larry kubin

So I was watching Beirut videos the other night on YouTube and decided to buy a ukulele. It just got delivered to my doorstep a little while ago. The first thing I did was look up the tab for Postcards From Italy. I was able to learn some ukulele chords pretty quickly. Here are the results. I’m not sure why I make all of those dumb faces while I play, but I can’t help it I swear. I look forward to learning how to play this thing. Now if I could only learn to sing…

Note: This is a crappy Washburn Oscar Schmidt uke that I got off of Amazon. It seems fine for learning, but it doesn’t stay in tune very well and it is made out of cheap materials. Once I learn how to play, I’ll probably spring for a better one.

Here are the chords and lyrics, in case you want to learn too:

I noticed it had been a while since I updated this site. Lately business has been accelerating and I have been spending more time just living than writing about it. I went ahead and knocked out a few posts tonight to start “catching up”. I still have a lot of cool adventures to write about if I ever get the chance, and I also have many more photos and videos, but these will have to wait.

Aside from the usual trips, concerts, and business stuff, I have been actively trading stocks lately and have been doing quite well at it. I have been swing trading breakouts and price patterns using technical analysis/charts. I plan to refine these methods with further practice. Wish me luck.

Mike, Louis, and I have been playing basketball every Tuesday and Thursday, and we now have another group of people who are playing so we have regular 3-on-3 games now. I am dominating them on the boards thanks to my impressive hops and superior reflexes.

Ashley has a fancy title now and can put the letters CCC-SLP behind her name if she so chooses. This means she is now “making that cheddar”. She also received her Vital Stim certification this past weekend, making her an expert on swallowing (I’m serious).

I had a birthday recently and am officially older. To celebrate, I ate an unlimited number of steaks with the gang at Fogo de Chao. Thanks to Louis for taking a picture of me pigging out.

Speaking of getting older, George Carlin died. Below is a quote I recently came across which is attributed to him:

“I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, start out dead and get it out of the way. Then you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day.. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement.

You drink alcohol, you party, you’re generally promiscuous and you get ready for High School. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a baby, then, you spend your last 9 months floating peacefully with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, larger quarters everyday, and finally you finish off as an orgasm.”

It’s time for some more music festivals. Ashley and I are headed to Chicago for vacation at the end of July and will be attending Lollapalooza in Grant Park. The schedule grids for both Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza have now been posted. I still have a couple of conflicts to resolve, but I almost have the perfect schedules created. Behold:

Friday

12:15 - 01:15 Black Lips
02:15 - 03:15 Yeasayer
03:15 - 04:15 Duffy
04:15 - 05:15 Black Keys
05:15 - 06:15 Cat Power
06:15 - 07:15 Bloc Party
08:00 - End Radiohead

Saturday

1:30 - 2:30 Dr. Dog
3:30 - 4:30 DeVotchKa
4:30 - 5:30 Explosions in the Sky
5:30 - 6:30 Jamie Lidell
6:30 - 7:30 Lupe Fiasco or Broken Social Scene
7:30 - 8:30 Toadies
8:30 - End Rage Against the Machine

Sunday

1:15 - 2:15 The Weakerthans
3:30 - 4:30 Black Kids
4:15 - 5:15 Iron and Wine
5:00 - 6:00 Saul Williams
6:15 - 7:15 Gnarls Barkley
7:15 - 8:15 The National
8:15 - 9:45 Nine Inch Nails
8:30 - End Kanye West

Friday

1:30 - 2:30 What Made Milwaukee Famous
2:30 - 3:30 Vampire Weekend
3:30 - 4:30 CSS
4:30 - 5:30 Gogol Bordello
5:30 - 6:30 Hot Chip
6:30 - 7:30 N.E.R.D
7:30 - 8:15 The Swell Season
8:15 - 9:30 The Mars Volta
9:30 - End Manu Chao

Saturday

3:30 - 4:30 Man Man
4:30 - 5:30 Erykah Badu
5:30 - 6:30 Del the Funky Homosapien
6:30 - 7:30 John Fogerty
7:30 - 8:15 The Black Keys
8:15 - 9:30 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
9:30 - End Beck

Sunday

1:50 - 2:30 Adele
3:30 - 4:30 Stars
4:30 - 5:30 Neko Case
5:30 - 6:30 Okkervil River
6:30 - 7:45 Raconteurs
7:30 - 8:30 Band of Horses
8:30 - End Foo Fighters

I bought myself some nice things recently. I started out buying the Sony LT, which is probably the best computer I’ve ever owned. There is only one power cord and everything else is wireless. It is also equipped with a Blu Ray player and TV functionality that I have yet to use. Check it out on my desk:

But that wasn’t enough. I had to get myself an iMac to balance things out. On an ideal night I have a glass of wine and 3 screens in front of me — one with a text editor and some code, one with Photoshop running, and one with some stock charts open so that I can monitor my trades. It looks exactly like this:

I tagged along with Ashley and her friends from Grad School as they celebrated Christine’s 26th birthday at Austin Karaoke. The place was cool in that each group got their own private room/booth and it was BYOB. While I was hesitant at first, I soon participated in nearly every song. I was told I “acted a fool”. I apologize for any embarrassment this may have caused for my loved ones. Highlights involved songs by Queen, Prince, and Madonna — these are always karaoke classics, so no surprises there. The low point was when it turned out that no one else was familiar with Patience by Guns ‘N Roses and I had to sing it by myself.