Please remove this cutlery from my knees

Nothing much remarkable going on in these parts, just the usual heartbreak, malaise and antipathy... ohhh I almost forgot misanthropy. Stick with what you know, I always say.

Hmmmm, highlights... I think I don't have to work any overtime this week, but I may be wrong. The new guy should be trained, but who knows. Of course, for the fourth I'll be getting a couple of extra hours because of Donny's vacation, but no big. When you add in holiday pay it makes for a nice check.

Been playing Virtua Tennis 3 for the past coupla days and it's pretty good, if you like tennis. I'm glad it's a rental tho, as paying retail for it would have been a bit much. Still it's a fun game and I may buy it when it gets under $20.

Watched Ghost Rider last night, the less said the better (Shaq-fu, I still need a replacement for this rating. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has em.). Well that's a little harsh, I had exceedingly low expectations so it wasn't as bad as I imagined. Still, I'm not a big Nick Cage fan and the writers didn't do him any favors. It was pleasant looking at Eva Mendes tho, rowwwrrrr.

I also watched Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, which was exactly as I expected. It's got a totally convoluted plot, really nice animation and schloads of fan service. Decent, if you are a fan of the game. Sadly I must admit I never beat it, basically because I watched Gabe go through it twice. I got about halfway in and decided I didn't need to see Shinra and Sephiroth go down a third time. Anyway I give the movie a +1 chainmail because of the animation and nostagia factors.

ETNTWDY

Soooo last night I took the night off work and joined Kevin for an evening of Wilco. We drove to Charlotte and enjoyed some quality music. Kevin is a big Wilco fan, to say the least. So naturally I have to berate him for enjoying them, even tho I like them too. It's the law of the west.

Somehow while we're waiting for the doors to open and watching some of the members of the band wander around and talk to fans I go on a tirade about Kevin talking to them about eating his ass or him eating there ass. Basically just going on an ass eating tear to amuse myself. It kinda colored the whole evening, which was amusing.

After the show Kevin got a picture and autograph from the lead singer Jeff Tweedy, which he was excited about. He mentioned that if he was rich he'd follow them around and see all their shows. I suggested he get a VW bus and eat Tweedy's ass in every town in North America. He mentioned that he license plate would be ETNTWDY and it got zanier from there. It occurs to me that the ass eating topic doesn't translate here into the humor we had going at the time, but it still amuses me.

Anyway we had a kickass time and it was good to spend the day with Kev, since our hanging out time is getting more and more rare.

Fuck with me and I'll saw off your legs

I'm in a foul mood. Working nights can just make you feel lonely and alienated sometimes and last night was one of those times. Just lots of little bullshit that doesn't matter stacking itself on the important bullshit that does matter to make me pissed off and angsty.

It didn't help that there was fuckall on tv last night. I watched Hitch, which isn't bad, but isn't great. Other than that it was utter crap. I mean Van Helsing was on TNT all night. That movie is so shitty that Hugh Jackman is still picking corn out of his hair.

Anyway I'm off to bed and hope tomorrow is less sucky.

I owe you for the thing at the place with the guy

Been keeping kinda quiet. Between working overtime and the heat I'm drained when I get home, so I don't write much. Also work is fairly dull, so who wants to hear about that?

Tonight Trip and I went to see Ocean's 13, which I enjoyed immensely (Filet Mignon). I love caper movies, especially with a laundry list of stars. Those movies just have this aura of cool that is undeniable. I'd say 13 is better than 12, actually. The first still may be the best, just because I initially wasn't sure what to expect. Ohh and for the record, don't see the Sinatra version of Ocean's 11, because it's total garbage.

I don't really have a lot of other stuff going on. The new Dinosaur Jr. is excellent, if you're into that kinda music. I'm still playing tons of Catan and I'm trying out NHL 2k7 and it's ok. I prefer NHL 07 (which seems like the exact same thing if you aren't in the know) just for the controls. I'm gonna be getting a soccer game in the mail soon and we'll see how it goes. Can I lead some nation to World Cup glory?

You've lost control of the bottom line

So it's been a nice coupla days off. Stayed lowkey. Watched Pan's Labyrinth with Trip on Monday. It was good, but didn't captivate me quite as much as I expected. Still it had a nice grim fairy tale vibe and some cool costuming. I'd say foot massage all told.

After that we played a little NHL 2k7 and I had to dispense a swift beating. We then watched the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen, which I love. I don't know why watching a bunch of people squabble and then a British guy yelling at them is so entertaining, but it damn sure is. Tuesday we grabbed some Mexican food and then did some minor shopping.

I've been playing tons of games until the wee small hours, but nothing important to report there, except that Madden 06 is pretty terrible. Soooooo many little things they fucked up. I'm telling you, 07 isn't a gem, but it's lots better than 06. Of course, since EA has some competition this year, 08 will be even better, but the Steelers will suck ass. That is the way things work out for me.

Unjustifiable existence

Last night's work went fairly quickly, which was nice. I then came home, had a few beers and played Catan for a while. I actually won a second game and should have won another, but I got schiested.

Now it's super late (or early) and I'm listening/watching Type O Negative videos on Youtube. The lead singer, Peter Steele, has this baritone voice that is simply striking. I'm betting that guy is swimming in goth chick poontang. (This is a pre-emptive apology to my female readers for that potentially offensive statement. It was written with humorous intent.) I need to listen to their new album, but I need to listen to a lot of new music that I've been ignoring for podcasts. But yeah, if you dig gothy metal music this is right in your wheelhouse.

Speaking of podcasts, I listened to a couple of good ones yesterday that weren't video game related. The first was a This American Life episode about how the American Psychological Association reclassified homosexuality from a disease to normal behavior and the battle that went into it. I find stories about people fighting for their rights to be very interesting.

The second was an episode of The Ungodly Hour, an industrial music show. I like this show a lot, but it runs three hours (despite the word hour in the title) and it's hard to sit down and listen to anything for three solid hours, ya know. I listened to around two hours of it before callign it quits and I love me some hard industrial music.

Dispensing wisdom to the uninitiated

Work was a motherfucker once again. I was busy all damn night. Where does it all end?

Having some trouble thinking of something else to write now. I had an idea on the way home, but it eludes me. Ahh fuck it, I'm tired.

Freaky ducky

She's a very freaky girl.

You dirty motorboating bastard

Before I start I'd like to link to a site that every young man should visit and know about. Don't get your nuts in a knot!

Not much to report. Played some Top Spin 2 and I'm not overly impressed. It seems too hard to get the power shots to land. Think I'm gonna mail it back today. I then shifted into Catan, which remains fun despite my marked lack of skills.

Work was blah. The assistant GM told us she was trying to get our department paid better, which is nice. But, of course, trying doesn't mean it's gonna happen. I would love for it to happen, but am not getting too hopeful. It's when I get my hopes up that life makes a special trip to dash them with vigor. I'd site examples, but it's all too painful.

I'll be pulling some OT for the next few weeks, at least, as we are understaffed. I'm looking forward to the overtime pay, but not working Sundays.

an adventure in musky

Decided to be completely slack today and didn't leave the house. Basically I just played video games all day, with a little tv mixed in. I watched Around the Horn and when those people talk about UFC the ignorance is astounding. Somehow two guys punching each other in the head for 12 rounds is fine, but you add in grappling aspects and they are "mongrels." Somehow jiu jitsu requires less skill... bah, the old people never overcome the shock of the new.

I also watched House, which was pretty good. Season finale and all. Afterward I kicked Trip's Zerg ass off my planet with extreme Protoss prejudice. Loads of fun to be had there. I suppose that's about it.

Spawn more overlords

This is gonna be a video game-centric blog, so if you're not interested in gaming stop reading now. I am up to my ass in games these days. I have been playing, consistently, the following games:Pokemon Diamond, Advance Wars DS, Madden 07, Lego Star Wars, Catan and Geometry Wars. So I've been busy.

I'll start by making a bold statement, I like my DS better than my XBox 360. Sure the 360 has all the graphics and next gen leetness, but I love my portable. Work is sooooo much better with the DS. I used to hit 3am and time would slow down to a crawl, now I blink and it's 6am and I can go. It's sweet. Plus the games I've gotten on the DS have managed to hook me more. I love Advance Wars, the turn-based strategy is maybe my favorite type of game. Nothing on the 360 has made me yearn to play it, except maybe Geometry Wars, but that's a short term thing, a quick game and I'm done.

But, I do make an effort to get involved with the 360, since I paid for it. Lego Star Wars is ok, not great, but kinda fun. I'm running out of patience with it, tho. I bought Madden 07 on a whim and initially I really hated it. But I figured I'd give it more of a shot and started a franchise. It made me like it more in franchise mode. Things started to click and I can move the ball. Of course, I am playing the team that won the Super Bowl the year before this game dropped. So not moving the ball would be embarrassing.

I need to buy a system selector for my tv so I can hook up my old XBox (which is modded and plays lots of cool stuff now) and my PS2. I'm considering trying Final Fantasy 12, but don't want to have to fiddle with loads of cords everytime I want to shift consoles. I'm also gonna start playing Starcraft again since all the Starcraft 2 hype has rekindled my love. I've never beat the game, hell I've never played the Zerg in campaign mode, so I'm kinda weak.

Ok, that's enough nerdity for now. Come back later for something less geeky... maybe.

Public facilities

Sooooooooooooo I have no been up for 24 straight hours. Yep, got up at 3pm yesterday, went to work, came home and went on a family outing. A long day, I tells ya. But it was worth it to see my brother, who recently returned from Iraq. Not to mention my nephew Cameron and sister-in-law Kelly. So yeah, it was fun.

I will admit that dealing with my parents during this type of event is a special challenge. Especially when sleep deprived, but I managed to keep my cool and not let my inner bastard out. We started off with breakfast at Ryan's, which we probably should have skipped, but that's hindsight. I purposely didn't eat a lot, as food at that time of day turns into an uncomfortable brick in my stomach and I feel ill for the whole day.

After that, we headed up to Philpott and claimed the roofed shelter area as our own, which was fortuitous as when your were in the sun it was hot as two fat hairy bikers fucking in a desert in hell. The view was nice and the breeze made it bearable.

Anyway I'm now making a beeline for bed. I'm exhausted and probably gonna fuck up my sleep schedule for a week.

The Gonzo Fucktards

Well it turns out there was a mistake on my evaluation, so I am not as unappreciated as I thought. So that's a good thing. The bad part is that I get to once again prove my attendance is exemplary by working lots of overtime. Since one of our group got a promotion and her day slot was filled by a night person, I get to work more. I shouldn't complain, not like I'll do anything constructive with the time anyway.

So I finally worked my way through the first season of Heroes. It's a really good show, really good. Anyone that wants to watch it can, legally even, by going to NBC.com and watching it there with fairly limited commercial interruption. The season finale was good, but it didn't have quite the payoff I was hoping for. Still I can't wait for Sept. to see more, although there are no shortage of things to occupy my time these days... just not the things I wish were occupying my time.

But anyway, sweeps is finally over, I believe, with the American Idol nonsense done. It was a highly stressful night at Fox, although it wasn't really my problem. I was broadcasting the fabulous One Tree Hill season ender. I'm sure all of you caught that... (insert sarcastic tone here).

Cliff notes of my life

My weekend so far: slight depression, 28 Weeks Later, Red Lobster, Halo 3 beta, Viva Pinata, sleep, Mexican food, Gamestop, Madden, more Halo 3 beta, Corbin, Heroes episodes 8-11, sleep, phone ringing.

That sums it all up. I live a product driven life, apparently.

Unappreciated

So I got my employee evaluation yesterday. I was whisked into an office, handed a paper with lots of arbitrary numbers and no points of reference. I noted that my attendance and punctuality score was a little low and signed off on it.

It was only later that I connected those numbers with the self evaluation I filled out weeks ago. I realized that three meant "adequate" and that my overall rating was 2.777, which means that I am perceived as less than adequate. That is complete bullshit. I'm not claiming to be the best worker out there or even exceptional, but I am more than fucking adequate.

I've been stewing on this all night. I work the worst fucking hours, nights, weekends, holidays for shit pay and try my damnedest to make it all work well. I worked all kinds of overtime when we were shortstaffed and always try to help out my coworkers when they need time off. When I make a mistake I try to not do it again, even when it's not my mistake but them changing shit on me week to week. But still I'm less than adequate.

I'm gonna let them know I disagree and I'm gonna start looking for a different job. I know I'm looking at another fabulous nine cent raise this year. Fuck this bullshit.

Festus pulled out his Roscoe

Sooo my weekend has come and gone. It was fun, had sushi, played games, watched a bunch of episodes of Heroes. So good times.

Today I made my way back to work and well into my drive I realized I had forgotten my cell phone. I felt completely isolated. I'm telling ya, it was disconcerting. It's not like I'm constantly on the thing, like a lot of people, but it's good to know I can be reached if necessary. Orrrrr should my Jeep decide to crap out it's nice to know I can have someone fetch me. But I survived.

Today the Halo 3 beta started, but I'm not taking part. I resisted the temptation to spend $55 for a game I don't really want just for the privilege of testing Halo 3 for three weeks. I tried to rent it from Gamefly, but plenty of other people had the same thought I imagine. Still I'm hearing good things and will be able to try it out a little next week at Trip's (he did get Crackdown via Gamefly and so can play the beta). Plus the release date for Halo 3 is set for Sept. 25 now so that's not too long anyway.

Well I'm off to play some games and try to catch up on my podcasts. I'm way behind with like 30-odd podcasts in my queue. Gotta start cutting some of them out.

I sever the ties

So I find myself in a good mood and I'm not really sure why. It's the oddest thing. I mean, sure, it's the beginning of my weekend and I don't have to run any more shitty night NASCAR races, but this is a greater sense of joy that those things would merit. I did listen to a nice playlist I made on my drive home. Lots of good songs in a row always helps.

But yeah, my night of work wasn't particularly great, as I did run baseball and had a rained out race. Lots of little bullshit to annoy, especially when you add in emergency broadcasts for thunderstorms. So yeah, it's unusual that I'm happy in the face of all that garbage.

Ohhh I also listened to an episode of This American Life, a radio show from public radio, about prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Man that's scary. They interviewed two guys that had been released after four years of detainment. Neither had ever been anyway related to terrorism or being an enemy combatant, aside from someone turning them in for a $5-10,000 reward. Four years oftheir life stolen, forced into a cage, regularly humiliated and interrogated for no reason. Imagine.

I could go on a huge rant about that. I mean we are a nation allegedly based on freedom and the "inalienable rights" of all men, yet we detain these people without habeus corpus, without any reasonable appeal process and with minimal evidence of their guilt. It's astounding. I'm letting it go, but I may post more about it later, if my mood worsens.

I'd like to snarl at the world

So I've had a shitty day. Just something not right all day long. I didn't even sleep well. Had lots of really weird dreams about zombies (the rage-infected, fast ones from 28 Days Later) and while it wasn't scary, not really, it was offputting. Then work sucks, every little thing seemed to get on my nerves.

For example, the cleaning lady. She's nice enough, but she managed to be right in my way constantly. I decided to go prepare my dinner in the break room, she's in there cleaning. I want to go get my jacket from my Jeep, she's vacuuming the stairs and completely fucking oblivious of my desire to get around her. Not her fault, but annoying to me.

I've felt like I've had this submerged scream in my chest all day long and I don't know why. I'm gonna try to ease that burden now by eating Cheezit Crisps, drinking Belgian beer and shooting people in Halo 2. We'll see if it works. If I manage to calm down i may read some of the new Palahniuk book, Rant, that my mom checked out for me.

Please check my balls

Sooooo I had originally planned to stay in today and waste away in front of my XBox 36o, but when I arose I found my modem had died again. So I decided to take care of that and since I was out I may as well be somewhat social. So I traded in my old modem for a new one at Comcast and then met up with Trip to grab some pizza.

We then went to Advance Auto Parts (which is far out of our usual roaming grounds) too look for seat covers for him. You see he bought a shiny new PT Cruiser recently and now I'm all jealous. The highlight of the trip was the Chrome skull shifter knob with the light up eyes.

After our manly shopping escapade (yes I know escapade detracts from the manliness, that's the point), we headed back to his place and watched How I Met Your Mother, which continues to be enjoyable and Fast Food Nation, which moved at a nigh-glacial pace. I'd read the book, so I was well aware of how horrible the meat packing industry is (I've read The Jungle too, so I have historical perspective as well).

The one scene I did like was when the activist kids try to free the cows at the slaughterhouse and the cattle refuse to escape. They just won't listen even though someone is telling them they are going to die. Sadly I have to include myself among those cattle, but my apathy and laziness will not let me break free.

Badonkadonk red and the hostess

So apparently some of you Ramblers are upset with my lack of recent updates. Well, tough. I write when I feel like it and I've been distracted lately. You see, last week I impulse bought a Nintendo DS (which is a handheld gaming system for those of you not in the know) and have been playing the new Pokemon game pretty consistently since. It's like crack for kids... and I'm still pretty much a kid, even at age 32.

I did hit a snag last night when I found out that there is a "fashion" portion of the game where you have to dress up your Pokemon in accessories you get through the game. Not so much on playing dress up. Gotta see how much of that crap I have to do before I can progress.

In other news, I saw the new Spiderman movie, it's ok, but probably not something I'm gonna want to see a lot. Too many stupid jokes, kids thrown in for cuteness factor and just too long. Why do we need three villains in one movie? Why do they all take off their masks regularly? (I know it's to show off the actors underneath, but it's just stupid.) Why is Spiderman acting like a 70s pimp? I think the first viewing merited a +1 chainmail rating, but subsequent viewings are likely to drop it down to Meh. and possibly beyond.

I also watched Rocky Balboa, which was ok (in the +1 chainmail area, as well). It went back to the roots of the Rocky series and worked through those fairly well, with a few rocky moments (ba dump tshhhh). I'd rank it roughly on the same level as Rocky 4, definitely better than Rocky 5. They just never were the same without Burgess Meredith tho.