Springtime's Revenge

Oh my gah I should've never said anything about my allergies feeling better yesterday. I had to go out and do some weed-whacking, and even though I wore a dust mask, today my allergies have been terrible. I just want it to stop! Spring - stop springin!

I found out last night that apparently it is possible to read by candlelight. Although I did end up supplementing it with my little LED keychain light. I'm always amazed when I think about how candles and wick lamps used to be the only nighttime illumination. I probably wouldn't have been as much of a reader had I lived in those days. But I'd probably be better at telling stories.

Sunset 3/27/08 and Earth Hour

Finally, a Saturday that I don't have to work! And my allergies are finally starting to settle down.

Have you all heard about Earth Hour? The idea is to get everyone to turn off their lights tonight at 8PM local time to make a statement about how our energy consumption affects the planet. I'm going to participate. I'm going to find out how difficult it is to read a book by candlelight, and probably go for a walk.

I hadn't seen a good sunset in a while, but I saw one on Thursday as I was coming home from the library. Here 'tis:

Ah, Springtime!

* Spring! That glorious time of the year when animals get horny, flowers bloom, and apparently I get allergies. My allergies have been going nuts the last two days. I actually got the good allergy luck in my family. My sister is always sniffling and stopped up, my dad has very bad allergies, and my aunt had to get allergy shots when she was younger. I am OK most of the time. When I do get allergies, you know it's bad. It's got to be the fact that all the trees and shrubs have started blooming around here.

* Overheard today in Target: "Red wine goes with anything." Um, no it doesn't. Yeah, go ahead and drink that Cabernet Sauvignon with a nice big piece of turkey breast. Gag much? OK, I guess considering the fact that the person who uttered this sentence was, I would venture to say, about 7 years old, I suppose I can cut them some slack. This time. Obviously the kid doesn't watch the Food Network. Is this what Spongebob hath wrought?

* Went to get an oil change today. It really pissed me off when they pulled the old "your oil looks dirty, we recommend an engine flush" line of B.S. I know that it's bullshit, but it pretty much establishes that the place is fundamentally dishonest. Who knows what else they will lie about? People that lie to me don't deserve my business. Pretty much the only thing you should ever have done at an oil change place is an oil change. I used to have a great place to go to when I had my previous job. The people there were straight-up with me and never tried to sell me anything I didn't need. They were also really friendly and I was almost always out of there within 10 minutes of pulling up to the bay. I can't go there anymore since it's about 30 miles in the wrong direction. I didn't think it would be so difficult to find another decent place, but it has been. I already blacklisted one place for trying to sell me unnecessary crap. I guess it's time to start looking again.

The Happiest Day of the Year?

Well, the Discount Easter Bunny stopped by on his way back to North Dakota. And look what he left me! Cheap candy! Alright! I've never tried the cocoa Peeps before. Or the orange creme Cadbury eggs. Robin eggs are just about my favorite. Thanks Discount Easter Bunny!
Bawk bawk!


OK peeps (ha!), did you all see the Peeps diorama contest? It's an absolute must-view. You can check it out here.

If anybody needs me, I'll be in my coma.

Gogol Bordello - The Sequel

Here's my recap of the Gogol Bordello concert from last week.

I didn't get to the theater too terribly early, but I wanted to get there somewhat early so I could claim a spot where I could lean against the wall and sit on these little ledges that they have to serve as tables when they have chairs in there. So I find a parking spot, put my ticket in my camera bag, and head toward the theater. When I get to the line of people waiting to get in I encountered one of those "oh shit" moments. I opened my camera bag to grab my ticket, only to see no ticket there! I had just kind of set the ticket on top of my camera (there's kind of a gap along the top of the bag), and it was really windy, so I figured the ticket must have blown out of the bag. I started retracing the 5 blocks back to my car hoping that I would see my ticket. I was almost back to the car and I hadn't seen it, so I was trying to decide if I should buy another one when I saw it on the ground about 50 feet from my car. Whew! Note to self: Do not put important tickets unsecured on top of your camera!

The unexpected detour turned out not to detract from my ability to get my desired perch. The opening act was okay but nothing special. By the time GB hit the stage the crowd was definitely ready. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but I do think that it wasn't quite as "off the hook" as the last time I saw them. Eugene's energy level seemed a little bit lower than last time (which still leaves it far above the average human's). I think there were a couple of reasons for this. The first being that Eugene seemed to be pretty tanked. And the second being that this was the final show of a three week U.S. run, so I'm sure he was pretty gassed. That said, for him to still be in constant motion was pretty amazing. The sound was also a little on the muddy side as well as being pretty loud - when I left I couldn't hear all that well out of my left ear. However, it was still a great show. The final song was insane, it went on for about 20 minutes. Just when you thought they were done, they would crank everything up again for another chorus. Their music is so infectious. If it don't want to make you move something, then nothing ever will. And clapping along has never felt so natural.

You have to click on this one so you can see the look on the drummer's face!

This time he went for a pink wig instead of a red one.

Eugene plays a mean fire bucket.

Here are a couple of photos from last night. More to come. Off to work now.

Black Is The New President?

This was on Saturday Night Live last weekend, and it really made me laugh. Especially the part about how he would answer the phone at 3AM. I apologize for the short commercial at the beginning, but the video quality on the official version is way better than on Youtube.



I'm off to concert-land. Those crazy gypsy punks are back! I hope my back holds up!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I saw this on Boing Boing and I couldn't resist.






Pinch me!

Kong King

I watched a really good movie over the weekend. It’s called King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. I had heard from two sources that this movie was good, and now you can add me to the list of people recommending this film. I know when I tell what the subject of the film is, you’re going to think “there’s no way this could be a great movie”. But if you thought that you would be wrong. And I think that that’s because the ostensible subject of this film is not really what it’s about.

The quick version of what this film is about: It’s about two guys who are trying to set the world record score on the video game Donkey Kong. See what I mean? Sounds boring as hell. And I grew up playing Donkey Kong! But what this movie really is is a fascinating psychological study. You’ve got obsession, low self-esteem, megalomania, obsessive compulsive disorder, compensation, manipulation, some serious denial, validation, perserverance, and transference. What’s not to like? I’m fascinated by psychology and this film is a psychology textbook come to life. There’s some just really jaw dropping stuff here. But I think almost anyone would find this film entertaining.

You don’t have to take my word on all this. The review aggregating site Metacritic scores King of Kong at an 83, which is pretty high. It just came out on DVD a few weeks ago.

Dookie

Huh. Well, I was going to post some snow pictures, but since no one gives a shit I don't give a shit either. So entertain yourself.

Blah

I don't know what the deal is, but I feel really crappy. My back has been hurting for about a week now. I think it's from my Nordictrack. Something about the way that maybe I'm crouching over a little bit when I use it I think. And then if I've slept on my stomach even a little bit that just makes it worse. I have to force myself to sleep on my back or sides only!

The weirdest thing is happening right now. It's snowing! I know some of you may be saying big deal, but I can count on 2 fingers the number of times that I've seen it snow here in March in the last 31 years. It isn't expected to stick around. Hell, it was 70 degrees yesterday! At least I can say it snowed once this winter.

And if you haven't heard...

Pink is the new orange.

We Actually Matter This Time?

Last night I went to vote in the Presidential primary. It was the last night of early voting. Ever since the 2000 election I have tried to vote during the early voting period whenever I can. In 2000 I went out to vote at about 6 PM on Election Day, and I almost didn't get to vote because the lines were so long. Anyway, last night I didn't get there until 6 again, and there was a pretty long line. It took me about an hour to get through the line and vote. Next time I need to try and go before the last day because the poll workers said that the lines had been a lot shorter in previous days.

Although the lines may have been shorter prior to the last day, turnout for early voting has been blowing away the turnout from the last 2 Presidential primaries. Like by a factor of 4. Obviously the fact that the Democratic nominee hasn't been decided yet is having a big impact. This is the first time since 1988 that either party has had an up-for-grabs race at the time of the Texas primary. It's been quite the change of pace to have the candidates spending so much time campaigning here. Usually Texas gets completely ignored. I've seen and heard tons of radio and television commercials, gotten several mail ads, and I've even gotten a couple of robocalls from candidates. It's kind of cool to feel like we have a say for once. It shall be interesting.