Chinese Democracy

So, Guns n' Roses have a new album coming out at the end of this month. It's been almost 14 years since their last album.

Rolling Stone called it "the most anticipated record ever." But is it? Do people really care about Axl Rose anymore?

I'll admit, I'm intrigued, and I don't consider myself a GnR fan. I don't own a single one of their albums, and I sometimes even wince when one of their tracks come on the jukebox.

Yet Chinese Democracy is almost legendary at this point. It has its own mythos at this point. How many times did Axl say this album was going to be released? And it never came to fruition. Finally, at the end of this month, it will be available -- at Best Buy only. Another chapter to the saga of Chinese Democracy.

I enjoy following the music industry. As many of you know, music is one of my passions, especially live music. I like seeing how many albums Nickelback sells out of morbid curiosity. Same thing with the "Now That's What I Call Music Vol. XXX" CDs.

So... how many albums will Best Buy sell of Chinese Democracy? And more important... will they outsell AC/DC's new album, Black Ice?

That's more important because me and the wife have a friendly bet on it. Adro says GnR will sell less albums than AC/DC does in their respective first weeks. AC/DC sold north of 800,000 copies their first week (that CD was available at Wal-Mart only, another exclusive). I say they'll sell more than AC/DC -- I'm thinking they'll sell north of 1 million CDs.

Really, the whole thing is mostly a statement about how pathetic the music industry is right now. AC/DC and GnR are the two hot bands right now? Apparently, the youth of this generation simply does not know how to rock. We need a new rock savior. ASAP.

So, I'll have a new poll up after the completion of this current poll. (And thanks to everyone who has voted in this current poll -- I believe 20 voters is a new record for EspeciallyEvey.) The question: Will Guns 'n' Roses sell more albums their first week than AC/DC (800,000+) did?

Four generations of Weibels

Here are two photos we took this summer while we were visiting Adrianne's Dad and his family in southern Missouri. I have a lot more photos from that trip that I need to post still...

Bad news -- Evey is sick. Daycare called us in the afternoon to come take her away. Apparently, she had thrown up on everything, including her cool Nikes. We got a late doctor's appointment... she threw up on the car ride over, and she threw up while waiting for the doctor. !Pobre sita! They gave her a shot for nasuea and the evening has been going better so far... we'll see how it goes from here on out... now that dad wants to get some sleep too. The plan right now is that I'll be staying home with her tomorrow. So it will be a Shrek 1-3 marathon tomorrow. Whooo!

Explanation of previous post

Sorry for the lack of commentary on the previous post... I intended on going back and adding some details on Sunday night, then never got to it...

So, anyway, the first clip is taken from the new Esquire. The good news is, I'm not the most boring Seth Jones on the planet. Let's move on.

The comic book art is from El Diablo # 2. The art posted all out of order for me, sorry if that was a mess to read. The story is by Jai Nitz. I've mentioned Jai here before. I've known Jai for a long time now, probably ten years? Since before he was writing comics. I also work with his wife, Angela. I also know the art team on the book, Phil and Ande. So I know all these guys... and Jai threw my name in the book! How cool is that?!? Also notice that Bunny, who gets her head chopped off? That's the name of my boss. So we were both mentioned in Jai's comic. I saw him a few weeks ago, and I was like, "Dude, you killed me! ...THANK YOU!"

What's really shocking to me is how many times they say "SETH JONES." It's never, "Man, that dude killed Jones." It's, "Why would they do this to SETH JONES?" "I don't know, SETH JONES is a cool dude." "That's what I think of SETH JONES too!"

"SETH JONES!"

Jai told Angela that he used our names just because he liked them, but I think he was just giving a good ol' shout-out to his pal Jonesy. Thanks Jai, I appreciate it, man!

Seth Jones killed; Seth Jones talks terrorism

Some Friday thought blasts

• The Cork and Barrel story has created quite the conversation on that post. Click here to read the conversation that's gone on so far... 8 comments, I believe that may be a record! Of course, three are my own, but whatever.
• I've posted a new poll to see what you think about the results of the Cork and Barrel debacle. For the record, the last poll had 17 voters, 10 people supporting my boycott, 6 supporting it but wanting to know more, and 1 who thought I was a crotchety old man (thanks Neuty).
• There's been some good come out of this: I've finally learned how to spell 'barrel.' Weird, but I struggled with it. I wanted to spell it barell. I had to really commit to that second 'r' syllable bair-rel, not bair-ul. I can spell weird things like Roethlisberger no problem, but I was at M-W.com every time I had to write about C&B.
• While we're all protesting stuff now, stay away from Jimmy John's. Why? Click here to read Neuty's hilarious adventure with those guys recently. For maximum comedic effect, start reading the second part first (look for Neuty's signature and then read down) and read the post as if you were playing the part of Neuty after a 12-pack while watching the Broncos piss away a lead. Classic.
• TGIF. I've been tired all week. Don't know why. Probably because I haven't been working out lately.
• City League B-Ball team won tonight. I was 0-1 from the floor with three fouls and one ugly turnover. Stellar stat line, but I didn't play too terribly. I actually had one really worthwhile foul.
• They're saying crappy weather for the KU/UT game. Wonder how the game will be?
• I think that's all for now. I'm rambling. Like I said, I'm tired. Remember, I'm aging faster than you, according to the hue of my hair.

GCM hat

Fighting gigantism since last month

I asked Adro and Judy this evening, "Is it possible our daughter has gigantism?" Or however you spell it.

I mean seriously, she's still a few weeks away from her 2nd birthday... and she's GIANT. She's going to be taller than Grandma Judy in another 18 months if she keeps up this pace! She's practically tall enough to reach the tap on the kegerator already! Crikey!

Don't believe me? Check out these photos... taken last week, and taken oh... 21 months ago.

Cork and Barrel owner apologizes, 'appalled'

I got an email from Dan Blomgren, owner of Cork & Barrel, this morning. He asked me to call him at my earliest convenience. I called him as soon as I got the email.

When he picked up, he was in the middle of re-reading my letter, and he was "appalled."

In short, Blomgren apologized and wrote me a check for $50 -- the cost of the deposit of the keg. He dropped the check in the mail and told me not to worry about returning the keg shell, it's mine to keep for all the trouble I went through with his two stores.

The longer version is this: Blomgren was horrified by the treatment I received at his stores. He said he was amazed that he had this many jackasses working for him... that he hoped his employees don't think he'd treat people like that because the service I received is not the service he wants to be reflected of himself... that he was going to use my letter as a training tool of what not to do... that he was going to have his employees read the letter and count up the different mistakes that happened, he guessed there were at least a dozen... he went on, but he used the words "I'm appalled" and "I'm sorry" multiple times. I thanked him for returning my $50, and told him I would be throwing away my letter to the Better Business Bureau.

I'm happy that Blomgren cared enough to reach out to me and settle this situation. I'm really happy to be getting my $50 back, too. I don't like getting ripped off.

41 cents well spent.

The worldwide premier of... GHOST PIMP

Here it is folks... we showed it at Liberty Hall last Sunday... now, we're unleashing it on the web...

GHOST PIMP



Starring Bart Littlejohn as "Bart"
Seth Jones as "Psychic Seth"
Cinematography by Will Baxter

What'chu talkin about, J.J.?

Apparently, Lervik wasn't reading from the script as he read "Polar Bear, Polar Bear."

Mom and Dad a few weeks ago, with Evey

I wonder if Evey will ever go by "Eve" or if people will ever call her that? And for that matter, which will she even prefer -- Evelyn or Evey? Right now she calls herself Evey, but I'm sure that is just because it's easier for her to pronounce...

Here is a photo of my mom and dad's visit from a few weeks ago, when Will and Lervik were in town. This was taken after the Texas Tech game. My mom's arm is in a sling because she had surgery to repair some torn ligaments in her shoulder. She's still a bit banged up from the surgery, but she's getting along well.

Will was sitting right to my left when I snapped this photo, and Adro was sitting down on the steps. Five of my favorite people in the world all together right there, enjoying a cold beer on the front porch on a beautiful Kansas day. Great times. I wish somehow I could have got a photo of us all together.

My letter to Cork and Barrel

Sorry for the delay on this. FYI, I haven't mailed my letter to Papa John's yet -- I will do so tomorrow. As a litmus test to each business, I wanted to mail the letters on the same day just to see who responded first and how. You understand, I'm sure.

They both go in the mail tomorrow (Thursday). Let me know what you think of this one...

Thanks for reading.


To the owner or manager of Cork & Barrel:

I plan on sending the enclosed letter to the Better Business Bureau. However, if you can remedy the conflict I have with your store, I’d be happy to tear up the letter and forget about this mess.



In short, I want to return a keg shell to you in return for the $50 deposit I paid your store.If you need more details, you may read the enclosed letter to the BBB.


Thank you.


Seth Jones



To: the Better Business Bureau

From: Seth Jones


Hello,


I’m writing to you to let you know about the list of follies that beset me while trying to be a customer of Cork & Barrel in Lawrence, Kan.


Recently I bought a kegerator for my house. I went to the Cork & Barrel location at 23rd and Iowa Street in Lawrence to buy a pony (or half-barrel) keg for my new kegerator.


Trip # 1


My wife was with me during this trip. I asked the cashier for a pony keg of Boulevard Wheat, which she kindly rung up for me. I paid her, and she sent back one of her co-workers to fetch the pony keg. When he came back, he told us there were no more Boulevard Wheat pony kegs. So they had to refund my debit card, which she did. After they told me what they did have available, I settled on a full keg of Wheat. She charged me for the full keg. She sent a different co-worker back to fetch the full keg. He came back with a pony keg for me. He looked at his co-worker, the one who said there were no pony kegs. “Dude, there were a bunch of pony kegs back there,” he told his colleague. “There were?” he laughed, “I was just trying to up-sell him to the full keg.”


So they once again refunded my debit card, and again charged it for the pony keg. The good news is that all of these charges were correctly reflected on my debit card. While I was there, I paid the $50 deposit that was asked on the pony keg shell.


Trip # 2

It’s a week later. I’ve invited over some friends, and sure enough, the pony keg runs dry. This time, I decide to go with the full keg of beer. Since I have a group of friends over, I wanted to get the new keg quickly, so my guests would not go without drinks for long.

My friend Eric and I went to the Cork & Barrel at 9th and Mississippi, since this one is closer to my house (the close proximity to my house of this branch was one of the reasons I chose C&B in the first place). I grabbed the pony keg shell and started walking inside with it. I was stopped before I got to the door by one of the C&B employees, who was smoking outside. “We don’t have pony kegs,” he told me. “That’s OK, I don’t want a pony keg,” I replied. “Well, we don’t deal in pony kegs, either,” he told me. “Wait – it’s OK, I bought this from your sister site at 23rd and Iowa, I just want to get a full keg of Boulevard Wheat…” “That may be the case, but we don’t work in pony kegs over here – we won’t trade you for it…” “I bought this from you guys, why can’t I trade you back what I bought from you?” “Doesn’t work that way. You have to take it back to 23rd and Iowa.”

Frustrated, I hopped back in my car and headed across town to the 23rd and Iowa branch. So much for the convenience of having two locations, one being close to my house. I walk in to the 23rd and Iowa location and set my pony keg shell on the counter and ask for the full keg of Boulevard Wheat.

“But you’re trading in a pony shell,” the cashier said to me.
“Yes, I know. But I want the full barrel this time.”
“Well, you can’t trade in a pony shell and get a full shell – that’s not fair.”
“Not fair? What’s not fair about it?”
“Well, it’s not right.”
“Wait… let me get this clear – what is the cost of the deposit on the full shell?” I asked.
“$50.”
“Well, I paid $50 for the deposit on this shell. How is that not fair?”
“Listen, I’m not saying I’m not going to let you do it… but you have to promise me you’ll bring this shell back to us.”
“Promise? It’s the same price! I just want my keg! I need to get back to my house with this beer quickly…”
“OK, but you have to promise you’ll bring it back. This isn’t a fair trade.”
“Promise? Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll bring it back. I’ll get my $50 deposit back. And then I’ll never shop here again, because this is ridiculous – this makes no sense!”
“Well, good, don’t shop here again, because we don’t make any money off our keg sales anyway!”
“Can I just get this keg now?”

Finally, I was allowed to trade in my $50 shell for a $50 shell, even though it “wasn’t fair.” I didn’t have to “promise,” even though I absolutely planned on bringing back the keg shell so I could get back my $50 deposit.


Trip # 3

It’s a month later and the keg is empty. I take it back to C&B so I can get my deposit back and then take my business elsewhere.

I set the keg on the ground and politely tell the cashier that I’m there to get my deposit back. She asks for my name.

“Seth Jones,” I tell her.
She rummages through their collection of index cards.
“Greg Jones?” she asks.
“No, Seth Jones,” I tell her.
“We… don’t have a Seth Jones in here,” she says.
“That’s fine. I don’t care. I bought this from here, I just want my deposit back, please.”
“Do you have your receipt?”
“I’m sure I do somewhere, but I don’t have it with me.”
Now one of the guys comes over to investigate.
“How long ago did you buy the keg?” he asks.
“One month ago.” I respond.
“Oh. Then we threw away your card. If you have the keg for more than a few days, the keg is yours to keep.”

Really? Even though I’ve returned the keg, I cannot get my deposit back? I only had a ‘few days’ to return it? Where was that stipulation? I never intended to drink this keg over a weekend… it’s for my kegerator, it was always my intention to keep it for a few weeks. At no time did any of the paperwork that I signed stipulate that I had to return the keg within ‘a few days’ in order to get my money back.

I protested a little bit but by now I knew that C&B was going to do what they could to rip me off of my money. I took the keg with me and left.

At the next liquor store, I asked them all the questions – how much is your deposit, can I exchange between a pony and a full keg, may I still get my money back if I have the keg for over a month – and none of this was a problem. How sad was I that I didn’t go there in the first place.
I believe that Cork and Barrel should refund my $50 in return for the empty shell. Their customer service is inadequate, I can accept that. But for them to try to take $50 from me on a whim is unacceptable.

In short, my complaints are that Cork and Barrel:

1. Tried to ‘upsell’ me a more expensive item by telling me the cheaper item was not in stock
2. Refused to do business with me at their sister location
3. Used vague language in exchanging the keg shell to make me feel like they were doing me a favor when in fact they should have done it no questions asked
4. Refused to refund my $50 deposit even though I returned the shell

Thank you for your time hearing my complaints. If you need any further information or documentation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,


Seth Jones

Personal reflections on last night's events (warning: may be offensive to some)

I know not everyone (especially in Kansas) is an Obama fan, so forgive me if I document a little bit of my own personal feelings regarding the great turn our country made last night. Just some scatter-brained thoughts on last night, a night I think will be worth remembering in the future.

• I declared it "Obama Election Party" at our house early, around 3 p.m. Invitees included Adro, Evey and Judy. I made chicken quesadillas and beans for dinner (this was part of the celebration, see?)


• Two thoughts driving home: There were a shitload of cars and bicycles out, and in those early evening hours, it's tough to see everything. I did see one wreck at 9th and Mass. Also, every song on the radio seemed to be dedicated to what was about to happen... from Beck singing "Loser" ('Things are gonna change, I can feel it,' he sings) to Rage Against the Machine, Bad Religion, Morrissey... kudos to both 92.9 and 96.5, both channels were playing songs that cried out for change.


• I bought a Spider-Man Halloween bucket at Dillons for only $1.25.


• I was cooking dinner while the girls were watching CNN. I needed another beer, so I strolled into the living room (to get to the kegerator, natch). I saw that the girls were watching QVC! "What the hell," I shouted, "It's election night!!!" Adro looked at me and said, "But... there was a commercial..." "Oh... sorry!" Yeah, I was kind of amped up...


• We mostly watched CNN. I also turned to a little bit of Fox News, MSNBC, local NBC, and a little Comedy Central (which was just OK). I liked comparing the scores from channel to channel.


• There was a KU basketball game on, but I hardly saw any of it.


• The quesadillas turned out pretty good! The beans -- not so much. They were black beans... I needed to doctor them up.


• My Martha Stewart tip of the day: Rather than buying a green pepper, a red pepper and an onion ($4 total?) for the quesadillas, I went to the salad bar and threw all three in a little plastic container... for a total cost of 22 cents!


• Evey went to sleep way early... she did not know Barack won until this morning (she says "Obama!")


• Judy went to sleep immediately after Evey. She woke up for a little bit later, then decided to throw in the towel and went home... they declared Obama the winner about 5 minutes after she left!


• Travis called and we discussed what we were seeing... Travis is one of two liberals in the great state of Oklahoma.


• I liked it that Hank Williams Jr. got some screen time at the McCain party. "William Hung was there only other option," I joked to Adro.


• I had multiple Boulevard Wheats last night while I watched the coverage. No hangover this morning. I'm pretty sure I could have drank a bottle of whiskey and woke up with no hangover after the results last night, though.


• A friend (I'll leave him nameless) told me a funny story about his mail-in vote. He saw a story on-line about people not putting proper postage on their mail-in ballots... the solution was that the post office was obligated to deliver it anyway, regardless of incorrect postage. So my friend decided to put NO postage on his ballot. Yup, it got delivered anyway.


• So I call that same friend to see how he's doing/what he thinks. "Did you see that all three of those tax increases are passing?" he asked me. "Yes, it's fantastic!" "Oh... we all voted against them over here." We had a laugh, then hung up.


• A good ten minutes later (my wit was dulled by the multiple Wheats) did I finally realize the true humor of what I was just told. I texted my friend, "It was a big surprise to me that the guy who refused to put a stamp on his mail-in ballot voted against the tax increases!"


• I was really shocked to see the support these tax increases received, but I'm proud of my community for supporting them. Sure, there's been some mismanaged funds. But we can't take out our frustration on the citizens who depend on the bus system. Apparently, it was a vocal minority who really had a problem with the T.


• I called and talked to my folks, told them I wanted to hear their voices on a night that we were about to make history. My mom told me she was proud of me for making that movie we did last week, that she was proud of me for being creative and having the courage to try things like that. I thought that was sweet. My mom has always been my No. 1 supporter on creative projects like that... she was always the first to help out with finding a prop, or driving me to a friend's house, etc. She's a lover of the creative arts, that is for sure.


• Did I mention the quesadillas were good? I used to make them professionally at Willie C's, so I've got my method down. Sadly, I do make a huge mess when I make them. Thanks to Adro for knocking out the kitchen duties while I was glued to the TV.


• I thought it was great to see Grant Park on TV... I spent three days at Grant Park over the summer, that was the site of this year's Lollapalooza. I saw Radiohead, Rage, Toadies, NIN, etc. there, along with 75,000 friends per day. It was a good early sign for me... on NPR that morning, they talked about the size of crowd Grant Park could handle, and one of the events they mentioned was that Lolla show this summer -- they even played a sound clip of Radiohead performing live there! Definitely a good sign for Jonesy.


• Anderson Cooper seemed nervous that everyone would turn off their TVs once the election was declared. It was like he was getting paid by the hour last night, or something, and wanted to be on for three days straight, a la 2000.


• Well done, Indiana, my home state. I did not think you could do what you did, but you did, and you did and you did... and I thank you.


• Well done Lervik, voting in North Carolina, the state with the closest results... I last saw that only 11,000 votes separated the two.


• I seriously would have liked to have seen who else was considered besides Hank Williams Jr.


• It was amazing to me how quickly it went from "he's looking good," to "we've declared Obama the winner!" It wasn't 0 to 60 mph, but it was 35 to 60 mph. As soon as they declared Virgina, I was like, "Holy crap!" I texted my friend Teresa and told her, "Get ready, we're about to make history!" I barely put my phone down and they said, "Winner!" Me and Adro looked at each other and were like, "Whoa!" Wolf Blitzer couldn't keep up, he was throwing it over to Chicago, to Anderson, to a 3-D hologram... it was like a John Woo movie all of a sudden.


• Nice concession speech, McCain. It got just a little long for me towards the end, but I was drunk by then, too, and obviously more excited to hear from Obama.


• Obama's speech? Good. I thought it might blow me away. I was just happy with the result by then. We both were pretty much exhausted by then, so I think both Adro and I nodded off for the last minute or two. The clip I saw today of it, I realize I was pretty much asleep by then. Oh well, good times!

Final thought: I think McCain would have been an OK president. (The thought of Sarah Palin as president was horrific, though.) The best thing about this election was that no matter what, George Bush would not be back. The election 4 years ago was much scarier, because if things went poorly, we would put Bush back in office, a slap in the face to the entire world... and that's exactly what we did.

I know the Republicans will hold the Obama presidency to a very tough standard, and that is fine. I also realize that Sarah Palin fans (wow, what a thought) and hardcore Republicans are scared for their lives... well, welcome to our world 4 years ago. We survived these last 4 years, although we're in a bad place and our name is mud around the world. So, keep your head up... it can't possibly be worse than what we endured, can it? Just keep that in mind over the next 4 years.

Give this guy a chance. We gave your idiot TWO chances, after all.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I wasn't too offensive. I've turned off comments for this post, I'm just not interested in arguing anything here. Now, back to our regular programming of Evey photos and me bitching about local Lawrence businesses...

Tonight... history

More Halloween photos

Today is the day. You know what to do! GO VOTE! (If you haven't already... and if you already have, don't vote again. Unless they let you, and you're planning on voting for Obama again.)