Happy New Year!

So according to this site, the year of the Dog will be "...a year for reflection and to assess ones values. There will be disturbances, revolts, but as the Dog is always on the lookout, honesty will always rule the day. This year will see great benevolent and idealistic deeds and various unusual changes; a time when broadmindedness and fairness will be supported. Although this year is one of great cynicism a sense of balance and tranquility will be upheld."

Well, with a name like Chicken I had to like last year (year of the Rooster). Then again, I'm a Horse by birth, and am therefore very compatible with Dogs (although I find they make me sneeze...). Unfortunately, at least according to the site linked above, "The Horse has a difficult relationship with Snake". And, naturally, Mrs. Chicken is a Snake.

It was 20 years ago today...

Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play. And what they played was Taps for the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

This was my "JFK" moment. I vaguely remember where I was when Regan was shot (Jr. High...I think I watched some of it on a portable black and white TV in the gym teacher's office), but I have crystal clear memories of Challenger:

I was a freshman in college and was foolishly taking Calc 3 (without the help of software or web sites like this). The class, as all math classes were for Freshmen, met at 8 in the morning. 4 days a week. Cruel and unusual punnishment.

As I recall (and this part isn't as crystal clear) it was a clear, crisp winter day in Walla Walla. I got up, probably ate some Froot Loops for breakfast, and went off to class. I was way behind, struggling in the class and pondering dropping it. The prof was late. I secretly hoped he wouldn't show so I could go back to sleep.

He showed up about 5 minutes late and asked the class "have any of you seen the news?"

"Uh...no..." we answered (he apparently had forgotten that we were college freshmen and therefore didn't care about the news. And we were all still asleep anyway.)

"Well, something big has happened. As soon as class is over, go find a TV and watch the news. Now, we were talking about how to integrate the fifth quadratic of the fiftieth multi-variable" (ok, this part is garbled...as I said, I was about to drop the class).

Class ends, I head back to the dorm to find the one guy who has a TV in his room (a tv with a nicely jury-rigged UHF aentenna so he can pick up the local TV station out of the Tri-Cities. And that's when I see this (only in motion...):

I'm pretty certain that most of the guys in my section blew off our classes that morning just watching that sucker blow up again...and again...and again...it was like the video of Joe Theisman's leg breaking: you just couldn't look away (if you've never seen that and you're a glutton for punnishment, thanks to the wonder of the internets it's here. But don't say I didn't warn you).

Well, there go my summer plans...

And just when I'd saved up the money for the ticket!

Washington lawmakers seek ban on sale of overseas sex tours

Note to self...

Do not try to cure the hiccups with a hand gun.

A sure sign of the appocolypse:

The Seahawks are Super Bowl bound.

But the impending rapture (and my remaining behind to writhe in a pit of lava or whatever) is in no way making me less giddy about the fact that the Seahawks are Super Bowl bound.

Yeah, it's the marketing...

It's not that they make a crappy beer. No...must be the
marketing campaign.

My fish is on the short bus

Well, according to this I need to get my fish some help. But fortunately, "There are hundreds of wonderful Owners of Mentally Challenged Pets support groups, where you can network and learn many helpful hints for dealing with your damaged darlings," says Wachtel. "Life's hard enough without a mentally challenged pet making you mentally unstable!"

Things I don't want to go swimming with

This:

OK, where can you get these?

My sisters had these back in the '70s and they were the coolest umbrellas in town. So...anyone know where to get them? 'cause I think my kids would flip. The daughter would, anyway, especially since it's bigger than the Hamtoro umbrella she got for Christmas...

I do not like them, Sam I Am!

I do not like green eggs and ham!

OK, so there aren't any eggs in the picture. But it is a green ham. A fluorescent green ham. And it's brought to you by your friends in Taiwan. Thanks, stem cell researchers! I've been looking for some bacon to match my highlighters for years!

Five weeks to go...

Saw this picture and thought "man, if I was the photographer I'd seriously be hoping we didn't have one of those "agony of defeat" moments...

Opening ceremonies are on Feb. 10th. Mark your calendar.

Wow...

Back in the day I drove a 1988 Mercury Tracer, nicknamed "Mexi Car." Mexi had some leaks. Those leaks led to both interesting plant life in the carpets and lots and lots of water on the windows. I complained about it constantly and kept a squeegee in the front to wipe off the windshield so I could see to drive.

Well, after reading this I'll never complain about that again.

Holy crap! Take 32:

Boy, 11, OK After Truck Runs Over His Head

"All I remember about it was that when the truck ran over my head, I could hear my bones crack," he said.

Grandpa (who was driving the truck when it ran over him) had this to say: "Maybe he has an exceptionally hard head."

Maybe, Grandpa. Maybe. But whatever the reason the kid survived I'm nominating you for "luckiest sumbitch of the week."

Things I don't want in my ear, number 72

A black Spider the size of a thumbnail. Or, really, any spider of any size or color.

Weather update

For those of you who wonder "doesn't it rain all the time in Seattle?" I'd like to say "technically no, but it definitely feels like that during the winter."

We're in the middle of a big ol' rainy streak right now, so it certainly feels like it's been raining for ever. But it's actually only since December 19th...the info below is from KOMO's weather page:

Rain Streak Watch

Monday was the 22nd consecutive day with measurable rain in Seattle.

This ties it for fourth-longest all-time rainy streak in Seattle. Here's the Top 5 rainiest streaks:

• #1 - 33 days from Jan. 6 - Feb. 7, 1953
• #2 - 25 days from Jan. 28 - Feb. 21, 1961
• #3 - 24 days from Nov. 10 - Dec. 3, 1953
• #4 - 22 days from Dec. 18, 1964 - Jan. 8, 1965
• Tie - 22 days from Dec. 19, 2005 - Jan. 9, 2006 (current)
• #5 - 19 days set three times.

(Yes, the record is 33 days. There is some rumor going around about streak of rain of 80, 90, or even 100 days in the winter of 1998-99. While that was a rainy winter, the longest streak during that time frame was 18 days. It did rain on 94 of the 120 days between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28, but there were enough dry days in there to stop any streaks.

In fact, it was a full day of sunshine on Nov. 7, 1998 as well as Jan. 2 and Mar. 6 in 1999, so no 90-day rain streaks there :) )

Man, some sysads have NO sense of humor...

Student accused of trying to crash school's computer system

Oh, sure, arrest the guy who comes up with the idea but not the other kids who logged in and hit "F5"...

Insert "moon" pun here...

Judge Clears Md. Man Accused of Mooning

"...attorney James Maxwell said the Debelius ruling should "bring comfort to all beachgoers and plumbers" in the state." "

Show footage...

OK, so we played a show on New Year's Eve at a little place called the Blue Moon Tavern. The Blue Moon is, not to mince words, a dive. A historic dive, but a dive nonetheless. And many of the regular clientelle resemble no one so much as ol' Blue a couple posts down.

The thing with people who regularly frequent dive bars is that, by and large, they are drunks. And I'm not talking your standard frat boy recreational drinker, these guys are professionals. With many, many years in the bottle. And perhaps a few hits of meth (if meth comes in hits...I'm not really up on my meth-speak) to keep them awake.

So, you combine New Year's Eve revelry with a band wearing chicken suits and a group of professional drinkers, then throw in a cover of a heavy metal song and you get something like this. (Link requires Quicktime...)

Happy New Year!

Hope you rang in 2006 in high style, especially if you were able to join us at the Blue Moon last night. The show rocked, and since JJ (the Blue Moon's booking guy and the keeper of the Blue Moon blogspot page) wasn't there I'm not sure there will be a write-up on that site, so here goes...

The Scott Chicken posse (consisting of Mrs. Chicken, Steve and Kay Chicken, and our friends Chico and The Pam) rolled in at around 9:45 and caught the last 20 minutes of Hart and the Hurricane, who did what they do well (not my style of music, but those that liked their stuff liked it a lot). Next up was Sweatband who were best summed up by my friend Eric who said "they kind of sound like Dead Kennedys.

Sweatband's set lasted until about 11:15, and we hit the stage. We ended up playing for about an hour and fifteen minutes, probably highlighted by the surprise guest vocals from "Toothless Hobo" on our cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black". If anyone got a picutre of this guy by all means send him my way, 'cause we need to add him to the web site!

Next up, a gig at The Fabulous Rainbow (right next door to the Blue Moon, on 45th in the U-District) on February 12th. Show starts at 8, there's a $5 cover, and we're playing with the wonderfully crazed Sacred Truths. Hope you can make it!