Best albums of EVERY YEAR

I slipped a little bit into not-go-outside-and-waste-time-inside mode there for a few days, BUT, I did accomplish something I've been putting off for years. Well, I started.

I, being the biggest music nerd/obsessive I know, have always wanted to make year-end best of lists, and I never have. I think 2005 was the first year that I started putting them in order in my head, but never took the time to actually list them out and write about them. SO, I decided to finally do that, and am starting in 1990, meaning I'm going to try to do 20 years of music before the end of the year, when I will be caught up (at least within a year).

Instead of putting these huge lists that I honestly spent WAAAY too long doing, I decided to put them on a music blog I started 2 years ago and never updated. SO, if you want to see what I did all day today/if you care to read my ramblings about how good Bon Jovi was, then go to (and OF COURSE bookmark if you want to see how my tastes change from older crap to newer crap):

http://drivethelongwayhome.blogspot.com/

(sooo emo)

I'm hoping to have 1991 done in a week or two. As much as I put this off (even in writing on each album today), it was really fun to revisit these albums and babble on and on about why I love them. 1990 is an interesting list. Enjoy.

Trip to Portland with old pals

Tuesday, June 7th: Naro had the day off and wanted to hang. I never hang out with Naro. Primus Dan wanted to hang as well. I never hang out with Primus Dan. And the 3 of us certainly never hang out together. SO, that's what we did. 

Naro had the perfect attitude of saying "um ok" to pretty much every suggestion, but we are boring and slobs, so we pretty much just ate food. First, we visited Flo's Hot Dogs in Wells, Maine- a place Naro had wanted to go to forever. Flo's has been on Phantom Gourmet and is known for its "charm" (i.e. ghetto-sketchiness) and the lady who ran it with a sign behind her warning she could go from 0 to bitch in 2.1 seconds. It was literally a room smaller than my living room with a 5'11'' ceiling, and a long line of people being helped by 1 old lady. Insane. The hot dogs we got were good, but odd. The toppings were: mayonnaise, homemade relish (made from onions- sweet and somehow brown), and celery salt. Weird, but good. 

yea, that's right- cream soda with a straw. CLASSY.

We then went to something I had zero interest in, but what the hell, right?! We went to a tour of the Allagash brewery. I would guess that as far as beer tours go, this one was solid. They seemed to enjoy it, and it was fairly interesting and kind of neat to see the assembly line.

protective goggles up in this piece!

Four eyes stands in front of the biggest barrel ever

Then we went to downtown Portland and met up with this fine specimen- Pog, in all his glory:

Did he just take a picture of your dog?

We ate at a pretty rad pizza place called Otto and Enzo's, where we got 4 pieces of pizza just to try the weird flavors: 1. Onion, apple and bacon, 2. Cheese tortellini, 3. Mashed potatoes, bacon and chives, and 4. Sausage and vidalia onion. All were neat, the tortellini tasted like fish to me (yuck) and the vidalia was the clear winner. 

mini sodas make me creepier

We then walked to the best building in Portland, which houses Bull Moose music, Casablanca comics, a video rental shop that specializes in having weird movies, and Anthony's, pizza place that I used to eat at all the time when I worked in Portland. SO, to sum up, we left a pizza place to go to another pizza place. It somehow became a dinner theatre pizza place too... weird.

Thoroughly stuffed, we then went to the home offices of  Old Port Jingles, where we hung with the company dog, heard some sweet jingles, and took turns getting extremely intense on an electric scooter.

Greased lightning 

Then we rushed home so I could make this unbelievably stupid video:

Scooter Mania from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

This was a very spontaneous, very nice day full of catching up with old friends, surprise visits to others, and spending some time in some of my old haunts in beautiful and always interesting Portland. Thank you Naro for making it happen.

Hike #2: Mount Major (Exhaustion creates Introspection)

Sunday, June 4th, I hiked Mount Major in Alton, which is right next to the beautiful Alton Bay, part of Lake Winnipesaukee. It's a medium hike- definitely a 2nd hike of the year, and would have felt like that if I wasn't atrociously out of shape. 

This is me when I first realized I was hurting, probably 30% in:

I should probably wear less apple shirts.

This is a nice hike because it really only gets hard for 1 section of awesome rocks, which, if you are in shape, is really neat. This is the view looking down:

I was hurting really bad after that section, just unable to breathe and feeling lactic acid like nobody's business in my legs. Just NOTHING. Hey, you know what's not a good thing to eat before trying to hike? Pizza and soda. Weird, huh?

Eventually, I got to the tree line. 

And finally, in a perfect summer music moment, I decided to switch from A Bullet For Pretty Boy (worst name ever, but solid mall metal with catchy singing) to The Boys of Summer, who sound like The Dangerous Summer (who put out my favorite album of 2010, "Reach For The Sun") and Blink-182 mixed together. They are sad and pretty, yet poppy and summery, and they fit reaching the top of this mountain PERFECTLY. 

I love Lake Winnipesaukee and the Lakes Region in general.

At the center of the top is a cool fort made of rock.

Solid mix of people who were as out of shape as me (one of whom is apparently pointing at me) and some serious dudes

And the other side looks like another planet.

Way too exhausted Mike

A friend, watching over me

I'll leave you with my 3 favorite pictures:

The clouds came out to make everything emo

and then the sun began to peek out.

Simply beautiful. And 1000% worth any pain.

I hiked down more quickly, as that's always been easier for me, and completely zoned out to a mix of Owen, Maybeshewill and This Will Destroy You. All in all, it was about 3, 3.5 hours- 1:40ish to the top, 20ish minutes of chilling, 40ish to the bottom.  I got back to the car and was feeling too good and too in love with summer to stop, so I went for a drive around beautiful Alton Bay.

This is what you see when you come into town. 

I rolled the windows down, blasted The Dangerous Summer and let the cool air in, just driving around the lake in pure emo bliss. It's moments like these that make me realize that summer is truly my favorite season. Fall is beautiful- music sounds better in the fall, food tastes better, things seem more important. Fall is full of memories and feelings and smells- from the first scent of fires to the feeling of a cool breeze blowing through my still-open windows while I wake up late to hear my parents watching football- everything related to fall is emotional and beautiful and full of memories. It was always easy to say that fall was my favorite season. But fall is final. Fall seems to end earlier every year- as soon as the leaves hit their most perfect colors, they seem to be blown to the ground and covered in snow. As soon as I have that perfect bike ride in all that color, night comes more quickly and I inevitably get sick from the falling temperatures. Fall is just one step closer to winter and always feels like I have to try and enjoy it as fast as possible before it disappears. 

Summer isn't like that. Summer feels like it starts earlier every year. Summer feels like possibility, like new beginnings, like life. I grew up on Lake Sebago in Raymond, Maine. I had a childhood full of running through the woods, biking up and down my dirt road, and spending entire summers under water- just 8 hours of swimming and exploring, every single day. Growing up on a lake forever ruined me- I never want to live anywhere else other than on a lake. And my love for lakes and everything surrounding them- swimming, fishing, boating, the feeling of being near water, and just watching the sun and clouds reflect off it seems to get stronger every year. We all get old and spend too much time at stupid jobs or staring at screens all day. There are few things as beautiful as watching the sun set on a lake.

Driving around Alton Bay on roads I'd never been on full of summer houses just killed me. I never lived a life of "pack your things kids! We're leaving the city and going to the lake!" I was always on the lake. that was normal to me. But now that I'm not, I feel like all of my summers were like that. I feel like I had a life of summer houses crammed together on a tiny lake, Massachusetts and New York license plates everywhere, crammed one way roads full of people just trying to find these moments that I grew up with every day. 

It's moments like these that make me realize that this is where I belong, and I need to do whatever I can for the rest of my life to continue having these moments. It's moments like these that make me realize I made the right decision in quitting my job, pushing the negativity out of my life and trying to find this. It's moments like these where I realize the importance and wonder of summer. And that's why summer is my favorite season. And I want to have the best summer I can, every year for the rest of my life. 

seriously, just download The Dangerous Summer- Reach For The Sun, and blast it with the windows down on a beautiful night drive. 

Yard Sale Warriors

This past Saturday, we got up at 9 to do something incredibly stupid/awesome: Go to yard sales all day.

We are...

The yard sale warriors.

yes, Jesse is horribly photoshopped in

Rich knew about a legendary 50 family yard sale jam where every house within a few miles that had garbage in it put it out for sale. We hit it up, hard. 

For like 6 hours. 

Good look?

I got to watch people go from "You know, I kind of want this DVD, but its $2 and I could probably get it for $1.50 somewhere else" to:

"I'm gonna buy these army elbow pads." 

"Why on earth would you need elbow pads?" 

"Dude, they're 2 bucks!" 

"Yea, but still, what the hell do you need elbow pads for?" 

"DUDE, they're like 60 bucks at an army/navy store. They're only 2 bucks here!" 

It was hilarious. 

Then we went to a terrifying Flea Market in the basement of some Knights of Columbus building where the largest assortment of stinky, overpriced garbage and lunatic "salespeople" assaulted our senses and followed us around until we had to escape for the sake of survival. One guy went on and on for 10 minutes about how much bottles cost and how certain ones were worth 100 bucks but he got this deal from this guy so that it onlycost8bucksandyouwouldn'tbelievethebottlesyoucangetdowninblahblahblahblah. It was incredible and terrifying. What a find. 

Hilton in the madness (is that someone's hair?)

The scariest photograph ever

Some good food, some good buys, some incredibly stupid buys, a horrible headache, and good times. 

Here's how we did:

Tons of crap.

Jesse:

Masterpiece, Pictionary, a Wireless FM Intercom (that I'm certain won't work), 4 DVDs (one of which was the new Rambo that I'm pissed I didn't get), a fireplace gate thingie, elbow pads, and Army pants and shirt he'll never wear.

Josh:

Josh was smarter than all of us, buying only a game he used to love for 4 bucks and this sweet knife.

Hilton:

Hilton was struck hard by "dude its only 2 bucks!" fever and bought an army hat and goggles, an under armor shirt, 5 frames, a lockbox without a key (it was free), a stuffed pig, a couple of books, a bag with a cat on it, a microphone carrying case with an insanely old tape recorder or something in it, and a bottle of pure old panther piss.

I'm kind of jealous about this one, but I wasn't ready to pay 8 bucks for an empty bottle. He was.

And lastly, Rich:

Rich was also struck hard by "dude its only 2 bucks" fever, but also got the best deal of the trip- a fully functional (except for playback) video camera with extra tapes (with stuff on them hmmm), batteries, etc for 30 bucks. He also got knee pads, elbow pads, books, a globe lamp (which Hilton broke) and a wicked sweet skull mask. 

I was kind of boring and only got a small walmart bureau thing for 3 bucks (which I dropped and broke), The Ring, Disturbia and Leon 2 disc collector's edition DVDs, an xbox cable, this sweet and completely stupid and useless vase:

and this picture, which is one of the greatest, most horrifying pictures I've ever seen. A complete steal for 2 bucks, the more you look at it, the more messed up it gets. Enjoy. 

Seriously, open it up big. Right under half and half man, there are 2 definite axe murderers. 

A great day for the YARD SALE WARRIORS, and a tiring one for some.

Don't go outside.

So I went for a short walk in some random small section of woods in Somersworth today. I was seeing if there might happen to be bike trails out there (there weren't). I immediately was swarmed by mosquitos, but kept walking. I walked through some very tall grass towards some beautiful marsh, and I figured I was probably getting some ticks on me, but soldiered on. 

The bugs got worse, and I kept walking, thinking there was a loop and maybe, just maybe, sweet trails would be around the bend. When a goddamn root tripped me and I flew to the ground face first, I finally had had enough. Running and waiving my arms frantically, I escaped the woods sweaty, exhausted, and covered in mosquitos. 

And ticks. In fact, more ticks than I ever thought could be on one human being. By the time I got in my car, I had already removed 13 from my legs and socks. When I sat down, I felt another walking up my leg. While driving, another. And then 2 creepy green bugs that I've never seen before and looked like mini grasshoppers starting crawling up my other leg. I lost it, and, driving out of control and screaming, I finally got home. When I took off my shoes, I was greeted with this:

6 more. Then I went through my shoes, and I couldn't believe how many there were. Every time I thought I was done, I found another buried in my shoe or tangled up in my shoelace. Upon taking off my shorts, I found more. And even after I was done combing through every last piece of clothing, and I stood shaking and naked, slapping away bugs that weren't there in psychotic paranoia, I STILL FOUND ANOTHER, hiding under my back pocket on the inside of my shorts. The final count combining what I took off at my car and killed violently on my porch was 33. 

33 ticks, from like 25 minutes of being in the woods. Don't go outside.

Ever.

Death zone


NOTE: 2 days later, Josh rode in my car and had a tick on his arm when he got out, meaning there are more ticks still in my car. YES!

First trip to Mass: a photo retrospective

Retroactive post from 5/30-6/1:

I'm just gonna post the best pictures to explain this trip. I feel like they work on their own, but a full explanation for those seeking answers is below.

I took a trip to my old stomping grounds to go to a BBQ at my old team leader's house with a bunch of peeps I worked with. Its a very odd thing to hang out with your ex-coworkers only a week after they became ex-coworkers- I still kind of felt like I was just on a brief vacation and I'd see them at work soon, until people started leaving and "see you next week at the BBQ" became "see you... sometime... maybe..."

B was thrown, hot dogs were eaten, bocce was played, pictures were taken, people got drunk, messes were made, firetrucks came. A good time with some solid people who I will miss working with.

From there, I was faced with a decision- go play on my computer with one ex-roommate and his girlfriend at my old house or go visit the studio where the other ex-roommate works, where a bunch of weird strangers were shooting a movie until 2 in the morning. I left it to chance, but would like to think that I always knew I was going to do the latter, as this summer is supposed to be about living and doing some weird stuff. It was quite a scene there. I got a tour of the studio (which is beautiful and I'll soon be recording musics there), I got a tour of the creepy top floor, and I left with a huge gash in my leg (from the top floor) and good spirits. 

The next day I did something I've been putting off for probably 8 months: cleaned my car. I vacuumed the inside, washed the inside windows, washed the dashboard and everything else that was filthy, cleaned the outside, replaced the wipers, and put on 2 coats of rainex on the windshield. This is more than I think I've ever done for my poor car, and it was all done in 90 degree heat with me drinking nothing. Yaaaay headaches. I then drove around to some of my old haunts- the beautiful park in North Reading where I used to play tennis, the loop around Martin's Pond where I used to ride my bike, and the creepy death woods I used to live near in Tewksbury, where, needless to say by the second to last picture, I saw some creepy death. 

Then I had dental work done that ruined my life for a few days. So, definitely a full trip.

GEETAR SESH

Retroactive post from 5/28:

Blackhead and Caveman kick out some jams

Hilton and I jammed on the geetars for hours. Not a big deal to most people, but we haven't played guitar together for like 2 years, and haven't played as much as we did for much longer than that. We relived all our old solo jams, songs we wrote together, some creed covers, some phish songs, etc. It was something really nice that somehow I just stopped doing entirely. My fingers burned and I remembered how much I like playing guitar. And I remembered how nice my guitar (that I spent 34873874893 dollars on last summer) is. Here's a happy ditty we accidentally wrote in the last 2 minutes we were trying to stop playing. It sounds to me like a theme song to a kid's show.

A Life More Awesome from Mike Alexander on Vimeo.