I'm finally moving off Blogger soon. It's been frustrating using it over the past few years -- either it's down or my template updates takes forever. I've started blogging at the root level of my site, spablab.com. I've installed Drupal and I can decide who can view my posts based on who I allow to become users on my site. Ned influenced me after trying out other CMS tools and finding them a bit over the top.
I'm also ditching Tagboard. It seems it's kind of served it's purpose, plus it's been getting abused lately and I'm tired of reading it or deleting it.
So if you want, head over to here, but be aware it will be going through some updates, as well as merging content. Artpusher.com is also saying goodbye, but I'll be redoing Sonya's site and integrating it to spablab.com. I eventually plan on having Drupal run /blab, so hold off on any bookmarking for now. Sorry for the confusion.
4:01 PM
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
Unsigned Bands
Are you like me and dig hearing underground unsigned music? The label, FatCat, which is a nice company (with cool artists like 'Animal Collective', 'Mum', 'Sigur Ros', and 'Songs of Green Pheasant') that has a page dedicated to acts they didn't sign but have tons of potential, nonetheless. The page is cool as it features what the demo cd looks like plus a couple of tracks you can listen or download. And of course you can send in your own material too, to see if they sign you, put you on this page, or drop your ass (cause you suck!). [link]
And speaking of Song of Green Pheasant, this solo act is great. He's like Mark Hollis/Talk Talk, Flying Saucer Attack, Simon/Garfunkel, and Galaxie 500 all rolled into one. Check out and listen to some tracks from his debut album here1:58 PM
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Clark and Michael
Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Superbad fame has his own hilarious internet tv documentary-style show with his buddy Clark called "Clark and Michael". Watch it here5:21 PM
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Thursday, December 06, 2007
The Baby Life
You probably have been asking, "Wonder what Spab's been doing lately, well the answer is simple, baby 24/7. It's been great, and never a dull moment. We just took him in to get his shots yesterday, and that was a bit rough. Four shots, two in each leg, then an oral. We also switched doctors for Julian too, since the previous one was kind of weird. He was more interested in talking about how Korean Sonya is, than what's best for the baby. He also wore a moustache - that should have been the dead giveaway.
So Julian is now 14lbs 11oz and almost 25" tall. He's in the 95% of kids his age. He eats so much now that the doctor said we might have to supplement real food if he continues at this rate. Also the bassinet he sleeps in is getting too small so we might move the crib into our room since we don't want him sleeping completely alone yet.
Other news, if you haven't noticed, spablab.com is going through a site change. I've installed Mambo CMS to take over. I'll probably stop using Blogger once everything is done and then I'll have complete control of my blogging as well as having everything write to a database.
3:46 PM
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Saturday, November 17, 2007
All in the Mind
Back in 1992 while visiting England I met a gal there who made me a compilation cassette which had a track from an up-and-coming band. Thought they were great, and now 8 years after they broke up, they're back (let's hope they don't suck). Anyway, the video track below is great.
Watch out Apple iPod, I read a good article about these Mac/Win compatible mp3/video players. Many come with player, video, FM transmitter, FM/live-recorder. [link]
4:20 PM
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Satan's Holiday
We originally were going to visit family and friends in Indiana this week but I decided I wasn't up for sitting in the car for several hours yet. The past week has been much better than the previous few weeks. I'm walking close to normal and pains come and go and don't linger too long. I've also been working out more than an hour a day (30mins in morning and evening). My exercises increase every week by my physical therapist. Yesterday we worked on nothing but body mechanics -- how to grab and object and place it on the ground. I also worked on stomach muscle exercises and we talked about how much baby lifting should I be doing right now. Probably the toughest part of this injury is lack of holding Julian. I'm not supposed to hold him too much to put strain on my back, so I usually chill out with him on the couch or in bed, or do things like change his diaper on our changing table (which is at a good height for me).
I think back of those days of carrying giant computer monitors down stairwells, or lifting an entire dresser by myself, it's stupid, those days are over, and I'm more than happy to be free of them. I always wanted to outdo myself, and in the end I did.
Today is Halloween and none of us are prepared, we've pretty much just hung around listening to music, looking at pictures on Flickr, watching Julian, and taking walks in our hood this week. The house is kind of a wreck, but it doesn't matter, Julian is doing well, I'm feeling better, and Lewis enjoys being around us. :)
8:49 AM
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Went on Thursday to a pain doctor to determine if being put on steroids was the right decision to take. My physical therapist recommended that taking this course of action was the smart thing to do (and the only way to be approved for a steroid is by getting an MRI). Overall I'm approving even though I was having sciatic nerve flare ups in the middle of the night. It's like a burning sensation in my hamstring down to my calf. Having this pain was something I thought that if being put on steroids would decrease the inflammation, then this would take the hernated disc gel off that S1 nerve and that would decrease or remove the pinched nerve. So after reviewing my condition, the doctor felt getting a lumbar epidural steroid shot would be the right course (non-evasive) action. So I layed down on a table and they took X-rays of my lumbar area to determine where to place the needle. The whole process was pretty easy minus one millisecond. That millisecond was went the fluid enter the inflammed area near the nerve. It was a horrible pain that made me shake and then I was fine.
So how am I feeling since the shot? Well the shot helped ALOT. All the sciatic pain went away completely. The steroid is a massive inflammatory course of action that hopefully will keep the disc off the nerve until my body naturally heals on it's own. My herniated disc could take anywhere from 1-6 months to heal, so until then I really have to watch out. I feel good today and moving around quite well. The area near the herniation (just above my tailbone) is obviously touchy and I must keep my back straight with only bending it backward, not forward. My limp is almost gone minus some numbness still on the right side of my right foot. Sometimes I fell my sciatic nerve at night, but it's doable. I have to be picky on where I sit and need lots of lumbar support at home. I have a great office chair at work, but the commute on the train is rough so I've been wearing a lumbar support belt, which helps. I work out 2x a day -- all stretching for a total of an hour. I also realign my pelvis and stretch my sciatic nerve.
So you might ask, did Julian in his carseat break my back? No, he was just the straw that broke my back. My condition hadn't been great since July when I pulled muscles in my back which then hit my sciatic nerve. The back muscles are the key to the entire condition of the spine. I failed over basically the last 10 years to really strengthen my back muscles by stretching. Weightlifting alone doesn't mean I was strengthening these muscles -- only by stretching paired with my personal state of mind. All the factors of my back going out was the stress of the birth of Julian matched with an injury in July and lack of taking the correct measures to insure a healthy body.
I'm currently reading a book that might have just saved me. It's called "Healing Back Pain Naturally: The Mind-Body Program Proven to Work". The guy's story is incredible. He was a total exercise freak like me that went down a serious black hole. He talks about how back troubles aren't just about injuring it, but also stress that we carry around with us. This stress causes the muscles to be tense which amps up the possibility of pulling the muscles. Stretching/yoga/pilates type of daily exercise is fundamental to a healthy mind and body. I'm only 1/4th through it, but his message is something that anyone with back trouble should check out. Even ole' Andrew Weil gives it a thumbs up.
So it's Saturday, we just gave Julian a bath, I have a full week off, and I hope to enjoy it as mellow as possible.
11:44 AM
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Monday, October 22, 2007
Herniated nucleus pulposus (slipped disc)
Went to the doctor this morning and he read me the results of my MRI -- slipped disc. This could take up to six months to heal, maybe less with the correct core exercises and some luck. I have have nerve root compression. Only time will tell how the numbness in my foot and ankle will be once the gel substance that oozed out of my disc shrinks and stops irritating the nerve. My doc asked if I wanted to do the steroid injection to speed up reducing the inflammation which I think I'll do. I also want to talk to my physical therapist about what direction to take. Overall I am feeling better and the majority of pain is really in the middle of the night when my sciatica flares up. Other than that I can't walk correctly but my walk has improved quite a bit. Looks like I need to take it easy now for a while. Of course having a child doesn't give me too much down time.
11:45 AM
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
The injured new dad
As you might have read on my August 4th post, Comedy or Tragedy? the final analysis is tragedy. Almost two weeks ago this coming Monday, while my son was just over a week old, I decided to take a walk with Sonya's mom in the morning. But before I left, her mom and Sonya thought I should bring Julian with us. So I grabbed his car seat, stuck him in it, and proceeded down the stairwell out our back door. While walking down it, I felt an intense pain in my hip. Something so painful it was not like anything else I'd experienced but somewhat reminiscent of the pain I'd experienced in August. I almost dropped him but made it down to the parking lot where I thought maybe I could walk it off. Not a chance, the pain intensified and I had to call Sonya to come down so that she and her mom could take the boy up. The pain lasted all day and I couldn�t do anything comfortable but stand. I tried taking a bath but couldn't bear it. All day I was miserable until around 8pm when I realized I couldn't sleep because laying down hurt. So Sonya, Julian, and I headed to the ER. The car ride over was the worst part of the entire thing. I felt like my hip was broken or that I was in labor or something, and by the time we got to the hospital I almost passed out. My breathe was erratic and eventually had to put my head down so I wouldn't completely fall over. Eventually we were in a room and the doctor said I probably pinched my sciatic nerve. He then gave me a shot of Dilaudid which worked wonderfully then prescribed pain meds and sent me home.
Next up I visited my doctor. Since the injury I've experience some numbness in my right foot and calf and felt like I blew out my calf, so I've been limping. At first I couldn't even walk right at all, but since then my walk has improved a lot but not completely. My doctor gave me a reflex test and noticed not much reaction from my ankle area which is why I've been limping. He then had me get an MRI and this Monday will tell me the results. It's possible I have a slipped disc, maybe two, who knows? When a disc slips, this gel-like substance can ooze out and hit the sciatic nerve causing intense pain. Plus inflammation can occur exacerbating it even more. So last Weds I went in for my first ever MRI. I'm not claustrophobic so the whole thing didn't bother me plus the noise emitted from the machine sounded like some industrial symphony or communication to aliens. I actually enjoyed the whole thing and it almost put me to sleep.
In addition to seeing the doctor, taking pain meds, and trying to take it easy, I've been seeing a physical therapist. This has been the best medicine for me since the PT has been training me how I should walk, lift things, and move. She said my pelvis on the right was a bit high so she gave me exercises for that. Also my back is very long which increases the chances of me injuring it. She continues to stress "core exercises". These are the fundamentals of a strong body. So I've been exercising the best way possible based completely on her program. She also got me a little device that sends electrical stimulation to my back. It both massages the area and tells the brain to send endorphins. It's been a great help.
Ok, so here I am 12 days after my injury. I'm still in pain, it's still hard to sleep painlessly, I'm limping, and yes, I'm a new dad. The part about being a dad has been more difficult that anything else. This means that Sonya has to do almost all the work, and right now we're really in hard times. To add to this, Sonya had an infection from her C-section that wasn't healing so she had to get on antibiotics. Well that didn't work so they said if these new antibiotics that they're going to give her didn't work, she'd have to be admitted for 48 hours and Julian couldn't come with her. It tore her up, plus the fact that there's some super bug staph out there. The good news was that the new antibiotic did work and she didn't have the super bug but did have a staph infection. We were pretty ticked off that she picked up an infection at a hospital! Never mind the fact that the four days we were there, I slept on some of the worst beds for fathers imaginable which definitely wore my back down.
So whoever reads this, send us good thoughts. The good news is that Julian is doing well, aside from eating continuously. He's a lot of work, like any baby, but he's a good kid and Sonya and I are hoping for a quick recovery so we can get on with being functional parents.
7:14 AM
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Saturday, October 06, 2007
The beginning of parenthood and my favorite little man
It started Friday night, the Cubs beat the Reds, and the Brewers lose to the Padres giving the Cubs their first NL Central Champion since 2003. Afterwards I decided to relax next to Sonya on our bed and take in another episode of Survivorman. Near the end of the episode Sonya yelps and tries to get off our bed while water is exploding out of her body. It was like dropping a water balloon onto the ground. We then knew that the approaching boy was near so we called her mid-wivery group to let them know. The answer was hold tight until morning and keep track of contractions, which was starting to happen now and then. The one odd thing about her water breaking was that it was dark brown and yellow too. We knew that this could be merconian (fecal matter) that the boy emitted inside the womb. So we called back again and they told us to leave and come straight over.
We packed around midnight and left our place under a full harvest moon. When we arrived the place was a madhouse of nurses trying to accommodate a record breaking birthing evening. Sonya and I got a room and the first step was to listen to the heartbeat. The nurse tried to find it and failed and this went on for several minutes. Sometimes she could get it, then it would go silent. Sonya started to fret and another nurse walked in and decided instead of looking down near her pelvis, to try up near her chest. Spot on. The baby was frank breech and perhaps why the water burst so hard was that Julian decided he wasn't coming out head first (I don't blame him ;) ). The breech paired with merconian equaled C-section within 1/2-hr. The doctor came in and said that Sonya needed a spinal block. A spinal block means the needle goes all the way into the spine, thus paralyzing her from the chest down. This was something beyond even what Sonya wanted. She had been fretting even the talk of an epidural, but now she needed something even more intense. We talked about it and said that it was meant to be this way and that there was nothing we could do at this point but make sure he came out w/o complications.
At around 2am Sonya went in for her spinal block while Suk Hi and I waited in the recovery room. About 15mins later one of the nurses ran in and told me to come to the operating room. I was fully fitted in gear and sat at the front of Sonya with a tent blocking the view of her stomach. Sonya was shaking in part because of the anastesia, but also nerves. She was afraid and I grabbed her hand and started telling jokes and talking about events of the day while the anesthesiologist would say we have 10mins alone before the baby arrives, then 5mins, then finally down to 1min. Then they told me to stand up if I want to see my son. I stood up, looking over the tent at Sonya's stomach cut open and the boy was quietly squirming. Probably the most amazing of moment of my life to date. Nothing close could compare to this. They then moved him over to the heat lamp and began cleaning him off and then the cry banged out and I clapped. I stood up and walked over to him. I started by saying hello and talking to him. Funny cause it was almost like he was thinking, "I know that damn voice somewhere?". The only problem was that the nurses took way too long to hand over Julian to Sonya, but eventually after measuring and weighing him, he came into my arms for a second and then straight to Sonya. Everything was fine and shortly later we were all wheeled into the recovery room.
Because of the record load of births we could not stay in that room, we had to move at around 7am into another room with a mother and new infant and share it. Our space was only large enough for Sonya's bed, the bassinet, and a chair for me. I had already been up all night and now I had a chair to cut some Zs, which did not happen. The good thing about where our hospital is, is that it's only a mile from our place, so I did frequent stops back and forth to get and drop things off. Also my mom, grandma, aunt and uncle were on their way after leaving at the crack of dawn from Bedford to be here on his birth date.
We entered the hospital around midnight on Sept 28th (Friday) and stayed until Monday Oct 1st in the afternoon. Sonya was moved once again on Saturday night into a bigger room so that I could actually sleep there, but even with that sleeping in a hospital sucks. I think showering was the only bit of relief from staying up 48 hours and sleeping on a cot that looked 30 years old. But I would say one thing, it was nice staying there a few days as Sonya got good treatment by the nurses and was able to talk to a lot of people on caring for Julian and herself as well. She was pretty sore and on Motrin during the whole stay and I probably needed something too just for being worn out, but I toughed it out. :)
Today marks Julian being a week old. Sonya's mom and dad have been here since the Thursday before his birth date and Julian is getting used to the house, breastfeeding, my pinky, changing diapers, Lewis, funny smells, and peeing straight into the air. He had a checkup with our wacky pediatrician and he got the stamp of good health. He's been a good sleeper (knock on wood) and last night slept from 9:30p till around 8:30am after I woke him up. Sonya's been around the clock breastfeeding but last night he wasn't hungry for 5 hours. We have his bassinet in our room and glider chair and changing table too while her parents are here and it's working well. His afternoon involves eating, sleeping, crapping loudly, peeing, head exercises, and now stroller rides in our hood.
I love him so much and I'm proud of him.
10:12 AM
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In two days Sonya will be 39 weeks. She's still working and on her feet but we both know a change is near. He's big and now is the time to come outside. We also squared away where my mom, grandma, aunt and uncle will be staying once we give them the word that "it's on!". I go through periods of being anxious when I think about it, but I'm trying to focus on everything happening the way it should. Yesterday morning Sonya said her stomach felt real tight and that that was a sporadic labor pain (Braxton Hicks).
I went to my second session at an acupuncturist on Monday. Krishna (my acupuncturist) started out the session with fire cupping. It didn't hurt, and actually felt good, then went into sticking me with needles. I felt uncomfortable, although not too much, with a couple of needles in me. One in my upper back and one in my right foot. When she would turn the needles, I could feel "the pull" that she would ask me about often. The fire cupping seemed to straighten me out a bit and in addition I felt a bit loopy on the train ride home. My mind couldn't focus all that much, but I saw it as a plus since I'm tired of thinking all the time.
2:37 PM
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Sunday, September 16, 2007
the wait
We're all packed in preparation for Sonya's impending labor. The house is almost ready for Sonya's parents who arrive Sept 27th unless she goes in labor early, then they can change their ticket and come immediately. My family is also on standby. My mom, grandma, and aunt Lana are definitely coming up, with an assorted variety of other family members possibly coming depending on what time and day of the week all this goes down. We spent today cleaning up our bedroom and straightening the living room and kitchen. I was also able to squeeze in archiving a bunch of music to disc today and organizing my computers. Aside from that Sonya wants me to review our helpful DVD class and read an extended article on acupressure during labor.
The boy's room has been rearranged for Sonya's parents and I removed a few weeks back a double futon bed and frame and replaced it with a nice double-high queen-sized areobed. I've also been washing the windows and doing those little things that never get done.
Overall Sonya continues to be active. Last night we ventured to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in Uptown, which is one of the central locations for that community. We ate at a place called Cafe Laos which got good reviews online and I think it's actually Laotian and not Vietnamese as the dishes were slightly different. The food wasn't bad, but the inside of the place kind of sucked and the neighborhood was run down and nothing I would want to return to. After that our Saturday night highlight was grocery shopping at Jewel. We rotate from Whole Foods to Trader Joe's to Jewels.
Today the weather was perfect. Just gorgeous and she and I did a 30-40min walk after we had finished cleaning. I felt her stomach yesterday and I tell ya, there's a liitle person with some strong legs. I would push his feet away and he'd kick back. It's bizarre but he's already a member of the family. I'm always asking Sonya how "how are you guys doing?". I mean, hey, there's two of them. She's ready for him to come on out now and says it semi-often.
The clothes are ready, the room put together, the space has been figured out, and of course Lewis marked one of the baby's little rockers which we got from a friend, but that friend has a cat, so I got to remember that everything must be washed if it's come from somewhere else with pets.
I just read my post, it's pretty disjointed but I've got a lot on my mind. You know the expression, "running to the finish line". Yeah, I'm running to the finish line.
Tomorrow after work I go to the acupuncturist for my back. If you want to know the state of my back now, the pain is gone, but I still feel stiff. I want to see getting this problem fixed, as at some point I'd like to come down to Bloomington and play some pick-up racquetball with various friends. Man I long for those days of playing almost everyday.
One of the last tracks Todd, Eric, and I wrote back in 1999 was called "Opium Den". Recorded in Chicago and engineered by Carl Saff. To listen and/or download, click here.
I need to get this up on MFT at some point.
12:57 PM
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Reflection of 10 years ago (Somnambulist)
Eleven years ago in the Summer of 1997, Todd Carter and I were working on our first Somnambulist album after finally recording a Did album that was 3 years overdue after our band broke up in the Summer of 1994. We decided that Summer of 1997 that we would separately work on each writing tracks and then come together for a week of recording and mastering the album. 'Did' was a full band, but 'Somnambulist' was a duo. I would write lyrics, sing, play bass and keys, Todd would sing, write lyrics, guitar, and drums. We had everything covered. He was living in Chicago, and I was still in Bloomington. So sometime during an extremely hot week, with no air conditioning in his 4th FL flat, we worked 14 hour days working out the kinks and recording them. Our first track, "End of the 20th Century" was already recorded in Bloomington with Ned Baugh on drums. It was a completely joint track, and to this date my favorite on the album. The rest of the track ownership went as follows, "Smell the Flowers" (me), "Deadly Orgone" (joint, with Miles Newcombe on environmental sounds), "Touch and Believe" (me), Incandescent (todd), "On Horsell Common" (me), "Again" (me, and already recorded on the 'Beyond Cryptic' Grasspig album), "Transgression" (todd), "She's Imagining Again" (todd), "Tuscaloosa" (todd), "On the Other Side of Seeing (Desiring Machine)" (joint). Most of what I brought to this album should have been recorded on a Grasspig album, but I decided at some point that I would keep them Somnambulist material. Overall the album was rushed, kind of disjointed, the mixing wasn't that great, and we overextended ourselves. Looking back now, it was worth it.
Back from an extended weekend in Bedford. I took down the last pieces of our condo that didn't make the cut since the boy is now due in about 4 weeks. Once I was there I removed my old bed and replaced it with our double-sized futon and conversion couch/bed frame. It didn't end there as my grandparents had lightening hit a tree which knocked out power to half the house. Once the electricians came they realized it wasn't up to code (since it�s been pretty much the same since the 1950s) so they had to rewire a ton of stuff, making my grandmother nervous. Several things had been zapped by the lightening, like a TV and answering machine, and some lamps, so I went out with her and got those replaced and worked on setting them up with a new doorbell and answering machine. As I'm still not 100% recovered from my back pain, I had to be really careful moving things around without totally throwing my back out again. I still have pain when I bend forward, but I can lift things up as long as I'm not bending. I'm scheduling another acupuncture session very soon.
So once I moved things around at my grandparents I purchased a glider rocking chair and my brother's jogging stroller, plus my mom and grandma gave me yet more baby clothes. We have so many clothes its nuts. I think the Boy has finally out clothed me and he's not even here yet!
While being home, I spent Saturday night at Scott's bonfire, while a small group of people joined, the weather was absolutely amazing. Crisp, cool, and with the bonfire going it was wonderful. I enjoyed seeing and talking to everyone there, especially at around 10:30pm when all the kids had gone or went to bed and Scott had had a few too many beers and started bringing out his sailor mouth. He cracked me up. I think Justine was ready to leave him there that night. Well he got me laughing pretty hard so it was probably worth it, yeah?
The next day, I finally got to check out the Mundane Men for the first time. Apparently the Mundane Men are thinking of changing their name since adding ex-Plastic Cheeses Brad Wilhelm to the mix. They're now officially more rock than ever, and I dig the heavier sound. It was hot that day, and I think the band felt like they suffered a bit from the heat. Afterwards we headed over to Upland Brewery and indulged in food and drink. Oh, and Ned and I saw some graffiti artists in an alley behind Rhinos -- yes we were excited seeing the anti-established artists at work!
After returning to Chicago yesterday afternoon, Sonya and I put some of the final work to finishing out "the nest". We went to Target and bought the remaining goods for the Boy, then I put together both my brother's running stroller and our regular stroller, and my cousins baby rocker and the glider. Then after all of that I installed the baby seat and called it a day. Next up is packing our clothes and waiting until the Boy is ready to leave the inner premises. Last night he had the hiccups and was bouncing around in Sonya's gut. Made me laugh.
10:00 AM
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It started Friday night, the Cubs beat the Reds, and the Brewers lose to the Padres giving the Cubs their first NL Central Champion since 2003. Afterwards I decided to relax next to Sonya on our bed and take in another episode of 
