Got a nice long holiday weekend queued up, and I largely knocked down all the big rocks at work on Tuesday afternoon. It’s nice to be able to pass along good news at status meetings. Weather was also pretty nice on Tuesday; I didn’t have the bike, but I stopped at the park and briskly hiked 2.5 miles after work, which felt good.

I’m tossing up my usual week-end post now because, as is usual for holiday weekends, I’m going to endeavor to spend some time away from the electronic world beyond catching some Pokemon, but that gets the fam and I out into the real world and we occasionally meet real people doing the same thing. It’s fun.

On the agenda for the holiday weekend? Not a heck of a lot, necessarily. At my lovely wife’s request, we’re playing it low-key and non-traditional for Thanksgiving (which also meshes well with the whole lot of them being kinda sick on college germs at the moment), though the eldest tells me we have to make jezebel sauce, so that’ll happen. Otherwise, I have no idea what we’re going to have; I have lots of possibilities in my fridge and pantry; I’ll see what the spirit moves me toward tomorrow.

Besides that, we have plans to get out and see the new Fantastic Beasts movie at some point, and I wouldn’t mind stopping by Isley on Friday to greet friends and grab a growler of the Apple Brown Betty ale (a collaboration with Blue Bee) they’re tapping, and my friend Dirty Metal Lefty is hosting a Black Friday open mic at a local coffee shop, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I made an appearance there with guitar and interested family members in tow to let off some steam and make some noise, because that’s a much better use of my time than lining up outside Walmart.

So, yeah. That’s the next couple of days. I expect there’ll be some kitten skritches in there as well, since he follows me around so darned much.

I provide the expected random playlist below; it’s heavy on the vikings, which is okay with me, especially the overblown and extended guitar breaks throughout #5, which are, well, \m/ (-__-) \m/ , to the Nth degree.

1. “Edge of Town” – Middle Kids
2. “Phantom Limb” – The Shins
3. “Hit Helga Tre” – Burzum
4. “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” – Michael Jackson
5. “Svarta Ankan” – Falconer
6. “Cosmik Debris” – Frank Zappa
7. “Don’t Bring Me Down” – Electric Light Orchestra
8. “Havamal” – Falkenbach
9. “Promises” – Day Wave
10. “Pibroch” – Jethro Tull
11. “G.Q. Pimp Theme Song” – Emily’s Sassy Lime
12. “Here I Go Again” – Whitesnake
13. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie

Winter came on like gangbusters, huh? No snow here in the RVA, but my friends in DC and environs farther north and west got spanked with snow, ice, and power outages. We just got tons of rain and a bunch of wind. One of the trees in my back yard fell down, though sadly, it didn’t land on the house and get me a new roof. Oh well.

The rest of this short week (which has felt really long, as they do), has been pretty uneventful. Work is work, the kitten remains cute (and may, in fact, have his own instagram account by now), I played a decent, if not my best, set at Isley on Wednesday night, and I may be feeling a little ‘bleh’ thanks to the flu shot I got on Tuesday afternoon, though I seem to have avoided being knocked totally on my ass by it (yes, I know “getting sick from a flu shot” is a myth, though I always get a few of the side effects for a couple of days); I just really hope this one works, unlike last year, which didn’t, and put me down for two weeks.

No huge plans for the weekend, beyond making the drive out to SBC to pick up the kid for fall break, running other kids to events elsewhere, and the usual laundry and shopping and whatnot. A trip out to Scott’s Addition if there are decent food trucks about is always a possibility, but it isn’t guaranteed.

Not the most amazing update, I know, but it’s been pretty chill (and chilly) week overall. We’re just going to have to live with that.

In terms of commentary on this week’s random playlist out of Pandora, as I write this, at least, the usual suspects have been left out (a nice surprise, actually), but the basic indie + vikings + 80s classics continuum is maintained, though the algorithms seem to have developed some holiday tags, given #6, but at least it’s not the standard FM radio holiday tunes; I’ll be avoiding those for a while longer if I can help it.

1. “Shine” – Mondo Cosmo
2. “Don’t You Want Me” – The Human League
3. “Kingslayer” – Grand Magus
4. “Darling” – Real Estate
5. “Santonian Shores” – Eluveitie
6. “Ring Out Solstice Bells (2003 Remaster)” – Jethro Tull
7. “Something Came Over Me” – Wild Flag
8. “The Final Countdown” – Europe
9. “Steps” – Leah Nobel
10. “Dramamine” – Modest Mouse
11. “Drive” – The Cars
12. “We Belong” – Pat Benetar

This was another weekend for putting a bunch of miles on the car, but as is usual, there’s some pretty cool stuff at the other end of the drive.

Friday night, we drove out to SBC for the fall dance concert, where Mary had a couple of performances, including a self-choreographed solo piece that was really very cool. My kid is a hell of a performer, and leaves it all on the stage (she even made the poster advertising the event, even if you can’t see her face), and she rocked it.

Saturday was both low-key and not. I did my usual morning errands, running out to grab fresh veggies from Jerry’s farm stand and the other usual weekend errands (managing to find fresh bottles of 2018 Hardywood GBS before the rest of Richmond starts following distributor trucks around to get hold of some) while the rest of the crew did cleanup around the house. In the early afternoon, we took a trip out together and came back with this:

Meet Lebowski, or the Little Dude, or El Duderito, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.

Our original plan, after losing two beloved pets this year, was to have Colleen and Catherine scope out potential candidates while volunteering at the RSPCA, and we’d adopt somebody over the Christmas break; kind of a family gift. Life, however, offers different options sometimes. A friend of Andrew’s had come upon a feral litter in their neighborhood, and this little guy needed a home, so we audititioned him on Saturday, and ended up bringing him home. He’s amazingly well socialized, already litter trained, and has a wonderful, laid-back, friendly temperment, just like his cinematic namesake. We’re guessing he might be three or four months old. We quite like him, and he really ties the room together.

Sunday, Colleen and I took a drive down to Cary NC for The Beer & BBQ Ball at Bond Brothers Beer Company, where the Humdingers played a set in the beer garden in support of the local Fireman’s community charity (the firemen were uniformly awesome and we really appreciated the support and being made to feel welcome). We played a pretty great 90 minute set (if I do say so myself), had some great BBQ and beer (Raspberry Vanilla Variant of their imperial stout? Amazing), and I got to hang with my friends a bit and make music, which is always a wonderful, life-affirming thing. I really, really needed it.

Monday I had off for Veteran’s Day. The kids still had school, so I got to spend another day with my wife, which was nice. We did a little shopping, got some quality kitten time in, and I made a pretty decent sweet potato, spinach, and butter bean stew using fresh ingredients from the market (I’m hoping it’s even better for lunch today), and we closed out the evening drinking a toast to Stan Lee, and watching The Big Lebowski with the Little Lebowski.

Not a bad way to spend a day.

So yesterday, we lost Stan Lee.

We all know who he is (well, I hope we do, if you’re reading this): the guy who had a hand, along with other prolific storytellers like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, in creating so many of the iconic superhero characters we see today pretty much everywhere – movie posters, lunchboxes, t-shirts, all over the walls of my office – but probably more importantly, he was the tireless pitchman, using his iconic voice and bombast to become the face of Marvel comics and the Marvel Universe (even if his love of the spotlight sometimes irked his other, more introverted co-creators), becoming a hero himself to so many of us; giving us, the often disaffected, socially awkward youth someone to look up to, who made us feel like part of the exclusive cool kids’ club.

I could repeat all the stuff you’ll read in the obituary pieces that are everywhere today, but I won’t, beyond what I’ve written above, though Stan’s passing, as expected as it was (he hasn’t been in good health the last few years), still feels personal, to me, and to so many of us. Stan gave me Spider-Man to read when I was a youngster (and who I still revisit today), he gave me Doctor Strange, who’s psychadelic adventures (so vividly illustrated by Ditko) captivated me. He was the face of the company that published the 80s GI:JOE comics Larry Hama wrote that got me into comics collecting and culture, visiting with me and thousands of other readers every month in the “Stan’s Soapbox” column in Marvel’s Bullpen Bulletins in each issue. He made us feel welcome and appreciated; he gave us a place and a community, and made it feel, on some level, like he was speaking to us personally.

I never got to meet Stan. I saw him from afar once or twice; we’d been guests at the same conventions a couple of times in the last few years (not that the “Chuck Parker, convention guest” experience even slightly compares to that of “Stan Lee, Convention Guest”!); As most con performers, my time is often spoken for for most of an event, certainly not leaving me enough time to stand in line for a couple of hours to get a few seconds interaction and an autograph, though if I had run into him and had a chance to speak to him for a while, my story wouldn’t be much different than that of so many other friends, acquantances, and fellow nerds who have gotten that opportunity over the years…

I’d just say “Thank You.”

‘Nuff Said.

I make no secret of the fact that I have a *ton* of talented friends (I mean, I’ve never weighed them or anything, but…); today, of all days, a whole slew of them released, or started up crowdfunding efforts in support of, new projects that are really all very good and exciting. It’s only fair I do my part to share their efforts, mostly because their stuff is really good, and also because they’ve been uniformly supportive of my meager creative efforts over the years as well!

• My friend Metricula had her latest, “Politicians Make Sh*t GYNs”, released today on The FuMP. It’s a great feminist protest anthem, and I had the honor of being part of the inaugural live performance of this one back in September, along with our friends the Misbehavin’ Maidens!
• My wrock friends Hawthorn and Holly just opened up the Kickstarter Campaign for their latest record, We Are The Wizard Resistance this morning. It’s gonna be a great one, especially if you like pop-punk wizard rock!
• Finally, my comic creator friend Nick Davis opened up his Kickstarter for the lastest issue of his all-ages adventure comic The Teddy Bear Tales. Nick’s work is always great, and perfect for kids and families to read together!

All of these projects are totally worth supporting; why not take a look and maybe throw your support behind them as well?

A week. Yes it was.

The most exciting thing I did besides voting was buy tires. Otherwise it was conference calls, plugged up sinuses, a little cooking, a little music rehearsal, some push-ups, and just getting through it. Yep.

Tonight I’ll take a drive out to SBC for the fall dance concert, Saturday I’ll push through laundry and hit the farmer’s market, and if I get around to it, a group ride sponsored by my local bike shop. On Sunday, I’ve got a gig down in Cary NC, playing tunes with the Humdingers at The Beer & BBQ Ball, a charity event at Bond Brothers Beer Company. We got on at 5pm, though I expect I’ll be hanging out for a bit during the day, for it’s a brewery, and I can’t really visit one of those without trying a few of the local specialties. I’m looking forward to it, as I haven’t played with S&K in a couple of months, and I miss it (and them) terribly.

It’s also a long weekend; thank a Veteran.

And that’s really about it, other than to throw out a playlist, which is, for the most part, pretty common, with a whole lotta female-fronted pop-punk/riot grrl; thrice the Donnas, plus the Slits and that Betty Blowtorch tune. Also, in at #8, the tune that launched a thousand memes. Enjoy:

1. “Oh No” – Soy Christmas
2. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” – Tom Petty
3. “Take On Me (extended edition)” – A-Ha
4. “Out of My Hands” – The Donnas
5. “Minstrel in the Gallery” – Jethro Tull
6. “Nanook Rubs It” – Frank Zappa
7. “I Wanna Be Your Sucker” – Betty Blowtorch
8. “Africa” – Toto
9. “Too Bad About Your Girl” – The Donnas
10. “Heard it Through The Grapevine” – The Slits
11. “Renegades”- x Ambassadors
12. “Lord of the Blacksmiths” – Falconer
13. “Don’t Break Me Down” – The Donnas
14. “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” – AC/DC

Also, I shall never tire of the “hammer and anvil” percussion on #12. Never.

Although he didn’t win down in Texas (though it was close; if actual human Ted Cruz is capable of sweating, I’m sure he did last night), Beto O’Rourke is “So Fucking Proud Of You Guys”; and, honestly, so am I (and I don’t have to worry about sending control rooms scrambling for the beep button on live TV) ; not just because of the results, but turnout overall was pretty damned great all over, especially for a mid-term election. I hit my polling place around ten minutes to three yesterday, and stood in line for almost half an hour to get my ballot. When I fed it into the machine, I was voter #1482, which is an absolutely ridiculously high number, even when compared to a presidential year. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that high a number, and that was pretty much the time I always vote (and I *always* vote).

I am also reasonably happy with my local results. My Senator (and America’s Dad) Tim Kaine cruised to a pretty solid victory over The Racist Corey Stewart™, my Representative in VA-04, Donald McEachin, won a second term (campaigning hard despite medical issues), though the big story around these parts was the win of friend-of-a-friend Abigail Spanberger knocking out Dave “women be all up in my grill” Brat across town in VA-07, which is a great story, and part of the larger story of women winning big in 2018, especially Democratic women, leading to the Democrats taking back the House of Representatives, which is good news overall, and will provide some much-needed balance to government.

Not all the results are in (I’m still keeping a close eye on Stacy Abrams for Georgia Governer, for example), though this morning, it still feels like a good day, in a year where there’s not been a whole lot to be optimistic about if you lean left-of-center.

You know what? I’ll take it.

Today’s election day in these United States; midterms are *always* a big deal, despite usually crappy turnout, but that’s not gonna happen this year, right? Because this election’s a BIG DEAL; like the Washington Post said this week, “This midterm election is like no other in a generation”:

Tuesday’s midterm election is about many things. It’s about health care and immigration. It’s about the economy. It’s about power and who will hold it, both in Washington and in the states. Above all, it’s about something more elemental: what kind of country Americans see today and want to see in the future. That makes these midterms unlike any in the recent past.

Emphasis there is mine…but it’s really the gist of it. The last two years, no matter your political stripe, have been, well, different in this country. It’s been going this way for a while, and I could point you to a million navel-gazing articles about the lapses in civility and hyperpartisanship and whatnot, but the tone of Washington, and thus elections all over the place has changed, and not for the better, in my opinion, but as this is election day, I’m not going to spend anymore time on ideology, or on how anybody should vote; y’all know my positions on things.

No, I’m just going to tell you all to go out and vote – participate in democracy, do your civic duty; engage in the responsibility that comes along with your rights as a citizen. Be involved. If for some ridiculous reason you’re eligible and not registered, first, shame on you, but I forgive you – go get registered. Don’t know what’s on your ballot or where your polling place is? Check here or similar places to start; you’re already on the internet; use it!

As I say every year, it’s the absolute least you can do as a citizen.

Just get out and vote. It’s mid-terms. The whole House of Representatives is up; as is one-third of the Senate. You likely have some state or local offices (I’ve got Commonwealth’s Attorney) and a couple of ballot initiatives. This stuff’s important.

I’m going to close this out with a message from my friends, at, of all places, The Harry Potter Alliance, and their Wizard Rock The Vote campaign – my friend Steph Anderson and her band Tonks and the Aurors (who I’ve had the opportunity to sit in with once or twice) spent a good bit of this summer touring, playing wrock tunes for folks, and registering them to vote. It was cool. The HPA does lots of good stuff, but the GOTV efforts wrock.

You wouldn’t want to upset Dumbledore, would you?

The drive to work this morning was pretty miserable; miserable to the point that I am seriously considering stepping up the “go buy tires this month” timetable and borrowing a bit from savings in the short term. I-95 didn’t feel entirely stable, or at least my car on it didn’t.

Oh well; I survived. I shall start checking prices more actively starting this afternoon.

The weekend was, as I alluded to, pretty low-key, which was welcome. I took my wife out for a dinner date Friday evening, which we both needed. Burgers and drinks at Cap Ale is always a pleasant diversion. Saturday we took care of grocery shopping, farmers’ marketing, and pokemon hunting in the morning, then I spent the afternoon scrubbing the bathroom (which did my OCD clean-freak good), making some good vegetarian chili, knocking out lots of laundry, relaxing and watching some stuff on TV, then setting the clocks back before going to bed. Sunday was more laundry, a couple of little errands in the morning, then spending some time playing, of all things, Team Fortress 2 with Andrew (and actually doing better than he did!). Around 4pm, Colleen suggested heading over to Scott’s Addition (the curry truck was at Ardent!), so we had a family dinner in the beer garden, eating good food, and petting dogs.

I woke up this morning to serious rain, as indicated above. The rest of the family slept in (it’s end of the first marking period, kids get today off for conferences, and tomorrow because most of the schools are polling places). I’m hoping they keep cleaning.

Oh, rest assured I’ll remind you tomorrow as well, but if you haven’t already, GO VOTE TOMORROW!