Sunday, March 27, 2005

Happy vernal equinox!

So it's Easter. That magical day when the Easter Bunny delivers chocolate eggs to all the good Christian boys and girls to commemorate Jesus dying for the end of winter ...or something like that.

Anyway it's a dismal rainy day, the kind I love, and I'm just chilling. Last night I finished reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. It was good, albeit depressing. It tales the tale of climbing Mt. Everest and the tragedy that ensues. Krakauer was one of the few that actaully got to the summit and survived. I think 12 climbers died that day (perhaps not on that day, but as a direct result) with two more suffering incredible frostbite.

Don't know why I've always been fascinated with Mt. Everest. I certainly have no illusions that I'll ever climb it. But I suppose I am attracted to the idea of places and events that have serious consequences if you go there, a la climbing Everest. the running of the bulls in Pamplona, the Source Hip Hop Awards.

Anyway Into Thin Air gets a foot massage rating from me, mostly because you'll need one after frost bite costs you most of your toes.

Now I'm running like a flaming pig

Been an interesting weekend video game-wise. I started with a total beating of Trip in Starcraft, a unprecedented occurance. This was followed shortly thereafter by Trip defending his honor in Halo 2. Another odd occurance. It was as if we switched roles for a bit. This was all Friday.

Today I returned to Trip's, but left my comp. at home so no Starcraft. We played Halo 2 again and I may have come out on top overall, but I did not have the ownership I usually do. Trip is hanging in there with a vengeance. Corb is also in there and will offer the occasional surprise. He's just fun to listen to when we play. We're currently trying to talk him into getting Starcraft. That way we can all play from home. We've tried with the XBox, but that's more than he's willing to spend.

My fading Halo skills are disappointing because I need to hone my skills in before hanging with Adam and crew on Thursday. I also haven't played any poker since we last hooked it up over Xmas. I'm gonna be rusty.

My aunt sent me a cool article on Deadwood. If you're not watching it, you should be. Here is the link.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

I rule

So I just picked up a big Starcraft win over the Tripenheimer. Woo. I decided to play the boring old Terrans instead of trying one of the alien races. Having played through part of the Terran campaign I had more experience with them and that helped a lot. Trip put up a valiant effort, forcing to move my primary base not one, not two, but three times. But my unwillingness to give up gave me the win. Hehe.

It was the only time I've played through Battlenet.com, but there was a goon on there screaming white power. Gotta love the anonymity of the internet.

We apologize for any inconvienience

Well it's that time of year when my allergies make it possible for strange liquids fly from my head at any given moment. It's a fun time.

Besides being under the weather, I thought I might post about a few things I've done recently that I haven't blogged about for one reason or another. Last Sunday, Corb, Trip and I went to see Be Cool, mostly for the star power contained within. I didn't see Get Shorty, but Travolta, Uma, Harvey Keitel, Andre 3000, etc make me take notice. It wasn't a great movie, but was entertaining. My main critique was that it was a little too aware of it's own virtue. Still I'd say +1 chainmail, with a Filet Mignon rating for all things Uma contained within. Mmm Uma.

Went to hang with Trip on Monday and we played more Starcraft. He dispatched a virulent horde of Zerg that applied a brutal beating to my Protoss legions. I thought I had him right where I wanted him, right up until his troops started overtaking my territory. Now I know how Rommel felt. Tuesday we hung out for a bit again, but I was feeling poorly both psychologically and physically so I called it an early night.

Since then I've been keeping a low profile because of my allergies and the fact that WoW released a new content patch that I've been fiddling with. Lots of fun stuff, when the game decides to work. There is a lot of hoopla about Blizzard's inability to stabilize their servers and whatnot and I'm starting to get frustrated. I try to be good natured about it, because I understand this type of game is an epic undertaking, but it's been several months since launch. I am paying to play each month, give me a break. Everytime there is a patch or maintenance on the servers or anything I get locked out of the game for quite a while. It's frustrating.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Just one thing

Well this week has been an adventure and it's only freaking Tuesday. Remember when I said I deposited my state tax return. I may not have actually said it, but that was what happened. I took a deposit slip to the bank and left it with the teller, who gave me some of it in cash. Easy right?

Ohh no, easy is the last thing that happened. It seems that since I haven't had any money in my bank account it has closed down. So my deposit was void. When I went to get money out of the ATM on Monday, it took my card. On investigation of this I find out that not only is my account closed, but they won't reopen it. Please keep in mind that I "deposited" money on Friday.

So when I asked about getting that money back, I, of course, was told that I had to wait for all the beauracracy to filter it through and spit it back out. They didn't even have an estimate on how long that would take. They are gonna call me.

In the mean time I'm left with no money, no bank account and no hope. Is it too much to ask that something in my life goes smoothly? I mean come on. Just one fucking thing.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Not enough materials

So it's been a pretty good day. I got my state tax return and so I'm not totally broke for a bit. That's a pleasant change. I downloaded a cool new skin for Firefox, called Pimp, that Trip showed me. It's pretty sweet.

This evening I tooled out to Trip's with my comp and we figured out how to get Starcraft working on a LAN. Man that was cool. Trip owned me the first coupla games, but with the help of the mighty Protoss, I managed to pull out the last one. I look forward to matching up with him in the future, although currently I'd have to give him the advantage. I'll have to look into what I can do to catch up skillwise.

But yeah, I decided to pull out Starcraft because Gabe mentioned he had been playing it lately. I really wish he had high speed internet so we could play, but I doubt that's gonna happen in the near future. Still it made me want to give the game a go again. In fact, Trip and I are gonna hook up some Warcraft action in a coupla weeks. That should be even more fun, as I always prefered the Warcraft world. (Who woulda thunk it with my complete immersion into World of Warcraft?)

Ohh my aunt sent me this cool link to determine what breed of dog you are. The interface of the site is really cool. Somehow I ended up as an Alaskan Malamute, which I suppose is ok. Just not sure how I ended up rating as one. Trip was a German Shepherd, which is also odd. Anyway here is the link.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Scratch a lie, find a thief

Now watching: Futurama

So I watched Ray yesterday and it was pretty good. It was pretty much exactly what I expected. I understand why Jamie Foxx won the Oscar, it was an exceptional performance, but I still think Giamatti was better. His role was a bit more subtle, in my opinion. I'd say Ray was pretty much typical of that sort of celebratory biopic film, +1 chainmail.

I also watched Battle Royale, a japanese film based on the book I read several months ago (feel free to browse the archives to find my take on that... or don't). I think the book was better. The movie was ok, nothing special. +1 chainmail teetering on the brink of Meh. Basically it was lots of Japanese school girls (and boys, but you know the girls were the focus) killing one another in a government sponsored game.

It snowed today and man was it beautiful. Nothing really stuck, but it was nice to look at... yes I could see it from the window when I looked over my monitor.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Come on, come on

So Sunday Trip, Corb and I hooked up with Jeff and Melissa and had dinner. That was fun and those two seem really happy, so that's cool. Jeff told me he could hook me up with a job in Durham, but I'm not sure I'd be able to make enough to live there. Anyway it was cool to see them and a good time was had by all.

After dinner they had to leave, so Corb and myself returned to Trip's for a spot of Halo 2 action. Trip and I then watched Deadwood, which is undoubtedly the best show on tv. (There are probably three or four things I say that about, but they are all in different categories, so they are the best in their division). Have to say I was amused by some of Al Swearingen's more "intimate" moments.

Ohh I also talked to my brother on Sunday morning. He's doing well. He's going through the nostalgia phase that fatherhood seems to bring on in lots of new dads. He's been hitting ebay and looking for M.U.S.C.U.L.E. men, a collectible plastic toy from our youth. It's a bit silly, but I certainly have no room to judge, I'm terribly silly about plenty of things.

Yesterday I didn't do much at all, just my usual WoW regimen. I think I may go watch Ray and see if it was as good as everyone said.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Is it wrong that I always rooted for the Coyote?

Well Trip took me out for dinner and a movie tonight. If he keeps doing that I'm eventually gonna have to put out. Them's the rules.

Anyway we say Constantine, which was ok, but not spectacular. It's one of those movies I went into knowing it could go either way and while it didn't surprise me, it wasn't bad. I'd say +1 chainmail, mostly because Rachel Weisz is really hot. I enjoy the whole catholic heaven vs. hell mythology and this had some interesting moments. The devil was also really cool. However I will never be a big Keanu fan. He's just not that great an actor in my mind.

One trouble I did have was adolescents with cell phones. Turn that motherfucker off when you come to the theater. Why do you need to take a call in the middle of the damn movie? Trip makes fun of me for my usual refusal to go to movies on weekend nights, but this only furthered my resolve against it. Too many schmucks who think a movie is a social atmosphere conducive to conversation. Personally I think that if your cell phone rings during the movie I should be allowed to punch you in the throat. Why don't more theaters adopt that policy?

Friday, March 11, 2005

The most beautiful boogeyman

Hit Trip's last night and we played Sim City 4. I watched him play for a while, then he had to run off and watch Survivor, so I avoided reality tv by administering Penguingrad. It's funny that we are competitive about Sim City. Currrently his coffers have swelled to a ridiculous rate, but I have more people. I like to keep the people happy. My biggest problem is that I am running out of room to expand. Not sure how to proceed.

Couldn't help but notice that my visitation numbers are way down. Not really a surprise considering my spotty update schedule. I'll try to do better, but my life is either dull or depressing of late.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

You're gonna burn in hell

Well I just finished writing and Blogger ate my post, so take 2.

My mother and I watched M.Night Shamylan's The Village and we weren't terribly impressed. I anticipated the twist, well one of the twists early and was unimpressed with the later one. It had some decent acting, but I'm gonna have to give it a Meh. rating.

Still no word from any of the jobs I applied for, it's not looking good.

After looking through the classifieds of the Bulletin, I decided to read a column in the sports section. It describes how one of the new sports writers is a UNC grad, coincidentally the GM (who I hated) is also a Tar Heel. I hope they all burn in hell.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Viva El Presidente!

Now listening to: an old mix I made for a drive to Roanoke

So I'm making an effort to not give in to despair. Every time I get in a decent mood and stop thinking about my problems, some harbinger comes along and puts me in my place. Nonetheless I am trying to keep occupied instead of just focusing on the negative.

Last night I got sick of WoW (just for a minute) and decided to finish reading The Ha-Ha. That book is well written and emotionally draining. After finishing I was thinking about it and then my thoughts drifted to all the crap in my life now. I spent the rest of the evening in an incredibly dark and depressed mood. I ended up just going to bed to put it out of my mind, cause that kind of black mood is not good for my mental stability. Not at all.

On to brighter subjects, I corralled Trip and got to see the first episode of the new season of Deadwood. It continues to be riveting. I did feel a little confused by the fact that the plot skips forward a few months it seems. Still it's good stuff, cocksucker.

I also watched The Contender, which was pretty good, even for reality tv. I'm kind of fascincated by boxing anyway. I mean boxers are essentially people paid to get hit in the head. It's an odd line of work. But I have high hopes for that show.

I wrapped up the evening by playing Sim City 4, which is compelling despite being about civil engineering. Anyway El Presidente is ruling Penguingrad with an iron fist, yet the public still loves him.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

No one gives a damn right now

My boring life continues unabated. I've hung out with Trip the last coupla days. Yesterday we hooked up with Danny for some Halo 2 action. It's funny how the enthusiasm for that game has kind of waned lately. We had a good time tho.

I have been reading Dave King's The Ha-Ha, which my mother recommended to me. It is a well put together novel and I'm enjoying it. Time also gave it a positive review, so others may want to look into it. It's an odd tale about a man who can't speak and his attempts to reconnect with the world after years of coasting.

I've been listening to a lot of old cds while play WoW lately and it's hard to explain how much I miss music when I don't spend a lot of time listening to it. I have so many albums and sometimes I'll go a month without really sitting down and tuning in to them. I'm confounded by people who don't get into music at all. To me it is a reason for being.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Pavement saw

Yesterday put me in a better mood. I got all my tax stuff taken care of and I'm getting a phatty return. That perked me up a bit. I'll have some cash to splash around soon, which will be a nice change.

I also hooked up with Trip and we watched a bunch of the final season of Angel, which is high quality. I can't wait for the episode where he gets turned into a puppet, that one is priceless.

Even after level 60 my WoW addiction remains unsatiated. I'm now focusing on one of my alternate characters, a hunter. Once I get him up to level 40 and buy his mount, I think I'll focus on buying an epic mount for my warlock. And for you comedians out there, yes I'm gonna put all this on my resume.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Where do you go when what you're running from is yourself?

Things I've been listening to a lot lately: Modest Mouse, a perfect circle (eMOTIVe), Wu Tang Clan (Enter the Wu Tang), The Velvet Underground and Nico, Wilco, MC5, ...and you will know us by the trail of dead and Big Black

Another day passes and the world remains unchanged. I went to visit Trip, who was in fair humor considering his recent infirmary... not sure infirmary is the right word, but whatever. It's my blog and I'll do what I want.

We watched the final episode of Deadwood and it was high quality. I honestly couldn't like the character of Al Swearingen more. I know he's not really a nice guy, but he does live by a certain code. He's complex and I like complex characters, being one of them. I'm fucking eager for the cocksuckers at HBO to get on with the second season.

We also watched Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, which is awesome. I'd say it's the Citizen Kane of asian-american weed movies. It's a weed movie with a soul. It addresses the bias an indian and korean stoner deal with in the real world without being heavy handed or characaturing the characters involved. It's filet mignon with upward mobility. (It'd be even better...on weed.)

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

the rrazor's edge

Haven't updated in a while. Really I've lost the last coupla days to WoW. I know I'm a loser, give me a break. I've been trying to push through and get my warlock up to level 60, which is the current level cap. So nyah.

I did watch the Oscars, in spite of only having seen one of the main films nominated. Basically there weren't any surprises. I do want to see Million Dollar Baby now tho. As for the streamlined broadcast, I have mixed feelings. They took out the Oscar clips, which are some of my favorite moments. I like to have an idea of why the actors and films were nominated in the first place.

With those gone my current favorite part of the Oscars is the memorial part of the people who died over the year. I know it's kinda morbid, but it provides a nice sense of history. I thought they cut that too short too, this year. If they are so obsessed about keeping the program time down, get rid of the stupid song performances. Noone cares about those. Usually the songs nominated are lame and we don't care.

Trip is having surgery today and I'm hoping all is well with him. He's supposed to call me when he's regained consciousness, so I'm hoping to hear from him soon.