Airplane food bitch

I'm totally addicted to Top Chef. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but dammit this show pulls me in every time. Each Wednesday I could honestly watch every single previous episode from the season right up until the new one at 10p.m. It's got great competitors, especially the further you go in the competition. Chefs just seem to come with interesting personalities. You find someone to root for (and frequently against) and then just watch as they create gourmet food that you dream about being allowed to eat. I can't recommend it enough.

That said, what I hate is every other show on Bravo that is not Top Chef. The promos alone drive me fucking insane. Flipping out, The Matchmaker and the most heinous bullshit ever, The Real Housewives of whatever city they happen to be in. God, could those people be any more vapid and annoying. As I said, the promos annoy me to the point that I can barely function, I can't imagine what must happen to your soul if you actually watch those shows. After a full season you grow gargoyle wings, breath toxic gas and subsist on a steady diet of newborn's blood and raw sewage.

Finished Christopher Moore's new book last night, Fool. It's exceptionally funny. Anyone with an interest in Shakespeare will love it. It's an adaptation of King Lear, told from a fool's perspective and is so damn funny as to make you roll around on the floor in paroxysms of hilarity. Read it! Now I require food and entertainment. Adieu.

Half awake in a fake empire

So I listened to All Songs Considered's podcast for Valentine's Day about lesser known love songs. I love this type of show. It's four people, well educated in music, playing songs they like and commenting on them. There seems to be a genuine affection between these people and it makes for a fun listen, even if all the tracks aren't to my particular taste.

While at work last night I started reading American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent, which Kevin and Courtney got me for Xmas. It's fantastic. I'm only 50 pages in, but it tells the history of nerds! I'm digging it. I'm only 50 pages in, but I can tell it's just going to be a great read. It combines the author's own tales of nerdiness with literary and historical examples of nerds. It even diagrams how jocks came to prevalence in modern America. Fabulous! I'm probably gonna be hitting up Amazon for his other book and maybe some of his reference material. It's important to understand your people's heritage.

Some of you may have noticed that I linked my Twitter feed over there on the left while back. Not sure anyone else I actually know is Twittering, but I jumped in, giving myself totally over to the social networking in spite of my antisocial background. Feel free to leave me a comment with your twitter page if you like. Currently I'm following people I only know through listening to podcasts.

He ain't got no punk rock rhythm

I have been completely useless today. I didn't leave the house at all and barely got off the couch. I suppose that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Trip's been ailing with the stomach flu and I've been forced to entertain myself. Sunday was easy, as I headed up to the Plaster household to exchange Xmas gifts. (My schedule and theirs are not easy to coordinate.) Had a awesome time, good food, good conversation and enjoyed playing with the kids. Argh, I'm mellowing in my old age, playing with children and all.

Monday I was bored out of my skull and ended up driving to Danville alone. It wasn't a bad trip really, listened to kickass music and did some minor shopping. I've been looking around for a 60 gig PS3, just seeing if I can find one, but they are rare and I've come up empty. (The 60 gig is the only one that plays PS2 games.) It's probably for the best, since I probably don't need to drop another $400.

Today I've pretty much been playing NCAA 09 all day. I won the national championship with Penn State. No small feat considering that every computer controlled QB in the game becomes John Elway (I've fought down the urge to say Ben Roethlisberger here, but I don't know if I'll be able to do it again.) on third down. But yeah, I think that has satiated my college football gaming desires for a while.

Digital taxation, football, dead grubs

Just filed my taxes online and it was rather painless. Had to pay some to Virginia, but it wasn't too bad. Usually I take them to someone else to work on, but I always kinda knew mine weren't that difficult, but I never felt like learning. I actually intended to continue that tradition, but when I went in today the place was packed and I didn't feel like waiting. So tonight I decided to finally figure it out myself and get it over with, it wasn't hard. So that's a plus.

Since Sunday I've just been chilling, enjoying the post Super Bowl talk about how great the Steelers are, and rightfully so. I think this team is going to be remembered as one of the all time greats. That defense is amazing and Big Ben gets it done when it counts most. Still, there's a lot of hate. A lot of referee talk, which is unwarranted, in my opinion, and a lot of people just angry because the Steelers are perennial playoff contenders. I suppose I can relate, I hate the Patriots for that reason, soo.... (although the Steelers never ran the score up on anyone.)

Tonight Trip and I finished Gears of War 2. It's a very good game, with a few weak spots. Still I recommend it to anyone. The stop and pop mechanic is fun and there are some really nice visuals, but man the dialogue is sad sometimes.

So next week I get my Sundays back. No football needs watching (yes, the Pro Bowl is on, but really, who cares?) and I got time on my hands. I'm bittersweet about it, although it's hard to complain about the season's end when your team won it all.

SIX PACK!

Man, that was some game. After the first half, with Harrison scoring that int. return TD to end the half, I thought it was totally over. Man I was wrong. The Cards showed some serious heart and pulled it back to take the lead. I was shitting my pants and beating my couch like it stole my wallet. Man, the highs and lows, I couldn't take much more. I'm so glad I don't have to feel like shit for a week or longer.

One problem I did have was the fact that every big close play in the final two minutes I felt like I couldn't celebrate until the review had come through. It really ruins the immediacy. Still, when they confirmed Santonio Holmes' catch I knew it was a done deal. I'm sure a lot is gonna be made of the no review on the fumble to end the game, but whatever, even if they get the call (which they wouldn't have) no guarantee the last play is a TD anyway.

Also, as amazing as that catch was, I think Big Ben deserves the MVP. You don't get that catch or any of the rest of the drive without him. He made the clutch plays. Hopefully he'll get another chance to win it.

Ohh, one other plus about the Steelers, my good friend Mr. Michael Jessup will be wearing Steeler black and gold for this year's Techmo Lucky Breaks draft. He'll also be purchasing me a nice piece of Super Bowl memorabilia. Bragging rights are wonderful. Also I'd like to rub it in a little on Adam too, who is a Steeler hater.

Shamblers ahoy

This is awesome.

Gourmet motherfucker! Do you speak it?

So I had a wonderful meal this evening. Took Trip out for his BDay to 202 Market. (Please spare me the gay jokes, I didn't even get laid.) Actually, first we went to see Slumdog Millionaire, which was good. A fascinating look into the life of a "slumdog" in India. Seeing how street children survive and the living conditions and everything will throw a serious wake up call your way.

Anyway, after that we hit 202 and ate the food of the wealthy. I was a little annoyed at first as the waiter informed me that we couldn't get the tasting menu and that they were out of several things I may have wanted. (I'm looking at you crabcakes.) Also some of the items they listed online were not on the current menu. So I was kinda irritated.

But from the first bite of our scallop appetizer I was mollified. Those scallops were the highlight of the meal and made all other scallops I've ever had pale in comparison. None of them come close. I ordered the fried chicken which is cooked sous vide, then fried and comes with parmiagiana mashed potatoes and green beans. Trip got the duck, which I was envious of, on the whole.

For desert I got what was called coffee and doughnuts-ish. Not bad, but the doughnut part seemed a little tough. Trip got four varieties of sorbet and seemed pleased with them. So all in all an excellent meal. I wish I could afford to eat there more often, but it is decidedly not cheap. Perhaps we will return if there is another stimulus check courtesy of Barack.

Now I'm just chilling and watching/listening to Kraftwerk's live DVD viewable this week only at pitchfork.tv. Fun, fun fun on the autobahn!

Yes we can

Mumble, rawr, mumble, baarrrrrr

OK I'll actually post something more than just a picture. I gotta say it's been a pretty damn good week: Steelers heading to the Super Bowl, the worst president in our history's reign is over and I've got half a buzz on. So I'm feeling good. There are only a couple more things that I would really want to go my way. If I get those, life will be perfect. Of course, that will never happen. Perfection just isn't truly attainable. So I'm enjoying what I have.

Been a slack weekend for me. Eating too much, as usual, and playing games, watching movies, etc. I finished watching the first season of Entourage and the last four episodes managed to win me over somewhat. Initially I felt no connection to any of the characters, but I warmed up somewhat in the latter episodes. I also watched The Andromeda Strain, which was ok. Not very exciting, but a good watch while I played Ninja Town on my DS. I do love multitasking.

By the way, I finished Ninja Town and it's a lot of fun. I like the desktop tower defense style and even enjoy the cute ninja thing so I'd say it's a solid foot massage. I think I may be outgrowing this rating system and need to revamp it into something less stupid. I'll think on it.

I also downloaded Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix on XBLA. Basically it's an HD remake of Street Fighter 2, which I enjoy. I do suck at it tho. I mean, really suck. Gonna have to work hard to get any game going at it. We'll see if that works.

I'm currently re-watching 28 Weeks Later. I love zombies, which I've mentioned before. And this is one of the top zombie films ever. I mean, it's no Romero joint, but it's damn good. Robert Carlyle is truly great as an infected. You can feel his anger and it's a deep hatred for all things living.

I suppose that's all for now. Did I mention the Steelers are in the Super Bowl? Man I'm loving it.

nuff said

Super Bowl 43

Steelers are in the Super Bowl!



What more do I need to say?

Big, bright and with astounding clarity

So I'm having a good weekend. Started it off by visiting with Jill for a little while Sunday afternoon, which was fun. We finally exchanged Xmas gifts and she hooked me up with a sweet painting. From there I went to Trip's and watched the Steelers clobber the Chargers, which was nice. Pittsburgh looked better than they have all season, with that running game coming alive. So sweet. I'm nervous about next week tho. Beating the Ravens three times in one season is not an easy task. Gonna be brutal.

But watching next week's game will be sweet. Why, you ask? I'll tell you. Because I went crazy and bought a 46-inch Samsung television last night. Went to Best Buy to do some price comparison, as I was a little nervous about getting Amazon to deliver a tv and the whole tech support/service issue. Lo and behold, I find a tv that is right there in the price area I was looking for and it's even bigger than the one I was looking at originally by six inches. It's friggin beautiful.

I had decided to not spend the money on a tv and be frugal and sensible... but then my old tv started being a bitch and it pushed me over the edge. It may actually be too big... but that's something I'm willing to accept. I'm sitting here looking at Sportscenter highlights in glorious HD and loving it. I regret waiting as long as I did. Now I have to fight the urge to buy a PS3 simply for Blue Ray capability. I think I'll be ok until I pay off the tv, which hopefully won't take that long.

Hopefully this streak of good things will continue for at least the next month or so... we'll see.

Bob Dylan wrote propaganda songs

The last coupla days have been brutal. I've just been completely uninterested in working and wishing for a vacation that isn't likely to come anytime soon. Yesterday I came home and was completely glazed. I spent the entire evening once I got home plugged into my laptop playing Civilization 4. I swear that game is a time machine. I blink and 4-5 hours have passed and it's time for bed. But yeah, that was a good way to decompress and focus on nothing internal for a while.

Tonight was more of the same, broadcasting the BCS Championship game and all. I was also saddened to find out that I'm broadcasting an NFL playoff game on Saturday night (Arizona at Carolina). I hate running NFL games. I'm not conditioned to work them properly as I watch the game and not the commercials typically. That can lead to disaster, but it's hard to break decades of conditioning. At least it's not Pittsburgh playing or it would be insufferable.

Anyway tonight I came home and popped in We Jam Econo: The Story of The Minutemen, which arrived in the mail today. It a documentary about seminal punk band The Minutemen and I love them. They are about unfettered creativity. Making art that suits you and doing it yourself so noone else needs to approve. It always makes me want to create something... which is something I need to do more often.

Ohh one other down note for this week so far, 1UP.com got bought up and they liqudated about 2/3 of the staff and cancelled all the podcasts, which bums me out more than I can tell you. I've listened to those podcasts and the people on them every week for over a year now while driving to and from work. It's silly to say, but those people seem like my friends, even tho we've never met. (The internet fosters such odd emotional attachments.) So it sucks that all those people are jobless and I have to find new ways to entertain myself while driving, when I was so happy with the way I had.

My feelings on going back to work today

more animals

The Evil Penguin Top 20 Albums of 2008

OK, fine I won't just bore you. I'll actually take some time and decide what my favorite albums of 2008 were. I was going to just do 10, but there were so many I went to 20. Here ya go.

• 20 - Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams: A solid album by an artist I've grown to love in the last couple of years. Some quality tracks, but just not as exceptional as 2006's Destroyer's Rubies.
• 19 - Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust: Lyrics written by a legitimate poet and music put together by Trent Reznor. The cover of Sunday, Bloody Sunday is a fantastic reworking.
• 18 - Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles: A combination of electronica, video game noise, dense atmosphere and odd vocal stylings. Beeping and booping you can't help but love.
• 17 - Parts & Labor - Receivers: Solid indie rock with a touch of noise thrown in for seasoning. I really need to listen to this album more.
• 16 - Torche - Meanderthal: Doom metal with a lighter edge, but still maintaining the thunderous riffs. Guitar solos slice through these tracks with the edge of a Hanzo blade.
• 15 - Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours: Reminds me of Depeche Mode minus the S&M undertones. The track "Out There On The Ice" puts this in my top 20 singlehandedly.
• 14 - Deer Hunter - Microcastle: There is something soothing about this album. The sound washes over you like a wave balancing between delicate and immersive.
• 13 - Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel: Beautiful noises lashed together with soothing vocals to make an sparse and soothing album.
• 12 - The Hold Steady - Stay Positive: I still say this is The Hold Steady's weakest album. Good thing for them they set the bar so high in the past.
  
• 11 - The Magnetic Fields - Distortion: Aptly named and wonderful. Clever lyrics, lovely vocals and a subtle grind of noise make this album wonderful.
• 10 - The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost: These guys crib from The Velvet Underground's style of fuzzed out spacey rock and the world is better for it.
• 9 - Boris - Smile: Crash doom metal, experimental noise and shoegaze and you have a start of what Boris is. The track Next Saturn makes noise so beautiful it defies description.
• 8- TV On The Radio - Dear Science: The more time you put into this album the better it gets. One of my favorite bands releases another masterpiece.
• 7 - Portishead - Third: These guys return from the dead to astound everyone. Beg, borrow or steal to listen to The Rip. I think it's maybe the single best song of the year.
• 6 - LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver: Electronic music at it's best gets you bobbing your head without you ever thinking about it. This does that.
• 5 - Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple: What can't Dangermouse do? On first listen I didn't think this was as good as St. Elsewhere. I was wrong.
• 4 - Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing: Electronic noise turned up to 11. This is the music I didn't know I wanted, but man I so did. I'm still considering moving this up the list.
• 3 - Beck - Modern Guilt: Another album produced by Dangermouse that I love. Beck brings us some psychedelic pop rock that does not disappoint.
• 2 - Blood On The Wall - Liferz: Combines punk rock from the Pixies/Sonic Youth traditions and I can't seem to stop listening to it.
• 1 - Girl Talk - Feed The Animals: You can play this album for almost anyone and they will love it. Gregg Gillis gets better and better at his craft of combining thousands of old pop tracks into something new and wonderful.

So there it is. I'm making a mix CD of my favorite tracks that I could be talked into making a copy of for those interested.

Coma inducing blog post

It's been a motherfucker of a week. Got called in on Tuesday, had to air a bunch of football games. Friday I had a hint of a cold when I left for work and it turned full blown by the time I arrived at work. Lots of sneezing, mucus and general ill will towards everyone around me.

But enough bitching. I'm feeling better now. Watched football today, then smacked Trip around in Tiger Woods 09. Good times. Then we watched the final episode of Generation Kill, which ends with a lot of unanswered questions... not surprisingly. I mean, the Iraq War show can't possibly have a definitive ending where everything is settled right?

So yeah, exciting times. I could not be more dull could I? Yesh. You'd think that if I had nothing to say I wouldn't write, but no, banality isn't gonna stop this guy. I may work on some end of year lists for my next post. I've been thinking of them, but haven't really had the energy to focus on doing it properly.

Bring on the kids

23

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

Non-football catch up post

So I haven't really blogged in a week or two, aside from yesterday's glorious fantasy football braggadocio. So I'll catch everyone up. I've been busy working and actually having a social life. That's why I actually look forward to the holidays now, I get to interact with people. A nice change, I tell you. But yeah, got to hang with Adam, Mike and Shannon and Nick and Abbie. Watched some football, played some Call of Duty and had a few drinks. Good times. Between the lagging economy, Adam's potential new job and everything else who knows if I'll see them again before next Xmas.

Then, of course, I went right back to work for the actual holiday. I get to work through the New Year's stuff too, so there some more fun. Ahh well, at least I'll be making nice pay for that. That coupled with my fantasy winnings is making me consider buying a new tv. I should be smart and use it to pay off my car, savings, blah blah blah. I wanna fritter it away! It's more fun that way. Bah, we'll see.

Today I basically basked in the afterglow, relishing my victory. Then went to dinner with Trip and played some Tiger Woods 09. You know, I was a little apprehensive, having gotten very tired of Tiger way back when, but I really enjoyed this. The game looks great and plays well. Plus the character creation is fun and leveling up my guy is totally addictive.

I also bought Civilization 4 for my PC off of Steam, who's having a big sale through the New Year. This game is awesome. I lost five hours last night and they flew by. It's amazing. I love creating a nation and running it throughout history.

I'll finish with some random notes: Avoid The House Bunny; I love Doctor Who and I don't care how nerdy that makes me; been listening to some Bob Dylan lately and he's pretty good, maybe you've heard of him.

The Evil Penguin reigns supreme!

Fuck me what a day. I've been a complete basket case over the Techmo Lucky Breaks Fantasy Football League championship game. I slept in because I knew I'd be a nervous wreck, checking my scores, watching the games, yelling at the screen and I definitely did that. Toward the end of the 4p.m. games I decided to get out of the house and try to not brood about it all day.

When I get back to Trip's from Danville I check and my score and I'm leading by a scant five points, with LaDainian Tomlinson having three touchdown and 95 yards. This is bad because if he gets five more yards he gets a point for getting another 10 yards and a four point bonus for reaching 100 yards. All of which seems very likely. But somehow, the lucky breaks fall my way and I emerge victorious!

After all the agony, the suffering I manage to finally take the title. With the last pick in the draft I started slow and had to come back from a 3-6 record to win eight straight games, knock off the top two seeds in the playoffs and take home the championship! Cinderella boy, ex-assistant greenskeeper about to win the Masters. Sure it's just fantasy football, which some consider one step above playing Dungeons and Dragons as a hobby, but it's nice to win for a change.

Ok, ok, I'm gonna break my arm patting myself on the back. Just gonna sit back and enjoy it for a little while.

Put a record on and shut off that tv!

I don't know if it's because I haven't had enough caffeine or if it's because I'm a lazy sack of shit, but I'm exhausted. I think it's just lots of little stress things and the time of year.

I've been listening to a ton of music the last few days, trying to catch up with what the critics call the best albums of 2008. Some good stuff I missed. Crystal Castles self-titled album sounds like one part dance, one part noise, one part atmosphere and one part donkey kong. I know it sounds weird and it is, but it's really a great album to put on and chill.

Also been digging some MGMT, which may be one of the more commercially successful bands I'm listening to lately, although frankly I'm totally disconnected with what sells in the music world. But MGMT is something I think some of my readers may like. One or two of the three of you. It's not too aggressive, not too weird. Well, not to weird to me, but I've heard weedeaters and enjoyed them, so a grain of salt is required.

But yeah, I always forget how good it feels to just sit down and play some music and relax. I get caught up in movies or tv or video games, things I just have to see or do. But music is always a good time investment.

Ohh, a band that defies my normal stereotype altogether is The Silver Jews' Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. Sure it's indie, but it's alt-country. Some great lyrics coupled with an old school mellow country vibe that prove irresistable. Hey if you get me to like country music, you've done something well. I can tell you. Also check out their older album Tanglewood Numbers, which is fantastic.

I think I'm gonna try to put up some serious best of 2008 lists this year, but I'm still working on absorbing a lot of music. I may do a video game list first, since that is where my head has been for most of this year.

Bang crash a wakka wakka

So I watched the final episode of this year's Heroes last night and I gotta tell you, it's not that great. Everything is sooo incredibly convoluted, with time travel, heroes turning bad, villains turning good, two opposing companies (neither of which has clearly defined goals) and last but not least, serious plot holes. I wanna love this show. I loved it when everyone was bitching last season about Hiro being in medieval Japan, but it's just going off the deep end. I'm not giving up on it yet, since they rehired the writer from Pushing Daisies, but it's got to prove itself to me.

Laid a supreme smackdown to Trip in NHL 09 last night, which was necessary after all his shit talk. He won the first game, I won the second and in the rubber match I threw him a 4-0 beatdown. Took all three stars and am now reveling in my victory. It's the little things that make life worth living.

Currently I'm listening to a ton of new music, trying to suss out what was good from this year. Pitchfork has down the top 100 tracks of the year and is going to do albums over the next couple of days. Don't worry, most of you will have no idea of who or what they are talking about. You shouldn't feel bad about it. I spend some time trying to keep up with what's going on in music and am hopelessly lost most of the time.

Call back from the wishing well

I'm having such a great weekend. The Steelers clinched the AFC North title, The Evil Penguin rolls into the TLB playoffs with good momentum and I won a $100 gift certificate to 202 Market. That's some good times there. Ohh and I just had a tasty albacore sandwich. What could be better? Ok I can think of a few things, but I'll take this and make do.

Gonna try and finish my Xmas shopping tomorrow I don't have a lot left really, but it's kinda hard to figure out what people will really enjoy receiving. Maybe next year I'll just give everyone the ugliest sweaters I can find for them. Start an ugly sweater club. Sounds fun, huh? Call Bill Cosby, he can be an honorary member.

Next coupla weeks are gonna be really busy with people coming in and trying to make time for everyone. Looking forward to seeing everyone and doing my thing, but I'm sure it's gonna be tiring. Sucks having to work through the holidays all the time. Could be worse, I suppose. Could have lost my job thanks to the crappy economy. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Hmm think that's about it. I did read the Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. It's... ok. A nice quick read, but I'm not overly impressed. Doesn't really seem to be something that needed writing. Of course, if I was gonna make that much money from writing that crap I'd poop it out too.

misplaced time allotment

Went Xmas shopping on Monday with Trip and we had a good time. I spent too much money, but I knew I would going in. I'm trying to tone it down some from last year and I still have several gifts to buy, but I'm succeeding so far.

Today I played some more Gears of War 2 with Trip and that was fun. Seems like the game gets better as we progress, but there is some really cringe-worthy dialogue. Still, worth playing through.

After playing through a chapter of Gears we watched Fred Claus, which was not great. Basically it was the usual holiday movie, just starring Vince Vaughn this time around. His banter is entertaining, but just not enough to carry the whole movie. Elizabeth Banks also looks hot in her Xmas outfit.

In fantasy football news I am closing in on the final playoff spot. A win will put me in I think. I'm trying not to get too excited, because typically when I expect good things to happen, that's when everything goes haywire. This extends to more than just fantasy football, let me assure you. Still, it's nice to be winning for a change.

It's almost absurd how much fantasy football changes my mood. When I'm successful, I'm more pleasant, calmer and maybe even more confident. I know this game is completely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but it means a lot to have put so much time into something and then to come away triumphant. Of course, I'm still exactly three wins away from having that triumph come to fruition and so there is plenty of time for the agony of defeat to set in.

Steelers, steak and social networking

It was a pretty good day today. I slept like a brick, feeling all snuggly as the wind and rain battered my window. Soo good. Then I get up and find that the Evil Penguin has rebounded from a lackluster Thanksgiving showing and is in the process of pounding the Leesburg Leghounds into submission (I think we all know what kinda pounding that takes). That win puts me into the driver seat for the final playoff spot. I should also have the highest points total in the league too... and a 7-5 record. That shows what kinda breaks I've been getting this season, but let's hope all that's behind me.

The Steelers also laid the pipe to the Pats, which makes me smile. Gotta love beating those assholes, especially in thier own house. One step closer to the playoffs, but there are still a lot more incredibly tough games before the AFC North title is clinched.

After reveling in football for the afternoon, Trip and slogged through the foul weather to get steak and it was worth the effort. Mine was seasoned perfectly and cooked just how I like it (medium rare). Small pleasures make life worth living.

I also joined Facebook this holiday weekend and man, it turns out I know quite a few people on there. Been a long time since I talked to several of them and it's good to get in touch. I can see myself getting addicted to that and need to take it down a notch. All afternoon I watched my fantasy score and reloaded facebook to see what had changed. I'm such a nerd.

Twas the meatspin before Thanksgiving

So Adam came in this weekend and we headed down to Nick's household for some good clean family fun. Watched a lot of football, yakked about fantasy stuff, debated politics and loaded gay porn on Nick's laptop. Ok, that last one was not so much family fun, I suppose, but a good time nonetheless. It was good getting out of my routine and seeing some good friends. I should do that sort of thing more often.

But on to fantasy football news, where The Evil Penguin is back in the hunt! I'm up to .500 with a devastating win over Nick. A win next week against Adam will make me the front runner for the fourth seed in the playoffs, which is not something I could believe a few weeks ago. That win over the Leghounds is gonna be tough tho. I need his WRs to continue to bring the mediocrity.

The new Netflix integration into Xbox Live is fantastic! I've been watching tons of 30 Rock episodes through it. That show is hilarious. I love Tina Fey, she's smart, she's hot, she's nerdy. Everything I'm looking for in a woman.

Also been playing CoD: World at War and it's fun. The multiplayer takes all the best parts of CoD4 and puts them into the WW2 setting while adding in some new twists that make it even better. Also, more gore! Love the gore.

So a pretty good Thanksgiving for me, so far. Of course, I'll be working through the actual holiday, but what are you gonna do?

and so it ends

My vacation is at an end. Sad. I did very little, honestly. Which suits me just fine overall, I suppose. Watched a little football this weekend. The Steelers managed to eke out a victory, which was nice. I really had some problems with a couple of the play calls offensively. But the defense is amazing. Man, great pressure, amazing coverage. They got it all. So that was fun.

Fantasy-wise The Evil Penguin managed to knock down Kevin's squad, who did not produce as he would of liked. Not that it really mattered, I had some serious points this week. It's kinda hard to care tho, since I'm almost certainly out of the playoff hunt at this point.

Hmmm what else is new... Trip and I went to Roanoke on Saturday and it was a friggen nightmare. Holiday crowds flowing everywhere. Bleah. I hate feeling crowded everywhere I go. Plus we ate at Red Palace and that did not sit well, so I felt like shit for the drive home. Fun!

This week I have also developed a full on addiction to gummy bears. I love em. I prefer Haribo Gold Bears. They are the best. Trust the Germans to make the best gummy bear.

I guess that's about it. I'm pretty dull. And tomorrow I return to work and once again become shackled by the man. Sucks... but not as much as being unemployed and desperate.

Wasted week or sweet relaxation?

So I've been wasting my vacation fairly effectively. Watched a lot of movies, played some games, watched some tv and ate a lot of junk food. I'm not gonna complain because having the opportunity to destress was greatly needed and traveling always causes me stress. Sitting on my ass, does not.

I did leave the nest tonight to go out to dinner with Jill. We decided to stay in Martinsville and see what fun we could find. Short answer, not a lot. Don't get me wrong, we had an ok time, but Martinsville is pretty lame on Friday night. We got some Japanese food, hibachi for her, sushi for me then hit Walmart, then hit a bar and got a drink and decided to call it a night. Not setting the world on fire, but our options were severely limited.

So what movies have I watched? I'll list em up.

• Kung Fu Panda: Hits a lot of nerd points with me and I really dig it. Have watched it twice already.
• Get Smart: Steve Carell is very funny, Anne Hathaway is painfully hot.
• Eastern Promises: Slow moving, but interesting. I dig the Russian mafia flavor. Viggo Mortensen is very good.
• Definitely, Maybe: Chick flick, but not bad. Ryan Reynolds amuses me and Isla Fisher, Rachel Wiesz and Elizabeth Banks are not hard on the eyes.
• Baby Mama: Good clean fun. Always got time for Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.
  
• Bender's Game: My favorite of the new Futurama movies. It skews very nerdy and that amuses me. I acknowledge this makes me a King nerd.

Been playing a lot of NHL 09 with Trip and I still can't figure out how to score consistently. Trip's starting to beat me and that is a huge problem. Been playing Call of Duty: World at War and it's really good. I know a lot of people were annoyed with the return to WW2, but I have no problem. Also started Fable 2, but haven't made it very far. Still hasn't caught me properly. Gears of War 2 is also waiting in the wings and I'll be damned if Left4Dead doesn't look like a must buy. All these incredible games out at the same time is killing my budget.

A long week

Seems it's been an eventful week since my last post. I'm on vacation, I bought a new computer, I turned 34 and there was something in the news about some elections going on.

OMFG I now live in a blue state! How did that happen? We have a black president! A few years ago who thought that could happen? It's altogether shocking.

But I won't get into all of that. It's been pretty much run into the ground by the news networks at this point. I think at this point everyone just wants to forget about politics for a little while and earnestly believe that maybe the new guys can be trusted. I know that probably isn't really the case, but escapism is my raison d'etre.

My vacation is proceeding as planned, although I'm a little short on cash. I may not let that constrain me too much tho, as it is my vacation. Within reason anyway. I don't have any big plans really. Play some video games, watch some movies, read some books. I may even try to get up the energy to do some writing at some point. I've been thinking about it lately and having a new laptop to type on is a good excuse.

I managed to not go too berserk buying it, settling for a low end computer, which, honestly, meets all my needs. It's an HP with a T5800 dual core processor, 4 gigs of RAM and 250 gig hard drive. Quite a step up from my craptacular Dell. Not just in stats either, it's so much better designed that it's almost absurd.

I am still getting used to Vista and trying to get everything working as I like it. I spent five hours Sunday fiddling with iTunes to get everything just right. I'm fucking anal about my music. Hell my cds are all alphabatized by artist (with special sections for soundtracks and compilations) so it's an ongoing trend. If only I could get other aspects of my life organized that way.

Apples filled with razors

Ahh yes, another fun filled week. Seems like I've been working a lot lately and it's not getting any easier this week. I work Tuesday because it's election night. Stunner. But at least when I finish up the week I get a full ten days off. That's right, vacation for E. I don't think I'm really gonna do a lot, just laze around, play some video games and read. May try to clean up my room, which I desperately need to do.

Anyway, Halloween blew. I worked and there weren't even any really good Halloween programs playing. Couple of overly crappy horror movies, Bravo's 100 scariest movie moments (which they showed almost non-stop all week long) and The Davinci Code. Ok I know that scared the crap out of the Catholic Church, but come on it's hardly Halloween fare.

Saturday I got to work through the time change, so 13 in stead of 12 hours. Long fuckin' night. Was very happy to finally get to sleep.

Tonight Jill and I went out and saw Pride and Glory. Didn't know much about it going it and it was ok. Well done cop drama with Ed Norton and Colin Farrel. Not overly interesting tho. No formulas broken. No interesting takes, just the standard good cop, dirty cop deal. I'd rate it somewhere in the Meh. to +1 chainmail area. But we had a good time anyway.

I am glad I went out because if I had of sat at home and watched my fantasy team get beat again I'd be completely pissed. I got one of the top scores again, currently second highest (although that will probably change with Monday Night's game) but I still lost. I keep getting crapped on and it's wearing thin.

Sadly I will not be watching said Monday Night game featuring my beloved Steelers, as I am going to see Nine Inch Nails in Greensboro. Gonna be fun. Wonder if there will be protestors there. nah, the right wing types will be saving their energy for harrassing minorities at the polls on Tuesday.

Another crappy sports day

Both the Steelers and my fantasy team lost today, making this a horrible sports day. I'm becoming more accustomed to fantasy losses, I always play the guy with the breakout player of the week, but Pittsburgh's loss is hard to take. Adam informed me that they played like girls, but I don't see how he concluded that. I mean, four quarters of slobber-knocking football against the defending NFL champions and the Steelers are winning until an injury to the long snapper gives the Giants a fluke safety and all the momentum.

Don't get me wrong, it could have been much better. The Pittsburgh O-line has some serious pass blocking issues and even when they do block Big Ben holds the ball too long. Ohh and stupid penalties crushed my soul again and again.

Hell even after watching football my shitty sports day continued when I couldn't even beat Trip in NHL 09. I got nothing!

Anyway I watched the new Indiana Jones movie. These movies never thrilled me like some of my cohorts. The early ones were good, but not life altering. The new one is a bit of an abortion. Interdimensional aliens? Really? Shia Lebouef? Really? Just let it go.

I also watched the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and it was ok. I love R. Lee Ermey, especially when he's yelling at people. But yeah, it's fairly creepy in a dirty, sweaty kinda way, but just not as terror inducing as the original. They so seldom are.

All that needs to be said

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Two in one

So it's my second post in the same night. Yes I'm still very drunk and I've spent the evening listening to fan-fucking-tastic music that I know noone else I know will enjoy. It kinda sucks. I want to share my joy, but my musical tastes just don't jibe with most people. Hell, most of the things about me don't jibe with most people.

Anyway, just because you people don't care, doesn't mean I'm not gonna write about it. I listened to this INCREDIBLE band the Fuck Buttons! They do this electronic noise that people have described as sounding like the end of the world. It's amazing. I love it. It's dense and makes me want to do music of my own. I probably need to drink more to actually get that done.

I also watched footage of The Thermals performing in NYC. Jill loaned me a disc of theirs and it was good, so I looked for more. I also watched some Health, who will be opening for Nine Inch Nails when I see them on Nov. 3 in Greensboro. Looking forward to that.

I'm also still debating going to see A Place to Bury Strangers tomorrow in Chapel Hill. I love their stuff, but I'm not sure I'm up for driving down alone. Especially since I'll be hung over. We'll see.

Anyway I suggest you go to Pitchfork.tv to check some of this shit out. There is a multitude of interesting stuff on there so give it a shot. Who knows, maybe I'm not the only person I know with good taste?

Not just incoherent, drunk also

I just finished a very long week of work and decided to blow off some steam by finishing a half-pint of scotch and several High Lifes. It's not a bad feeling getting drunk really fast and having an evening to kill. If only I didn't have to do it alone. But really, not a lot of drinking buddies present themselves at 1a.m. on a Monday morning.

At least drunk my shoulder doesn't bother me. I managed to injure myself, not doing some rigorous exertion or even an accidental fall, but by sleeping. That's right, even sleep is too vigorous for someone like me. So now I'm not just stinking drunk, I also stink of Walmart brand Aspercreme knockoff. Poor frugal, but sore me.

I'm watching the first season of Californication, which is wonderful so far. I really love David Duchovny's character. He's a lot like me, he hates his life. Of course, his life is better than mine in every possible way. Makes me wonder if it's just that everyone of a certain intelligence hates their life and it's all just ultimately empty or if I should just really, really fucking loathe my life. I mean, if his life sucks mine is unliveable by comparison. Which is really sad when I think of some poor guy living in Darfur. That's me, always thinking of the big picture.

Anyway, I think I'm about done typing for the moment. Well, I may try to keep typing but I need to find a different venue. Of course, I think I'm going to make a very big effort to not drunk email anyone. That can get ugly.

Spread the wealth around

It's been a shitty day and, so far, a shitty week. I went to sleep last night with an ill stomach, woke up with a headache and nothing has went my way. I watched the Penguins get up to a 3-0 lead and then roll over in the third period to lose 4-5 to the fucking Capitals. One of my co-workers is on vacation, so we were shorthanded, which means I got to do a lot more work today and that sucked too. Ohh and this week I get to work on Sunday also to extend the suck. Fucking brutal.

In non-bitching news, I watched Leatherheads last night. It was fairly bland and I can't really recommend it. (shaq-fu) I watched Behind the Mask the other day and that was pretty good. It's about these documentarians following around a killer along the lines of Jason or Michael Myers and getting the behind the scenes look. Nice humor, with some decent horror moments. (+1 chainmail)

Also watched most of the (thankfully) last debate last night. Christ I'll be glad when this election is over. Obama seems to be running away with it, which is nice. Also when did Virginia become a battleground state? My vote may actually count this time around. How novel.

Also I'd like to talk about the term "class warfare." How come everytime someone mentions that maybe the rich could be a little less rich to make the poor a little less poor someone shouts "CLASS WARFARE" and the discussion ends? That's it, can't talk about that, it's class warfare. I think it all stems from this concept that poor people are lazy, which is total bullshit. I dunno, I'm not gonna rant anymore about it, but that shit is irritating.

Five by five

Love

• Autumn- I'm sure I say this every year, but I truly love seeing the leaves change. It's the most beautiful time of year. Also there is football, which makes everything better.
  
• The Wire, Season 5 - It's excellent. Maybe not my favorite, but I just love how they start at the street level and climb the ladder up society's ranks, indicting the social structure at every level.
• Pushing Daisies - Loving the second season. It fills me with this odd sense of being welcome. It's like an old t-shirt or sweatshirt that you've had for years and it just feels right.
• That I saw a two at the beginning of a gas price on my way home from work today. That's right it's at 2.99 a gallon in Bassett Forks. Here's hoping that it continues to drop.
  
• The myriad of excellent stuff that gets released in the fall and winter months. Some awesome DVDs, games, books and music coming out now.
  

Hate

• Trying to find a way to fit all those DVDs, games, books and movies into my budget.
  
• All this election crap. I'm sick of debates, polls, negative ads, endorsements and political stats. Can't we just vote today and let Obama win and move on. Maybe then the Dow will stop dropping every day... although that's probably a pipe dream. It's probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
• That I have to actually pay attention to how my eyebrows look. Never used to be a problem, now I let it go a month and I start to look like a super villain. While I do rock the goatee to indicate that I am the evil twin, I don't relish the super villain look.
  
• Fundamentalists. Any religion will do.
• Not having enough time to read all the books I want to have read. I keep finding things I should have read and just can't cram it all in.
  

Game over man, game fucking over

Another abyssmal weekend saved by the Steelers. Other than them winning, every other thing seems to go wrong for me of late. I can't seem to make the right choices, everything is underwhelming and I'm just confronted by this malaise that makes it hard to get out of bed in the afternoon. Bah.

So, once again, I will tell you of all my methods of escapism and review them. Watched Heroes tonight and that remains excellent. My only problem is that I have a hard time remembering what has happened in the past of the series and get lost. Also I really wish I could just watch it on DVD all at once instead of week to week. It sticks better that way and I'm not forced into not knowing stuff with cliffhangers.

I finally finished re-watching season 3 of Deadwood and it makes me sad. There are so many questions that remain and they will never be answered. If only HBO weren't such horrible cocksuckers and had let that show end properly.

I also finished watching season 3 of Weeds and I don't think I'm gonna watch any more. The more I watch it, the less I like the main character. She just bumbles through and sleeps with everyone and deals drugs. Also she's a horrible mother. My patience is at an end with this nonsense.

Borrowed the Aliens Quadrilogy from Trip and watched Aliens tonight. Yes, I started with the second one. I've seen the first plenty and want to watch the last three. I've never even seen the fourth one. I've heard mixed reviews. Anyway tomorrow I will probably try to get through the third.

Currently I'm reading Mike Mignola's (of Hellboy fame) Baltimore. It's about vampires and World War I, a collection of zombie stories and a comic called Pooch Cafe. There are actually a couple of other books I'm in the middle of at the moment, but I'm not seriously picking them up for a while because they don't fit my mood. I'm in a very Halloween, October horror place lately.

The Piemaker

I'm absolutely sure I mentioned my fondness for the show Pushing Daisies last season. I like it so much that I bought the DVDs tonight. It just has this charm that I love. Great colors, a nigh-childlike nostalgia for odd little things (windmills, beekeeping, carrier pigeons, etc.) and a narrator with a penchant for poetical statements.

I also love that it's quirky and odd. (I suppose I can relate to quirky and odd for some reason.) It has this wonderful melodramatic 50s background music that when combined with some of the seemingly 50s fashion and cars adds a classic appeal. It also doesn't hurt that the women on the show are gorgeous. Never a bad thing. The new season starts tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to it.

The new Iron Man DVD also proved to be irresistible. It's in an Iron Man head case! My nerd organ was inflamed and could only be satisfied with the purchase.

Oh and Trip and I watched Heroes tonight. It's so good. I'm continually impressed with how they work in little nods to comics, both in art used on the show and the references characters make.

Not a total loss, but close

Well at least the Steelers managed to pull out an OT win to keep this weekend from being a complete sports washout. The Mets completed their collapse managing to not make the playoffs and the Evil Penguin was thwarted by S. Jax's resurgence and an insane day for The Danglers' kicker making this an unhappy weekend for me. But Pittsburgh overcame a horrible first half and pulled out an ugly win to bring me a little joy. The problem is that Pittsburgh is down to one running back and lost another O-lineman for the season. This schedule is bringing the hurt.

In other news, I've been watching the third season of Deadwood and it depresses me. Not because it's bad, hell no, because I know it's not going to end. There should be at least another season of Deadwood, but it's not to be. HBO halted it too soon and the story is left hanging. Suckjob.

I also watched the second season of Weeds, which has really picked things up and become more interesting. I won't say its a great show, but definitely worth watching.

I've been listening to the new Boris album and there is this track, Next Saturn. It's incredible, but I know that noone I play it for is gonna get it. It has a heavy noise portion to the song and it's difficult. You got to want it and most don't. It's annoying not being able to share this music I love because noone else I know likes this sort of thing.

All bets are off after 2004

Here's a little picture I found at dieselsweeties.com. You can order a t-shirt with this on it if you want. It's something I figure my brother will appreciate with his insane right-wing ideas... hehe.

Sleep? It's overrated

A fairly eventful weekend so far. I pulled another all-dayer (that's an all-nighter to all you day dwellers, just with the times switched) and went to see my bro and his fam before they move to Mississippi. Had a good time. My lone complaint was when my nephew Cameron decided that Gabe and I weren't allowed to watch anymore of the Steelers-Eagles game and turned off the tv then absconded with the remote. It was kinda funny, but coming between me and the Steelers is a death warrant. It's a testament to my love of the little guy that he retained all his limbs. All said, a good time was had by all and I was happy to see them all. Gonna suck when they are out of reasonable driving distance.

The Steelers lost that game and I blame it all on my inability to watch and support the team. I'm an integral part of the winning process. One the upside, The Evil Penguin did manage to lock in a win over the struggling Fish Eyes this week despite some lackluster showings from my wideouts. I am now 2-1 and definitely in the hunt. Lots of drama in the Techmo Lucky Breaks league so far this season. Hopefully this sort of thing won't go on all season, it may be more than I can take.

In other sports news, Trip and I were playing the NHL 09 demo the other day and I happened to notice that I was passing the puck to Satan. That's right, in the offseason the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up right winger Miroslav Satan. So now Satan is now in Pittsburgh, which means evil is at home there... making them Evil Penguins! I really don't see any way they can be denied and the Stanley Cup is a lock. I may try to procure a Satan jersey at some point, if I can squeeze my fat ass into one.

I picked up the new TV on the Radio album, Dear Science. I haven't really had a change to absorb it so far, but what I've heard is good. Gonna take some more listening. I'll be amazed if it's as good as their last album Return to Cookie Mountain, not because it's bad, just because that thing was so amazing.

Rubber dicks slathered to the hilt in peanut butter?

Let me explain the title of this post before it gets out of hand. It's a direct quote from a movie I watched tonight entitled "Die You Zombie Bastards!" I'll start by saying this is a bad movie, but it's aware of how bad it is and just tries to have fun with it. Which, somehow, makes it ok. It's got the production values of a Gwar concert, horrendous acting, silly special effects, innumerable dick jokes, gratuitous nudity and a wholly silly plot line.

It's wonderful. I couldn't stop laughing at it's complete lack of shame. I mean, it has "Rubber dicks slathered to the hilt in peanut butter?" in the script somewhere, how can you not laugh at the absurdity of that. You aren't capable of laughter if that random line doesn't make you laugh. I'm saying it's filet mignon at the least, but I suppose how other people could see it as straight torn colon. It really depends on your tolerance of silly horror concepts and your sense of humor.

I also watched Doomsday tonight, which I can't really recommend. It sent mixed messages. It kinda wanted to be a political statement film, but it also wanted you to leave your brain at the door. It's not horrible, but the reality it's set in is just silly. Overall the best part of the film would have to be the ass of the heroine. It's shaq-fu at best.

While I'm typing this I'm listening to The Fantomas Melvins Big Band show on pitchfork.tv. I'm not really big on the Fantomas really, but I love the Melvins more and more. The show is pretty good if you're into thunderous guitars and noise. I find myself rarely in the mood for this type of thing, but when I am nothing else will do.

FedEx Field and sleep deprivation

I had a long day Saturday. So long, in fact, that it spilled over the entirety of Sunday as well. What I did was work all day Saturday and then ride with Kevin to D.C. for the Redskins game. Great game. We had nice seats and the free buffet. It was glorious. The game was excellent. Felt a little bad for Kevin that the Saints lost, but the second half was so good that it was hard to be too upset about it.

After that we drove home and my lack of sleep pushed me into whole new realms of silliness. Not sure how Kevin endured my rambling. Got back to Roanoke around 10 p.m. and I caught like a fourth or fifth wind. I wasn't tired at all. What I was was crazy. I was hyper, silly and loud. Good thing I was alone in my car. Bad thing I had a cell phone.

Still, it was a great trip and I have to thank Kevin again for hooking me up with the ticket. I've recently decided I need to spend more of my time doing something that's not in front of a tv or computer screen and this was perfect.

In fantasy news, Kevin and I are tied heading into the Monday night game. I got two players left to go and he has none, so things look pretty favorable. On the down side, we are having some serious drama with a scoring gaff causes by the EA website. It's always something with EA and we really need to consider finding a new home for the Techmo Lucky Breaks league next season. That said, I'm not certain where that new home would be. Need to do some research on other options.

The sutures and bruises are none of my business

So I gotta tell you, I looooooove being ass-raped by oil companies. I drive home Friday morning, passing the gas stations as normal. Note the prices, go home, sleep and drive past them not 10 hours later and the prices are 75 cent more per gallon. Love it. Love the hurricane shit, love the insane profits of oil companies, love my two hours of commuting a day and most of all love that the end isn't in sight.

I was reflecting and it occurred to me that no right-wing conservative Christian asshole preacher has said why God has decided to strike down Texas. I mean, New Orleans, sure. It's a den of inequity with sex, drugs and black people... the horror. But Texas is a fine Republican leaning bastion of proper white values. I mean they hate the ACLU there, they elected George W. Bush governor and the Dallas Cowboys play there, surely they are beloved by Jesus.

But no, he is wroth and has sent a mighty hurricane to decimate them and their unholy ways. You never know who Hurricane Jesus is gonna smite next...

Ok, ok I'll back off all the Christian bashing for a minute. I can't help it, all that hypocritical nonsense makes me angry. Add that anger to the gas prices anger, work stress and general rage and it has to come out. It was this blog or a gun-wielding rampage. I debated it for a while and decided I didn't want to be on tv.

The end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

Today could honestly be the end of the world. No really. I'm not kidding. The reason behind this potential armageddon is the Large Hadron Collider located under the Alps goes into use today. Some posit that this atom smasher could hurl matter around a 17-mile circumference so fast that it could possibly create a black hole, destroying the entire Earth.

Another (remote) possiblity is that it could recreate the "Big Bang." This would set the creation of a whole new universe into motion, ending ours. My big question is would a French or Swiss physicist then become the god of the new universe? I mean not in the all powerful buddy in the sky watching out for all the little children, but in just the creation sense.

So enjoy your Wednesday. It could be your last.

Grumpy motherfucker

So apparently I'm a grumpy fuck. At least according to Adam... ok probably according to a lot of people, but Adam put it forth most recently. What prompted this was the fact that I don't think Tom Brady being injured is the end of the world. Yes, he's a great player. Yes, he's gonna be in the Hall of Fame someday. That doesn't mean we have to ignore everyone else in the league just because he goes out for the season.

Why is this a surprise? Football players get hurt, especially quarterbacks. Brady had been lucky up til this point and now it finally happened. How did Brady get his job? Oh right, it was when Drew Bledsoe got hurt and Brady stepped in to fill the roll. It's the circle of life. Not the end of the world.

Anyway, I lost my opening matchup. I would have tied if I had of started Hasselbeck instead of O'Sullivan. Ahh well, what can you do? I'm still feeling like I'm going to have a good season.

Ohh and let's send a shout out to Adam who injured his shoulder patting himself on the back for having a good opening week.

Going deep

So the first Sunday of NFL football is in the books. I spent the whole day watching football and feeling like crap because of my allergies. Woohoo. On the up side, the mighty Steelers dominated the Texans. Ahh, such joy. I really can't put into words how wonderful it is to watch Pittsburgh pummel opposing players.

The Evil Penguin is still fighting and has a chance to win if I can get some love in tonight's games. It's gonna be a fight, but it's possible.

In non-football related topics, I hate my allergies. I went to bed at 10pm last night because I just felt like shit. I woke up at 7:30am. Illness has turned me into a damned DAY DWELLER! The horror.

I did watch about half the first season of Weeds, which I can't decide if I like or not. I like Mary Louise Parker, she's smoking hot. And some of the other characters are amusing, but the gestalt may not be enough to draw me in completely. I dunno, I'll watch the rest of the first season and see what happens.

I also watched Eagle vs. Shark, which is kind of a New Zealand version of Napoleon Dynamite. The main problem is that the characters are supposed to be out of school and, hence, should be a little less clueless. Or course, that's the joke so it has to be in there. Felt a little forced at times and definitely derivative, but had a couple of nice laughs. Meh. overall.

Where did the cash go?

Had a good day shopping with Trip and I managed to refrain from buying an LCD television once again. I still spent way too much money, but shorts were on sale, so was Deadwood Season 3 and I needed new socks and underwear. Cest la vie, I suppose.

I am beat tho. I've gotten a mere 4 hours of sleep and am feeling the effects. I'm debating a nap, but that never works out to my advantage. So I may just have to be fuckin tired for a while. What else is new.

Ohh and for those of you interested in how mature my friends and I are about fantasy football, click here to see it demonstrated. This link is completely not safe for work, quite juvenile and completely hilarious. This is what happens when Mike has too much free time.

Highly erroneous ratings

So today was the Techmo Lucky Breaks Fantasy Football League draft and The Evil Penguin emerged from nefarious antarctic depths to take part. As such, I now offer my opinion on who navigated the treacherous waters of the TLB draft onto eternal glory and who was pulled down to the murky depths of fantasy ignominy.

This is completely based on my opinion and in no way intended to offend anyone. There is a lot of parity in this league, top to bottom so I'm going purely on which team seems most complete and has players I believe in more than others. Things can change fast in the NFL with an injury here or there and clearly my fallibility is undeniable after my lackluster showing last season. So a grain of salt is called for in this situation. Anyway, on to the rankings.

1. Dallas Danglers - You have no idea how much it pains me to rate the dreaded Danglers first. I really don't want to do it, but in the interest of honesty I must. On paper his team is complete. His big concern would have to be what happens if SJax, Torry Holt and St. Louis in general can't bounce back from so many injuries last season. Also, will Frank Gore shit the bed in Mike Martz's new offense? If those two don't produce do the Danglers will be flaccid at best. Still, a bevy of talent at WR could be enough to penetrate into playoffs.
   
2. The Zors - Another team without any major weaknesses coming out of the draft. Solid RB starters, including one LaDainian Tomlinson and backups with lots of upside. His WR depth could be an issue, but he could make it work with only two and his stable of RBs. Also, I'm not really sold on the Colts's undersized defense staying healthy all season long, but that's nitpicking.
   
3. The Evil Penguin - I debated rating myself first because I do like my draft. The first three rounds went exactly as I hoped, aside from Drew Brees not falling to me. I feel like I did a solid job despite picking 10th overall and came up with a nice mix of dependability and potential. I'm worried that I reached for the Jacksonville D when I should have went with someone else. Also I may regret Larry Johnson, but the value was too good to pass up when I got him. If one of my sleepers wakes up The Evil Penguin may reign in unholy glory.
   
4. Team Vipperman - Nick never has a bad draft and I honestly could have given him the top spot. I debated it, as a matter of fact, but some questions came to mind. Like the durability of Brian Westbrook and Andre Johnson. Also the fact that Laurence Maroney and MJD will have to deal with sharing the ball. Having lived throughthat very thing last season with MJD, watching as Fred Taylor stole the spotlight, I have concerns. That said, who can doubt our inaugural champion will find a way to stay competitive. The Lucky Breaks never seem to fail him.
   
5. St. Nick Kringles - The Kringles draft scares me. That Brady to Welker thing could be huge. Add to it a solid group of proven WRs and Christmas may come early. (Yes I'm aware of how horrible that word play is.) The only coal in the Kringles' stocking is questions about how his RBs will play. Reggie Bush has yet to really break out and while he got real value on Julius Jones, who knows how he'll play in Seattle.
   
6. Leesburg Leghounds - The more I look at the Leghounds' draft, the more I like it. It's an interesting strategy, going for top flight WRs and a stellar QB and then picking up lots of mid-to-lower tier RBs. If those RBs can bring in decent scores each week the Leghounds could be in the hunt once again. That said, there is a lot of risk here and that's why Adam is lodged in the lower half of this ranking.
   
7. Heaven's Own - Had a hard time rating Heaven's Own. He has some players I made a point to avoid, but those guys could pay off. For example, Brandon Jacobs scares me with Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward both waiting in the wings. I also hate Willis McGahee But that may have as much to do with him being a Raven as anything else. Still, I think Kevin did find some very solid value in those later rounds of the draft, picking up David Garrad, who I think could be a sleeper, and Ricky Williams.
   
8. Who is that guy? - The rookie comes in swinging and leaves with a decent team. Hard to find a lot of fault with his draft. May have reached out for an injured Antonio Gates a little early, but who knows. Gates gets healthy and he looks like a genius. Also having Heath Miller on the bench makes it easier to swallow. His WRs are the main cause for concern. Ocho Cinco is an unknown property this season and how many balls will Patrick Crayton be taking? Couple that with a bunch of meh backups and problems may arise.
   
9. Innsmouth Fish Eyes - The Fish Eyes did a decent job early on, despite reaching for a few players. Then in the later rounds even Greg admitted to wishing he had done a little more research. His final roster didn't turn out too bad, but the presence of Muhsin Muhammad does not assuage my fears any. Still, don't sleep on the Fish Eyes, they have a solid core, with a few potential surprises.
   
10. Hudson Street Hellraisers - Apparently there were some IT difficulties for the defending champs and his draft did not go exactly the way he planned. That said, his running backs don't inspire me much. He liked Adrian Peterson so much he actually drafted him twice! Not much else I can say, hard to rip someone for computer trouble during the draft.

So there it is, my in depth analysis. Hopefully not too controversial. Nobody likes being picked last, I know, but someone has to. I can avoid it by doing the picking, so it works out for me. Of course, there is solace in knowing that this rankings mean absolutely nothing in the end. The only thing that matters is who holds the dreadfully named Lamar Hunt trophy at the end of the season. Good luck to all.

I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for, the unveiling of the new 2008 version of the mighty evilpenguin9000 logo. Copyright infringers will have a pencil jammed into their eye.

Notes from the nerdery

Some quick notes instead of an actual post. Enjoy...

• The Wire, Season 4 continues to deliver the awesome. I really like the character Omar, who is a gay gangster that makes his living by robbing drug dealers. Definitely not your standard effeminate gay man on television.
• Hating my computer and how poorly it handles video, as I find myself wanting to watch more things online lately and they all suffer from bad frame rate and skipping. Sucks.
• Watching this documentary on chiptunes, i.e. music made on 8-bit systems like the NES or old school Gameboy. Interesting sounds that I actually like, despite the fact that I almost never want to listen to the music in a game I'm actually playing.
• Any fast food that describes itself as "cheesy" is completely rancid and should be destroyed on sight.
• Saw Tropic Thunder. It's good, not a must see, but entertaining. In an odd twist I think Tom Cruise's crazy ass was the best part of the movie.
  
• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is incredible. Twin stick shootery goodness.
• While I was at the beach I noticed I was less depressed. Whether this was due to actual interaction with friends or actually being in the sun I'm not sure. But I figured that absorbing Vitamin D could have been part of it, so I bought a supplement and have been taking those. I think it's working. While I still have a tendency toward depression, for so many reasons, the mood swings seem to hit with less force and are easier to get over. We'll see if it keeps up.
• Fantasy football is right around the corner with the draft taking place on Tuesday. Planning on hitting Nick's for that. Still feeling a little unsure of my preparedness, but I think that's a result of how bad my draft turned out last year.
• In order to get in the football mood I watched Invincible, the Vince Papale story about the random dude who made the Eagles. Not bad, standard underdog movie, but I'm a sucker for those.
  

That's about it. I'll be unveiling a new 2008 version of the Evil Penguin logo soon, as designed by H.R. Tripenstuff.

excuses and half-truths and fortified wine

Man, returning to work after vacation really sucks ass. Particularly this week, where three preseason football games have to be broadcast. It's just irritating. Plus all the shit that I normally don't worry about is getting on my nerves, just because there is nothing to look forward to for a while. Tonight was especially annoying as the Panthers/Eagles game was delayed by lightning. Grrrr.

Trip and I did have a good time seeing The Hold Steady on Tuesday. Chapel Hill makes me feel old these days, especially as there were a ton of freshmen coming in with there parents that day. Also we sw a scary crack lady that was insanely thin and unclean. I'm not one to rag on the destitute, but damn she was disturbing. We saw some cops clearly prepping to take her in by putting on rubber gloves, which seemed like a good idea for them. Yesh.

Anyway, the show kicked ass. The lead singer, Craig Finn, just does not look like what you expect a band's frontman to look like. He looks like he'd be better suited for working in a cubicle and being picked on by his boss. That said, he does know how to fucking rock a crowd and seems to adore every minute on stage. Gotta love em.

Finally beat FFTA 2, after 145 hours of game play. That's probably inflated, as I watched lots of The Wire while playing and may have been distracted. By the way, finished the third season of the Wire last night, while beating FFTA 2. Great stuff. Only two more seasons to go.

back to the usual

So I'm back from the beach, have been for a coupla days. Just too lazy to post. Had a great time at the beach. Made a concerted effort to stay away from the crap I usually do and actually take a break and enjoy some of the other things life has to offer... like sunlight, conversation and whatnot.

But yeah, great time. Good to see the gang and hang out, drinking many beers. I miss having a bunch of people to hang around on the regular. Managed to never get ridiculously sunburnt, which is a feat. Talked a lot about fantasy football, which is no surprise. I ended up with the dreaded 10th pick in the draft and so am left with the dregs. Ahh well. Anyway, great time at the beach and it sucked to leave.

Did quite a bit of reading at the beach, which was good. I finished Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour. Lots of descriptions of delicious food and weird behavior. I recommend it to anyone who likes travel and eats meat. Also read David Schwartz's Superpowers, which is about college kids with superpowers. Kinda pulpy, but entertaining. Deals more with the real problems superpowers would cause, as opposed to supervillains and whatnot.

But now I have returned home and am having trouble getting back to my nocturnal schedule, which will bite me on the ass when I head back to work tomorrow. Did manage to manhandle Trip at Soul Caliber 4 after spotting him a week of practice. It's brutal how much I own him.

Speaking of Trip, tonight he and I are going to see The Hold Steady in Chapel Hill. Looking forward to that, although I'm not looking forward to the drive. Kinda over car trips at this point.

14 hours and counting

I'm a scant few hours away from the official beginning of my vacation. I can hardly wait. If only I didn't have to suffer through work first all would be better. Anyway, when I don't update this week it's because I'm at the beach. Not like normal where I'm morbidly depressed and/or lazy.

Oddly satisfying

Jello time, bitches. That is all.

My feelings are a cancer

It's 7 a.m. I'm grumpy, tired, lonely. The usual. But at least next week I'll be heading to the beach for some vacation. Some question as to whether or not Greg will be bringing his son along. I think it's safe to assume which way I'm leaning on that question. I don't really care, I'm gonna relax and be obnoxious either way, so whatever. I really need a vacation.

I got a shitload of stuff to do before that trip tho. Car needs an oil change, need to pick up some reasonably priced non-perishables before the trip, gotta pack, need to pay some bills. And I get to work some overtime before the trip, which isn't a bad thing. I can use the cash.

Not much else going on, really. I'm still addicted to FFTA 2. I'm listening to a lot of the new Beck album, Modern Guilt. Dangermouse's production makes it exceptional. The new Girl Talk album, Feed the Animals, is a pure party man. So good. And Stay Positive, The Hold Steady's new one is pretty good as well.

Dork Knight (spoiler free)

So I saw The Dark Knight today, with Corb and Trip. I even got in free since I had to put up with obnoxious chatty types during Hellboy 2. I have to say this movie is special. It's amazing. It's incredible. It's headcavingly orgasmic. I don't throw that rating around a lot to try and keep it special, but this has earned it. The cast is amazing, the story well crafted and it's just marvelous.

I'll start with Heath Ledger because he's done such a good job that I really don't think anyone can ever play the Joker again. I just don't see how they could. He's so wonderfully deranged, with delicious idiosyncrasies and delivers such beautiful lines that I literally giggled with delight. Come on people, do I really have to say more. I'm not a giggler.

Aaron Eckhardt is amazing. He steals some scenes from Christian Bale, who was good, but not great. Eckhardt gets better as the movie goes on. I read an opinion on a forum I frequent that I totally agree with about Maggie Gyllenhal. I'm a fan of hers, she's good, but she's just not glamorous enough for this role.

And, of course, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are excellent. As Corb, Trip and myself discussed the movie and it's potential sequel, we wondered if the next big villain is the Penguin, will Morgan Freeman narrate his rise and fall? I think that would make for an interesting twist.

a test of my will

Pretty much the usual weekend for me. Lots of movies and video games. I did see Nick and Adam this weekend, albeit briefly. I arrived late to their dinner and we conversed for a bit. I was informed that this blog is primarily lots of pissing and moaning, which I can't deny. But, of course, I have to piss and moan about them saying that too.

Trip and I went to see Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, which I found to be wonderful (filet mignon). The story was pretty good, but what made it special was the wonderful creature design of Guillermo Del Toro. I'd describe them as one part Terry Guilliam, one part H.P. Lovecraft and completely amazing. This may have been my favorite movie so far this summer.

I also watched Charlie Bartlett, which was good too. (foot massage) Kind of a modern take on a John Hughes film, which isn't a bad thing. Also Robert Downey Jr. is awesome, as is usual. Finished up season 2 of Deadwood and now am resisting temptation to pick up season 3. I have way too many things I want to spend my money on and way too little money to spread areound.

One thing I did fall into temptation and pick up was this Batman Gotham Knight animated DVD that bridges the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Returns. Sadly that gap is not that great. Trip and I partook of it and he gave up halfway through and I persevered only because I was playing FFTA 2 while watching. It had a few interesting moments, but all in all it was dull and the animation left me wanting. I heard it compared to The Animatrix, which I had a fondness for and that comparison led me to the purchase, but it is quite dismal. (mudbutt)

After finishing with Batman, Trip and I played some co-op Army of Two, which was fairly fun. Some irritation due to goofy controls, but not too bad. Looking forward to playing more next weekend.

Brain buck shot

Saw Wall-E and it was very good. It was definitely not your average cartoony kids movie. It was a scathing indictment of America's consumer cultur and it's consequences. Also there was a really great love story in there despite the main characters not being able to actually talk much beyond saying their names. I recommend it highly, filet mignon.

I'm still burning my way through The Wire, which is good. I'm into the second season now. The first season seemed to end on a bit of a futility note, with the drug dealers not really paying that much for their crimes and the police bureacracy screwing over a bunch of cops. Probably fairly true to life.

I'm also watching Deadwood again and into the second season of that, as well. It amazes me how fast that show moved. I mean the plot flies by and if you miss something, too bad for you. Which is a good thing, television usually plays to the lowest common denominator and this show assumes it's audience is not moronic.

Still completely addicted to FFTA 2. I'm nearing the 80 hour mark. I realized it's the job system that I love. It's fantastic, making it so your team is well balanced and has a plethora of skills at it's disposal. I think it triggers some semi-autistic part of my brain and I can't get enough.

It's nearing fantasy football time again and I have done no research. I'm clueless. I suppose I shouldn't worry too much, nothing really matters until training camps start and we find out who is actually who. Still I need to put up a better showing that last year's 6-9 season. The Evil Penguin must be on top!

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.