Randomness from the dark of night…

Exam season is once again upon us. I’m fortunate that my exam schedule this time around isn’t too bad, aside from having all my exams at 8am. I have exams Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday, and then my summer begins in earnest. Fun times. I’m not sure what summer’s going to bring. It’s a certainty that I’ll be working a whole heckuva lot, but that’s to be expected. I’m hoping to actually read some more. I’m just excited that my first year back, a resounding success, is just about over. Three more semesters to go…

Musical notes

Gary Cherone is back with his new band hurtsmile. Gary, brother Markus, Joe Pessia, and Dana Spellman have collaborated on a few tracks and released them for free in high-quality MP3 format. The songs are great straight-ahead rock — my favorite is “Just War Theory.” In other music news, I see Travis Meeks is bringing Days of the New to Hilton Head on the 2nd. That’s a tempting show. He’s had some issues in the past, and it’s nice to see him overcoming them and getting back out there. Rumor has it there’s going to be a Days of the New “Purple” album in a year or two, really depending on when DOTN is signed to a label again. Let’s hope that’s sooner rather than later, because Meeks really is a musical genius.

/etc/weekend

I went to Relay for Life in Summerville on Friday night into Saturday morning. It’s a 12-hour relay designed to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It was a lot of fun, though I found one of the Proud Sponsors incredibly amusing:

Relay For Life — Sponsored By Beer and Tobacco

You just can’t make some of this stuff up. Interestingly enough, a few laps later when I decided I needed a better picture of the sign, it had been taken down. I’m not sure who nabbed it or what, but it was gone. Too hilarious.

Saturday brought an immense recovery period (I didn’t get home until about 7:30, and I slept until 3:30 PM) and then some Guitar Hero and ribs at Ale’s. Predictably, I was destroyed at Guitar Hero (no time to play games in the last, oh, six months) despite my best efforts to focus and not get too crazy with the music. I do think there is something different in the Xbox 360 version’s gameplay…I can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps I’m reaching for excuses for my latest round of GH suckitude. Oh well.

Sunday was the blogger meetup — we had a lot of new faces this time, including Patrick, Kit, and Kevin, to name a few. It was a great time. I didn’t realize 10-17 — located in The Quadrangle in West Ashley where Piggly Wiggly and CiCis is, within a few hundred feet of the 526 on-ramp — was even there. It’s a neat venue, though, and the owner was gracious enough to come in and introduce himself (and even cook for us!). They’ll be seeing more of me, I think. I ended the evening with a pretty hilarious sendoff for Tim, CofC’s uber-server genius, who is probably still on a plane headed for Scotland as I write this. Good, good times.

And finally…

Anyone want to see Barack Obama this week? He’ll be holding a town hall forum at Burke High School at 2:30 on Friday. I’ll be there. Click here to reserve your spot — it’s free and open to the public, but a ticket is required. This should be quite, quite interesting.

Off to bed now…I’m still messed up from the Relay a few days ago. This does not bode well for my 8am exams. Haha.

  • http://patricks-place.blogspot.com Patrick

    It was nice to meet you, Jared. Looking forward to seeing you at the next meet-up and to reading more of your blog.

  • http://patricks-place.blogspot.com Patrick

    It was nice to meet you, Jared. Looking forward to seeing you at the next meet-up and to reading more of your blog.

  • http://www.pokeefe.com Patrick

    What?! Another Patrick? When were you going to tell me?

    lol. Good to know that you are meeting people that were well named.

  • http://www.pokeefe.com Patrick

    What?! Another Patrick? When were you going to tell me?

    lol. Good to know that you are meeting people that were well named.

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    Guitar Hero II on 360…what a shame. I’ve been laughing about it amongst my friends for the past two weeks because the commercials are advertising it like the world’s never seen anything like it before, when it’s been on PS2 for quite some time.

    The first shipment of GH-II for 360 was plagued with defective controllers. The blue and green buttons were reversed (though there is a software update available if you have Xbox Live that reverses them as buttons as well as in the game itself) and on many controllers, more than half of the screws were missing. These defective controllers were primarily sold at Target (at least in the local scope). Too funny.

    That Relay For Life sign is priceless. You almost have to wonder if that could have even been approved as a real sponsor. it looked like it was obviously a joke someone did, and was either removed by them or someone who was offended.

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    Guitar Hero II on 360…what a shame. I’ve been laughing about it amongst my friends for the past two weeks because the commercials are advertising it like the world’s never seen anything like it before, when it’s been on PS2 for quite some time.

    The first shipment of GH-II for 360 was plagued with defective controllers. The blue and green buttons were reversed (though there is a software update available if you have Xbox Live that reverses them as buttons as well as in the game itself) and on many controllers, more than half of the screws were missing. These defective controllers were primarily sold at Target (at least in the local scope). Too funny.

    That Relay For Life sign is priceless. You almost have to wonder if that could have even been approved as a real sponsor. it looked like it was obviously a joke someone did, and was either removed by them or someone who was offended.

  • http://www.jaredwsmith.com Jared Smith

    There was another sign that was for a “Beer and Tobacco Outlet,” so I’m thinking the “Beer and Tobacco” sign was a misprint. Misprint or otherwise, the irony is still amazing. Hey, at least they give back. ;)

  • http://www.jaredwsmith.com Jared Smith

    There was another sign that was for a “Beer and Tobacco Outlet,” so I’m thinking the “Beer and Tobacco” sign was a misprint. Misprint or otherwise, the irony is still amazing. Hey, at least they give back. ;)