Doctor says I need a backeotomy

I have to be the only person alive who can hurt his back sleeping. I've just got a knack I suppose. But yes, my lower back is the source of much pain and displeasure at the moment. I think it's a pulled muscle. No idea how I manage to do that while unconscious. The truly sad part is that it hurt some yesterday and is worse today. I'm unthrilled.

Anyway nothing else of note is happening. It's hot as a mofo outside, so I'm trying to pretend it's winter inside.

Mom has returned from England and all is well there. She seemed to have a good time, aside from the actual cost of everything British. She also confirmed what I've always heard about British food, i.e. it's disgusting.

I'm now rereading Stranger In a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I've been on a Heinlein kick lately and some are better than others. This is probably his best work, certainly among them. Definitely my fav. I think it may fall just short of headcavingly orgasmic, but it's very close.

It's witchcraft

Went to see Bewitched yesterday. I wanted to see Land of the Dead, but Corb isn't into zombie movies and I like Will Ferrell and Nora Ephron so there you have it. It wasn't bad, some funny moments and a nice romantic edge. Not spectacular, but really how many of these movie remakes of old tv shows are that? I'm saying +1 chainmail.

I got a hearty night's sleep, which was nice. I know some of you are shocked, believing that I sleep like a log usually, but that isn't the case. But last night I conked right out, it was marvelous.

Gonna be really lazy today, I think, although I may try to do some writing. I've been meaning to put something down for a while, but I've been uninspired. We'll see if I can get it together today.

Quotables

So I haven't written much this week, because there hasn't been much to write. Little mowing, some hanging out and that's about it. It's been a pretty quiet week overall. I did splurge on sushi on Wednesday. That was good. Mostly I've been goofing off.

I did watch the AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes special, and I strongly disagree with a lot of the choices. I understand the list is made by stuffy old movie buffs that think the only movies worth watching were made before 1980, but there were some glaring omissions and soms grotesque additions. I'm sorry, "Show me the money!" is not a great quote. I admit it infested the public consciousness to nigh plague levels, but that don't make it good. I mean Austin Powers quotes are unbiquitous as well and they didn't make the list (and rightly so). "E.T. phone home." can suck my ass too.

Six Casablanca quotes also seems excessive. I admit it is one of the truly classic films, but six of 100 is a lot. Especially considering that there was no Pulp Fiction quote. I mean the "Royale with cheese" conversation is golden. I could make an argument for several Resevoir Dogs quotes, but I conceed that it is a smaller movie that has less public awareness. I also felt like The Godfather movies should have had more than two quotes total. I can give you a lot more off the top of my head.

But in fairness some examples of quotes that I feel the AFI was dead on with are "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is a war room." from Dr. Strangelove. That is pure genius. Caddyshack's "Cinderella boy" bit, although I think the llama story is also priceless. ("Hey Llama, how bout a little something, you know, for the effort." I'll finish by saying that "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Helobious

So not only am I having issues with my sinuses, but now my wisdom teeth are pushing up through my gums again. This happens every year it seems. A smarter man would go have them removed, but not me. Oh no. But yeah teething at 30 is less than pleasant. It makes mastication a lot less pleasant (you'll note the ticat instead of turbat in that word... so no comments).

Trip and I watched some old episodes of Jon Favreau's Dinner for Five, which was interesting. Just Favreau and four celebs chatting over dinner. We also watched Celebrity Charades, which is exactly what it sounds like... celebrities playing charades. It all plays into America's cult for celebrity, where we will watch famous people do anything.

Home alone

Mom has gone to England for the week to visit her grandson and my dad is hanging out at the old place so I seem to have the apartment to myself. A sad testament to how lame my life is that this in no way affects how I will be doing things. I suppose this is a sign of maturity, although I have so many other things that point toward immaturity that it's hard to believe.

Anyway it's been a pretty good weekend. Hung with Corb and Trip on Friday and we watched the documentary Trekkies. Now I know I'm pretty nerdy, but I can't hold a candle to these people. There is just a point where you have to stop taking your hobby so seriously. There was this one group of trekkies that hold a Trek barbeque each year. To quote "It gets bigger every year. This year we even had a girl come." Sad sad sad.

Saturday we managed to get Danny to come out and hooked up some Halo action. That was pretty sweet. We then played this demo of Flatout. It is a racing game that has a mini game where you launch the driver into the air and see how high you can get him. It doesn't sound like much, but when you hear Corbin cackle with delight at the suffering of the driver it makes it all worthwhile.

Today I woke up feeling like ass. I think switching from air conditioning to sleeping in my non ac room is causing lots of congestion. It's not good. I hate not feeling well.

Everyone is going fetal

Went to see Batman Begins with Trip and Corb last night. I gotta tell you, it may be the best Batman movie ever. I say that with an extreme reverence for both Tim Burton's films and the TV movie starring Adam West. It was dark and delved deeply into why Bruce Wayne would become Batman, his motivations, training and history. It also gave me a new respect for the villian the Scarecrow. My only experience with him before (not being well versed in Bat-lore) was from the old Superfriends cartoon where he was a huge vagina.

Anyway my rating is Filet Mignon and I hope the movie does well and there is a sequel of equal or greater value. So go see it if you have any interest whatsoever.

I read the new Nick Hornby book, A Long Way Down. It was excellent as all his works are. Maybe a little too upbeat for a book about suicidal people, but good nonetheless. I heard an interview with him on NPR yesterday and he seems like someone I'd like to know. We have a lot in common. Terry Gross asked him about his column in some McSweeney's magazine where he lists the books he buys and the books he reads separately. He noted that the books he buys and reads are often completely different. So he buys something and then never gets to it, a habit to which I can certainly relate.

Anyway A Long Way Down I give a foot massage rating. It was good, probably better than his last one, How to Be Good, in my opinion, but not up to High Fidelity or About a Boy standards (which if you haven't read, you should get to it). Still count him among my fav. current authors.

Ohh I also listened to the new White Stripes album and while it grew on me a little more the second time through, it isn't as good as some of the other stuff. It seems to lack so much of the rock element that I love and leans more toward a rooty blues/country sound. Also I don't know who that song that Meg sings is for, but it's not me. It's probably for noone besides Meg, actually.

You got seven kinds of cock breath

Due to an billing oversight on my part I was condemned to spend the weekend with the horror of the "real world." No, I wasn't on MTV, my internet was disconnected and I was left to my own, non-digital devices. It was a challenge filling the time. I didn't realize how addicted I am to the internet. But I honestly can't survive without the ability to interact with cyberspace.

That said, I got to hang with Kevin this weekend for a while. We met up at Trip's and hung out for a bit. Watched some Cheap Seats and played a bit of Halo 2. After Kevin went to play with his band, Corb, Trip and myself played a bit more Halo (the original for some old school action) and then watched an Eddie Izzard DVD called Glorious I believe. It had some moments, but it wasn't really Eddie's best work in my humble opinion.

Sunday we went to see Madagascar, which was nothing special really. It had some moments, but overall I'm saying Meh. It would have been worse without the cool penguin action. Basically Dreamworks took every possible cliche from that type of movie and shoved them into an underdeveloped plot for a quick cash in, or so they hope. I stand by my statement that Dreamworks couldn't carry Pixar's jock with a wheelbarrow.

Ohh I almost forgot. I finally caught the final three episodes of Deadwood... Man is that show great. Viva Wu! I watched them rapid fire on Friday and it had it all. Cursing, violence, Calamity Jane naked and burning her snatch (which was a little disturbing I have to admit). Anyway I am now in agony waiting for next season.

Cut a finger off, the little one, and tell him his thumb is next

Now listening to: Fugazi (In on the Kill Taker)

After that he'll tell you if he wears women's underwear.

Yeah, I watched Reservoir Dogs again tonight, whatcha gonna do about it? Nothing, that's what. I so love the eloquent cursing of the film. How so much of it is not action, just conversation, yet you are still riveted. It's a testament to Tarantino's talents. Unquestionably headcavingly orgasmic.

I also watched a bunch of Spike Jonz videos on another DVD borrowed from Kevin. My personal favs? Well I'd be lying if I said Sabatoge wasn't the pinnacle of the music video form. The synthesis of quality Beastie Boys rhymes and kickass 70s cop show parody= wonderful. The Weapon of Choice video exudes a cool that you can't deny as well, it may be all Christopher Walken, but it's there. Nah the song is pretty cool too, although I have to admit I was never as big on Fatboy Slim as some of my compatriots.

I finished up the book Honeymoon with my Brother: A Memoir by Franz Wisener the other day. It was a nice combination of travel writing and relationship issues. I'd say it's +1 chainmail. I'm now delving into the new Tom Wolfe book, I am Charlotte Simmons, which is interesting so far, but it's gonna be a long read.

DDT did a job on me

I watched Brazil, which I borrowed from Kev the other day. It was very good, so very Terry Gilliam. Lots of tubes lying around and magnifying glasses. It creates a nice dystopian vibe. I'd give it a foot massage.

The cable was out for most of the day, so my entertainment options were more limited than normal. I ended up talking to my brother on the phone for a while, which was cool. I miss that goon and I can't wait for him to come in at the end of July. It's gonna kickass. I just gotta go about getting some work so I can afford to hang with him when he comes in (and pay my bills too, I suppose).

In the evening I went to visit with Trip, who was much relieved that Bodie (his doggie) was doing well after a day at the vet. We watched The End of the Century, a documentary on The Ramones. They were so underappreciated it's obscene. It just shows that popular doesn't=talent. The music world would have a completely different landscape without the genius of Johnnie, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy (and Marky and C.J. too I suppose). I'm now reviewing some old Ramones cds and they never fail to please.

That's how I roll

Trip and I went to Kevin's yesterday and had dinner. It was cool. Got to hang with Kev, Courtney and little Eve. We ended up watching the Independent Film Channel (for which I now yearn). There was a cool show with Henry Rollins and a nice Reservoir Dogs retrospective. I am now planning on rewatching that movie soon.

We escaped from the Plaster homestead with a cornucopia of cinematic goodness. Trip and I both got a ton of DVDs to watch. I think our plan is to watch The Life Aquatic tonight. We may try to fit in some Halo as well.

After getting home I endeavored to hit UBRS in WoW and that was a total waste of my time. I didn't win a single roll for anything and honestly, not a single thing I wanted dropped through the whole instance. It was a bummer.

Sucking out on the river, or was it a lake?

Mmmm, it smells like fresh strawberries in here. Which makes sense, since I do, in fact, have fresh strawberries in here.

Man do I love this type of weather. I sleep in, snuggly and giddy with delight. I read a lot more since I like laying around under a blanket and listening to the soothing tone of the rain pattering off the trees.

I applied for a database librarian job today and I really hope I get this. Of course, that hope probably dooms me to failure, but what can I do?

Lately I have been getting a lot of good new music, courtesy of Trip. The problem is I can't stop listening to Modest Mouse's Making Nothing out of Something. It's just pure greatness. The opening track Neverending Math Equation is one of the best songs...evar!!!! It's headcavingly orgasmic in every way.

I couldn't believe they wanted this man dead

I've kept busy recently. Friday I hooked up with the Danny, Trip and Corb and we played some Halo 2. It'd been a while since we got together and that was fun. On Saturday, Trip and I went to Roanoke for wings and a movie. We saw The Longest Yard, which was pretty good. Not the greatest movie ever, but a remake made with some respect for the original. What can I say, I'm an Adam Sandler fan. I'm torn between foot massage and +1 chainmail. I need to see it again to give it a final rating. What I found amusing once, may not stand up under closer scrutiny.

I suited up for some heavy lifting on Sunday and Kevin, Langdon and I got up some hay on their family farm. Man I am not cut out for that type of work. I was chugging. But I got a little cash and a free meal so it's all good.

Monday I felt "as tho a bear had laid on me" (to quote a friend of mine online). So I just lazed around here and finished watching the final season of Angel. That was good, but I was a little annoyed with the ending. Not that it was bad, it just left more story to tell and there isn't going to be anymore told most likely.

I also finished Palahniuk's Haunted. It was good, a nice mindfucky type of read. It's not my favorite of his works (Fight Club is gonna be hard to top, although I think Lullaby was close). I really favor the novel over the short story. I lose focus with shortstories, they break things up to much. Who thought I'd argue against the short attention span version of something? I'd say it's a foot massage of a read. Although if you take away the shock value of Guts, it'd drop a bit.

Iggy was here?

Hey I just noticed the comments from my earlier posts and Iggy left me a message. He's a celebrity among the poker blogging crowd, nay a poker blogging legend and he was here. I feel all warm and fuzzy. Makes me wanna go all in with a 7-2 offsuit. Check out his blog for what's really going on in the poker world here.

Completely random crap

Haven't had much to say lately. Basically nothing new going on, just watch tv and movies and playing video games. I'm just gonna do a brief list of stuff I've caught lately and random thoughts on it.

• The Terminal- Tom Hanks was good as always and this movie was a lot better than I had heard. I'd give it a foot massage rating overall.
• Drumline- I was bored and it came on TNT. Pretty much exactly what I expected so it achieves a heartfelt Meh.
• House- Watched the season finale tonight and I gotta say this show is pretty damn sweet. I do think that any doctor that actually behaved as the lead char. would have long ago been sued out of the medical profession, but it's def. entertaining.
• Deadwood- I'm now three weeks out of the loop! Man I miss it. I start to freak out if I don't hear someone being called a cocksucker a couple times a week. Fortunately my neighbors like to argue so I'm not gonna be dying anytime soon.
• Halo 2- Been playing a lot of this lately, it's just caught my attention for some reason. Got my rank up to 13 and climbing, woohoo.
  
• WoW- I continue to be this game's willing thrall. I don't know if I can ever give it up at this point. Between creating alternate characters and getting the best equipment for my warlock and player vs. player action this game holds my attention vigorously.
• Lindsay Lohan- She hosted SNL this weekend and while she is hot, man she needs to eat something. Those little twig arms are not sexy. Makes me think of Auschwitz or starving African children.
  
• Poker- This weekend I bet I watched no less than 7 different poker programs on tv. You gotta love that. The really sad part is that I loved most of them. The rerun footage of the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, Celebrity Poker Showdown, Fox Sports Poker Stars Showdown, The Heads Up Poker Championship, etc., etc. Hell Gabe Kaplan has a new show coming out... I mean come on, poker resurrected the Welcome Back Kotter guy, it's power knows no bounds.
  

You are unwise to lower your defenses

Well I did it. Trip and I went to a matinee of Ep. 3. I suppose I get some nerd cred back, seeing it on opening day. Anyway I have to say it is easily the best of the prequels. Granted the bar isn't too high, but it's pretty good. The acting isn't nearly as wooden and there is nigh constant action.

My favorite bits were the ones with General Grievous, who rocked. I liked him in the Clone Wars cartoon and my respect has only deepened. But yeah, it this is def. the fourth best Star Wars movie ever made. My personal rankings for the films (and, really, the only sensible way to rank them) are: Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars (A New Hope), Return of the Jedi (extraordinary except for the Ewoks), Return of the Sith, Attack of the Clones and, last and least, The Phantom Menace.

It's funny, when the movie finally started and the Star Wars theme kicked in with those old 70s Star Wars font scrolls up the screen I can't help but feel a little giddy. It's something visceral and ingrained. I mean that is a great lead in. There will never be a new movie with that lead in. It's the end of an era.

Nerd shangrila

These are the times when geeks thrive. The final Star Wars movie is released, E3 has been going on and there are a ton of nerdy summer blockbusters on the horizon. I'm up to my pocket protector in goodness.

Of course, honestly I haven't paid that much attention to E3 since its mostly been about the next gen consoles that I can't afford. I also didn't make the midnight opening of Star Wars. So I suppose my nerd cred is under suspicion. But really Trip didn't feel up to standing in line and really I didn't want to deal with the nerds I knew would be in line around these parts. I'm sure I'll see it before the weekend is out, but I'm not slavering at the idea as I have in the past.

Watched House of the Flying Daggers and I'm not sure why it was marketed as a kung fu movie. I mean there was kung fu, but it was really a love story and really slow paced. But again it made wonderful use of color and landscapes. I'd give it a Meh. all told, with moments of sheer beauty.

I've got a bad feeling about this

So I have been fairly low key lately. Watched Apollo 13 a coupla times on Bravo and that was good. I also watched three hours worth of Cartoon Network's The Clone Wars. It's pretty awesome. None of the horrible Jar Jar crap or wooden acting of Ep. 1 and 2. Makes you wonder how good Star Wars coulda been if George Lucas wasn't both an idiot and a douche.

This afternoon I spent a little time reading on the porch with the rain pouring down. That was nice. I then hooked up with Gabe online for some Diablo. Of course I've also been WoW a lot. Woo.

Yep. That's my life. Ugg.

Que?

Man it's a beautiful day. I'm actually gonna end up outside for a while and enjoying it for a change. Gotta do some mowing, which once I get started on I don't mind at all. I just dread it beforehand... like most things.

Anyway, not much is going on atm. I've been doing my usual bumming around. I watched Spanglish yesterday, which I thought was pretty good. Not spectacular (although Paz Vega's body definitely deserves that term, Tea Leoni looked good too, but I don't have the fixation with here that Trip and Kevin do). I think it got kind of a bad rap because Adam Sandler is in it. Critics only see him as the goofy bastard that makes somewhat juvenile comedies (which I love). But with this and Punch Drunk Love, he's shown he can be more than a fart joke punchline, he's got some emotional range. Don't get me wrong he ain't Brando yet, but give the man a chance. Anyway I'm giving it a +1 chainmail rating.

I'm now reading Haunted, by Chuck Palahniuk. It's a collection of short stories strung together by an odd narrative. The stories, in usual Palahniuk fashion, tend toward the disturbing. I can't remember if I commented on Guts when I read it in Playboy, but man it is one of the most off-putting tales ever. It wraps the awkwardness of youthful masturbation with the horror of real life tragedy in a way that makes your skin crawl. It's one of those things that you have to experience to get, but honestly it's not for everyone.

crushing murk

I've had a busy week. Lots of moving and delivering, but now I suppose I can relax again. Nonetheless, I've been in kind of a foul mood for most of the evening. Just brooding and thinking too much.

Watched Ocean's 12 with the rents and it really didn't stand a second watching. It was ok, but some bits of the plot look a little weak the second time through. Still there were some nice moments.

I suppose I don't have much else to say that wouldn't be me just unleashing vitriolic comments all over everyone and thing.

The big cheesebread

My tendency to not update here is becoming more and more prevalent it seems. Honestly I don't have much interesting to report. I've been doing a lot of mowing the last coupla days and have been playing WoW as if my life depended on it.

I finally wrapped up the Incarnations of Immortality series and it just wasn't as good as I remembered it. I suppose that's the trouble with going back to reread things that you read when an adolescent. They tend to disappoint with the passage of time. Whether the cause is simply because it is easier to impress the young mind or if I recall them with a sense of nostalgia I'm not sure.

In other news I'm rereading Fight Club, which certainly provides no disappointment. After I complete that I have Palahniuk's new book Haunted to dive into. Hoping it's better than Diary, which I didn't care for overmuch.

And to finish, a haiku from Fight Club:

Flowers bloom and die
Wind bring butterflies or snow
A stone won't notice