I can't see anything at all, all I see is me

Had an interesting day. Went to Eoghan's Birthday party (Eoghan is Jill's 8-year-old son, for those of you out of the know). Now contrary to what my sicko friends might tell you, I don't frequent lots of BDay parties for minors. Apparently you can celebrate a birthday without buying the BDay boy a shot. Who knew? Anyway it wasn't bad, just kinda hung out at Rollabout. Hadn't been there since like ninth grade maybe.

Headed to Trip's after that for a bit, where we watched some of that new, yet already cancelled Andy Richter show. It's hilarious and hence it had to die. I'm sure we'll get another fat guy with a hot wife sitcom on the air to replace it next season. Don't have enough of that.

Hit "The Walmart" after leaving Trip's, as I had to get a FM transmitter for my iPod, since my tape deck has decided to reject my tape adapter. Apparently the relationship just wasn't working out between them and the tape deck wanted to be alone. Found one that works pretty good so far.

Got home and tried to build up my gamer score on XBox Live. I swear, it's addictive. Not quite crack, but maybe prescription painkillers. I managed to get over 1,000 without playing any new games and have now built it up to 1,065 only playing through a tad of Tony Hawk Project 8, which I borrowed from Trip. Some of the more thorough of you Ramblers (the new nickname for people who read my blog) will note that I have linked my score at the bottom of my blog. So you folks can see both the depths of my nerdiness and what I am playing to keep said nerdiness at such high levels.

I should probably just delete the last.fm link thingie since I can't get the software to work right with my iPod. Bleh, I may try to fiddle with it sometime, so I'll leave it where it is for the moment.

Innovation is not the be all, end all of design

Had my meeting today and it wasn't as bad as I suspected. It wasn't good, meetings never are, but it wasn't horrible. But I did get more free pizza, woo. But yeah, the crux of the meetings was that sweeps are starting so we needed to do things right. Like that isn't our goal normally. Somehow I normally fuck things up intentionally, but now it's sweeps so I should stop that.

So my podcast addiction continues. The quality of podcasts varies wildly, but the good ones are really good. I have been listening to way too many video game discussions tho. I'm informed to say the least. Listened to a cool discussion about how important the Halo franchise in the grand scheme of the video games. The usual arguments of how PC FPS's always have done it better, blah blah blah. (Some of you completely got lost with that last sentence, but then i suppose it wasn't really for you then. So feel free to ignore it.)

I subscribed to Gamefly, which is basically a Netflix equivalent for games. Happy so far. Been playing last year's college football game and it's ok, not anything special. I prefer some of the older versions of it. Ehh, it's doing a nice job of pumping up my gamer score. (Those are the nerd points you get for playing games on XBox 360. When you meet certain goals in the game you get points added to your total score, which is posted for everyone online to see. It adds a cool little tweak to gaming. Adding another tier to satisfy the nerdy gaming/collecting urge and allow geeks to further rank themselves.)

Take that causality!

So my cable modem decided to end it's strike peaceably, before I sent the riot police in. At least that's the best reason I can think of, so I'm going with it. So I am back online and all is well. I'm currently listening to a podcast called "The Ungodly Hour" that features lots of industrial/gothy type music. Some pretty good stuff on there, think I may subscribe, songs in German always sound delightfully brutal!

So while in my hotel room I kept my nerd levels high by reading the new Halo novel, Ghosts of Onyx. It's hard to get nerdier than reading a book based on a video game. You usually have to dress up in some sort of costume to do it and I'm not doing that. Anyway, the book was one of the better ones in the series. Eric Nylund makes it readable and I like knowing all the backstory.

I'm now diving into Absurdistan, which is pretty good. The lead character has some wonderfully humorous moments, that he's totally unaware of. Like when he inherits $35 million and complains about his poverty. That said, he's very likable despite all his flaws. I'm only halfway through, so we'll see where it goes.

The chick blamed the snake

Well I have returned to my homestead, but remained isolated from the outside world. My cable modem seems to have revolted against the lack of power. Can't get that taken care of until tomorrow. So I'm now at Trip's letting all of you know my difficulties.

We're watching Planet Earth, which is astounding. Monkeys eating figs... good stuff.

Don't really have much else to say, so I'll go.

It's all about failure

Now listening to: My Bloody Valentine

So this is my final night in the luxurious Quality Inn. It's been a decent stay, aside from the lack of a microwave and talkative people at 7 a.m. when I'm trying to fall asleep. The heating unit has two modes, blazing hot and ice cold. I lean toward the cold, of course, but it's annoying to realize you're shivering while sitting in front of the computer.

Also I need to get out of here because I keep buying crappy food to eat. Fucking Cheez-its and that whore Little Debbie screw me over at every turn. I got a nice low fat sub from Subway, loaded with veggies for dinner to try to offset some of that garbage. I get to work and they are having a going away party for Kasper and free pizza, cookies and cake were all laid out. How do I say no to that? So my plan to be healthy was foiled again by both my coworkers and my weak will.

I continue to plow my way through the Venture Bros. commentary and it amuses me. It's completely random, one minute talking about the show, next talking about having sex with tattooed women. Anything can happen.

I watched the new episode of The Ultimate Fighter at work, which was followed by a preview of this weekend's free UFC broadcast on Spike. It's free because you've probably only heard of one of the fighters going at it. Still, one of the guys is a Pride FC veteran I do believe, so it'll be good.

I must go now, as I will be forced to rise well before I'd like to so I can check out and then proceed to kill 7 hours until work. Hello book store and coffee shop. Maybe I'll get a hair cut, since I desperately need one.

Rambling in exile

Ok not really exile. I'm currently staying in a hotel in Roanoke. The power at my apartment is out and not supposed to be back before Thursday. Which could be Saturday, knowing how those estimates go. So I packed up my shit and got a hotel room in Roanoke, which, by the way, if in-fucking-credibly expensive. I didn't expect it to be so much. I did manage to talk the concierge down from $69 a night to $49, but it's still too much.

But really, can you put a price on running water and internet access? Probably, but whatever, I need those things a lot. I was starting to smell like beef ass after less than one day without a shower. Not to mention now I don't have to commute for a few days, which will be nice.

Also it seems I was lucky to get a room at all since there is a media feeding frenzy in the area due to the Virginia Tech massacre. As most of you know, I'm a jaded fuck. I shrug off a lot of things most people are concerned about and generally believe that mankind gets what it deserves. That said, this penetrated through my shield of indifference.

Not because it's Tech, a school I'm indifferent to, or near me, but because college is supposed to be a safe place. You're supposed to be able to go there, learn and be whoever you want. Explore different avenues and figure out who the hell you are. Hard to feel safe in a place that's had a mass murder of that caliber. Hell, it'd be hard to feel safe at any campus after that. If it can happen out in the middle of no where in Blacksburg, it can happen anywhere. That's a debilitating thought.

Not much else going on really. I exacerbated my money issue by buying the new Venture Bros. Season 2 DVD, but really it's a must own. Works of pure genius.

Ohh I did finish Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and that was very good (foot massage). The world is gonna miss a sense of humor like Vonnegut's. He knew just how to skewer the right people.

Fucking people up with math

I'm beat. Long night... I had to watch White Chicks... I can barely hold my gorge. The Wayans Brothers in all their horrible glory. I managed to not gouge my eyes out, but it was a struggle.

I have recently discovered the power of the podcast recently. I've been listening to loads of video game news with NPR shows and music shows mixed in occasionally. It's like radio, except it's not the horrible crap that gets played around here and I get to listen to it whenever I want. I'm not bound by some programming director's whims. Plus they are all free on iTunes and download automatically. How badass is that?

Anyway I need sleep. One more shift before I get a shortened weekend, I have to work Tuesday and I'm dreading it. Not as much as I'm dreading our impending meeting in a coupla weeks. I have to show up an hour early and undoubtedly get bitched at about something. My handwriting is substandard or I didn't write down all the extraneous info on some spot that is in the log anyway. Love all the bureaucratic nonsense.

Storm faced cloud

So it's been a full weekend for me. Sunday Trip and I went to see Grindhouse, which delivered exactly the joyful carnage I was hoping for (filet mignon). You just can't beat Rodriguez and Tarantino. I think overall I liked Planet Terror better (just for the zombie overtones). But I liked Death Proof considerably more than any other movie along those lines.

Monday, Jill and I hung out. We did a little shopping, had a nice dinner and watched Stranger Than Fiction. It had a cool tone to it, that I enjoyed. Also Maggie Gyllenhal is a cutie. Good all the way around (foot massage).

Today it was hanging with Danny and Trip and goofing off. We watched Trip play some Guitar Hero 2 and I tried it. I suck. We then grabbed a less than stellar dinner at Hardee's and watched Borat. Man that's funny, it can be a little scary at times, but funny. (foot massage) Trip and I also watched some more Planet Earth and that was awesome. Some nice coral reef shots, the sea snakes freaked him out a little, which amused me. Hehe.

Question everything

I'm still tired and I just woke up. Grrrrrr. My Jeep was leaking gas once again this morning when I got home. Such fun. Soo I get to deal with that.

Work is gonna suck tonight, I'm probably gonna have to run the end of a baseball game that I have no interest in. Sure hope it goes late and fucks me over.

Ohhh and remember Monday when it was 8o degrees on my front porch and I was sweating my ass off. Yeah, I drove home in the snow this morning. Umm, yeah global climate change is a farce huh. I don't think so.

Buyer's remorse

So I did it. I dropped the fat cash and bought an XBox 360 despite knowing I shouldn't. What can I say, I was bored and peer pressured. That's a persuasive combo. I also bought a used copy of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, but the goons at the store did not put the discs in there. I get to go by tomorrow and threaten them with bodily harm if they don't give em to me.

But, luckily, I bummed some games from Trip to keep me occupied. The sad part about that is that now I get to compare my old low def TV picture to Trip's awesome 52 inch High definition screen. Never cared about the difference before, but now it's at the forefront of my mind. Of course, no way in hell I can afford a high def tv. Not at all.

Anyway I'm off to kill some crap in stunning low definition. Later.

That's a spicy meatball

Now listening to: Ghostface Killah (More Fish)

So Trip and I hit Greensboro for some delicious PF Changs. Now I like spicy food, but damn the Dali's Chicken did a number on me. Those peppers were unfriendly.

Afterward I got involved with the Xbox 360 debate again, but resisted. I'm weakening tho. It won't be long, I'm betting.

We then hit Harris Teeter to look even gayer than normal. I mean two grown men grocery shopping together? People can't help but assume. Hell the girl checking us out asked if we'd like to sign up for a discount card, definitely implying it would be together. I was amused.

I purchased a tasty Chimay Ale which may have accidently been drank on the way home. I'm still feeling the effects. I'm a lightweight (yesh, not many context's where that's true) and am half in the bag. I have switched up to the Blushing Dog now, which isn't as good as I remember. But it does get better the more I drink.

History of Drunks

Been staying under my rock today as the Racetards were in full effect. Watched Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, which was a 70s zombie movie and boring in a way only 70s horror can be. Just sloooooow. (mudbutt).

I also watched Planet Earth on Discovery. Man that's some good shit. Awesome footage of these really rare and hard to get to camels in the Gobi Desert. Also saw the episode on ice dwellers. Love the penguin footage, but coulda done without watch the polar bear starve to death. Downer. Still the footage is amazing, betting it would look even better in high def. Can't afford that tho.

Watched I, Robot, which i had been putting off for a while, just cause I loathe Will Smith. Also I knew that Hollywood would bastardize a good book of short stories and make a stupid action movie out of it. They did. It wasn't quite the abortion I expected, but it wasn't good either. Decent CG tho. I'll say Meh. and leave it at that.

Debating getting an Xbox 360. Haven't decided if I'm gonna yet, but I need something to pass the time. I dunno. I don't wanna spend the money, but I am sick of staring at the walls. We'll see.
Listening to this album by The Melvins, (A) Senile Animal and it's pretty good. I'm digging the stoner/retro metal I've been listening to lately. Lotsa The Sword, Fu Manchu, Electric Wizard and, of course, Clutch. The musical equivalent to one of those smashing machines junkyards use on cars.

Falling through a hole in my heart

So it was a rainy, dreary and generally inconsolable type of day today. Felt lonely and crappy and just floated through work. The highlight of the night was watching a UFC's Greatest Hits 4 on Spike. Nothing like watching grown men beat the piss out of one another.

But now I'm home... with nothing to do. Sigh...

Are friends electric?

Trip and I spent three freaking hours playing the Viva Pinata demo on his 360. Nothing like a game designed for small children to keep two grown men occupied for hours at the time. Hell that goofy game makes me want to buy a 360... but I'm fighting the urge. At least for the moment I am. We'll see what the future holds in the face of Halo 3.

Since I got home all I've done really is cooked up a coupla eggs and listened to a ton of music. I was browsing around the iTunes store, just listening to stuff I hadn't heard of before and sorting through various mixes when I can across this Gary Numan track Are Friends Electric? and it's so good I had to buy it. I dig the gothy, new wave style. I debated buying a whole damn greatest hits thing, but as most were live compilations or $20 double album sets I let it go with the one song.

want more than I can get

Well at last I can relax some. Work was a motherfucker this week. Couple that with other recent developments that I'm not going to discuss and it's been as hellish a week as I've had in a long time. But now I plan to relax and recoup. Whatever that means. Might try and watch The Prestige tonight. The book was good, will the movie hold up?

I'm debating joining a gym, but I have to investigate the options and avoid year-long commitments. I need to do something active and the weather's nice. It'd be nice to have a way to vent out stress and, hopefully, look and feel better. Of course, what's going to happen is I'll join, work out for two weeks, be struck down by allergies for two weeks and never return. That's just judging from past experience.

Anyway, I'm off to waste some time and try to relax in my unshaven glory. The second Bridget Jones movie is on and I'm watching it for some reason I'm unsure of. The woman is clearly insane. Of course, it's a pretty accurate representation I suppose. Not that men are any better, I'm sure, but I have no interest in dating them.

Drifting

I gotta find more constructive ways to fill my time. The last three days have been pretty much lost and I've done almost nothing. I went to see The 300, which was good. I also cleaned out the interior of my Jeep. So there's like three hours filled. Where did the rest of it go? I did fuck all.

I'm not really thrilled with how things are going lately (which I think I made clear with my last post). I'm not sure what to do tho, my schedule eliminates a lot of options. I suppose I'll just feel like shit and bitch about it. Why break tradition?

Ever wish you were dead?

Yeah, me too. I'm currently pounding scotch to try to get rid of the feeling. Doubt it does any good.

razor girls in latex

So I am prepared to plunge headfirst into the long weekend of work. Nothing like celebrating St. Patty's Day by sitting in front of several monitors and watching crap tv all night, not a beer in sight. I could use a tasty beer, in fact... Alas.

Not much new to report. Been doing the standard crap, working, playing WoW. I picked up Monster Island so I'd have something to read at work this weekend. Can't get enough of that zombie goodness. Well now I'm off to trek to work.

Second verse, same as the first

The 300 road trip 2.0 suffered from the same problem as the first one, Trip's car crapped out. Nothing we could do this time, some hose blew or something and we got stranded in Brosville. Fortunately we were near that new pizza place Dell'Anno's so waiting for his rents and the tow truck wasn't as brutal.

I kept myself occupied yesterday by playing a ton of WoW and watching movies. I watched Clerks 2, which was pretty good. Better than I expected really (foot massage). I also watched The Departed finally and man that's a good movie. Mike compared it to The Godfather, which is saying something considering how much he worships that movie.

I don't know if I'd go so far as that, but it's really, really good. Nicholson is amazing (as usual). DeCaprio and Damon have developed into heavyweights fairly quickly. The story was fantastic and well woven. I'm saying Filet Mignon.

Das Boot!

Went to see The 300 with Trip yesterday... but it didn't quite work out that way. We stopped by Waterloo music beforehand as I was looking for some DVDs to send to my brother. I snagged a couple (including Beerfest, which rules!) and when we went to leave, his car wouldn't go. So we called his parents to come help us out. His dad gets there and informs us that there is no oil in the car and it's running low on coolant as well. Both of which we could have taken care of if we had half a clue.

So, since his car is shedding oil, we nixed the movie idea and drove home. We went to Texas for dinner and had some lackluster service. The we went to Blockbuster and had some more lackluster service. Nothing like customer service taken to a new level.

I then came home and watched A Good Year with the rents. Not bad, gotta love movies about vineyards. I need to own a vineyard... with wanton french women living around it... Ok this fantasy leads down a dangerous road that most probably don't want to read about. Those that do will find little difficulty in finding another website that caters to them.