The two titles I had for this entry were: "I'm having Disney spells" and "Fiscal irresponsibility is fun". Neither was really grabbing me, so I opted to go titleless.

So. Here's how it went down:

Saturday, around noon: Steph was wearing her Disneyland shirt. I said something along the lines of, "Man, Disneyland is great." The idea of taking a spontaneous trip down there, using my credit card to finance said trip, came up and was batted around for a while. I made some arguments against it - my stance basically being, "Yeah, it would be great fun, but we really shouldn't, because, you know, debt?"
And the response was, "Yes, but it's fun."

And so we talked to the 8-ball, who confirmed that we should "MOST LIKELY" go to Disneyland, and we got ready, and around 5pm, we got on the freeway.

Woo!

We arrived at the hotel in time to watch a tiny bit of SNL (the first act only, because we had a long day ahead of us, plus, you know, the open & Weekend Update are the only good things about that show anymore) and then we went to sleep.
We woke up Sunday, had the Continental Breakfast (read: Corn Flakes) and then drove around parts of Anaheim looking for a working ATM so we could have cash on hand. (Never did find one out there. We wound up getting money from an ATM inside Disneyland instead.)

We got to Disneyland's parking garage at 9:11am, and into the park itself around 9:30.

Highlights of the day in the Happiest Place on Earth include:
Space Mountain (that theme music is just rocking)
Big Thunder Mountain (the wildest ride in the willllderness!)
Star Tours (although I really believe they need to change it up some. It's been the exact same 'movie' for nearly 20 years now. [holy crap. i'm old] But, really, with that type of ride, you'd think creating a new adventure wouldn't be that difficult, and it would be a bigger draw for people to come back if they knew that it would be different every now and again, ya know?)
the Matterhorn (downside to this - during this ride Saren's digital camera got dropped [in the bobsled] and wound up ruined as a result. Majorly uncool. We're planning on taking it back to the store we got it from and/or seeing about getting it repaired)
Splash Mountain
Astro Blasters (a Buzz Lightyear based ride where you can shoot lasers at different targets as you move around, with each target you hit, adding 100 points to your score. I got a total of 47,200. Because I'm cool.)
Autopia (not a lot of fun, really, but the girls like(d) it)
Winnie the Pooh Ride (mostly for Irina's reaction to this. She was in heaven on this. Mostly because she is on a "Winnie the Pooh Pooh" kick lately.
The Haunted Mansion (was all decked out in it's Nightmare Before Xmas garb, which, in my opinion, makes it better)

After hours of walking and riding and spending more credit-card-money on way overpriced food, we decided to head back home. We left the parking garage at 9:11pm. And as we were driving home, I began to do that head-bobbing-because-I'm-falling-asleep thing, so, to make a long story short (too late!), in Barstow we stopped and got a hotel for the night, and the next day I called in to work.

We got back into Las Vegas Monday afternoon (when I blogged briefly) and spent the remainder of the day recuperating from the exhausting outing.
As for the expenditures? Well, ironically, today Capital One sent me an email from their Fraud Department, wanting to confirm some of the latest charges. (I was honest and confirmed them. When will I learn??) But I'm not really worried about the fact that we can't afford to have spent all that extra cash. I mean, pretty soon the government is going to bail us out. ...Right?

All in all, the Spontaneous Trip to Disneyland 2008 was a lot of fun, and I'm glad that we went, even if we ended up paying for it in several ways.

And lastly, since this is the final day of September (where does the time go??), here's the Wordle Cloud for the entries from this month.

Welcome back, space travellers!

I didn't blog yesterday because we went to Disneyland.

Seriously.


We're just now back (I had to call in to work as a result, using my final 'sick' day of the year) and so I'm blogging now to make up for it. But I truly am wiped out (yesterday was a looooooooong day, and today has been one where we're all kinda feeling it) so I'll have to wait to provide all the details manana.

That's debateable

While I didn't get to see the entire debate (had to make a dinner run, so I missed about 20-25 minutes) tonight, I did have some thoughts on the matter:

[-] When it came to Osama bin Laden, McCain always mentioned the name "Osama", while Barack referred to him simply as "bin Laden". Classy, McCain.

[-] I'd like a count on how many times Obama said, "That's not true" while McCain was speaking, because it was a lot. And yet, I don't think McCain ever said that about anything Obama said, because, well, Obama seems to be more...honest.

[-] McCain was a POW?!?! Why have I not heard this before?

[-] Republicans (or anyone opposed to voting for Obama for whatever reason) will have the reptile-brain excuse of "Obama = Big Spender".

[-] Amusing (and odd) that when Jim Lehrer wanted the candidates to speak to each other at the beginning, that neither of them would. (Although Obama did address McCain several times later on, whereas I don't think McCain really ever did.)

[-] "I've got a bracelet." "I've got a bracelet, too." Awesome.

[-] "You seem to think the war started in 2007, John. It began in 2003." Heh.

[-] Lehrer: "What are the lessons of Iraq?" McCain: "You can't have a failed strategy." Um... WHAT.

[-] I'm both dreading and highly anticipatory of the debate next Thursday. I'm sure Palin will provide numerous amounts of eye-rolls, laughter, and cringes, but will I be able to tolerate 90 minutes of her? Although I'm not super-familiar with Biden, so I do look forward to hearing more from him.

He's the one who likes all our pretty songs

"In Bloom" by Nirvana

Today, September 24th, is the anniversary of the release date of Nirvana's Nevermind album. It came out in 1991 (seventeen years ago!!).

Is it cliché to say that Nevermind is one of the best albums of all time? Perhaps. But it is. (certainly in the top 20)

Is it cliché to say that Nirvana shaped the 90s (for better or for worse) musically into what they were? Perhaps. But they did.

Is it weird that even though I consider it a fantastic album that I could listen to many many times [and have in the past when I owned it] that I don't have a copy now? ...Actually, that is kinda weird. I should rebuy it next time I get some spare moolah.

I would go on about other Nirvana/Nevermind stories I have, but, you know, nevermind. Instead, I open it to the P@riots out there. Please share your Nirvana related opinions/stories/feelings/memories. Everyone's got something to say about that band and/or album. Let's hear it.

Spaghetti Sauces

Back in the day (we're talking '93/'94) when I worked at the RJ (that's the Las Vegas Review-Journal) I discovered a toy plastic lizard on one of the shelves at work. The toy was that sort of squishy plastic that's fun to squeeze. It also had a suction cup on it's belly. It was yellow and had a long tail.
I adopted the lizard, giving it a home in my car, using the suction cup to stick to the window, and placing its tail underneath the sun visor latch.

I named the lizard Ragu. (Yes, like the spaghetti sauce)

I kept Ragu for the entire time I had that car, which means he went with me on The Trip.
I even took him out when I ended up abandoning the vehicle, but, somewhere along the way, Ragu and I lost each other, and I have no idea where he wound up. I miss that stupid piece of plastic and often wish I had a replacement lizard. But I've yet to find a toy like him.

Moving on, I have not yet broken the big news (that Steph is the *other* spaghetti sauce) to anyone at work, or in my family. (I guess I've just let the few people who didn't already read it over at Steph's blog know, so, um, there's that.) And I suppose if anyone I work with reads my blog, I'll find out tomorrow when they confront me on it. Heh.
Otherwise, I guess I'll wind up telling my coworkers and my parents and sister...soon.

Connor vs Palin

Sarah Connor - expects Judgment Day is going to happen within her lifetime (and is trying to prevent it).
Sarah Palin - expects Judgment Day is going to happen within her lifetime.

Sarah Connor - has issues with police.
Sarah Palin - has issues with Alaskan State Troopers.

Sarah Connor - occasionally works with emotionless cyborgs.
Sarah Palin - occasionally works with John McCain.

Sarah Connor - when we first meet her, is vastly unqualified to be the second in command of John Connor's resistance army.
Sarah Palin - when we first meet her is vastly unqualified to be the second in command of the United States of America.

Sarah Connor - in the first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, had semi-annoying voice-overs.
Sarah Palin - has an annoying voice.

Sarah Connor - definitely don't want to get on her bad side.
Sarah Palin - definitely don't want to get on her bad side.

Sarah Connor - is fictional, but you kinda wish she were real.
Sarah Palin - is real, but you kinda wish she were fictional.

L

is for lazy, apparently.

Book
As She Crawled Across the Table by Johnathan Lethem was the "L" book I picked up, but I don't know how many pages it has nor what the final word was, because I didn't read the entire thing. I managed to get about 30 pages in - and it wasn't bad, my mind was simply elsewhere, and I wasn't able to focus on novel-reading this week. I didn't have a backup book, so for the first week in this experiment, I don't have a complete book to report on.

CD
I grabbed two CDs from the band Liars ("They Were Wrong, So We Drowned" and "They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top"). Both were standard CD fare - meaning that they were okay, but nothing outstanding.

DVD
I checked out two L movies - "The Last Man on Earth" which was a take on the novel I Am Legend (done before The Omega Man and I Am Legend). This movie came out in 1964, and had Vincent Price in the lead role. It was also completely cheesy and unintentionally hilarious. I loved the "acting" that the child who was dying of the disease portrayed. And the "nighttime" shots of him driving that are in broad daylight. And the montage of Vincent Price doing vampire hunting is classic.
It wasn't a bad movie overall, I mean, it entertained me, and that's all I'm asking for in a 60s horror flick, so kudos.

I also picked up "The Life of David Gale", but we didn't get around to watching it.

The Jello Question

If you found yourself encased in a tomb of jell-o, would you eat your way out or just push your way out?

blankety blankety blank

It's not that I don't have things to blog about, it's that I have too many things to blog about. And while all of them are interesting (varying degrees of, of course, ranging from zero to zero-point-zero-zero-one), when I give them a little more thought before starting to type them out, they seem... nonvital? Argumentive? Small? Something. Whatever, it stops me from doing it.

So, I sit here, trying to think of something to type that is going to be of importance and generate conversation and thought and be witty and all that good stuff that goes into a well-crafted blog entry, and I get frustrated that nothing is coming. Vicious Cycle.

A couple of the posts were political in nature, and I may still write them before 11/4/08. We'll see.

I also considered writing about how in the past week we've racked up another 1700 dollars in debt (more, actually, but at a certain point it's ridiculous to even keep accurate track), but ...well, I guess I kinda just did write about it. Not in detail, but that's where the devil is, so I'll let it be for now.

Part 6 of spELlcaster was another consideration. Alas, the mood for writing fiction was not there. Truly. Also, the direction that I'm planning on taking it in my mind is potentially one that the fans (ha ha!) won't appreciate, and so I'm procrastinating.

There's also the depressing post about my deteriorating body as I get older, but *nobody* wants to read about that, least of all me.

All in all, this entry was ...here. But I'm banking on being in a better mindset on Thursday. See ya then!

K

This'll be brief, as it is very late - we just returned from having a date night out, we went to dinner & saw "Burn After Reading", which is very funny - plus I don't have a lot to say about the K items. Well, except...

Book:
I actually grabbed 4 books this time around. I picked up Tick Tock by Dean Koontz as well as Odd Thomas by the same. I also grabbed The Colorado Kid by Stephen King and A Disorder Peculiar to the Nation by Ken Kalfus.

I read all of Tick Tock (325/you), and was upset with myself for days afterward. WHY do I continue to torture myself with Koontz books? I know they're going to suck, and yet...
As I was reading this one, I was thinking, "Well, this is undeniably a lame-ass Koontz book - it's got the too-perfect protagonist, the beyond-perfect-and-also-independently-wealthy-female-love-interest, it's set in California - at night - while raining, and they're up against unbelievable odds. But at least there isn't a dog."

And then I got to page 125, where Scootie was introduced, and while I didn't say, "Oh for fuck's sake" and throw the book (I was on the bus at the time, and would've probably hit another passenger), I really wanted to.
It's not that I dislike dogs, it's just that Koontz puts an uber-intelligent canine in every.single.story. And he sings their praises non-freaking-stop. Just...enough, dude. We get it. You like dogs. How about making some realistic human characters instead? Or realistic dialogue. Or cut back on the similes. Or remove some of the editorializations (surprisingly this story didn't include any digs at psychology or proselytizing for Christianity, but nearly every other novel he's written in the past ten years has). Or learn what true humor is (Koontz is like a robot who has looked wit up in the dictionary, but doesn't quite grasp how it works).
Bah!

I started reading A Disorder Peculiar to the Country on September 11th, which was apt, since that's when the novel takes place (to begin with). I quickly zoomed through the first 110 pages, and then stopped for the night. ...and then I just lost interest somehow. It was good while it lasted, but once I put it down, I simply couldn't get back into it. [shrug]

I didn't even crack Colorado Kid or Odd Thomas. But after reading Tick Tock, I have sworn off Koontz (again) for good. Well, except for whenever the 3rd Frankenstein book comes out. I'll read that, just because I need to know how that story finishes. But, seriously. If I ever think about picking up another Dean Koontz book, smack me.

CD
I heard the new Kaiser Chiefs song - "Never Miss a Beat" on the radio about two days before we went to the library, and I liked it, so when I saw their first album, "Yours Truly, Angry Mob", I figured, "this might be good!"
And it was!

DVD
I got the 2005 King Kong remake, partly because the K selection was pretty slim, and partly because I'd never seen that. While it's a bit long at 3 hours, I got to say, it was a very engrossing movie, and the T-rex/T-rex/T-rex/Kong battle was AWESOME.

I ain't freakin', I ain't fakin' this

"Shut Up and Let Me Go!" by The Ting Tings


Work was hellishly long today.

Not related, but still noteworthy - I miss the times when I didn't care about politics. I'm nearing burnout on Sarah Palin, and yet, I can't seem to turn away. She's like a trainwreck. A scary psychotic trainwreck. What is up with the inability to quit things that are bad for you?

Kinda a boring entry, but today was a kinda boring day. Oh, look! Time to go watch the Charlie Gibson/Sarah Palin interview.

It's exactly like a Greek tragedy

So tomorrow is the 7 year anniversary of 9/11/01 (I originally typed 9/11/08. Time is meaningless!!)

The only thing I'm going to say about that is that even to this day, seven years later, whenever I look at a plane flying in the sky, I can now easily envision it flying into a building.

******

John McCain is so totally going to win (or steal, same thing) this election.

And that sucks a gigantic amount of donkey balls.

*****

I pretty much have to watch a movie a day for the rest of the year if I want to see 200 of them by year's end. I'm beginning to think it's not going to happen.

*****

They say "Mo money, mo problems" but I gotta tell you, "No money" does not equate "no problems".

*****

Why is that this week has been three Mondays in a row?

*****

In case you want to check on the status of the earth in regard to the LHC.

*****

Never do have a good ending for these types of entries....

spELlcaster Part 5

In case you've forgotten.

"Me? Why would it...?"

Agent Stone shook her head and put up a hand to stop my questions. "I don't know. And it wasn't you personally it asked for. At least not at first. It wants to speak to all the Spellcasters. Anyone that can bend, it wants to have a visit with."

"...and?" I said, "Have you contacted other spellcasters? Do you intend to grant this ..thing's wish? Because, frankly, it sounds like a trap. Gathering all of us together like that is just asking for trouble. Especially since it was planted by a Fuman. I..."

Before I could continue I was interrupted by the sound of an engine outside revving to life and tires squealing, along with the lights inside flickering, and Aesop making an angry yowl from inside the bedroom. I noticed that Agent Sticks was missing, and had been for a while. I dashed into the bedroom and found the man holding Aesop gruffly as he squirmed in his arms, attempting to get away.
"Put hi..."
This morning was turning into one in which I was unable to complete a sentence, as I was interrupted again, this time by the sudden emergence of the sedan through my bedroom wall smashing into me, Agent Stone, and Aesop.

J

Book:
V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson (443/future)
Remember the series V, from the 80s? The one about reptilian aliens that arrive en masse on Earth, claiming to want to help us, but are truly here with sinister plans? Well, Kenneth Johnson has gone and written a sequel to it. I watched most of the series as a child, and of course, thought it was fantastic stuff. But, most of my memories of it have faded, so I have no idea how it would stand up now (I'm betting time hasn't been entirely kind). Regardless, V: The Second Generation read like fanfic. Sometimes really good fanfic, sometimes really bad, but overall, it just felt like an overlong continuation of a series from way back then. But, then, I did read the entire thing, and it did have moments that I could easily visualize as being a movie or tv show [don't know if that's a good thing or not] and there were certain subplots that held my interest, so, um.... I guess the bottom line is that I would not really recommend the book, unless you are like a die-hard V fan.

CD:
I picked up 2 discs - The Jesus and Mary Chain's 21 Singles, which I didn't get around to listening to all the way through (doh!) and Jimmy Eat World's Chase This Light, which I did.
I've heard the first single off that album - "Big Casino" on the radio plenty o' times, and it's...decent. It's also pretty much what you can expect of the whole album. Catchy tunes, mehdiocre lyrics, and just more or less an Everyband type of sound that doesn't really stand out in any way.
A coworker told me that their album with the trophies on the cover ("Bleed American") is better, but I've not heard it, so I don't know.

DVD:
I watched Joy Ride, which was a better-than-average-but-still-pretty-much-shite thriller about a psychotic trucker with the ability to time travel who decides to stalk a couple of twenty-somethings.
Um. In the movie he can't truly time travel, at least it's not explicitly stated as such, but it's really the only way to explain how he's able to do the things he can do and know exactly what our 'heroes' are going to do before hand.
And, slight spoilers for the crappy movie ahead, what is the deal with horror/thriller movies always having to leave things openended for a sequel? I mean, seriously, what would've been wrong with having the time travelling trucker dying and staying dead? One self-contained story is plenty sometimes. No need to keep things going on and on.
I also picked up Junebug but we didn't get around to watching that. Maybe when Steph gets to the Js she'll grab it. It looked more like her type of flick anyway.

Hurry up, Hulu!

The last season of The Shield began airing on FX a few days back. We don't have cable (Kirk is correct, it is so not worth the price), but if there were a show that I would be willing to pay for, it would be The Shield [or The Daily Show or Mythbusters or {possibly, but only because I've heard good stuff about} Battlestar Galactica or Dexter]
Fortunately, we live in an age where paying for television isn't necessary! Because we've got the internet!

Unfortunately, the site where I was going to view The Shield on - hulu.com - currently only has clips (the hell??), and a graphic reading: "Full Episodes of Season 7 Coming Fall 2008"
Which, cool. But, dude. Could you vague that up some? Do I actually have to wait until September 22nd? But that's so far away!!! Look, there are stores with Halloween candy out already, and the temperature is now getting down to the 70s in the morning, new shows are popping up on network television, so I think I'm not being unreasonable. It's safe to say that Fall is here. So, bring on The Shield. I need to see what happens to Vic and Shane and Dutch and Claudette.

Bad Associations

There are certain songs that become associated with moments in your life (or, in the instances I'm about to talk about, are associated with television/movies you've seen) that you wish ...weren't.

Here are two quick examples:

Mony, Mony by Billy Idol.
There was an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 that featured this song when the girls were having a slumber party at Brenda's house.
It was a completely cheesy scene (um, duh, P@, it was season one of Beverly Hills 90210!) and it ruined a perfectly decent song. I mean, seriously, why has my brain retained that?? Bah!

The other song is Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
Whenever I hear this, I think of two things. One is the awesome music video, which is a good association. But then I also think about how that was the song that was played when Brenda and Dylan broke up at the end of season one of Beverly Hills 90210.

And, yes, those two examples are predominately on my mind due to the fact that the remade 90210 is going to be starting in about 30 seconds...