Down with a sickness

I'm sure we've all had those days where a sick child sneezed or coughed right in your face and then got us sick a couple days later. Yup. So there won't be the previously intended post this week.

Local Music Part 1: How to find it

Let's talk about music! I don't mean your mainstream national, multi-national, or world-wide superstars. No, I mean the music that's taking place right under your nose in your local area.

My geographic location is very advantageous. Living near the direct middle between Milwaukee and Chicago, I hear a lot of great music and meet greater musicians. Most of it I never have to go more than 1 mile to see (I'd have to go even less than that if I were over 21. Damn you, bar shows!). I love my local scene and I want to help you discover yours so that you can love local too.

Starter Guide to finding local music:

Step 1: Approach this whole process with an open mind. Basically, don't discount a local band because they're not famous. Many people say that only famous bands are "real bands" and that mindset should get nipped in the bud right now. If they purposefully make music together, they are a band. Congratulations! You have completed all the steps. Everything else is a matter of methods.

The "just ask" method- Seriously! Just ask around. People to ask are those who are seen often with instruments, people wearing shirts for bands you haven't heard of (sometimes it works, sometimes not), and local music stores. A good generic thing to ask is "are there any good shows happening around here soon?"

The "printed word" method- Go out of your way to look for flyers and posters for bands, shows and festivals. You can find mass appealing music ads in local news papers and magazines. Flyers can often be found on electrical poles in high traffic areas, on the doors of bars and locally owned stores, and sometimes people can be found handing them out. Spending a day window shopping for flyers in a very happening place in your city is a great alternative for the shy and easily embarrassed.

Google it- If there's absolutely ANYTHING in your area at all, Google will likely have an answer. Type in your city, state and preferred genre (if you have one) at the very least, you usually get a website of a venue hosting an upcoming show. It gets easier and better if you find Facebook pages of local bands featuring their music and Youtube videos.

Once you find something, it becomes a bit like ancestry.com you get a link, and then another link and you keep collecting information and become a part of the local music scene. Eventually I'm going to post a fantastic list of all the bands I can find in the SE WI area so you can see what I'm into and check it out yourself.

Good luck!

Vegetarian Reviews: Yves Veggie Cuisine

If there's anyone out there like me, they're vegetarian. And if there's anyone out there like me who thinks like I do then they might be hesitant to try some vegetarian/vegan food because that's a very dicey area.
When veggie food is good, its very very good but when it's bad, it can feel like a complete waste of anywhere from $3- $10. A great way to know if what you're looking for is worth it is through good, comprehensive reviews. WHICH THERE ARE VERY FEW OF ON THE STINKING INTERNET!
So to hopefully help someone, somewhere out just a little, I'm doing reviews of veggie noms by brand.

Yves Veggie Cuisine

Picture from www.yvesveggie.com

Vegan friendly?: Everything is vegan accept the seafood products (which contain milk.)

Good things to say about this brand:

• The soy used in Yves is no genetically modified. If you like science messing with your food as little as possible like I do or worry about possible side effects of genetic engineering, this is a brand for you.

• Generally, this is a tasty food. Nothing is particularly unappealing. There's no awful smell or terrible after taste.

• The variety of items in this brand is incredible! From burgers to hot dogs to brats to lunch "meat" and even seafood, I doubt you'll ever get bored.

Not so good things:

• Sometimes the food is kind of bland and leave a little more to be desired for seasoning.

This is one of the better brands I have tried and it's fairly new to me. Every time I go to a store that carries Yves I am willing to try another different item. I highly recommend it!

4/5 stars

So... I am REALLY bad at this.

Yup. Again, I go months without a single blog post. So here I go! One last try to really get better at blogging and keeping promises to strangers that I will never meet over the internet.

What's to come? No idea. Not one single damned clue.

I fell off the map!

I sincerely want to apologize to all my readers. I stopped maintaining my blog for almost 2 months!!!
I've been so busy, I hadn't really had the time to do extra stuff. I've been neglecting all my favorite pastimes to focus on the work I had, so here's a list of what I've been up to.
Started a job
Took on a very large fundraising project
Pulled off a community festival with my co-workers
Fought a bear and traveled to the north pole
Started a new job and quit the old one
**some information may have been added to make me appear more badass**
I'm posting another blog entry after this one ASAP.

The Professor's Mothly Homework Assignment: April Showers

 

Spring is a very, very special time of year. The birds are singing, flowers will soon begin to bloom.. Who am I kidding? That's for other places, not at all what happens in Wisconsin. It only just FINALLY got too warm to be snowy and this past week has been downpour, downpour, downpour. We have a break of dark over cast during the weekend with more rain to follow.

I don't really have any special rain gear. Usually I go outside to play in a dark shirt and shorts. Soon after followed up by hot tomato soup and bread sticks. So I'm focusing on how rain makes me feel.

Personally, I love the rain; the way it beads down my skin and how it smells is rejuvinating. The way the earth smells because of the rain is the very best. Fun fact: there's a word for that smell.

 

source: iwantcovers.com

 

I wish I could find a beautiful rain beaded spider web because even though they're kind of cliche, they're the greatest example of beauty created with rain. I can't wait to see what nature has to offer once the rain stops and mother earth does her work. More than anything rain really gives me hope for change.

 



a gorgeous rainbow after a rainy day at the beach
source: me

At this point I'd like to remind everyone that Earth Day 2013 is April 22 (in America, anyway)

Vegetarian Food Reviews

If there's anyone out there like me, they're vegetarian. And if there's anyone out there like me who thinks like I do then they might be hesitant to try some vegetarian/vegan food because that's a very dicey area.
When veggie food is good, its very very good but when it's bad, it can feel like a complete waste of anywhere from $3- $10. A great way to know if what you're looking for is worth it is through reviews. WHICH THERE ARE VERY FEW OF ON THE STINKING INTERNET!
So to hopefully help someone, somewhere out just a little, I'm going to start doing reviews of veggie noms by brand.

First up: Light Life

Image via The Goldstein Group

Vegan friendly?: some things

Good things about this brand:

• If you're used to eating soy, this brand is decent in terms of taste. Their lunch meats (bologna and deli style turkey being the ones I've tried) are my preferred things to eat from this brand.

• The way the company spices their products is very spot on. The  soy chorizo spices are the closest I've had since I stopped eating meat in 2005. The texture is similar as well.

• Did I mention low calorie? It's a great brand to supplement a dieter's meals.

Not so good things:

I do have good things to say about Light Life, I've also got quite a few problems with it.

• While the lunch meat is good, it doesn't smell that way. I have a hard time coping with the scent and unfortunately, I've never smelled something similar to it so I can't give a comparison.

• Every product seems to have a really odd after-taste. It's something that sticks around long after your meal and even after brushing your teeth in order to get rid of it. It tastes just like the smell would from the above mentioned lunch meat. The after-taste is more prominent in the sausages/hot dogs.

• I get stomach issues when I eat more than 2 slices of the lunch meat in a day or eat more than one sausage/hot dog in a day. My stomach starts to hurt as if I were sick. It's not a particularly good brand for those who suffer from heart burn/acid reflux as the food has NEVER reacted well with my stomach acid if I ate more than the previously stated limits.

Over-all review:
I've eaten the pepperoni, deli- style turkey, chorizo, bologna and hot dogs. The products have all been decent but not many of these things would I buy again (only the bologna, turkey and pepperoni). There's a very parishable shelf life on these foods.
This is one of the brands that you might feel you wasted your money on because you either couldn't eat it fast enough or it was just unpalatable. I'm concerned about trying the other foods myself because I don't want to buy food I won't be able to eat.
2/5 stars.