Ume - The Conductor

Great song from this Austin, Texas band. I especially love the chorus at 1:03.

I Am Not A Cold Person

I was talking a female friend tonight and out of the blue she said, "You are a COLD person." At first this statement made me laugh because I immediately thought of my co-workers. They have said this about me more than once in the past. For some reason, this time it felt like a ton of bricks. When I pushed her to explain why she thinks I am a cold person she would not answer me. Despite what we may think we never really know how we are perceived by other people. I guess people perceive me as a cold person. That does not make me feel good. Maybe it's because I have been working property damage claims for 13 years and I am a desensitized robot. Maybe it's due to the fact that I don't open up very easily and share my feelings. Maybe it's my natural demeanor. Maybe it's because I see life in a very clear cut manner. I don't know. One thing I do know is that I do not want to be perceived as a cold person because I am not one. If people knew the real Jon they would know that I am anything but a cold person. Does a cold person think constantly about their parents, brothers, sisters, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews and worry about them when something is wrong? Does a cold person worry when he sees the liberty and freedom in his country slowly taken away by power hungry and corrupt politicians? Does a cold person refuse to help someone when he is asked to help? Does a cold person love each person that lives on this planet? Does a cold person have a thankful heart for everything he has been blessed with? Is a cold person a person that would sacrifice his life for anyone in his family? I am NOT a cold person.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey McFerson!

My brother, Jeffrey Kimball McFerson, was born on May 18, 1976. He is 33 years old today. I remember when my parents brought him home from the hospital. It's wild to think that I still have that memory after all these years. Jeffrey got married to Alison Gibby on August 10, 2002 and together they have three children: Ian, Hyde and Leif. Jeffrey was given the nickname "Dex" about 20 years ago so most of the time I just call him Dex. He is an IT Manager for MySpace and it sounds like he is doing really well. He and his wife bought a cool house in Westminster, CA about six months ago. Happy 33rd Birthday Dex!

Movie Review - Star Trek (2009)

I made the mistake of seeing the new Star Trek movie on Saturday, May 16, 2009. Wow, I'm such a sucker. I wanted to get up and walk out but I decided not to because my dad came with me (he hated it too). I paid $5 and I wish I could get my money back. This movie is a disaster. I felt like I was watching a bad space series on an obscure cable channel. It would have been more enjoyable watching an hour Star Trek episode from the 1960's. This movie just felt cheesy. The story (if you can call it that) was bad and the acting was atrocious. I must say that I did like Uhuru because she is hot and her acting was good. Save your money, your time and your sanity. JON'S MOVIE REVIEW: F

PINHEAD OF THE WEEK

This week’s Pinhead of the Week is Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. She is in hot water (no pun intended) now that she is saying the Bush administration and the CIA lied to her and mislead her about enhanced interrogation techniques and waterboarding. It seems as though Nancy forgot about her briefings in 2002 when she was the chair of the Intelligence Committee. The chair of the committee! When this story broke Nancy jumped on a jet and went to Iraq. Hilarious. Now that Obama is calling waterboarding torture (which it’s not) she has to lie about the past and what she was told in order to salvage (if possible) her political career! You can’t make this stuff up! I predict this will ruin her political career and cause her to lose her Speaker of the House job. Nancy, just come clean. Just say, “Hey, it was right after 9/11 and it was a different time for this country. We were doing everything in our power to keep the citizens of the United States safe – it was a different time. After further evaluation it appears that this new administration feels the days of waterboarding should be over.” Nancy, your approach is all wrong. You are a train wreck. You can’t accuse the CIA of lying and misleading you because you are never going to win that war. Hilarious!

Charlie's Angels Opening (Second Season 1977)

I used to beg my mother to let me stay up long enough (I was 9) to see Cheryl Ladd in a bikini. I can't believe that was 32 years ago...and I still think she is incredible!

Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know

Heaven & Hell released its debut album on April 28, 2009 while I was on Baseball Trip 2009. I purchased this album on Monday, May 11, 2009 at Target during my 45 minute lunch. For those of you who don't know me very well let me tell you one important thing about myself - I LOVE METAL. You would never know this about me by just looking at me. I'm an average looking white guy who has short hair, no tattoos, no piercings, no style, no air of coolness, etc. You would never see me walking down the street and think, "Hey, that guy over there looks like he is totally into metal. He also looks like he knows his music." The bottom line is that I know music - especially metal. In August 2008 my friend Yoshimi Nagasawa (I used to play in a band with her about 10 years ago) called me and asked if I wanted to go with her to see the Metal Masters Tour (she had free tickets) on August 30, 2008. I immediately said "YES!" The bands were (in order): Testament, Motorhead, Heaven & Hell and Judas Priest. All four bands were incredible. I was especially interested in seeing Heaven & Hell because the bass player Geezer Butler and guitar player Tony Iommi are original members of Black Sabbath. The drummer Vinny Appice and singer Ronnie James Dio also played on multiple Black Sabbath albums after Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward left Black Sabbath. I was blown away by Heaven & Hell on that hot day in August 2008 and I wanted to hear more. * Please note that I am a huge Black Sabbath fan so seeing these guys perform (even using a different name) was a dream come true for me. I could go into more history about why the name Heaven & Hell is being used now but I won't to keep you awake. Now, let me get to my review of this new album. This album is HEAVY. This album is DARK. This album needs to be purchased by you if you like Black Sabbath, Dio or anything else that is dark and heavy. Here are the ages of the members in Heaven & Hell - Ronnie James Dio = 66, Tony Iommi = 61, Geezer Butler = 59, Vinny Appice = 49. These are not young guys yet their musicianship and singing is BETTER now that it was 30 years ago. Age has not slowed these guys down. As usual Ronnie James Dio does a fabulous job of delivering articulate vocals over a dark wall of sound. He is really good. You should see him live - he sounds even better. The wall of darkness generated by the guitar, bass and drums will impress you...I know it impressed me. There are 10 songs on this album. Each song delves deeper and deeper into a dark mystical place that could only be created by this foursome. I could go on all day about this album so rather than doing that I will sign off and listen to it again...

Baseball Trip 2009

I returned from Baseball Trip 2009 on Saturday, May 9, 2009. My entire 12 day trip cost $1696.64. It was money well spent. I have now seen all 30 Major League Baseball teams play at least one game at home. We heard from a fan in Baltimore (he was visiting from Minnesota) that the Minnesota Twins are going to have a new stadium in 2010. My dad and I are already planning on going to Minnesota next year and also back to Philadelphia. The game at the new Phillies stadium got rained out on this trip so we have to return and see some games. We visited the following cities on this trip: New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC and Denver.

Here are the game results from Baseball Trip 2009:

April 29, 2009: Florida Marlins 4, New York Mets 3

April 30, 2009: New York Yankees 7, Los Angeles Angels 4

May 1, 2009: New York Yankees 10, Los Angeles 9

May 2, 2009: Los Angeles Angels 8, New York Yankees 4

May 3, 2009: New York Mets @ Philadelphia Phillies - cancelled due to rain

May 4, 2009: Washington Nationals 9, Houston Astros 4

May 5, 2009: Washington Nationals 10, Houston Astros 10 - suspended due to rain (game to resume on July 9 in Houston)

May 6, 2009: Baltimore Orioles 4, Minnesota Twins 1 (game ended after 5 1/2 innings due to rain)

May 7, 2009: San Francisco Giants 8, Colorado Rockies 3

May 8, 2009: Florida Marlins 8, Colorado Rockies 3