Can we do this sometime?

Because I can't be the only person interested.

What is YOUR favorite legume?

My vote goes to the Dark Red Kidney Bean.

-A.Ho-

Heh!

It seems everyone on the blog has been having a long few days.

So click the linky. I think it's amusing.

We don't cry. We laugh until they go away, shamed in defeat at our joy.

Hold it.

Cards. Specifically Texas Hold'em poker. A game that I am novice at that requires strategy and skill mixed with chance and some gut instinct.

Instinct, that sometimes miniscule voice I fail to listen to. Such was the case when I folded my hand before the flop and then flopped what would've been a Full House. Ugh.


-A.Ho-

a theory of mine. apply at will.

One third of "something" (something being Music, movies, people you know, etc.) will be great, one third will be mediocre, and one third will blow. These thirds can be broken down in the same manner. For instance:

I would consider most of the music I own and listen to to be in the top third of all music ever. Not everyone will think so but I don't care. Within that tiny collection one-third will be superior, and probably more listened to, than the other two-thirds, and so forth.

This post made me think about that.

Miller Time

There should be a charity to which I can donate money that will go towards beer. The entire population of the Gulf Coast needs a drink.

-A.Ho-

A little over $600

This is how much the month of August will cost me in medical bills. Note, this is after insurance.

I can afford to pay it.

And I am very, very grateful for this.

Bungie + Red Cross = Fight the Flood

Halo-y Goodness.

Recommended Reading

Grabbed this from Kris' del.icio.us feed. I remember seeing it when I was opening tabs for Scalzi's blog yesterday, I must have inadvertently closed it.

Being Poor


-A.Ho-

Warm Fuzzy

courtesy of Penny Arcade

You can read. If you want to.

Scalzi

•New Orleans
•Stupid, Stupid Poor

& The Houston Chronicle 12/01/01

•New Orleans faces doomsday scenario


-A.Ho-

Q: Son Volt or TV? A: TV

I finished up the 1st season of 24 a couple weeks ago and think I'm going to settle on The Wire as the next series of DVDs I'll be qeuing up at NETFLIX. I snagged the first disc of Oz last week and have watched two episodes of that. I like it ok but it's not as immediately compelling, I'll finish up the first disc and grab the second down the road a bit and see if it grabs me some more.

I've my own personal volume of the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica now as well. I have three more episodes of that to watch. Love it.

Son Volt is playing at Riverfront Park tonight as part of the glorious Pig Out In The Park. It's the first time they've ever had a band I wanted to see. I'm not going. I was going to go but I drank a bit much last night and I'm staying home. And it's not really a good venue anyway, at least to me. I'd have to go down early and stake out a place on the hill amongst all the porked out masses, and wait. No thanks.

I won't be attending the Spokane Idol semifinals either.

I guess thats all.

-A.Ho-

Hagar The Horrible | The Movie

Just an idea.

-A.Ho-

short pithy

Put the link to my LJ.
No, I don't want to talk about it right now.

Invincible Maiden

Because I can.
Because I care.


-A.Ho-

A One-Beer Buzz

So, it's been about 5½ hours since I've eaten and I just downed a Black Butte Porter over the course of about 10 minutes, probably less. I feel nice.

BAC Keyring Doodad

Wee, what fun!

Hear Music Cafe's on Flickr

Here's some photos of the Starbucks Hear Music Bars where you can custom burn you own cd's. I guess the library is about 150,000 songs. These may only be of interest to me, but they're my first visuals of something I've heard a lot about.

Coffee • Tea • Banana

Top three on the food/beverage antioxidant tree.

Uvama?

I have implemented word verification. Hopefully this will stop the comment spam.

a sad day

a lonely day

-A.Ho-

ker-huh!?

I'm confused at the implication of being confused. I think.

What I know: Messy Texan posted recently in a post, and this is excerpted, 'you should unfuck yourself directly'

That was funny. Wasn't it?

-------

And now, after a couple days of strange errors, I am able to check my gmail again. HooRAY.


-A.Ho-

That is fucking it.

I went out last night w/Kris. I had 3 beers. One pilsner. One IPA.

One Blue Dot Ale from Hair of the Dog.

I will never drink that shit again. Ever.

I am stupid hung over, and that is after 8 hours of sleep. My head has little ice skaters cutting into my brain. I feel queasy. I've got a touch of the shakes.

So fuck that noise. I will now recommend Blue Dot only to people I want to see in pain.

On the plus side, Kris and I had a good time, along with Dan C and Ashley, so at least the evening was good.

1½ ¢

This isn't necessarily about logic or reason but may be about bravery. Also, being a cocaine addict is bound to skew your 'take' on a situation that your coping with by coking up.

-A.Ho-

I don't know.

See, I do and accept all kinds of shit about my friends. Things I wouldn't be cool with a stranger doing. I also try to encourage my friends to follow the brighter path-and they do the same for me, I hope. (But don't tell them I'm Satan.)

And while I agree with Fuz and the MT that people should stand up for themselves, and live responsible lives, AND that they are responsible for the shit they do when the fuck up or lie-

I also know that there, sometimes, but for the grace of the Universe, go I. And as absurd as it may seem, people don't make decisions like hiding their homosexualty, or their bizzare love for Andrew WK, with the idea that they are going to hurt anyone. They do it because they think they are doing the right thing-the best possible thing.

And it should also be noted, that people do things and make demands, that us, looking in on their lives, do not understand. Can't. I have a friend whose ex-wife did shit that should not stand anywhere under any circumstances. Yet he stayed with her. And I supported him, because he's my friend. And when he got out, I supported him in that, too.

I love Fuz, I do. But I also know that he made a decision not to go to Texas in part b/c his SO said: If you go, you go without me. And this had not just a little to do with the attitudes us northerners have about the conditions in the south. (Some justified, some not, like anything else.)

I don't bring up that story to make Fuz look bad, I bring it up because, like it or not, we are passing judgement on someone whose life we do not have, with pressures we do not understand, and with biases that have nothing to do with that person's life, but with ourselves.

I'm not saying that we are doing something wrong, mind you. I'm saying that we should acknowledge what we are doing, and allow for the possibility that we are wrong, or at least, being harsh.

That DOESN'T mean I think that people should get a free pass for the dumb fucking decisions they make. As the Texan pointed out-taking responsibility for your actions is part of what makes you an adult. And I even said to Fuz in an email that
I don't think you should give him any slack. He chose a lie. On top of that-he chose cocaine. One I could understand, and feel bad for, but not a lot. The other, I just think: fucking moron.
Because at some point, he said: this is more important than that to me.

But perhaps I was quick in my judgement.

The Funny

You'll have to scroll down to Vartian's animated gif entry in this Fark contest.

I hurt myself laughing. But not in the long-term injury way. Thankfully.

In other news, the pretzels in Frito-Lay's Munchies Classic Mix can be considered to be toxic to carbon-based life forms, and you should avoid them if hungry for food. If hungry for love, please eat immediately.

October 13th

How shall we celebrate Peel Day?

Request granted (2nd time)

The last post got spammed. Fuckin' A.

I just deleted everything (I hope) and reposted-which in this case is a link that A.Ho asked me to provide to my last LJ entry.

shout out the doubt

Step one -- Run in tiny circles while screaming.

Tex: You were not invited here to censor yourself, so please don't feel that you have to stylize your posts. You add a wonderful vibrancy and life to this page and I'm glad that you're here.

There is no theme. This site is for us. To whatever purpose it suits yourself, Dan, and I is what it will be. If it's about anything it's about having a place to share and keep in contact with each other. Maybe other people who know us check in here once in a while to see what we're up to and see what's been on our minds.

I don't know that I can offer any words to alleviate your worries. Please just know that you are not alone in being afraid of stuff.

I, for one, am afraid of posting anything too real here. You bring it.


-A.Ho-

The irony, the irony!

"To occupy Iraq would instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us, and make a broken tyrant a latter-day Arab hero. It would have taken us way beyond the imprimatur of international law bestowed by the resolutions of the Security Council, assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war. It would only plunge that part of the world into even greater instability and destroy the credibility we were working so hard to reestablish."

Who said it!?

C'mon, you want to know about who said it! Answer in link.
http://tinyurl.com/g5iw

In other news: Kris-cool button.
Texan: I hope your hangover is done now.
And me: I get my stitches removed today.

NYTimes.com: The Breaking Point

MAGAZINE   | August 21, 2005
The Breaking Point
By PETER MAASS
The Saudis say they can supply all our oil needs. Critics say that that is becoming impossible. They just might turn out to be right.

FSM

Thanks to Kris for this button which I will post into the template in the near future.

Rock & Pop

I haven't been using my iPod much, and that's ok. With the old 40GB I used it all the time because I had the charging dock and could run the music through my computer speakers, like running iTunes without hogging all the PC resources. The new 60GB doesn't fit the old dock and I just haven't felt like buying a new one. So, I occasionally listen to it at work and sometimes if I ride the bus, which I don't do much this time of year. In the winter I'll be sure to use it more.

I find that with the iPod, and iTunes for that matter, that I tend to listen more to playlists or just my shuffled library, and not albums. I like to listen to albums. A lot. On the go it makes more sense because the chance that I'm going to be able to give an album the attention that it deserves is very little, so playlists are ok. If I'm listening to music at my PC then it's usually because I am organizing or adding to the library or just get the urge to hear a certain song and then that song or some website will trigger the desire to hear a different song.

I've fallen out of the habit of listening to albums. I used to just lay on my bed or chill on a couch and close my eyes and take in some music, or maybe I was driving, in the days that I had a car, in which case I kept my eyes open. Mostly. Anyhow, albums rule and are really my preferred way to take in music. I'm going to emphasize it more in my day to day routine. Here's what I've enjoyed recently, nothing new, just what I picked out of my collection to hear.

Last week I listened to Sleater-Kinney's The Woods multiple times. It is good. Very good. I think I only listened to it two or three times immediately after I bought it. That was enough to determine that it was as good as any hype it received and that it met/exceeded my own expectations. Then I bought Stars Set Yourself On Fire and that album just grabbed ahold of me and everytime I thought about listening to SK my Stars album would glint in the sun and beg to be spun. I listened to that yesterday after not hearing it for a month or more. It also meets the criteria of good, and very good. Today I gave Sonic Youth's Murray Street two spins. I was going to name my favorite tracks off of it but that's really irrelevent. I do have favorites on it but the whole thing is just so phenomenal and no tracks on it deserve the disservice of being unfavored. Just now I listened to Caribou The Milk of Human Kindness. Wow. Utterly pleasant. Two songs that I'll note as personal standouts from that disc are Bees and Brahminy Kite.

Fin.

-A.Ho-

dive in restaurant

I have finished my money earning obligations for the day. Disc five (of six) for 24 arrived in the mail and I intend to take full advantage of it, or at least three-quarters advantage. Spokane is being blessed with glorious rain and cloudy cool temperatures. It is a joy I plan to sit outside and partake of, with beer in hand. My cat vies and vies for affection and then the moment I pick him up, seeing he won't be denied, he then decides he only wants a tiny moment of my time -- control freak.



We're all rockstars here.


-A.Ho-

This isi my new favorite line

It's nice to know that when I have sex with her, I'll slap her ass and it will sound like freedom.


Jesus. That's the best. line. ever.

/that's how it sound whenever I have sex with a woman, though
//mmmm...freedom ringing

So. I'm looking ahead in my NETFLIX queue trying to decide what to move up to the top. I was checking out Farscape and noticed that the sequencing on it is all crazy-like. Maybe someone, and I mean Dan, familiar with the series can explain it to me. So here it is:

Disc 01 -- Episodes 1 & 7
Disc 02 -- Episodes 2 & 4
Disc 03 -- Episodes 3 & 6
Disc 04 -- Episodes 5 & 8
Disc 05 -- Episodes 9 & 10
Disc 06 -- Episodes 11 & 13
Disc 07 -- Episodes 12 & 14

Discs 08 - 11 contain the remaining episodes (15-21) in order.


WTF?



-A.Ho-

anecdote

A young boy of about 5 or 6 just walked by the window where I sit and internet, there's an alley there. He was banging two sticks together like he was playing the drums. He was pretty good.

-A.Ho-

I refute the 2nd law of thermodynamics!

Awesome.

And thank you, for the props, Ms Stewardess.

I almost cry when I think about pulling a knife from my arm.

Wiki Mania

People I didn't know were Spokanites.


Ryne Sandberg: baseball Hall of Famer
Michael Clarke: drummer for The Byrds
Paul d'Amour: original bassist for Tool
Chuck Jones: two words -- Loony Tunes. Directed How the Grinch Stole Christmas!


And some people that I did:

Julia Sweeney: created and portrayed Pat on SNL. And consequently came into my workplace the other day and ordered, if I remember correctly, a Quad Grande w/room Americano.

Craig Montaya: bassist for Everclear. Formerly in the Spokane band Soul Patch.


And of course:

Bing
Sherman
Stockton
Tom
Coach

bang zoom

I'm curious why the word won't is not, instead, the word willn't.

-A.Ho-

the forest for the trees

When will we fess up? Blood for Oil

And some tidbits: Sometimes you just can't do a thing. & Bubonic or Black?

it's late. i'm bored.

I am generally a very pleased NETFLIX customer and I recommend them to anyone who will listen. However, I don't tend to rent the hottest new thing so my experience is probably different from someone who is always going for titles in the Top 100.

This is some of the stuff I came across in my search for other's opinions and experiences regarding NETFLIX.

Manuel Villanueva's CALCULATOR, OP-ED & JOURNAL
Michael S. Muegel's An Analysis of Netflix's DVD Allocation System

An alternative -- GreenCine



My DVD Plate:

I'm currently in the midst of the first season of 24. I'm eleven hours into the story and quite enthralled, so enthralled in fact that I'm a bit ticked that I'm not getting a new disc tomorrow. I thought the delay was simply the non-delivery of mail on Sunday but as it turns out NETFLIX workers don't do Saturday or Sunday, so my mail isn't even being processed until tomorrow when those chumps get back to work. This seems like an unecessary delay, sure, you can't help the mail, but it seems counterproductive to be in a service oriented business and not have people work on Saturday, hell, even Sunday could be a nice catch up day. I wonder if NETFLIX people work Holidays. Hmm. Anyhow, 24 rules. Hard.

-A.Ho-

The Pepsi Challenge?

Is apparently fidelity.

I wonder what the ratio would be for Kool-Aid.

umm...yep

The Christian Paradox (Harpers.org)

It gets better!

I actually broke the damn leg.

Now, I've got to see an orthopedic surgon, just to make sure everything is going to heal ok.

But, of course, using the ones my insurance 'approves' of is proving to be an insane difficulty. The one my doc recommended-less so. But I'm still waiting for an appointment.

I hate this waiting, doctor, insurance bullshit. I just want to go to work tomorrow, and I want to know if I need crutches or not. Why is this so hard? And why will it cost me so much money?

I'm going to go play videogames. Looks like at least the Stewardess had a rockin' time.

You're having more fun than me

Odds are.

I sprained my ankle today. Woo! Now while it IS nice to have people get you a beer when you want one, it's less thrilling to be immobile and subject to their shitty taste in movies.

Who Do We Work For?

via Kottke.org

The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race

oops.

Koch

I've been thinking about this whole Sam Adams, Jim Koch, bottles vs. cans issue that Dan linked to. I find it ridiculous. A fairly wise young fellow I once met said that the best beer he's ever had is the beer he's got in his hand. Consumers want that beer. They want it at the ballgame and on the plane. They'll be happy with a can. And he's holding out to the tune of millions of dollars?



Starbucks went through a similar thing years ago. Customers wanted nonfat milk in their lattes and Howard Schulz essentially said 'no way.' Why? Because a whole milk latte just tastes a hell of a lot better, and gosh darn it that's the way it's supposed to be. He eventually gave it a chance, to the tune of many many millions of dollars.



People want what they want, and pay for it. If that demand can be met, ethically and morally, and it's not being done, only stubborness and perhaps severe mental retardation are to blame.


- A.Ho -

On Current Affairs

It's been a while since I linked to Amy, so here's an inspirational post.

Holy Capital Letter F

Walking home from work this morning at 10AM it was 80° !! This does not bode well for my afternoon. I have stuff I'd like to do and if I don't get it done by around noon it is going to be too hot in my apartment to be properly motivated. It will also be too warm to watch a DVD or play XBox. I imagine myself propped up against a pillow in my bathtub reading.



My family learned in April that my sister would be expecting her second child in late December. She learned this week that she will be expecting twins. My nephew Sean will not be quite two years-old at that time. I'm no seer but I predict exhaustive days and nights to come for her. If she lived closer I would be able to help out once in a while. As it stands I only see them about every three months.



I'd like to grant her the patience and stamina needed to endure her continuing motherhood. Can I do that?



- A.Ho -

Beer Drinker's Bill of Rights

Dude, you can give Sam Adams all the shit you want, but anyone who's willing to put that much on the line-and still make a reasonable beer-is alright by me. I'll buy that beer.
/after I get my beer drank.
//and the Metolius Brookie Pale Ale

light sabers on auction block

$60,000 for a light saber. Done.

Welcome to the Washington Metro

Beat Cop 2005

a thought of the day

I should learn Chinese.

the truth of the fun

The truth here is scary. I don't often go out and drink up like we did that night and it never occured to me that maybe we shouldn't drive home. It would probably be safe to say that we, Dan and I, were overserved. I'd planned to stop at three drinks as I was doing just fine but then the waitress shows up and my beer is empty, so I get another. Anyways, it was a blast. People do what people do and there will always be someone that will have a bit too much and drive, even when it goes against their general character. I'm glad we're all home safe as well as those on the road with us that night.

Excuses

It should be said that one should NOT drink more than 2 pints of Hair of the Dog's Blue Dot ale.

While the last post I made is entirely appropriate in language and tone of myself, I do not remember making it. I was having what the kids call a blackout. It has been quite some time since I have done that, and I'm a little pleased to see that my basic nature is unchanged when I am really, really, really, really really fucking drunk.

So: you have all been warned. 2 pints. That's it. You're done for the night.

It should also be noted that I didn't black out until I got home. I do remember having that photo taken, when I try to be Gene Simmons. I think we all know why A.Ho is known as 'the nice/cute one' now. I remember going home, and I even remember parts of being home.

Anyway. That's why my last post reads like it does. I just thought I'd offer that, in case anyone was wondering.

we are very, very good looking. really.

I went to Portland for four days last week and got back Saturday night. I had more fun than expected, most of it on Friday -- I spent the afternoon with Liz at the Tazo Tea company picnic where I met a fun group of people. We played more than a few rousing rounds of "Pass the Pigs" as the Mirror Pond poored freely. After the beer was cut-off Liz and I meandered through the Oregon Zoo looking for bears and giraffes. On the way out we hit the gift shop where I grabbed a couple postcards to send my parents and work while Liz grabbed some souvenir pennies.


After some downtime and dinner Dan and I left for the Horse Brass Pub to meet up with Kris, master of idowhatican.com. I've been reading Kris' blog for sometime now and it was a real treat to hang out with him. We were fortunate enought to grab a table right away, the Horse Brass has become quite the popular spot, and we got right down to the business of ordering beers. It wasn't long before small talk turned to genuine enjoyable and fun conversation. We were soon joined by Krissy, then Damien and Kieron. Laughs kept coming as talk turned from this, to that, covering a surprising range of topics as the perception of time disappeared and memories and friendships formed.

Other highlights:

•The Menomena show
•Killzone on the PS2
•New used music: The Replacements Hootenanny, The Pixies at the BBC, Frank Black s/t
•Lasagna
•Dan's fantastic homebrew
•losing my keys
•missing the Sufjan Stevens show due to my failure to plan and the show selling out
•guy losing control of bike, down a big hill, hitting the fence, breaking his arm and being taken away in an ambulance
•brief visit with Kevin Sampsell
•LLOYD CENTER!
•meeting Alodie
•Rogue Chamomile Ale
•Built to Spill stickers
•finding out Built to Spill will play Spokane in October
•free Tazo bottled drinks
•Reverend the cat
•driving with Dan/Liz around town
•tea tasting
•running into my old boss Alice after deplaning in Spokane
•Division & 20th-ish Starbucks
•Division & 120th-ish Starbucks
•Stumptown coffee
•buying homebrew ingredients for Dan's next batch
•not missing work or Spokane.

As expected.

Lance wins.

Took me 1/2 doz to sign in

And I'm drunk.

But it's been a good day. And night. I'm gonna go watch AHo play Killzone, be fuckedup and be ok.

Krissy & Kris; good to meet yah.

Damien and Kieron; good to see yah again.

Games.

Sleep

Yike.
D

Call me 'dork'

I'll explain later. Suffice it to say, "ugh."

faux paw

Seeing Aimee in those pics, I do remember her-but, I cannot say I knew her. I am saddened by her death, but I do not feel a sense of loss, either.

I mean no coldness by this. From all reports, she was a good human, and I don't want to take away from that.

I wasn't too bright on the whole 'reading' thing when I got the eVite for her memorial.

Let's just say I didn't understand she was dead, at the time of my reply.

But it could've been worse-my reply was generic enough that no one should take offense.

_______________________________________________________

We've got an addition, eh? Good.

s'about to get interesting

I should be in bed. Regardless, I'd like to welcome the a new member to Bloggin My Noggin. We'll have to come up with a clever name for her.

A.Ho

Aimee Fraijo
May 29, 1976 - June 29, 2005

Scalzi • Writing in the Age of Piracy

I link to this only because it uses one of my very favorite phrases. A phrase my friend Ben uses quite frequently and I rarely see my friend Ben these days, so it's a link of senitmentality. You can click to the link, or not, it makes no difference to me, I just need to see this and feel special.

Oh, for fuck's sake.


p.s. I first discovered Scalzi via Tycho of Penny Arcade. As it turns out Scalzi often talks about Penny Arcade. Two great tastes that go great together.

• fun lists •

5ives: Merlin's Lists of Five Things

Five things people I knew in high school swore they’d do on their 18th birthday

1. change first name to “Porsche Rose”
2. stalk Prince
3. smoke the world’s fattest joint—right in front of the Dean of Boys
4. get tattoo of the cover of Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast across entire back
5. just chill out and shit

Five fake urban myths I’d like you to earnestly share with your friends and colleagues

1. Computer hackers can now steal anyone’s underpants using their own PC
2. “Starving” people in Africa spend most of their aid money on big-screen TVs, pole-dances, and perfectly good food that they just throw away
3. There is actually no “Norway”—it was invented in the mid-’40s as part of an MGM publicity stunt
4. Studies show there’s more feces on your doorknob than there is in an actual pile of feces
5. There’s a little girl in Arkansas named Ashley-Marie who has full-blown entitilitis, and she’s praying that everyone in America will breakdance for her at noon next Monday

Five things I’d like to see engraved on little rubber bracelets

1. Nap Strong
2. My Other Bracelet is Fighting Colon Cancer
3. America: Shut Thy Pie Hole
4. Kiss Me, I’m Trendy
5. Please Watch Arrested Development

SS Interview

Neat.

Can do.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

sticky

I took a shower today.  It feels like I did not.

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? or, The Death of the Self on a Saturday Night

This is good writing.

The Flick Filosopher | War of the Worlds

Ok. I haven't read this review yet, but any review that starts off with "Holy fuck." ought be linked to post-haste.

I saw the film last night and enjoyed it immensely. Easily the best film I've seen, in the theater, since I saw NARC. This excludes LotR of course. Were there plot holes? Yes. A little convenient? Sure, but it all works and it was captivating and entertaining as all get-out.

A highlight of the evening was the trailer for Peter Jackson's KING KONG. I don't think I could go wrong making the decision to see that film. Peter Jackson will hopefully be making films for years, or decades, to come.

evidence

le venue

Hmm. I recall buying a plane ticket and flying to Portland to see GbV play at said Crystal Ballroom. I remember it being quite the experience. Of course it was my only GbV show and only Ballroom show. Perhaps the experience is moot.

And my heart soared for a moment as well because I immediately thought JULY 20th, not August.

I only knew that Sufjan's new record was out yesterday. Thanks to Kris' comment at gar.rulo.us.
I haven't been as regimented in my Pitchfork visits since they changed the site over, so I haven't been quite as looped as in the past on such matters. I don't like the new site as much and I let them know in their survey.

The illicit album is out there if you're quick, but no more will be shipped. I did procure it.

Lumina Infinite

I caught up with this blog via comments at Kris' blog. I'm linking this post here because I am quite certain that the _____________________ will dig it. Word.

Lumina Infinite: Response to a Love Letter

Come On Feel The Illinoise

Why didn't I know that Sufjan Stevens had a new album out?

Raise finger 'here'

The Arcade Fire is playing. In PDX. On the 20th of August.

There's a huge-full page-spread in the Willy Week. For a moment, my heart soared-I was going to see one of the great bands of the year. I was going to see-

-Wait.
Wait.

The Crystal Ballroom.

Huh. Lessee. I could pay 16+service charges to see a band at a venue where the sound is so bad I might as well see the screaming chants of the monks of Peru, or I could use that money on beer and play a great record at home. And still have enough to go out for beer for me and the sweetie.

I think the choice is clear.

Goes great with my morning pastry.

I went to the kitchen for a drink of water, and maybe a beer, which I decided against. In the process I thought to myself, 'hmm...beer for dessert' and then I thought 'ah-ha...beer a la mode' which I thought was clever, albeit a brief moment. But that reminded me of this aberration I saw at the store today.

- if the shoe fits -

I learned a new word.
Google Search: define:laconic

Austin City Limits - 2005 Festival

Holy shit that is a lot of fucking music. I'm considering the fact that I ought to consider going to this thing. Carpe diem and all that.

Austin City Limits - 2005 Festival

What!? NO DELTA FORCE??

Maybe you'll understand the extent of my disappointment when I tell you that NETFLIX only has one selection featuring Chuck Norris and it's a Special Interest video.

Broken Habit

For nearly two years I faithfully employed the clicking mechanism of my mouse to take me to the Penny Arcade website. Somehow over the last year I've lost that habit. I've taken a few moments today to dig in their archives and see if I could pick up where I left off and get back in the groove. It will no doubt be some enjoyable reading.

I picked up this quote from there today as regards discussion of the film Requiem for a Dream. Tycho has a knack for syncing the reality of his thoughts with those of the readers. At least that's my take. Here's the quote:

J"Jennifer Connelly is hot to death. Staring intently into a mirror, I once said her name for an hour in the hopes that she would suddenly appear."

Ok. That's a bit weird. I just went to imdb.com to create a link to info about Requiem for a Dream and/or Jennifer Connelly and the blurb for Dark Water starring Miss Connelly headed up the front page of the site.

And since I was at imdb.com I looked up the movie The Cutter starring Chuck Norris. You won't want to miss this. A chunk of this movie was filmed, and takes place in, Spokane. Just try to deny me the bragging rights.

autograph.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x406 pixels)

Scanned this today. I'm sure I blogged about it last year but Frank Black came into my workplace last April when they played in town. I was able to get his autograph. Now I have a scanner and can display it to the world. Wee.

Heart

I recently praised the new Stars album Set Yourself on Fire. Well I recently bought what I believe is their first album Heart. Consider it praised as well.

Brought to you by the letters IPA.

Where's a Bozo The Clown bop-bag when I need it?

I had one of those, or something very similar when I was a kid. As fun as it was I think it would be more therapeutic as an thirty-something adult.

For those not in the know, my brain likes to play friendly games of the OCD variety with me. On occasion I can be quite irritated with this. Right now I want to hit something.

Consider Bozo on my wish list.

And to quote myself, "Yurg."

Oh brother.

Ananova reports: Franz Ferdinand say the band's second album will have the same title and cover as their first.

And all future albums by the band will have the same name - Franz Ferdinand.

The band told the NME the albums would be distinguishable only by their colour schemes.

Taken from Antimusic.com.

$4.29 or "How I spent 36 minutes of making lattes on a skin pic."

I tried not buying it. Well, I kind of tried.

Ok, fine! I didn't really try, but I gave it some thought.

What can I say?

I'm addressing guilty pleasures and I decided this flaxen haired patriot is one of them.

Besides, now I can LOOK SHARP // LIVE SMART.



ah...screw you.

Gripping drama.

It's true, I have a knack for making comebacks in FPS deathmatches. I think it just comes down to getting my footing on a map or figuring which weapon works for me.

My favorite has to be a 15 kill comeback to tie Grant in Halo 2 at 22 or 23 kills and then fighting out those last two kills. I'm not sure who won that match, but it sure was a blast. There've been many games where I filled that gap and then lost but it sure is fun.

I'm back from Spokane. This will continue my month+ of either visiting or having visitors. Next weekend, more people come into town.

Watching my niece was rewarding and strangely tiring. I have a greater understanding of single parenthood now, and I tip my cap, once again, to you. It's fucking hard.

The server at work was down most of the morning, so nothing got done. I can't check my email right now, b/c it's down for maintence. I love email. I miss it when it's gone.

My beer has started brewing. This is good.

Currently listening to Head Automatica, which is good stuff. Feels like a dance album made by people who love it, but don't make dance music. Time to attempt to work. Or something.

Timesplitters is mucho fun. I don't suck at FPS where I'm on semi-equal footing. Or maybe it's the chimps. (Chimpicide! is my new favorite exclaimation) You try hating a game where you can play a ninja chimp. You can't, can you? (I still suck at the FPS, though. AHo made a 9 kill comeback in one game where I only had 1 kill to go to win. This is the extent of my suck)
http://www.eagames.com/redesign/games/ps2/timesplitters/home.jsp

I guess that's the news that's fit to print.

It's Hot. And I'm Hot. Or Not.

I'm moving shit around. My computer happens to sit in the hottest part of my house. It is going elsewhere - the coolest room in the house. Which happens to be my bedroom. Which happens to be where I don't sleep. It has become more of a storage area. Now it is becoming The Den.

Got whistled at today. Hmm.

Beer. oh yeah. My new rule/flowchart -

Q=Am I at the store?
if A=Yes then buy beer.
if A= No then goto Q.

you get the idea.

reprinted w/o Dan's permission -- Rants soulanger, fucked stuff

This is beautiful.

6/17
Hey fuckers. Quit making out on the bus.
You sound like frogs being hurled at a windshield.
In a just world, I'd be able to thwock the both of you with my William Gibson book, and you'd have to just look shamefaced at your idiocy. Instead, I have to put up with your grotesque, old-people fucking type noises as you attempt to slurp up a relationship in public that has no fucking chance.
Quit it.

I like chocolate.

So, driving home from Grant & Kristol's wedding on Sunday w/ Nathan, he says to me, "I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance, by switching away from Geico." That boy funny.

Also, I have a guilty pleasure to confess too. I don't go out of my way to watch it but I do enjoy watching Judge Judy. Helps me feel much better about myself and my life. And there's nothing wrong with that. I wonder if there are DVDs?


A!

Validation!

"In Sealed, you do about ten times as much work in the deckbuilding step. Besides needing to know how to build for a Sealed environment (in which certain cards can be wildly more - or less - valuable than they are in Draft), you also need to be able to compare power levels of different builds across entire different color combinations. After you've decided on your colors, your archetype, and most of your build, then you start to narrow down your last few debatable slots."- Richard Feldman @ Starcitygames

This-this is why it's such a big deal that one Brandon R Keaton screwed me over at the last Geek Riot. We were playing sealed-and his little trick hosed me, and now I can point, exactly, to why. Actually, I feel better in a way; I really hold a lot less blame for my performance that day.

Off to make comments!

I am too sexy, too damn sexy.

So. I've been listening to Stars ~Set Yourself on Fire. Repeatedly. For days. The first couple of times I liked it just fine. But then I'd play it again, and once more, you know, for good measure. Now it seems it's always on. Hooked the lady of the lake up w/ a couple of songs and she digs it as well. She's going on a trip. I really, really hope she has a really, really good time. She's good peeps.

Haven't done much on here lately, haven't been reading my normal blogs much either, I wonder what Kris and Peelio are up to. Been busy on the eBay, and sleeping.

Recent realization: Starving for affection. Had a couple of blue days over that. I'm over it. But still hungry.

My good friend Grant just got married. It was by far the most meaningful wedding I have ever been to. It's nice to know that these two people are going to make it and that there going to do it well, and with style. Word & applause.

Riddick. Hard. Zelda -The Wind Waker. Don't care, selling it. KotOR. Haven't touched it. Halo 2? I'm only better than Dan. Vince smoked my ass the other day and today I'm going to Nato's for dinner, and I imagine we will play Halo 2. He will destroy me. Maybe we'll play LIVE w/ his 13 year-old nephew. From what I understand he will detroy us. Hitman 3. Bought it sometime ago. Have played all of 10 minutes. Will play it someday. Conker Reloaded is coming out soon. It will be cheap and used someday. Oddworld: Strangers Wrath. Deserves my attention. Resident Evil 4. Need to finish. It is AmaZing. With a capital Z.

Beck's is on sale into July. I will drink my share. The sun is shining. The cat is sleeping, somewhere. I need to pee. And that's my queue. Later.

A!

busy, busy busy

There is a great deal to do today. All of it involves me getting the hell out of work and going home. Work is less relevant to my universe than home shit is. Maybe I really do need a new job.

Been listening to music. Bloc Party: way awesome. Sleater Kinney; undecided. Some good moments, but the 'greatness' of The Woods has not demonstrated itself yet. It doesn't suck, but it doesn't leave an impression on me either.

I need to update my regular site some, but I've just been too busy at home to do it.

Hey; what are some good fighing games for the Xbox? Ended up playing Fight Club and goddamn my thumbs hurt. It was not a fun game. I need to suggest better ones.

Starting up "Sly Cooper 2". The Boo recommends it. And next week, Psychonauts comes out for the PS2. Good times.

Beer.

1970's Metal Pepsi Challenge pin

oooohhhhhh ahhhhhhhhh.

there is no substitute.

Perhaps you were born in the late-late 70's or early 80's, or later. You may not remember how big a deal the Pepsi Challenge was. It was everywhere, threatening to dethrone, what I consider, the King of Cola. I think nearly everyone picked Pepsi over Coke in that little contest, I sure did. Maybe we were psychologically conditioned to after all the hype. Maybe they just told you that you picked Pepsi regardless of the actual result. New Coke sucked and I provide these links as a reminder or history lesson. It is not important, just nostalgic.

p.s. I even like Pepsi, to a degree, but it just isn't Coca~Cola.

be jealous

for tonight I watch Red Dawn.

This camel is thirsty.

I want a taco.

Giveth and taketh

Well. The new feature Pitchfork has on music in videogames is pretty neat. It's well written, and gave me a chunk to think upon.

For example: my experience in Metal Gear Solid 2 was pretty much hampered by the shitty, shitty Hans Zimmer score. God that music was boring. I don't blame Zimmer so much-he was apparently sent emails that said "Give us something heroic!" or "Write tension" but he didn't know what the hell he was working on. So of course, when I play the game, and the music seems to drag me down, who's surprised by that?

[aside There's note of Psychonauts in the Pitchfork feature, and I want to play that game very, very badly. It's not out for the PS2 yet, so I wait. AHo, I've heard nothing but good things about this one, so if you find it used...]

One of the keys in that article, for me, is how the person orchestrating the music and sound has to be involved in the game, top to bottom. This is, I think, one of the things that makes games so interesting-and expensive. I mean; once Star Wars is finished, John Williams can watch it, take his pre-scored notes (by now, scoring Star Wars has got to be like shooting the dead), and head to the studio to work on recordings. Now, I realize it's not that simple-but since movies aren't as interactive, and they tend to be finished piecemeal, work can be done like this.

The sound in a game has to be continually worked on, since, from what I've learned about game development, the things are almost always works in progress. Sound has to be part of the progamming put into the game-if for no other reason (I'm guessing) than to make sure the soundfiles don't fuck up the the gameplay. It would really suck to discover that when Kratos does his triple spin move and hits a stone column, the resulting 'chunk' noise causes the game to wig out and you have to start over.

What's weird is; we notice these things, even when we don't. It took me 2 weeks after finishing MGS2 before I realized how dull the music was-and how that mattered. And we'll accept such strange sounds; I know that chests don't open with that 'crenk' noise that they make in Final Fantasy games, but hey; that's the sound they make. When they make a different sound-that's usually when I worry.

I don't exactly know where I'm going with this, at this point, so I guess it's a good time to stop.

Ugh

Pitchfork: you suck.

If I wanted a treatise on how inane rock lyrics can be, I wouldn't click on a link for an Audioslave record review. What was done wasn't clever, entertaining, or even a reasonable mockery of Audioslave or rock.

Stop being dicks and actually review the fucking records. If you can't do that, then at least warn me that I won't get what I want when I click the link.

Christ. Like clicking the 'Hot cheerleaders in action!' button and getting bear porn. Irritating and revolting.