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?