Now we're getting somewhere...

My third and final post on this subject (call it the Interpol trilogy), my favorite band of mystery has finally revealed details of their upcoming, soon-to-be hit of the summer CD (release date: July 10). It's going to be called Our Love To Admire, and there are songs on it and everything. Check here for the Interpol's web site (which is still just pretty much an elaborate network of message boards) and here for Pitchfork.com's story on the band.

This only adds to a busy summer of new releases (coming soon: Björk, Dinosaur Jr., Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Feist, Rufus Wainwright and Wilco -- and that's just May, folks). I guess if you were to ask me right now, I'm most excited about the new 2-CD set of Elliott Smith rarities (New Moon, out May 8). So budget wisely, my friends...

Ronson Vs. Sunglasses

Once again, it's time for Ronson vs., where I face off against random things in the world in a battle to the death. This week, it's Ronson Vs. Sunglasses.

The background: About eight years ago, I switched over to contact lenses. This was pretty exciting for me, partly because it meant that instead of squinting or awkwardly shielding my eyes, I could start wearing sunglasses. If only I knew. Sunglasses are more of a hassle than I ever imagined. This year alone I've broken or lost 4 pairs of the frickin' things. I've grown to hate them.

The battle: Most recently, Pair #5 (07 Edition) took a different approach to create pain for me. These are my most durable pair yet (Kari has called them Terminator Glasses) and I bought them in Texas, where we all know things are just built tougher.

A couple of weeks ago, on a slightly overcast day, I decided to wear them because I couldn't figure out anywhere else to put them. It was just a quick walk from where I work to the parking lot, I greeted a few people with a nod, but seemed to get an occasional odd look. I was wearing my gym clothes, so I didn't think much of it until I made it to my car.

I looked into my rear view mirror and saw that one of the lenses had popped out at some point before I'd left work, and I'd been walking around in a weird one-lens-in/one-lens-out like some dumb prop comic. Either the lenses on these glasses were too huge or it wasn't sunny enough for me to have noticed. Embarrassed, I quickly to them off, hoping no one had seen, but the damage was done. I may have eventually found the lens, but it won't be easy to face those random strangers for some time.

Winner: Sunglasses. They've gotten the upper hand for now. Meanwhile, I'm looking to invest in tinted contacts...

Oh, you foolish smartass

I have this Morrissey live CD and after performing one of his classic Smiths songs he comments "the past is a very strange place." Maybe not the most original thought Moz has ever had, and he has far better reasons for saying it, but nonetheless, it's been pretty relevant to me lately. I've been thinking about the past a bit. I mean, just look at that guy in the above photo. No worries. Wearing some sort of horrid mid-90s bead thing. And oh, that hair.

I only bring this up because this week, I paid off the final 74 cent balance on my student loans. That's right, 74 cents. Apparently, the government doesn't have the same "wipe any balance less than a dollar" policy that most major credit cards have. So, the above photo is me briefly before my "Student Loan Adventure" began, roughly 11 years ago. Scary to think how much has changed in that time. Of course, after stumbling across this photo, it's clear that I'm still a smartass. Maybe just an older, wiser smartass.

Yet another reason to love Chipotle

Imagine my surprise yesterday when, after satisfying my usual burrito obsession, the cashier told me to save my receipt and gave me a mock "burrito-EZ -fwi" form to fill out and return for a free burrito Monday (April 16 is tax deadline day. If this is news to you, feel free to stop reading this post, and start freaking out.)

All you had to do is order a burrito yesterday or today (there's still time!) and you're set! The only odd thing is that you'd be eating Chipotle a couple of days in a row. Of course, that's never stopped me.

That, on top of getting a bag of free CDs yesterday, makes this one of my top five luckiest days ever. OK, well at least top 50.

Ronson Vs. Wasps

Welcome to a new feature on Ronsonville called Ronson Vs. You'll learn about all the fun things I battle in my life, and maybe, just maybe, you'll learn a little something about yourself. This week it's Ronson Vs. Wasps.

Spring came early to Ronsonville and you know what spring means! Fun times dealing with small animals and insects. For me, it meant dealing with the giant wasps that had infiltrated my front door and deck. Last year, there was a giant wasp's nest in front of the door to my deck. I destroyed it last winter, but guess what? A new one popped up.

The Battle: Since I didn't have any Raid, I started things off by spraying my front door with Deep Woods Off. Strangely, it actually kind of worked (a little).

The new nest was scarier. It literally hung right in front of the door of my deck. Opening the door would certainly guarantee 2-3 wasps flying in and stinging everything in sight. However, things started swinging toward my favor. The one good thing about an April 40-degree temperature drop is that it neutralizes wasps.

Armed with some heavy duty "wasp-killin'" Raid and a Swiffer broom, I was ready to go. I kicked open the door and knocked down the nest, only to find one live wasp (the queen?) still attached (how it was still alive, I'll leave to science). I pounded at the wasp with the Swiffer broom and haphazardly sprayed the heavy duty Raid (at nothing in particular) until I was satisfied, then slammed the door to avoid those toxic Raid fumes.

Winner: Ronson. Although I might not be able to hang out on the deck for another week or two due to the intense smell of WaspRaid, I'm pretty confident no wasp will be back to mess with me anytime soon.

Around The Web

Just a few things of recent note that might be of interest to one and all:




With great velocity
I usually still get excited to see my name in print or on the web (especially if I haven't typed it myself), so I was very excited to see my SXSW in this week's Velocity's online issue. Check out the story here. There were some edits that I didn't know about (for example, the phrase "skinny jeans" has never come out of my mouth) but I was pretty excited that, for my first major effort, it pretty much stayed in tact. It also includes the awesome photo above that I took. What? It was dark!



OpeningDaymania
Anyone who lives in Cincinnati knows that Opening Day is a crazy ordeal that you just can't avoid (especially if you live downtown). Well, superblogger Gina got to go to the game this year and did a live blog from the game. I was impressed by her dedication to the project (it covers everything from the parade to some post-game rooftop grilling). Check it out!



For those Jarvis Cocker/Pulp fans out there who read this blog (I know there are a couple), the Jarvis solo CD came out in the US today. I just listened to a pretty dramatic song called "Disney Time" and the disc as a whole is pretty decent so far. Just a tip, the CD version merges the last couple of songs (Quantam Theory and Running the World) into one long, annoyingish 35-minute block, however if you grab it at the iTunes store, they've separated the tracks. Just an FYI if you're a digital fiend who likes to save room on your iPod. Gotta love it...