Peeling My Skin And A Wedding

     So my sunburn from the aforementioned trip to Cedar Point has made it to the point where I'm now peeling the outer layer of skin off my shoulders. I laugh at the feeling. lol. But now I'm self-conscious about not wearing a shirt. :\
     On an unrelated note, I took this weekend off work, because I'm going to a cousin's wedding down in Cincinatti, OH. Should be fun, but that also means that after this post, I'm taking the weekend off from this too. And Sunday also just so happens to be mine and my fiancée's 8 year anniversary, so that day will be off-limits too. So Monday will be the next time you hear from me. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to talk about then. But since I should be packing up and getting ready to head out, I have to end this early. Sorry for the short post. But, it just wouldn't be my post without...

The Song of the Day!!!
     Now, the question is, do I give you a song I want, or do I randomize it? Well, random it is, since I can't decide. Ahh, one of my favorite bands....  Today's song: Dead On Arrival by Fall Out Boy from the album Take This to Your Grave. I love Fall Out Boy. Definitely in my top 5 favorite bands. This song was also featured in Rock Band, and Lord knows, I love my Rock Band and Guitar Hero. According to the members of Fall Out Boy, this song was supposed to convey that they were homesick due to all the shows and travelling to all the different venues.  This song starts fast and loud, and ends fast and loud. It was also one of my first loves from this band. I really enjoy every album put out by them, and if any of you were sad to hear they're not putting out anymore music, Patrick Stump has already put out a solo EP called Truant Wave, and you can also preview his solo album Soul Punk due to be released Oct. 18th. I'll put a video of that song in here too as an added bonus and a sort of apology for the short post. Its called This City and it features Lupe Fiasco. Enjoy.

Dead On Arrival

This City ft. Lupe Fiasco

Am I Going To Culinary School?

     Today was an interesting day at work, to say the least, because somehow, even though we lost the highest paid cook in the restaurant, we aren't making labor cost (which is BS), so my cooks were all cut long before their time, leaving me to be the one man circus at the restaurant. Blah. So after everything's said and done, my manager comes up to me, and asks, "So, have you ever thought of going to chef school?" I just looked at her for a moment, and instead of taking the smart-ass route, I figured I would put on my nice guy face and answered her seriously. I wanted to say, "No, I had never considered that! My whole career is based around food, and yet I've never thought of going to school for it! Oh and by the way, if you pull stitches out of a wound that isn't fully healed, it reopens and bleeds like new."

     The reason I bring up wounds is because when I graduated high school, I applied for culinary arts school through a Cordon Bleu program, and immediately got accepted. I went on a campus tour clear over in Pittsburgh, and loved it all. Then we went to discuss finances, I couldn't get in. I had no credit experience, neither did my mom (as her ex husband's would always put the credit cards and loans in their names, not both) and we didn't know anything about financial aid. Though we applied for FAFSA, they couldn't help, so I was forced to give up Culinary Arts school. I was crushed. Yes, I have plans to get back to that school, but it just feels weird now. I feel like that middle-aged person going back to school filled with little 18-22 yr olds. I mean, I'm not middle-aged yet (24), but that's still how I'll feel when I get there when I'm about 26 or so. There's a great many plus sides to this, but I can't shake the feeling for some reason. So I wanted to be extremely sarcastic to her, but she couldn't have known about any of that, so I didn't... Oh well.  

Well, sorry for the shorter post, but its time to move on...

What's Playin Right Now??

     Today is.... (random random random.... don't like this song.... random random random.) Heh, heh, heh...

Bodies by Drowning Pool from their album, Sinner. A classic song. For some reason, many people don't know that this is Drowning Pool, and they credit it to some other heavy band, like Disturbed or Slipknot or whoever... In truth, these guys sound nothing like those other bands. They have a very unique sound aside from the lead singer's voice sounding completely different from the other two bands. Anyway. 

   Some things you may not know about this song. Bodies was the lead single from Drowning Pool's debut album, Sinner in 2001, and stayed their #1 hit until 2008, when 37 Stitches was released on the Full Circle album. According to the band:

   

  "Bodies' was written about the brotherhood of the moshpit and never about violence."

     And one fact that made me lol irl was Bodies was used by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003. It was played repeatedly over 10 days during the interrogation of  Mohamedou Ould Slahi while also being exposed to different lighting patterns. Personally, I wouldn't think of listening to Bodies as torture, but maybe over 10 days, I would definitely get sick of it! So give it a listen and a watch, and enjoy! 


*~*WARNING!!!*~*
THIS VIDEO HAS SOME CRAZY LIGHTING EFFECTS!!! IF YOU OR SOMEONE AROUND YOU IS EPILEPTIC, YOU/THEY MIGHT FREAK OUT!!!

   

Sun Burned and Exhausted.... But Lovin It!

So I'm back from Cedar Point, and it was pretty fun all things considered. I'm noticeably pinker than when I left and exhausted from all the walking and yelling and everything to do there!  I got there, and it was over 90 degrees, which made it near unbearable to be out in the open, but through lots of water and strategic standing under shady spots, we survived. I went on the Disaster Transport, an interesting roller coaster built all indoors, amongst other rides. Lines were HUGE all day so we didn't get to go on everything we wanted, but we still had fun. And soon into the day, it stormed really bad. My fiancee didn't want to stay outside in the thunderstorm, but my friends and I loved it. We waited out the first storm (yes I said first for a reason) in the arcade, which is pretty impressive. Not Gameworks big, but it was pretty large. I'm an old pro at Dance Dance Revolution, and they had SuperNova there, so I had to give it a go. And then between my friend and myself, we won about 300 tickets, which we ended up giving to a nice kid... mostly cuz they didn't have any candy! lol.  No one is too old for video games and candy. Period.
     So after the rain subsided, we headed back out thinking that the crowd would have diminished. Not so much. So we walked around, hit up another ride or two, and then decided it was a good time to hit the water rides. We decided on Snake River Falls first, as there is NO WAY possible to get out of that one without being drenched to the bone. Opened in 1993, Snake River Falls (see pic)  was deemed the tallest and steepest water ride in the world at that time. Currently the tallest and steepest water ride goes to Perilous Plunge, at 115 ft, and an angle of descent at 75°, just 15° short of straight vertical and is located at Knott's Berry Farm in California, also owned by the same company as Cedar Point.

      Its a fairly simple ride, but it attracts thousands of guests each season. Each boat can carry roughly 12-16 ppl, and as you can see, after the ride, you can get off, and stand on the bridge where the boat makes it's splashdown. So if you didn't get enough water the first time, there's always another chance.
     As we get off this ride, it starts absolutely pouring, just short of torrential. At this point, its already 8:00, so we decide to call it a day. So, being soaked already, we just leave our bathing suits on and just walk in the rain, enjoying stomping in puddles and water fun we hadn't indulged in since younger times. And we weren't the only ones. It seemed as the though the whole park had been turned into little kids again. People jumping in puddles, splashing each other, just generally having a good time. Apparently, it takes much more than a little rain to ruin the spirit there.  So that was fun...  Well, other than that, the weekend was uneventful, save for lots of business at the restaurant today. So. Onto......

What's Stuck In My Head?!?
     I know, deviating from the norm... Scaaaary! But hey, embrace the random and enjoy all of life's curveballs, even the small ones. lol.  
     So, today's song is a little heavy--er, but its been stuck in my head all day long, and I gotta get it out somehow.  So without further ado.... Drumroll....
      Psychosocial by Slipknot off of the album, All Hope Is Gone.  Now, if you don't like Slipknot because they're too heavy, or you don't like the lyrics, that's your prerogative, and you can skip the rest of this blog if you want. BUT! I encourage everyone to at least give this song at least 1 listen if you haven't heard it before. And if you can't decide if you like it, listen to it one more time. It's a pretty popular song from them, and most Slipknot fans should know it. Now, this song has a lot of lyrics that are hard to understand because he does the "death-growling" voice for the lyrics between choruses. But the chorus has a nice melody to it, and believe it or not, Slipknot's singer really does have a nice voice. This chorus always sticks with me, after I've listened to it, while I'm listening to it, and even now, when I'm just talking about it. The video can be scary for some of you who aren't used to some of this type of stuff, so if this is your first step into the genre, you can always just hit play on the movie below and not watch it. But in my opinion, Slipknot has a very clean sound in most of this song especially between the drums and guitar in the beginning when they hit faster notes together. In some bands, you'll hear them start to get off beat from each other just the slightest hair, but this sounds pretty nice to me. And I constantly rave about the chorus, because I really like everything about it. The lyrics, the melody, and his voice for sure. But don't take my opinion. Form your own. Enjoy.