I'm Expecting

Of course, if you've been following this blog you already know that. For Kim's Halloween Party (that's one of the E.R. nurses), I decided to hammer that point home. Think my costume's pretty obvious?

I Saw a Zeppelin Above My House

When I told people this at work they thought I was on drugs, hallucinating or both. OK...maybe they were right. They then proceeded to make jokes about me being abducted about aliens Again, maybe they were right. Anyway, I had the pictures to prove it. This actually marked the first time I ever saw an airship like this outside of a sporting event. My friends at work were right though. It was actually NOT a Zeppelin, since that term described a rigid airship. The more correct term would have simply been "blimp." Anyway, here's a closer look.

Caribbean Cruise

Why? We wanted the opposite of Vietnam. A vacation during which we did as little as possible and the destinations required no work to get to.

Where? "Western Caribbean" Jamaica's Montego Bay, Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico. We also had three lazy days at sea.

When? Two weeks ago

Who? Megan and I and her parents.

Stories?

1) Charlie shut down a nightclub. Megan's parents had a room above a nightclub and her stepfather Charlie had trouble getting sleep because of the "thump-thump-thump" bass drum from the club. He got up in the middle of the night, got dressed, and went down to a nearly empty club with some people sitting in a corner attempting to talk loudly to each other over the music. The DJ was oblivious, head down at his booth. Charlie asked him "Can you turn the music down? I'm trying to sleep." The DJ responded "It's a nightclub!" Charlie waved his arms around, which demonstrated how empty the club was He then went upstairs and on his way up heard the volume go off.



2)We sailed into a storm. We could actually see it from miles away. It was a bright, sunny sailing day, the perfect day to lie out by the pool. However, when we looked forward we could see a discrete collection of dark clouds up ahead. There was a clear vertical border between the rainy area underneath the clouds and the sunny area outside of them. The storm was too wide to avoid completely so we caught the edge of it and endured a 15 minute rain shower.

3) Musical entertainment was surprisingly variable and high quality. Entertainment on the ship included a classical trio, a jazz band, a big band and a German marching band.

4) It was a perfectly good idea to take a pregnant woman on a cruise. Cruise boats are notorious for overfeeding their passengers, providing food 24 hours a day. Megan was never hungry at traditional times, sitting through entire meals without eating only to be hungry two hours later. Fortunately food was always available to her.

Pictures? Here

Carl Kelsch's Blog Entry

Most of you reading this probably received this message from my friend Carl.  For those of you that didn't, I should mention to you that he's been my friend for about 19 years.  That's almost 2/3 of my life.  I was reminiscing about the Pixies recently, yes this happens once in a while, and I realized that he's the only person I keep in touch with who actually listened to them while they were together.  We were between the ninth and tenth grade when Doolittle was released.  Carl and I along with our friend Rob shared a tape with a dubbed copy of Doolittle on one side and another album (which I've forgotten) on the other.  We were totally engrossed in that album and from that the Pixies became our favorite band.  As much as we loved that band, I doubt any of us  could have predicted the impact they would have on music history.

On a more relevant note Carl now lives in New York City and shows no sign of ever wanting to move away.  He writes screenplays and has even directed a short film (a 48 hour film for those of you that read the Wangsters).  He's working a movie with his roommate and is proud of the publicity it's recieved.  

On Oct 13, 2005, at 4:05 PM, Carl Kelsch wrote:

Okay, those of you who know Fangoria magazine might consider it a dubious honor to get written up by them, but if you want a sneak peak at the horror short that I'm currently shooting, take a look at the link below.

Jeremiah, my friend and the director writes articles for Fangoria so he's using that connection to get the word out. When (if) finished in a few months, it'll be about 15 minutes long. Still, as they, no press is bad press. Now 13-year-old horror-movie geeks will read my name.

http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=4886

Thanks,

Carl

Sophomore Albums

The last two months have seen the release of sophomore albums by two
of 2004's breakout artists, Franz Ferdinand and Kanye West. I liked
both of their first releases, so the question is: do the new albums
meet expectations? In short, yes. Both artists make enough of a
step forward without losing the elements that made them appealing in
the first place. Are these new albums better than the first?
Possibly, but since the first albums were both so good and so
popular, I have a feeling most people will be more attached to the
debuts.

Originally, this entry was going to be a review/ description of both
albums, but they've been out long enough for more eloquent writers to
discuss them. Instead, I'm going to use this space to defend
sophomore albums. I noticed there is a conventional belief out there
that follow-ups to strong debuts tend to disappoint, so I've decided
to make a list of great second albums...most of these can easily fit
onto a greatest albums of all time list. Some of these are even the
defining album by their respective bands.

Here they are:

Doolittle by the Pixies
The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
In An Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
Closer by Joy Division
Agaetis Byrjun by Sigur Ros
A Grand Don't Come For Free by The Streets
Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys
Straight Outta Compton by N. W. A.
There's Nothing Wrong With Love by Built to Spill
The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
Chutes Too Narrow by the Shins
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain by Pavement
Power, Corruption and Lies by New Order
The Bends by Radiohead

need I go on...

Visiting DC and DC Visiting Me (or how hanging out with old friends leads to drinking too much alcohol)

It all started with two days off and an impulse trip to Washington, DC. My original intent was to go to the Scientific Assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP and yes, I go to medical conferences for fun.) Besides learning from the lectures, it was great to see old friends from residency. The most suprising run-in was to a co-resident I worked with in Pittsburgh from the year 2000. His name... well too difficult to spell, but something like "Adewele Adewande". Wow! I hope he doesn't read this page.



Anyway, after the conference, I stayed in the convention center area and ended up hanging at an irish pub with Christine, an old friend from college. She claimed it was 8 years since we've seen each other, but I think it was more like four. Whatever, it was a long time. Besides catching up with each other, I managed to consume enough beers on an empty stomach to not be appropriate to drive(alright, it was only two, but ask anyone, I'm a cheap date). I paced around DC a while before getting into the car.



My medical school buddy Bill was not in DC that day, but as it turned out he was coming to Dover the following day. He and Erica were returning from a trip in NYC. They had dinner with Megan and me at a Hibachi restaurant and after consuming the large volcano drink and some beers, we went to my house for some drinking games, yes drinking games. (Don't worry!! Megan didn't drink. She's with child, silly). We knew we had gone too far when we started doing shots and downloading cheesy music from the internet, like Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"

After a large breakfast the next day, Bill and Erica headed to the outlets in Rehoboth, and I proceeded to work a busy shift in Milford. Overall, it was good to see my buds from DC. I originally thought Megan and I moved further from my friends when we first came to Dover, but in the last two months, Bill restarted residency in Bethesda and I reconnected with Chris. Here's hoping we see a lot more of them in the future...as long as my liver can take it...