So, after those two excellent interviews, I got rejected. Shocking, I know. It was a good way to augment a day where I sold my portable DVD player for $30, filled out unemployment, and am going to have to hope a mere $50 can keep my mom at bay until either the government checks or the tax refund (assuming I find a way to pay for it) check come in.
Oh, and I haven't had a date in almost a year.
Where is this glorious future I keep hearing about that's been absent since last fucking year? Anybody?
Fell On Black Days Soundgarden
2/27/07
Another KO Special: Condi, You're A Window Shopper
- - - - - - - - - -
On "Fox News Sunday" Feb. 25, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paralleled World War II with the state of Iraq when discussing what would happen if Congress were to revise the Iraq authorization:
We already know about her suggestion that the president could just ignore whatever congressional Democrats do about Iraq.
Just ignore Congress.
We know how that game always turns out. Ask President Nixon. Ask President Andrew Johnson.
Or ask Vice President Dick Cheney, who utterly contradicted Secretary Rice on Monday when he warned President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan about what those mean congressional Democrats could do to his foreign aid.
All of this, par for the course.
But about what the secretary said regarding the prospect of Congress’ revising or repealing the 2002 authorization of the war in Iraq:
Here we go again! From springs spent trying to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11, to summers of cynically manipulated intelligence, through autumns of false patriotism, to winters of war, we have had more than four years of every cheap trick and every degree of calculated cynicism from this administration, filled with Three-Card Monte players.
But the longer Dr. Rice and these other pickpockets of a nation's goodness have walked among us, waving flags and slandering opponents and making true enemies — foreign and domestic — all hat and no cattle all the while, the overriding truth of their occupancy of our highest offices of state has only gradually become clear.
As they asked in that Avis commercial: "Ever get the feeling some people just stopped trying?"
Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld thought he could equate those who doubted him with Nazi appeasers, without reminding anybody that the actual, historical Nazi appeasers in this country in the 1930s were the Republicans.
Vice President Cheney thought he could talk as if he and he alone knew the “truth” about Iraq and 9/11, without anyone ever noticing that even the rest of the administration officially disagreed with him.
The president really acted as if you could scare all of the people all of the time and not lose your soul — and your majority — as a result.
But Secretary of State Rice may have now taken the cake. On the Sunday morning interview show “Of Broken Record” on Fox, Dr. Rice spoke a paragraph, which if it had been included in a remedial history paper at the weakest high school in the nation would've gotten the writer an "F" — maybe an expulsion.
If Congress were now to revise the Iraq authorization, she said, out loud, with an adult present: "… it would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change, then, the resolution that allowed the United States to do that, so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
The interviewer should have demanded to see them, on the spot. Dr. Rice spoke 42 words. She may have made more mistakes in them than did the president in his State of the Union Address in 2003.
There is, obviously, no mistaking Saddam Hussein for a human being. But nor is there any mistaking him for Adolf Hitler.
Invoking the German dictator who subjugated Europe; who tried to exterminate the Jews; who sought to overtake the world is not just in the poorest of taste, but in its hyperbole, it insults not merely the victims of the Third Reich, but those in this country who fought it and defeated it.
Saddam Hussein was not Adolf Hitler. And George W. Bush is not Franklin D. Roosevelt — nor Dwight D. Eisenhower. He isn't even George H.W. Bush, who fought in that war.
However, even through the clouds of deliberately spread fear, and even under the weight of a thousand exaggerations of the five years past, one can just barely make out how a battle against international terrorism in 2007 could be compared — by some — to the Second World War.
The analogy is weak, and it instantly begs the question of why those of "The Greatest Generation" focused on Hitler and Hirohito, but our leaders seem to have ignored their vague parallels of today to instead concentrate on the Mussolinis of modern terrorism.
But in some, small, "You didn't fail, Junior, but you may need to go to summer school" kind of way, you can just make out that comparison.
But, Secretary Rice, overthrowing Saddam Hussein was akin to overthrowing Adolf Hitler? Are you kidding? Did you want to provoke the world's laughter?
And, please, Madame Secretary, if you are going to make that most implausible, subjective, dubious, ridiculous comparison; if you want to be as far off the mark about the Second World War as, say, the pathetic Holocaust-denier from Iran, Ahmadinejad — at least get the easily verifiable facts right: the facts whose home through history lies in your own department.
"The resolution that allowed the United States to" overthrow Hitler?
On the 11th of December, 1941, at 8 o'clock in the morning, two of Hitler's diplomats walked up to the State Department — your office, Secretary Rice -- and 90 minutes later they were handing a declaration of war to the chief of the department's European Division. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor four days earlier, and the Germans simply piled on.
Your predecessors, Dr. Rice, didn't spend a year making up phony evidence and mistaking German balloon-inflating trucks for mobile germ warfare labs. They didn't pretend the world was ending because a tin-pot tyrant couldn't hand over the chemical weapons it turned out he'd destroyed a decade earlier. The Germans walked up to the front door of our State Department and said, "We're at war." It was in all the papers. And when that war ended, more than three horrible years later, our troops and the Russians were in Berlin. And we stayed, as an occupying force, well into the 1950s. As an occupying force, Madam Secretary!
If you want to compare what we did to Hitler and in Germany to what we did to Saddam and in Iraq, I'm afraid you're going to have to buy the whole analogy. We were an occupying force in Germany, Dr. Rice, and by your logic, we're now an occupying force in Iraq. And if that's the way you see it, you damn well better come out and tell the American people so. Save your breath telling it to the Iraqis — most of them already buy that part of the comparison.
“It would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change then, the resolution that allowed the United States to do that, so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
We already have a subjectively false comparison between Hitler and Saddam. We already have a historically false comparison between Germany and Iraq. We already have blissful ignorance by our secretary of state about how this country got into the war against Hitler. But then there's this part about changing "the resolution" about Iraq; that it would be as ridiculous in the secretary's eyes as saying that after Hitler was defeated, we needed to go back to Congress to "deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
Oh, good grief, Secretary Rice, that's exactly what we did do! We went back to Congress to deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after Hitler was overthrown! It was called the Marshall Plan.
Marshall!
Gen. George Catlett Marshall!
Secretary of state!
The job you have now!
C’mon!
Twelve billion, 400 thousand dollars to stabilize all of Europe economically — to keep the next enemies of freedom, the Russians, out and democracy in! And how do you suppose that happened? The president of the United States went back to Congress and asked it for a new authorization and for the money. And do you have any idea, Madame Secretary, who opposed him when he did that? The Republicans!
"We've spent enough money in Europe," said Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio.
"We've spent enough of our resources," said former President Hoover.
It's time to pull out of there! As they stand up, we'll stand down!
This administration has long thought otherwise, but you can't cherry-pick life — whether life in 2007, or life in the history page marked 1945. You can't keep the facts that fit your prejudices and throw out the ones that destroy your theories. And if you're going to try to do that; if you still want to fool some people into thinking that Saddam was Hitler, and once we gave FDR that blank check in Germany he was no longer subject to the laws of Congress or gravity or physics, at least stop humiliating us.
Get your facts straight. Use the Google!
You've been on Fox News Sunday, Secretary Rice. The Fox network has got another show premiering Tuesday night. You could go on that one, too. It might be a better fit. It's called "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?"
2/26/07
Add To The List Of Talents
Oscar prognostication.
I couldn't hit the ocean with an oar in a boat in the middle of the ocean the first 47 hours, but I finished up strong by pitching a perfect game when it came to Best Actor, Actress, Director, and Picture.
And considering all the other crap I sat through, when you think about the awards that matter, those are the Big 4 and I aced 'em.
So I'm perfect (at that? How? I guess)
Smells Like Compton = Cheekyboy + N.W.A. + Nirvana
I couldn't hit the ocean with an oar in a boat in the middle of the ocean the first 47 hours, but I finished up strong by pitching a perfect game when it came to Best Actor, Actress, Director, and Picture.
And considering all the other crap I sat through, when you think about the awards that matter, those are the Big 4 and I aced 'em.
So I'm perfect (at that? How? I guess)
Smells Like Compton = Cheekyboy + N.W.A. + Nirvana
2/23/07
Under Atmospheric Pressure...
ALBA: I love Australians. Even more so than usual.
ALBA: Since the Blogoogle switchover looking at the labels is almost as good as the posts sometimes.
MENCIA: Opera's being uppity, so I'm doing this out of Mozilla. I don't think there's that much of a difference, but it still seems off.
MENCIA: Why did my friend float the possibility of going to Mexico, getting drunk and lapdances tomorrow after I'd already made plans?
ALBA: iPod. Teacher. Mother. Secret lover.
ALBA: Rob floated me a little walking around cash.
ALBA: Finding more mashups. When they work, they work. Gary Numan + the Beatles. I may dedicate next weekend's Follow the Leader to a creme de la menthe list.
MENCIA: Getting shot down. I'm not exactly surprised given my lot in the world right now, but it would've been nice.
MENCIA: Actually lost at a home game Saturday for the first time in forever. Mere hours after the rejection, too. Apres moi, le deluge... I haven't posted a top 5 finish in a month. I keep coming between 13th and 25th, which was the original plan, and yet now that I'm here it sucks. So I'm in Must Always Win Mode. (Friends: As opposed to? Me: SHARRUP YOU MOUTH)
ALBA: Going to try to get back in the black tomorrow night.
ALBA: Had two consecutive excellent interviews with one of my top 5 clubs. It's a security position at a place I love where I've never seen a fight in the 12-17 odd times I've been there. Nice late start, too. Honestly, if I don't get this I don't know what I'm going to do. I might as well give up. I can't interview any better than I did. Even in the face of a ludicrously hot boss, I held serve.
MENCIA: The Rent Issue. Still. Where does one get $200 by the end of the month?
MENCIA: I owe about 3x what I thought I did bill-wise (forgot about other phone).
ALBA: Holy GOD was the Office awesome last night. Roy's meltdown was #1. #2 was Fancy New Beesley v2. #3 was "...or collapse in on myself like a dying star." I usually don't say this in the face of white-on-white crime but Roy is going to fuck that nigga Jim up...
MENCIA: In six weeks. Sad face.
ALBA: Well, the label says it all. Let's end this on an up note--
I Want To Take You Higher Sly and the Family Stone
2/17/07
Follow The Leader
AT LAST I HAVE CONTROL OF YOUR MONITOR! ARE YOU RECEIVING ME?
Ah, nothing like a good Ren and Stimpy joke, huh?
Anyhow, usually this is where you get my favorite songs. In its various nomes de plumes it's been the Rosser Top 15, KWBR, and most recently Radio Free Chula. But since KRS-One and T-Bone were kind enough to get me an iPod, I have decided to take my bimonthly music post and turn it into something different. In this, the post-Pod era, the thin string that music videos and radios were already barely hanging on by in my life has now been about severed completely--only because I can't listen to it while it charges.
Also, this sea change has been inspired by mulitple comments about me finding good music for people. I burned a lot of copies of Night Ripper as a result of the play it received at the holiday party and Libby managed to find one and buy it. I've been known as the biggest audiophile in my circle for a while--somehow completely slipping my consciousness--and I'm always stunned when I'm all geeked out about something and my friends haven't even heard it.
So now, the music post is going to be about recommendations. Just whatever I'm really into that may not be getting the love I feel it deserves, and an old school hip-hop pick [this time: Gimme That Nutt by Eazy-E, just for the Green Acres riff alone].
Hence the new name. And as they sampled from James Brown, I know you got soul/if you didn't you wouldn't be in here...
Nas feat. Kanye West, KRS-One, & Rakim, "Classic (Nike remix)" Speak of the best-MC-ever-not-to-get-filled-with-bullets devil!
Point #1: I would listen to these four guys if the hook was 'we're tag teaming your mom and broadcasting it on YouTube'.
Point #2: Holy fuck. This is like some Voltron shit and if you're getting sick of hearing BALLIN' every other song, this will be your remedy. Rakim now owes it to us to fulfill his promise in his set of verses and drop something this year. Is Eric B. really that busy?
Modest Mouse, "Dashboard" Because when I think Johnny Marr (or for that matter Modest Mouse), I think getting funky. What the--HUGH!?
Incubus, "Dig" It's weird, because Incubus became a more political band with the previous album and have always been known more for their guitar work and everything straight with a clitoris creaming themselves at the sight of Brandon Boyd, but when I hear their rare forays into more romantic songs, those are the ones that stick with me. This is the latest in the series that began back with "Stellar" and I really think it's the best one of the lot. This just begs to be slow danced to at your heart-rending moment of choice (in my mind, the video for this has them as the house band singing this song for the Office's Jim & Pam at their wedding). Why am I so into this with barely a prospect, if that? Good question. It is saying something that I am, though.
OK Go, "Do What You Want" They're rereleasing it to piggyback off of the success of "Here It Goes Again". Since this is the song on the album I like better, I'm perfectly fine with that. Plus, the video seems to be inspired by Garden State and ain't nuthin' wrong with that.
IF You Can Only Get One...
Party Ben, the Pink/Madonna masher "Get This Holiday Party Started" OK, I knew Party Ben before I knew Party Ben. Let me explain: the radio station would play these mashers sometimes and I never got his name before this week. While I wasn't able to get his name I heard an excellent Beasties/Kool & the Gang "Hey Ladies Night" and the phenawesomnal White Stripes/Eric B. & Rakim (sensing a theme this time out?) "Pump Up The Doorbell" which took my Riff of the Year '06 with my favorite remix ever. You may even know him once I name drop "Boulevard Of Broken Songs". Yup, there he is. You can imagine how gleeful I was to find his site with a shitload not only of his singular tracks but some of his half-hour and hour-long live mixes. They range from just decent (the Cake/Gorillaz "Never Feel Good") to fucking sweet (Nelly Furtado/Michael Jackson "Promiscuous With You") to the You-will-get-down-right-the-fuck-now of the mash in bold. It was literally nearly 2 in the morning when I heard this first, and I started dancing in my chair to not wake up the rest of the house. After the cocaine rush that's trying to figure out Girl Talk, this is merely an excellent high with plenty of bags of Cool Ranch around and cheat codes for the PS2. And sometimes it's better.
Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" Yup. I give up. I'm going to out myself: the times I've heard his singles I've liked them. And then immediately deliked them when I found out who made them. (Even in that last sentence my natural instincts went to type what instead of who.) But let's just be honest: the musicianship is untouchable, and Justin at the least doesn't fuck anything up. Not only that, but he's a brilliant mind and the sort of guy I need picking stocks for me. Seriously. Britney Spears before she became a more-conscious Anna Nicole, Alyssa Milano, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johannson. If I wasn't so full of admiration I'd hate him, too.
the Game featuring Kanye West, "Wouldn't Get Far" It's hilarious. It's sexist. It may even be accurate. Most of all, it's just great. The Game pretty much gets a Kanye beat and rips every video chick of the past 5 years two new orifices for him to deliver the Shocker to. Out of all the songs that are both about fucking and not giving a fuck, this may be my favorite.
Since U Been Gone Kelly Clarkson
Ah, nothing like a good Ren and Stimpy joke, huh?
Anyhow, usually this is where you get my favorite songs. In its various nomes de plumes it's been the Rosser Top 15, KWBR, and most recently Radio Free Chula. But since KRS-One and T-Bone were kind enough to get me an iPod, I have decided to take my bimonthly music post and turn it into something different. In this, the post-Pod era, the thin string that music videos and radios were already barely hanging on by in my life has now been about severed completely--only because I can't listen to it while it charges.
Also, this sea change has been inspired by mulitple comments about me finding good music for people. I burned a lot of copies of Night Ripper as a result of the play it received at the holiday party and Libby managed to find one and buy it. I've been known as the biggest audiophile in my circle for a while--somehow completely slipping my consciousness--and I'm always stunned when I'm all geeked out about something and my friends haven't even heard it.
So now, the music post is going to be about recommendations. Just whatever I'm really into that may not be getting the love I feel it deserves, and an old school hip-hop pick [this time: Gimme That Nutt by Eazy-E, just for the Green Acres riff alone].
Hence the new name. And as they sampled from James Brown, I know you got soul/if you didn't you wouldn't be in here...
Nas feat. Kanye West, KRS-One, & Rakim, "Classic (Nike remix)" Speak of the best-MC-ever-not-to-get-filled-with-bullets devil!
Point #1: I would listen to these four guys if the hook was 'we're tag teaming your mom and broadcasting it on YouTube'.
Point #2: Holy fuck. This is like some Voltron shit and if you're getting sick of hearing BALLIN' every other song, this will be your remedy. Rakim now owes it to us to fulfill his promise in his set of verses and drop something this year. Is Eric B. really that busy?
Modest Mouse, "Dashboard" Because when I think Johnny Marr (or for that matter Modest Mouse), I think getting funky. What the--HUGH!?
Incubus, "Dig" It's weird, because Incubus became a more political band with the previous album and have always been known more for their guitar work and everything straight with a clitoris creaming themselves at the sight of Brandon Boyd, but when I hear their rare forays into more romantic songs, those are the ones that stick with me. This is the latest in the series that began back with "Stellar" and I really think it's the best one of the lot. This just begs to be slow danced to at your heart-rending moment of choice (in my mind, the video for this has them as the house band singing this song for the Office's Jim & Pam at their wedding). Why am I so into this with barely a prospect, if that? Good question. It is saying something that I am, though.
OK Go, "Do What You Want" They're rereleasing it to piggyback off of the success of "Here It Goes Again". Since this is the song on the album I like better, I'm perfectly fine with that. Plus, the video seems to be inspired by Garden State and ain't nuthin' wrong with that.
IF You Can Only Get One...
Party Ben, the Pink/Madonna masher "Get This Holiday Party Started" OK, I knew Party Ben before I knew Party Ben. Let me explain: the radio station would play these mashers sometimes and I never got his name before this week. While I wasn't able to get his name I heard an excellent Beasties/Kool & the Gang "Hey Ladies Night" and the phenawesomnal White Stripes/Eric B. & Rakim (sensing a theme this time out?) "Pump Up The Doorbell" which took my Riff of the Year '06 with my favorite remix ever. You may even know him once I name drop "Boulevard Of Broken Songs". Yup, there he is. You can imagine how gleeful I was to find his site with a shitload not only of his singular tracks but some of his half-hour and hour-long live mixes. They range from just decent (the Cake/Gorillaz "Never Feel Good") to fucking sweet (Nelly Furtado/Michael Jackson "Promiscuous With You") to the You-will-get-down-right-the-fuck-now of the mash in bold. It was literally nearly 2 in the morning when I heard this first, and I started dancing in my chair to not wake up the rest of the house. After the cocaine rush that's trying to figure out Girl Talk, this is merely an excellent high with plenty of bags of Cool Ranch around and cheat codes for the PS2. And sometimes it's better.
Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" Yup. I give up. I'm going to out myself: the times I've heard his singles I've liked them. And then immediately deliked them when I found out who made them. (Even in that last sentence my natural instincts went to type what instead of who.) But let's just be honest: the musicianship is untouchable, and Justin at the least doesn't fuck anything up. Not only that, but he's a brilliant mind and the sort of guy I need picking stocks for me. Seriously. Britney Spears before she became a more-conscious Anna Nicole, Alyssa Milano, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johannson. If I wasn't so full of admiration I'd hate him, too.
the Game featuring Kanye West, "Wouldn't Get Far" It's hilarious. It's sexist. It may even be accurate. Most of all, it's just great. The Game pretty much gets a Kanye beat and rips every video chick of the past 5 years two new orifices for him to deliver the Shocker to. Out of all the songs that are both about fucking and not giving a fuck, this may be my favorite.
Since U Been Gone Kelly Clarkson
2/16/07
Friday Barometer: Neptune? Grand.
Yup, I had an interview I went from being late for to being 15 minutes early from that I think went well.
Don't care.
Put down another 750 words for the first time in what seems like forever.
Don't care.
I may have walked outside during my snack break and found them filming Veronica Mars a spit away while I was inside the lab writing. I may have walked right past Kristen Bell. I may have asked a producer what was happening and he may have revealed they were taping the 17th episode of the year and may have divulged the primary storyline.
He may have seen the Picture.
So, instead of doing other things, I'm going to stay here a while longer and see what else I can find/do. Who knows what may come of this? Maybe nothing else. But I'm going to flit back and forth between the set (HA! I said the set cause I was there and walked through it!) and these computers, keeping updates on serve.
I'm sure you guys would expect nothing less.
(Perhaps a little keyed up; it took me 3 tries to spell expect just there.)
ONE
Max, why do you think I didn't name what the primary storyline is? Dumbass.
Anyhow, a few things since their job fair scene is taking a bit longer than they thought.
Bells for the tower go off hourly at SDSU--and they don't post-edit them out, I suppose. They sent up some sound people who put stuff around the actual ball portion of the bell, thus making it a silencer every hour at the top of the hour.
The extras are full of cute girls but they're all bored. It takes them a while for each scene and they're just background anyway, so it looks like you hanging out with your friends when none of you had the strength to get up and go somewhere. Some of them seem to be RL friends. They all text like mad. When they move around the 400 feet or so marked off, they line up like baby ducks and follow the producer guy I talked to and a couple of other executive-types.
The crew have these awesome big black trucks to move around. They look like where the MIB would keep people if they had to flash-fry a bunch at once.
I've decided to take a few pictures and send them to Rob, in the hopes they'll enhance the report.
So they are. Hearst represent! (You can also see the aforementioned bell tower. Talk about brilliant photography.)
More updates as they warrant.
TWO
Some guy is sitting where I've been all day so this update is shorter and taking an extra couple minutes. The fucktard.
A lot of parents around taking pictures. It may be Parents Weekend or something here at State and it's bleeding over into filming. A lot of them are walking right through the set with no break in their actions whatsoever. Probably Idol fans.
THREE
I guess the job fair scene took longer than expected, as if I know. What I do know is it hit dusk and the crew leapt into action like vampires. I heard dinner mentioned, so I split. They may come back later, I dunno.
The $48,000 Pregunta: do I go back tomorrow?
Another One Bites Da Funk Party Ben Queen/Daft Punk mashup
Don't care.
Put down another 750 words for the first time in what seems like forever.
Don't care.
I may have walked outside during my snack break and found them filming Veronica Mars a spit away while I was inside the lab writing. I may have walked right past Kristen Bell. I may have asked a producer what was happening and he may have revealed they were taping the 17th episode of the year and may have divulged the primary storyline.
He may have seen the Picture.
So, instead of doing other things, I'm going to stay here a while longer and see what else I can find/do. Who knows what may come of this? Maybe nothing else. But I'm going to flit back and forth between the set (HA! I said the set cause I was there and walked through it!) and these computers, keeping updates on serve.
I'm sure you guys would expect nothing less.
(Perhaps a little keyed up; it took me 3 tries to spell expect just there.)
ONE
Max, why do you think I didn't name what the primary storyline is? Dumbass.
Anyhow, a few things since their job fair scene is taking a bit longer than they thought.
Bells for the tower go off hourly at SDSU--and they don't post-edit them out, I suppose. They sent up some sound people who put stuff around the actual ball portion of the bell, thus making it a silencer every hour at the top of the hour.
The extras are full of cute girls but they're all bored. It takes them a while for each scene and they're just background anyway, so it looks like you hanging out with your friends when none of you had the strength to get up and go somewhere. Some of them seem to be RL friends. They all text like mad. When they move around the 400 feet or so marked off, they line up like baby ducks and follow the producer guy I talked to and a couple of other executive-types.
The crew have these awesome big black trucks to move around. They look like where the MIB would keep people if they had to flash-fry a bunch at once.
I've decided to take a few pictures and send them to Rob, in the hopes they'll enhance the report.
So they are. Hearst represent! (You can also see the aforementioned bell tower. Talk about brilliant photography.)
More updates as they warrant.
TWO
Some guy is sitting where I've been all day so this update is shorter and taking an extra couple minutes. The fucktard.
A lot of parents around taking pictures. It may be Parents Weekend or something here at State and it's bleeding over into filming. A lot of them are walking right through the set with no break in their actions whatsoever. Probably Idol fans.
THREE
I guess the job fair scene took longer than expected, as if I know. What I do know is it hit dusk and the crew leapt into action like vampires. I heard dinner mentioned, so I split. They may come back later, I dunno.
The $48,000 Pregunta: do I go back tomorrow?
Another One Bites Da Funk Party Ben Queen/Daft Punk mashup
2/11/07
With A Little Help From My Friends
A short time before I began to get ready for the party my mother deigned to speak to me for about the second time since I hit 28.
Nope, she didn't say that.
"Where's January's rent?"
As much as my fist wanted to punch her in the face and my mouth wanted to say "probably next to my birthday present, you self-centered bitch", I internalized it and went for a walk. With age comes maturity, I guess. I came back, and did all the usual acoutrement of getting ready, including the trusty lucky To: Women From: God gift shirt that has become ubiquitous with my finer moments.
I grabbed Jessica Marie and I got gone, not a moment too soon.
I fired up the party folder, and we headed off to the Tractor Room.
The Tractor Room has pretty much every single kind of beef, ever, in any single form, ever. It is an excellent place, made even more excellent by the fact I don't have to foot the bill, made more excellent by a fine French martini that is one of the 3 best alcoholic drinks I have ever had. Some watermelon, Skyy, other things...absolutely delicious. "I'm not entirely sure, but it's entirely possible they milked this from Scarlett Johansson," I say. At least I had the good sense to stop after 4. As the dinner continues, we do it family style and everybody gets some of everything. We went through like 5 cornbreads, there was some sort of ludicrously awesome wild boar/mashed potato spring roll, mac and cheese--despite the fact I was planning on dancing later on I couldn't keep myself from gorging at the trough.
(This will become important later.)
So this went on for about 2 hours, intersped with myriad conversations and a couple of late arrivals. People other than I had things to celebrate, and we did. But the food was ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous. At a certain point during a lengthy meal your mind and stomach keeps telling you stop and your taste buds say we may never get another opportunity like this again and your eyes say push it, push it real good.
Well, it is my birthday, despite actions to the contrary.
So we stagger out into the street and hit Confidential down the road. And now, a fun bi-polar experience.
They lose my reservation. I am good and screwed for a good 30, 35 seconds.
Then the owner comes up and recognizes me and waves us in. And I even got to Ferris Bueller the door guy (not my usual buddy, Bobby, who got on later) by adding a few names to my list. It was hilarious. He had to write me down and then the five names I added onto the group I was already with.
We get inside and I inform Jen in my already-inebriated state it's my birthday. Yes, I got my dap. There was another tab started, and she comped me some shot of something-or-other that tasted like a German chocolate cake and involved a sugar-coated lemon I had to suck. I wish I made more sense, all I can rely on is my motor memory. Aaron gets me the last Charles Barkley and Chuck Klosterman books, Danny gets me gift cards for Borders and Karl Strauss. (J&J have promised a soundcard, which should remind me to look up my specs.) The girls get a couple of her specialized cherry blossoms as we slowly come to the realization that without a reservation we have no table, and without a table, the now 10 of us are going to look very, very odd in the crowded bar.
Eventually an uprising happens and I have to think of something on the fly while drunk.
Meh.
Anyway, long story short, we somehow ended up at the Hustler down the block.
No, I didn't buy anything. Perv.
I may or may not have recognized a movie I have on this hard drive. It was here when Danny gave me the tower, I swear.
After that we went to Denny's (8 now) and had another discussion around a bunch of food like an old Italian family. If it was possible for us to have a free-form Dinner For Five style Sunday morning show every week I would be all for it. Topics ranged from pornography to egg consistency to child rearing to songs that should be banned at all weddings for the rest of time (this is just what I remembered).
Then I got home and slept.
Then I woke up 45 minutes later?!
I never wake up 45 minutes later.
It turns out either I was racked by emotional guilt (about 15%) or the 26 pounds of beef, cheese, and potato over dinner was keeping me up (about 85%). Anyhow, I couldn't sleep, so I switched my mattress so I faced the window instead of the door. I listened to U2, which is good for pondering all the Big Questions.
And sometime between 5 and 6, I actually slept.
My friends are good people.
And increasingly, the only ones I trust.
Are You Gonna Go My Way? Lenny Kravitz
Nope, she didn't say that.
"Where's January's rent?"
As much as my fist wanted to punch her in the face and my mouth wanted to say "probably next to my birthday present, you self-centered bitch", I internalized it and went for a walk. With age comes maturity, I guess. I came back, and did all the usual acoutrement of getting ready, including the trusty lucky To: Women From: God gift shirt that has become ubiquitous with my finer moments.
I grabbed Jessica Marie and I got gone, not a moment too soon.
I fired up the party folder, and we headed off to the Tractor Room.
The Tractor Room has pretty much every single kind of beef, ever, in any single form, ever. It is an excellent place, made even more excellent by the fact I don't have to foot the bill, made more excellent by a fine French martini that is one of the 3 best alcoholic drinks I have ever had. Some watermelon, Skyy, other things...absolutely delicious. "I'm not entirely sure, but it's entirely possible they milked this from Scarlett Johansson," I say. At least I had the good sense to stop after 4. As the dinner continues, we do it family style and everybody gets some of everything. We went through like 5 cornbreads, there was some sort of ludicrously awesome wild boar/mashed potato spring roll, mac and cheese--despite the fact I was planning on dancing later on I couldn't keep myself from gorging at the trough.
(This will become important later.)
So this went on for about 2 hours, intersped with myriad conversations and a couple of late arrivals. People other than I had things to celebrate, and we did. But the food was ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous. At a certain point during a lengthy meal your mind and stomach keeps telling you stop and your taste buds say we may never get another opportunity like this again and your eyes say push it, push it real good.
Well, it is my birthday, despite actions to the contrary.
So we stagger out into the street and hit Confidential down the road. And now, a fun bi-polar experience.
They lose my reservation. I am good and screwed for a good 30, 35 seconds.
Then the owner comes up and recognizes me and waves us in. And I even got to Ferris Bueller the door guy (not my usual buddy, Bobby, who got on later) by adding a few names to my list. It was hilarious. He had to write me down and then the five names I added onto the group I was already with.
We get inside and I inform Jen in my already-inebriated state it's my birthday. Yes, I got my dap. There was another tab started, and she comped me some shot of something-or-other that tasted like a German chocolate cake and involved a sugar-coated lemon I had to suck. I wish I made more sense, all I can rely on is my motor memory. Aaron gets me the last Charles Barkley and Chuck Klosterman books, Danny gets me gift cards for Borders and Karl Strauss. (J&J have promised a soundcard, which should remind me to look up my specs.) The girls get a couple of her specialized cherry blossoms as we slowly come to the realization that without a reservation we have no table, and without a table, the now 10 of us are going to look very, very odd in the crowded bar.
Eventually an uprising happens and I have to think of something on the fly while drunk.
Meh.
Anyway, long story short, we somehow ended up at the Hustler down the block.
No, I didn't buy anything. Perv.
I may or may not have recognized a movie I have on this hard drive. It was here when Danny gave me the tower, I swear.
After that we went to Denny's (8 now) and had another discussion around a bunch of food like an old Italian family. If it was possible for us to have a free-form Dinner For Five style Sunday morning show every week I would be all for it. Topics ranged from pornography to egg consistency to child rearing to songs that should be banned at all weddings for the rest of time (this is just what I remembered).
Then I got home and slept.
Then I woke up 45 minutes later?!
I never wake up 45 minutes later.
It turns out either I was racked by emotional guilt (about 15%) or the 26 pounds of beef, cheese, and potato over dinner was keeping me up (about 85%). Anyhow, I couldn't sleep, so I switched my mattress so I faced the window instead of the door. I listened to U2, which is good for pondering all the Big Questions.
And sometime between 5 and 6, I actually slept.
My friends are good people.
And increasingly, the only ones I trust.
Are You Gonna Go My Way? Lenny Kravitz
2/9/07
Black Friday
How did my birthday go?
all had to sacrifice themselves for penance.
Six Feet Under No Doubt
- Went to bed 2 or 3 hours early instead of staying up and writing to chase a job.
- Got up 2 or 3 hours early to go to the interview for the temp position.
- Bus.
- Trolley.
- Bus.
- Short walk.
- 30 minutes of paperwork.
- The interview. "We can't use you. You just got fired from there."
- My supervisor and her supervisor are my recommendations, at their behest, by the way.
- Playlists > Artists > Rage Against the Machine > Play All
- Now, I would go home and drink, but I have to sell my digital camera for the 4th time.
- This is a joke. I always set these appointments (one this past weekend) and they pull out.
- Rob tries to keep me from pulling a Nathan Petrelli. It barely works.
- I bet him they don't show.
- I get there 15 minutes early.
- I wait for 45 minutes.
- They don't show.
- I go home.
- Quickfly through the Internet.
- Am so aggrieved and about to implode I take all that stress and fall asleep.
- I wake up a couple hours later. My parents have gone to a high school basketball game.
- My brother never played.
- And graduated in June.
- And is here trying to get together with his possible girlfriend.
- They come home.
- No cake.
- No ice cream.
- Nothing resembling a present.
- My dinner is almost two hot dogs.
- This is hour 2 of debating whether murder or murder/suicide is the new black.
all had to sacrifice themselves for penance.
Six Feet Under No Doubt
Now Celebrating Nearly Three Decades Of Excellence
I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign
I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm shy but I'm friendly baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby
And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano
What it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxicab...
Hand In My Pocket Alanis Morissette
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign
I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm shy but I'm friendly baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby
And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano
What it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxicab...
Hand In My Pocket Alanis Morissette
2/8/07
Everything Great Gets A Sequel
Early birthday present #2--I'm bringing back another Fafazrazzi league. It's like any fantasy sports league, except you get points for celebrities and their off-the-wall behavior.
You can imagine the fun.
Anyhow--
name: 15 Milliseconds Of Fame
password: dwangela
Tomorrow's the greaaaaaaatest/day I've ever known...
Iesha Another Bad Creation
You can imagine the fun.
Anyhow--
name: 15 Milliseconds Of Fame
password: dwangela
Tomorrow's the greaaaaaaatest/day I've ever known...
Iesha Another Bad Creation
2/3/07
Radio Free Chula? Supersize Me!
How To Tell If You Have My iPod: If the first three songs go something along the lines of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days", ODB's "Brooklyn Zoo", and Coldplay's "Warning Sign"? Yeah, that's mine and I'll thank you to get your greasy paws off the Best Thing To Happen To Me That Could Get Nothing Higher Than A PG-13 Rating. Again, a trillion billion thanks to Mike & Rob for the gift. In order to signify its awesomeness in the Rosser Kingdom, I gave it the only name befitting the grandeur of the object: Jessica Marie.
By the way, as of right now, 4,253 songs.
Things Radio Should Play And Don't: The Game & Kanye's "Wouldn't Get Far" (maybe the best diss track in the past 3 years) and the Hold Steady's "Stuck Between Stations".
We swing you back to your normal top 15--
DROPS:
"When You Were Young" - 7
"Wind It Up" - 10
"White And Nerdy" - 11
15. Gym Class Heroes / / Cupid's Chokehold (debut)
14. Ludacris feat. Pharrell / / Money Maker (6)
13. The Fray / / How To Save A Life (return)
12. Gwen Stefani feat. Akon / / The Sweet Escape (14)*
11. Fergie / / Fergalicious (9)
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers / Snow (Hey Oh) (15)*
9. Incubus / Anna Molly (4)
8. Fat Joe feat. Lil' Wayne / Make It Rain (13)*
7. Snoop Dogg feat. R.Kelly / That's That (5)
6. John Mayer / Waiting On The World To Change (2)
5. Incubus - Dig (debut)
4. Modest Mouse - Dashboard (8)*
3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race (12)*
2. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (3)*
1. Beyonce - Irreplaceable (1) [1m]
Lovefool the Cardigans
By the way, as of right now, 4,253 songs.
Things Radio Should Play And Don't: The Game & Kanye's "Wouldn't Get Far" (maybe the best diss track in the past 3 years) and the Hold Steady's "Stuck Between Stations".
We swing you back to your normal top 15--
DROPS:
"When You Were Young" - 7
"Wind It Up" - 10
"White And Nerdy" - 11
15. Gym Class Heroes / / Cupid's Chokehold (debut)
14. Ludacris feat. Pharrell / / Money Maker (6)
13. The Fray / / How To Save A Life (return)
12. Gwen Stefani feat. Akon / / The Sweet Escape (14)*
11. Fergie / / Fergalicious (9)
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers / Snow (Hey Oh) (15)*
9. Incubus / Anna Molly (4)
8. Fat Joe feat. Lil' Wayne / Make It Rain (13)*
7. Snoop Dogg feat. R.Kelly / That's That (5)
6. John Mayer / Waiting On The World To Change (2)
5. Incubus - Dig (debut)
4. Modest Mouse - Dashboard (8)*
3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race (12)*
2. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (3)*
1. Beyonce - Irreplaceable (1) [1m]
Lovefool the Cardigans
2/2/07
And The Friday Barometer's Heart Expanded Three Times That Day
Leaving aside the guy who was just interested enough in the digicam to make an appointment and then completely blow it off, today is a fine, fine day.
Thirdly, my friends are SROing the birthday party next week. Some cute girls, too.
Let us pray.
Secondly, milling around downtown, I met Ryan Hansen. THE Dick Casablancas.
Yes, again. See?
SHOCKER! They were filming at a college, and it turns out Ryan is very impressed with my Brooke Burke wallpaper. The one worrying thing is the look on his face when I revealed I was the guy who got his arm signed. I can only wonder what stories have been told on set. Tragically, I was so overcome by the moment that I forgot to invite the cast to my birthday party. Now that would've been a damn scene and a half.
And ultimately I got home from all of that to find out KS & Rob tag teamed back again to get me the iPod of my dreams. Even if my brother beat me to it by a few weeks, it's par excellence, as the French would say. So I have to figure it out before I get some belts at the bar and hit the casino and decide if I'm going to hit the club for free tomorrow night the week before the real partay or not.
MAN.
Like the kid in Almost Famous said: it's all happening.
Welcome to Jamrock Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
Thirdly, my friends are SROing the birthday party next week. Some cute girls, too.
Let us pray.
Secondly, milling around downtown, I met Ryan Hansen. THE Dick Casablancas.
Yes, again. See?
SHOCKER! They were filming at a college, and it turns out Ryan is very impressed with my Brooke Burke wallpaper. The one worrying thing is the look on his face when I revealed I was the guy who got his arm signed. I can only wonder what stories have been told on set. Tragically, I was so overcome by the moment that I forgot to invite the cast to my birthday party. Now that would've been a damn scene and a half.
And ultimately I got home from all of that to find out KS & Rob tag teamed back again to get me the iPod of my dreams. Even if my brother beat me to it by a few weeks, it's par excellence, as the French would say. So I have to figure it out before I get some belts at the bar and hit the casino and decide if I'm going to hit the club for free tomorrow night the week before the real partay or not.
MAN.
Like the kid in Almost Famous said: it's all happening.
Welcome to Jamrock Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
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