Comic Book Piracy

Napster for comic books?

if you're happy AND you know it

I didn't count but I know you averaged more beers, on the couch, than I. But I was pretty preoccupied with either eBay or Star Wars: KotoR.

Halo 2. You actually surprised me quite a few times. I wouldn't say you suck so much as you lack experience. Yes you died many times more than I, but seriously you are the only person I can beat that consistently. All the people I play with are better than, or as good as, myself. I know the sponge feeling well. I don't haveXBOX LIVE and the crew I used to play with just has other things going on. Between peoples kids, weddings, night shifts and class schedules it's hard to get together with folks these days.

It was good to have you here Dan. I can't believe how fast that time went by. I had 5 days off work and it's over. No biggy. Such is life. Hip-hip hurrah.

home again

Before I left spokane, I counted beer bottles.
42, in one AHo's apt. That would be 21 beers per man, over the course of 3 days.
Now-that's assuming we split the beers. I don't know that we did.

And this does not include the beers we had elsewhere. Downing Gorgonzola Fries. Eating at my sister's place. While I was visiting with Rasta.

Let me tell you; I drank a hell of a lot of beer.

I also learned that I suck ass at Halo. There is probably nothing that can be done about this. I will play that game, and I will die. A lot. If anyone ever asks where the phrase 'bullet sponge' came from, you'll know that I started it while playing Halo-because that's what I do.

I wish we'd had a chance to play Burnout 3, and that I'd brought God of War. Sigh. No matter how much time there is, it doesn't seem like there's enough.

Fun sights on the trip: the Tillicum Inn, and the Tranny Shack.

I listened to a lot of Spokane rock too. 80's Yes. Led Zeppelin. Joe Satriani. Honeymoon Suite. The Who. Supertramp, Danzig, and the soundtrack to the Transformers Movie.

Good times, overall. I'm pretty much recovered today, and that's cool. I got to see the family, see my friends, and that's good times. I'd do it more often if life allowed for it.

a la carte

My dinner is on the kitchen floor. Beer is now dinner.

Good to know.

Tricks of the Trade: Rafting Guide

:: How Superman Changed My Life ::

Sometimes I just think of a title.

I'm looking forward to it!

The link goes to my site, where I rant on my weekend. Which only sucked in part. But I feel a need to tell people the story about the dude who was a cocksucker to me, and so I'm linking it.

The cheese and beer goodness I am looking forward to. Muchly. We'll be leaving early Friday, so expect us in the early afternoon on Friday. Hopefully, you'll be well rested.

Looking forward to whomever I can see as well. Should be good times, all around.

cheese & taters

I am looking forward to those fries. I've got Dan's back.

I've yet to see Sin City.

Today I watched "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". I liked it very much. This did not surprise me as I also enjoyed, to a great extent, The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.

There's a story arc from the Batman comic called HUSH. I recently bought the graphic novel and started reading it, it's very good. This did not surprise me, it's a very popular story it seems. Well, I've been in the comic mood lately and last night I abruptly dug through some of the books I bought from the last months-long comic binge I went on a few years ago. I found that I own Batman #608, the first book of the story. This did surprise me.

Of course there are action figures as well. This is my favorite.

NBA Lockout?

There...there might not be an NBA season next year!

Oh wait. I don't give a shit about basketball. I don't think anyone should-but that's their right as a free person to care. The players are whiny, overpaid little boys who need to be publicly caned.

I did find this, though. Weird things are compelling to me.

http://www.wcbo.org/


And it is true; I will be in Spokane next week. I shall have beer. I shall visit my niece and family and friends. I will play lots of videogames. I shall also bring my PS2, so that the glories of RE2 and FF7 can be seen.

And AYWKUBTTOD.

And I shall eat...cheesesticks. If possible, I shall also get the blue-cheese fries that I had in September. I will maim for those fries. I will consider killing as well, if the target is worth killing.

writing under the influence

of toasted cheese and redhook


fundraiser

for sleep, I find
the never-winds grind
lost and refused
loose, while reused,
proves that dill shoes
- When of great, grand
foreign minds -
sprout dreams in early morning .

beer!! beer!! Read all about it!

At work today it occurred to me how much greater my life would be if someone made a vitamin-enriched beer. Ah, 'twould be grand. Anyhow I just googled "vitamin enriched beer" (no quotes) and this is the first thing I found.

Update: "researchers at the University of Oregon have found that hops, a key beer ingredient, can help reduce the build-up of carcinogens in the body."

Mt St Helens slideshow

I remember this, quite vividly.

eat better butter

Dan and Liz will be visiting next week. I am looking forward to it. And the beer. I love beer. Dan loves beer. We will love the beer together. Our sordid ménage à trois shall not go unnoticed by others, as we will most veritably love beer together in public.

I've been writing the last couple of days. Trying, or not trying, to be as ridiculous and carefree in the act as possible. At the very least I have found that I can entertain myself this way. And that reason alone should be enough to keep me at it. Whether any of it is ever looked at again, refined and posted remains to be seen.

I love NETFLIX. At the same time I am frustrated. I've let them know that. You surely want to know why. On occasion a disc will arrive that is either damaged or that is the wrong disc altogether. I don't expect this not to happen. I do feel there needs to be some sort of 'service recovery'. When the ball is dropped or a mistake is made something should be done to make me feel better about it. I want to be an enthusiastic customer, not a frustrated one. The process currently in place is that you report the problem using the appropriate link. You let them know whether the disc was damaged, just didn't play, was mislabeled or what not. Send the disc back and wait for your next disc. Sometimes they ask if you want a replacement disc right away, other times they tell you to stick it back in your queue - I'm not sure how that is determined. I feel that as soon as I report a problem they should promptly send me a new disc, whether that be a replacement or simply the next in my queue. Why should I have to wait until the problem disc gets back to them for them to send me a new one? This decreases the level of the NETFLIX experience and makes me frown.

Ok, so that's my rant on that. In this particular case I've actually had to report two problems for the same disc. The first disc was damaged and the replacement was the wrong disc in the correct sleeve.

I've been watching Smallville: Season One and am down to the last two discs. I was watching the second to the last disc (episodes 17-20) and ep.19 didn't work. I watched ep.20 and sent the disc back. I also had the last disc in my possession and was hoping to watch ep.19 before I started it. Not critical to do, but hey. I was expecting another disc the next day, Spanglish, which I enjoyed, and figured I could wait for the replacement disc, watch ep. 19 really quick, toss it back in the mail (same-day style) and get to the last disc. So the replacement shows up today and I pop that sucker in and damn if it's not episodes 17-20 of SEASON TWO!!! Yargh. So now I may watch the last disc of Season One before seeing ep.19, just so I can get that sucker in the mail tomorrow. Gotta' keep that pipeline flowin'.

on marriage

A link to the Goddess.
The USA, Former Human Rights Leader

comfort food

Just because. Because I really like pancakes. And because I've never had Swedish Pankcakes, let alone Swedish Pancakes 2.1 - New Version And I'll bet neither have you.

hooray!

To me this is good news. I hate Blockbuster.

iPod vending machine

iPod vending machine,
originally uploaded by sbisson.

But MAN, I really wanted a Coke!

Caribou Music Video

This is a fun little video for the song 'Yeti' by Caribou. I'm not one for music videos generally but I'm glad I checked this one out. It was made by Dublin's Delicious 9, so here's a little tidbit on those hooligans.

my burg

By now it is quite likely that you've heard of our little city's mayoral difficulties. With that in mind you can guess the cover-story of our alternative weekly. Here's some funny stuff from that:

a proposal to change our city motto from:

Spokane, near nature, near perfect.
TO
Spokane, near nature, near perverts.

I say do it.



In the'man on the street' department we get:

"Should the mayor step down from office?"

Providing a perfect opportunity for our stuff to really shine, and thus we get:

-it's adam and eve, not adam and steve. I'm not prejudice or anything, but I am fully against gays.-

So perfect a representation of an idiot you'd think, hoped, they made it up, knowing very well they didn't. ugh.

You know what? It just so classic that tomorrow I am going to bring an issue home to scan and post.

Welcome to our madness

We seem to have picked up actual readers. You know, people who read. Then post. Using actual names. (Or proper pseudonyms)

Which is very unusual.

But welcome! Enjoy our madhouse as you see fit. Spread it like peanut butter over toast. A.Ho is the cute one with a kind soul an eye for the ladies and trancendential poetry.

I club babies.

Bloggin My Noggin is Twenty-One today!

Months that is.

let there be more

I always wonder if anyone ever notices that I occasionally change the subtitle and footer on this page.

An experiment? -- I wonder how long it would be before some neighbor registered a complaint if I started building a wall of beer bottles in front of my apartment. Just empties in their sixer-cartons stacked upon each other, or perhaps a pyramid.

I bought the new album by Dan Snaith today. Formerly known as Manitoba, now Caribou. I like it quite a lot, being as I've played it three times and am going to replay it again momentarily. It's called The Milk of Human Kindness and it's, . . . , some kind of wonderful.

Also been listening to Bloc Party's Silent Alarm the last couple of days. Had that album for a while now but just started digging it when it was playing down at Boo's.

And now a message from our sponsor & sponsor.

i just gotta say

ah crap, that's funny shit.

heh. a poem.

In my vain attempt to procure a free SONY PSP I was requested to conjure a poem. Exactly the inspiration I needed, since I could care less how it turned out. So I present to my dear readers 'fudge'.

fudge

early mornin craving
steeped in bourbons dew
gridded against traffics
stewing gait I
nip at, and savior
the grace an glory
o' fudge
rising, shining,
trailblazing. Meanwhile,
petrol burns. Lording ova the
future of fetuses.

The Seanster

The Seanster,
originally uploaded by A.Ho.

Thought this was worthy of posting.

I was also presented with news on Mother's day that I will be an uncle again in December. My Sister and brother-in-law are expecting another.

New pod.

ipod60,
originally uploaded by A.Ho.

I came into a new iPod today. You see, my old 40GB pod came to a sudden end not too long ago. Fortunately I purchased it with a 2-year replacement policy. Being as the 40GB has been phased out I was presented w/ a shiny new 60GB Photo. Darn.

The can of tab is what I was using to ease the searing flesh of my burned palm.

Marvel Motivational Posters

heheh sweet!!

Photoshop thread

From fark.

My favorites include:
We're not just doing it for the money.
We're doing it for a shitload of money.

Laugh away while your childhood is betrayed by the dark side. I did.

Ah, damnit!

July 29th- Portland, OR- Dante's
Sufjan Stevens.

I'm planning on being in Spokane at that time. Niece babysitting.

Sigh.

The Huffington Post | The Blog

Many people will be interested, and happy I imagine, to know that John Cusack is blogging.

New Game!

I learned to play a new game today on the bus:

What's on my pants now?

I sat in something clear (which is why I sat in it) with no scent that I could detect. It had the consistency of vaseline, but was tacky, like drying jam.

I don't think I've got anything of the flesh-eating variety on my butt, and it has now crusted to some odd slickery texture that is tacky, like sap, when I touch it. I don't like it, though. I don't like this at all.

I just washed these jeans yesterday, too. Sigh. I cannot wait to get home and change.

Austin City Limits Summer Festival Lineup

--> courtesy of Pitchfork: Daily Music News:


Coldplay, Oasis, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie, Bob Mould, Built to Spill, Steve Earle & the Dukes, Sleater-Kinney, Kasabian, Keane, Tortoise, Doves, the Black Keys, the Walkmen, Rilo Kiley, Spoon, the Secret Machines, the Decemberists, the Bravery, the Fiery Furnaces, Mouse on Mars, the Futureheads, M83, Tegan and Sara, Mike Doughty, and many, many more.

vomitorium

Whenever I see phrases like this to describe a videogame-
-always at a silky 60fps perfection-

I want to puke blood. 'silky'. Who fucking uses words like that to describe a visual experience. I want to turn the speaker into a baby seal. Sure, it was cool the first time it was used, back in, say 1999, but all I can imagine is somone rubbing against their console in highly disturbing ways wearing at most banana hammocks and watching the cutscenes from Metal Gear 3. Oh baby! Your silky framerate just gets me so hot!
-blaarhgh-

The whole list is like an exercise in why half the population should just die. They're too dumb to live.

How do I get my apartment redesigned on the Oprah show?

confession: I woke up two or three times between the early a.m. and noon today, I slept way in. Every time I woke I wanted to go online and remove that post before anyone saw it. It was not intended for posting, I didn't want to be vulnerable and then I did it anyway. ugh.

Once again that pesky inside-voice knew it was the thing to do. The responses are appreciated and taken to heart.

I've known Dan fifteen years now. He's wanted to be a writer all of that time, it was never a question, at least as far as I ever knew. I never wanted to be a writer, never had that urge. Then something clicked inside me a few years back and I started messing with it. I liked the idea that the words and ideas that I have are free to do with what I want. In terms of creation I only need paper and pen, the tools are cheap. On a commercial level this seemed like the ultimate profit margin, my thoughts put on paper and sold to the highest bidder. Of course the urge (or knowledge) I have that I am 'supposed' to be doing this is beyond thoughts of commercial success, but that's where the seed was planted. I just figured I was creative enough and bright enough to pull that off. It's really about happiness and creation and the knowledge that I'm doing what I'm supposed to. And I'm not motivated enought by money/success to do it for that reason alone. I just don't care.

As far as the poetry goes I need to unclench my creativity. Spit it out, tweak it, find out what it is, what it wants to be, or what I want it to be, refine it. Repeat. I'm so resistant to the idea that that's who I am that I don't just let it fly like I used to. The process feels kinked.

you go away for a little while and suddenly everyone's a jedi

Or something like that.

As someone who also is trying to write, I can totally sympathize. Hell, half the reason I leave the house is so I can get some writing done. I have a beer-2 max, and then I can't write 'seriously' any more-and try to get something accomplished. I go to the bar because there are less distractions than at home.

At home someone is always watching TV. I have Magic decks to tweak. Oddly, I rarely feel the desire to read-but this is b/c I spend my time on the bus reading. But there is internet. Porn. Email. Telling people where to shove it online. Videogames. Mmm...there is so very much to be done. If you don't make time, how will you ever take time, eh?

Writing IS a solitary function. Showing it to people getting feedback, however, isn't. I was very glad to take a writing class last fall, and I'll take another one, because it 1) keeps me writing and 2) has someone giving me feedback. The shit I put on the web is mostly a way to keep the debris from my head from taking over. When I'm not doing web stuff, I have to journal, just so I can sit down and do writing that is focused (on a story or poem or such).

The more stuff you own, the more it owns you. The thing about shit like Fight Club-where I'm ripping off the previous line-is that it's a truth told to you by slick fuckers who make more money in a year than I will in 25. I don't resent Pitt, Norton, Fincher, Palahniuk, et al for telling me this truth. (And, from what I know, Mr. Palahniuk is anything but a slick fucker).

I'm all over the place here. I think it's ok to own stuff. But I try not to get more than I need-it's why I don't own an Xbox, or why I try to do yearly culls through my CD collection, or books, to sell. I give away my extra Magic cards. I give away the comic books I don't read anymore. But I haven't stopped buying comics, videogames, magic cards.

Balance. This is the key, somehow. I have to make time to do the work-exercise, writing, etc, so I don't feel like I'm wasting away by spending the occasional Sunday playing Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Like...um...yesterday. There is a place for everything, but ensuring that I give those things their place isn't always easy.

It becomes harder when I want to do things with people, and get little in response. The writing class was great-and I hit it off with the teacher, who is about my age. But every time I emailed him to see if he wanted to do something, our schedules just collided and he never emailed me about anything, so what am I to do? Do I keep pouring something into this to see if anything comes out? Why? I can go write at the Blue Sapphire for a couple hours and see the Suicide Girls strip not but 15 blocks away, and have a more productive evening.

Insert questions about why it's harder to gain friends at our age.

You can't just do something because you have to. That's called slavery. You have to do it because you love it. But even with that, I've found that I need to set goals; I'm going to write at least 1 chapter a month (it's up to 2 now) so I can do something with a sense of accomplishment. Making a goal concrete makes it a hell of a lot easier to deal with-say you wanted to write one poem a month. You don't have to do it all the time, you can take an hour here and there and work on it.

no links included

I've become resistant to the idea of writing. Anytime I think about it, I'd rather not. I never feel like I have anything to say, let alone anything worthwhile, productive or thought provoking. I feel that way right now, but I haven't been able to shake the feeling lately that it's exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. This damn inside-voice that keeps telling me that to write is to live and that I am most definitely supposed to be doing it. That anything else I do is really a distraction from writing. Writing is a solitary act and it emphasizes my solitude more than I care for it to. If I'm busy on the net, playing games, watching a movie or TV, listening to music or doing some nearly irrelevant task like cataloguing music, creating music wishlists or the other odd sorts of mostly unused random databases that I'm prone to then I'm essentially just living in a state of meaningless busyness, accomplishing nothing. And that is exactly what I'm tempted to go do right now, it seems more and more like an addiction. The behavior I resort to when I'm not at work or involved in some sort of social activity. That realization right there is exactly what needed to be written. It is now undeniable. So, what am I supposed to write about all of the damn time should it be a focus of my life, a primary function, purpose, and goal. I have no drive to write fiction, do research or write essays. These are things I don't really have comprehension of, in terms of the act of creation.

The kicker:

I feel I have a knack for poetry. This scares me for some reason. I've done enough of it to realize how much hard work it is, how much of a craft it is and how much time, dedication and self I need to give to something like that. And I don't want to. But it's what pops into my head time and time again. Write. Write poetry. Try it.

"You used to like it, when you did it for fun."

To see if I could, to see if I'd like what I churned out, to see if others would like what I churned out. And they did. Now it seems much more like a responsibility, something that I need to be accountable to myself for. And damn if I'm not in a near perfect place to do it. I'm single with no kids, no responsibilities to anyone other than myself and the responsibility most people feel to be a non-leeching member of their community. Old enough to understand that life is difficulties, pain, misery. Old enough to begin to understand the importance of sympathy, compassion and charity. Good will towards men. Wise enough to know that it's not about the Lexus, designer jeans and HDTVs. As much as I wouldn't mind owning those things sometimes...


Possessions seem to cause problems. A neverending series of desires to be filled. Have an XBOX then you need more games, an iPod - more songs. A big house - more nicer furniture. I get my drift. There are more games than I can possibly acquire and enjoy. Same goes for music, books, movies. No one can do it all. Yet it seems that everyone tries; in order to fit in, to say I've seen it, heard it, played it, read it. We all want more of something and the only things I can think of that are beneficial to have more of are food, water, money; the things that can be given away and be useful to others.


"How do I know what I think if I don't write it down?" - ?

Cool. What's on TV I wonder?

Art is Not a Loaf of Bread

“There’s a reason you can’t copyright a chord progression.” -- Jeff Tweedy

Reasons to Fear Canada via McSweeney's

Decriminalization of marijuana and acceptance of gay marriage without corresponding collapse of social institutions indicate Canada may, in fact, be indestructible.

Xbox.com :: MechAssault

Hey. I remembered what else I wanted to blog'bout. I've been playing alot of Mechassault lately. It was the first game I bought for my XBOX and it's a blast. Next game I'm buying is Mechassault 2. There.

photo

I'm not big into photography, that is taking photos myself. I like photos quite a bit and I think this one kicks the booty. It makes me wonder if i'd been there with my camera, what would I have done?

Rust :: NYC High Line, 2/29/04 (kottke.org)

it's a sunny day

Today was Bloomsday 2005, which means that if your in the coffee business in downtown Spokane you're going to be in the thick of it. I worked fast and hard as did my cohorts. But it is done. Yo La Tengo is rocking me right now and I've drank two beers while checking my email and Bloglines subscriptions. And there is more beer.

I've been into BBQ sauce lately (store bought) and have been enjoying the Bull's Eye (TM), anyone have any favorites to recommend.

I've got two days off, tomorrow is about sleeping in. I had something else I was gonna jot down in here but, you know, beer. Latah.