That Time of Year

Time for...Haunted House!

Watch & Listen!

Come on down! Watch and listen as I make a fool of myself while eating 18 tacos! Link to ETS on the left! Show your support with a listenin' and a commentin'!

Hello all,

First off, I'll be starting a class tonight. That class will get me certified to teach English to people abroad. We're not talking literature, etc. We're talking about the language. The program has been running for 8 years and only 3 of the over 4,500 applicants have been denied a job, so unless I'm a drunken mess, I'm pretty sure I have a job after this shindig. The company I'm going through will send out my resume to the countries of my choosing and find me a job. Pretty simple, right? I'll update you all on that madness. The class goes until Sunday night. Five days, certification and an almost guaranteed job? Not bad, I'd say!

Secondly, The drinkcast is taking off! We've got a special episode airing next week where Turrtle interviews Gregory "mother effing" Carlos, bartender of the Cove which gladly accepts us crazy people each week, and I take the Del Taco Challenge. I get a nickname for the show and Sara and Turrtle get really drunk. Keep tuning in and help the ETS crew gain some recognition! Spread the word. Use the link on the left, copy and post it on all of those social-networking sites you frequent.

Anyway. That's all.

Does Andy Take the Del Taco Challenge?

Yes. But you won't find out the outcome until next week. Here's a teaser to get you all excited (and/or disgusted) for such a momentous occasion.

UPDATE:
I've been informed that the episode mentioned above will air 10/15/09. That's today!

Drink Cast: Episode 3

Preview for tomorrow's episode (which also happens to be Sam's birthday):

Your link, as always, on the left.

DrinkCast 2

Hey everyone,

Episode two of DrinkCast is up. This episode features a discussion on the greatness that is Del Taco, how Sara and I (and Turrtle) met as well as some other neatness. Like my chest hair. Tune in, leave a comment, enjoy (or don't).

Promo

Here's the latest promo for DrinkCast on ETS. Enjoy that beef.

Things You Should Be Buying Today

Birdmonster - Blood Memory (B-sides for $5! Only available on itunes)
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom (in stores and online)
Craig Ferguson - American on Purpose (it's a book; in case any of you out there can still read)

Enter the Shell (dot com)

Well everyone, if you've tuned in lately, you'll know that I recently recorded a "drinkcast" with some friends of mine for www.entertheshell.com. And, by their good graces, I was asked back not only a second time, but to be a co-host for all drinkcasts from here on out. Tonight (the 19th) we recorded a second show for all of you listeners out there that will air in two weeks time. But don't just listen because I'm on there; listen because it's quality programming that you can hear at any time during the day. There should be a promo up soon for "talk like a pirate day" as well as the new episode of "drinkcast". Your link is on the left.

Out Now

http://www.entertheshell.com/podcast/

Tuesday

Here's a preview.

Heads Up!

Earlier this evening I went to the Cove with some friends of mine and participated in a recording of Enter the Shell's first ever "drink-cast." So in a couple of weeks you can look for yours truly and a few other (blogging) friends of mine on a podcast. If you're not a fan of Enter the Shell, or haven't checked it out yet, then head on over to their website where you can download content and listen to shows about music and life (because we all know that music drives life, but life happens even when music isn't around). Have fun and I'll let you know when you can hear my (not so) beautiful voice on digital airwaves. There's also a link on the left.

More for Your Listening Pleasure

Joe Jackson

Happy Loving Couples

Depeche Mode

Just Can't Get Enough

Dan Auerbach (of the Black Keys , with Jessica Lea Mayfield on backing vocals)

When the Night Comes

The Best/Worst Part About Living at Home

The alcohol. My folks aren't really drinkers, so over the years they've acquired various bottles of booze and wine from friends/co-workers of theirs who feel it necessary to add to the collection every time there's a party at our place. This means that I don't have to pay for the hard stuff since the only other person that drinks is my dad, and he'll only have beer (though my mom's been known to use some in various recipes). This also means that I drink alone. Like right now. Sure, listening to records with a good drink is great, but you can really get lonely. Or run into walls/fall down the stairs. I'm going to get back to my G&T.

Things I Don't Like

Tecate Light commercials. I can't tell you how irritated I get by them, so I'll just post this 30 seconds of agony that tells everyone how Mexico changed the system in the U.S. Oh yeah, they really shook things up. The first commercial they put out about changing the way things worked made some sense in that they actually had things that could be associated with Chicano culture. It was irritating, sure, but it made sense. The second one they released just makes you want to slap someone. Here, we'll do a play by play on "bold changes"

1) A hero who follows his own rules? The man wears a mask. So what? Yeah, Mexican wrestling is more into that stuff, but televised wrestling is staged, and it's an American show that dictates who wins and peddles cheap excitement to a drooling audience. It's not Mexican because he chose to be the symbol of hope to Mexican wrestlers in th eU.S.
2) Changing language by "letting everyone get the message"? You're saying that you're letting everyone know that your yappy little dog might bite your ankles? Or the message that the dog you have is irritating? Yeah, we already knew that when it kept us up til 3am barking at shadows. How is a sign that says "perro malo" letting everyone get the message of something that was boldly changed by Mexicans? A "beware of dog" sign does the same thing. If there's a picture of a vicious looking dog on a gate, I think you've got the message. And if you've got a "perro malo" sign with a little rat-dog behind it, then it's not intimidating. The message you're sending is you're trying to be ironic by having a sign that says "bad dog" in spanish with some irritating dumpster-fuck to piss on your feet and then shiver the rest of the day because of the fear it has of everything that surrounds it.
3) Changing fashion by making it your own, huh? Y'know, the Mexicans already had their own unique fashion. And by putting a "clever" label on your shirt that makes fun of a high-class brand doesn't mean it's a uniquely Mexican/Mexican-American thing. Hell, capitalist companies market Che shirts. Does that mean they've changed communism and made it their own? Hell no! It means they made money off a bunch of saps with misplaced ideals. Just because you make Versace "Versanchez" doesn't give you a pass at a "bold change." And by having a guy with the perpetual stubble and the carefully preened "just got out of bed" look who appears to be no more Mexican than you or I, doesn't really sell the ticket.
4) The announcer doesn't even sound hispanic! He sounds like a white guy trying too damned hard to be the regular deep-voiced commercial announcer, but with a crappy accent. It sounds like my purposely gringoed accent when I pronounce Spanish words.
C'mon, what's even worse is that the people putting out the commercial know how stupid it is. Are those ads really going to make more Chicanos drink a shitty, new light beer? Nope. The same people are still going to drink it. People who want to get drunk off of cheap beer. But I can tell you that I'll never pick up a case of that crap, and I'm thinking that even regular Tecate has lost my occasional support. Jeez. Friggin' ad monsters. Had to go and rile me up.