3:05

Apparently, it's the new witching hour. For the past week, I have woken up at 3:05 on the button, for no discernible reason. I have gone to bed at different times. I have had my last meals of the day at different times. I have had different levels of physical activity throughout the days. No matter what the circumstances, I have woken up at 3:05. If this were a horror movie or a nightmare, the lights wouldn't work when I tried to switch them on. Thus far (knock on wood!), the lights have come on when, in my disoriented, frightened and annoyed haze, I flip the switch. Furthermore, no disembodied hand, claw, hoof, or evil appendage of your choice has grabbed my arm when I reach for the light switch. Again, knock on wood! I don't think my home was built on an ancient Indian burial ground, and since I'm the original resident, there's no way a previous tenant was murdered at precisely 3:05. I don't know what the deal is, but I'm not above admitting that I'm seriously creeped out by these quasi-paranormal shenanigans. If this escalates and I should happen to wake up dead or wind up looking like this, please tell my loved ones I said good-bye.

My students rock

I’m still feeling on the outs, but if there’s one thing I can always take comfort in, it’s my job. Even though it’s a stressful, time-consuming job, it’s one where I’m constantly exercising my mind, and it’s never boring. It is, to put it succinctly, a job I love. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to utter that phrase, but I do love my job. To wit: my Physics students turned in their last reading journals last week, and here are a few of the more humorous / kind / enthusiastic highlights:

• I thought this chapter was kind of confusing. Everything I did was plug things in and somehow they were right. I figured out the less I think the better grade I get. So I am just not going to think on the test.

• [Drawing of a girl drying her hair] Some chick with a hair dryer.
  

• This chapter was my favorite because it’s the last one… ever.
  

• I am trying and studying my hardest to not fall for your evil tricky problems.
  

• What I don’t like about resistors is how they’re numbered all stupidly with colored bars as if the number is all secretive for only freaky electricians to understand.
  

• Dear Mr. [NAME], I just wanted to say that it was a pleasure to have you as a teacher for 2 years! You’re an awesome teacher & I’m really going to miss you… and sorry for sucking at Physics!
  

• I’m gonna miss you, Mr. [NAME]!! :( You’ve helped me out A LOT in the past two school years.
  

• You are an awesome teacher! :) I can’t wait ‘til AP Physics.
  

• Overall this chapter was an interesting one. Still, I didn’t want it to be the last. 5 more chapters!! Let’s forget about final review and just learn up to Chapter 22!! I can’t wait for AP Physics!!!

I can’t wait either.

Black gives way to blue

In a really bad funk right now. Work is going very well, but everything else is going very poorly. Too much unpleasantness to deal with all at once, including a surprisingly painful death in the family. Can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't get out of my own head. Can't stop whining. No bueno.

Almost two months

As hard as it is to believe or even fathom, the Cavs' win last night was their first win in almost two months. And this isn't one of those trick statements, as in, "but those two months were during the off-season; yuk, yuk!" We're talking nearly two months' worth of games lost. Twenty-six losses in a row, to be exact. It is, of course, no wonder the team is so awful. In addition to losing four of their five starters to free-agency or cowardly, pus-dripping treachery, they've had a particularly ghastly streak of injuries, so much so that on any given night during the losing streak, they were starting Jamison, who's a very good player, and four guys whose mothers hadn't even heard of them. I really think that at one point, coach Byron Scott was just trolling the parking lot of Quicken Loans Center and looking for tall homeless guys that he thought might have some athletic ability so he could insert them into the line-up. Painful, painful, painful. Thankfully, Mo Williams, the only remaining starter from last year's team, returned from a prolonged injury last night. Although the team looked far from "good," they were at least competent. We Cavs fans -- the remaining thirteen or so of us -- understand that this is a lost season, pun intended, and that we must remain patient while we rebuild through the draft. Still, losing an astounding twenty-six games in a row is hard to stomach, patience notwithstanding. The "worst record in the league" trophy is practically locked in at this point, so our odds of getting the first pick in the draft aren't going to improve with further losing streaks from hell.

Keep the faith, Cavs fans.

Best of the Best

No, not that horrible Eric Roberts karate tournament movie. Just a compilation of the best songs from the best five metal albums of 2K10. Considering that old stalwarts like Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, and KoRn released albums this year, the pickings were surprisingly slim, owing mostly to the fact that many of the heavily anticipated albums released this year were very uneven. Soulfly’s “Omen” is a representative example of this problem. The album features three excellent songs (“Bloodbath and Beyond,” “Rise of the Fallen,” and “Off with their Heads”) interspersed amidst a rubble of mediocre efforts. Here’s hoping that Max Cavalera’s next album with Cavalera Conspiracy, scheduled for release in March of 2K11, will not be as patchy.

In chronological order of release, then:

Fear Factory – Mechanize – Christploitation
I’ll confess that I had no idea who Gene Hoglan was until I first heard this album. Well, I know who he is now. Good Lord, the drums on this album are un-fucking-believable. Coupled with the return of Dino Cazares, the current line-up of Fear Factory is, pound for pound, hard to beat. And I mean that literally as well as figuratively. Even including the normal-sized Burton C. Bell, the average weight of each member of Fear Factory has to be upwards of 300 pounds. Nonetheless, “Mechanize” is a fantastic album, quite possibly the best one of the year. It was hard to pick one individual song out of this album, but I settled on “Christploitation” because of the über-creepy piano riff. I won’t ruin the song by trying to describe it, but I will encourage anyone reading this to buy the album. It’s well worth it.



As I Lay Dying – The Powerless Rise – Anodyne Sea
I heard the first two songs off this album on the radio while coming back from a Rays game with my nephews. Oddly enough, the only reason we had gone to said game was the post-game concert, featuring the venerable baddies from Texas, ZZ Top. There’s no over-the-top evolution or shift in this album. It’s just a solid 45 or so minutes of well-polished metalcore. “Anodyne Sea” is a terrific song, and is a good indicator of the band’s consistency.



Black Label Society – Order of the Black – Crazy Horse
This was probably the most pleasant surprise of the year. I’m glad Zakk Wylde took a little time away from his busy beer-drinkin’, deer-killin’, dumb-ass redneckin’ schedule to put out his first decent album since “The Blessed Hellride.” The first song, “Crazy Horse,” is a nice little throwback, although it’s a bit disheartening for an old fart like me to note that Black Label Society’s 2K10 album is much, much better than Ozzy’s new album.



The Sword – Warp Riders – The Chronomancer II - Nemesis
Big, big ups to my niece’s boyfriend Rick for alerting me to the fact that The Sword had released a new album, which he rightly described as “fucking epic.” And as a bonus, it looks like these guys have finally learned to play in more than just one key! Just like their previous two albums, “Warp Riders” is heavy, groovy, and greatly influenced by Black Sabbath. This influence is readily apparent in the album’s best song, “The Chronomancer II – Nemesis.”



Mushroomhead – Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children – Harvest the Garden
There’s no way these guys will ever recapture the magic of their “Superbuick” and “XX” days, especially since J Mann left the band. That having been said, this is still a terrific album, and J Mann’s successor, Waylon, does a fantastic job providing “rap” in addition to clean vocals. The keyboards return to prominence here, something that was oddly missing from the previous album, “Savior Sorrow,” and Mushroomhead appear to have regained their edge. “Harvest the Garden” starts off sounding like Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy,” then turns into a funk-laden, furious five minutes of pure awesomeness.

Joan Sutherland (1916-2010)

The greatest Australian of all time passed away three weeks ago. For all the obnoxious histrionics surrounding that POS Maria Callas and her disgusting, ululating garbage disposal of a voice, people tend to forget that Joan Sutherland was the greatest soprano of all time. Hell, she may very well be the greatest opera singer of all time, period. I'll let the late, great Sutherland argue her own merits. Rest in peace, Stupenda.

The concert bucket list

I finally got to see Lamb of God and Metallica in concert last October, and so was able to cross them off my "I've GOT to see these guys before I die" list. The same happened with Hatebreed, Rob Zombie, and KoRn a month ago, as witnessed by this awesome clip of KoRn's "Did my time":



Next month, I'll cross off Anthrax and Megadeth. Great, right? Of course... but bucket lists are problematic because they have a nasty little tendency to grow. I just heard The Sword's latest album, "Warp Riders," and they sound like Black Sabbath (bucket list: check) all hopped up on Texas 'roids. I've GOT to see those guys before I die!