General Update

Hi everyone! Time for another post. This one promises to be general in nature, and on varied and sundry subjects. Just thought I'd catch you up with what's happenin' now. The holidays are behind us, but they're in front of us too you know! Christmas 2008 was a good one I'd have to say. Busy as always, but this year I didn't mind so much. There's a radio station here that begins playing 24 hour Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. I discovered this, and listened to it for most of December. Normally I listen to a couple of Christmas CDs and that's it. Those namely, When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick Jr. and Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson. Both are great albums! Buy them both. Not next Christmas, but now! Follow the links to Amazon and get them. Or iTunes...whatever your personal venue for musical acquisition may be. Anyway, I digress, as I often do. The radio station really had me in a Christmas mood this year. By that I mean, willing to nudge my way through a crowd, able to smile when I was stuck in traffic, and the like. It was nice for a change. New years was over in a blink. Doesn't really feel like 2009 to me. Not yet. Maybe I just haven't had to write it much or something. Fast as it was I've had my cabbage and black eyed peas, along with dad's fried hogs jowls, so I'm pretty much set in the good fortune department. (If you have to ask, just think of it as bacon. Very similar.)

In other news, I bought myself a bass guitar. I had been using the church's bass to play on Sunday mornings, but I wanted one of my own for a few reasons.

1. I wanted one I could keep at home, practice regularly and call my own.
2. If someone else wants to learn from church, now there is a bass available for them.
3. The church's bass is nice, but I wanted something that felt more like me. (The bond between a boy and his musical instrument is a whole other blog, which I intend to do before long. I have given a lot of thought to the subject, and it's an interesting thing to think about. If you have never played an instrument, perhaps you have owned that one car. You know the one I'm talking about. You miss it don't you? Or perhaps it's not a car...but it's something. More to come on this one.)

Here is a picture of my bass. It's not actually mine, but this is the style and color...an Ibanez Roadstar II. Ain't she a beaut'?

Ok, so holidays, bass...Paintball!

So check this out. I finally got to go out and play a little paintball after a long hiatus. Last year, as some of you may know, I bought a paintball gun and played a couple of times with some friends from church. Well, after that things got a little quiet and we didn't play anymore. I was understandably sad. Bought the gun after all. So we're starting up again and playing. Thing is, I've been having a lot of trouble with my gun, which by the way is a Spyder Sonix, chopping a lot of paintballs. That's where the ball sort of half loads and the gun's bolt literally chops the paintball in half inside the gun. Gets very messy. So I did two things. I bought a fancy force feeding hopper (that's what holds the balls and feeds them into the gun) and also a cheap used gun. A Tippmann 98 Custom. One of two things is going to happen. The hopper is going to fix my chopping problem, or my new(used) gun is. The Tippmann is widely regarded one of the most durable, unrelenting, workhorse guns in the entry level paintball arsenal. It just works. It doesn't break, and it's as upgradable as anything out there. Tonight I did something very manly. I disassembled my new(used) Tippmann and cleaned it inside and out. It was quite a mess. But the process of breaking down a gun (Even a paint gun), cleaning it, and reassembling is about as awesome as it gets. :) Ranks up there with cooking a meal over a campfire, changing spark plugs and opening pickle jars for the missus! I'll let you all know if anything interesting happens in the paintball world. It's fun if you have the opportunity to try it. It doesn't hurt...long.

I'll close for now. I'm going to think about this musical instrument blog. I need to start writing topics down. I've forgotten as many blog topics as I've actually posted. Talk to you all soon! Thanks again so much for reading!

-J

Top 5 - Holiday Candies

I'm feeling hale and hearty tonight, so what do you say we go for another 3 BLOG NIGHT! Oh yes, I think it's time for one! Brace yourselves. I've noticed that a lot of my friends blog about lists, and the Internet is certainly suffused with a great many "Top 10" and "Top 5" and "Top-Random Number" lists. So, I thought to myself, "Self, you need to get with the times, and do a list post." So, here we are. My first list. In honor of the Christmas and holiday season, may I present: Jon's Top 5 Holiday Candies! 5. Peeps - I love Peeps, not because they taste good exactly, but because they're such a fun candy. As a young boy I remember eating them and doing strange scientific experiments by melding more than one peep together. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You bite off all the little chicken heads, or chicken butts, and then stick them together to create some strange animal fit for a KFC Urban Legend! Nowadays there are even more possibilities owing to the wider variety in both species and color of peep. Ever want a blue, yellow and black Chicken-Bunny-Bat? Just save your peeps for a year and go crazy. They'll last. This brings me to the other reason I like the humble peep. There is a thriving community of peep enthusiasts that discuss at length the methods and nuances of peep aging. Two extreme schools exist who prefer either the perfectly fresh, soft peep, or the delightfully crusted stale peep. I myself am of the latter school. There are of course those in between who age their peeps to some middle ground. I find the intellectual discussion of silly topics like peep aging to be immensely enjoyable, and this scratches that itch. The only reason peeps are not higher on the list is because they have lost a lot of their "exclusivity". Peeps used to be an Easter candy, but now they have them year round with everything from Christmas Tree Peeps, to Bat Peeps, to Chinese New Year Peeps. Well, maybe not those. For a candy to really grab you, it has to make you want it, and the fact that you can get a Peep of some kind just about all the time, kind of kills the thrill for me. I am a purist however. I'll only eat yellow chick peeps myself. :) 4. Candy Hearts - On the list for fun and exclusiveness more than taste, (though I've seen some variations for different occasions and holidays, and they taste pretty good if you're into Necco candy like I am), the classic Necco Sweetheart set many a grade school boy or girl's heart racing around "VALEMTIMES DAY" every year. Tell me you never got one of those awesome fancy Valentines from that girl or boy you had a crush on in the 4th grade. Sure his/her parents bought, signed and sealed one for everyone in the whole class, but that doesn't mean that he/she didn't smile just a little when he/she dropped it into your artsy-craftsy Valentine mailbox. 3. Candy Cane - Tasteful; elegant; classic. The Candy cane is a staple of the Christmas season. These powerhouses of holiday cheer can brighten a day without fail. I don't usually fall for a piece of candy that is just reshaped and repackaged for each holiday. It's still the same candy. However, the candy cane is a little different. Sure it's just a long curvy Starbright mint, but in this case, you don't see a lot of peppermint trees, bunnies or bats. The cane is a classical symbol of Christmas sweets. I listed the candy cane at number 3 just because I love a good candy cane. It's mood candy. Deck the Halls and Silver Bells and all that! :) 2. Cadbury Mini Eggs - Actually my favorite Easter candy. I could polish off the whole bag. I mean, the BIG bag, in one afternoon if I were not so adverse to becoming sick on them, and then losing my love of such a great candy. These are as simple as it gets. Chocolate and Sugar Coating. Like an M&M, but bigger, with Cadbury chocolate. This is the holiday candy I dream of all year. Yet they are listed at number 2. Why you ask? Well, I'll tell you. As much as I love the flavor and the tactile crunchy sensation of a good mini egg, they aren't quite the total package that the number 1 entry has become. 1. Cadbury Creme Eggs - Being that Easter traditionally rolls out the big guns when it comes to candy, it's hard to stand out amongst a sea of contenders. There has been some controversy surrounding the Creme Egg and its size, which seems to be on the decline in recent years (Here, on Conan O'Brien, we see proof from BJ Novak) , but by and large, the Creme Egg has remained a pure, rich and sweet champion of Easter candy. Some say that the Creme Egg is too rich, but I disagree. If it's too rich, you're eating it too fast...slow down. Enjoy. You think these things grow on trees? Actually, they're laid, by none other than the Cadbury Bunny. *bok bok bok bok BOK* Honorable Mention: There are some good candies out there that are holiday themed, but a lot of them are repackaged and reshaped. You can get a peppermint patty, or a peanut butter cup anytime day or night. The holiday versions are just marketing tricks. You can list the Peppermint Batty and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs/Trees/Pumpkins and a truly tasty candy, but the truth is that they are just the regular candy in a different pair of pants. Though the Batty is a nice pun. I'll admit it. It made me chuckle. :) So these are my Top-5. Anyone out there have a favorite that I didn't list? Don't worry. With holiday candy, there's no right or wrong. Faves? Anyone? -J