So I have my new site design fully fleshed out now I think. I'm really tempted to roll it out here live....but, I don't want to break anything right before I disappear for 3 weeks. I'm probably just going to hold off until I get back from Turkey unless I get really really bored tonight. =)
I went down to Colorado Springs to spend some time with Melissa and do some shopping. Got the last of my shopping done now pretty much. Only thing left to get now is Mountain Dew and Cheese for Toby. ;)
While I was down there, Melissa and I saw "28 days later". I think this might have snagged the "Best Zombie movie" crown from my previous favorite, "Resident Evil". In theory, that isn't saying much, because its a small genre, and I don't like most of the movies in it. hehe. But, really, it was interesting, relatively original if you discount movies over 20 years old or books of the same age, and had a great sense of visual style. I don't really want to describe it, because that would spoil some of the fun. 4 stars.
I watched Cube 2:Hypercube on DVD yesterday. It was basically a higher budget rehash of the first one with a more convoluted plot, more questionable science, worse acting, and none of the suspense of the first. I don't recommend it. Even the special features were pretty lackluster. I was hoping for some kind of deeper explanation of why they took this the way they did. No such luck, they just wanted to rave about how awesome they are at thinking up cool special effects. Yeah, whatever. 1.5 stars.
A great Radiohead Acoustic set and interview can be found here.
Less than 4 days to go till Turkey now. Woot.
I went and saw Charlie's Angels 2 tonight with Linda and "The Russians". It was just as stupid as the first one. ;) It was entertaining and funny of course at various points. But overall it was just stupid. Heh. It was probably about the same caliber as the first movie. I don't think I was in the proper mood for it or something, so didn't enjoy it as much as I possibly could have. 2 stars.
As a reminder to myself: Suitecase lock!!! Spare Camera Memory Card! Recognizable American Medicine! Gotta pick that stuff up before I leave.
By the way, if anyone would like a postcard from me while in Turkey, feel free to send me your mailing address and I'll add you to the list. :) king_burgundy@hotmail.com -- send it before Tuesday or chances are high that I won't get it. :)
I just watched this movie on DVD last night. My expectations were a bit mixed to be honest. I really enjoy "Adam Sandler" movies in general, but this wasn't really one of his movies, he was just starring in it. Also, it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the man responsible for Magnolia...which I utterly loathed.
I was pleasantly surprised and definitely blown away. Extremely well done. This movie is essentially a romantic comedy, but not in any traditional sense of the word. Perhaps, *dark* or *black* romantic comedy would be more appropriate. This movie was not formula, at all. Now, I have to put a disclaimer here and say that it is really weird. This is NOT typical Adam Sandler slapstick. This is NOT a typical romantic comedy. 4 out of 5 stars.
This is a thread on the something awful forums that contains a bunch of movie clips that have been redubbed. Some of these are pure comedy gold. If nothing else, I highly recommend you watch the second one down, a clip from Black Hawk Down. :) (Thanks Tommy for pointing this thread out to me!)
So according to the Death Clock I will live until August 6, 2069. They think I'm going to live to be almost 95. :)
Also, based on that site, my Body Mass Index is now under 25, yay! I'm no longer considered overweight. :)
******
My shirts all arrived today. My new casual wardrobe is complete!
6 days until Turkey now and I am starting to get a bit nervous about things. Am I ready? Is there anything I'm forgetting to buy/bring? Etc. I *do* think I've pretty much got everything squared away now, but there is that niggling feeling in the back of my mind...hehe.
*******
This is a preview for the new F-Zero game for the Gamecube. Looks fantastic. :)
As of Saturday morning, Eric is a poppa! Some bad stuff went down, but looks like everything will probably be alright. Hang in there Eric, Nichole and Caden!
In other news, I bought like 9 new shirts online and they should all be at my doorstep in the next day or two. Yay! My casual wardrobe is now revitalized!
Weightloss Update: 189 lbs
Turkey Countdown: 7 days
Random links -
Bo told me to listen to a song by a fairly new artist. Pretty darn good. You can give it a listen here. I really don't know how to describe it, but in some ways it was reminiscent of the cure for me.
And this is just really really damn funny. Movies made using the game HALO with a sort of clerks feel. Check it out!
Holy Concerts Batman!
So first off, I snagged those Radiohead tickets... Front Row Baby! =) Also found out about a couple other shows that were kind of surprising. Supposedly Tori is coming to Red Rocks on Aug. 7th, but show hasn't gone on sale yet, even though her other shows to either side have. Its not even listed on Ticketmaster, just on Red Rocks Online. So we'll see. Also looks like I might be seeing something called the Coors Light Mountain Jam(Artists like Evanescence, The Roots, Korn, etc.) on Aug. 30th, the day before my birthday.
So:
Aug. 7th - Tori Amos at Red Rocks
Aug. 9th - Dave Gahan at Fillmore - Tickets bought
Aug. 18th - Bjork at Red Rocks - Tickets bought
Aug. 26th - Radiohead at Red Rocks - Front Row!
Aug. 30th - Coors Light Mountain Jam
Sept 13th - REM
That is just so insane. I haven't seen that many concerts in that short a time since....High School? And other than the Coors Light thing...these are all at the top of my favorite artists list. Wow. :)
No lectures about saving money, my trip to Turkey, buying a house or any of that please. ;)
So I went shopping yesterday evening finally. Didn't get quite everything I need, but definitely a start. 5 new pairs of shorts are mine. ;) I found out I wear a 34 waist now. Considering I have stuff in my closet with a 44 waist....thats quite a difference. ;) I couldn't find any shirts I liked, but I tried enough on to determine I wear a medium now pretty much instead of an X-large. Need to buy some new shirts this week!!
Also stopped by the bookstore and got The Davinci Code, The latest in the Orson Scott Card Ender's Shadow series, A new stand alone Tad Williams fantasy book, and the newest William Gibson book, Pattern Recognition.
Yay. :)
Went and saw the Hulk with Chuck this morning at 10:10am. Why is the time significant? Because at 10 am I should have been purchasing my tickets to the now sold out Radiohead show. :( So very sad. Going to try and buy some from scalpers or ebay now.
Anyway, the Hulk was definitely interesting. Not your typical summer action movie or action packed super hero flick. Very much focused more on the psychological aspects of Bruce Banner/The Hulk. The direction and cinematography was pretty outstanding. Ang Lee gave the film a very comic book like quality. The major problem I had with the movie was in its pacing. It moved very slowly. In all fairness, it did more character development/lead-up then any other comic book based movie thus far, so take that with a grain of salt. I had heard bad things about the CGI used for the Hulk, but I found it to be *very* good. The Hulk was very real/natural looking, which is surprising considering that a big green monster is not natural. Look for the typical Stan Lee appearance, and also one by Lou Ferrigno. :) 3 star movie.
I just have a few pictures to share today.
This is a picture of my friend Nick's daughter Anna having a little TOO much fun. ;)
This is a picture of Nick's cat Max relaxing.
This is a picture of Jess, the girl my brother Joe is currently in love with. ;)
I actually wanted to post some pictures of Pregnant Melissa and Pregnant Nichole too.....but don't have them handy right now. Some other time. ;) Poor Nichole last I heard still hasn't given birth. She's like 2 weeks past her due date now, and when they tried inducing it didn't work. So Eric is still not a daddy yet. If she hasn't gone into labor naturally by Monday they will try inducing again. And if still no dice, will resort to a C.
Toby sent out a new letter today which deals primarily with the school system over there. If you'd like to read it, click below.
Subject: End of Year Catharsis
The good (almost over), the bad (Kudret) and the ugly (everything about this
system).
Note: this is more of a therapeutic letter and is not quite so frivolous as
usual. Pardon some of my tirades.
School finished last Friday, and now while the kids are off enjoying their
break, I'm stuck here with Kadriye et al. This is the worst time of the year
for teachers because this is when the administrators go nuts and start
nit-picking everything. That may sound normal until you consider the
completely unbelievable things they nit-pick about. But I'll get to that in
a minute. First a few things about the last week of school.
There are really no lessons during our last week. It's called Culture Week
and teachers use the morning classes to give grades, play games, talk, etc.
The kids are free after lunch to do a few activities, and then there is a
show every evening in the amphitheater. I directed "Peter Pan" during that
week four years ago, but I'm happy to say that the shows have improved a
great deal since then (no one has used Roller Blades on stage since that
show, however). I much prefer watching them than being in the middle of the
mess. I do enough extracurricular stuff during the year so I don't feel
guilty. I actually haven't slept in nine months and I'm trying to reacquaint
myself with my pillow.
Thursday was kite day. Last year, Hasan and I made one. Unfortunately, it
never flew higher than the nails on my wall where it now hangs. I had meant
to get motivated this year and try again, but I couldn't seem to drag myself
out of the pool or off the tennis court (I've gone from being a cracker to
rye bread). So I let little Jeffrey Giraffe at Toys 'R Us make mine this
year. I got one box kite and one delta wing. I got the delta wing in an
American flag pattern (there were lots of those left, imagine that) because
it's been a tough year for Ol' Glory and I thought I'd show it off a bit.
We'd also just had the school debate finals on the topic "Capitalism is
beneficial for the world," and as I figured, the opposing team beat up on
the US quite a bit. (Unfortunately, the for team didn't do well enough to
win, so Marx carried the day.) I got several extra rolls of string so both
my kites were cruising high. Eventually, the box kite broke loose and took
off, never to be seen again. The US flag kite hung on until we tried to
attach another length of string but didn't tie it tight enough. So off it
went too. No big deal because it was time to go to the pool anyway and we'd
had our fun.
As we all walked out the front gate of the school to the pool there was a
bit of excitement and everyone looked across the street. There's a military
post there (our school is a hotbed of political dissent and must always be
monitored), and several hundred meters over it was flying my red, white and
blue kite. The string had caught on the barbed wire. We kept on moving
before someone got shot, but the kite held on for quite a while and I don't
think I created too much of an international incident. No helicopters took
to the air, and so much as we could tell only explicatives got fired at it.
So from an uneventful but fun week, to an uneventful but jaw-dropping week.
Every time I think that nothing more outrageous, illogical or just plain
silly can happen here, everyone seems to get together to top their previous
worst. It used to be somewhat amusing, but the novelty has worn off and I've
begun to wonder how some principals can function when they obviously lost
all their brain cells while sitting in their offices sleeping or reading the
newspaper (this is not an exaggeration). For most, the most pressing daily
problem they face is should they start with the front page or just skip
straight to the back where the pictures of topless models are (no sharia
here, that's for sure). Since about the middle of last semester, I've
adopted a "fire me if you dare" attitude which has pretty much made me free
to do what I please and talk about whatever subject I want to. Everything
from Armenians, to Kurds to the horrible university selection system used
here. That's in addition to picking fights with the administration when they
do something without thinking (always). Mujde is jealous of me because she
says a Turkish teacher would be gone for causing half the problems I do, but
our general director Azmi likes me and most of my rancor is directed at the
high school principal Kudret.
It was Kudret who again blew me down today. I've never met anyone who can
talk more than this guy while still saying absolutely nothing. We had the
big end of year high school meeting this morning and he literally went on
for ten minutes about how to pack exams properly with tape. At one point, I
turned to Yusuf (one of the math teachers) and actually had a short
discussion about math problems. The fact that he was doing them and I was
even interested shows how bored I was. The two incidents that got me most
though were the discipline committee and class rankings "discussions."
In this educational system, students memorize until they can't see straight
and independent thought is rewarded with a tut and a strange look. Life here
is based on endless exams (culminating in the big university selection
exam), which really don't mean nearly as much as the students think they do.
Only a few exceptional students who get all top grades on exams or the few
students who get extremely low grades will, in the end, be affected in any
real way. This is because grades here can be manipulated at will with things
called oral marks. They're supposed to be based on real work, but all the
teachers use them as a way to bring failing students up to a passing score
(45% if you can believe that) or get their favorites over the next highest
grade. I've been witness on many occasions to people adding up all the
grades and changing what they give to a kid to get him where they want him,
up or down. I've even walked out on principals who tried to get me to change
mine. Today, everyone had to vote on the behavior grades given to any
student who had been sent to the discipline committee this year. If a simple
majority agrees that a student should be forgiven, then they get a perfect
score for behavior. Kudret barely even bothered to look up, and now everyone
has a perfect behavior score even if they were in fights or went flying off
the handle at teachers.
The thing you gotta love most was when he got onto class rankings for
seniors. Three boys from the science branch have the best overall grades in
the year. However, Kudret had the brilliant idea to change the rankings.
This is allowed because, like everything else in this system, very little is
based on hard evidence. It's all opinions and whose ass you kiss (or kick).
So he wanted to make a different student the top kid in the science branch
even though all three of the overall top ranking students came from that
branch. When he couldn't get the votes he needed (and this was a twenty
minute argument), he gave up and just said, "No more voting. I want it so it
will be." And that was that. So now the top student in the science branch is
not the boy who worked for it, but someone else who Kudret thought, for
whatever twisted reason, would be more appropriate. I know the kid who got
bumped, and I don't know what Kudret could have against him. Maybe he looked
at him wrong (or even worse, had the audacity to look at Kudret's wife's
giant mole under her nose).
At any rate, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I've taken enough of
your time. Sometime when I'm in a particularly masochistic mood I'll tell
some things that will curl your socks. There are more sex scandals at this
school than in a Jackie Collins novel (most have happened since you left
Laurie). And it should be noted that although I may rage against the way
things are done here, the kids are not to blame for this. I sometimes think
if they designed the system it would be ten times better than it is now.
With any luck, the coming years will see a decrease in the number of greedy
fools with a vested political interest in this school who use the students
for their own self-interest and promotion.
Don't worry mother, I'm not a Democrat yet. That party's not radical enough
(hahaha).
Just tons of stuff going on right now. :) Will post more soon.
Weightloss update!! - 190lbs
13 days until Turkey!
So my online gaming guild is going through some turmoil right now. It won't completely fall apart, but certainly some changes are on the way as a good portion of my guildmates are leaving for another guild. The interesting thing is we have an "alliance" with a few other guilds, and so that aspect is in turmoil right now too. I'm VP of my guild, so of course, I have everyone and their brother talking to me about it from all of the guilds. Craziness. In honor of the way the whole situation feels right now, I give you the following:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. Yeats
Chris, Chuck, Brian and I went to see the Italian Job today. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I haven't seen the original, so I don't have any comparisons to make on that score. But it was entertaining and had some good writing and acting. My favorite character was probably Seth Green's, but I find him especially entertaining. The cast as a whole though was really good. I'd give this like 3.5 out of 5 stars. 3 star movie, with an extra .5 thrown on because I really enjoy watching the actors that starred in it.
Was out all evening/night last night hanging out at Eric's house. Got home from Parker at like 7am this morning. And had to meet Linda, Katy, and Yvette for breakfast at 9:30am. So just stayed up. I was supposed to go to a company picnic at six flags today too. But that is totally out of the question at this point. Now I'm finally home. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. If I actually wake up by this evening, I'm supposed to go to a bbq/party thang. We'll see if I wake up.
I'll have to do my shopping next weekend. =)
Less than 3 weeks away now until my trip to Turkey. Here are the tentative travel plans for while I am out there that were sent to me by Toby. You can follow along on a map. ;)
"Roughly, start in Istanbul, then Cannakale (for Troy), then Selcuk (for
Ephesus), Pammukale (and Hieropolis), then Goreme (Cappadocia), then to
Sanliurfa (from there day trips to Harran and Mount Nemrut), Mardin (if we
have time), then back through Adana to Karatas (to see Hasan's family) and
then back to Istanbul."
I still have a bunch of shopping to do before I go. Some for myself(I need new better fitting clothes desperately now!), and some for Toby and Hasan:
"I have a few requests for things I want you to bring with you. Most for me,
but some for Gonzo. He misses Mountain Dew almost as much as me.
1. As many of those Big Slam (or whatever they're called-about one-third of
a liter) bottles of Mountain Dew as you can carry.
2. A couple big ol' blocks of cheddar cheese. Get the longhorn style or
medium sharp kind. None of that nasty extra sharp stuff. And make sure it's
not processed cheese masquerading as real cheese. No Velveeta style stuff.
It needs to be sealed air tight.
3. A big summer sausage if you can find one of those things in Colorado.
They're more popular up north, but you may find one.
4. One photo album like the kind I had last summer. You should be able to
write along the margins and it should fit two or three pictures in pockets
on each side of the page. Wal-Mart or Target usually carry them."
"You did get that list of stuff I asked for, right? Did I mention Kraft
macoroni and cheese? Nothing quite like some good ol' fashioned white trash
food when you're feeling tired of Turkish dolma and pide."
"So after you've come through customs stop at duty free and get a bottle of rum and pick me up a medium bottle of Johnny (sp?) Walker Black Label and a bottle of Malibu. We may take a bit with us on the road for something to sit and contemplate the stars with. "
Yes, I'm sharing with anyone reading this, but mostly posting those so I have a convenient list all in one spot. :)
I also need some books for the hellishly long plane flight, bus rides in Turkey, etc. Currently I'm planning on picking up the following:
William Poundstone - How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers
William Gibson - Pattern Recognition.
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code
That should be enough. If its not I'll have to buy something trashy at the airport bookstore on the way back if I've finished them before then.
Wheee! In our monthly company newsletter:
"Malek Annabi's successful transition to second shift has been outstanding. He's been able to take on all Data Quality tasks with limited time for training. His ability to troubleshoot data problems is impeccable. Thanks Malek! -From Data Quality"
They like me, they really like me! ;)
Soooo busy tonight. Will have to update more later.
I have a random assortment of links to share that might prove interesting. :)
This is Salam's first fortnightly column for the guardian. Those that read Dear Raed will want to go check this out if they haven't already.
Broken Saints is a really interesting online web-comic of sorts. They call it Graphic Literature. It seems quite deep and thought provoking. There are 23 chapters, the 24th and final chapter will be released in July. Each one is fairly long, so you are looking at hours of potential entertainment here. I recommend at least giving the trailers a look-see. I have only watched the first 2 chapters so far.
Dark Switch is a Star Wars fan film that has been nominated for this years SW Fan Film awards. It is a take off on the Apple Switch adds. Its only 30 seconds, I highly recommend you watch it. :)
This is one of those amusing little videos that is making the rounds right now. It is apparently a little short that appeared on Comedy Central. Thanks to Eric for posting this one in another place we frequent.
This is basically a clever advertisement for a book called The Davinci Code, which I fully intend to read now, so I guess it worked. It is basically a sequence of puzzles.
I have a testblog/site up that I've been using to test my site design changes so as not to break anything here. Yesterday I made a huge break-through and I would say I'm about 75% done now with my new site design. I'm probably less than a week from rolling it out on here now. Wheee!
My dad called me. He is applying for some translator job overseas and has to submit a whole mess of information for a background check. He needed my birth date and address. He said he thought I was born in 72. I told him it was no fair trying to make me 30 years old 15 months too early.
As talks with my dad are typically wont to do, the topic turned to money and property. Have I bought any property yet? I really need to buy a house. I need to be part of the economy so that I can move *with* it rather than being affected by it. The sooner the better, now is the time, Yadda Yadda.
Of course, I *do* agree with him. It's why I've been preparing to do just that, paying down my debts, etc. However, having been presented with it again and re-evaluating my situation... maybe he is right. Maybe I should stop putting off things until all my CC debts and such are paid off and do it sooner rather than later. I have to pay rent regardless, it may as well be for something I own. I'm going to start looking into it more seriously now with the goal of buying a house around the time my current lease is up (about 9 months from now).
***
My brother, Joe, has been on his workout/weight loss routine for about the same amount of time as I have. We've sort of been having a competition. I will mention here that it is totally unfair, since he is 21 and has a young person's metabolism, and I am an old bastard at 28. Weight loss wise though, I am actually slightly ahead of him. I'm at 193 now. However, I think he definitely has me beat on how in shape he is now. I'm still not quite there. Anyway, he sent me a picture to show me where he is at now. Here is Joe and his friend Sara on a recent roadtrip. Oh, and while we are at it, here is a recent picture of yours truly.
So I haven't really watched TV, as such, in at least 4 years. If not longer, my memory is a sieve. So those shows that I had caught a few episodes of, or in some cases a few seasons of, I can finally catch up on once they hit DVD.
I had watched a few episodes here and there of Babylon 5 when it was out. But they were sporadic, and I noticed after missing large stretches of episodes, I would have absolutely no idea what was going on. So it sort of fell by the wayside. Season 1 and Season 2 are out on DVD now. I've now finished watching them, and all I can say is WOW. I'm going to talk about it in a very vague manner here so as not to actually spoil anything.
Apparently this show was written as if it were one big novel, spread out over 5 seasons. So season 1 served as a prologue/introduction of sorts, setting the scene, introducing the characters, etc. Season 2 introduces the major conflict and sets the stage for the rest of the series. Season 3 then would be rising action, season 4 the climax, and season 5 the wrap up.
Season one was good. I enjoyed it. But for most of the season it really wasn't anything that special yet. At least those were my thoughts at the time. Looking back now, I can definitely see why it was necessary to establish a baseline. Because of that, the events at the end of the season, and throughout the entirety of season 2 meant that much more.
Season two was a continuous escalation almost from the first episode. It seemed as if every single episode was raising the stakes and serving to propel the series head long towards some final confrontation.
You know how normally a show will be fairly normal most of the time, and then for the season finale some major event will happen that leaves you utterly stunned? "I can't believe they did that!" Imagine if you were watching a show that started doing that EVERY episode. "Did that really just happen? Holy shit!"
It has gotten to the point that nothing seems like a one-off anymore. Everything is advancing the over all story. Things that you thought were relatively irrelevant from the first season have suddenly shown their relevance towards the end of season 2. You start to notice the new little kernels as you go along that will probably blossom into something major further down the road.
As a matter of comparison, for those that watched the X-files, typically, most episodes in X-files were one-offs and didn't actually advance anything substantial in the "X-files universe." However, you'd have maybe 3-4 "Mythology" episodes a season, which would advance the overall storyline. During the first season of Babylon 5, it seems to function similarly. During the second season of Babylon 5, it seems to function in reverse. There are maybe 3-4 episodes that could be considered one-offs. But even those are questionable, because as I have found watching the second season, many of the episodes from season 1 that I would have considered to be one-offs have gained new importance.
Season 3 comes out on DVD on August 12th, and I can't wait. Its a bit early for a full series review, but based on what I've seen so far, this could easily be the best sci-fi television series...ever. I can easily see now why episodes from the 2nd and 3rd season beat out some fairly major competition for Hugo awards.
Oh, and just a tip, if you haven't seen these before and you rent or buy the DVDs....do NOT listen to the commentaries or watch the special features until you have seen the whole series. ;) I have unintentionally spoiled a few things for myself by watching some of the extras.
Today was pretty uneventful. I *was* going to go see Cowboy Bebop, but last night as I was telling my roommate Chris about it he informed me that I had other plans. Apparently, Chuck was to come up and we were all seeing The Italian Job. Alrighty then. So the time to go see it comes and goes without incident. Chuck was apparently sick. So my morning instead consisted of sleep, sleep, and more sleep, and then work.
I've been sleeping a ridiculous amount lately. I'm not really sure what is wrong with me. Once I'm asleep though, I find it next to impossible to wake up and get out of bed. A strong feeling of lethargy prevents me from even opening my eyes for longer than it takes to turn off my alarm. I suppose its possible that my body clock still hasn't adjusted to my new work/sleep schedule. That would explain why I can't seem to fall asleep before about 4am normally. But last night I actually managed to nod off at like 11pm. And I slept for all intents and purposes, with very brief interruptions, until 2pm today. Insanely wasteful. I've been getting plenty of sleep, I'm really happy, I'm excercising....god, I just don't know.
I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps my decreased calorie intake might have something to do with it. But, I've been doing that for well over 6 months now, why would it suddenly get to me now?
Today I fully intend to somehow try and go to sleep as soon as I get home from work. I can't see how it will be possible, since I slept up until I CAME to work, but going to try. Also, going to set a plethora of alarms, strewn about my room, to force me to get up at around 8am, so I have time to work out and do some stuff in addition to seeing Cowboy Bebop. Wish me luck.
So my friend Melissa went in to get 3d pictures done of her developing baby today. As the title suggests, its a boy. She has a video tape of it to show my friend Jason(her hubby) when he gets home from serving his country in Iraq. She chose the imperial march as the music for it. hehe. She was really jonesing to tell him they are having a boy and what do ya know...he called. She's in the other room talking to him while I write this. :)
In other news, I bought my ticket to the Dave Gahan show today. My brother may actually come up for that one too...if he gets fired today like he thinks he will be. ;) (Remember Joe, drinking is bad, mkay) It will be too much in one month if he doesn't, since he's already coming up to see Bjork at Red Rocks with me in August and we've heard rumors of Radiohead later in that month.
And omg!! Finally! The Cowboy Bebop movie is actually playing in town now. I'm going to go catch it tomorrow before work.
Looks like Melissa is off the phone now...going to go play some Mario Party.
Yeah so... Martin Gore has a new solo "covers" album too. Counterfeit². haha. :) It isn't the same as him writing his own stuff, but its something I guess. I'll have to give it a listen on his site and see what I think. I loved his original covers ep, Counterfeit.
I guess I have been living under a rock for awhile or something.
I went to the best buy for two reasons today(three if you count picking up Mario Party and another controller for the Gamecube). I went to buy the new Dave Gahan album. Its really good. It isn't as lyrically deep or powerful as Gore's lyrics, at least not on first listen. But it is musically fantastic. Really enjoying it.
The second reason was to buy the new Radiohead album. I looked and looked, but it was not there. Tuesday they said. Alas, cruel fate. Stymied! But just wait! Tuesday....yes....Tuesday, you will be mine! As Kelly so eloquently put it... "Radiohead has never ceased being amazing over the years. I just can't expect anything other than genius from them...." MTV is by the way providing a free listen of the whole album. Go check it out.
I'm going through my email today, and I see one of those typical Ticketmaster announcement things. I glance at it and see Dave Gahan(of Depeche Mode) at the Fillmore on August 8th. I'm like, huh?!?! So obviously I was obliged to check this out. It turns out he has a side project now sort of like Martin Gore did with Counterfeit. It is called Paper Monsters, and it just came out the other day. I've only listened to one entire track so far, but definitely interesting. Tickets go on sale for the show tomorrow and I think I'll buy one. Even without Martin Gore's fabulous writing, Dave is still a great singer and a good entertainer. You can read more about it, watch some videos and listen to the whole album it looks like(which I'm doing right now) at davegahan.com
God, I love stuff like this. Its at least half as good as suddenly finding out there was a new Depeche Mode album out. :) So stoked! Now if Martin Gore would only do a bit more solo stuff as well....
Wow, so we lost another manager this week, and two IT people. To top it all off, they are closing our Milan and Zurich offices. The belt tightening continues. If I mention here how invaluable I am and knock on wood, maybe I'll continue to remain in the "employed" category.
Ah well, my work week is over! Yay for my Friday!
So, the other day, I took my car in to get the brakes done. In the back of my mind I knew there were other problems with my front end, based on the way it handled over bumps and just in general. But, I've had those problems for well over a year now, and haven't given them much thought.
Apparently the mechanics this time around felt differently. They told me my brakes were still at minimum spec, so I could probably go another month or so if I wanted to, but that more importantly...and began to list off and show me a nightmare of other repair work I needed(struts, wheel bearings, ends of my tie-rods, etc).
Needless to say, I went ahead and got everything done, including the breaks, and am now pretty much 2000 dollars poorer....on credit. So that sets me back about 5 more months on paying off my debts and buying a house. And of course, it had to happen in the month where I have already spent a grand on travel arrangements for my trip to Turkey, not to mention the money I'll spend when I'm out there. Yeargh! On the bright side, my car has never driven better. haha.
*****
I am a 38.2643% - Major Geek, according to this Geek Test thang. Thanks to Alexia for pointing that out.
Ok, I watched the 4th and final DVD last night. Reflections. I was a bit confused at first, since the first half seems to be mostly flashbacks, and I never watched the TV series. Even with that confusion though, it was really fantastic and very moving/sad. Thanks for recommending these Mysch!
So on the suggestion of Mysch, I watched the Samurai X OVA, Trust and Betrayal. It was quite good. Quite a dramatic story, and very well done. I wasn't quite expecting the traditional Japanese tragic ending, however. Not something to watch right before you go to bed.
I also watched the 3rd DVD, Samurai X: The Motion Picture. This one kind of threw me for a loop, as it was drastically different in style and presentation then the OVA. I definitely didn't enjoy it as much, but it was still worth watching. The 4th and final DVD, Reflection, should be showing up from Netflix any time now, and I'll have to give my thoughts on the whole shebang at that time.
On a slightly different note, I also absorbed everything on the Animatrix DVD last night. This is really fantastic. Some of my favorite Anime folks doing work in the Matrix universe. I loved all the shorts. I think my favorite at this point is probably "Beyond", it is just so whimsical. If you pick this up, I heartily recommend watching the special features and such. The history of Anime presentation is particularly interesting with lots of colorful commentary from many in the industry.
Today was a heck of a busy day. I essentially work in three different departments, and although I only have one "official" boss, for all intents and purposes I actually have three. They all had a bunch of stuff for me to do today suddenly. In addition, we had a couple things go wrong today too, so I was scrambling to try and get everything done. I mostly succeeded too. But there will be some leftovers for tomorrow.
Weightloss update: I am down to 195 pounds now. So that is like 55 pounds now in about 6 months. And a total of 115 pounds lost from 3ish years ago. Only 15 pounds to go now. And then just a bunch of working out to lose some additional fat without dropping any more weight.
Ta Da! A new blog is born.
I love finally having my own webspace to use in any way I see fit. If I'd known how easy it was to get this stuff off the ground I would have done it a long time ago. I got some of my existing pictures and pages transferred over without incident. I got MovableType installed over here with almost no difficulty. I love my new host too, Burton Hosting, they really seem to be a killer deal for what I'm getting.
In my quest to spark some good layout ideas, I've been surfing a lot of other blogs over the past few days. There are an amazing amount of really interesting blogs out there. I had no idea. Needless to say I've wasted a lot of time on that. :)
Anyway, I have a ton of work left to do on the site to get it looking and acting like I want it to, with all the appropriate links and such to nonblog stuff. It will probably be at least a couple of weeks since my "web skills" were never that great to begin with, and they are quite rusty now. However, going to start making my new blog entries anyway. It will give me a better idea of how things are looking if there is some actual activity.
