Zero to bastard

I've been on a spending spree lately, that probably needs to stop. I'm buying shit up left and right and spending way too much cash. Last week I bought Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 and it is indeed awesome. These strategy games are not for everyone, but I love the FFT series. It's like pure crack.

Yesterday Trip and I went to Winston-Salem, ostensibly to try this steak restaurant, but I ended up spending a ton of cash. The restaurant, Texas Land and Cattle (not a great name in my book), wasn't bad. It smoked the steak, which gave it a flavor that wasn't really my favorite. But an interesting diversion.

Where I really dropped money was at Best Buy tho. I'd been coveting the Deadwood DVDs for a while now, but they were ridiculously expensive, like $80 for each season. They were on sale for $40 this week and so I decided to get this first two, since it's like two for one. Pricey? Yes, but Deadwood is so worth it.

I also finished watching the Flight of the Conchords on DVD and that is good stuff as well. They are definitely by favorite New Zealand humor folk troupe.

Wait, they don't love you like I love you

Recently I've been trying to decide if life goes by too quickly, with far too little time for all the stuff I want to do or if it is an endless drudgery where loneliness and horror never seem to end. I'm not sure... maybe both. Anyway on with the nerd crap I use to fill my time.

Trip and I watched The Machine Girl tonight. It had a certain B movie charm, with lots of over the top gore and bad acting. Basically it's about a Japanese schoolgirl who tries to avenge her brother who was killed by a Yakuza's son. She loses an arm in the process and straps a machine gun to it and carnage ensues. I'm gonna say foot massage for the gore and Meh. for the overall package. Basically some of the scenes are worth watching again, but watching the entire thing over is highly unlikely.

I got Ninja Gaiden 2 from Gamefly and tried it out last night. I'm playing the lesser difficulty, because I'm not a total masochist. It's not bad except for the godawful camera. Combat moves fast and I find myself hacking enemies that are always just off the screen and that gets annoying fast.

Also picked up Space Invaders Extreme for the DS and that's interesting. It's a new take on an old favorite and I'm digging it. I always loved that type of game from Space Invaders to Galaga to Megamania and this holds up.

I finished reading Little Green Men and it really picked up there when I gave it a chance. Buckley really knows how to throw in tasty little tidbits of satire that make you stop reading because you're laughing so hard. (foot massage)

Where is the lamentation of their women?

Another week, another mass of empty hours filled with nerdy nonsense and work. Work was work, so I won't really get into it. The nerdy nonsense on the other hand...

I went to see Don't Mess with the Zohan, because I am an Adam Sandler fan. That's right I said it. I don't care what all the pretentious twats out there say. He's funny, most of the time. That said, Zohan isn't great. It's pretty much mediocre across the board. A few laughs, but keep your expectations low. I'm saying Meh.

Trip and I also saw Kung Fu Panda, which I didn't know a lot about going in, but I like animation, I like Jack Black and I like Kung Fu, so I figured what the hell. Turns out, this movie ruled! Nigh-Pixar level animation, cool story and characterization and just plain fun. It's awesome (Filet Mignon).

I also watched Semi Pro, because I also love Will Ferrell. It did not disappoint, foot massage. And I am about midway through the third season of Battlestar Galactica, which I love more and more. It offers up really awesome political and social commentary wrapped in a satisfying sci-fi package. I challenge you to look past the nerdiness and try it for yourself.

On the video game front, I finally beat Conan on the 360. It's basically a hack and slash God of War knockoff that I only went to because Trip beat it. I also cranked up the difficulty so I could brag about how my epeen is bigger than his. No big whoop. As I told him I crushed my enemies and saw them driven before me, but I never heard the lamentation of their women. Therefore the game gets a Meh. rating. (There were also glaring technical flaws and poor level design, but the lack of lamentation is the major factor.)

I also re-read Max Brook's World War Z. It's really well thought out and wonderful. If you like zombies, this book is for you. I'm hoping there is a sequel or just something new from him soon. I'm also in the middle of Christopher Buckley's Little Green Men and it's not bad, but I'm stalling a little bit. I think it's been hard just because I've only been reading it at work.

the joys of being a "great guy"

Haven't posted in a while. Haven't really felt communicative, as the last couple of weeks have been difficult to put it mildly. The last week especially has been awful. It's as if the dark raincloud that normally follows me around has metamorphasized into an asshole that sprays shit. But why go on about it? It's not as if anything I say or do will change anything for the better.

So I've just been dealing with it in the normal ways. Trying to distract my mind from constantly thinking on the continuous dissatisfaction and rejection that define my life and filling the gaping holes of my existence with fatty foods. Yay positive feedback loop of negativism.

But at least I have the next three days off. That's something I suppose.

sniffle, sneeze, cough

So after a work week filled with sore throat and sinus headache my weekend has kicked off with my sinuses kicking into high gear. Nothing like a runny nose and lots of sneezing to make for a fun time. I don't even have any sinus stuff at home to assuage it. I should run out and get some, but I'm too lazy.

So what is new, you ask? Not a lot. I read Christopher Buckley's Boomsday, which is fantastic. It's filet mignon worthy. That's the same guy who wrote Thank You For Smoking, which I need to read, but the movie was excellent. Boomsday is about how when the baby boomers retire social security is going to be up shit creek. That is to say how younger people, like me, are going to be paying for the convalescence of the boomers and it's going to break our backs. The book is great satire and manages to be hilarious despite the sad topic.

I'm also reading the new Chuck Palahniuk, Snuff. I was afraid someone at work was gonna ask me what I was reading and I'd rather not have to get into it, since it's about a 600-man gangbang film. Yes, Mr. Palahniuk never fails to tackle the most awkward situations. So far it's good, but it hasn't grabbed me the way some of his other works have. Still entertaining, tho.

Trip and I watched Shoot em up tonight and it was absurd in the extreme. Leave all hope of plausibility at the door and enjoy it for it's silliness. Lots of shooting and smartass lines, also more than one death by carrot. I shit you not. I would not judge Paul Giamatti's career by this movie. Go with Big Momma's House instead.

Excuse me miss, but do you like dragons?

File that title under failed nerd pickup lines.

So for the past week or so I have dug deep into my very own cave of nerdom. Yes, I'm usually down that particular rabbit hole, but I've been spelunking even more than usual. Jill and I went to see Iron Man last week and it was good. We both enjoy Robert Downey Jr. (for somewhat different reasons I think) and he proved to be excellent. I'm saying it was a foot massage movie, it could of been higher, but the lack of a proper villain kinda put me off. Also I may be reaching my fill of super hero movie franchises.

On top of that I have continued to plow through episodes of Battlestar Galactica, which continues to impress. It's doing some good social commentary and has some great effects. I'm through season 2.o and am waiting for Netflix to get me the first part of season 2.5 so I can get off this cliffhanger they've left me on.

I also read Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. A nice graphic novel from the 80s that does a nice job of commenting on the culture then (some of which is still true today) and making for an entertaining Batman comic. Also Batman and Superman fight! Always a draw.

And of course I've been playing many video games. I traded Gabe my old mountain bike for his PSP. Yes, I know the fat guy shouldn't be giving up exercise equipment for more video games, but really it'd been hanging in the storage area for years. Why not let Gabe actually put it to use?

But yeah, I've been playing loads of stuff on that. God of War: Chains of Olympus is awesome, especially if you love Greek mythology. I'm digging it a lot. I'm also playing Jeanne Darc, which is a turn-based strategy game, which is a game type you either love or just don't get. No real middle ground on those.

So yes, my nerd level is high. I may have to get a pocket protector if things continue like this. Ohh in sports nerdiness (which is more socially acceptable), the Penguins are one win away from the Stanley Cup finals! Hell yeah, Crosby and Malkin getting it done.

true incoherence and randomness

So I've been banished from the digital realm the last few days. Turns out my router has some kinda problem. Of course, I had to figure that out for myself, since the people at Comcast tech support are too dumb to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide. I think they must do the opposite. That's right, they are so dense I'm positing them as plant life. Sad really.

But anyway, I gotta get a new router, which kinda blows since I seems like I just bought one. I guess it's been a few years. Time flies and then you have to replace your electronic equipment. Also I gotta say, I'm not sure I can survive without the internet anymore. Life seems so vapid and empty. I'm used to being able to look up any fact, no matter how obscure, on a moment's notice. Also no email, no news, no podcasts... it's unbearable. I'd hook it straight into my veins if possible.

Had a bear of a night at work last night. Lots of thunder, lightning and tornado action. Warning beepers going off everywhere, equipment failing basically shit hitting the fan. Fortunately I wasn't at the helm for all of this. I was just a bystander who tried to help mostly by being unobtrusive and going about my everyday duties while the building collapsed around me (metaphorically speaking).

What else is new... Trip and I got good and drunk Sunday evening. We went with a quatro de Mayo celebration, getting a jump on everyone else. It all started when I realized how good margaritas are while at MiRanchito. Of course, this was something I already knew, but it was a rediscovering of lime-y deliciousness followed shortly thereafter by a quality tequila buzz. So when we got back to Trip's place I mixed up a coupla margaritas there too for Trip and myself. I actually mixed four of them and used half a fifth of tequila in those. I got rip-roaring silly.

I also got to hang with Kevin some on Tuesday evening, as he returned from visiting Langdon in the hospital in Winston Salem. (Here's a shoutout to Langdon to get well soon.) We watched some tv, including the ever-popular Hell's Kitchen. We shouted PETROZZA!!! quite a bit and had a good time.

Let's start a war

I know, I know. I haven't updated in a while. I'd say I've been busy, but really I'm just lazy. There is also the fact that I haven't done a whole lot of interesting stuff either. Basically just working, watching tv and playing games. We're in sweeps now so work requires a bit more attention and effort. Got to run a NASCAR race last night, which actually went pretty smoothly. But it was a pain.

I saw the Harold and Kumar sequel and it's good. If you liked the first one, you'll appreciate the second. I was amused. I'm saying this movie has potential, but it will need to bear repeated viewings to get up that high. filet mignon

I also started Netflixing the first season of Battlestar Galactica. Yes, I know I'm a huge nerd. No arguments here, but it's pretty good. I'm a coupla discs in and I dig it. I like the Firefly-esque space camera work i.e. the outer space cg shots look like they were shot by an actual camera, not just a god mode view that keeps everything centered and in focus. It adds to the level of immersion. Also the concept of humanity creating artificial intelligences that want to kill them is interesting. What would make them come to the decision to genocide their creators. Hoping this is explored in depth. There is also the nostalgia factor as I always dug the old school cylons oscillating eye when I was a kid.

Alright, that's enough for now. I'm going to bed, it's been a long week.

I may be dull, but at least I'm nerdy

My days off have flown by and I can hardly believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. Sunday Jill and I went out to Greensboro for dinner and a movie, but the movie thing didn't pan out as there wasn't anything we really wanted to see. So we walked around Target then hit up the Olive Garden. I know it's like the most generic white people night possible, but I had fun.

Haven't done anything unusual. Played video games, had dinner with Trip, watched a bunch of tv. I watched Walk Hard, which was pretty funny. Occasionally it went a little too far down the self aware parody line, but enjoyable overall. I'm saying foot massage levels. I just watched Beowulf, which actually was better than I thought it would be. The animation was pretty nice and it definitely attacked adult themes. I was expecting the usual PG-13 nonsense. So I'd give it a foot massage as well, if you're in the mood for an actiony animated movie.

I also read the second and third graphic novels of The Walking Dead, a zombie comic book, and it's amazing. Amazing depth, I'd recommend it to anyone with even a marginal appreciation for zombies and intense stories. I'll be buying more of them the next time I decide I have some discretionary income.

I'm not bitching, no really!

Had a good day today. It was beautiful outside, so my drive into work was pleasant. Had a tasty Subway melt for dinner. Work was surprisingly laid back. Everyone doing there job and making life easy. I even got to sneak out for a while and join the Plaster family as they ate outside. There was this big bright ball in the sky and it was warm! Weird.

Sitting in the sun and hanging out with Kevin, Courtney, Eve and Zoe put me in a good mood. So I subclipped my ass off and got way ahead of the game, which wasn't that hard since, as I mentioned earlier, everyone else had did at least their fair share. Awesome.

Here's hoping the rest of the week turns out as well as today.

Just a little slack please

So it's been a big fuck me week. It just seemed like everything that could be a pain in my ass was. Work sucked. I had to run both the end of a baseball game and a NASCAR race on Saturday. Of course, the baseball game ended up rain delayed and it was a huge clusterfuck trying to keep track of everything and figure out what I'm supposed to do. Plus that late shit means I have to record and subclip the news and MadTV while I am running the game. Lots of little things you have to remember and take care of. It's stressful.

Ohh another fun fact this week. I'd been operating at a financial surplus for a while now, keeping a nice little nest egg just in case. The minute I dip into it to get myself a new stereo I get smacked down with another bill to drain it even further down. I parked my car on Thursday night and had a flat tire the next morning. A flat tire on the back and a nearly flat one on the front. Come to find out my alignment is grossly out of whack and I had to buy all new tires. I'm getting the alignment fixed on Wednesday morning. I love sneak attack bills.

Sunday I slept in until 5p.m. which is late even for me. Had dinner with Trip and then did very little of note for the rest of the evening. I did watch LoudQuietLoud, which is a documentary on the Pixies reunion tour. I love the Pixies more than I can tell you. So much depth and abstraction in their albums.

But now I think I'm gonna try to go to sleep, although my stomach may disagree. (It's feeling rather upset from the sandwich I had several hours ago, I gotta start eating better.)

retail therapy

I decided to prescribe some retail therapy since I've been trying to fight off the gloom latelyst . So I got up extra early, drove to Greensboro and had a new stereo and speakers put in my car. I spent too much on it, but since I spend so much time driving I figured it was something I'd enjoy. Plus the busted rear speaker was driving me mad and fiddling with my little broadcast thingie to listen to the music on my iPod was probably dangerous.

Now I have a direct jack into the stereo so I don't have to lean the iPod just right and hold the cord to get it to pick up. Such luxury.

I almost broke down and bought a tv, since Best Buy had some nice open box deals, but i fought off the urge, since there is a relatively short life span on high def tvs. I don't need to buy one that's been on for most of a year before it's ever put into my living room. Plus I had already spent too much money today.

We value everyone here, we're all part of a team

I had a shitty day at work, surprise. Had to go in early for a meeting, which was a complete waste of time. No surprise there either. I hate being forced to corporate yammering about how valuable everyone is and how they want input from everyone, when they just want you to shut the fuck up and do what they tell you, even if they tell you to do it wrong and they blame you for that too.

But anyway, I don't have a lot of other stuff going on at the moment. Watched the first episode of Hell's Kitchen yesterday and it was yell-tastic fun. There appear to be some serious shaved apes on that show this season. I thought the neck beard guy was sure to go, but no, it was the stay at home nerd dad. It's a stark contrast to the chefs on Top Chef who are innovating and amazing. Love that show.

Tonight I watched the UFC fights that were live on Spike TV. Good stuff. The first fight lasted for like one punch and the other guy was out. Fun.

I want one of these really bad (gift idea, hint, hint), but dropping $38 seems really stupid. I also want this cake for my BDay.

Poop sockin' all the live long day

Ahhh it's been a good day. I'll describe it for you. I got up, showered and played Bioshock. Yep, that's it. I poop socked my way through Bioshock. (Poop socking is a term for marathon gaming sessions i.e. you are so involved in the game you don't want to waste time going to the bathroom and hence, shit in your sock. Not sure if that has ever actually happened, but the term amuses me.) But yeah, I finished Bioshock around 3 a.m. and it was fan-fucking-tastic. I recommend it to anyone with a clue.

It felt good to not have to leave the house. I've worked a shitload of hours the last coupla weeks and I enjoyed vegging. Plus it was all cold and nasty, with a forecast heavy with racetards in the greater Martinsville area. So staying in was probably best for my sanity.

Hey have I mentioned my downstairs neighbors are probably running a meth lab? Well it's true. The chemical stench burns my eyes some days. We are alerting the landlord and if that doesn't do what needs to be done I'm calling the cops. Fuck waking up to that smell, much less the potential for the damn place exploding.

I also re-read The Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore (who's pretty much redefined comics since the 1980s. You've heard of his works, even if you don't know it. V For Vendetta, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and so on.) Anyway The Watchmen is fantastic. It's being made into a film by the same guy who did 300 and I have high hopes. Gonna go and do a little reading now.

One step further down the rabbit hole

MMMM. I created a wonderful beverage just now. You start with orange juice, about 1/4 of the ice-filled glass, then add an IBC tangerine/orange soda. The final touch is a smidge of vanilla extract. I served it in a clear plastic cup and drank it from a straw since that seems to make things taste better for some reason. So yum.

Anyway, I had to work again tonight, which blew. I got one day off this week. I'm beat. Waaay too much time watching crap tv.

I watched the first disc of Unforgivable Blackness, the Ken Burns documentary on Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He is an awesome character that just refused to live by anyone's rules but his own. Check it out if you're a boxing fan, or are interested in complete badasses who beat the hell out of his opponents with a smile on his face while having a conversation with people in the stands.

In an endeavor to further push myself into complete nerdiness, I bought a couple of graphic novels. That's right, comic books. Only playing the depths of D&D, LARPing and cosplay are left to lower my rating on the nerd scale. But I got the first book of The Walking Dead, a story about survivors of the zombie apocalypse (always a winner with me). It's very good and I'm looking forward to getting the next couple of books in the series.

I also got the Batman title, Arkham Asylum. It's a tale of the crazy people in Arkham taking over the asylum and insisting Batman join them there. It's a great story and the art is fucking awesome. It really carries the feel of darkness and insanity throughout the book.

Fisted Sister

So today I found out that I am responsible for the current recession this country has fallen into. I'd like to go on record and say "T'm sorry." You see I started a 401K in December and that's when things really started to turn for the worse. I got my first statement today and every single one of my investments lost money. Even the ones that were supposed to be fairly conservative. So, once again, to all of you losing money in the stock market, I'm very sorry I tried to save for retirement and caused everything to fall to shit.

In other news, I was listening to Chicago Public Radio podcast Sound Opinion (which is a solid music podcast) and Bob Mould was on the show. He was promoting his new album, District Line, and it caused me to remember how much I love this guys music. He shreds the guitar, it's hypnotic. It's not like a metal wank solo either, it's just thick and noisy and strums the very chords of my soul. So I went to iTunes and bought it. Haven't listened to much of it, but it's good so far.

Played a little Bioshock on Tuesday evening. By a little I mean like five solid hours. It's excellent, pulls you right into this underwater world of weirdness. I meant to play some more last night, but felt in more of a mindless mood and decided to shoot people in COD4 online and that was fun. I blasted Slayer's Reign In Blood album on the headphones and threw lead at opponents for a while and it felt therapeutic.

Oh I also watched Michael Clayton, which I would describe as a much darker version of Erin Brockovitch, minus the pushup bra and smile. George Clooney is the man tho. Tilda Swinton also probably deserved that Oscar. Good stuff, despite moving fairly slow at the beginning (foot massage).

Aborting mission of my own volition

Went to Gboro today with the full intent of buying a HD TV, but that plan did not come to fruition. Saw an LG 42 inch in the Best Buy sale paper and assumed it was the same one they had on sale last week, but I was mistaken. It only had a 1,600-1 contrast ratio and so I said nay. I debated buying a couple of others there, but I decided to hold off. One seldom gets burned by waiting to buy electronics.

So I rode around Greensboro a bit and shopped. Bought a few Marvel cartoon movies at Circuit City for $4 apiece. Decent deal. I looked around the Barnes & Noble and somehow emerged without buying anything. A good day for uncharacteristic restraint. Had a pastrami sandwich at Jason's Deli, which was not bad. Not great, but not bad.

I then came home and watched tv for a while, watched Truffaut's Day for Night (Meh.), and put together a cops and robbers themed playlist in iTunes. Woohoo. I'm the coolest guy ever.

unexpected accolades

Received a commendation at work today, which is unprecedented. Usually something goes wrong and I can expect to hear bitching about it regardless of whether it was my fault or not. So for something like the evening news to be completely fucked up and then praised for how I handled the situation is astounding.

Of course, after hearing good news something bad had to come my way. We are having a meeting with corporate people soon, which undoubtedly will lead to a huge pain in the ass. I've never been to a work meeting that had any positive value and I don't expect it to change. So I'll have to drive to work on my day off, get my ass chewed and drive home. That's how this usually works.

Been playing Call of Duty 4 some and it's sweet. I suck at multiplayer online, but it's fun. The campaign is really good too. It's got some exceptional moments and is really well packaged. I did have to turn the difficulty back down to normal, which is odd since I beat COD2 on the higher difficulty. Not sure why that is.

Four yaks and a dog?

Having a decent weekend. My 36o came back in and lo, it is mighty. I had missed it. But more on that later. After a brutal weekend of work... ok it wasn't that bad until Saturday's new cast went to fuck pie. No fault of mine, but shit rolls downhill and I'm standing at the bottom in this metaphor. So that's something to look forward to Wed.

Sunday, Trip and I headed to Greensboro to look at high def televisions because my resistance has been worn down. I think I'm gonna get a 42-inch LG LCD because it has all the pertinent stats and is cheap (relatively speaking). But I may wait until next week to pick it up, just to see the sale paper and allow for a whole weekend to gaze at it's awesome visage in my living room before being forced to return to reality.

Tonight was Cue night (as in BBQ) and then I shopped around Sears for tvs, but nothing impressed me as much as the LG. The Trip and I headed to his pad to watch Unhitched and then we played Rock Band for several hours. When Trip mentions playing Rock Band, my reaction is usually one of disinterest. But tonight he forced it on me, like improper sexual advances in the workplace, and we did have a good time. It's so much fun rocking out to Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills or all those classic rock songs that are familiar without my actually knowing what they are. It is challenging tho and my pinkie gets really tired after a few songs.

After leaving Trip's I came home and watched a few episodes of The Tick cartoon (which I picked up on Sunday). Ohh I love the Tick, it's just genius. I then went on to finish the campaign in Call of Duty 2, finally. Yes, the Nazis were beaten back once again and the world is safe from their tyranny. I should be lauded and lavished with affection for my efforts. On to Call of Duty 4 where I will face down terrorist hordes without fear in my heart.

The work week gets longer all the time

Man it's been a tough week and it's good to finally be able to not be at work. I worked an extra overnight this past week and for some reason it just crushed me. Probably didn't help that we were constantly behind and missing a person on the busiest night and so I had to bust my ass. On top of that I've just felt like shit for the last few weeks anyway.

So now I'm enjoying wandering the interwebs,drinking a nice cup of tea and I'm listening to NPR's All Songs Considered (which Adam will tell you is liberal somehow) and feeling decent. Mellow, even. I'm trying to download the new Nine Inch Nails album (I even paid for it!), but I'm experiencing some trouble. The file I get is corrupted or something. It's a pain.

I picked up the Justice League The New Frontier dvd on a whim (with Trip applying pressure to my spending tendencies). It was decent, although I thought it could have been fleshed out a bit more. Still it was fun. I'm still more of a Marvel Comics fan over DC tho. I also bought The Darjeeling Limited, the new Wes Anderson movie. Haven't watched that yet, but I have no doubt I'll love it. It's Wes Anderson, my favorite director!

My ability to resist buying a high def tv is being tested weekly. I nearly went for a deal at Best Buy last week. I kind of regret not getting it, but I probably should be responsible. It's tough. I may simply give in to my tech nerd desires. We'll see.