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Voodoo Fest in New Orleans in 2 weeks. Looking forward to that. Can’t wait to see The Smashing Pumpkins. Haven’t been to a concert since 2003 I think. Haven’t been to New Orleans since that same year. Haven’t been outside of Mississippi since 2004. Shame on me.

The weekend is here relaxation shall commence in about 2 hours. Looking forward to that too. Catch-up time.

A promotion at work and a raise effective January 1. Looking forward to that as well. A promotion also means more responsibilities.

John and I recently finished out second play through of Gladius. I wrote a lot about it after we finished it the first time. I liked the game a lot more this time around than I did the first. Although we spent more hours on it, it seemed like we went through those hours much faster. We played through a different character’s story, but I don’t think that’s made much of a difference. It’s definitely worth playing if you like strategy RPGs. I wish they would make a sequel.

I’ve really been enjoying listening to a CD set by Pearl Jam called Live at the Gorge 05/06. I love Pearl Jam and they are a great live band, so I knew I had to have it. It’s 7 CDs long and is a recording of 3 concerts they did at the Gorge Amphitheatre in September 2005 and July 2006. I think that these shows were bookends on all the touring they did from 2005 to 2006. Since I bought the set from the Ten Club’s website, I got a limited edition postcard set.

I’m always worried about giving too much away, so I’m not going to say much about Stardust. We went to see it over the weekend and I had lots of fun. Michelle Pfeifer looks pretty good for her age. Witches, magic, action, adventure, special effects, humor, and a gay pirate are all so much fun. I think I want to see it again.

Lately, I’ve been watching:

• Eureka (very good)
• Damages (very good)
• Kyle XY (good)
• The 4400 (very good)
• Flash Gordon (bad-ish)

I signed up for Last.fm in December, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I downloaded their software and actually starting using the service. I think it’s pretty cool. If anybody uses it, feel free to add me.

Every once in a while I listen to music on Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast Radio or AOL Radio. The selection on AOL seems to fit me better, but Yahoo does allow you to skip a few songs every hour. AOL Radio offers many XM Radio stations in addition to their own stations. The 90’s Alternative stations on both services have been my favorite so far.

I’ve probably used Yahoo! more because I started out with it and I tend to think of it first. I may be listening to AOL more in the future. I found out last night that they have an All Pearl Jam station and an All Final Fantasy station, among other good choices. Just hearing the music from Final Fantasy again was fun and it’s no secret how I feel about Pearl Jam.

I may not have total control over what I’m hearing in either case, but the variety of music is good enough that I can always find something that suits me. And it costs me nothing to use them. It’s hard to beat FREE!

Pearl Jam actually released a new music video. Is the world ending? The video is for the song “Life Wasted,” the second single from their new album. You can get it here for free until May 24. The video is being offered under a Creative Commons license. Interesting.

Update 5/24:
Now it’s free until June 1.

I went to an MSU graduation ceremony for the first time on Saturday. I got two degrees at MSU and never attended graduation. It was interesting but seemed to go on forever. And that was only one of the two ceremonies taking place that day.

I got up early Sunday to spend Mother’s Day with the family. I had lunch with my mother and sister and spent time with other relatives later in the day. It was great seeing everybody again since I hadn’t been home in a while.

I came back to Starkville on Monday. On the way back I picked up a copy of the new new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Stadium Arcadium. This is a great album to own if you are a RHCP fan. It’s a double disk album. I haven’t finished listening to it yet and I already know I’ve got my money’s worth.

I finally got my CD called Pearl Jam by Pearl Jam. It came in the mail today, two days later than expected. I don’t know whether to blame Amazon.com or the US Postal Service. Oh well.

I really enjoyed listening to it this afternoon. I probably shouldn’t try to rank it against their other CD’s yet. The newness may give it an unfair advantage. However, I really do think it’s some of the best stuff they’ve done in a long time. Lots of rocking. They continued their tradition of beginning the CD with a fast, heavy-hitting song and ending with a slower, more mellow song. There’s even a reprise on it, which I haven’t seen often on rock albums.

I am very excited about the new Pearl Jam album coming out next month. Yes, they are still making music. The self-titled album is their 8th studio album and will be released on May 2. It’s their first studio album since late 2002. I’m going to pre-order my copy now.

The first single, “Worldwide Suicide”, has been available for free download on http://bootlegs.pearljam.com for the past few weeks. It’s an anti-war song, not a song telling everyone to kill themselves.

What’s really cool is how much I’ve heard that song on the radio around here. I would’ve expected it on the MSU station, but I’ve only heard it on two completely different stations. I think those two are owned by the same company, but it’s nice to know there are still some stations around here that are friendly to Pearl Jam.

Somehow the following entry from December 28 was deleted. I am reposting it here.

Christmas was ok. It’s just not the same without my sister around. I’ve spent so many hours recently watching DVD’s.
For my birthday and Christmas I got:
• money
• Firefly The Complete Series
• Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube game) and the strategy guide
• Pearl Jam Single Video Theory (DVD)
• Star Trek The Next Generation The Complete Seasons 1-7

All in all, it’s been a pretty good year. Next year will be better.

If you go to this site you can find out what song was #1 on the day that you were born. These songs were number 1 on my date of birth:

US Charts:
“You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” by Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand

UK Charts:
“Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord” by Boney M