My daughter – Tiffany – turns 20 today.

She shares a 20 year anniversary with Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album and the band Pearl Jam. Great movies like Terminator 2 and Beauty and the Beast were released 20 years ago. And the series debut of Rugrats made it’s way to television screens.

Getting a bit sentimental here [and for fear of sounding just like my mom], I still remember going to the hospital the night before on September 29th and then being there the next day when she was born.

We’ve had many years together of hanging out, going to concerts, listening to music, watching movies and taking trips together.

I won’t embarrass her with pics from when she was a baby, but here’s a few photos of her that I found from several years ago.

At the park in October 2004

Hiking in Utah – September 2006

On her 14th birthday – September 2006

Happy Birthday, Tiffany. Next year, it’s 21.

Today is my birthday. I’ll even tell you how old I am. But not until later in the post.

This post is more or less my random thoughts on this day. Read on.

Original image found at m3n4.com
• I share a birthday with Lucille Ball, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday today. In honor of her century birthday, Google has made a Doodle.



I had to log out of my Google account to see it because Google celebrated my birthday first.



• Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first public post on the World Wide Web. So I share a birthday with one of the places I spend a lot of time on.
• Up until this post, it’s been almost 2 weeks since I last blogged. I do that when I’ve been on a vacation, regardless how long that vacation was.
• I had to go into work twice today. Short periods, but none the less, working on my birthday when it falls on a weekend.
• I rode my scooter to work both times, so that made the 3.1 mile ride each way more enjoyable.
• I will be 50 in two years [do the math]
• Adult beverages will be consumed sometime during the 24-hours of my official birthday [at the time of this posting, none have been consumed yet]

And with that, there is dinner, drinks and a movie waiting for me somewhere.

What did you do on your last birthday?

So back on August 5th [of this year, 2010], my wife and I went to see Rush for my birthday, which was the next day. I had seen them live twice before, but you can never see a great band like Rush too many times.

All the world’s a stage… or at least it was in Utah

Who the hell is RASH? Some cheesy cover band, I bet.

I’ve been a Rush fan since pretty much they started. I had all of their albums from their debut to their latest on some form of media, be it vinyl, cassette, CD and now digital. But it was in 1981 when the now-classic “Moving Pictures” came out that showed this long time fan could allow this trio of Canadians to go mainstream.

YYZ Comes Alive

And so this tour called “Time Machine” would have them play the entire “Moving Pictures” album live, in it’s entirety. A seven-song masterpiece in a crowd of thousands. Did it work? I think it did. Three hours later, I felt I had a great time, got to hear many of my favorite songs, including “Freewill”, “Spirit of the Radio”, “Working Man”, La Via Strangiato”, “Closer to the Heart” and a very cool live version of “YYZ”, my favorite song on the afore-mentioned honored album.

Broon’s Bane is not Banal, that’s for sure

As always, Rush will remain a concert draw each time they tour in the future.

BTW, if you won’t take my word for it, go check out another Rush fan’s review of his concert experience. After all, two Rush fans can’t be wrong.

And just to ensure there are more of us that agree, here’s a third Rush fan who’s dream came true*

* you really need to go read that post to find out what happened

Today, one of my favorite bloggers across the pond [Dutch Bitch is in that list of favorites, too] celebrates a birthday. That would be Penelope, who is a very young 39.

The above photo is the one that I have always associated with Penelope. It’s her avatar in just about every online place she occupies. It’s the one that says “It’s Wine O’ Clock” [which I rebrand as "Gin O' Clock"] and a reminder to me that someday, I would like to replace the photo image of her with one that is in person.

My chats, tweets and Skype conversations with her almost always make me laugh. She’s always providing some insightful wisdom to me, which ends up helping me get through the second half of my day [multiple time zones excludes the first half of my day]. And all of those phrases like “gone tits up” or “up in my tits” are ones that I’ve learned to now use properly, thanks to her.

So on this day, I wish her a great birthday. Because we all know she deserves it.

A few days ago, Hilly, freshly posting blog posts on her new online digs, asked many of us to submit a phrase or wish for her post for Dave’s birthday. Here’s what I said:

• “The only way to complete the ultimate experience of attending a Depeche Mode concert is to have Dave there with you. Happy Birthday, Dave and thanks for making Dave Lake City 3 the best so far.”

Which is totally true. And here’s your proof:

All of us are happy because Dave is there

See, I only speak the truth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVE

* I might be off by a few years

Happy Birthday, Hilly

Good thing she was 21 at Avitable’s party…

Banal Leakage Turns 1

April 1, 2008 was when I posted my first blog entry out here. Karl was the first to leave a comment.

A Month Long Celebration

So that’s it? Just a silly black and white photo of some kid blowing out a candle and a brief birthday mention? Nope. Not even close. I will be celebrating all month long here with all sorts of fun: the season ending episode of Snowy Sunday, the return of Scooter Sunday, contests, giveaways and so much more. I’ll be taking a look back at some of the posts I did this last year, listing my favorites and finding out which ones you liked the most.

There will also be some design changes that will show up at various times throughout the month. Just trying to keep the blog looking current and fresh.

Stick around. Celebrate my first year here at Banal Leakage. And who knows… maybe you’ll win a cool prize or learn something you didn’t know about me.