adam.riggins

As a man, I can proudly say I have mastered some of these. Some of my favorites:

6. Know at least one musical group as well as is possible. One guy at your table knows where Cobain was born and who his high school English teacher was. Another guy can argue the elegant extended trope of Liquid Swords with GZA himself. This is how it should be. Music does not demand agreement. Rilo Kiley. Nina Simone. Whitesnake. Fugazi. Otis Redding. Whatever. Choose. Nobody likes a know-it-all, because 1) you can’t know it all and 2) music offers distinct and private lessons. So pick one. Except Rilo Kiley. I heard they broke up.

13. Throw a punch. Close enough, but not too close. Swing with your shoulders, not your arm. Long punches rarely land squarely. So forget the roundhouse. You don’t have a haymaker. Follow through; don’t pop and pull back. The length you give the punch should come in the form of extension after the point of contact. Just remember, the bones in your hand are small and easy to break. You’re better off striking hard with the heel of your palm. Or you could buy the guy a beer and talk it out.

See the rest @ Esquire (via This Guy Falls Down)

This is the strangest article I have ever read. On the other hand, I found a cool picture of a toilet, so not all is lost. From the article:

“Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple says a man called his office last month to report that something was wrong with his girlfriend. The sheriff says the woman’s muscles had atrophied and that medical personnel had to remove her from the toilet because she was bound to it by “natural means.”"

read more | digg story

Steve from Sans Brains can appreciate this. He recently made two blog posts about finding a newspaper in the bathroom, and finding a third “emergency” roll of toilet paper in there as well. Well, today I made a trip to the local restroom here on the fifth floor, and lo and behold, what did I find? A wrinkled newspaper AND the third roll, which had apparently been used.

The mystery and intrigue of these products is quite simple. If you find a newspaper in the loo, do you read it or leave it be? You don’t know who has touched it, after all. With the third roll of TP, it tries to come off as the “emergency roll”.  Personally, I thought that is what the 2nd roll is for.  Go to Sans Brains to read the full write-up.

I just thought I found both in the same trip!

For anyone out there looking to have a great Valentine’s Day, but maybe trying to watch the ol’ finances, here are some ideas for you.  For example:

Do something low-stress. My wife and I used to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a trip to the bookstore together. We’d find some quiet chairs in the back and read through books together and talk quietly. We’d also go to a very low-key coffee shop and sip coffee together. These were very inexpensive things to do (provided we didn’t buy things at the bookstore), yet they were both enjoyable and fulfilling to us.

And if there are any ladies out there that want to see if these are good ideas by, you know, testing them, let me know.  I live in Atlanta.

Here are the ideas (The Simple Dollar)

grocerylists.org has made what they call the “Ultimate Grocery List”.  I just printed one off, and it certainly is complete.  Here is the deal:

This is the best pre-formatted grocery list ever created. I made it just for you. Download the 8.5×11″ or the A4 PDF (220k), print it out, hang it on the refrigerator door and mark it up before you go to the grocery store.

Hey, it’s free, so give it a try.

Download link (.pdf)

Website

Well I do. And I absolutely love it. Tonight is a rare Thursday that I am free, so I am meeting up with some friends to play trivia at the Mellow Mushroom. I’m not sure if we will win, but its fun and the food is good. By the way, tomorrow’s Friday Five is going to be a good one…

That’s right, folks.  You can buy a cheeseburger in a can.  Please read that sentence again.  The same way your greenbeans and tuna is stored now can keep a cheeseburger.  How do you feel about that?  Personally, I would try one.  Sure, it means the downfall of civilization.  Maybe it is a turning point we will look back on in a thousand years as the pinnacle of humanity.  Either way, this will change the kind of food people will get from canned food drives.

Order one! 

You have probably seen this on other blogs, but every Friday (that I remember to do it), I will post a list of 5 “somethings”. Not nessessarily a top-5 list, but there will be 5 of whatever I post. So here we go…

Friday 5: The 5 cd’s I would want with me if stranded on an island (with a cd player and batteries)

1. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

The Decemberists are a band like few others I have heard. One song will be 4 minutes, and the next will be 16 minutes. That actually happens a few times on this cd, but it never gets old. The longer songs seem broken up into a couple of songs, just tied together under the same name. Style-wise, they have a folk-rock sound, often using a mandolin right next to the acoustic guitars. They sometimes sound Irish, although they are from the US.

2. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace

I have been a foon (get it, as in “foo” and “fan”? I just made it up, and you can use it too) since the first cd back in 1995 or so. I was in 9th grade when I heard it, and that was all it took. Now, 12 years later, ESPG came out, and I have not been able to get enough of it. It rocks as hard as any FF cd ever has, but not at the expense of good music.

3. Alice in Chains - Unplugged

This is an old one, but good grief, it is good. It is amazing how a band can have 2 singers that have such similar voices. They do most of their hits during this concert, and their musicianship really shines though in the acoustic arrangements of some of the songs. My favorite song is Nutshell hands down. Wow.

4. Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editor vol. 1

At only 6 songs, this EP show what happens when a true singer/songwriter sits down to record some songs with a list of rules for the project (as in, none of the songs can incorporate the use of a guitar pick). It keeps it interesting. Each song is just Andy and his guitar, and one of the best Andy O songs I have ever heard came from it (Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates). This is inspirational as a musician.

5. Third Day - Third Day

Of any CD I own, this one is my favorite. I have been a Third Day fan since 1993, and I have managed to see them in concert 33 times over the years. This cd was their breakthrough cd into the CCM market, and to this day, I think it is their best one.

So there it is. Hopefully, if I ever get stranded on an island, I will have these supplies. I mean hey, something has to distract me from a smoke monster or the “Others”, right?

Like video games? My buddy (and co-host) Jeff is auctioning off 3 video game systems and games in one glorious bundle. You get an Xbox, PS2, and a Sega Dreamcast, with games and controllers for each. Check out the auction for a complete list of games and accessories. And hurry, it end in 9 days! (Really, a 9 day auction?)

Check it out

While out of town with family, I managed to snap this picture of my cousin’s son Evan playing with his grandaddy’s hand. It is such a sweet picture.

You can see more pictures here.