brent evans

morning babble / Friday 06-11-21

Happy Friday! Got my coffee today. Ran out of the MUD/WTR – send some asap! No more 3 Day Fast – well, for June. Yesterday morning, I was driving on 95 South in D-ware near Frawley and passed a billboard for Dover Downs stating “Dinner is Served” with a big old burger on it. It was like food porn. I so wanted to turn around and see it again. I was good though and broke the fast at the proper time. It was a dinner with red wine and pasta last night. My wife and I also had dark chocolate for dessert because we had to finish up the bottle that we were sharing – not just me, that would be bad.

I ran – 162 runs / 162 babbles

Someone noticed my dancing turtles or maybe they’re playing tag. I’ll talk about them tomorrow.

New Music Friday:

• New Marshmello Album has fully dropped – Shockwave. That’s the song that they are pushing off of it too, “Shockwave.” I remember my son talking about Marshmello is going to be on my Fortnite this Saturday. I was like – Oh, that’s cute. At the time, I didn’t realize that it was the artist Marshmello until I heard it that Saturday. He made history with first ever Fortnite in-game concert – millions watched. This took place on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019 – day before the Superbowl. The day before Maroon 5 performed their halftime show. The day before Adam Levine pretty much took it all off on stage.

• Speaking of Maroon 5 – Today, they released their new album ‘Jordi,’ which is dedicated to their late Manager, Jordan Feldstein who passed in 2017. The song that is being played on the airwaves is “Lost.” Maroon 5 reminds me of my time in Philly, when I was the Assistant Program Director which allowed me to play Music Director. Back then, radio stations got their music “ripped” into their computer via CDs that record companies would mail in or come visit with a special delivery. Back then it was 2002 and Maroon 5 was a nobody. We got their album – Songs About Jane – “Harder to Breathe” / “This Love” / “She Will Be Loved” / “Sunday Morning”. Go get that CD. I took it home. You said I could have it.

• Got an EP of 5 songs from K. Flay today. Inside Voices – we’ve already heard Four Letter Words. Today, I heard the song that had Blink’s Travis Barker – Dating My Dad. Another song on the album has Rage’s Tom Morello on TGIF. I really enjoy anything that has K.Flay on it – totally dig her sound. That album from 2017 – Everywhere is Some Where. Do yourself and go listen to that – very real sound. Hit song was “Blood in the Cut”.

• Migos! Do you remember “Migos in therapy” on SNL / only see it on the Peacock app – something like that. Anyway. This is another band I was listening to early. First featured on the show – Atlanta with Danny Glover. By the way Season 3 of Atlanta on FX will come out this January. Bad and Boujee. Why you singing “drop drop, dot dot dot, scared”? I don’t know. Anyway – full new album from them called Culture III. Song that’s being pushed is featuring Drake “Having Our Way”.

• Something for me – Our Lady Peace with an Acousti Live set of Spiritual Machines – that’s originally their 4th studio album back in 2000.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – by Jimi Hendrix

morning babble / Thursday 06-10-21

Might be some tweaks needed but this is the scribble that led to the babble . . .

Yet again – I already had today planned but podcasts and readings have made me tangent.

First – it’s Day 3 of the Fast. Today’s run is typically the toughest runs – and for the final 10 minutes, it wasn’t easy – let’s just say that. I keep remembering the 3rd day of my April fast and that was a bad run. Speaking of runs – yes, I ran 161st!

Got my water with a pinch of salt and lemon slice for the kick-off. Both big water bottles have a couple slices of cucumber in them. I’m telling you, I really enjoy that. I’m saving that for every fast. Tempting to do all the time, but I’m saving it.

One other thing – my last couple nights of sleep have been awesome. I took my MagMind – it’s Magnesium supplement. Normally, I don’t take any vitamins and such during the fast, but this is the one exception because of how well it helps me sleep. Maybe I should test that for sleep over 30 days?

So, this morning I went to Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard for my podcast and he recently had Russell Brand. Oh – FYI – Dax is moving to Spotify exclusively on 7/1. Anyway, I was only in my warm-up part of my run and the interview started. Right away, Russell Brand delivered a quote that I wanted. I really need something to write these things down, but instead, I bailed on that podcast and went to the Seth Rogan interview by Dax. No offense to Seth, I think. I believe he would have laughed. So, that quote from Russell is coming up.

Then, my Daily Stoic today was about two kinds of people in the world (taken from page 176 of Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic)

1. The first looks at others who have accomplished things and thinks: Why them? Why not me?
2. The other looks at those same people and thinks. If they can do it, why can’t I?

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Envy – it’s your own unfulfilled potential projected onto another.” – by Russell Brand

morning babble / Wednesday 06-09-21

Hardest day of the fast is today – Day 2 of the 3 Day Fast. It’s the day that you wake up and your stomach is like “I think you forgot about something yesterday. Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll show you.” Everything begins sounding so good.

So, I had today all planned, but then I was listening to the Dave Chang Show podcast (click here for the specific episode). They were talking about going to the dentist. They too were questioning about closing your eyes or not when the dentist is working over your teeth.

Rinsing after brushing? “In actual fact, if you do rinse out your mouth with water after brushing, you are getting rid of the fluoride from your mouth, which protects your teeth.”

They then started talking about dried fruit and my mouth began watering. I bailed for today (I’ll go back after the fast) and went to my running playlist – click here for that.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“We’re hoping to succeed; we’re okay with failure. We just don’t want to land in between.” – by David Chang

morning babble / Tuesday 06-08-21

My Morning Babble Wake-up playlist begins with The Fratellis – “Six Days in June”

Spotify recently did a “Find out how you listen” Which artists, songs, and podcasts set you apart? They poked fun at me listening to Taylor Swift and then the Raconteurs. I don’t think that’s too far off. I mean, if it was Run the Jewels to Taylor Swift – that would be a train wreck. Run the Jewels to Jack White – not bad at all. Witnessed that show at the Garden in NYC in 2015.

I ran – 159 days of 5k runs and morning babbles.

Also, June’s 3 day fast is underway – the 6th 3 day fast of the year. Unfortunately, it started later than I wanted – I finished downing a Gatorade at 6:38pm. Fast was on. As I always state, today is the easy day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Don’t sell past the close.” – by Dorothy Hughes, Radio One

morning babble / Monday 06-07-21

It’s Monday – go eat that frog! Get the tough “to do” out of the way for the day – maybe even for the week! Eat that frog!

Speaking of eating . . . I weighed myself this morning. Whew – I ate this weekend. In particular, I had one of those brick burritos from El Diablo. Delicious, but whew. It’s still there. BUT – it didn’t stop me from lathering up a bunch of peanut butter on top of my chocolate chip muffin.

Speaking of peanut butter, remember when Butterfinger teased us about them coming out with their very own Peanut Butter? Okay – so maybe, I do. I googled to see if it’s true yet. It’s not. But – I did learn that “Technically, Butterfinger does not contain peanut butter but ground roasted peanuts. They are almost the same thing except peanut butter requires a bit more grinding to form a paste.” So basically, Butterfinger was grinding & grinding, got a little lazy, and said – “Close enough! Put it in the bar.” And hence, the crispety crunchety Butterfinger bar was born.

All this food talk – why? Because my 3 day fast begins tonight after dinner. Who’s with me? If you know me, send along a text. OR – send an email and let me know that you’re in and I’ll cheer you along: morningbabble@brentevans.net. Let’s do this!

Today’s quote I took from Mark Manson. I haven’t read one of his books yet, but I’m working on it – sort of. Go watch the video to find out how I’m trying to read it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The most meaningful moments in life do not show up on your calendar or to-do list” – by Mark Manson via his Instagram post

morning babble / Sunday 06-06-21

3 day fast begins tomorrow after dinner – who’s with me? We can drink water, tea, and coffee. No additives. Except, with my morning water, I add a little squeeze of lemon to help steady the belly for the day. Also, I will have a designated water bottle with a couple slices of cucumber floating within it. I really enjoyed that last month.

Austin Kleon – Steal Like an Artist – 10 year anniversary. Been showing the postcards from his publisher about reprints being made in the very beginning. Pages or pictures that didn’t make the book. I found fascinating – everyone asks what font he uses. That’s him – it’s the Austin font.

Books! – My top 5 most tabbed or highlighted books

• Lives of the Stoics – Ryan Holiday

• Principles – Ray Dalio

• Benjamin Franklin – Walter Isaacson

• Grant – Ron Chernow

• Tools of Titans – Tim Ferriss

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want – that just kills creativity.” – by Jack White via Austin Kleon book – Steal Like An Artist

morning babble / Saturday 06-05-21

Happy Saturday! I ran . . . on the mill. I think tomorrow is a good “sleep in” day and then I’ll take it out on the trails for the first time in awhile. Anyway – 156 runs / 156 vlogs.

AMA Saturday:

• Question #1 – How was my May with Alcohol? I drank a lot. 3rd highest month in the past year – nothing will beat December. Weight wise – For January, I lost 3 lbs. In February – the winning month – I lost 3.4 lbs. For March, I then lost 2.6 lbs. And then, the April Alcohol Drought month, I only lost 1.6 lbs.  And finally for May, I lost 2 lbs. I shall continue partaking in beverage intake. I monitor.

• Question #2 – Are those shades on my skull? What? Oh – yes. They are my Oakley shades from way back in the day. 7th or 8th grade. Hanging out at Skyline pool . . . thinking I was cool. I wasn’t. But – has anyone noticed the hat that’s on the skull? That’s the Banky hat from the Kevin Smith movie – Chasing Amy. Actor Jason Lee wears it. The size that they made and sold was the same size as Jason Lee’s head. My head is a touch smaller than his. If you’re into Jason Lee, he’s a photographer and has a new art book coming out. He can better explain it all by clicking here.

Quote of the day was taken from Greg McKeown who was on the Tim Ferriss podcast. During the interview, I heard him say the quote that’s below. I’ve read his book – Essentialism – and its a good one. He’s got another new book out though and it’s called: Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack.  If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.” – by Greg McKeown via Tim Ferriss podcast

morning babble / Friday 06-04-21

Happy Friday! New hat day too. I was told it was needed, because the other one was looking nasty – sweat marks and all. I’m a hard working man.

I ran – 155 days of running / vlogging.

a-ha recap. I said that I would listen to a-ha’s greatest hits album. It’s 16 tracks – all different, not just “Take on Me” and is called Headlines and Deadlines: The Hits of A-ha. I also said that I would listen to their most recent album called Minor Earth Major Sky and was released back in 2000 . . . but not in the U.S – that took place in 2019. My recap – uh – yeah. A-ha fans feel free to email me – morningbabble@brentevans.net – and let me know why I should listen again?

So, my kid has discovered Michael Jackson. In particular, Smooth Criminal. And don’t play him that Alien Ant Farm (2001) stuff . . . gotta be Michael. Watch that video!

New Music Friday:

• You know the song “On the Road Again,” — well, this past week, Alanis Morissette released it singing a duet along with Willie Nelson. She also announced the rescheduled dates of her upcoming tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of 1995’s Jagged Little Pill. It’s a 35-date world tour that begins August 21st in Austin Texas. She’ll be performing her 1995 album in its entirety, with openers including Garbage, Liz Phair, and Julia Stone.

• Got another new Prince song – “Born to Die”. Yikes. I’ve given it a couple spins. It’s Prince. This is another song off his upcoming album, Welcome 2 America, which is slated for release July 30th.

• They Might Be Giants – classic alternative? – have a new album coming out soon (no date yet) as well as an art book simply titled: BOOK. Today, we got to hear their new song “I Broke My Own Rule” which will be off of this upcoming album. Stay tuned.

• Yo Gotti partnered up DaBaby for a summer fun song called “Drop.” I liked it.

• Big article in the Washington Post about Wolfgang Van Halen – Eddie’s kid. Couple songs of his have already been released but next week – the 11th – the whole album drops. Wolfgang played everything on the album – all him.

• BREAKING & ENTERING – Jeremiah Daly, known better by his TikTok name vaultboy, has a fun, new single out that’s called “everything sucks.” Also, here’s a link to the video. His sound sort of reminded me of the artist, Huey Mack – a rap/pop sound with fun lyrics.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – by Bob Marley

morning babble / Thursday 06-03-21

A whole lotta scribble . . . that makes the babble! Go watch the video!

Friday Eve

I still can’t believe the green one tasting like strawberry. My brain says “come on, it’s gotta be lime!” The taste buds get so confused.

Bean Boozled Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

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So, it was my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary the other day.

Did I say Happy Anniversary? Yes

Did I know it was 50! NO!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Motion does not equal action. Busyness does not equal effectiveness.” – by James Clear

morning babble / Wednesday 06-02-21

This is the scribble that creates the babble – maybe it’ll get cleaned up.

I woke up itching my eyes. Not good. No contacts today. I typically calm my eyes down in the morning with a cold washcloth or I got straight to the ice pack. Contract them blood vessels and stop the itch.

The itchy eyes made me get the ice pack which made me tangent to Frozen Blueberries.

I ran! 153rd run / 153rd babble

Gummi bear tasting tonight / 3 Day Fast begins Monday

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Well done is better than well said.” – by Benjamin Franklin