Crasymaker

Bowerbirds: “Hooves”

I took a bunch of photos at the Jonathan and Lacy Haguewood wedding reception last night. It was a blast.

Check out all of the photos via the Haguewood Wedding Reception Flickr set.

While digging through an old photo album last night, I came across this great picture of me, my Dad, my sister and our late dog, Duffy. That smile on my face, coupled with the Christmas tree in the background leads me to believe that this picture was taken on Christmas morning and we were about to open presents. Oh yes, those were some good, good times.

The one thing my Dad was always really good at when my sister and I were kids was finding out exactly what we wanted for Christmas. Instead being showered with a ton of crappy little things that we would’ve been excited about upon first glance, we usually received something major like a bike, a Nintendo, a Barbie house, etc., and then a few items to compliment the big gift.

I’m sure there were times when I’d go to my friends’ houses on Christmas afternoon and drool over the fact that they’d gotten tons and tons of gifts, but overall, I think we ended up way more satisfied in the long run. In fact, the gifts we received were so monumental to me that I could probably name them all if I tried. How many people can say that?

It was no accident either. My Dad is one smart dude. I’m sure he knew that come March or April when my friends’ cheap toys were broken and/or out of batteries, my quality mountain bike would still be getting me around the neighborhood in style.

Thanks for being such a great Dad, Dad. There are a million stories like this I could tell. I love you. Happy Father’s Day.

I want to give a real sincere thank you to everyone that has sent flowers, e-mails, voicemails, text messages and of course…pizza. Some of you have asked about my mother’s memorial service. It will be tomorrow morning (Saturday 5/26) at 10am in Berryville, Arkansas at Nelson Funeral Home. Should be pretty brief and very casual. Thanks again, everyone.

A few weeks ago, a small Bichon Frisé puppy appeared at the doorstep of our friends, Eric and Laura. They fell in love with it and after finding it’s owner, they got the breeder’s phone number and soon picked up a puppy of their own.

Sarah and I had been tossing around the idea of getting a dog a few weeks ago but decided it was too much work for us right now. Then we met Olive, Eric and Laura’s new puppy. Bichon’s don’t get very big. They’re a bit larger than a Maltese but still, the average size of a mature adult is 8-12 lbs. Kinda like a cat…that you can take camping if ya wanna.

The day after bringing Olive home, Laura invited Sarah over to see her. “You know, there’s one left,” Laura told her. Well, that was really all it took. The next day, Sarah and I adopted the last puppy in the litter. She’s tiny. She’s cute as hell. And her name is Sadie.

Check out a couple of more pics over at my Flickr page.

Thanks for the fried chicken, mashed taters, green beans and dessert, Laura. Thanks for the mint juleps, Eric. Thanks for the beers, me. Thanks for taking photos, Sarah. Thanks for bein’ weird, Dustin. Thanks for having a birthday, Brandy. Thanks for Pictionary, Mattel. Thanks for looking at the photos, you.

Matt Bradley has gone and done it again. He just released his fourth video and it’s a dandy for sure. This one is for Cory Branan’s “Tall Green Grass” and you can watch it at YouTube right now.

Matt’s style is very distinct and if you ask me, a real breath of fresh air when it comes to watching music videos. He uses lots of cheap animation, stick figure drawings and plenty of skulls-n-skeletons.

After checking out “Tall Green Grass”, you should definitely spend a few minutes watching Matt’s other videos:

• Lucero - “Just That Kind of Girl”
• American Princes - “Never Grow Old”
• The New Tragedies - “Talk to Me”
• Cory Branan - “Tall Green Grass”

Ever wonder what Roy does in his spare time? Well if you guessed that he sits in his room and makes weird noises all day, you’re right. No, seriously. Trust me, I spent plenty of afternoons banging on his door to see if he wanted to go to Kroger but he couldn’t hear me because of those freaky-ass noises he was making.

He has an electronic/experimental side project called Overjoid that he and Terance do off and on. They recently started a MySpace page that you can check out by clicking on their name above (or by clicking here).

There’s a few songs you can listen to. I’d start with “wherehouse unplugged” if I were you, though, because it features John Stubblefield (also of Lucero) on bass.

OK so ya’ll know Cory, right? Well he has this song that he sometimes plays at his live shows about how the band KISS broke his heart in the 80s when they washed off their makeup (and “rock-n-roll”) to enjoy a more commercial resurgence.

It’s a funny song and obviously a joke but not to some. Oh no. Especially the “KISS Militia”, who according to Cory is “apparently a smaller rogue group of fans that roams the cyberland defending the band’s 80’s output”. Since uploading a video of the song to his MySpace Videos page, he’s gotten an onslaught (ok so it’s just a handful so far) of comments from angry, aging KISS fans.

I highly suggest heading over there and reading some of the earlier comments. Funny (sad) stuff.

New Scratch is a label owned by my good friend, Bill Krejci. He’s originally from Northwest Arkansas but has been on the road with Lucero for a couple of years now. On the side, he runs New Scratch and only sells music/merchandise from his most favorite bands.

He has recently begun selling Paper Hearts t-shirts and digital downloads of all three releases so if you’ve never heard the original EP from 2001, head on over to New Scratch and pick up a copy along with a t-shirt (or two…or three). They make great gifts…(hint).

Citiscapes Magazine will soon be publishing their annual Best of Northwest Arkansas awards and there is a new category this year: Best Gourmet Dessert.

It just so happens that I know the owner of the best gourmet desserts company in Northwest Arkansas. What luck! If you aren’t familiar with Darling Desserts, then just take my word on it and head over to BestofNWAR.com to cast your vote. While you’re there, you can also vote for the seemingly hundreds of other categories but it’s not necessary to vote for all of ‘em.

I recently designed the Darling Desserts logo so if for no other reason just vote because you like me.

Ya’ll do like me, right?

Tim Campbell started a music/mp3 blog called Heavy Metal Mouth that you should check out on a daily basis. Get your fill of new music and music news (hey, that’s a tongue twister!) each and every day.

I know what you’re thinking: “But I already check Pitchfork every day. What could this guy possibly know that Pitchfork hasn’t already covered?” I’ve got four words for you: White Whale pre-order, beyotch. (Is that four words or five? Does the hypen count? Whatever.)

My sister and her fiance are almost completely moved into their new place here in Fayetteville. They’ve been living in Harrison for quite a while but Caleb’s sweet new job allowed them to move back to town this month. I’m sure Katie will end up at a badass salon (she gots mad hair skillz) soon so ladies, meet your new hair girl…