Jared’s Blog

Well, there we were in Atlantic City. So much different from DC. I think we were all really excited to see our “3 star hotel,” The Tropicana. So we roll into the covered parking area. Right away a vallet guy comes out and opens the doors for us. Amanda ran in while John and I unloaded the car. We get to the room and its way better than our Washington hotel. Right away we headed down to check out the casino and eat. Our dinner (at 11PM) was awesome. Everything was pretty expensive, but you got what you paid for. I had a huge BBQ pork sandwich. With that, we headed out into the casino. Amanda and I found some nickel slots of play around on. I threw in a $10 and actually doubled my money within 15 minutes. Amanda made a few bucks too. We moved on to quarter poker while John hit the blackjack tables. About an hour later, we all met back in the room and headed to bed.

We woke up and looked into staying another night. Turns out, it was only gonna cost $50, and John said he’d pay. So with that we booked a new room, then headed out on the boardwalk. By this time our legs were getting quite used to walking everywhere. We made a trip all the way down one way, stopped by the visitors center, and saw a few shops. On the way back we decided to get lunch at Hard Rock on the beach. Soon enough, we were enjoying some nice tall drinks in some collectors glasses. The drinks must’ve been a little big because we were all a little drunk after them. Back at the hotel, we downed a bottle of wine Amanda brought with. The booze must have made us all sleepy because we took a snooze for a good 3 hours. I had planned on going to lose some more money at the casino, but instead opted to just hang out in the hotel room. It was nice to relax and not have to drive anywhere just for a day.

We were up nice and early to start on our way home. We decided to check out the Liberty Bell on our way through Philedelphia. After finding a parking spot, we headed toward the Bell. Lucky for us, a cop directed us to where the security check was or we’d have been doing a lot more walking. The security checkpoint wasn’t bad, kinda like an airport. The people were really nice and they allowed cameras in and everything. We made our way down a long hallway with all kinds of information about the Bell. At the end, there it was. I was surprised it wasn’t bigger. We got our pictures in front of it and then left. On our way out, the security guard mentioned we should check out Independance Hall. So we got our passes and waited about an hour to get in. It was well worth the wait. They brought us into a little building where a ranger gave us a little history about the town. It was more like a quiz, but the guy made it so fun. You could tell he loved his job. After that, he brought us into Independance Hall. It’s just like you see in the old pictures. Most of the original brick is still there. It was my favorite part of the trip.

Afterwards, the three of us headed to find some food. I, for one, was not going to miss out on getting my philly cheese steak in Philly. Unfortunately, I decided to get mine at this indoor cafeteria type place instead of from a street vendor. It was good and greasy, but kind of bland. I am pretty sure one of the street vendors would’ve had a better steak.

A long drive later, we stopped outside Toldeo, OH for the night. Not much to say about the place. Our hotel was probably the most accomadating though. Free wireless internet in the rooms, free extended continental breakfast, and it wasn’t too expensive for 3 people. The next day we made our way back to good ole MN. After a quick stop at Andy and Hank’s to drop Amanda off, John and I drove back to SJU.

And that’s it! That’s the end of my trip. 12 states (counting DC), 2500 miles, and tons of fun. Pictures next time, I promise.

In a miraculous whirl of events, I am now heading to Washington, DC for spring break. I leave in about 20 minutes. Mandi, I’m sorry I can’t come visit you this weekend. Next weekend fo sho! I’m sure there will be lots of pictures, lots of shennanigans, etc. I’ll post about things when I get back.

I’m back after a long downtime. To tell you the truth, I didn’t feel like writing anything and I hadn’t been doing much of anything cool anyway.

First of all, I’ve got a couple new reviews up. One for a great hardcore band with a good message and another for the weirdest band in history. Check out the reviews of If Hope Dies and Nuclear Rabbit. While I’m on the music topic, I’ll fill everyone in on my latest thoughts. First thing that comes to mind is Ozzfest 2004. I’ve got some mixed feelings. This year, they go get Judas Preist for a reunion, and fill the main stage with truely brutal metal. Now don’t get me wrong, I love metal, but I’m just not much of a fan of any of the bands playing on the main stage. I mean Ozzy is a god, you can’t refute that. And Judas Priest was great in their own right. They just don’t belong on Ozzfest 2004 though. The rest of the bands on the main stage bill are OK. I don’t really listen to Dimmu Borgir, so I don’t know about them. Slayer will rip it up for sure and Black Label Society are shoe-ins. As far as Superjoint Ritual goes, I’m not so into them. They’re definately hard. And I give the Osbournes credit for putting together a true metal show. On the other hand, the second stage is shaping up to be really good. Slipknot will have their new album out in May and should be kicking ass. Hatebreed always rips and Lamb of God are way up there too. On rotating slots, they’ve got Atreyu and Bleeding Through. Killer selections. God Forbid and Unearth are also very solid acts. I’m not really into Every Time I Die or Lacuna Coil, but they’ll fit right in. I think if they throw a few more good solid bands in there it’ll be a good show. Now here comes the real letdown. They snub MN in the tour dates. No Somerset Ozzfest this year. I mean what the fuck! MN is known for their overall music enthusiasm. We are hailed as being one of the greatest states to play in because we are so into the music. I sure as hell hope there are more dates in the works because if I go or not, it hurts not to get our own Ozzfest date.

Also in the music arena, I’ve got a few quick words about some new albums. Soundtrack to Your Escape by In Flames is pretty damn good. Fear Factory’s new album has also surprised me. For having been on the virge of breaking up, they really put together a good CD.

That’s it for now. I go on spring break starting Friday. I’ll be heading down to Minneapolis to hang with some friends for the weekend before I head back up north. I’ll be at home for a week in the hell hole they call Virginia til probably Saturday. Who knows, I might head down to the Cities for some more fun with Mandi, Burns, and Hank the next weekend too.

I had some visitors this past weekend. Yea, my sister came to visit me with her boyfriend. She mostly came to check out the school. To celebrate the occaison, we went out to eat at Space Aliens. I’d been wanting to check out that place for awhile now. It’s new in town and it was supposed to be really good. My first impression was it was kinda of odd. What do space aliens have to do with ribs and BBQ? Cuz that’s what they serve there. I don’t see any connection, but whatever, the food is dec.

Today was probably my shortest day ever. I had a 9:40 class, and that was it. No work, no homework. Just pure downtime. Of course I was with my sister for a few hours before she took off. Then I had no plans for the rest of the night. I am going to just sit around. And it feels good. Tomorrow I will wake up for my 8AM and wish I hadn’t. This is why I’m going to enjoy tonight.

Well, it’s a bit late for a Trivia Weekend rundown now. Basically there was lots of trivia for 50 hours straight, some drinking, some antics, and one very crazy animal fight. I’ll just post the pictures and you can check them out for yourself. Oh yea, and we ended up in 37th place out of 71 teams, but who cares!

Yes it is Friday the 13th. This is gonna be another quickie. Let’s just say things haven’t been getting done lately. I’ve had quite a bit going on with school. I always love to watch hockey. It really doesn’t even if it’s my favorite team. I just like the game. I guess the recalling Trivia weekend will need to wait. I did work quite a bit on a layout change tonight. It only took me about 2 hours to add one line to my CSS code. Oh well, I learned, and now I know. I need to throw in another plug for Break the Silence. I don’t know what my record number of plays in a week for me for an album is, but these guys are sure up there. It takes quite the artist to do that to me with the amount of music I go through (listen to in a day). If you like punk, hardcore, or both you need to hear this band. They put all the pieces into place.

As some may know, this weekend I participated in a 50 hour trivia event. I’m back now, but a little too busy with school and other stuff to do much of an update. Hopefully I can get a fully synopsis of my weekend on here in the next couple days. The picture below is from last Friday night, the FIRST night of trivia. Just think about how the other 40 hours went. Soon you will know!

Until then, you could check out the couple of new reviews I’ve posted. One is for a less than mediocre band called Sloth and the other is for a sweet up and coming band called Far-Less. I’m really into Far-Less they have a great sound. I’ve been totally hooked on a band called Break the Silence lately. Please please please check them out. They are so kick ass. They’re sound is a very hardcore influenced punk. That’s really all I have time for now. Check out those cool reviews.