Well, it does for me at least.  The type of music I am into at any given time usually goes full circle over the years.  I started out, the earliest I can remember, being into my Dad’s classic rock music (Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc).  I then got into the then popular 80’s pop (Toni Basil, Men at Work, The Go-Gos, etc) and dance music (Bobby Brown, Pebbles, Paula Abdul etc).  Following all of that I started to get into Metal and Stadium Rock (Motley Crue, Poison, Skid Row, Metallica, GnR, REO Speedwagon, Queensryche, Megadeth, etc etc etc etc).  I was into metal for quite a long time before I started being more interested in Death & Black Metal, moreso death.  (Carcass, Dissection, At the Gates, Arch Enemy, ETC).  Somewhere in between that time I also had gotten interested in Reggae (Bob Marley, Black Uhuru) and Punk music - namely old Misfits stuff, Fugazi and The Descendents.

Over the past year or so I had gotten really tired of all the death and sort of gravitated back to the 80’s pop.  I was longing for some happy music I think.  Granted I still love it very much, but over the past two weeks I’ve been frequenting the 80’s Metal internet music channel and finding I’m way into it again.  I’m hearing old favorites by LA Guns, Motley Crue and others that I had forgotten about.  It’s great stuff!

Speaking of metal - im taking a little jaunt over to Seattle Center later today to see Nevermore play at the Tattoo Convention.  Sounds like a nice way to end the week - I love those guys!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Sorry for the late post today!  It’s been a busy one, but I wanted to tell anyone who may be listening about my new tattoo!  I am extremly happy with it!!!  It’s still in need of scales and some blood red color in the flames - that will be happening at the start of September.  But even in it’s naked form I already love it!

It’s been 9 years since my last tattoo - I can’t believe that much time has passed already.  It wasn’t nearly as painful as I remembered it being and I managed to sit still through the entire thing.  There were some points where it was really uncomfortable but I just focused on my ujjayi pranayama yoga breathing and the very strange abstract painting that was in front of me on the wall.  I was seeing some pretty scary stuff in that thing!! Christy also was good about keeping me talking which helped a lot too.

It felt like road rash on the drive home.  Probably didn’t help that it was pretty hot here yesterday.  Once I got home I hopped into a cold shower and it’s felt great ever since.  I so love brand new tattoos - the ink is so fresh and dark still!  I’m going to do my best to take real good care of this one.  I just love it!

While I was getting this done, Christy let me know about laser tattoo removal.  I’m thinking about getting the one on my stomach removed so that it can be redone - correctly.  Or maybe even something different.  So I am considering that now also.

Anyway - if you are considering a tattoo but you are afraid it will hurt - well, IT DOES!  But you know what?  I’m someone who sweats bullets when I know I have to get a blood draw or a shot.  I think when you go through all that pain and actually leave with something cool (that doesn’t cry or require 18 years of your life) it’s all worth it!

Today I am getting my third tattoo.  It’s been about 9 years since my last which was not the greatest experience for me.  I had a rather large tattoo done on my lower abdomen that was not done exactly like my drawing.  The lines were way too thick and also resulted in a lot of scarring.  Not to mention it was probably WAY more painful than it needed to be.  So I have waited all these years to find the right person to do my next and future tattoos.

Recently I found that person right here in Seattle.  Her name is Christy Brooker and she tattoos in Georgetown at ArtCore.  She is amazingly good at portraits (see tattoo of Johnny Cash to the left) also.  Today I’m having her do my dragon drawing on my upper right arm.  I drew it back in 2003.  But later on I will have her tattoo a portrait of my late grandmother “Meemaw” on my left upper arm.  These things cost a lot of money - rightfully so when they are done well.  So I’ll have to save up for that one.

When done I’ll snap a photo and post it here.

I had a flashback today in regards to Hypercolor t-shirts, one of my favorite clothing items from the 80’s next to jelly sandals.  A friend of my Mom’s apparently invented them and she is now living the good life somewhere in Hawaii.  Lucky.

Anyway, I did a Google search on Hypercolor and to my amazement found that Hypercolor is back!!!  American Apparel offers a hyper spinoff with a unisex tee ($34), and bodyfaders.com has tank tops in a rainbow of changing colors ($24.95). But the most updated version is Puma’s sneakers ($65) — if, of course, you don’t mind your hot, sweaty feet dictating the color of your kicks.

Read about the return of Hypercolor (and it’s various spin-offs) in this LA Times article: Click Here

“Anyone who was around for the ten seconds that Hypercolor t-shirts were popular will undoubtedly appreciate the obscurity of this reference and how far I had to dig to pull this article out of my ass.

For those of you who don’t know, Hypercolor t-shirts were a novelty garment that was popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The shirts we supposed to change color when exposed to heat - which meant that touching them would leave an imprint of your hand. However, the reality was that these things would only really change color when exposed to something a little warmer than body heat - like a hair dryer for example.

Hypercolor t-shirts were also easily damaged when washed. The heat from the washer and dryer would often render the shirts useless after only a few cycles.

If you were smooth enough, the one thing that Hypecolor shirts could have been good for was coping a cheap feel. Unfortunately, I was far from smooth in jr. high so I would have never thought to entice girls to touch me because I had a Hypercolor shirt on.”

Taken from: NerdApproved.com

I love strange candies and foods, so when my friend Tina pointed me toward the Lollyphile website, I was instantly intrigued!  (Thanks T!)

San Francisco based small business Lollyphile currently offers two lolly flavors: maple-bacon & absynthe.  Real ingredients are used in both flavors.  I have yet to order any - but I will!  Tina ordered some and reported back to me that the maple-bacon tastes, well, like maple-bacon and that it’s definitely interesting.  She said it gets a little boring after awhile but it was well worth trying.  The absynthe pop she says tastes like licorice (so I’ll like that one for sure!)

So these pops are not cheap - $10 for 4 pops.  So if you want to try the two current flavors expect to spend at least $20 + shipping (we just missed the free shipping in July promotion - wahhhhhh!).  You can save quite a bit by purchasing larger quantities.  You can sign up on their website to receive notification when they finally release some new flavors.  I’ve been waiting patiently for a few months now - I can’t wait to see what they put out next!

I’m a huge Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! Fan.  You either love them or hate them, there is no in between.

There are two McDonald’s commercials out that feature two people sitting in a cafe drinking coffee and they start talking about how McDonald’s now has coffee.  They talk about how this is a good thing because now they don’t have to “pretend” to be something they are not.  In my opinion these commercials attempt to give the impression that coffee house drinkers are “snooty” while also giving the impression that people who might frequent McDonald’s are “stupid”.  But of course, this is just my opinion.

Granted, eating at McDonald’s is generally NOT good for you.  But really if you think about it, coffee, no matter where you buy it, isn’t really all that good for you either.  I really don’t think that people who go to McDonald’s are stupid - I in fact go there from time to time (mind you only for the occasional hotcake and sausage - otherwise it’s fruit parfait or fruit & walnut for me).   At the same time I don’t think that everyone who goes to a coffee house is smart.

Screw coffee - Go Jamba!