The slow process of unpacking...

We are still engaged in the slow process of unpacking and my guess is that it will be a while. Every once in a while I come across something that makes the process a little more fun though. Check out the label on this box. Pretty sure our friend Mark is responsible for this one.

Ludovico Einaudi - A Fuoco

Ludovico Einaudi's (an Italian pianist born in Turin, Italy) Una Mattina was the one Christmas gift that I repeated across multiple people - the music is just incredibly beautiful and relaxing. It's on the stereo this morning as I settle in for a day of reviewing design material and writing reviews/proposal material. Highly recommended.

The piece above is called A Fuoco and it is an excellent example of how beautiful his arrangements can be. One of my other favorite pieces off of this album is called Ora. I couldn't find a video online that would do it justice though. If you are interested in tracking it down via iTunes or another forum I promise that you will not be disappointed. Enjoy!

Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand

Not sure why I am listening to this song over and over today...feel free to hate away, but this one just struck a note and has been on repeat for a bit. Duck Sauce.

The Bar!

So while we were in Arkansas, our cherry bar got installed. We arrived home last night and I toasted the occasion with a nice glass of white wine (or a few glasses that is...). Check it out!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Arkansas!

Enjoying the Lake

Jozy has been enjoying some daily trips to Lake Balboa here in Hot Springs Village. It's a little cold but she still seems interesting in chasing sticks into the lake...either that or she just wants treats after wards.

Doggie Grandparents

Jozy is in for a one of her best long weekends in Arkansas ever - getting spoiled by her doggie grandparents left and right. Here she is waiting for my mother (left) and my wife's mother (right) while visiting the park yesterday. The excitement of their meeting / temptation for Jozy to run down that hill was almost too much for her to bear.

Medicine Show Recap

The Medicine Show this past weekend was awesome (photo from the balcony of the Acadiana Center for the Arts shown above). When we showed up, a surprise guest was on stage: Zachary Richard. His appearance was kept a secret and announced the afternoon of the show so I had no idea that we were in for this treat. If you don't know who Zach Richard (photo below) is and if you have any interest in Cajun or roots music, you definitely need to check him out. Click this link to go listen to read about and listen to samples of his recent song released to aid the gulf in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.


Zachary Richard was followed by BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet - another staple and amazing talent of cajun music. Prior to them taking stage, we made our way to the front which was surprisingly easy. Literally, this venue was so intimate that I was standing right in front of these guys during their whole set. People were just throwing their purses at the foot of the stage and two-stepping away. The UL Wind Ensemble joined them for several songs and the combination was unique, beautiful and something that I'm not sure will be replicated many times in the future. It was awesome.


Those were my two favorite acts. Feufollet followed and provided another great set of music but after a long day of cleaning the house, I had retired to the balcony (see photo at top of post) and was chilling in a comfy chair. All in all, the night was a fitting tribute to Tommy Comeaux, a former member of Beausoleil and long time supporter of cajun music.

Medicine Show 14 avec Beausoleil

Headed to the Medicine Show tonight and it looks like it has a great lineup! Check out the details here. I'm most excited about Beausoleil with the UL Lafayette Wind Ensemble as well as Feufollet.

in the spot

1. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues * The Gaslight Anthem
2. The King James Fakebook * Paleo
3. Opposite of Adults * Chiddy Bang
4. Block After Block * Matt & Kim
5. A New Day * Scouting for Girls
6. Never Love Again * Cherbourg
7. Bar and the Beer * The White Buffalo
8. Long Shadows * Josh Ritter
9. Down By The Water * The Decemberists
10. Love Song 1 * White Buffalo
11. The Quick & the Dead * Bedouin Soundclash
12. Hey Hey Hey * Michael Franti & Spearhead
13. Chinatown * Kitten
14. Let It Rain * Pat Anderson
15. Radioactive [feat. the West Angeles Mass Choir] * Kings of Leon
16. November Blue * The Avett Brothers
17. The Tree (feat. Alela Diane) * Blitzen Trapper
18. Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You) * Old 97's
19. Shadow People * Dr. Dog
20. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks * The National
21. Harlem River Blues * Justin Townes Earle
22. Hægt, kemur ljósið * Ólafur Arnalds

Laundry in da Hood

Two major items of progress today. The hood is up! It still has a protective wrap around the trunk so that white piece will be stainless steel after it is hooked up to the electrical. After all the nerves about how this would look I have to say that I don't think it could have come out any better. It looks cool.

And the laundry room sink and hamper is complete!

The hamper is on the right. We stole this idea from an old friend's house. They are three hanging rods of canvass built into the unit on the right. The rods that hang the canvass come out so that you can dump the clothes or wash the canvas shelves themselves. Pretty neat.

It Works.

Running water, gas, ice cubes, fridge, water from the fridge, microwave, warming drawer, oven...it all works!

Still more to do though. The hood, pendant lights, dishwasher, etc...

First Meal

First food cooked in brand new oven: Bread Pudding. Love it.

2 Sheets Short

Oven and back splash went in today. And the oven works. It looks like we are 1-2 sheets short of the back splash tile that we picked out. Not sure how that is going to impact the Great Remodel Pool...as the lead time on getting those two sheets is two weeks. Minimum!

Jigsaw Puzzle

Like pieces of a puzzle, the appliances are appearing. Microwave, warming drawer and disposal all installed today. Faucet was mounted as well but that will probably be removed when the back splash goes in. None of this is functional yet...but I have been told that the end of the week is a virtual guarantee...

All Stars and Champions

Today was an historic day for the Lafayette Adult Coed League - we held our inaugural All Star game and I have to say that for a planning period of less than 2 weeks, it was a resounding success! Congrats to all of the players (and the league commissioner, my wife, for pulling it off). I felt somewhat involved in the success in that it was an idea that I came up with, and then handed off to the person who can make great things happen (also my wife). Here is a photo of the two all star teams after the game. It was a blast.

I wasn't able to play in the All Star game. Rather than play, I was the coach of the blue team which unfortunately did not come out on top. The reason I couldn't play is that immediately following the All Star game, our coed team (AFC) was playing in the finals. After having been unseated as reigning champion last year and after losing 3 games in the regular season this fall, we were seeded fourth in the playoffs. As a result, we had to claw our way through the quarters, semis and then finals, beating two of the three teams we lost to in the regular season in order to regain the title. We won the final today 2-0. Here's the team after the win!


All around, it was an awesome day for soccer despite a 20-30 mph wind and some rather cold weather. Now its time to look ahead to to look ahead to the spring season!

So close you can almost....

...taste it!

Yesterday was a groundbreaking day for the kitchen project. Our counter tops came in and were installed (finally!). And at the same time, the AV guys were here hooking up the sound system. So in one fell swoop we have the counter tops installed and a full surround sound system hooked up with 2 zones (inside/outside) and connected to our Mac. Pretty awesome! The trained "kitchen project" reader will also notice the installation of our hardware since the last official update, completion of the painting and ceiling fan install. Next week the appliances go in, plumber comes out, and the kitchen bar hopefully gets installed. So close!

The cook top is not functional yet but it fits!

If you look closely, you can see the 3 holes in the counter top on the right side of the island. That is where the 3 stell pillars will be inserted to mount the bar on top of the island. Holding my breath to see if that design works.

Tough to appreciate this one without hearing it but all of the AV equipment is in that corner cabinet and you can see the iTunes library cover flow on the chimney mounted TV. Extremely excited about this setup.

Thanksgiving 2010 Photos

Finally got around to uploading Thanksgiving holiday photos up to Flickr last night. Check out the family, football, lacrosse, new nieces and older nephews!

Cajun Signs: We Dat

Nothing like a little cajun sign crossed with some holiday cheer and some good old Saints pride. We Dat!

The Lumineers - Ho Hey

Found this over at I Am Fuel You Are Friends and was an instant fan. Can't help but bob the head and tap the toe and eventually sing along with the chorus on this one. Awesome!

Walking with the Ducks

Here are a couple photos from the tail end of the Thanksgiving weekend after we got back to Louisiana. Haven't had a chance to edit out the "keepers" from the trip up north. That will come later in the week in case you are interested.

Jozy loves it when my wife's parents come into town - she gets multiple walks every day. These are from the Sunday trip to Girard park.


Surprisingly enough, getting Jozy to sit still as 30 some odd ducks swim around her was not that hard!

Fantasy Crack

I'm convinced that Fantasy Football is the mental sport equivalent of crack cocaine. Need evidence? Check out this photo taken at Pete's (local sports bar here in town). Yes that is a laptop on the table, streaming fantasy football scores while 30 TVs around the bar inundate you with replays. In the meantime, my wife is whipping out the iPhone and checking out her scores as well.

Happy Holidays!

We had the opportunity to spend the last 4-5 days with my family in Massachusetts and we had a great time. The entire group tries to make a point of getting together once a year and it is always a blast when we manage to pull it off. Here is the group at dinner on Saturday night.

The Great Remodel Pool: Kickoff

Hard to believe it but I think our kitchen project is almost done. I'm calling 19 days from today. Interested gamblers can enter the betting pool with a number of days and a $2 entry fee. Entries are accepted via email, blog comments or the Twitter.

The definition of "done": All installs done in the kitchen and family room. Scope creep into other rooms does not count as unfinished work.

Here's a random found photo from Arizona of my wife scientifically measuring a light for our dining room. This photo makes me laugh.

Mabel Monster!

My niece and my brother found a friend in the airport. In this photo you can see two things:

1. Why the owl hat was of particular interest to me - it would have matched Mabel's!

2. How cute Mabel looked all weekend all bundled up for the cold weather in Massachusetts.

Garden Buddy

Photo of me and Jozy from our local garden last weekend. Headed home to see my wife's parents (who generously offered to dog and house sit) and our dog today!

Owl Hat

White Hut - Then and Now

Couple more photos just because.

White Hut

Went to White Hut in West Springfield, Massachusetts for some damn good burgers. Been open since 1939.

Me and the Wolf

Our friends Jeremy and Emily were out of town this past weekend so my wife and I got a chance to go take their dogs Shoba and Sophie for a walk. Sophie is an old friend of ours. Shoba is a relatively new addition so we are just getting to know him. I believe he is something like 50% wolf. Can you tell?

Wired

We are wired for surround sound as of this afternoon. I'm gonna butcher this explanation but here is the setup we are going with. As of right now, we are all wired but the hardware won't appear until all the painting is done.

1. Basic in ceiling surround sound speakers.

2. Wall mounted TV. Here is the hole in the fireplace brick:

3. An Onkyo receiver tucked into this corner computer cabinet. I think the sub-woofer is going to tuck in at the base of this guy:

4. Our Mac is gonna be routed through this receiver, streaming video and sound to the TV. Pretty excited about this. I am hoping it gives me all the features like Pandora, NetFlix, etc. right to the TV through our network. Plus, I think we could just use the TV as a general screen to browse the web on. Hope this part works...

5. Outdoor speakers which can be on a different zone than the indoor sound. These are already up on the back porch, just not hooked up yet.

6. Speaker wire has been run to every room of the house. No speakers in those rooms yet though. While the wire can run, the money cannot. So those speakers will be coming later.

Advice needed if you have it: Our tray ceiling is causing a challenge with the surround sound placement so we are gonna need to make a decision related to if we should put the front speakers in the wall. Anyone ever seen that before? Look ok?

The First Coat

The first coat of paint went up on the walls today. It looks awesome. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about what this would look like so to see it up is a big relief. Check it out!


The trained eye will notice that the tile has grout at this point as well. Lots of little details are starting to fall into place these days. Subsequent post will cover some of those.

Thirty-Five

Today I turn 35. Wow! I definitely feel a lot younger than 35 and have a hard time believing that number is real. Even played a full 90 minutes and feel remarkably good today.

Update: Forgot to mention that today is Jozy's birthday as well - since we don't know when she was born, we decided to pick 11/11 as her birthday since we got her as a birthday gift. So she turns 3 today!

So what should you know about 35? Well, among other things:

• 35 is a greeting often used in Croatia. It is used the same way as a word "respect" in some cultures. Pronounced tri'spet.
• In Ancient Rome, the age of a man in his prime, at which he was eligible to become a consul.
• The minimum age (in years) of candidates for election to the position of President of the United States, President of Ireland and President of Poland
• The passing grade in many Indian Colleges (out of 100). Scoring a 35 is known to many students as getting a "Stamp"

The photo above is from our trip to Phoenix last weekend where I was surprised by an early birthday cake from my brother, his wife and my new niece. Thanks guys! And thanks to all of my friends and family (immediate and extended) for your birthday wishes. And last but not least, thanks to my wife for putting up with this cranky old man! Your friendship, support and wisdom is a constant inspiration.

Finally, thanks to all the readers of BOB who check back in every once in a while. This has been a great place for me to share memories, music and random thoughts. Hopefully you get a similar enjoyment from reading that I get from sharing. Here's a quote that I thought sums up that sentiment and is a good way to close out my "Happy Birthday to me and Jozy" post.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.

Thieving Irons (ex-Pela Guitarist Nate Martinez)

Streaming a bunch of tunes from a band called Thieving Irons tonight who is on tour with Josh Ritter these days. The band is the first solo effort of ex-Pela guitarist Nate Martinez. Here's a video and a couple links if you are interested.

Go stream a slew of songs from the Thieving Irons at Sound Cloud.
Official web site

Sweet Baby Breesus

Sunday morning brunch at The French Press in Lafayette - caught this great local tribute to the Saints.

Sweet Baby Breesus: Boudin and bacon sliders on homemade biscuits with cheddar grits.

Who Dat.

MGMT Kids Variations (PS22 and Chiddy Bang)

One of the favorite songs around our house is MGMT's Kids. Over the past month, two related songs that either cover the song or sample it have become big hits as well. I think it is pretty cool how these various interpretations of a song make me enjoy it even more. All three pieces are awesome.

Here is the original, although not the official video since I find the monsters in the original a little too creepy.

Here is a chorus from PS22 in Staten Island performing the song. Totally worth watching. You gotta love their passion as they perform this song.

And here is the song being sampled by Chiddy Bang from Philadelphia in his song Opposite of Adults.

Inside the Island

Totally excited about the cabinets going up today. So here's another photo taken from inside the kitchen that shows the peninsula. In the background you can see the two corner cabinets and at this point the crown molding is up around the cabinets as well (look in the upper right). I can see light at the end of the tunnel!