Friday, December 30, 2005

A pain I'm used to

Now listening to: Depeche Mode (Playing the Angel)

Yesterday I was completely useless. I know, I'm usually fairly useless, but I at least manage to do something to up my nerd cred or whatnot. But yesterday all I did was watch a bunch of tv with little or no redeeming value. It's really sad how easily I can get caught up watching reruns of a show I didn't really want to watch the first time around.

Today I did a little bit better, actually making it out of the house. Actually I found some cool stuff online that will help greatly increase my nerd cred. Woo, my nerdiness will know no bounds! Anyway Trip and I grabbed some dinner and then watched a PBS's Independent Lens on the P-Funk. Man is that good stuff. Gotsta love George Clinton. I gotta say that Maggot Brain is the best guitar solo of all time... even without weed.

We then played a little hockey. I schooled Trip the first game and then he racked up back-to-back wins against me. I was irritated, as my guys seemed to go from superstar level to total scrubs. Maybe it was Trip, I dunno. It boned.

We then watched both the new American Iron Chef and the classic Japanese one. That's a show I have never set out to watch, but end up watching it if it's on.

Now I'm reading comics and enjoying the new Depeche Mode. It's pretty good. Some really great songs, although I acknowledge that the Mode isn't for everyone. Still I consider them pretty great and the new one holds up. I'd say it's foot massage material.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

fortune favors the brave

Now listening to: The Editors

Went to Trip's for more movie watching. We started the evening off with Puddle Jumpers, which is Broken Lizard's first movie. They are the guys who did Super Troopers and Club Dread. Both of which are pretty good. This movie, however, is soooo bad. It had Clerks level acting with not near as good writing. It had a coupla funny moments, but whew it's a stinker. And so I cast it down into the dark, depraved area where the Torn Colon reigns.

After that Kevin came by and he was spending the night with Trip. We watched the 40-year-old Virgin, which was fucking funny. This was the unrated version, which has extra boobs and is therefore even better. Man, Steve Carell is awesome and lots of good lowbrow humor. I try to be a mature adult, but I love me a good dumb comedy. I'm saying this was a nice foot massage.

We then shifted into video game land and played some Far Cry Instinct multiplayer. I'm not 100-percent sold on that game as great, but we had fun. It was cool because none of us have any background playing that and therefore no one has a big advantage. I mean when we play Halo, Kevin is like a lamb amongst wolves. He was still a bit of a noob in this, but it was less glaring and he won the last round we played. Bastard discovered the rocket launcher and applied rocket sauce liberally. But yeah, that was cool.

Oh and this Editors album is yummy. It's got a nice New Wave revival sound that I'm loving. I think Trip will like some of it, but the slow songs aren't gonna go over. Anyway I'm saying it deserves a loving foot massage. And I don't be tickling or nothing.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Cinemaesthete

Now listening to: KT Tunstall and Deerhoof

After two days of staying in and watching football I decided that seeing the sky might be a good idea. Of course I kept the viewing truncated by heading to the movies with Trip. We finally saw King Kong. The movie was about what I expected really, good but not new and in desperate need of editing. Peter Jackson seems to have lost his ability to cut the chaff from a film to keep it under three hours. Jack Black was fun and Naomi Watts hot (in a classic 1930s kind of way). I dunno it had moments, but I'm just a little to jaded to be impressed by a giant gorilla (even a brilliantly animated one) and a 70-year-old plot line.

I'm saying Meh. but it was decent. Part of that may come from the fact that movie goers are complete assholes. We had the pleasure of dealing with two of the most notorious movie annoyers known to man. We had cell phone bitch on one side, who took the call and had a nice little conversation with no regard to the rest of us. On the other side we had aging couple who don't know how to shut the fuck up. I certainly appreciated their running commentary throughout the film, I hope Peter Jackson can get them to record a track for the DVD release. Personally I wanted to stab them in the eyes with a blunt object over and over again.

Anyway we headed back to Trip's after that and watched Batman Begins again (which was part of Trip's bountiful X-Mas DVD harvest). That movie rocks (Filet Mignon). I'm really looking forward to the sequel and seeing how they do the Joker (who was alluded to at the end of the movie).

A movie I forgot to mention I saw was Hotel Rwanda, which I watched Friday before heading to the Noke. Man that movie is amazing, in a absolutely horrific kind of way. Don Cheadle is one of the best actors alive today, no doubt. The movie details the horrors of what went down in Rwanda and what one man did to help save people from the mob. It's so damn powerful I have a hard time imagining the type of strength it would take to survive that. On top of that it shows the complete hypocracy of the Western world, ignoring that type of genocide because it's in Africa and who care? You can damn well bet if Rwanda had oil we'd have been there from day one. It makes me sneer at our culture.

Anyway the movie gets a Filet Mignon rating, although I don't know if I can bear to watch it again. This is a special class of movie that touches me so much I don't want to see it again. It sparks a special kind of revulsion and any movie that affects me that way deserves high marks.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

A slice of cauliflower ear

Now watching: The Three Stooges

Did you see the way the Steelers pounded the Browns? It was a beating of epic proportions. Barring a collapse next week against the Lions we're playoff bound! My only complaint about the game was that Hines Ward needed to catch another TD and Jeff Reed should have not kicked so much. (Both those have to do with fantasy football issues.)

Nick and I were neck and neck all day long in our fantasy football matchup. I was actually a few points in the lead most of the afternoon. But it all came tumbling down when Shaun Alexander stayed in his game way too long. He even got a freebie touchdown from the one-yard line after he'd been taken out of the game. I felt cheated. Now Thomas Jones is my only hope of advancing to the finals. He has to score 11 points to catch me up plus match whatever Todd Heap does, which is a tall order.

Friday I treked to Roanoke to hang with Adam and Rachel (with Mike and Shannon showing up as well). We had a good time. Mike brought his laptop, so the guys ended up playing Techmo Bowl all night. Good times. I actually bookmarked this blog for Adam, so I may have a new reader... maybe.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Here's the new boss (same as the old boss)

Now listening to: Sleater-Kinney (The Woods)

Since Nick and Abbie enjoy the links of my rankings so much I will be trying to update those a bit more frequently (aka more than once every 3 years). I have to admit updating those is a challenge tho. The top ranks and bottom ranks are soo easy, but I really have a a hard time filling in the middle. The Meh. rating is particularly challenging since it is inherently a group of things that didn't really capture my attention one way or the other.

Mr. Pibb + Red Vines=Crazy Delicious

Now listening to: Bob Mould (Body of Songs)

Man am I beat. I got up early and went to Mike's place around 11 a.m. We ended up goofing off for a while and played Techmo Super Bowl on Mike's laptop. I don't remember the Steelers offense sucking that much, but whew, Bubby Brister blows.

Anyway, once we finally got it together we left the house around 12:30-1. We (Mike, Shannon, Greg and Sharon and myself) stomped around Winston-Salem shopping. Mike and Shannon were looking for their wedding rings, so I followed them through every jewelry store at Hanes Mall. I actually didn't grumble (which is a surprise I'm sure), because I understand that it was a big deal for Shannon. So I just trundled along and kept my eyes peeled for both the veal and the milfs (which were both in bountiful supply).

But I finally found a decent pair of gloves in my price range at Eddie Bauer (sale woohoo) and had a good time hanging. After our day shopping we went to Greensboro for a touch more shopping and then hooked up with Nick and Abbie for dinner. It was cool hanging, although I have to say that sometimes I feel weird about being the odd man out. It's all couples and me... but I suppose that's me just focusing on the negative.

Anyway we had a nice dinner, then went to this bakery for cheesecake. We ended up wandering the mean streets of Greensboro looking for some place to chill and ended up at the Green Street club, which was DEAD. Of course this suited us all fine as we just sat down and chilled.

Anyway it was a good night and I am wrecked. I was gonna watch Hotel Rwanda, which Mom checked out from the library, but it has gone missing and she may have returned it. It's for the best as bed is my best option at the moment. I'm probably gonna be heading to Roanoke for hijinks with Mike and Adam. I needs my rest.

P.S. check this shit out, courtesy of Trip.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Three shots of tequila and his panties come flying off

Now listening to: The Exploited (Punk's Not Dead)

Well is has been an odd few days. On Thursday afternoon my power went out. That was fun. I spent that evening playing my Gameboy (Fire Emblem is highly addictive) and reading William Gibson's Idoru, which is very, very good (filet mignon). The next day I get the news that the power will be down for another day. Fortunately Trip was good enough to take me in so I didn't have to spend another night in the dark and cold.

We got some sushi on Friday and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation which is a timeless classic (headcavingly orgasmic). I'd say it's Chevy Chase's best work, although I would be willing to hear arguments on the behalf of both Caddyshack and Fletch. Anyway Trip went to bed around midnight and I stayed up playing WoW and watching tv. When I finally did decide to sleep, I found it hard to come by. I was sleeping in a chair and that never works out.

So when the morning came I was feeling haggard. Trip wanted to go shopping and so I went with him. I have to admit that a lack of sleep did not help my attitude and I was probably a pain in the ass for a lot of the day. When we went to the mall all semblance of good humor evaporated and I became a ripe bastard.

Anyway, we finally made it home and I forced Trip to watch some football. Danny came over and we hung out and played some Burnout Revenge after the game was over. It's pretty fun destroying stuff and trying to outcrash each other. Kev even showed up later on to hang out for a bit and that was cool. I ended up hanging out and watching part of SNL, which had Jack Black and was pretty good. I'm pretty sure Trip wasn't sad to see me go at this point and I really can't blame him for it. It was nice of him to put up with me for that long.

Anyway coming home to a fully powered house and my own bed was fanfuckingtastic. I gotta tell you, I slept like a damn baby. When I finally rousted I was in a pretty good mood (despite my mother's loudass vacuum). The Steelers dominating Minnesota only added to my joy. I didn't get to watch the game, but I followed it play-by-play at NFL.com and that's almost as good...

Anyway not only did the Steelers win, but I advanced to the second round of my fantasy league's playoffs in a dominating fashion. Chris Cooley had a bit of a day for me. Wonder who I'll end up matched against next week.

Oh and tonight I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the new one. I'm torn. I wanna say the old one was better, but I know the first 45 minutes are slooooow. But once you hit the factory its wonderous. Of course, Johnny Depp was really good and I liked what they did with the remake overall (if you can call it a remake). But yeah I liked the new one although I can't decide between +1 chainmail and foot massage. Might take another watching sometime.

Anyway I expect next week to take place in whirlwind fashion as well, between X-mas and Mike coming in. Hopefully my damn power will stay on.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised

So yeah, I've been having a fucked up time this week. I'm not gonna get into specifics, but I'll say it sucked. But I'm not gonna talk about that, I'm gonna talk about the cool shit that's happened instead.

First off I got a couple of X-mas gifts (in spite of the fact I had declared the Holiday cancelled in E's world, but I won't belittle my friends' generosity). Karen sent me a nice Delaware Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement coffee mug thingie that was pretty cool. I think I may actively try to get some moonshine in it at some point just for the sweet irony.

Trip came through with his usual cool gifts. He has a knack for finding little things that I enjoy (and it's not just me, he's really good at finding cool stuff for everyone). He got me Jade Empire, which is a game I'd been debating getting for a long while and it's very cool. He also got me these cool rubber bracelets that are a spoof of the Livestrong bracelets I'm sure most of you have seen. He got me three of them, Despair, Apathy and Nihilism (one for each of my moods he says) and those are pretty cool.

Tonight I went over to his place and we watched the documentary Murder Ball, about Quadrapeligic Wheelchair Rugby. Man it's good. I'm having a hard time putting into words what this movie does. It's deep and shows people who've really stepped up and made the most of things without making any excuses for themselves. I could stand to take a few lessons from those guys, honestly. Anyway it's filet mignon and you should see it if you get a chance, it's inspirational and touching without being cornball.

He's a mudder!


Isn't that the most beautiful photo you've ever seen? Posted by Picasa

Monday, December 12, 2005

yes I love technology

Yay! The Steelers won in definitive fashion (not that I got to see the game, but whatever). In addition to that Kansas City, Jacksonville and San Diego all lost putting Pittsburgh right back into the playoff race. We gotta have a good game next week in Minnesota or we could be right back on the outside looking in. Seems like we played well today and hopefully Cowher has straightened things out. I'm still concerned out our third-down defense, which seems to give up way too many long passes for first downs, but we'll see what happens.

In fantasy football I won one and lost one, finishing the season just over .500 at 14-13-1. We now head into the playoffs and anything can happen. I'm hoping to at least make it into the second round, but no guarantees. Mike has managed to move out of the eight seed, putting Adam against Nick (who is dominate at this point). Adam is unthrilled about his chances.

Saturday I hooked up with Jeff, his wife Melissa, Jill and Trip for some minor holiday festivities and that was fun. Saw the baby, Camden and he's cute. We went to Danville for some dinner and saw the movie Just Friends, which was pretty good. I'd say foot massage overall, Ryan Reynolds is a funny mofo.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Once more into the hallowed halls of consumerism

Trip and I trekked to Roanoke for lunch with Kevin and some shopping yesterday. I arose astoundingly at 9 a.m. and didn't feel too haggard for it. Well I didn't feel haggard until I made the huge mistake of eating hot wings for lunch. When I arise early my body seems to not deal with food well, especially Thai wings. I felt ill for the remainder of the day.

But we did have a good time. I like Roanoke and enjoyed being out for a change. I didn't actually buy much of anything, but shopping was still fun. Tiring, but fun. Some notes of things that left a mark on my mind:

  • There was a storm the night before we left. So first thing when we left the trees were coated with a nice sheen of ice that sparkled and made being up early almost worth it.
  • A gorgeous woman that smiled as she walked by Trip and myself. Not sure if our oggling was that plain or if she was just in a good mood, but the smile was nice.
  • A flower patch at Tanglewood that had blooming flowers sticking out of snow. You just don't expect to see those purple and yellow blossums poking out of a layer of white.
  • An aquaintance of mine feigning putting my email in his PDA, am I so dumb as to not realize you're not actually inputting something? Jeez, you don't have to email me if you don't wanna, but don't be a douche bag.
When we got back we watched My Name is Earl and The Office and both were awesome. You gotta watch those shows. We also played some Burnout Revenge, which is chock full of arcadey goodness, punctuated by shit blowing up. Good times.

When I got home I pulled out an old fav. and re-read Neuromancer by William Gibson. Man is that a good book. Typically a book that invents a new genre is a good idea, but often tends to be a little bit hard to read (I offer you the Lord of the Rings, which is way too long with far to much digression), but Gibson is a wordsmith who can also weave a totally engaging story all in one. I give this book the rare and amazing Headcavingly Orgasmic rating. Read it if you have any, and I mean even the vaguest interest in cyberpunk and the interweb.

Anyway I gotta go and get ready to hang with Jeff, Melissa, Trip and Jill. We're doing dinner and a movie I think.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Wake up the dying, don't wake up the dead

Well it's good to be back in the digital world. Yesterday around 6:30 p.m. life stopped. That is to say both the power and cable went out. Of course I didn't know the cable was out until after the power came back on (around 3 a.m.) but it stayed out all freaking day. Man was I bummed. I ended up reading through the night by candlelight. You really don't know how dark it gets until the power goes out.

I actually spent an hour or so writing some tho, so it wasn't all bad. The laptop finally pays off! It felt good to write, but I'm not sure if I'm happy with what I've written. It seems to lack depth. I suppose I should just write it and then use that as a starting point to work off of, but it's hard to continue with something you have misgivings about. If course I am the king of self-doubt so I should probably just shut the fuck up and keep in plugging.

Anyway today I headed over to Trip's and we got some sushi action (I had udon noodles and beef, with a california roll) and watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was still good the second time around.

I have big plans this weekend. Trip and I are gonna hit Roanoke on Friday for lunch with Kevin and shopping afterward (I'm gonna have to get up at an ungodly hour). Saturday we are getting together with Jeff and Melissa for a X-Mas thing and Jill is supposed to show up as well. We're hoping to get Kevin involved and Corb as well, but no word on if they'll be able to make it.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Beat me with cables

I've been slow in updating because I was in mourning after the Steelers loss to Cincinnati. It was a close game, but Pittsburgh did all the things you have to do to lose it. Fumbles, interceptions and penalties. So now we're on the outside looking in for the playoffs and have the Bears next week, who have a decent defense I hear. If we don't make the playoffs I will be stunned.

I did manage to win both my fantasy games, so that was nice. Only one more week left in our regular season and I'm over .500 again, barely. I got a couple of tough games next week, but they are winnable. If I win em I think I would be the third or fourth seed. Probably not gonna win, since Nick has it locked down, but it'd be nice to make a run at it. Of course, it's all about who shows up which week.

Other than football I haven't really accomplished much. I am reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White and that's ok. It's a little dry and has a dated writing style, but has moments. Still I'm struggling with it a little. I think I'm gonna go try to email some folks now, I've been pretty damn awful about staying in touch with people this year and need to catch up.

I don't know about coyote, but it's definitely ugly


Here is a little memorial for Sam, three-time "winner" of the World's Ugliest Dog award, who died recently. Man that's a scary pooch. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Aeon sux

So Trip and I went to Danville today. He did some X-Mas shopping (I've cancelled the holiday due to insufficient funds). We then grabbed a burger and went to see Aeon Flux, which sucked ass. The highlights include Charlize Theron in form fitting clothing. The negatives... are too numerous to mention.

It's a definite sign of what MTV was vs. what MTV has become. It was like they took everything good from the old cartoons and took it out and you were left with a husk. No S&M love-hate murder relationships, Aeon acts like a girl (in the cartoon she was feminine, but always in charge and never to be fucked with) and the hands for feet girl annoyed me too. All in all I'm saying mudbutt. But I do wanna see the old series again, to remind me what I liked about it.

Anyway it was a weird trip anyway because I was on the verge of a black mood for most of the day. I think it's holiday related, although I am just a moody bitch sometimes. The movie didn't help and after we got back I just drove home. Which was for the best, as Trip sounded like he was gonna settle in for a long winter's nap.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Quick recap and pervy discussions

Well since the devastating loss on Monday I've kept lowkey. Went to Trip's on Tuesday and watched How I Met Your Mother (which Trip was nice enough to record for me) and The Biggest Loser finale. Of course, I was sad to find that Threshold was cancelled, but I enjoyed it so it was a safe bet to die.

Wednesday I played a bit of WoW and had a lot of fun. It's hot and cold with that game at the moment. Sometimes it seems kind of dull and sometimes it's really cool. I think it all depends on my mood and the loot that drops.

I also finished reading Inkheart, which is a children's book that my mom checked out for me. It wasn't bad, but not up to the Harry Potter standard. Still it was a good read, so I'll give it +1 chainmail (which seems to be my default rating of late).

I would now like to talk about a discussion that I've had in the past with Kevin and brought up again with Mike and Adam. It's a fun hypothetical topic and it attempts to put your greed and morals at odds. The question that starts it all is: "Would you blow the entire NBA for $600 million?" That's the 12 man rosters and head coach (get it, head coach).

What happens is you end up haggling over the specifics. Would you do it on national television? Do you have to swallow? You also end up with someone who categorically states they wouldn't, but cmon, $600 million? You could buy plenty of Scope for that. I don't know why I find this type of offputting discussion so entertaining, but I do. Whaddaya say Nick? The entire NBA?

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Rules to live by

So last night I made an effort to bone up on my Tenacious D knowledge, since they are in fact the greatest band ever. In doing so I saw some super-awesome promo stuff for their new movie "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny" dropping in 2006.

I also found the 10 Commandments of the D. We should all live by these simple rules:
  • 1. Never stop Rocking.
  • 2. Legalize all drugs.
  • 3. Quit your day job.
  • 4. All Religion should be taxed.
  • 5. Cut down on carbohydrates.
  • 6. Fuck her gently.
  • 7. Never believe what people tell you after a show.
  • 8. Always take a spoon full of Metamucil after a heavy day of eating.
  • 9. Get at least 9 hours of sleep a day.
  • 10. Eatin' ain't cheatin'.
Everybody got that?

Dark and stormy stunnage

Now listening to: Nirvana (Nevermind)

So yeah, I had a bad night with football. The Steelers' D couldn't contain the Colts and the offense sputtered for a resounding defeat. Which sucks. I lost both fantasy games by narrow margins. Just bad news.

Mike and I hit the Noke and hooked up with Adam and went to Buffalo Wild Wings. We had fun (despite the Steelers defeat). I gotta say though, it's best if I watch the Steelers alone. I could easily lose it in a close game. The guys across the room cheering for the Colts got on my damn nerves. If I ever were at a Steelers home game and some Browns fans started some shit, I honestly could see me going buck wild. I get a little crazy. Hell, Mike and Adam thought I was gonna jump the bald dude standing in front of me so I couldn't see the tv.

Aside from my potential violent side and the sad state of football I had a pretty good time. I love hanging with those guys. Wish Nick coulda came up, but he's got a "real life" and "responsibilities," so I'll let it slide.

Getting back to Pittsburgh, we now have to win next week's game against Cincinnati. Five losses at this point in the season is gonna make the playoffs a long shot at best. If we win that game our schedule lightens up a bit with AFC North teams. My luck the Vikings will still be rolling and playing way over their heads.

Anyway, I'm trying to shake off the beer and wing induced stupor I'm in. Man I spent waaaaay too much money this weekend. Sigh, I have to get a job.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Occupado

So I stayed busy over the weekend. Mike always manages to keep me occupied. Saturday we called Jill, who we haven't seen in years, and hung with her. It wasn't bad except for Mike's guilty conscience showing through. But all in all, we had fun, although our abbreviated visit to the Dutch Inn was a total stunner.

Anyway yesterday was devoted to football. Our intention was to go to Hurley's and watch football on the big screen. Well that didn't happen because the place was closed... A sports bar, closed on a Sunday during the height of the NFL season. Dumb. We ended up spending the afternoon at Applebee's. We made the best of it I suppose. It's always entertaining when Mike, Adam, Nick and I hang out, even when consigned to a crappy restaurant.

Actually around 8p.m. we moved from Applebee's to El Parrel just for a scene change. But we got tossed at 10 p.m. when it closed down. No respect for the football watching public in Martinsville. Ahh well.

Tonight I'm heading to Roanoke with Mike to watch the Steelers-Colts game. I've heard nothing but how the Colts are gonna spank the Steelers and I'm hoping we can shock the world. Roethlisberger is back so anything can happen. I think we're also going to Buffalo Wild Wings so I'm looking forward to some tasty Thai wings.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Turkey and boredom

Woo Thanksgiving. Yeah I stayed in all day and had turkey with the fam. No big whoop. I watched a spot of football and vegged. I played a little bit of my college football game and had two completed games freeze up on me. Kinda stunning. I also watched a little tv, saw part of Finding Nemo again. It's good clean fun.

Fact of the matter is I got kinda bored, which is unusual. I'm usually pretty good at finding stuff to occupy me. But since I completed the new Wheel of Time book (filet mignon, things are finally starting to wrap up) I haven't jumped into another book. Also I just wasn't in the mood for WoW today. Not sure why, but I didn't bother.

Ohh, this just in, Nick and Jessica are officially separated. How will I go on living? Oh yeah, like I did before cause I don't care. That Nick has to be a moron, he's not gonna do any better... although she is dumb and probably annoying to deal with. Still his career just died with minimal chance for resurrection.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Brother my cup is empty

Now listening to: The Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations)

I'll start with football, so Trip can skip down, but I'm highly annoyed. The Steelers lost, which is irritating enough, but I didn't get to see a single live moment of the overtime. I'll conceed that the Colt-Bengals game was a big deal, but the Steelers in OT and not a minute of coverage? That's lame. Then to top it off I lost a fantasy game because of a penalty. Late in the game the Chiefs are on the two-yard line and ready to score. I'm trailing by six points. Larry Johnson (my premiere running back) was gonna get the ball and score to put me ahead. (I also have the KC kicker and it woulda been 7 total points.) The Texans go offsides and now it's on the 1! Larry Johnson from the 1 with the Chiefs' O-Line is money in the bank and false start. Move back to the six-yard line and Johnson heads to the sidelines. I lose... Argh!

Anyway, I headed to Trip's tonight and we watched The Lords of Doggtown. Which was decent. I'm a fan of skateboarding and what it's supposed to represent. Often these days it's just commodified rebellion, but at it's heart it's about being yourself and not answering to anyone. I can get behind that. But the movie did a decent job of taking the documentary Doggtown and Z-Boys (which was very good) and putting together a narrative from it. Heath Ledger played a good roll as a surfer dude and I'd give it a +1 chainmail rating overall.

We also watched How I Met Your Mother, which is one of my fav. shows currently. If you haven't watched it, you should give it a shot. It's a sitcom, but hasn't really delved into the cliche fest most sitcoms do.

Finally I just read a really good interview at Salon. It's John Cusack and Harold Ramis talking about their new movie which is a dark comedy. I love the dark comedy, especially with a Christmas background it works for me. But besides that those two make for a really interesting read. You should read it if you are a fan of either of those two (and you should really love em both).

Sunday, November 20, 2005

unfuckingbelievable

So I settled in to watch the Steelers-Ravens game, anticipating a physical defensive battle. I watched 20 minutes of the game when my screen went black and then switched over to Oakland-Washington. That's right in the middle of the goddamn game! I'm outraged! Dirty motherfuckers tease me. I couldn't be more annoyed right now. I emailed the godawful station and managed to be civil but it took every ounce of my self control. ARRRGH.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Cruciatus curse on the audience

Ahhh. Sitting here with an air of contentment. Wearing my fav. sweatshirt, basking in the afterglow of a "breakfast" of biscuits, gravy and bacon and watching college football. All is right with the world.

Last night Trip and I went to Danville to see the new Harry Potter movie. The CockGoblet of Fire as Trip calls it. I gotta tell you I'm a little dissappointed. This is my fav. book, but the weakest movie by far. I knew going in that it was gonna be hard to translate a book that big into a watchable movie under 3 hours long and I was proved right.

I'll start with the good things. The new director Mike Newell managed to keep the same feel and similiar look that Alfonso Cuaron set forth in Prisoner of Azkaban (the best of the bunch so far). The school feels like a real place and has a very majestic look with beautiful scenery around it. Also nice job on the casting of Fleur Delacour (def. cutie) and the costume design for the Beauxbattons girls. Well done.

Yeah... that's about it. Everything else seemed rushed or haphazardly cut and then jammed together to keep some semblence of story continuity. Also seemed like some things they decided to cut were based less on making a good movie and more on not spending more on special effects. Also those kids also are not the best actors, a couple of sigh-worthy moments with them.

Often it seemed like the movie was created solely for people who read the book as it glossed over things that required more explanation. I dunno, I think they made a pretty big hash of it. I'd say it was Meh. at best and that's being generous.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Mythology for $500

So I was reading this story over at salon and it made me remember how much I like mythology. I tend to forget how much I enjoy intellectual discussion of some things since I seldom get a chance to think deep about things around here and actually talk to someone else knowledgeable. That isn't a dig at anyone I do talk to regularly, it's just that often noone locally is interested in the same things. Plus we have a ton of morons... let's not forget that.

Anyway, I think once I finally catch up on all my fantasy novel reading I will delve into reading some books of actual academic value. I need to study up on Jung's concept of archetypes and read some Joseph Campbell. Maybe if I do that it'll make up for some of the time I've spent wasting playing WoW or fantasy football. Also maybe if I read enough about it, I will finally sit my ass down and write something. It could help me find my muse!

Actually PTI had a discussion about fantasy football the other day, where Wilbon hated on it. I was kinda surprised. This is my first year of fantasy and I'm fairly captivated. It adds a certain depth to my interest (which was already rather full). Also it gives my friends and I another thing to bullshit and belittle over. In fact, Adam called me tonight and we talked about fantasy football almost exclusively for about 45 minutes. So there ya go.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Over 5K served

So I reached the 5,000 visit mark. Not sure what that means really, but its some sort of landmark I suppose. Soo yay.

Haven't really been doing a lot, continuing to plow through The Wheel of Time. I'm up to book nine, with two more to go after that. They are very good, but I'm starting to wear a little thin. It's a lot of story, but at least the later books cover some plot points and keep me involved.

Other than that I've been watching tons of football. The early games on Sunday were really kinda dull. While it was interesting to watch Minnesota beat the Giants, I can't say it was a game I woulda picked. The Tampa Bay/Washington game proved to be more interesting tho.

Of course, I shouldn't complain as the Steelers were on late and I got to see that. It was a nice win over the Browns, but man I hate to see Charlie Batch hurt. He was playing so well and now Tommy Maddox will start next week. He has to redeem himself in Pittsburgh (I heard his house suffered the consequences after the Jacksonville loss).

I won both my fantasy football games and am now over .500 for the season. Woo. Next week is gonna be tough though as I play Nick, who has all but locked it up. Here's hoping for a big week for Larry Johnson.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Books, books, books and football

So T.O. is apologizing now huh. What a punk. If he hadda done that last week it would have made a difference. Now it's too late. Of course, when he found out that the Eagles were gonna "Keyshawn" him he changed his tune. (To Keyshawn someone is to refuse to deal them and sit them on their ass for the season.) I wish the NFL would just say we don't need your crap and let him go, but some team will take him, the Raiders maybe. Although they already have one douche receiver, how many can they pay?

But moving along, I am getting behind in my reading. That's not to say I haven't been reading a ton, but I've been re-reading The Wheel of Time, which is a serious endeavor. In the meantime the new book in that series has come out, so hopefully I'll have time to finish the rest of the series before the library gets the book to me.

On top of that, the new Song of Ice and Fire book, was released recently. That is probably the best fantasy series going on, maybe ever. (Some would say Tolkien, but he can get way too dry and dull at times. Just cause you invent a genre don't mean you are gonna write the most compelling books in that genre.) I'd put Wheel of Time in at second on the fantasy list, unless you wanted to count Frank Herbert's Dune books as fantasy. Dune is the champ with the other moving down a spot apiece, if that's the case. But l'd say that is more science fiction than fantasy. Which I suppose means that I'd rate Dune as the best series ever, across any genre.

I also really wanna see Good Night and Good Luck, the new movie about the media and McCarthy. It looks really good, but I don't think it's playing anywhere around here.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Catching the fever

So it's the midpoint of the NFL season and my devotion to the greatest of sports is strongest this time of year. Sure, I drool for the beginning of the season in August, but now the picture is starting to clear and it's all the more captivating. Certain games start to take on greater importance and you can't help but be enthusiastic if you have the slightest interest in the old gridiron.

I could probably go on to make a notes style NFL column from there, but I shan't since most of you don't give a damn. (I'm looking at you Trip.) It's hard not to since most of what I'm doing these days is watch football and/or sports talk. It's easy to get caught up in.

I am also still heavily focused on WoW, although I don't play as much as I once did. But my guild and our friends are close to knocking down one of the toughest bosses in the game. Well they've added tougher in patches, but Ragnaros is still a significant challenge. But again, most of you don't care.

So I will leave you now without anymore football speak or nerd chat. Just felt like writing a little something. I need to get back into a regular habit of writing.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Steel town stays sharp!

Woo the Steelers pull out a win sans Roethlisberger on my B-Day. All is well. Well, actually I'm probably gonna lose a game in my fantasy league despite scoring over 100 points. It's stupid, noone else is close, but this guy has LaDainian Tomlinson, who singlehandedly scored 38. Sucks ass. I'm currently leading him with 102, but he has 97 with Brian Westbrook and Adam Viniteiri and I only have TE Chris Cooley. So my prospects are bleak.

But as long as the Steelers win I can be satisfied. Hey! Charlie Batch didn't look too bad. He's not a world beater, but he managed the game well and made a couple of decent passes. I think he'll look even better next week against Cleveland.

Not a jolly good fellow


So it's my birthday again, woo. I've been kind of depressed all week thinking about it, but tried to defend with serious escapism.. which has worked for the most part. Just sometimes while lying in bed before or after sleeping. But I'm gonna try to not dwell on being a 31-year-old loser.

Went to see Saw 2 this afternoon and it was a beautiful day. The movie was pretty good, actually better than the first one. I'd give it a foot massage overall. I was surprised to see not one, but two children in the theatre. I mean kids under 8, impressionable minds clearly not prepared for the sadism this type of horror entails. Now don't get me wrong, I hate kids, but that is patently absurd. I'm sure parents will say its video games or heavy metal that caused the kids to go over the deep end, not their horrible parenting.

Anyway Trip then took me out to dinner, which was cool. He also got me a nice Kif Kroker action figure, one of my most fav. characters from Futurama.

We then went back to his pad and started to watch Hide and Seek, but it was way too slow at the beginning to hold my interest (despite both Famke Jannsen and Elizabeth Shue). We ended up watching Mythbusters and then George Carlin Live on HBO. Carlin was good, but depressing. He pointed out how much mankind sucks and I tend to agree with him. Although when he says cornhole, it is comedic genius. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Just enough

So the Steelers managed to hold off the Ravens for a Halloween victory. Man I was sweating it. I kept it kinda low key as I watched the game at Trip's. Pretty sure he was regreting letting me watch the game there since it went kind of late. He joked that if it went to overtime he was gonna kick me out. He doesn't know that I would sooner disembowel him than miss the end of an OT Steelers game.

So it has been a fruitful holiday for me. I managed to apply for not just one, but two jobs today. One pretty much because I talked to Kev. His dog Mocha died and I sent him condolences cause dogs are cool and it sucks losing a member of your family, even of the four-legged variety. (Also I tend to prefer dogs to people anyway.)

Monday, October 31, 2005

Gullet bomb

I had a good weekend. Mike came in and Adam came down and we all hung out at Nick's. On Saturday we played some poker. I didn't play great, making at least 2 serious errors and a few other bad judgement calls. Despite losing my whole stack on the third hand by overplaying my hand, I managed to rebuy and win most of it back, finishing down only $7. So it coulda been much worse.

Went back down to Nick's new home, which is really nice, on Sunday. We watched football and goofed off. Abby made us some serious burgers. They were chili cheese dog bacon burgers, or something like that, with a side of garlic fries. Quite tasty, but rough on the old digestion. You should consider yourself lucky that you were not in the car for the ride back to Martinsville. The Geneva Convention was ignored.

But yeah it was a good time. Got to see Adam watching his Chiefs lose and that may be more entertaining than actually watching football. I'm looking forward to hooking up again at the end of the month.

As for my Halloween plans, I'm still not sure. The Steelers are on tonight and I'm gonna be watching that, just not certian if I'll be at home or at Trip's.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Bring on the pavement saw

Now listening to: The Who and Rammstein

Went to get a haircut today. I didn't ask for the Opie look, but that's what I got. I said I wanted ti short on the sides and an inch off the top. She made it short on the sides with the clippers then added a different length guard on them. I wasn't paying close attention but when she fucking scalped me I was a little put off. But what do you say at that point when there is a whole freaking swath cut out? So I bit my tongue and took it and it looks like shit.

Went to Trip's and we watched this French slasher movie, High Tension, which was decent, +1 chainmail. About 60 minutes into it I thought it was kinda crappy. Generic and whatnot. But there was a nice twist that made me change my mind. It made a lot of what happened earlier make a lot more sense. Plus pavement saw love at the end.

We then watched a series of shows that would have made drug use a good choice. It started with the new adultswim show, Squidbillies. Which is the story of a total backwoods squid and his family. Yeah, it's a little surreal. We followed with some HBO show about weird sex tv from around the world. Sometimes tittilating, sometimes gross and sometimes just odd.

We finished up with another adultswim product called 12 oz. mouse, which is even weirder than Squidbillies, if you can believe that. It's a stream of weirdness with little mind for story continuity or artistic sensibility. Sometimes amusing because of it's bizare nature, but nothing I can really recommend.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

I didn't get you anything

Now watching: Celebrity Poker Showdown

I have to say that Gina Gershon has the sexiest mouth in Hollywood. That's right, not Angelina Jolie, Gina Gershon. Tremendous brunettes.

I've been slacking around again, reading The Wheel of Time again. As such I've been staying up way, way later than I need to be just because I get wrapped up in the story. Then I sleep all damn day. I know most of you think I sleep all day anyway, but lately I've really been sleeping all day. My nocturnal nature is coming through clearer than ever.

I meant to go get a haircut today, but my late rising curtailed that intention. So I'll probably end up looking shaggy for another weekend. Maybe I'll try to sneak one in tomorrow, but Friday's usually suck for walking in.

I'm now addicted to watching Around the Horn and Pardon The Interruption. Football season always makes those shows better and they are pretty good even during the spring. Well actually I can't stand Around the Horn outside of football, but PTI is really good. The joy of sports.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Death will be my bride

I got to watch ye olde Steelers lay a pride-obliterating bitch slap down on the Bengals yesterday and that was good. On top of that I won both my fantasy football games this weekend! So it was nice. Maybe I can get back in the game.

Fall has definitely arrived, as it is noce 46-degrees outside. Brrr, I love it. Now that the race fans are gone all is well. Well, not all. The classifieds continue to be empty of decent jobs or even less than decent ones that I can get. Now is the autumn of my discontent.

Anyway not much else is going down. Just got word that Mike is coming in this weekend and we are gonna get a poker game together and watch football. Sounds like a good time to me. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Tonight I'm gonna head to Trip's for some TV. Hopefully watch a little of the football game. It's funny how much the NFL can do to ease my mind.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Tombstone with a cross

It's that time of year again, where the knuckle-dragging morons come out to play. Race fans infest the area like plague-filled rats. The horror. I'm making every effort to avoid them, but last night's trip to Trip's put me in redneck central.

We didn't do a lot, watched Threshold and played hockey. We're pretty evenly matched at the moment. Our games are decided by which way the puck happens to fall. Who's goalie comes up with the big saves and who can get the best scoring chances. It's enjoyable having the game in question.

Other than that I've been reading some, nothing new really, mostly stuff I've read before. I am enjoying the hazy, rainy fall weather now tho. Love the chill in the air.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Hard drugs are for bartenders

So I'm not cursing every few minutes now, well no more than normal anyway. I dim acceptance has taken over that I suppose will carry me through. I'll now try to talk about recent developments outside the NFL.

First off, Jeff has had his baby. Well, his wife did and all is well. So that's cool. There is now a chip off the old Biscuit out there. So congrats to him, although I'm not sure he reads this blog, but I'll link his nonetheless.

Friday I hung with Trip and we watched Threshold. While the show is still good, I'm a little concerned that it could get bogged down with some side stories and lose some momentum from the main concept. We'll see how it goes. Saturday, Danny, Trip and I went to Danville where Danny and I got a copy of the ESPN NHL 2005 game, both used and under $10. It's fun when everyone can practice on the same game and actually compete instead of taking a beating from the one guy who owns the game.

So I'm reading this book by the Dali Lama. It's about how science and spirituality don't have to be mutually exclusive, which I happen to believe. In fact, most of what the lama is about I agree with, aside from some of the more hardcore buddhist dogma. But anyway I mentioned this in an email to Dana, who lives in Arizona. She told me that the lama had recently been there and that people had protested him!!?! They had signs that said Tolerance=sin.

Ok, if there is a hell, there is a special place in it for people who earnestly belive tolerance=sin. Plus protesting the lama is the dumbest thing ever. According to Tibetan Buddhism the lama is essentially the spirit of peace, unity and enlightenment come to life and continually reincarnated to help spread love and joy. Now while I normally don't believe a religion's word about it's centerpiece (the pope isn't infallible, get over it) the lama has made an effort to at least try to follow the doctrine of his role in his religion. He's never condemned people for using birth control or masturbating or called them to bomb anyone as far as I know. He's just a cool guy, who'd kinda like his country back.

I suppose I'm more defensive because as far as religions go I'm closer to buddhism that most, at least in theory. Sort of a zen/taoism thing with existential highlights. Of course around these parts once you depart from christianity you're so far out of the mainstream as to be absurd. I distinctly remember the looks some people would give me in high school when I told em I not only didn't go to church, but I didn't believe in their god. Hmm actually I remember a couple of those looks from the Bulletin as well.

In closing I would like to say that if you protest the Dalai Lama the you can fuck right off.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Son of a...

bitch, cocksucking, motherfucking, worthless whore, eat a candybar out of my asshole you shitstuffing douchebag.

An overtime loss after winning the toss and Quincy Morgan returning the ball back to the Pittsburgh 30. Three plays, two fumbles and then the defense steps up again. We get the ball back and the QB I mentioned in the headline and so forth throws his third interception of the day. Just cut that prick. He was good for about 12 games in his whole NFL career, he gets hit once and turns into a freaking chucker. So I say cut Tommy Maddox and find someone who can be a decent backup.

The defense played phenomonally and the special teams kept Pittsburgh in it. But with eight men in the box, Maddox gives the game away.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

A knife behind the eyes

So Roethlisberger's injury is not as bad as I thought, thankfully. That is sooo a good thing for me. He's probably gonna sit out this week against the Jaguars. Which means our third string QB, Charlie Batch, is gonna be starting as Tommy Maddox is injured. I'd say look for the run a little bit.

In other news, I whipped Trip's ass in ESPN 2005 hockey last night. The Penguins cannot be stopped (ok, yeah they probably can, but whatever). It's a lot of fun tho and I'm actually considering picking up the game. I go through hot and cold spells on hockey. Oddly enough, while Trip and I were battleing with the Pens and Sabres, the actual Pens and Sabres were playing. Sadly the real Sabres won that battle 5-4 in OT.

Trip and I also watched The Biggest Loser (or as we call it The Fat Show!). You know I still like the show, but the player's personalities seem kinda dull. Most of the women seem irritating or whiney and ready to place blame on someone else. The guys all seem flaccid, as in just kinda blah. Well except for the ex-wrestler Matt, who fluctuates between the guy I'm rooting for to huge douche.

We the watched My Name is Earl and The Office and those shows rock. My Name is Earl has a really nice tone. It's stupid, but in a nice and funny way. The Office, on the other hand, is really funny, but in a way that makes you want to cover your face with yor hands because of the total humiliation of the characters.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Big win and potential despair

Well the Steelers managed to fight their way through and win a close game against another good team. The problem is that Ben Roethlisberger got injured in the process. That could be the season, more or less. Well, we'd still probably be near getting a playoff spot, but it makes things a whole lot harder. You can't run on every down and still come away with wins against the NFL elite. i gotta tell you my heart was in my throat when I saw that helmet hit his knee. Serious trama (for me... and maybe him).

But as far as the game went, the Steelers played really well. We got some raw calls man. That fair catch rule is total horseshit. Jerome Bettis is back and he looked sharp. Man, I love him. The way he runs is what's best about football in my mind. Well that and the way the defense hits, especially Polamalu ...and Casey Hampton, you gotta love the nose tackle. Hell I could go on all night.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Fuckery most foul

Well I seem to have recovered from whatever was plaguing me yesterday. I felt shitty all day. This was probably aided by the fact that I stayed up all night reading Jarhead, which was pretty good (foot massage). I wanted to finish it and did, around 9 a.m. I intended to sleep til around 2p.m. and then watch football. What happened was that I slept til 11a.m. and then woke up and felt shitty for the rest of the day. I ended up nodding off at some point and missed the second half of the Pats-Falcons game, but no big deal.

Something odd happened, I ended up flipping back and forth between football and the Astros-Braves baseball game. Normally I loathe baseball, but 18 innings adds some drama. I was also glad the Stros won, because fuck the Braves.

Honestly I none of the football games enthralled me yesterday and I kinda lost interest. This feeling was only helped by the fact that my fantasy players were playing completely shitty. I have 32 points with only two players left, Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger. Here's hoping for a 4 TD game for that duo. Even if that happens I'm still probably gonna lose, it's that bad.

On Saturday, Trip and I went to Danville for some shrimp love. I decided to buy last year's version of EA's college football game. It was $6 and I'll end up playing it a bit, I'm betting. For some reason I always enjoy those more than Madden. I enjoy recruiting players in the dynasty mode more than Madden's franchise mode.

Friday, October 07, 2005

You knew what you were getting into

Just finished watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and it was pretty good. I really liked Mos Def. He's awesome. He really got the quirky unworried demeanor of Ford Prefect down. Sam Rockwell was also very good. It really managed to keep the flavor of the books without being slavishy devoted to keeping every detail. I'd give it a foot massage.

I've been really low energy the last few days, pretty much staying in and playing WoW. I've also done some reading. I finished the sequel to Eragon, Eldest. It was pretty good and I may have liked it more than the original. That tends to be the case with fantasy writing, as the first book sets up the frame and the following books get all the action and whatnot.

I started rereading Palahniuk's Lullaby and that's entertaining. I got Jarhead from the library, because I saw an ad for the movie and Trip mentioned that the book was supposed to be good. So we'll see.

I gotta bunch of stuff I need to do tomorrow and I'm hoping I can drag my lame ass outta bed at a decent hour to do them. I need to get my car inspected (it's a week late already). I need some new razors (I need to shave and know that my old razor is not gonna make that a pleasant event.) I'll probably also throw in a trip to the library and try to find some other new books.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Losers chase

Now listening to: Dead Can Dance - Live

So the title is some poker wisdom I picked up today watching some 7 card stud WSOP tournament on ESPN. It seems to hold true outside of poker, but I'll not delve into a deep philosophical discussion.

Decent night. I went over to Trip's, tried the new chicken parmesan sub from Subway (don't bother) and watched some good tv. I also threatened to kick Trip in the groin until he was unconcious, ya know, in a fun way. But yeah, I'm totally gay for Monday night tv lately. First off you have football, although this week I couldn't bring myself to watch the Packers-Carolina game. I just don't care enough.

Then there is Arrested Development. I always found it funny when I watched it, but never watched it cause it was on Sunday nights. An evening usually reserved for football in my mindset. Man is this show funny. David Cross touts himself as the first man to combine being an analyst and a therapist... this makes him an analrapist. He has it on his card. That is merely the tip of the iceberg of funny.

Next up is Kitchen Confidential, which I like a lot as well. (Thanks to Trip for making me watch it.) Good cast, nice food jokes and probably gonna get cancelled soon. Catch it while you can. I'll end with the show How I Met Your Mother, which I love. Neil Patrick Harris reminds me of Mike... a lot. Also this show has lots of hotties. Lots. It's quirky and sexy and also will be cancelled cause I dig it. (My positive attitude knows no bounds.)

Beaten to death with a nerf bat

So the weekend was filled with small annoying things that wouldn't be that big of a deal individually, but they all added up to frustration. Football-wise the Steelers had a bye, so it seemed like an empty Sunday without them. I also managed to lose both my fantasy football games. Who can believe that Sebastian Janikowski was my undoing in one of them?

Serenity only took second place in the movie list this weekend, with Flightplan somehow topping the charts. Flightplan? It looked stupid to me, sure Jody Foster lent some credibility, but please. Another lame "mystery with a twist style" horror movie. I've been Shyamalan'd enough.

I was awoken early today by people talking outside my window... I soo hate that. I'm not sure if they are new neighbors moving in downstairs or simply people working to prepare the apartment for new people to move in. (Apparently my crackhead neighbor that moved out left the place in a shambles.)

Also my mouse just gave out. Don't know why. I'm now back to my wireless mouse that I stopped using cause it eats batteries like mad. On the upside, it is wireless and that's nice.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

You can't take the sky from me

Now listening to:KMFDM

So Trip and I went to see Serenity tonight and it was excellent. I was very pleased with the movie, although there were some events in the film that sucked, simply cause I love the characters. But I won't get into it in case someone wants to see it. I won't be the spoiler king. Needless to say, if you haven't seen it, then you should and if you have then you should watch the Firefly TV series DVDs.

After the movie we watched Threshold, which I'm still loving. I like the whole Extinction Level Event concept for fiction. (Not too fond of the idea in a real life scenario.) But yeah, the show continues to be very cool in concept and I like the characters on the show. I'm anticipating it getting cancelled at any moment.

I finished reading this book Eragon that this kid wrote when he was 19 years old. I'm both impressed and annoyed with that. People who have their shit together at that age need a beating for making the rest of us schleps feel like losers. Anyway, it probably help that his parents had a publishing house. Still it's a pretty good read and I've got the next in the series on hold at the library. I need to get to writing since I'm not doing anything else useful, but I have a hard time focusing.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Doldrums

So it was a rough football week for me. The Steelers lost to the Pats and I was bummed. I'm trying to look at it philosophically tho. Last year, New England lost to the Steelers in the regular season and then won in the playoffs. Hopefully the converse will be true this year. We'll see.

Another factor to hurt my football love was the fact that the Chiefs crapped out on me. I had both running backs and the kicker on my fantasy football team and between them they couldn't put up 15 points on Monday night. I ended up with a tie, with Mike's Dallas Danglers (the lowest scoring team in the league). Sad sad sad.

I've been staying up way too late playing WoW and reading the last few nights so now I feel like crap. I like sleeping in, but 3p.m. is too late. It's just not good.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Someone's calling your phone Goulet

Went over to Trip's the last coupla days. On Friday, Danny and Corb came over as well and we all hung out for a bit. Danny drank a lot of scotch and got a little silly and we all had a good time. After Danny and Corb left, Trip and I watched Threshold, which is still fairly interesting.

Trip is reaching new heights as a tv nerd. The new tv schedule is taxing Trip's reserves as he refuses to miss anything. I'm sure as the season pans out he'll lose a few items he can't miss now. I've got quite a few myself, but I'm a lot more fluid with most tv shows. Honestly how much can you miss that they won't either rebroadcast or (in the case of reality tv) clip from and rehash until you know all that happened.

Tonight we watched Kung Fu Hustle and I thought it was pretty good. It had an odd structure, but was entertaining. Several Looney Toons moments in the martial arts action. I'd say +1 chainmail, although I'm pretty sure Trip would disagree.

We also ended up watching a coupla boxing matches on HBO. Both were really good. The first was two skinny guys (no idea what the weight class was, but whatever), Cotto vs. Torres. It was a slugfest with Cotto picking up a knockout in the 5th or sixth. This fight coulda went either way, Cotto just proved to be a bit better that night.

After that we watched heavyweights Wladimer Klitchko outbox Samuel Peter in 12 rounds. Peter is a raw puncher, who clearly can throw a huge KO punch at anytime. Klitchko simply used his superior height and jabbed Peter into submission. Peter got in a few times and put Klitchko on the ground, but couldn't keep him down. Very entertaining. I like seeing a more technical fighter face off against a brawler. Shows the strengths and weaknesses of both styles nicely. Anyway I'm not a huge boxing fan, but the sweet science has it's charms.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Must've been hard on your mother

Sooooo I've stayed busy... well busy in the entertainment sense. I watched a ton of TV yesterday. I watched My Name Is Earl, which was good. I'm a Jason Lee fan anyway. But it had a nice white trash vibe. I also watched The Biggest Loser, which isn't as riveting as last year's, but we'll see. I caught the end of House, which was decent.

I also finished reading Slaughterhouse Five, which was interesting. I can't rank it as one of my favorite books, but it had it's moments. The structure was definitely unique. I'd rate it as a +1 chainmail overall. Now I have to find something else to read... Not sure what I'll end up with.

So I was wondering where fall is, it's still all summery outside. I want leaves changing and briskness. I demand it! Also I'm tired of hearing about hurricanes. So no more of that crap either.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Yarr!

Ahoy! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day and I be needing to feel the gentle toss of sea spray on me face. This sea dog spent yesterday watching football and be well pleased with what he seen. Our own Steelers be looking sharper than me cutlass and left the Texans feeling like they were in Davy Jones' locker. Yarr.

I may be watching still more football tonight, with two Monday night games. Me only wish is the landlubbers Clinton Portis and Joe Horn plays like a bilge rats, so me fantasy football team will have reason to bring out the grog with a victory over Nick.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

triple helix life

I'm completely obsessed with this one song at the moment. I pulled the Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 off my shelf the other day, because it was finally given a U.S. release. (I paid through the nose for the import, that's right I'm old school.) So the first song on the album is called Xtal and is a testament to the fact that electronic music does have a soul. It's absolutely gorgeous. It sounds like falling in love feels... yeah, that good.

The Aphex Twin, a.k.a. Richard D James, is such a great artist. He is impossible to pigeon hole. He makes some of the most brutal and noisy industrial music ever and also some truly ethereal peaceful music. He's got some song that are poppy and some that are so abstract as to be almost unlistenable. I'm sure I've mentioned my admiration for him before, but I do have to recognize he's not for everyone. I think when history tales the tale of our musical culture in the future, he will be mentioned the way people talk about Bach and Mozart today. Bold prediction, but I could see it. He's that innovative.

I'm also obsessed with The Hold Steady, which Trip got me hooked on. It's really incredible music, although in a much different way. It is more traditional rock and roll, with kind of spoken word lyrics about the club scene and junkie life in Minneapolis. It's got a really poetic feel and paints pictures I can see with music, while kicking major ass. I can't stop listening to their albums, I keep playing it again and again.

Tonight Danny sold Trip and I out, although with his current work schedule I can't blame him. So futzed around a bit. We watched Threshold, which is the new show starring Carla Gugino (who is more than a little hot). It's a really interesting show about first contact with some form of alien life. I know that sounds like it's been done to death starring Will Smith and whatnot, but the first show was really good. It's got Peter Dinklage, who makes a great character. I'm afraid that it's doomed to fail because I liked the first episode. So many good shows do.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Cockthirsty?

I borrowed NFL Street 2 from Trip last night and played it way too late for my own good. It's high quality. My created player, Karl Marx, is a QB with attitude. Not sure why I enjoy making my players communists, but I do. It amuses me.

Went to Trip's yesterday and we got our game on. Trip unearthed his Sega Genesis recently and we've been playing NHLPA 93 a bit. I told him I'd give him his props so here they are: Trip pwns me at the game. I got nothing. My best result is a 3-0 loss, with him more often than not completely shellacing me. In my mind, those hockey games on the Sega are the best ever made. They've never recreated the feel of the ice the way they did there. I need to learn how to score more effectively, until I do that I'll continue to lose.

We played some Halo 2 last night and it had been a while. We actually tried the new team games, where there are 4 different teams of 3 players. It was fun. We aren't the best team, but part of that is our lack of knowledge of the bigger maps and the fact that we've trained our skills as individuals with no team ethic in mind. Anyway it was a fun and a nice change from our usual activities.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Things get creative when you're hanging out with our creator

So the new WoW patch has kept me fairly busy this week. A whole new instance to explore and several new things to do. I have managed to pick up the basics of whats going on in a couple of shows tho. I watched the first episode of The Biggest Loser. It loses something without the bingeing, but it's still fairly entertaining. They seemed to go for bigger people this time. Last time there were a few of the women selected clearly because they thought that they would drop a couple and be sexually appealing. What happened was they got voted off quick, because of their lack of weight loss potential. Anyway I hope it's as entertaining as the first.

It's pretty cool. Other than that I've been doing a fair amount of reading. I finished David Eddings' Belgariad, which wasn't bad. It was light reading and kept me entertained. Can't compare to Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin. I'd give it a +1 chainmail all told.

I've now started reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, bascially because I saw him on the Daily Show and his wit was incredibly sharp. His comments about evolution and American Democracy were sidesplitting. I bought the book years ago and never got around to it, but with a renewed interest I'm going to delve into it. So far, so good.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Hip deep in football

Oh man what a great day. Opening weekend of football and all is right with the world. The Steelers looked absolutely wonderful. Big Ben ends the day with a perfect passer rating and Willie Parker answered any questions about his abilities. My only complaint is that Hines Ward didn't make more catches (fantasy football).

I spent the whole day Sunday watching sports (although I did a bit of multitasking with WoW after the opening games.) Opened with the Steelers win, switched back and forth between the Cowboys vs. Chargers and the U.S. Open final. I so wanted Agassi to win, but man, now I know why they do all that talk about Federer. He can just end a point at will sometimes. I wrapped up with the evening game and was rooting for Indy (fuck the Ravens). Their defense looked good, especially Dwight Freeney.

Hmm what else did I do this weekend. Went to Trip's Saturday night and we watched Ong Bak, which was pretty cool. It was a little slow at times, but the action was fun. I'd say it was +1 chainmail overall. Basically it was an 80s action movie as told by Thailand. After I got home Saturday I played a bunch of Def Jam: Fight for NY after watching Trip play for a bit. It's a really good game. The only "wrestling" game I have any interest in playing since Pro Wrestling for the NES.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

a week in brief

So it's been almost a week since I posted. What can I say, I've been distracted. Anyway a quick recap:

Movies watched
Alexander (+chainmail, it was too long and a little indulgent, but had certain epic qualities. If I was in a worse mood it could be meh.)
After the Sunset (foot massage, a nice little caper movie with Salma Hayek in a bikini most of the time, how can that be bad?)
A Lot Like Love (+1 chainmail, Decent romantic comedy type movie, nothing special tho, although I do like Amanda Peet. hmm me liking an attractive woman, fancy that.)

Books read
Stiff by Mary Roach (filet mignon, the funniest book about cadavers you're ever likely to read. It's nonfiction about what happens to bodies after death, with amusing anecdotes and interesting facts thrown in. I highly recommend it if youre not easily offended.)
Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (+1 chainmail, another foray into the fantasy genre. Not bad and a fairly quick read. It's the first book in a series and I'm probably gonna keep going.)

So yeah, I've found ways to stay busy. I applied for a job and I'm hopeful. We'll see.


Friday, September 02, 2005

Way to go bench

Go Steelers! I had a fabulous time yesterday seeing the Steelers. I have to give another big shout out to Nick for hooking me up with a ticket and driving me there. We had good time. While it was the final preseason game and has no real bearing on anything it was still cool to see my boys on the field. When they came out of the tunnel it was a great moment.

Bank of America Stadium is really nice too. It had a nice atmosphere, most of the people were pretty pleasant (except the asshole behind me, every football game I go to there is some prick behind me who has to be as obnoxious as possible). We got there early so we could kick back, grab a bite and watch warmups. There were a ton of Steelers fans there as well and I had to stop myself from buying a Terrible towel.

The first team offense looked like they really didn't care. The Panthers defense took apart the O-Line at will (making me suspect that the first team wasn't really starting there). The only first downs we got were when Ben Roethlisberger scrambled for em. That had my heart in my throat.

But in the second quarter the second team came in and I got to see some of the up and comers play. Heath Miller looked pretty sharp. He's got some definite potential. The fifth string running back Noah Herron looked like he might have some potential too, if he can keep his hands on the ball. We left about midway through the 3rd quarter to avoid traffic and because you only need to see so much of the 5th string guys.

All in all, it was awesome. My first actual live NFL experience. Thanks again Nick, you da man.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Stark, austere and minimal and it means the world

Now listening to: Four Tet

I'm feeling verbose today. I think I'm still awash in the excellence that is Pattern Recognition and it makes me want to try to write something good. Don't know if I'm there yet, but I should be writing more. I have no excuse other than my own lack of discipline.

So I think after I finish here I will make with the buckling down for a bit. Although I may get distracted by the William Gibson forums.

This Four Tet album I procured (!?!) is interesting. Four Tet is described as a laptop artist, meaning all he needs to compose an album or to set up a performance are two laptops. That's what the music is made on from start to finish. It's a deliciously punk concept (although the music is decidely not so). It's mellow electronic noise with a beat. If you like Air, check this out.

Odd that I prattle on so much about loving thick layered music that hits you like a wall and go bananas over these minimalistic sounds. I am nothing if not willing to change my mind.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Suck me raw with a breast pump

Now listening to: Nick Drake

So last night I finished reading what may be the best book I've read this year, William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. What's that? I knew one of you bastards were gonna throw The Half Blood Prince in my face and it's hard to deny the genius of Harry Potter, but Gibson really outdid himself. (Incidently Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down is also a candidate for this year's best read.)

But yeah, Pattern Recognition. It's a departure from Gibson's other stuff that basically invented the whole cyberpunk genre. It's a take on modern culture seen through an austere lens of marketing, the internet, obsessive fanboys, reverence for emergent technology. It's really brilliant and I was saddened when I finished it. It takes a really good book to make me wish it was longer. I say it's undoubtedly Filet Mignon, with potential to move into orgasmic territory. I recommend it to anyone with even a mild technology or pop culture fetish.

Hmm what else? I also read Must Love Dogs, the book they turned into the recent movie. It was ok, +1 chainmail, but nothing exceptional. I watched Surviving Christmas, which was ok (Meh. with shades of +1 chainmail). It seemed like they kinda rushed things plotwise, never really developed anything, just tossed it in your lap. Also I agree with Trip (that just feels odd to type) that casting Ben Affleck was a bad call. He was not good. Despite all that, there were some funny moments and it's worth seeing if you don't have to pay for it.

Just got a call from Nick and he's gonna hook me up with tickets to see the Steelers! Man is that awesome. It's only a preseason game, but it's as close to live NFL action as I've ever been and it's gonna kickass. I'm stoked. Now I can have fantastical dreams about Bill Cowher pulling me from the stands to give me a couple of carries. (Hey! I said fantastical.)

Last note, this Nick Drake is awesome. A nice folk feel with a solid chord of melancholy running through it (no surprise this guy committed suicide).

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

It hurts, but it's worth it

Now listening to: The Hold Steady

So I am now finally recovered from Saturday night. Kevin came over to Trip's and we hung out for a while, doing our thing. He had to go and play with his band, but convinced me to stay at Trip's until he was done. Soo Trip and I watched Sin City, man is that movie awesome. At some point I decided it would be a good idea to pull out the tequila and do a few shots. So five minutes and five shots later we had set the pace way too high. We backed off a bit, but it was too late at that point. I ended up getting slobbery drunk (along with Trip) and it was a good time. When Kev finally made it in, I'm sure he was thrilled to get to deal with two shitfaced assholes. Ehh, whatcha gonna do?

The next morning, however, was substantially less fun. I finally got home around 2 p.m. Sunday and didn't eat any solid food for quite a while. I finally had a club sandwich for dinner and have been slowly improving since then. I'm now back to relative normality. Sucks getting old and paying the real price for an evening of drinking. Used to bounce right back. Part of that may be I'm out of practice, but I don't plan on getting back into a regular drinking situation. I found it wanting overall.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

I feel as if I am looking at the world from the bottom of a well

So last night my first fantasy football experience kicked off with the draft. I think I did ok, my inexperience showed at some points, but I got some solid picks. The big prize I got was Priest Holmes, who I hope has another amazing season. (I also picked his backup Larry Johnson in case he gets injured. I could run for 1,000 yards behind the KC O-Line... well probably not, but you get the point.)

Anyway it was fairly fun and I'm looking forward to all the junk talking that will sprout from this league. The only problem I had was that Mike and Christian weren't there for the draft. That leaves them a nigh-plausible excuse should they fail and I'd rather be able to rag on them unmercifully.

I did the actual draft from Trip's house, as I wanted to hang with him and Corb some. Sadly the draft stole most of my attention and I was mostly aloof. We did manage to play some Mario Kart 64 and Super Smash Bros., which is some nice retro action.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Wait. What is that?

Can you smell that? It's the scent of sweaty men beating the hell out of each other and a pork product being thrown, tossed, dropped and kicked. That's right football season is afoot once again. Football, the pinnacle of all sports and joy to all who worship the divine god of the gridiron.

Tonight I watched the preseason Steelers vs. Eagles game on Monday Night Football and my yearning soul was soothed for that time. It is merely preseason action, which means both diddly and squat, but it symbolizes the changing of the season and that makes it great.

Anyway enough waxing philosophic on the pigskin. Hell I only watched half the game and then Trip and I watched Kenny vs. Spenny reruns. That show rules. The humiliation's are no doubt the height of comedy. Check it out if you can.

This weekend I stayed busy. Jeff and Melissa came in and we hung with them and had a good time. Went to see Wedding Crashers, which was as good as I hoped. Vince Vaughn is a genius. Also really, really hot women. They are always a plus. I'd give it a foot massage rating, pending more watchings. Some of these movies fizzle after seeing them a few times, while some keep getting funnier and funnier.