andrewandtracy.com

After a rather mild (and humid) May and June, we’re finally getting into the decent warm weather, which means more time outside for projects…and of course, spoiling the dog.

We’re slowly converting the north aisle along the house into a dog run. Took out all the weeds (except for the tiny ones which will grow into large weeds by this time next year), cedar chips and some rocks this weekend, followed by two coats of Roundup. This was the first weekend it made any sense to use any so it could officially bake that section and really force those weeds out. After some more rock removal, landscaping and crawlspace-ventilation-protection, our hope is to have it done in mid-July, with some fresh concrete slabs, new cedar chips, chain link fence/gate, and a new outdoor home for Danzig. Hopefully we’ll get 30 days of use before we have to bring him back inside for the cold season. Luckily, dog runs do slightly help home resale values in the Portland area. It’s a dog city, to say the least.

Other than that, we’re spending most of the summer working (thank Jebus), doing odd jobs around the house, occasional beer fests, and preparing for our Alaskan cruise in September. Since we don’t have any kids to take pics of, this update has even more photos of Danzig…probably more than any blog update should. Spoiled dog? That’s a big 10-4!

This toy lasted 18 hours after purchase, just six short of my prediction. Still, a $2 plastic foot was worth it, knowing Tracy’s major case of podophobia.

Great shot of lil’ D in the back yard, standing proud next to his favorite stick. The best dog toys are usually the free ones.

Danzig learning some “life skills” courtesy of his mother.

Trading places in their traditional “roles.”

He’s getting good at this new skill of his. A quick learner.

Another shot of the student, soon to become the master.

One afternoon he somehow found an old Coke can in our back yard. He’s becoming an explorer, which naturally worries us.

Many of our friends will be stoked on this photo. But let’s be honest: this shirt was only $4 on sale, they didn’t have any OSU shirts in his size, and Linfield doesn’t even make shirts for dogs. So U of Oregon Duck fans get lucky.

A new sleeping angle, showing a little tooth.

Danzig recently discovered a new love: Jamba Juice. You could say he’s really INTO it. (Doh!)

Sorry for the lack of updates. Facebook and Twitter are becoming way too easy to use, whereas this blog takes a lot of time to set up. Still, I shouldn’t neglect this site for many reasons. Hopefully this will catch everyone up in a brief amount of time.

First off, Danzig’s growing like a weed. Not biting as much, but still being rambunctious and fun. I just found a few photos sitting on the camera drive that needed to be published, so let’s fast-forward from January through today.

Early days, trying to educate him about the world’s sport.

He’s always been a good sleeper.

Then he started sleeping with assorted toys, plus an old sandal and sock of mine.

In addition to soccer, he’s also a Trail Blazers fan. (This was taken right after game 5 against the Rockets, which sadly was there last home game of the 2009 season.)

Now he’s bigger, older, and resorting to drinking.

In other news, we had ENOUGH of the sweet gum tree in the front yard. Very pretty, but soaked up all the water, leaving nothing for the front lawn. Plus, it dropped too many pods and leaves for us to maintain. So we went against Oregon hippie law and had it cut down.

Before the big chop.

Trimming a little off the sides.

Obligatory limb-falling action shot!

Chopping the limbs up and clearing them out before the next one falls.

Trimming just a bit more.

If this site had more traffic, I could have charged this company for advertising, or had the tree chopped down for free!

Immediately after the main operation. Anyone need some stump rounds?

Now we know how the pot holders keep ending up in the dog crate.

Those jerks just ranked Portland, OR as America’s unhappiest city.

They can choke on a vegan burrito while I put on my goth paint and listen to Bauhaus.

March 29th is the day when a single video game that has my undivided attention is released. Guitar Hero is already a franchise that I’ve fully bought into (except the Aerosmith version…whatever). If there’s one band that truly deserves the GH treatment, it’s the greatest metal band ever.

Now some fans will whine and moan and complain about the track listing below. Some will say there’s not enough pre-1987 tracks. Some will say there’s too much post-haircut tracks. I say whatever. We should just be thrilled that technology has come so far in our time that we can pretend to be the 5th member of Metallica for hours on end.

Metallica Tracks
All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

As part of the game, other bands will be added to the list. Not sure how this will play into the storyline of the game, but again…whatever. More good songs to play!

Other Artists
Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob Seger - Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate - Evil
Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain - Mother of Mercy
Slayer - War Ensemble
Social Distortion - Mommy’s Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
System of a Down - Toxicity
The Sword - Black River
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town

Thanks to Xbox Live, there should be some decent downloadable content for the game. Here are my suggested make-up tracks for the developers:

Kill ‘em All: The Four Horsemen, Jump In The Fire, Metal Militia
Ride The Lightning: The Call of Ktulu
Master of Puppets: Leper Messiah, Damage Inc.
…And Justice For All: Blackened, And Justice For All, Harvester of Sorrow, The Frayed Ends of Sanity
Metallica: Don’t Tread On Me, Of Wolf and Man
Load: Ain’t My Bitch, The House That Jack Built, Hero of the Day
Re-Load: nothing from this album
St. Anger: nothing from this album either
Death Magnetic: The Judas Kiss, My Apocalypse

I’m hoping my connections to some of the people making this game (thanks to my previous employer) take these suggestions seriously.