-2007 Sean Loyless. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by HostGator.com | Site Map