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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.