8002

Get it? Because it's a look back at the year? Yeah. I know.

Anyway. I figured I'd use this penultimate blogging day to go back over the year that was, and reminisce. And perhaps link to blog entries [of my own, or of Steph's] that I liked or that highlight what I'm talking about.

So here we go.

January
The year started off pretty weak, with me making the soon-to-be-all-too-familiar complaint of not having anything to talk about. The beginning(ish) of the year was also when I made my "goal" of viewing 200 movies by years end. (Currently at 197, with 2 days to go. Hmmm.)
January was also the month that I composed a letter to Skynet (doing my part to assist with the extinction of the human race since 1975!) and had a really interesting realization about brains. And January was the month we pulled up the carpet and installed the tiles we currently have in the living room. Huh.

February

Irina turned three!!, Buffy Bowl, oh let's call it 8, happened, we had to get a brand new air conditioner/heater installed in the house, I started (but didn't finish) a story, the Steph & I hit our ten year anniversary (!!!!!!!!!!), and the girls found a lizard in the backyard. February was busy. Good thing there was an extra day thrown in.

March
We went on a trip to California to take advantage of Legoland's homeschooling discount.
I reviewed Smallville, mostly as a reminder to myself as to why I no longer watch it.
Easter happened.

April
April seemed to be the month of memes and lists.
Got tagged with six word meme. Took it to the next level.
Took a look at the top 20 played songs in our iTunes library. (I want to revisit this one day. Perhaps next April 9th?)
Also musically related, I listed the #1 songs during my birthday through the years.
And then listed the 50 best tv shows according to Empire Magazine.
I devised the Harry Potter Code [which someday, perhaps, I'll decode the entire year and post. We'll see.]
And I composed a treatise on free will, and the lack thereof. (Like I had a choice in the matter!)

May
In May I discovered the amazing power of cayenne pepper (it cures sore throats, and induces vampire related visions), rediscovered why we don't have cable, suffered through the Upfront for the CW's fall season, and we drove to Portland, Oregon to attend the Life is Good conference.
May was good.

June
Got chomped by zombies.
Aged.
Started that "Library A to Z" thang.

July
Harper turned eight!!, and July was the month I began taking the bus on a regular basis, and Dr Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog started off amazing, then took that crap turn in the 3rd act.

August
August was a good month, too. The girls were able to finally see the Terminator oeuvre.
Saren turned eleven!!
And August 31st, 2008, was the date that I tried to recreate the magic of the blogathon from August 31st, 2003 ...and failed miserably.

September
Sarah Palin came on the scene, and being who I am, I had to compare her to Sarah Connor. [The Alaska Governor is pale in comparison. ;)]
We announced that SPISH is no longer going to be an accurate acronym for our family.
Obama schooled McCain.
Oh, and we made an entirely spur-of-the-moment and very fiscally irresponsible decision to drive to Disneyland at the end of the month.

October
Despite my earlier tirade against the democratic system that is in place [and I do think that a good part of it still is relevant and should be examined], I went and voted for Barack Obama {"Who ya gonna vote for?"}. I have no regrets in this regard.
...and, wow. Not a lot else really took place in October. In the real world, this was about the time that everyone was realizing that the economy was not going to magically get better, wasn't it?

November
Erm. Man. I just sucked at blogging in November - or at least, blogging interesting items. Thanksgiving took place, and I continued to blog my 'reviews' of the A to Z thing, but other than that... November was just blah.

December
It snowed, in Las Vegas!!, a few weeks before Xmas.

...And that was about it.

Z

Done! 26 weeks of library visits. Crazy.

It's late, so I'll make this brief. I'll simply say that I enjoyed all of the Z selections. They were Annika's recommendation of Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October [280/after], Zox's A Line in the Sand, and the 1964 classic, Zorba the Greek.

All 3 were enjoyable and fun. I'm so glad that I ended this on a high note. I only wish I'd been able to articulate more what I appreciated about them all. Oh well. On the bright side, I definitely broadened my horizons somewhat when it comes to musical artists, authors, and even got to sneak in some movies I'd never seen before, but had always wanted to. So this was an interesting experiment, although I'm not likely to repeat it anytime soon.

To quickly recap the (half)year's picks, and give them grades here's how it would go:

A
Flight by Sherman Alexie -- A
We Can Breathe Under Alcohol by An Angle -- F
In Stitches by The Actual -- A
American Dreamz -- A-

B
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow -- A+
23 by Blonde Redhead -- D
Blackboard Jungle -- C-

C
Winkie by Clifford Chase -- D
Lord Vishnu's Love Handles: A Spy Novel (sort of) by Will Clarke -- B+
Delivery Man by Elvis Costello & The Imposters -- C+
Capote -- C

D
Walpuski's Typewriter by Frank Darabont -- C
Beyond by Dinosaur Jr -- C
Good Night, Witness Light by Daphne Loves Derby -- C
We All Belong by Dr Dog -- A
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels -- B-
The Descent -- A-

E
Category 7 by Bill Evans -- B+
The Vegas Years by Everclear -- D
What Are You On? by East River Pipe -- C+
Meet the Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006 Vol.1 by The Eels -- A+
Earth vs The Flying Saucers -- C-

F
Bottomfeeder by B.H.Fingerman -- A
Critically Ashamed by FM Static -- D+
Holding a Wolf by the Ears by From Autumn to Ashes -- F
The Frighteners -- D

G
Mad Dogs by James Grady -- B
On a Wire by the Get Up Kids -- I don't remember, but in the 'review' post, I claimed it was just 'okay', so... C?
Grumpy Old Men -- C

H
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston -- A+
White Chalk by PJ Harvey -- B-
Keep Your Eyes Ahead by The Helio Sequence -- B+
Hoffa -- B

I
Setting Free the Bears by JOhn Irving -- C+
Returning to the Sea by Islands & Inland Traveller by Isolation Years -- I don't remember enough about either album to grade them properly, and my reviews didn't help.
Impostor -- C+

J
V: The Second Generation by Kenneth JOhnson -- B-
Chase the Light by Jimmy Eat World -- C-
Joy Ride -- C

K
Tick Tock by Dean Koontz - F
Yours Truly, Angry Mob by the Kaiser Chiefs -- B+
King Kong -- A-

L
No book, and can't remember enough about the Liars albums to grade them (doh!) and Last Man on Earth gets a D+

M
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez -- B
Heretic Pride by the Mountain Goats -- A
Rabbit Habits by Man Man -- C-
Haarp by Muse -- C
@#%&! Smilers by Aimee Mann -- B+
Marathon Man -- A-

N
Fear Itself by Johnathan Nasaw -- C+
Nirvana by Nirvana -- A
North Country -- A-

O
Because it is Bitter, and Because it is my Heart by Joyce Carol Oates -- A-
Stop the Clocks by Oasis -- B+
Blame it on Gravity by the Old 97s -- B+
The Out of Towners -- B+
Omega Man -- C-

P
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk -- A+
Pretty. Odd. by Panic! At the Disco -- A
The Fragile Army by Polyphonic Spree -- A-
Texas by PlayRadioPlay! -- A-
Platinum Blonde -- B-

Q
Smoked by Patrick Quinlan -- B+
The best of ? and the Mysterians -- C
The Quiet American -- B-

R
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex -- A+
Don't You Know Who I Thought I Was by the Replacements -- C-
Rendition -- A+

S
The Almost True STory of Ryan Fisher by Rob Stenett -- A
Don't remember enough about either musical artist (again!) and the Station Agent ranks a B.

T
The Orion Protocol by Gary Tigerman -- B+
Pass once again on the musical selection (so much meh that it doesn't even register in my memory banks six weeks later)
There Will Be Blood -- A+

U
Vacation by Olin Unferth -- B+
18 Singles by U2 -- A-
Under the Influence of Giants by Under the Influence of Giants -- I don't remember, but I liked them at the time of the review. Um. A B, then?
United 93 -- A+

V
Starbucks Nation by Chris Ver Wiel -- D-
The Best of the Vines -- A-
Vacancy -- C

W
Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician -- A
Brain Thrust Mastery by We Are Scientists -- A
Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes -- A
Westworld -- B

X
X-Men the Last Stand -- B+

Y
The Highly Effective Detective by Richard Yancey -- A-
Show Your Bones by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- A
The Eraser by Thom Yorke -- A-
Year of the Dog -- A

Z
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny -- B+
Line in the Sand by Zox -- B+
Zorba the Greek -- A-

Whew!!

Xmas highlights

Irina waking up early, going into the living room, and being super excited ...about the fact that Santa ate the cookies and milk.

Thunder bolts and lightning (very very frightening!)

Christmas Changa!

Christmas Pepsi!

Wii Sports Boxing (and it's not even Boxing Day.)

Seeing Chance (Steph's eldest brother), even if only for a few hours. (Plus he [semi]promised to blog more. Hooray!) Also being with the other members of Steph's extended family. I've told her before, but it bears repeating - her family is good people.

Not having to wake up at 4:30 in the morning [even if I did, at least I was able to go back to sleep]

Driving through the city and seeing the parking lots of all the stores empty. I really do love seeing cities that have been abandoned (or at least have that appearance). That's one of my all time favorite parts about going out on Xmas (or any major holiday, but really, December 25th works the best for this).

Playing Uno & Blink.

I feel like I'm forgetting some things, and I probably am, but overall it's been a good day.

And because it's tradition, Merry Humbug!!

And God Damn Us, Everyone!!

Okay, I know what I'm requesting for Xmas.

Sleep.

Lots and lots of sleep.

I know I won't get it, but, oh. your. god. I am exhasusted right now, and nothing sounds nicer than just not having to get up in 7 hours.

I'm not really complaining 9well, I guess I kinda am, but I don't mean to sound that way) because today was an okay day. Well, okay night. The day was ...there. Simultaneously too much to do and too little. It's hard to explain unless you're me. And even then.

Anyway. I had somethings I wanted to bloga bout and now i'm all UTP@ [because we went to Steh's mom's house for dinner, which was made the night, and also why I'm up past my bedtime. heh.] so now i'm forgetting waht I wanted to blog about.

Oh. It was new years resoltuions I thought about cmmiting to earlier today. Basically that I'd go back to working onm y writing(sS) and that I 'd go back to [and finish] The Project (which [supersigh] I haven't even *looked* at in over a year). But the thing is, I don't *do* new years resooultions anymore, because the thing is - if you're really going to change, why wait until the arbitrary date of the new year? Just freaking *do* it. Ya know? But these are sorta/kinda different (he lied to himself to justify more procrastinations) in that I'm saying that I just want to have done something by the end of 09, not that i have to immediately start on jan. 1. I could conceivably start on either (ro both) 'resolutions' tomorrow, if i wanted.

The other thnig: ...no. I've lost it again. Doh.

I ihink i'll just hit publish post now, and go to bed. Next time i blog, it'll be Xmas Day!

Y

Hard to believe that this A to Z project is just about over. I have no idea what we'll do next weekend when we don't have to go to the library.

Books:
While I don't normally read mysteries (not sure why, they just don't seem to 'speak' to me when I'm looking for things to read), last week when I went to the libe, there were very few Y authors to choose from, so I grabbed The Highly Effective Detective [294/good] by Richard Yancey. I was happily impressed. Teddy Ruzak, the main character, is not only highly effective, but highly amusing. He shares quite a bit in common with Columbo, at least in regard to how he seems to think. Columbo gives the appearance of being disorganized and scatter-brained. Teddy...actually is.
But somehow he manages to solve his case (and a much larger one that he stumbles upon) in the process.
Supposedly this is going to be a series, and when I went to Amazon, I saw that one other novel featuring Teddy (and presumably his brains-behind-the-scenes-secretary, Felicia) has been written. Once it arrives at the library, I have a feeling I'll check it out.

CDs:
There were a slightly wider array of Y artists in the music, so I was able to get two CDs this go around. Both appealing, amazingly.
Show Your Bones by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Really really good. I'd heard "Gold Lion" on the radio before, and found it supremely infectious. The rest of the disc is just as good. Hilarious comment from Steph while listening to it in the van today:
Steph: "Whoever this is, is too repeaty."
Me: [laughs] "The name of the band is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs."
Steph: "Well, there ya go."
And then, later, track 9 began skipping, which caused Saren to comment, "Wow. They really *do* repeat a lot."

Steph does have a point that a lot of the lyrics are repeated during the songs, but that's the job of pop music. If a song repeats the lyrics multiple times, it's more likely that it'll stick in your head later.

The other disc I got was Thom Yorke's solo work, "The Eraser".
Now, I like Radiohead, but I don't find them the be-all/end-all that most critics seem to. I can take them or leave them. Thom Yorke sans Radiohead is ...actually better. But I think the best way to sum him up is: He straddles the line between genius and annoying. And mostly stays on the genius side.

DVDs:
Slim pickings in the movie department, but I was able to find a film I liked: Year of the Dog.
I was surprised to like it, because it starred Molly Shannon, who I typically find irritating. But the writing seems to play to her strengths, or maybe it's because she wasn't trying to be ha ha funny in this movie. Either way, Year of the Dog was an interesting film about people, animals, relationships, and obsessions, and how they can interact. Molly Shannon's character, Peggy, loves her dog, Pencil. But after Pencil unexpectedly dies, Peggy realizes that she's filled her life's emptiness with her dog. The film chronicles her attempt to fill the void left from Pencil's death.
One thing to note is that the trailer and the poster for the film market it as a light hearted romantic comedy. No. Not nearly at all, really. But if you ignore that aspect and just watch the movie as it really is - a tragic character study - you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

No sir, I don't like it.

I've decided that I don't like winter. Or maybe it's December I dislike. Or at least December 19th. Or at the very least, December 19th, 2008.
I seriously just want to crawl into a hole and hibernate until it's not cold and I don't have a headache anymore.
I suspect that if I get a good night's sleep and my headache goes away, my outlook will improve vastly, because there are plenty of things to be happy about right now, but with the pounding in my skull, it's difficult to focus on them.

Snow Day

As Stephanie pointed out in her blog entry, today, it snowed. In Las Vegas.

A LOT.

In fact, as I type this at 7:34pm, it is still snowing. (It started a little after noon, and has only stopped for a few minutes at a time this evening)

Snow in Vegas isn't completely unheard of, but having it stick, and having this much of it (the news has been reporting that we might end up with between 3 and 6 inches by the end of the night) is pretty uncommon. So much so that the entire 5pm newscast on KTNV was devoted to the weather. The entire newscast. Without commercial breaks. In addition, they preempted the 7pm show, said they're going to preempt the 10pm program (which is a network program, and is usually a very big deal. ALthough it's Dirty Sexy Money they're preempting, which has been cancelled, so the network probably doesn't care)
The snow is pretty exciting. The girls have been buzzing all night. I even went out during work and stood in the snowfall for a while. I'm extremely glad I didn't have to drive in this nonsense, because if there are two things that do not mix, it is Vegas drivers and any slight change in the weather.

How long it will stay is anybody's guess, although Saren did make a snowball and store it in our freezer, so even after the weather warms back up, we'll be able to remember when our landscape looked a lot like Christmas.

2009 Predictions

Okay, I'm not really psychic, so to help me figure out what lies ahead in the new year, I'm doing what hundreds have done before me, and turning to the Bible.

What I'll be doing is putting the bible quote from each book's chapter 20, verse 09, [where applicable] and then giving my interpretation of what that means will happen in 2009.

All of the quotes were taking from biblegateway.com, using the New International Version.

Here we go!

Genesis: Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, "What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done."
Obviously Abimelech is Obama, and he's gonna hold accountable some of the previous administration.

Exodus: Six days you shall labor and do all your work
Oh, man. I'm totally going to be working (at least) two jobs. That sucks. But it's also good, because we need the money.

Leviticus: 'If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.
I suspect this has something to do with either Suri or one of those Britney Spears kids.

Numbers: So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him.
Um. ...have I ever previously mentioned my theory about how the Bible is actually a book full of gay porn?

Deuteronomy: When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.
Well, this is a gimme. Obviously the US will be dispatching more troops to Afghanistan. [sigh]

Joshua: Any of the Israelites or any alien living among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.
One of two things. Either The Fugitive is going to happen, and a (famous?) doctor will be framed by a one-armed man OR alien beings are going to be discovered to be living among us, and one of them will accidentally murder a human, causing a huge uproar. The alien will go on the run, trying to avoid capture by Tommy Lee Jones.
In the end, it will turn out that the alien was actually innocent, and was framed by a one-armed doctor.

Judges: But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs.
Exactly. This means that people will continue to do as they're told.

Ruth: n/a

1 Samuel: "Never!" Jonathan said. "If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?"
2009 is the year they're going to remake Dawson's Creek?

2 Samuel: Joab said to Amasa, "How are you, my brother?" Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
See my previous comment about gay porn.

1 Kings: So he replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.' " They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.
There's going to be an earthquake in India in July. It will be a 7.4, and will result in hundreds of people being killed.

2 Kings: Isaiah answered, "This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?"
Expect big breakthroughs in quantum physics. Perhaps even a discovery of a "shadow universe" where adventures abound.

1 Chronicles: n/a [only goes to 20:08]

2 Chronicles: 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'
Wars, plagues and famine will happen. People will suffer, and pray to god(s) to save them.
Same as it ever was.

Ezra: n/a
Nehemiah: n/a
Esther: n/a

Job: The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.
"Zee goggles! Zey do nothing!!" [okay, that's not really a prediction, but it's a funny Simpsons quote, which is just as good]

Psalms: O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call!
Yeah, we covered this in 2 Chronicles. God (more than likely) ain't gonna help.

Proverbs: Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"?
Miley Cyrus will be in the news for...something.

Ecclesiastes: n/a
Song of Solomon: n/a
Isaiah: n/a [20:06]
Jeremiah: But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
California wildfires! Another gimme.

Lamentations: n/a
Ezekial: But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.
Oh, crap. Some international crisis, it sounds like.

Daniel: n/a
Hosea: n/a
Joel: n/a
Amos: n/a
Obadiah: n/a
Jonah: n/a
Micah: n/a
Nahum: n/a
Habakkuk: n/a
Zephaniah: n/a
Haggai: n/a
Zechariah: n/a
Malachi: n/a
Matthew: "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
Expect more outsourcing.

Mark: n/a
Luke: He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.
Not only more outsourcing, but more hiring of illegals.

John: (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
ZOMBIE UPRISING!!! (I thought it wasn't happening until 2012, but I guess it's coming early. Around June 13th, perhaps?

Acts: Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.
I don't know, but that's freaking creepy.

Romans:
1 Corinthians:
2 Corinthians:
Galatians:
Ephesians:
Philippians:
Colossians:
1 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians:
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon:
Hebrews:
James:
1 Peter:
2 Peter:
1 John:
2 John:
3 John:
Jude:
Revelation: They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Well, that can't be good.

Hope aught-nine turns out to be a pleasant one for all of you!

X

Books:
Bah ha ha ha ha.
Um. Yeah, no. I was unable to find any authors whose last name began with the letter X (I thought of later, reading Malcolm X's autobiography, which may have been cheating, plus, all of the books have so far been fictional) so I read nothing [0/ ]this week.

Didn't fare much better in the other realms, either...

CDs:
The only artist at the library was X, with their album Los Angeles, which ...I actually didn't listen to all the way through.
It's not that it wasn't good, it's just that I wasn't much in the mood for punk music. [shrug]

and

DVDs:
X-Men: The Last Stand was the only X movie that the library had in stock, so, I picked it up, despite having not seen the previous two stands that the X-Men made. Going in blind, as it were, may have been helpful, actually, because I seem to remember that when X-Men 3 came out that many people were moaning about how horrible it was.
I rather enjoyed it, for what it was. I mean, sure there were a good many moments that had me rolling my eyes and/or sighing, but overall, it was a pleasant 90 or so minutes. It was interesting to see how much Heroes really has "borrowed" from the X-Men, and now I finally get all the references people were making to Jean Grey/Phoenix during the Dark Willow crap from Season 6 of Buffy. (Wolverine didn't need to stab her, he just needed to talk to her about purple crayons!)
So, I don't know that I really need to see parts 1 & 2, but I'm not unglad that I saw 3, if that makes any sense.

Overall, I think we'll call X my "free pass" letter. Hopefully "Y" yields better results.

Brain Cramp

Recent things which have caused brain crampage:

The Killers song, "Human" contains the lyric, "Are we human, or are we dancers?"
Um. Unless you're talking about Cameron from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, dancers are human.
Also, it's super bugging me because while I know that he's singing "dancers", he doesn't really pronounce the "s", so maybe he's asking, "Are we human, or are we Dancer?" (as in one of Santa's reindeer.) Which doesn't make much logical sense, but that's the whole point of what I'm getting at.

Speaking of songs with nonsensical lyrics: Panic at the Disco's "Nine in the Afternoon" isn't exactly brimming with logic. It drives Steph crazier than me, because 9pm is technically after noon, but I can see why it causes the brain cramp.

And last night I saw a billboard that just absolutely takes the cake.
It was blue with yellow letters and all it said was:

If Jesus Be For You, Who Be Against You?

WHAT.
.... I mean... WHAT??
What in the world are they trying to say there? And why aren't they using proper English to ask it? And ...I mean there wasn't even a church assigned to claiming it (although really, who would want to?), it was just the cryptic words, staring down at the freeway, waiting for drivers to have accidents due to severe spasms from the powerful smack of nonsense bombarding their senses.

I've tried to make some sense of it today, and I can sorta think that maybe they were alluding to the phrase about "Is this Jesus I see before me" (that is a phrase, right?) but... even so, that doesn't ... [sigh] Seriously, certain folks should just not be allowed to make billboards.

Less consumerism? I'd buy that.

For a dollar.

I was meaning to make my " 2009 prediction" post tonight, but then we went grocery shopping and then it got all late, and I got tired, and it's really something that is going to require me having more energy than I do now. Next time? Mayhaps.

Bizarre question of the moment: What mythological/fictional creature do you think tastes best? I'd go with either Griffin, or Mermaid. Depending on whether I wanted chicken or fish.

Tomorrow the Steph & I are going to drop the kids off at Steph's mom's house and go out for dinner (and perhaps a movie). But is there even anything out in the theaters to go see? I've heard really good things about a certain vampire movie, but I don't think Steph wants to see it. If we can't decide/find something to see, we'll probably simply pick up Iron Man from a Redbox location and watch that at home. Such exciting lives we lead!

W

Books:
I read Daniel Wallace's Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician [257/know]. Steph had read it before, and had enjoyed it while reading it, but warned me that she hated the ending.
I had a similar experience. For the majority of the novel, I was under the spell of the story(ies) of Henry Walker, Negro Magician, and his encounters with the Devil (one Mr. Sebastian). Each chapter was another section of Henry's life, as told by a different character. Having all these differing points of view made getting at the "truth" of Henry's life a mystery, much like life itself. Everyone has their own perspectives and nobody really has the full story.
I didn't hate the ending, but I did feel that it sizzled out and was just simply... there. Again, I guess, somewhat like life. There is no real resolution, and you're left wanting more than you've gotten.
But Daniel Wallace (who also wrote Big Fish - which I've seen in movie form, but have not read) is obviously a great writer and adept storyteller, so I'd recommend this easily.

CDs:
Two W cds, both remarkable! Hooray!
Brain Thrust Mastery by We Are Scientists is their second album (i've heard [and enjoyed] the first already) and I think they keep getting better. This was just a great album.
And, of course I've heard of The White Stripes before, and I knew I liked the singles on the radio I've heard (except for Icky Thump, which continues to be a horrible song), but I wasn't sure if they'd withstand the test of an entire album. So I picked up Get Behind Me Satan, and was happy to find that they freaking ROCK. So much goodness. This album certainly makes up for Icky Thump.

DVDs:
I watched Westworld, and practically the entire time watching it was thinking, "Man, I'm amazed this hasn't been remade already. It's ideal for a remake!" After it was over, I saw on IMDB that it is being remade next year. I don't know whether to feel vindicated, or just sad. On the bright side, it appears that Michael Crichton was the one who helped write the remake (he wrote and directed the original) so ...maybe it won't suck?
The '73 version was enjoyable enough, for what it was. I almost felt that a better movie might have been seeing Peter Benjamin's character dealing with the aftermath of Westworld's meltdown. Also, due to being a 21st century (digital boy [heh]) movie-viewer, I kept expecting some "twist" - perhaps Josh Brolin to have been a robot all along. ...and hopefully I didn't just give the makers of the remake any ideas. Because, seriously, that would be crap.

Where did I put that well written, interesting blog post?

I had it here a minute ago.

Oh well.

Here's an idea I had for bank security. Rather than having a silent alarm button for the tellers to push, they should have some sort of audio system, wherein the teller (or a manager, or any employee) says a codeword that activates the alarm system and/or alerts the police. The computer could be voice activated and set to only recognize the voice(s) of employee(s), and the codeword itself could be something that wouldn't be normally said. "Pineapple" or "Saccharine", for example. Of course, how would they explain saying that aloud without alerting the would-be robbers?
So, I guess it's not a perfect system, but, hey, I just thought of it today.

The framework farms in the mystery

Random! (I constantly type an "e" at the end that word. Ran dome!! As in, "Tina Turner ran the [Thunder]Dome."

I must be strong. Dean Koontz has a new novel out. It's called, "Your Heart Belongs to Me" (How does he know!??), and I've already caved and read the jacket to see what it's about. Rich Internet Guru Guy has some medical condition and needs a heart transplant. He gets it. One year later, he begins to receive anonymous presents in the mail - all heart shaped or related. Eventually he gets a video of a heart surgery along with the message, "Your Heart Belongs to Me", and supposedly they're all coming from the woman who donated the organ.
It...sounds intriguing, I must admit. But I have to stay away. I know I'll be disappointed if I read it.


I've got a brilliant idea for the end of the year's post(s).


We received our first Xmas card of the season. It came from my parents, and also contained a check! So beneficial. Since things are extremely tight right now, the money is truly a blessing.

Speaking of Xmas cards...I don't think we're sending any out this year. Things really *are* that tight. Stamps are a luxury. Even with the 'bailout' from my folks, I just don't think we can afford to send out a bunch of holiday greetings. Sorry, everyone!


I kinda want to see The Day The Earth Stood Still. (The remake) Although I've never seen the original. But! The original is on Netflix for me to watch if I so choose. Has anyone seen that movie and have any input?


So, movies are remade all the time. Occasionally tv shows get reimagined and thus, remade as well. Songs are covered from time to time. But... why aren't entire albums remade? I don't know that it would go over very well, but it's an interesting idea that, if done with the right band(s) might be pretty cool.


Oh, man. There are only 4 weeks left in the year, and then 3 weeks until Lost returns.


Well, Pushing Daisies is on. Hooray!

Final stretch

I don't think I've ever been so glad to see December arrive. One more month of blogging every other day, and then I'm through with this horrid self-imposed challenge.

And you may be asking, "If it upsets you so, why continue doing it?"

And I would answer, "That's just the way I am."

In non-blogging news, our Wii has returned to us!! Joy!!
A few weeks back, there was an incident where the Wii and the floor were introduced to each other. They...don't exactly see eye to eye, it turns out.
As a result, for a while, the Wii would not accept Wii discs. (It still took Gamecube discs just fine.) So, we shipped the Wii off to the Wii repair land, and today they've returned it, and it's functioning again. Woot!, as the children say.

Oh, and since I forgot to do it last time: Here is the wordle cloud for November.

V

Books:
Starbucks Nation by Chris Ver Wiel [241/handshake] started off with a decent enough premise - a Hollywood writer, who despises the LA culture, sees his dead writing partner at a Starbucks one afternoon, and gets into the limo with him.
However, the execution of the story SUCKED. The book is supposed to be funny (all the quotes on the back cover say so, and I can tell by the way that it's written that it's supposed to be a biting satire) but the problem is that it just isn't. funny. at. all. Dean Koontz is more amusing. And that's not really physical possible.
I forced myself through the damn thing, though, because I didn't have any other V novels, and because of the old stand by of, "I thought it would get better".
Maybe I just didn't "get it", because the 5 reviews at Amazon were all positive (and gushing about the humor) as well, but man. Huge disappointment here.

CDs:
I picked up The Best of the Vines by The Vines for my listening pleasure. And was overall quite pleased. The Vines have only been around since 2002, so it is a little surprising to me that they have a Best of album already, and I had only ever heard two of their songs before, but I did like the rest of the tracks as well. (Although the slower songs aren't quite as enjoyable as the harder songs like, "Get Free", "Ride" or "F.T.W.") Still, The Vines are a decent enough band, and so I was happy with that selection.

DVDs Netflix:
I checked out Varian's War from the library, which is a movie based on actual events - about Varian Fry, an American journalist who pulled a Schindler's List during World War II.
However, I couldn't watch the entire movie because the disc was scratched and after about twenty minutes in, became unplayable. [sigh]
So, figuring I needed a V movie, I turned to Netflix, to see if there was something there to watch on the computer. I found Vacancy, a 2007 thriller starring Kate Beckinsale and Owen Wilson. (ETA -And by "Owen", I mean "Luke". Doh!)
The movie is pretty lean, at 85 minutes, and the first 15 of it or so is actually rather slow. Once the action begins, it does kick into gear and become ...well, "enjoyable" is too strong a word. Um. "There"? "Adequate"?
I think overall that it had potential to be truly frightening - there was some true tension for about ten, fifteen minutes when the couple begin to realize that things are Not As They Should Be - but sadly it winds up being just another slasher flick.

Time to go to the library and see what the Ws have in store!

Cool, thanks!

Things that I'm thankful for from today:
It's rained all day today.
Turkey, potatoes & gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, veggies, and the apple pie that is currently baking.
Roof over our heads.
Having the day off work.
Having an internet connection.
Having a post pre-made for me (the boq from last time means I get to simply answer it this time around.)



If an asteroid were to hit the earth and eliminate all mammalian life, what animal species (other than homo sapiens) would you miss most?
The rhino. Just because nobody cares about rhinos (because they're so damn ugly). But if they were gone...that would truly be sad. (Okay, maybe not. But I mean, in theory, I'd miss them. ...eventually.)

Who's more popular - Jesus or the Beatles?
Looks like Jesus FTW.

How many bones have you broken in your life?
Of my own, zero.
Other beings? ...I have no idea how many. At least one every year (the wishbone from the turkey from Thanksgiving) for a good 20 years of my life.

"Where is my mind?"
Currently focusing on trying to answer these questions.
"Where is My Mind?" by The Pixies

Knowing the pros and cons of time travel, if you were given the opportunity to go back to see (and speak with) your 14-year-old self, would you? (And what would you say if so)
Eh. I wouldn't listen to myself even if I did, so nah.

What's a good cure for writer's block?
Alcohol?

What's your favorite type of cake?
Pan.
Mmm. Pancake.

Go to wikipedia, and click "random article" thrice. What'd you land on?
Dr. Watson (debugger).

"What's the consolation prize?"
Tell them what they've won!!!
Rice-a-roni, the San Francisco Treat! (Ding ding!)
"Macy's Day Parade" by Green Day
Speaking of, we watched that today, as is our tradition, and MAN was it poorly directed this year. So many audio cross-overs, and stepped on lines by the hosts. And then there was when the balloon nearly hit Meredith Vierra, Al Roker & Matt Lauer (sadly, off camera). Speaking of Matt Lauer, after Kermit's touching "I Believe" song, Matt had to go and ruin the moment with his lame-ass joke about taking the act "on the toad." This year was certainly more of a joke than normal.

What's gas going for in your neck of the woods right now?
It's down to $1.89 per gallon at the Arco down the street.

and finally....

How would you describe the year 2008 in three words or less?
Obama made history.

Here. Have a bOq.

For anyone just joining us, "BOQ" (pronounced "bawk", like a chicken says) is a Bunch Of Questions.
You can either answer them in the comments, or on your own blog, or just out loud in front of your computer (oh, yes. I can hear everything you say when you're reading my blog.).

It's gonna be a random one - as opposed to a themed boq. Perhaps that'll happen next time.

And here we go:



<b> If an asteroid were to hit the earth and eliminate all mammalian life, what animal species (other than homo sapiens) would you miss most? </b>

<b> Who's more popular - Jesus or the Beatles? </b>

<b> How many bones have you broken in your life? </b>

<b> <i> "Where is my mind?" </i> </b>

<b> Knowing the pros and cons of time travel, if you were given the opportunity to go back to see (and speak with) your 14-year-old self, would you? (And what would you say if so) </b>

<b> What's a good cure for writer's block? </b>

<b> What's your favorite type of cake? </b>

<b> Go to wikipedia, and click "random article" thrice. What'd you land on? </b>

<b> <i> "What's the consolation prize?" </i> </b>

<b> What's gas going for in your neck of the woods right now? </b>

and finally....

<b> How would you describe the year 2008 in three words or less? </b>

U

Books:

I seem to have a knack for picking out first-time books. Vacation [215/jumped] is a first-time novel by Deb Olin Unferth (although she's written and published short stories previously).
The story was at times confusing - although often I think it meant to be, in an attempt to convey the muddleheadedness of the characters it was tracking - and at times it was funny, and at times it was heartbreaking.
...you know, I kinda suck at reviewing things. Publishers Weekly had this to say about Vacation:

In this enthralling headscratcher of a first novel, Unferth (the story collection Minor Robberies) weaves an intricate tale of quests and escapes, of leaving and following. As a child, Myers falls out of a window, shattering his skull and unknowingly living the rest of his life with a misshapen head. Years later, he follows his wife, who spends her evenings following a man she doesn't know. The man, whom Myers identifies as a former classmate of his named Gray, is unaware that he is being doubly tracked. The marriages of both men fall apart, and Myers finds himself on vacation, traveling in search of Gray while Gray's ex-wife and daughter look for him, too. The problem is that Gray does not know where Gray is. If this all sounds puzzling, it is; still, with grace and skill, Unferth manages to weave together the most far-fetched of events. A subplot involving a dolphin untrainer and a woman in search of her birth father is distracting, and Unferth's wordplay can verge on the excessive, but a poignancy emerges in spite of Unferth's post-modern indulgences.

And that accurately sums it up. So, thanks for that, professional critics!

CDs:
I was happy with the two musical selections this go around. U2's 18 Singles was, well, eighteen tracks from U2, so that was familiar.
And then I also listened to the self-titled album from Under the Influence of Giants, which was surprisingly good. I especially enjoyed "Ah Ha!", "Stay Illogical", and "Lay Me Down". All around catchy pop songs that aren't played on the radio, but certainly could be, if, you know, radio stations didn't suck.

DVDs:
Because I felt like depressing myself horribly (and because there were no other decent "U" titles to choose from), I watched United 93, the fictional interpretation of what happened to the final hijacked plane from September 11th.
I did find the movie interesting in how even the air traffic controllers at first didn't really comprehend the severity of what was happening. The whole situation was just so outside the realm of consideration of the American people at that time... And, I have to applaud that the filmmakers did a fair job of humanizing the terrorists, as well as the men and women on board the plane. Considering how sensitive a topic 9/11 is, I think they did a very good job of staying pretty neutral and just presenting the movie as a story based on actual events without stating a political agenda.
Plus, Sledge Hammer was in it. Cool!

What kind of Pokemon are you?

Well, this might not tell you that, but the Typealyzer will supposedly analyze your blog and tell you what type of blog you've got.

I don't know how accurate it is, since it labeled me (or my blog, rather) as being of The Mechanics type:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Plus, I don't even own a pair of overalls, so that avatar is way off.

Various shtuff

Randmoe post, with me being UTP@ to a small degree.

There is only one remaining episode of The Shield left. Six days. And then it's all over for The Strike Team and the folks who populate their universe. If the final episode is even half as affecting as the penultimate was, I'll be thinking about it for weeks.
If anyone out there wants to play massive catchup in the next six days, I highly recommend it. (Although S4 and S6 are both somewhat weak, imo. Seasons 2, 3, 5 and the last half of seven are amazing.)

I spent the first 30 years of my life without cavities. I am most certainly making up for lost time now.
And I gotta say - not a big fan of the pain factor.

Discussion at work today - what makes a monster a monster? Is it just physical appearance - must they be grotesque looking - or is it (as I believe) entirely the actions of a being that make it monstrous (or not)?
I believe it's gotta be the things that are done that determine whether the monster label applies. I mean, Frankenstein's monster looked evil and monstrous, but wasn't (at first). It was his actions and reactions that caused him to become a creature of evil.
King Kong is another example. He was terrifying to look at, but at heart he was just a big ol' softie. (Until he got chained up and transfered across the planet and made a spectacle of and shot at.)
And going the other way, many attractive men and women are, in fact, monsters. Dracula had sex appeal, for example. And yet, he was all killy.
Vic Mackey can certainly be charming as all get-out (Lord knows I've rooted for the guy) but he's not exactly a role model. (Okay. Done letting the Shield get in my thoughts)
So, yeah. I think it's gotta be "judge a monster on what it does, not what it looks like."

There've been rumors for a while now that a movie based on Monopoly (the board game) will be made. And that Ridley Scott would be directing.
I just... Monopoly? Really?
Well, one of my all time favorite movies EVER was (loosely) based on a board game, so who knows. And I've wondered for a while why more movies aren't based on board games. But ...Monopoly??

I saw three separate houses completely decked out in Xmas lights tonight. And I know for a fact that two of them were not done yesterday, so... the only conclusion I can draw is that crazy is contagious.

One of the things not discussed in the comments from last time I posted was Knight Rider still being on the air. Here's something even MORE confusing - more people are watching *that* crap than the too-damn-cool-for-network-television-anyway show, Pushing Daisies. What is wrong with Americans?

I'm hungry. Chimichanga, perhaps?

I need to get back to wrok on Wolf. Although I feel that the title might be better changed to Wolf World. ...except htat as soon as I typed that, I hated that title. I guess just Wolf works, it's just irritating that the title ahs been sullied by that '94 movie with Jack Nicholson.

Speaking of wolves, a quick poll (I've asked this before of some (all?) of you, but sometimes public opinion changes, plus I've forgotten what the consensus was): Scarier - werewolves who walk on 2 legs, or werewolves who walk on 4?

I've got a post on 2009 predictions to write that I've been thinking of for a bit. I can only hope that I actually get around to doing it before 2009. (Although if I wait long enough, making the predictions about the year will be a lot simpler. Maybe I'll make some 2007 predictions first. I bet I'll get them all right!)

Baffling things

[-] NBC recently canceled My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle. ...and yet Knight Rider remains intact.

[-] Sushi.

[-] As walking to the bus this morning, I passed a man wearing a suit who was urinating behind a clothing donation shed.

[-] Twilight. Please just make it go away.

[-] Why I'm still awake at ten after ten.

T

Books:
I quite enjoyed Gary Tigerman's The Orion Protocol (316/are). It was a sci-fi/thriller with just enough plausibility in it regarding the conspiracies relating to the government and NASA to make you go, "Hmm." or at the very least, "Huh." (I suppose if I were younger and more impassioned, (and if these were factual events) I would get outraged over them, but really, with conspiracies my attitude now is, "Yeah, so the government doesn't want to tell the truth. What else is new?")
Anyway. Basic plot of the book is that when the astronauts landed on the moon all those years ago, they discovered that someone had beaten us there. An abandoned alien mining station was investigated, and of course, kept secret. (The reason being that the government doesn't want widespread panic. Apparently the Brookings Report [an actual document from the 60s] recommends that evidence of extraterrestrial life be suppressed by government agencies. [although reading the wiki article, it appears that Tigerman made the Report more nefarious than it truly is. Ah well, artistic license.])
Anywhat. After discovering that there is a much more advanced civilization out there, the Orion Protocol was developed - also secretly. In fact, so secret, that not even (every) US President knows about it.
In the novel, there's a newly elected President, who has one of his staff members try to unearth what exactly the Orion Protocol is.
Interesting coincidence: the President in the novel is never named (simply refered to as "Mr President" or "the Commander-in-Chief", etc), BUT! He is described as fairly young, quite athletic, very well liked, tall and skinny, and he ultimately believes in doing the job for the people, not being a politician.
Also amusing- at one point, his staff member asks him if he wants to continue hearing some news, and he responds, "You bethca". Heh.
AND! John McCain is mentioned (by name!) near the end (appearing on a CNN discussion program). Just how much does Mr. Tigerman really know? [eyebrow]
Anyway, it was an entertaining read.

CDs:

I wasn't super impressed with either music selection this go around. Although one was better than the other. That was Kill the House Lights by Thursday.
Thursday is somewhat punkish, sorta metal, angsty rock band, that wasn't supremely great, but did manage to grow on me.
The other band was awful. ...In fact, I can't remember what the other disc was. But I do know that when I put it in, it started off good - kinda distorted/Sonic Youth type of sound, but then the second song was exactly the same. But worse. And when I got to the third track, and it too was super-distorted noise, I skipped through all of the tracks, and found that ALL of them were. Yeah. Um. No. It's a shame I can't remember what they were called so I could warn everyone away from them, but it's not likely that you'd stumble across them anyway.

DVDs:
There Will Be Blood delivered on it's title, although I expected more. The movie itself was compelling/almost greatness, just like pretty much everything that Paul Thomas Anderson has done. Daniel Day Lewis totally deserved his Oscar. I felt that the movie could've been about 20 minutes shorter and that probably would've made it absolutely perfect, but overall still a great movie that I'm glad I watched.

The Simpsons. Or maybe Chuck.

Question:

If you could join the cast of a television program for one week, what show would you pick? You wouldn't be one of the pre-existing characters, you'd be you. But you'd simply live in that Universe for one week, and then come back to your regular life.

So which program's universe would you most like to live in for a bit?

I almost wish that the campaigning was still going on for the 2008 election, because then I'd have something to talk about.

I was considering bloggging about how absolutely nihilistic I was feeling earlier today (a sample of my thoughts: "Can we just trash this whole civilization thing and start over? Or better yet - just trash humanity and let some other species step in and see if they do better. But not the chimps. ...or any primate, for that matter. Freakin' monkeys are smelly and violent and stupid."
See? If you're so cynical that you're dissing monkeys, things are bleak indeed.)

Anyway. I decided not to blog about that stuff. Although I don't really have a backup plan. Hrm.
Lately Wolf has been nagging at my consciousness, so I may soon cave and start working on it again. Here's hoping, anyway.

For now, though, I think I need ice cream. That makes everything better.

S

Books:

I checked out Rob Stenett's The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher (323/sound).
Quite enjoyable. The book is about this: Ryan Fisher, an atheist real estate agent, decides on a whim to place an ad with a Jesus fish inside a Christian paper. His sales begin to skyrocket, as his clients assume he his a Christian as well. To sell this lie a little better, he decides he better go to a church.
After attending for a while, and through a series of sitcomish circumstances, he begins to pass himself off as "Pastor Ryan".
And then he figures that he could probably start his own church.
And he does. Even though he doesn't believe in God, or Jesus, or any of the religious trappings that go along with running a church, he begins to grow his congregation and before you know it, he's attracting the ire of the other church leaders, religious fanatics and even Oprah Winfrey invites him onto her show to discus the state of religion in America.
The book does a nice job of looking at the state of religion in America, and makes some really good points about what a church should do and what people go to churches for.
The author is apparently a Christian - there were interviews at the end of the book, and the book was also labeled "Christian fiction" - but the story isn't preachy at all, and the fact that the protagonist is an atheist is highly commendable. (He never does convert, and there's no bashing of his belief [or lack thereof]) Plus, the book is highly readable, and while not really laugh-out-loud funny, it did cause me to smile for many of it. It was truly a "feel good" book.
It made me want to start my own megachurch and/or become a pastor. :) I mean, how hard could it be really?

CDs:
I grabbed two CDs this go around. Neither were remarkable, though.
Say Hi to Your Mom's Ferocious Mopes has a great title (and great band name) but sadly musically was just kinda meh.
Saturday Looks Good to Me's Sound on Sound was better, but really only just.

DVDs:
The "S" movie I watched was The Station Agent. I thought the performances were good, and I liked the characters, but there didn't seem to be a point to the movie. Maybe I was just missing something? [shrug]

I've already picked up the T choices, but I'm not super impressed with the music. So, that being said, I'm open to suggestions for anything coming up (U - Z). And remember that if you want to see whether I'd be able to check it out, you can go here to see if the library is carrying it.

Tension

My jaw, my back and my neck are so unbelievably tense. So irksome. I mean, I left work 4 and a half hours ago, and I am still clenching my jaw.

(Watching "Wife Swap" probably isn't helping. I don't want to watch it, but the show really is like a train wreck.)

Good things from today:

Obama's first press conference. It's a huge relief hearing a president speak who isn't smug, condescending, arrogant, imbecilic, inarticulate and just... Bush. Ya know? Obama may wind up being "just another politician", but he is light years better than Dubya, and for now, that's quite enough.

Steph made spaghetti. Yummy.

It's Friday. I am so ready for the weekend. It would be better if it were a few weeks long, rather than days, but I'll take what I can get for now.

Annika's blog entry. It's the opening of the old Voltron cartoon, but the nostalgia factor totally brought a smile to my face.
and speaking of amusing video, this had many LOL moments for me:



Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Is it January yet?

I just really would like to be in '09 now, thanks.

Election '08 Ball

I am so glad that after tomorrow, this fucking election will be done.

Whether the end result is positive or negative, at least it will be finished, and we can put it behind us.

And, now, I'll ask the 8-ball what's going to happen. I asked the 8-ball about the 2004 presidential election, and it was wrong (or was it??) so with that in mind, let's see what it has to say this go around:

8-ball, do you know the outcome of tomorrow's presidential election?
DON'T COUNT ON IT

Um. Okay. Do you have a guess as to the outcome?
BETTER NOT TELL YOU NOW

Oh, for the love of god. Look. 8-ball. I simply want to know, as do my readers, will Barack Obama be elected President of the United States tomorrow?
ASK AGAIN LATER

Wow. This totally isn't playing out the way I had hoped.

Maybe I need to be more vague to begin with.
Let's see... will the election occur tomorrow?
AS I SEE IT YES

Oh, we're starting to get somewhere.
Will Nevada go to Obama?
OUTLOOK NOT SO GOOD

Um. Really? What about Colorado, will that go to Obama?
IT IS CERTAIN

Well, that's a little better. Can we wrap this up - will Obama wind up becoming president?
WITHOUT A DOUBT

There ya go, guys. It took some coaxing, but the 8-ball has spoken. I'll see you all on Wednesday.

R

Books:
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex [426/Boov] may be a young adult book (that's where it was shelved at the library, after all), but even so, I thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of it. Pardon my language. The characters are great, the story pretty unique, and best of all - it was actually funny. The basic plot: After an alien race called the Boov have landed and conquered Earth (renaming it Smekland, after their beloved Captain Smek), they relocated all humans to reservations. (We get to keep Florida! Since all humans eventually move there anyway.)
Eleven year old Gratuity (her friends call her "Tip") Tucci does not trust the Boov and so she did not relocate - because the night before they made their presence known to humanity, she witnessed them abduct her mother.
After hiding from the Boov as they move into the abandoned city, Gratuity begins to make her way to Florida to find her mom. Along the way, she encounters a 'fugitive' Boov (named J.Lo [ha!!]) who joins her on her quest. A road-trip novel follows.
I haven't returned The True Meaning of Smekday yet, because I plan on reading it aloud to the girls. I know Harper will love it, if for no other reason than Tip's cat is named Pig. But the book itself is pure joy for anyone.

CDs:
I think I wasn't in the mood for music this week, because I only gave Don't You Know Who I Thought I Was - The Best of the Replacements by The Replacements one listen. I enjoyed it, but wasn't overly wowed. [shrug]

DVDs:

Rendition, was superbly well done, in my opinion. The movie is about an Egyptian-American who gets detained for questioning after American Intelligence links him with a terrorist organization. His family at home begins to investigate after he doesn't arrive home after his flight [he was detained in a Washington layover].
The movie gets it's point across without being preachy, and the acting is top-notch. Overall, a great film that I recommend.

Dogs Eat Their Own Vomit

It was easier than I expected. The hard part is now waiting for Jeff to "tally the votes". [sigh] Oh well. Tuesday will be here soon enough.

Tomorrow is Halloween. Can't wait! Also kinda love the fact that it's still almost 90 degrees out here. (ALthough next week it's supposed to start cooling down into the 70s ...which is fine by me. Not complaining about that one bit.)

Can't believe that the month is over already! Only 2 to go in the year. Here's the wordle cloud.

Character Study

So here's something that amazes me:

Mourning fictional characters.

It's one thing when it's someone in a movie or television series, because you can physically see and hear the people, so when they die, it's more visceral. Also, there's typically manipulative music accompanying it, which helps.

But what's really odd is when it's a character in a book that gets you.

Because it's all just words. The individual, their history, their thoughts, anything they've ever done - it's all just words. So when you read about them passing - even if it is in a way that is highly unfair - and you have an emotional reaction identical to one you'd have if it were happening in real life? That's some amazing stuff. I don't know if when that happens it's a testament to the writing ability of the writer, or if it speaks poorly of the brain's ability to tell the difference between reality and fiction.
Maybe both. [shrug]

I bring all this up because, yes, I've been impacted by something recently read. I've been reading the Walking Dead graphic novel series. It's extremely addictive and pretty well done overall. Plus, the basis of the series is zombies, so, you know, right up my alley. :)
Anyway. Yes, there are generally deaths in each volume. But the latest - issue #8, "Made to Suffer" - was absolutely the saddest one yet. There's at least one more collection ("Here we Remain") to go, so maybe things'll pick up for the survivors... but it is a zombie story. [other than "Shaun of the Dead" has any zombie story ended well?]

I don't know that there is anyone who is reading the series who is also reading this, but I'll spoiler tag the discussion, just to be safe (and if you are ever going to read it, you should make sure you don't highlight this because being spoiled on it would be a bad thing):
Holy shit, dude. Not only did Rick lose Lori, but Judith, too? I mean, she was just born in the last issue. God, I'm near tears again as I type this.
And Tyreese, too?? And ugh. The way the Governor killed him was particularly brutal, even for this series.
I have to admit that as I was reading this issue, I was expecting Rick to die - what with him passing on his gun to Carl, and also asking him to be the Man of the House, as it were.
Plus, the prison safe haven that they've stayed at for so long is completely overrun now. All in all, things are looking really bleak for everyone left alive.

I can't wait for the next collection.

Q

Books:
I picked up the debut novel by Patrick Quinlan, Smoked (276/dead) for my Q book.
This is a page-turner thriller about Smoke Dugan, a bomb-making expert who, a few years back, "retired" from the mafia after one of his explosives was used to cause a plane crash. His retirement consisted of him assassinating a mobster, stealing 2.5 million dollars, moving to a small town in Maine, and changing his name.
All's good, until the mob finds him. (They always find ya.)
The characters in this novel are most definitely the highlight. Even if some of them are rather unbelievable, and the twists that occasionally happened required a bit of suspension of disbelief, the ride is enjoyable enough that that's overlookable. (Overlookable?) The one thing that was interesting was that nobody was safe in this book. Many thrillers that I've read introduce characters - especially quirky ones - and the writer falls in love with them, thus keeping them alive longer than you'd expect. Not so with Smoked. Turns out that mob life really is pretty deadly, and putting your guard down for even a minute can result in a messy end.
Which was cool. It gave the book a more sense of urgency.

CDs:
I only listened to The Best of ? and the Mysterians: Cameo Parkway 1966-1967 once, but I guess that's because I just wasn't in the mood for multiple listens of groovy-late-60's rock-pop. It was enjoyable, but not fantastic.

DVDs:
Michael Caine rocks my socks off. I don't think I've ever seen a bad performance from him, and his turn in The Quiet American is no different. The movie itself is good, not great, but Michael Caine totally steals the show. Not much else to say about that.

Now face North

"Stand" by REM


So Stephen King's novel, The Stand turns 30 years old this year. (Last month, actually.) There's an interesting interview with Mr King here where he talks about The Stand and apocalypse(s) and his upcoming collection of short stories (yay!) and Sarah Palin (oh, but I mentioned apocalypse already).

Anyway. Time to talk The Stand/King memories/thoughts/whatever.

I remember when I first read The Stand. I was 12 (or maybe 13) years old, and it was the first Stephen King book I ever read - I was so ambitious back then! I began with his longest novel I could find!
Of course I was hooked from there on out.

And because I'm too tired to really coherently write much of anything, here's how King's work breaks down:

Stuff (that I've read) that rocked:
The Stand, Eyes of the Dragon, Pet Semetary (creepy-ass ending), Duma Key, On Writing, Insomnia, Misery, all of his short story collections, The Running Man & Rage [Bachman Books].

Stuff (that I've read) that did not rock:
Lisey's Story, From a Buick 8, Dreamcatcher, Gerald's Game, Dolores Clairborne, Blaze & Regulators [Bachman Book], and It [Waaaaay too long].

I've not read the Dark Tower series - question for those who have: Worth it? I know about the whole "Stephen King is a character in the book at the end" bit, and I'm cool with that. But is the series worth the time to get into and read completely?

There are plenty of other books of King's that I've not included on the above list, mostly because I couldn't remember them, or they just didn't quite fit into either category - Firestarter and Carrie, for instance. Oh! Salem's Lot. That one rocked. At least I think it did....I should probably give it a reread.

What about you? Have you read The Stand? Did you enjoy it? What about the (mostly crappy) mini-series from the mid-90's?
Oh, and that brings up the topic of film adaptations of King's works... which is probably better saved for another day, because there have been a lot of them.

MY CALENDAR IS ALL OUT OF WHACK

ALL DAY LONG I'VE BEEN THINKING THAT TODAY IS THURSDAY, WHEN IT'S ONLY WEDNESDAY. (ALTHOUGH NOW, IT'S ALMOST OVER, SO IT REALLY IS ALMOST THURSDAY. I WONDER IF I'LL END UP THINKING THAT TOMORROW IS FRIDAY.)

I HATE WHENEVER THAT HAPPENS, BECAUSE WHEN I REALIZE THE TRUE DAY, IT'S ALWAYS DISAPPOINTING. IT'S LIKE, 'AWW, MAN, I STILL HAVE AN EXTRA DAY TO GO UNTIL THE WEEKEND.' SO IT FEELS LIKE A PRACTICAL JOKE THAT GOD IS PLAYING ON ME. STUPID PRACTICAL JOKING GOD.

OH, AND, YEAH, TODAY WAS ALSO INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY. HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GOOD ONE.

blocked

I was going to blog about how after talking to my sister today, I realized I've blocked out/forgotten a great deal of my life. And I was going to blog about everything my sister and I spoke about (one of the downsides to not talking to your family in so long, is there's a LOT to catch up on when you do talk again. One of the upsides is that that means you've got lots to talk about.) ...but, I really don't want to blog about either. I've been thinking about not blogging anymore, period. Of course, I'm going to continue posting every other day for the remainder of 2008, but the following year? Well, we'll see how things go when we get there, I guess.

P

Books:
I've read books by Chuck Palahniuk before- Fight Club and Choke, and I'm fairly certain I've read Survivor, although I can't really remember anything about it if I have, other than vagueness of what the plot is.

But anyway, since I knew I enjoyed those previous novels, I decided to pick up some other Palahniuk books.

Lullaby (260/life) is amazingly good. It's about a reporter - Carl Streator - who discovers that there is a thing called a culling song - an eight line lullaby from Africa - that has the power to kill people when read to them. (Or even simply thought at them, as he finds later)
Realizing that such a weapon would spell certain doom for humanity, Carl hooks up with a real-estate agent (Helen), her Wiccan secretary (Mona), and her secretary's boyfriend (Oyster) in order to obtain all the copies of the spell and destroy them.
At least that's what Carl wants to do. Seems that everyone has a different idea of what to do with the power of the culling song ...and the other spells that exist.
With Carl killing people with his thoughts alone, you'd think that it would be hard to feel sympathy for him, but after reading some of the saddest twists ever, I ended up pitying Carl. Or at least understanding him better. And he truly did want to control his power.
...anyway. After reading the book, I wiki-ed up 'culling song' just to see if they truly exist. That took me to the entry on the novel, and I found out that Palahniuk wrote the song after his father and step-mother were murdered, they caught the guy who did it, and he was asked to sit in on the trial that would decide if he got the death penalty or not. Knowing that personal bit to the story made the impact even more powerful.
So, yeah. Lullaby is highly recommended.

CDs:
All 3 P CDs were good! Amazing.

Panic! At the Disco's new one: Pretty. Odd. is too. damn. catchy.
At least, the first half is. It drags for a little in the middle, then picks back up again at the end. But good god, I spent more hours last week with bits of We're So Starving, Do You Know What I'm Seeing?, She's a Handsome Woman, and The Green Gentleman [Things Have Changed] stuck in my head than I'd like to admit.

I also greatly enjoyed The Fragile Army by The Polyphonic Spree. But, then, I knew I liked that band, so I expected to be happy with this album. They just make you happy.

What surprised me was the last disc. It was Texas by PlayRadioPlay!
The singer's voice is emo, the lyrics are angsty and juvenile (or amusing and juvenile, depending), and the music is a mix of electronica, and synth-pop. Which makes it sound like it should have every strike against it. And yet...I really liked this disc. Go figure.

DVDs:

I watched Frank Capra's Platinum Blonde, which was enjoyable and fun, although not nearly as good as You Can't Take it With You or It's a Wonderful Life.

um.......

You'd think I'd learn. Don't blog (or attempt to) this late at night. Or, if you do, make sure you've got topics lined up beforehand. Otherwise, you wind up doing what you're seeing now - me simply filling space with nothing to say.

So...I'll just turn it over to anyone that wants to comment. Free for all! Just say hey, or tell me a joke, or drop a song lyric that's going through your head, or the funniest thing you've seen on television this week [for me it's from Pushing Daisies: "We are Italian." "Part time."], or what you last ate, or what you plan on eating, or what books you are reading, or a funny (or annoying) personalized license plate, or ask a question that has been plaguing you, or give a prediction on the upcoming election, or relay some good advice you've received in your life, or recommend a vampire movie, or tell me what you're going to be for Halloween, or link to a good online game, or spoil a movie, or tell me your economic plan, or give a shout-out to Joe the Plumber, or try to type a sentence using all of the letters of the alphabet...backwards, or drop some trivia on my ass, or get medieval upon my ass, or drop some medieval trivia upon my ass, or solve a math equation, or post a math equation, or start a story, or finish a story, or finish this post.
You know. Whatever.

sign of the times

There's this payday loan place right down the street from our house that I pass daily on the walk to the bus stop. Outside of it, they have put up a sign that originally read:

NOW HIRING

but a few days ago, the W was removed (or fell off on it's own). Heh.

O

Books:

On a recommendation from Kirk, I picked up the Joyce Carol Oates book, Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart (405/part) for my "O" book.
The novel is about a small town in the 1950s where a murder takes place and how it impacts the lives of Iris Courtney, a white teenager who witnessed it happen, and Jinx Fairchild, a black teen who committed the crime.

This was the first book by Oates I've read, and I will definitely pick up more in the future, because she is a very talented writer. However, this novel did seem uneven to me. The parts that were good were really good, but certain characters [Leslie Courtney, and the entire Savage family at the end] just did nothing for me. What's amazing though, is that even during the sections that didn't hold my interest, the writing was top-notch. If that makes sense.
And as stated, the novel was overall quite good, so I'm glad that I read it. Thanks, Kirk!

CDs:

Both of the "O" artist CDs I got were actually good! What are the odds?
I grabbed a "best of" album from Oasis - Stop the Clocks is a 2 disc compilation of the Gallagher Bros' work, and was quite enjoyable. Although I'm a little peeved that neither disc had "You All Everybody" on it. ;)
The other disc I picked up was Blame it on Gravity by the Old 97s.
Awesome CD that, if I still had in my possession, would definitely be on repeat right now. Just a lot of fun. Also, someone needs to make a Chuck related fanvid to the song "Dance with Me". Seriously.

DVDs:
I picked up 3 DVDs, but only got around to watching 2. They say that's not bad, though.
The one I didn't watch was Off the Black, but it looked interesting. Some other time, perhaps.
I did watch The Out of Towners, which was a nice distraction. Jack Lemmon's increasing frustration through the film = LOLness.

I also watched The Omega Man, which ...man. The 70s were, in many ways, really messed up.
But, at least now I've seen all 3 movie versions of Richard Matheson's novel, "I Am Legend". Maybe I should read it someday.

Four more years!

Four years ago I made a post arguing against voting (which wound up being the post that has generated the most comments on my blog to date. I guess voting [or not] is a hot topic. I wonder how many comments this entry will inspire...). And while a good percentage of that post still rings true, I have decided that this presidential election I am going to cave in to The Man and actually cast my ballot.

Oddly, having made this decision, I'm finding that I'm also encouraging other people to do the same. At least two of my coworkers are also voting (for the first time) come this November. Yay?

Anyway. What I'm posting about today, my friends, are the reasons for voting for John McCain.

Here we go!

[-] For the lulz. Seriously. Mocking McCain (and Palin) is the bread-and-butter for late-night commentators such as John Stewart and David Letterman. Won't somebody think of the comedians!?!

[-] President Fey. The plan is as follows: Sometime between now and November 5th, we need to kidnap Sarah Palin, and replace her with Tina Fey. Then, once we elect McCain/Faux-Palin into office, we just wait for nature to take it's course with McCain, and voila! President Tina Fey. Brilliant!

[-] Here's the thing. At my work there's a new guy who is a Republican through and through - he's a conservative, Amur-i-can, jingoistic bonehead. He's also quite well off financially. Most conservatives are (right?) So, I figure, thinking like they do (or at least, voting like they do) will result in becoming like they are. If I vote Republican, perhaps I'll be rich like a Republican. And money is the most important thing in this life. Lord knows supporting liberals hasn't paid off for me. Maybe it's time to switch tactics.

[-] And McCain's promise to raise the Child Tax Credit to 7 thousand per child is just more evidence of the above. Sure, we would need that extra money to just be able to afford the status quo as the dollar continues to erode, but, hey. I don't see Obama giving us handouts.

[-] He's gonna win anyway. America has proven time and again that it's voters are ignorant, racist, and fearful. Obama may be leading in the polls, but I know far too many people who are still planning on voting for McCain (I know of six off the top of my head. Seven if you think I'm seriously going to vote for the old man), and then, of course, there's DieBold to take into account...

[-] His name. I never get tired of saying "McCaaaaaaaain!!" (Which is a Simpsons reference.) Sure, Obama's name is fun to say too, so I guess in this case it's a draw.

[-] McCain is a crasher. Who better to drive this country into the ground than the guy who crashed 4 airplanes during his military career? But really, things are bad. Do we want to elect the guy who has a chance of improving them slightly, or the one that will guarantee to fuck them up hard core?


In case it wasn't obvious, this is (mostly) meant as a joke. Of course I'm going to vote for the sane(r of the two) candidates. Although points 3 & 4 do have some merit to them.
Anyway. I'll open it up to the floor now, and to make it more interactive, ask for your favorite funny political videos. I've probably seen most of them (I've seen all 3 of Tina Fey's Palin skits on SNL, as well as the time McCain dissed Letterman, and a few of the Daily Show's stuff, but it's always good to see things again, so link away to your favorites)

A-ha!! Literally!

This amused me greatly:

things i need

to blog
to sleep
sleep
and, um. also, you know, to blog about sleeping. (Yes, I am UTP@, why do you ask?)

...I got nothing else, really. hopefully next time i go to blog, i won't be so exhausted. i blame my tiredness today on the fact that last night's sleep was disrupted by having had nightmares involving john mccain chasing me. ...that dude is one scary maverick.

M + N

Two letters for the price of one.

Books:
In the M books, I read a book involving a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost, some zombies and dark magic. There were plenty of times when this book tried to be funny, and wasn't, and a number of times where it was mildly amusing and/or clever, but nothing truly hilarious. The story moved at a pretty brisk pace, and while it wasn't superb or anything, it's not like I went in expecting high literature.
No, I didn't read Twilight, or any other Stephenie Meyer book. Instead, I read Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez. (268/night)
The story was about one of those road-side diners you see in movies (and on freeways in the middle of America), only this one has a problem with zombie infestations. Duke (werewolf) and Earl (vampire) are travelling through and opt to help the owner (a large woman named Loretta) clear them out. Eventually they discover that there is someone behind the rising dead and they deal with that individual, but I don't want to spell out the entire story. Like I said, it had moments of funniness - the local law enforcement is comprised of one man: Sheriff Marshall Kopp (ha!!); doing true Black Magic requires you use Pig Latin; zombie cows - but it wasn't laugh out loud funny. I'd probably read another Martinez book just to pass time, but I won't actively seek him out.

I also picked up (and started to read) Steve Martin's Shopgirl. I didn't finish reading it, however, simply because I ran out of time. Sure, I could've kept it for longer, but I moved on to the N book, and simply wasn't in to it any more. [shrug] The 30 or 40 pages I read were good, though. I like Steve Martin.

For the N book, I grabbed Fear Itself by Jonathan Nasaw. (327/Pender)
This was a page-turner thriller about soon-to-be-retired FBI agent E.L. Pender, and his replacement, Linda Abruzzi, who track down a serial killer named Simon Childs who kills people with phobias...by first using their fears to torture them. Yeah, it sounds a little convoluted, and it is, but it's also something I couldn't put down, because chase scenes, whether on film or in books, are just compelling to me.
Apparently, Pender has been used in other novels that Nasaw has written, and he occasionally made references to past cases, so maybe I'll seek those out someday down the road.

CDs:

The "M" music selection was huge! I got 4 albums for that week:
Heretic Pride by the Mountain Goats [great band, always like stuff from them]
Rabbit Habits by Man Man [eh. Turned out to be 'experimental' and 'noise' for my liking]
Haarp by Muse [Muse is a good band, but this was a live album, and not one of the better live albums. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it when I put it in]
@#%&*! Smilers by Aimee Mann [another great artist, and this was good stuff too]

The Ns were Nirvana's Nirvana [probably simply because I was blogging about them recently]
and Norma Jean's Redeemer [which turned out to suck horribly because it was thrash-metal-growl-instead-of-really-sing nonsense]

DVDs:
I watched Marathon Man ("Is it safe?" Yikes, dude!) which actually started pretty slowly, but by the end really really had my interest, and Metropolis, which was bizarre and awesome and oddly compelling.
And then the Ns were Network (so many great quotes from this one! "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!!" "You have meddled with primal force of nature, and you. will. atone!!!" "I just ran out of bullshit, you see.") which was great, and also North Country, which made both me and Steph cry (if you've seen it, you know the scene I'm talking about).

And now it's time to go out and pick up the Os.

bang bang the hammer's in my head

"Hammerhead" by The Offspring

oh, lord. i have had the wrorst freaking headache since shortly after lunch. it's still here, and that's why i'm not blogging about the debate (Matchup of the Century!!) or the economy (Wheeeeeeeeeeee!) or my M stuff from the library thing (even though that's way overdue now, because I should've blogged about it when we went to disneyland...and, man, that was almost a week ago areayd??).

Um. So, yeah. I'm just going to sit down and veg out and hhope that the politicians don't compound this headache any worse, because that might just result in my skull actually exploding.