The Jack Noodle Journal

The young Gilby bought the new Coldplay album “Viva La Vida” for his mommy K’s birthday last week. I’ve been listening to it and think that it’s pretty good. A tasty morsel. Entertaining and an enjoyable experience for the ears.

I’ve expressed a fondness for Coldplay in the past I’m sure.

What I’m curious to know is when did Coldplay become music snobbery’s whipping boy? I’ve read a number of mean spirited things about this new album on the interwebs. You music snob folks are making me tired. What did Coldplay ever do to you? Sure, it is what it is. Enjoy the music or don’t. Weirdos. There is no need to bludgeon the poor boys. Nobody likes a bully.

The real question we are boiling down to here is: What will YOUR album of the summer be?

I do enjoy contemplating and declaring me a summer album.

I don’t think Coldplay will make my album of the summer short list.

I have been listening to “The Slip” by Nine Inch Nails (surprise) nonstop lately. It’s been on repeat in the car. This one has grown on me much more than the last two. It’s awesome. Definitely a grower though. NIN albums don’t usually make it to my album of the summer lists for whatever reason. Maybe this year?

A major contender for my summer album trophy is “Seeing Sounds” by N.E.R.D. I got it yesterday and may have already ruined it with too many listens. It has a good hot fun in the summertime feel to it that is required by an album of the summer.

We’ll have to see what the hanger-outers and party people say though. Picking an album to remember the summer by requires the input of your peeps for sure.

Filed under: music, G NOODLE | 2 Comments »

HOORAH! for the sunshine!
HOORAH! for the weekend!

Okay, so I was very excited and posted a few posts ago about how cool I thought Google Reader was. I still think it’s cool, but my Google Reader has gotten out of hand. It’s now telling me that I have 1000+ new items to read. There are so many articles that it has given up and just added the + symbol. That’s out of control! I can’t read that many items. I don’t want to let Google down though. Maybe I should quit my job and just read my Google Reader all day.

I might as well keep going with the Google praise while I am at it. Maybe they’ll kick down some cash for my shameless plugging of them.

Isn’t Google Maps Street View cool? I was surfing around the neighborhood the other day and was intrigued by the image of a woman crossing in the crosswalk. I would put the exact link to what I’m talking about here, but I don’t think it will let you make a direct link to an image. Put “32nd and Belmont St Portland Oregon” into the Search the map box. See her there crossing Belmont? Turn yourself towards downtown. Oh wait, here’s the link.

If you head East a few clicks, turn around, head back West and look at the crosswalk, you can sort of animate her crossing.

Anyways, my point is, who is this chick? What’s her story? Did she know her visage would be populating Google Maps?

The crazy thing I’ve been thinking about is trying to find myself on Google Street view. I would have to be standing in a spot outside when the Google Mobile went by wouldn’t I? The Google Street View of our house shows that my red car isn’t out front. Hmmm I wasn’t home the day that the Google Mobile drove by. I head over to the Google Street View of my work and see, low and behold, my red car!

I think that if one actually found themselves on Google Street View they might actually start disappearing like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.

What about celebrity sightings? What famous person has been captured by the Google Mobile? What’s the link to that?

I’m sure a little searching could get me to a page that featured interesting and nutty Street View images.

It’s like a crazy game isn’t it? The way you can move around in Street View is totally the same way you navigated in MYST back in the day.

Well, anyhoo… I suppose I should get to work now and finish up this Friday. I really do work hard. I swear.

I know it’s been quiet on the Noodle front this week, but I’ll pick up the Journal pace again soon. We gots big haps this weekend so I’ll get to typing about that soon.

The major haps is a birthday for the lovely K tomorrow!

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I’ve been listening to Van Halen today. Man, that is some good stuff if you are in the right mood for it. I listened to “1984” and “5150“.

I have never been a Van Halen fan so this was a new music listening experience for me.

I don’t have any older siblings so Van Halen never made it’s way to me through that route. I was more of a Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears fan in those days.

In grade school we were always scared of the older kids who wore the Van Halen tee-shirts. We were also afraid of the KISS tee-shirt kids.

The only songs I know from them are the ones I heard on the radio growing up. Oh yes, and the music videos on MTV.

The only other album I have heard was “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and that was because we played it when it came out during my time working at Musicland.

I don’t have anything to add to the David VS. Sammy debate today. I will say though that I enjoyed “1984″ quite a bit more than “5150″. “5150″ quickly became tedious during the listen.

It’s funny. Van Halen will definitely be the oldies, classic rock music that G Noodle’s generation will surely turn it’s collective nose up to. Maybe it will be older than oldies by then.

Next up for new listening adventures will be Scorpions, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden.

Filed under: music, G NOODLE | No Comments »

We went in for the young one’s two month doctor appointment today. Everything was in tip top shape. Master Gilby is a mighty young buck. He’s now weighing in at 11 pounds 2 ounces. He’s 23 inches long (tall if he could stand I guess). We found out today that he doesn’t care for shots.

More pictures you say? Okay, more pictures.
Oh my goodness I need (want) a new camera.

Here’s a link to my favorite photo from when the Oregonian photographer, Jenny Kane came over to shoot us for the newspaper. It’s nicely shot and has that “story all on it’s own” quality that those newspaper image snappers go for. I really like it.

Isn’t it amazing how the spirits are lifted after only two days of sunshine? It’s about time this gray left! The gray had been bumming us out so much we were actually talking about moving to Arizona. Today is perfect. Lets keep it sunny and warm (but not too warm) for the rest of the year please.

Hey wait a second, what am I doing inside? I should be out enjoying the sunshine while it’s still here.

Filed under: Mondays, baby, G NOODLE | 1 Comment »

Yes, that is a photo of the Little Noodle and I on the front page of your Sunday Oregonian newspaper. No, right there. Flip it over. Under the fold. There. Pretty sweet! It’s strange seeing my face on the front cover of the lifelong image that comes to mind when I define the word newspaper. I guess being in the newspaper is cool when it’s for something good or in the living section, but it’s lame when your criminal mug shot makes the pages. Being part of a group of missing mountain climbers news isn’t good either.

Here’s the link to the story. The online version doesn’t have our photo included. The print version also says “he blogs about fatherhood at www.jacknoodle.com” in the photo caption, which I thought was great. Sure, I mostly blog about other things, but the fatherhood ramblings was what got them to me and me into the paper. The online version doesn’t have a link to the Noodle Journal. Argh. Oh well, I’m sure the massive numbers of new traffic from the print version that will be visiting the website now will be enough to crash it.

The article was good I thought. Oppenheimer had to cut a lot of the article out due to space constraints. I think it pretty much catches the gist of what I was saying. I had a couple of things that I was thinking I should clarify before I had read the article, but now I can’t remember what those clarifications were. I was going to tell her that my actual job was that of a digit farmer, one who farms digits, but I chickened out and photo retoucher got in instead. K had quite a few good things to say about parenthood as well during the interview that didn’t make it into the father’s day article.

I was a tad nervous talking about the office to the news media for some reason. I was fearful of those stories in the back of my mind of employers discovering their worker’s blogs, reading them and going nuts on the employee. Over the years in the journal I think I pretty much steer clear of talking about the bosses in my life. I’m golden in this situation though because the company was painted in a good light and even got their name in print.

The whole experience this week was fun. Being in the paper was a really nice first father’s day gift. It’s also really great that the G man will have something to look back on to remember his first father’s day when he’s older.

I wonder what other topics that are stored here in the journal could get more interviews?

Filed under: baby, G NOODLE | 3 Comments »

Yep, we are breaking on through!

A reporter and photographer from the Oregonian newspaper came over and interviewed us last night. The Noodle family is going to be one of the families featured in a father’s day article due to hit the stands Sunday. Look for us there won’t you?

I don’t remember exactly what we said but I’m sure our ramblings will be fashioned nicely into coherent sentences. I think we did alright.

Several photographs of G Noodle and I were taken commemorating our first father’s day together as celebrator and honoree. Hopefully a nice shot of our handsome mugs makes it to print. The article will be a nice keepsake for Gilby.

Hmmm… A career as a photo journalist. That would be cool…

Pretty fun stuff!

Filed under: baby, G NOODLE | 1 Comment »

Alicia says that “I ain’t gots no money” blog posts are stupid and boring. You know, I think I might agree with her. I’ll try not to write one again. Sorry.

Maybe I’ll start writing about politics.

Hey! Hey! I finally did some sketches of Gilby. I had been meaning to for a while but hadn’t got around to it. Drawing your baby is a kick. Getting baby proportions correct is a challenging exercise. That dude’s got a huge head in relation to his body! He doesn’t hold still for very long. I waited for him to fall asleep for these sketches.

I can’t stop here. I must draw hundreds of sketches of the G Noodle.

I have decided that constantly practicing and improving my drawing skills is currently my number one pursuit. Drawing is the most important thing I can be doing creatively right now. Screw web design, video production, graphic design, and novel writing. One could be satisfactory at those endeavors and still be half-assing their output. A strong drawing muscle can’t be denied. I’m going to stop worrying about trying to be good at those other things and focus on trying to be great at drawing.

I need to be filling up sketch books with drawings.

A really great drummer or guitar player has to keep practicing to keep their chops up right?
Drawing is my instrument (or would a pencil be my instrument?) and I need some practice!

I’m going to totally go back to the life drawing sessions Monday nights at Hipbone Studio as soon as I ain’t so broke!

Filed under: baby, artworks, G NOODLE | 1 Comment »

We were driving home from our trip to Washington over the weekend on empty and were forced to pay $4.19 a gallon for gas off of I-5. Man oh man that hurts! Who can afford to drive anywhere anymore? I’m thinking about trading my car in for a moped. I could drive that around everywhere right?

Yeah, I’m starting to worry about money. I guess I’m not ’starting’. I always worry about money. I think my worries are increasing. Worrying about money is papa’s job now though. I’m thinking listening to hours of doom and gloom about the economy on NPR isn’t helping me either. I’ve got to figure out a way to get me a nice chunk of change…

So if we are going to be spending 50 dollars a shot at the gas station, I’m going to have to cut back on my spending in other areas. K and I aren’t good at budgeting or tightening our belts (we like to live large) but we are going to have to do something!

No more lunches at the White Eagle for me. Cheap beer instead of the fancy stuff from now on. No more quad venti mochas.

One money saver that has been annoyingly difficult for me is the music buying. It’s stupid. I don’t need to be buying any more music! I’ve got plenty now to listen to. I think it’s hard for me because I’m sitting at work with my headphones on and I’m constantly running into new and exciting musics. I get a taste for something or I think something like “Gosh, I don’t have Skinny Puppy’s Too Dark Park on my iPod”, and that evil BUY ALBUM button is sitting there in iTunes all sexy like. It’s too easy. I get in certain moods and crave certain sounds or genres.

This morning I almost pulled the trigger on a new band I discovered called, “A Place to Bury Strangers“. Oh man, those kids are itching me where I scratch! I really liked the songs I sampled. It was exactly what I was craving. I hear they are touring with NIN?

I pulled myself down off of the iTunes money spending cliff by giving myself a heavy dose of what I figured A Place to Bury Strangers musical equivalent was that I already had in my possession.

My prescription included:

The Cure’s “Pornography” (Oh hey, The Cure DVD “Trilogy” is available on Netflix. Hold on while I add that to the queue),
The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Honey’s Dead“,
and The Blood Brother’s “Young Machetes” (so good).

That seems to have done the trick. My craving has subsided and my thirst has been quenched.

For now…

Filed under: music | 1 Comment »

The Little Noodle took us up to Shelton Washington last weekend for a couple of days of visiting with our homies. We had some good fun. It was the G’s first overnight trip away. Yep Kathleen and Lynarra get to claim that as a first for the history books. He did pretty good! They didn’t hear a peep from him during the night. That’s probably because he wasn’t sleeping right next to them. He did some crying in the wee hours of course. One of our goals with the little guy is to make him a good traveler. K and I definitely don’t want to be the kind of parents that turn down activities in fear of bringing an unruly baby. So far so good. Shelton was a good test run. Yes there are photos.

We have been doing some good work in the television life whittling away department lately.

We just finished up season 2 of The Wire. Season 3 disc 1 will be coming in the mail today. Oh my. What a show!

Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica is plodding along. We haven’t been enjoying this season as much as the last two. I hear season 4 is the final season? Fine by me. I think the high quality of the other shows we are currently watching is doing harm to BSG. It doesn’t hold up in comparison to our other viewings.

Oh my! The three hour LOST season 4 finale was something to behold wasn’t it? It was awesome. Don’t worry. I won’t give anything away if you haven’t seen it yet. There are some wacky events unfolding for sure. It is great to be caught up again. I’m going through all of the web stuffs that I skipped out of fear of spoilers now. We have to wait 8 months now until season 5! Dang!

Yeah, TV, right?

Oh hey, Kathleen turned me on to a really cool link over the weekend: Librivox. Have you been there? It’s a website where you can download free public domain audiobooks for listening. There are some good titles. Classic stuff mostly. Well, old enough to be in the public domain. I’m trying to make my brain bigger while at work. I’m listening to “The Critique of Pure Reason” by Immanuel Kant which I am having trouble following, and “The Communist Manifesto” by Marx and Engels which is easier on my little brain.

Filed under: baby, TV, G NOODLE | No Comments »

Why didn’t you guys tell me I was managing my RSS feeds like a chump? Before yesterday I was just saving my feeds in my bookmarks bar up top in safari and clicking on each bookmark when a new number popped up.

Yesterday morning while sipping a fresh cup of coffee and checking my Gmail, I stumbled into the Google Reader area. Google reader is awesome! Why haven’t I been using it all along? I have all of my feeds in one nicely organized page now. All of my updates are conveniently located in one spot. I slipped in a Craigslist RSS that loads up all of the art/media/design job postings in Portland when they get posted (you never know). I also have a folder that loads up all of the new Flickr photo updates that I follow.

It’s also cool because you can automatically share articles with your other Google Reader friends that you are hooked up with. Oh yes, and look at the handy link that I can connect to the journal so all you all can view my shared items. This really adds a new twist to the blog notes posts I have been doing.

Gosh, I know. Welcome to Web 2.0 Noodle! Don’t laugh. I’m silly. I know it. I should have known better. I have been aware of the RSS aggregator, reader fun since my school days, but never investigated.

If you haven’t though, you should totally check out the Google Reader.

OH YES! 9.5 hours until the weekend! I can’t wait!

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