Tuesday Top Ten

I've been traveling quite a bit lately...you know that whole silly "find a job" thing. There are certain men in my life (ie Jay and my dad) who are very particular travelers and have little patience for those amateurs who slow them down in the airport. [Sidenote: They would have been so disappointed in me because I actually walked through the metal detector with my cell phone in my pocket on Sunday.] But there really are many annoying things about getting on a plane.

Top ten worse things about flying:

1. Getting to the airport too early - unlike Jay, I'd rather get to the gate right as I should be getting on the plane
2. Airplane smell - second only to charter bus smell
3. Inefficiencies in the security line - People who don't take their shoes off, don't take thier laptops out of their bags, don't know the liquid rules, etc. and hold up the line
4. Having to go to the bathroom on the plane when you're in the window seat
5. Being in the middle seat - there's nowhere to put your head for sleeping (I'm a big plane sleeper)
6. People you sit next to who talk the whole flight - I'm not there to make friends-I'm there to sleep
7. People who carry all their luggage on the plane - the ones who wheel around their over-the-shoulder bags on top of their rolly bags and usually have another purse or brief case in tow...they take forever in the aisles and take too much overhead bin space
8. Turbulence - logically, it makes no sense that a really heavy metal object should get up in the air just by going fast enough and then stay up there - turbulence reminds me of this
9. Paying $15 for a checked bag - not because I have to pay but because it encourages more of #7
10. Bad selection of airport food and beverage - seriously, what kind of airport doesn't have a Starbuck's?

Your Own Super Power?

I'm sure at one point when you were growing up you thought of the "super-power" you wanted most. I know I did. Especially watching superman, batman, spiderman, insert favorite superhero here, I'm sure we all had our favorite and wanted what they had.

I do remember however listening to my sister Leanne explain in detail what became known in the Snider family as "Leanne-Pan". Leanne-Pan was her fictitious alter-ego who could stop time. But, there was a catch. The catch was that she had to touch her index fingers (tip to tip mind you) together above her head without looking. (You should try it - it's not easy) At the time (I was probably somewhere between 12 and 13 I think?) I thought - "what a friggin' waste of a super power" - I thought being "invisible" or the obvious "flying" was the right choice, but being able to just stop time? Stupid... I thought.

Many years later after much thought and retrospect I believe my sister was on to something. Work, sleep, eating, working out, time with family, friends, time to hang out and just relax - we never have enough time! "If only I could stop time" - I thought that to myself one day and I had visions of Leanne-Pan touching her fingers together above her head flash before my eyes.

What would be your super power and why? I'm curious. Kuddos to Leanne-Pan she was on the right track.

Tuesday Top Ten

This week marks the end of the best class I've ever taken. It's a six-week class called "Critical Thought" taught by Leo Linbeck (if you're from Houston, he would be the CEO of the parent company of Linbeck Construction), a brilliant 40-something who teaches at Rice each Fall and at Stanford every Spring. My brother-in-law Chris actually took a class from him while at Stanford and luckily encouraged me to stay in the class despite the reading list we received over the summer with a dozen books on it. Books included everything from "War and Peace" to "An Inconvenient Truth" to "Blink."

These are my top ten favorite things from the class:

1. Uniqueness - The class is unique in both format and content. We go to school each Monday morning for a lecture on a given "theme" (for example, heresy versus genius), turn in a 3-page paper each Wednesday applying the theme to a given topic (for example, poverty), and then meet at his house on Thursday or Friday in small-group seminars to basically debate our stance on the topic. The following Monday, Linbeck applies everything that was discussed back to a business context and then presents the next theme.
2. "Reading" the classics - Though some of us technically "watched," I actually know the plot and could discuss "War and Peace," "Pride and Prejudice," "Othello," etc. and their major themes. Linbeck double-majored in undergrad in engineering and classic literature, so he incorporates these into a business course in a very odd but effective manner.
3. Al Gore lied - (well at least manipulated) "An Inconvenient Truth" is such a half-truth. There is no definitive scientific evidence that humans cause global warming or that it poses an imminent threat to our planet. I will scientifically karate-chop anything you have to say about that. (Global warming was my favorite topic.)
4. Eating dinner at Linbeck's house - Linbeck lives in an awesome house right by Rice that was built in the 1930s. Every week when we meet there, he feeds us. And this week, he's taking all of us plus guests (so literally 50 people) to the River Oak Country Club for a closing dinner. Very fancy.
5. The Mini-UN - Linbeck has 5 kids, 3 of which are adopted from Ethiopa, Guatemala, and Columbia. They range in age from 1.5 to 14, and we eat with them each week at their home.
6. The Ghost Map - This was my favorite read from the class (both for style and content...very interesting).
7. Weekly "Take-Aways" - Take-aways are such a Stanford B-school thing but really are so nice and efficient. One time Chris gave me, Lauren, and Kath take-aways in analyzing what we should get my mother for her birthday.
8. Linbeck drives a hybrid - And his wife drives a mini-van. His shoes look old and worn. I'm pretty sure he wears the same blazer to class every week. The man's got money, but he spends it giving an exuberant amount away to charity, not on anything he owns.
9. I might actually get an A+ - Somewhat shallow, but I still haven't gotten an A+ in grad school. Those are reserved for people like my little Jun who sit at home studying literally all the time. This might be my best chance...
10. Message of humility - Overall, this class was not just about problem-solving but leading an organization with humility.

Dad's TV

I recently visited my family in Little Rock during the second half of our week without power. The first part of the week was spent in Dallas at my wife's sister (Lauren's) house (very cool house I might add).

But, Lindsay was scheduled to attend a conference in Washington D.C. the following weekend to scout companies and look for a job so I decided to go home to Little Rock and see my family in lieu of staying home at our powerless apartment in the heat.

While I was home I played golf and saw one of my sisters and her husband Matt (very cool guy). I arrived in Little Rock on a Wednesday, played golf on the following Thursday and hung out with my mother on friday.

Now friday is the day I am getting around to talking about. A long story short - I had been sarcastically teasing my parents about the horrible television they've had since before I was playing varsity golf. About 6 months ago they called me while they went looking for T.V.'s asking me questions trying to figure out what they wanted. After some suggestions they were bombarded by all of the horrible sales people at Circuit City and of course they gave up their search (way to go electronic store chains!). But, being at home with my newly retired mother with nothing to do gave way to small talk about T.V.'s which then gave way to searching the web, which gave way to talking about purchasing, which gave way to purchasing and picking up.


We started our conversation about T.V.'s around 11am and by 4:30p.m. we had purchased a Panasonic 50" Plasma Flat-screen, Panasonic Blue-Ray 5.1 Digital Surround Sound System, and gotten the HD Cable upgraded along with a properly functioning DVR. My dad left home that morning with a 36" humongous projection RCA black box that even I at 25 with good eye sight had to squint at in order to see clearly - and came home to college football in full HD (broadcast) - we also purchased one of his favorite movies on Blu-Ray (Patriot Games) which of course we watched some of in full 1080P. Amazing.

Way to go Mom and Dad - thanksgiving TV watching just rocketed to a whole new level at the Snider House! Kick ASS!

I think Leanne said it best after seeing that second picture... "D & P are Ballers. Nice set up."

My TV is pretty awesome and their's puts mine to shame.

Mine is below.

Who Says It Takes 21 Days to Establish a New Habit?

Jay and I are not coffee drinkers. I'm the Starbuck's fanatic, and it's for my short non-fat, no-water chai. Not coffee. But a few days ago, I came home from school to this:


This is the espresso machine we got for our wedding sitting in a very prominent location in our kitchen. For those of you who are apartment dwellers, you understand that prominent counter space is reserved for those important appliances that are used on a regular basis. Everything else is stowed away wherever you can make it fit. Jay had rearranged several things in the kitchen so that the espresso machine could be more accessible. He had decided he was now going to be an espresso drinker.

Well today, he was explaining to me that when we move to a "real house and not this fake house," he'd like an area in the kitchen for all his espresso materials to be together. Because right now, he's got the machine in one area, and then across the kitchen (so like 3 feet away) is his "grinding station" (I'm not lying - he really called it that):


If you can't tell, to the left of the stove are four canisters filled with random things (which were previously located where the espresso machine now is) and a little coffee grinder.

And when I refused to try his espresso (because I really despise the taste of coffee), he tells me that we're missing out on a marriage experience because we should wake up every morning and drink coffee together - that's what married people do.

So at this point I say, "Jay...you're telling me that we're going to have a designated area to be a coffee bar wherever we move next and that I'm missing out on our marriage because I won't drink coffee... because you've been drinking coffee now for TWO DAYS?" To which he responds, "No it's espresso, not coffee." Oh, of course.

Tuesday Top Ten

Since being married for a little while now, there are new things I'm learning about Jay, too. Here are 10 things that I like about him:

1. He laughs out loud at commercials - (and in movies, at TV shows, etc) I remember one of our first dates, he leaned over dying laughing at something in a movie and was so disappointed that I hardly smiled (if anyone has seen "Burn After Reading," I am totally the first guy Frances McDormand goes on a date with - emotionless - and Jay is George Clooney). My emotional antithesis, Jay laughs without fail at certain commercial (ex: Bud Light opera commercial), and I find it quite endearing.
   
2. He cleans the bathroom (including the hair out of the drain)
   
3. He is quick to apologize
   
4. He is concerned for my office plant and my lack of watering it - If you think about it, it's good to know that the person who will some day be the father of your children has an accute concern for life and sustaining it.
   
5. He willingly does dishes
   
6. He has good taste in shoes - I've always thought so. And this can be so telling for guys: Is he fun/does he have a sense of humor? Does he clean up nicely? Is he stylish? Is he active? Does he take himself too seriously/can he be laid-back? (See what I mean?)
   
7. He's got a lot of determination
   
8. He is very creative - One of my favorite things is when I come home from school and he randomly composed a song that day.
   
9. When he uses the shaker while playing drums with the other hand and sometimes hits the cymbal with the shaker, yeah, that's for me - When we were dating (so probably about 2 years ago), I went with him when he was playing somewhere. I told him I liked when he used the shaker in one hand while playing with a drumstick in the other hand - it was very tricky. He told me that could be for me. He probably doesn't remember saying it, but I always think "that's for me" when I see him do it.
   
10. He makes me laugh

See, I can blog... But he's right - I'm really not a picture-taker.

My wife - the Linz

Lindsay doesn't really blog much. She doesn't really like to take pictures or make videos. Lindsay really doesn't like to do many of those typical girly things. I say girly but that may or may not be an accurate description of the activities I'm describing. Anyways... I've often noticed that unless I take pictures with her camera when we are on family trips (Italy) or places we go - just the two of us (Jaimaca, San Antonio), we don't really come back with pictures unless I've taken them myself. So I've made a decision to contribute to OUR blog for or about Linz every week at least once.

So... Here goes for Linz today - this is more about linz than from her.

Lindsay is engulfed most of the week in school with projects, papers, and most importantly, looking for a job. One thing I've started to notice in particular with school work is that lindsay is a little bit of an over-acheiver - I'm sure if I told my mother-in-law that she would say "Uh Jay....... duh...hello" mainly because I've been told that many times and mainly because it's true.

I say that because apparently there are still a lot of things I'm learning about my bride. It's like when Lindsay used to play fooseball with me all the time while we dated, but then shortly after our engagement I found my self without a fooseball partner. I distinctly remember asking her one day if she wanted to play a game like our normal routine and she responded "No, I don't really like fooseball." - "Amazing" I thought.

I also remember that she told me about her distaste for fooseball while I was standing in the doorway from the garage to the kitchen at her parents house (the table is in the garage) and Giga and Kath stood there smiling and giggling as they knew the truth the whole time. "It was all a lie" they said - "we knew it wouldn't last" - I was devastated. A year and a few months later and we have only played fooseball maybe twice.

Interesting things you learn about people after longer periods of time. Linz and I really met in lat 2005 at church (I think). So eventhough we have been married for a year and four months there is still a lot to learn about each other.

Lindsay is smart. Practical. Too practical. Almost annoying sometimes, but in a good way. Lindsay is all about "options". She relishes the idea of options. So many different combinations and so MUCH time according to Linz. We did learn one thing about each other early on. That if we both go to IKEA we leave fighting and arguing. I think I'm like most males - we decide what we want before we go to wherever it is we need to go to pick up said item. I say pick up because we make sure it's available before we go. We also know where it is in the store, the best area to park, and the fastest way to that aisle or section in the store. We also have all the necesities to make said purcahse, because we keep our KEYS and WALLET on us at all times. The latter of that list are typically things that aren't necessarily a "must-have", but whatever.

With all that said - and as much as I give her a hard time about some of those things - she is way smarter than me and has saved me countless hours of trips back and forth from place to place and always reminds me the most efficient way to carry out every day activities.

Oh yeah - she also likes to talk with her hands like her father and she doesn't like to talk about her feelings. Those are just FYI's. Ha

I love her.

J

End of Week 5 Training

Since working out with Herschel - things have been going well - to date I have lost 11 lbs which is great, but now comes the second half of his program and the pounds aren't coming off as quickly or as easily. I've had to log all of my meals everyday for the last five weeks - even with the Hurricane. The week right after the storm was difficult due to the lack of power and grocery availability, but that's life. I weigh in tomorrow and our goal is at least 1 lb a week. I actually think I'll be behind in my goal.

I've been voluntarily working out at 8a.m. for four weeks! If some one would have told me I would be doing that last year at this time - I would have said they were crazy.

Linz is working hard to make contacts and find possible job interviews. She has a final interview with Frito-Lay in Dallas near the end of November. I think she really wants that job and it would be a great place to move to.

Anyways - pretty boring stuff. Lata

Movies (small moments away from real-life)

We are most likely about to cancel our blockbuster subscription :( we haven't made a final decision. But, we traded in some online movies for in-store rentals. We are currently watching "Kabluey". Pretty funny.

Check it out.

Working out for real is hard.

So I hired a Personal Trainer................ you are probably either thinking - "you lazy ass" or "waste of money" - which are all valid points - I think it WILL be a waste unless I make sure to be committed and to make the most of it.

His name is Herschel Johnson.


Herschel has trained many professional athletes and celebrities such as Warren Moon and Jeff Bagwell. Herschel is an amazing guy... He is a little shy of 6 feet - and he's pretty much all muscle - not like the huge body builders (even though he has been Mr. Houston twice) but none the less - stacked, ripped, swole, etc. etc.

He is also intense. He's basically been kicking my ass for the last two weeks every morning at 8 a.m. Hopefully he and some strange will-power that is hiding somewhere in my huge gut will help me lose about 25 lbs.

Interesting tid-bits about Herschel - He calls me "Baby-Boy" told me on our first phone conversation that the one thing I needed to rap my head around was that he was going to "change my life" - and after our first workout he told me to enjoy week one and two - because "we ain' goin' to be friends after next week".

He is an incredible encourager - very smart - knows what he's talking about - more importantly he knows the science behind it and he cares.

Designed to Sell? or Designed to Manipulate?

So my wife Linz loves to watch shows like: Designed to Sell and Flip This House etc. etc. Sometime I end up watching. The crazy thing is that these "teams" of people come in and tell you what people are looking for when they are looking at buying a house. Then they attempt to come up with a plan in order to make the "important" things that people look at the most really appealing by very very cheaply dressing things up. Of course with the magic of T.V. they always never spend over their budget and of course they don't ever factor in the cost of labor. Some times they do things that are cool, but most of the time it's all cheap little "cover-ups". 

I think it's crap. What do you think? 

Apple... Do your Job Steve Jobs.

Oh Shit! Someone within Apple out in Cupertino, CA had to have said that in the office at one point or another. I knew that my number one "go-to" company with a great history of efficient machines and support wouldn't last. It was too good to be true. As most of you may or may not know - Apple recently switched their .mac account(s) over to a new feature called Mobile-Me. At the same time they also released the new Apple iphone 3G, iphone software 2.0, and itunes 7.7.

This was a relatively large task that most consumers and Mac users were highly anticipating and now asking "What the hell happened?". I think the shit really hit the fan when AT&T's servers were overwhelmed with thousands and thousands of iphones being activated all within a very small amount of time. Even though AT&T was largely blamed for the iphone fiasco it still made a lot of Mac users a little uneasy.  

Many people with the older iphones tried to update the their phone to the new 2.0 software which turned out less than excited for many users. Most ended up with what they called a $500 functionless "brick" that would turn on, use battery life, but not make calls or anything else useful. Luckily my phone didn't "brick". 

Now onto the Mobile-Me fiasco. Mobile-Me was introduced to act as Apple's version of "Microsoft Exchange". New apple users could purchase a Mobile-Me subscription and the previous system users (.mac) would have their accounts automatically transferred over. This would allow anyone with a Mobile-Me subscription to "seamlessly" sync their iphone, home, personal, and laptop computers together. This was to include calendars, contacts, mail accounts, bookmarks, and apple based web applications such as iweb. Apple also loosely used the word "push" email and contacts which also created a lot of flack. Ultimately a great idea that was disastrously executed. 

I was one of the lucky few once again. My computers and first generation iphone were able to sync together. Mainly and luckily because one of my newer machines (MacPro) has the latest platform (10.5.4) which works best with Mobile Me, even though my older 15" powerbook is running 10.4.11. The only problem I've run into is not being able to publish my new website I've been working on via iweb on my macs.

Other people are experiencing far worse problems. There are many people with mail accounts that no longer work correctly and are being told they need to upgrade platforms in order for their older .mac account to work correctly and be able to switch over to Mobile-Me. That is total bullshit since Mac announced the Mobile Me and previous .mac accounts would seamlessly work with 1o.4.11. 

Apple has pissed a lot of people off including me. It's ironic I was just telling my sister how great a .mac account would be for her this morning and even though I wouldn't use anything but a Mac, I kind of feel a small sense of worry about what's to come of this whole shit storm. 

Way to go Steve - take off your stupid black turtle-neck and get to work. 

Hijacked...because sometimes I think I need a blog

I have hijacked Jay's blog. You see, he leaves me at home alone for long stretches of time when he's in the studio (with phone turned off may I add), and apparently I'm not resourceful enough to just call someone to go do something, but I am resourceful enough to figure out his blog username and password. So I welcomed myself in. And changed all the colors (much better I may add).

And sometimes I just feel like I need a blog (but don't really want to commit to one). Like yesterday - I was thinking about the fact that everyone thinks they can be a photographer. This just seems wrong and worthy of commentary...

Foiled! Jay called and is on his way home. Gotta go.

The Hip/Hop Buzz continues.......

I couldn't really tell what my sister (Leanne) was trying to say about "the club" other than what she experienced personally was much different from what we typically hear "rapped" about in popular songs. Then again I don't know what kind of a club experience the "south" really has to offer. Cancun is one thing, but Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas? I think that Usher is probably talking about some swank place somewhere else. Maybe LA, NYC, Miami? I would have to say other than going to "The Swamp" in Destin, FL - I would agree... but I have seen the wet t-shirt contest, Tone-Loke in concert, and the bubble foam party (that my friends and yours truly) took part in.

I definitely have some musical respect for Jay-Z and a few others in the "rap world" , but as for the hip-hop genre as a whole - I think the newest batch of "artists" are ruining it. Who the f@#$ cares about half the stuff they rap about. Don't get me wrong I'm all about beats, hooky chorus melodies, and dancing at clubs. I write stuff like that all the time for different things ... but the stupid crap they come up with lyrically is so juvenile, chauvinist, so degrading, it's really quite despicable and I believe it's a slap in the face to artists. Which of course brings into question this idea of an artist. I mean come on.... do you think Lil' Wayne has something he really wants to say or get across? Horse-shit!

Call yourself an entertainer, call yourself a performer, but please don't call yourself an artist. I can deal with most of these guys because I think "most" intelligent people have some sense of culture and understand what these guys "really" do. Don't get me wrong - I don't think that Ludacris or Loyd Banks are out to make a political statement... I sure seems like they are mostly concenred with making a ton of money (showing it, spending it, and living for it) and showing all of us what kind of shit they have in their refrigerators on MTV's cribs... AND... I'm totally fine with that. There are a lot of hip/hop songs that I like and enjoy listening to despite the lack of integrity in the lyrics. Being a drummer, producer, songwriter, and programmer I can appreciate the production and work that goes into these songs. I just also know that they mean shit in the grand scheme of timeless music. I know what those guys and gals are about and hopefully most others do, but there are a few who really use that term "artist" very loosely and that just pisses me off. And yes.... I know what you are thinking - there are plenty of non-hip/hop "artists" that do the same thing just in a different vein. Take for example all of the big hair bands of the eighties. To save some breathe... DIDO to them too.

I may "paint" shit at home with my little midi keyboard on my computer, but I'm painting. I'm not showing up to the studio to figure out a way to come up with the next best catchy sexual innuendo or attempting to coin the newest narcissistic phrase. I'm playing and writing music because that's what I do it's a part of me and at heart it's really who I am. I would definitely consider the guys who come up with all the music for these morons artists. It takes some serious talent to produce a hip/hop record these days and the really good songs are so tight. For instance... 50 cents "candy shop", "in da club", "disco inferno" those are some musically tight songs. I like and enjoy listening to them, but the integrity of the music, the way those "artists" are portrayed, and the way the songs get written are so messed up. My personal analogy would be like making an amazing statue or sculpture that looks incredible, was molded, shaped, and refined into something amazing and then having a drunk, doped up, degenerate take a massive dump on it.

The crazy thing about all of this... I still listen to it. I'm just as guilty as the next person. I don't go out and buy the next Big Mike album, but I also haven't deleted the spring break playlist I purchased back in 04' either. It's definitely messed up.

We need more Garfunkels, more RUN DMC's, more Beastie Boys (for the most part), more Etta James, more Bob Dylans.

4th of July, inventions, and harrison ford

Did you know that USA Today lists Belton, TX as one of the top ten places in America to celebrate the fourth of July? I didn't know that, but I do now... and guess what? I'm here right now. 

Jared Johnson (CMT's Can You Duet - Contestant/Brother-in-Law) played a show last night in Temple at The Duckhorn Tavern. 

On a completely different note... I am trying to invent something in order to secure my financial future. I'm not really "banking" on the invention thing - I just figure if guys like Tom from myspace and the "geniuses" at facebook can create websites that pretty much make people less efficient all day long.... then I can invent something worth more than a couple of hours a day wasted. By the way... I have a myspace and a facebook page - I'm a hypocrite, but I'm trying to create something else. 

My latest thought has been a new design for microphone stands. Typical stands are always moving and falling over. I just tried to think of something that has always bothered me and how I could make it better. Kind of like the guy from Dyson that invented the new kind of hand dryer you are probably seeing more and more of inside commercial restrooms.

P.S. and totally unrelated... has anyone ever seen Harrison Ford in an interview or on one of the late shows? He is so weird. Creepy.

Finally

Sometimes when you play music for a few years trying to make something of yourself you catch a small break. 

I have to say the first time I ever hear

d a great record with amazing drums I was hooked, and from that day on I wanted to get to play on a record like that. 

Well.... that day came in February of this year and I'm just now getting to hear some rough mixes of what is to come and I am so happy. 

The artist is Aaron Wagner. He calls Weatherford Texas home and his album is almost finished. 

New Song on the myspace

Wrote a new one today... Check it out.... maybe one day the songs will have words.

www.myspace.com/thesnig

Idle Hands

I don't know about you, but when I sit around all day I tend to do things that are completely worthless. Last week was nice because I had a job every day. I was in Palacios Texas. It's not that great of a place overall, but when you are with friends it can be fun. The Zach Hendricks Band played a camp. Camp went well and we all had a good time. Now it's back to the normal flow. My calender is pretty open which can be good and bad at the same time. Nothing on the calender means nothing coming into the bank account. I need to find some work.

J

Superbad and the New Machine

Superbad is totally Crass.... somewhat funny..... but crass..... ok it's really funny but super crass....

The new computer is great. I just got it today - and spent the day setting it up. I worked on a new song today and Linz and I finished it for the most part. I tried to put it up on my myspace - but it takes a long time to upload a song. www.myspace.com/thesnig

Little Rock was fun. Linz and I went for the last weekend to surprise my mom for her retirement brunch. I played golf this last weekend and shot 38 on the front nine. I was pretty proud considering I play less than 20 times a year.

Ok so superbad is SO Crass - I am watching it right now and was just shocked.....phew.....

Going to bed soon...

Five O 50

I let Linz pick the movie tonight... "Margot At The Wedding"...hmmm. It's from the same director who made "The Squid and The Whale" which was interesting, but weird. I'm not that entertained right now. Bored. I did however order the new Mac Pro today. A buddy of mine got me %15 off towards the machine.

Well hang on one sec.... it appears John Turturro is in this movie.... this just got a little more interesting.

Hmmm - still nothing - I guess going to bed will be fun later. So bored. Rotten tomatoes gave this movie a %51. Figures - rotten tomatoes is pretty reliable in my opinion.

Ok... see ya later.