Christmas!

For those of you living under a rock, today is Christmas Eve! You know what that means- Christmas is tomorrow! Hopefully you got all the presents for your family in order, because now is not a good time. I would suggest writing a check and making a card to put that check in if I were you, because every store in the country looks like a bomb went off in it from the hoards of people ravaging the shelves for a whole month, non stop.

Anyway, IT IS CHRISTMAS!!!!! As you could maybe tell from that, I am very excited. Partially because I want Santa to get me something nice (unless he got arrested), but more because I am going to Sun Valley, Idaho. My family goes to this little slice of heaven (and it really is, just look at the pictures (1) (2) ) every year with my mom's sister (my aunt, if you didn't get the relation there) and her family for a little over a week. It is probably one of the most fun trips I take in a year.

Well, what I originally was getting at with this post was to wish all you readers (all 6 of you) a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and that I will be gone until the 3rd, which means I will see most of you when school starts back up. Caio!

The Change Game Update

As I do on Saturdays, I went to the Wahoo's in South Coast during my lunch break. Keeping up with the game, I was going to pay for my meal in change. So let me run it down for you: I walk into Wahoo's and order my meal. I bust out the 5lbs. bag of change. I then procede to count out $9.03, at which point the gentleman behind me handed the cashier a $20.00 and paid for my meal. That's right, he paid for my meal. Apparently he figured I was a poor kid, so he decided to pay for my meal. Or maybe he was in kind of a hurry and didn't want to wait for me to count out the change. Either way, I got a chicken bowl and an orange juice for free. Right now I'm just laughing at the people who thought my game was lame.

I'm cool.

As you know, I'm not a shut in...ok, well maybe sometimes. Nevertheless, I'm cool. Unlike the usual "geek" or "nerd", I get out and maybe do a little partying once and a while. And, because I am really cool, people invite me to lots and lots of parties, but I'm not going to some pansy, weekender fun guide party. No sir, not for Thomas Edward Jenkins III. As a result, I have utilized the power of the internet to satisfy my party craving these days.

Ok, so this is the party of the century, folks. Because I'm groovy, I got an email reguarding a cool costume party some guys are having in Chicago. Check out the picture I got with the invitation:

I have already gotten plane tickets and a room at the Best Western where the party of the century is going to take place. I've even found someone to share a room with. His name is Tugger.

Ok, seriously, I have no idea how I manage to get this kind of stuff. Not only did this whole "costume party" happen a little less than a month ago, but just the thought of such a thing makes me throw up a little in my mouth (ok, maybe a lot). Oh, and if you are into that kind of thing, I'm sorry, but you are a sick man. A very sick man. Since getting this, I have further tightened down my spam filter to that no more of this kind of crap gets into my inbox.

And kids, the internet is BAD. It is the work of the devil. Another thing, if a man dressed in any way like the fruit basket pictured above asks you to come to his van-o-treasures for some "candy" or a "stuffed animal", kick him in the balls and find yourself a policeman to give the sick SOB some "sticktime". Jenkins out.

And you thought your Christmas lights were cool...

It is that time of year when you get out the good ole Chistmas lights. Then you figure out that the whole 1,000 blub strand (of those super duper icicle lights) doesn't light becasue of one bulb that has died, at which point you go to your local K-Mart...wait, they went out of business...well, Walmart then and buy a new set of lights. Then you get home and string up your fresh set of lights. You kick back with a nice tall glass of egg nog (gotta get into the Christmas spirit early) and wait for it to get dark. As soon as it gets dark you flip on the lights (or have your new-fangled timer do it for you) only to find that the Jones's next-door have Santa's slay (with all the reindeer) on the roof and the entire Nativity on the lawn with greatest hits Christmas songs playing in the background. In short, you feel outdone.

Just imagine what the neighbors of Carson Williams felt like when they saw this (.wmv) across the street on Thanksgiving week. Carson, who is an electrical engineer, has hung over 25,000 lights and syncronized them to music (which is broadcast by an FM transmitter so people can tune in to listen) to create the most amazing (albiet rediculous) light show...all for a little over $10,000. It is sooo worth the bragging rights. Here is another video (.wmv) of the light show extraveganza. It turns out Miller Brewing company spent 7 hours filming an upcoming commercial at his house, the Trans Siberian Orchestra has invited his family to an upcoming concert, and Inside Editon is producing a piece on the family's light show. Cool, huh?

You may be thinking that this is going to attract a lot of attention, and you would be right in that assumption. It turns out that Carson's website gotten over 850,000 hits so far- so many that he had to switch to a different host. More importantly, there has been a streaming line of cars for the nightly show. Sadly, since there has been all of this traffic, there was bound to be an accident on Winding Creek Court (the street the Williamsons' live on), leading to the light show being suspended indefinatly. Oh, and if you were curious, here is a list of the songs that are played in the light show (which lasts 12 minutes):

Frosty the Snowman by the Jackson 5
God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood
Wizards of Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
show.

Edit: apparently the video made it to Ebaumsworld too.

The Change Game!!!!

I just recently discovered this "game" when I realized that I didn't have any paper money yesterday during my usual pilgrimage to Wahoo's during my lunch break. I did, however, realize that my cigarette ash recepticle (aka ashtray) was an overflowing cournocopia of those little round things the lady at the cash register gives you after you make a purchase at such fine dining institutions as the BK Lounge: coins! So, I plucked out exactly $9.03 and proceded to Wahoo's with my now extremely heavy pocket, where I payed the cashier for my flame broiled chicken bowl (without beans). Anyways, on to the fun!

I find that this game is pretty entertaining and adds a little excitement in your daily life. Here is the deal, you need a ziplock bag and TONS of change. I'm not talking about like $5 in change, I'm talking about a bag of change that weighs close to 5lbs. There should be at least $30 in change, including lots of pennies and nickles (not just quarters, you cheaters). Once you have fulfilled this task, you are ready to partake in a game that will be the benchmark for all games (too bad it will be the lowest benchmark you have ever seen).

Anyway, the rules are simple: pay for everything in change. This means that you will have to carry your bag-o-treasure around with you everywhere (looking much like the strapping young lad pictured above), but it is worth it. Now, you may feel kind of lame carrying a 5lbs bag of pennies, nickles, dines, and quarters, but when you go to pay for something, look at the reaction of the people around, especially the cashier. Not only is this a good way to unload some coinage, but it improves your math skills. So go knock yourself out if you are bored enough.

Disclaimer: Now, when you go to the local grocery store to get food for the week, don't just take your bag of change in and start counting out $42.16. The guy in the Mettalica t-shirt with the 24-pack of budweiser may just beat the living crap out of you. Instead, prepare by wrapping your coins in purpose made coin wrappers (pictured below).

Musical Tendencies

I guess you could say I have always been into music. I thought it would be interesting to see how I came to my music taste, so I just wrote a little history of my life. You may think this is kind of lame, but I thought it was interesting.

From as long as I can remember my parents (my mom especially) would always expose me to different kinds of music. My parents had pretty similar music tastes. My dad had (and still has) a fondness for classic rock. My mom, however, had a very diverse music preference. I think my music preferences stemmed from her more than my dad.

I can distinctly remember days after school (when I was a wee one) when my mom would come and pick me up, she would pop in a Kenny Loggins or Beatles tape (before everyone switched to CDs). She would always have different genres on hand, everything from classic rock to country. I never was all that interested in music back then, but I am positive that it has influenced the way I look at music these days.

The first time I took control of my listening was when I got my very own CD player for my birthday when I was 10. My music tastes were not developed at all, in fact I can remember buying a Scooby Doo CD (which probably suited my age at the time) to put along side my parents collection of CDs. As time went on, I went through very radical phases as far as my music tastes. I was into classic rock for a month or so, then I would become fixed on metal or rap for another month or so. Through these changes, I became exposed to a variety of genres that I would probably have never listened to these days.

The defining moment of my musical journey came with the MP3 revolution, beginning with the introduction of Napster. Becasue of this, I could get any music I wanted, free of charge. As a result, I would download almost anything from any genre, which in turn developed my music preferences. I still had my juvenile tendencies toward music, as I would still gavitate toward the popular artists, but I was progressing.

That phase lasted until my freshman year of highschool where I became more selective in what I would listen to. I became solely interested in rock for a majority of that year, but I still had a very diverse music library. At the beginning of my sophmore year, I entered into the phase I am in now. The iPod was (and still is) all the rage, so of course I jumped on the bandwagon and got one. This was the tool that would lead me to where I am now. Because there was seemingly so much space on the iPod, I started puting everything in my music libray on it and I would just listen to everything. I now have over 5800 songs on about 35GB. I have genres from classic rock to post punk and country to hip hop. I still have a proclivity to rock, but I still listen to (and more importantly enjoy) everything in my library.

To me, music is something to be passionate about. Even though I do not play and intrument or produce any music, my music taste shows who I am. I have now added a spot in the sidebar of music I am enjoying at the moment. In closing, here are a few songs you should consider listening to (in no particular order):

1. This is for Keeps by The Spill Canvas
2. Hold On by John Lennon
3. The Infinite Pet by Spoon
4. Men of Station by 13+God
5. Los Angeles, I'm Yours by The Decembrists

Edit: afther reading what I have written, I thought it was interesting how advances in technology have influenced my music preferences.