(Working on a Title) Wednesday – My First Car, Christmas In July, Top 10 of 2014

You’re almost there. Just a few more days until your enjoying the solace that only a weekend can bring. Your weekend however, will be nowhere near as awesome as mine. How do I know? Because you won’t be celebrating…

Christmas In July

It’s that time of year again. The time where my wife and I pack up the car and head north to the great state of Wisconsin where we gather with family to celebrate Christmas. With all of my wife’s siblings and her father and his wife living out of state, it was decided that we would all gather the 3rd weekend of every July to save each other the headache of trying to make time during the actual Christmas holiday. All families should do this. Seriously. We arrive Friday Night/Saturday morning to a fully decorated house, including tree. From that moment forward it’s 4 days of relaxation and enjoyment of company. You know, the things that don’t actually happen in December. We drink, play yard games, board games, mini-golf, real golf and even squeeze in some naps. We even had a snowball fight one year. Saturday night we get our annual t-shirt, oh yeah, there are t-shirts, and Sunday morning we put them on before breakfast and presents. Don’t believe me, look at the pic below. This is indeed my favorite holiday of the year.

My First Car

It’s a sad time in the Kupka household this week as we bid farewell to a long time member of my family. My 1998 Honda Civic EX, aka MtlHd1. Now to be truthful I did own one car previous to this one but it was very short lived. This car though, wow. 14 years I owned this vehicle. From ages 20-34. It was there for me almost without fail. It took me to countless nights at the bars, to concerts, on road trips, to sporting events and was what I drove the night I met my (now) wife. The cigarettes smoked, the ganja toked, the late night fast food devoured, the countless conversations from the most pointless shit to the most meaningful. It was the car that toted Jim Law and Johnny Moreno back home the night Matches Malone and I first met the guys for drinks, lots of drinks. It was the car that in 2001 my father helped me buy so that I could do all of these things and more. On Friday July 7th, it was discovered that MtlHd1 suffered from needing at least a new alternator and new brake lines. We decided that it would be more humane to put her down instead of keeping her alive and in pain. For over 130,000 miles she was by my side. Today I say goodbye. I’ll miss you.

Top 10 of 2014

So I know the boys on the Bingecast have been talking about putting together our Top 10 of the year thus far, but they also drink a lot so they probably forgot. In case that time never comes here are my Top 10 so far this year, in no particular order.

1. The Lego Movie
2. The Amazing Spiderman 2
3. X-Men Days of Future Past
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5. Edge of Tomorrow
6. Wish I Was Here
7.
8.
9.
10.

Jesus H. Christ. It’s the middle of July and I’ve only seen 6 movies that are Top 10 worthy so far this year. 5 of which are based on Toys/Comics. I need to change this pronto. What should I get to first? What are some of your favorites so far this year? Any hidden gems the guys haven’t talked about on the Bingecast?

This Weeks Music Suggestions

I decided that since I am doing the Wednesday article I should go ahead and listen to some new releases as I write the rest of this so I can offer up some suggestions for your earholes. This week I was able to get to a few albums, all of which are definitely worth a spin.

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun
Al is back to form with his latest release. Nobody does it better and with instant standouts Tacky (Pharrell’s Happy), Word Crimes (Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines) and Foil (Lourde’s Royals) this is a must listen for even the most casual of fans.

Bleachers – Strange Desire
I’m a big fan of Fun.’s album Some Nights and really enjoyed the similar sounding I Wanna Get Better, the first single from Strange Desire. A side project of Jack Antonoff (guitarist of Fun.) it has a more 80’s pop sound as opposed to the theatrical sound of Fun. that is reminiscent of Queen. If you’re a fan of Fun. you will definitely enjoy this album.

Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
To be hones I’m just recently getting into this band so I really don’t know how this album compares to their others. What I can say is if you’re a fan of the folky, americana, singer songwriter sound you should give this guys a try.

That’ll do it for this week. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Leave ’em below. You can also follow me on twitter @jekupka Until next week I leave you with this…

and this