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9:47am
: BLACK FRIDAY : I'm not going to lie...this has been quite a
crappy week. Between my limping around on a bright purple ankle and
the on again, off again rain it has not been fun. The holiday season
also looses it's charm when most of your close friends are more worried
about paying the rent then buying fancy gifts. Every red bow on a lamp-post,
and Christmas commerical on TV seems to taunt me. This year has had
it's ups and downs but at this point, from my perspective...it's had
a lot more downs. A lot more. Sorry for being negative this morning,
but it's not all jingle bells and hugs for most people.
1:27pm : OUT COLD - 1, CHRIS - 0 : Yesterday we decided to check out the horrible snowboard comedy Out Cold at the Metreon. Knowing full well it would be terrible, it wasn't THAT bad. The refreshment girl convinced me to buy the X-Large Coke, and after 40 minutes, I found myself needing to go to the bathroom. I was on my way down the stairs in the theater and missed a stair. I heard my ankle crunch, and I went down...grabbing the railing to catch myself. I limped to the bathroom, back to my seat, and eventually out of the theater. By the time I got home my ankle looked like this. After some X-Rays this morning, I was told I tore sorne tendons very badly...no broken bones, and was given a cool cane to walk with. Considering I've broken my left ankle (the one I hurt) three times, I suppose I got off easy. First time I got this badly hurt at a movie. I am now hobbiling around the office and sporting a cane. Sweet. Thanksgiving was nice, once we got there. It took Jess and I five hours to get to Santa Nella, and then another 5 hours to LA the following morning. On Friday we headed to Disneyland which was pretty damn fun. Highlights included the Indiana Jones ride, and the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion. Both were really well done. The major lowlight was the three rave kids high on Escasty riding in the seats in front of us on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Not only were they all listening to headphones and kissing, each other...they were also sniffing some substance and rubbing the shit on each other. This would have been annoying if I were alone, but Jessica's 10 year old niece and a bunch of other kids were on the ride. Jess had a few words and they sat back. I really wanted to punch them in the back of their visor wearing heads. I guess that's it. Not too stoked on the cane...or the fact that I can't go snowboarding. Ironic.
8:57am : TURKEY DAY : For all the people who give me a hard time every Thanksgiving...just check this out. Yup, that turkey of yours isn't all that safe. My choice, the Tofurkey, is one of the best meals on the planet. Everyone who has tried it usually agrees. In related news, President Bush gave his first pardon EVER...to two turkeys. It's rather ironic that they will die anyway due to the growth process induced on modern turkeys at factory farms. PETA sent Bush a Tofurkey...which I'm sure will go uneaten. I'm driving to Southern California tonight...which will not be fun. There's a rough plan to go to Disneyland on Friday, which I've never been to. Could be interesting, but only if they are focused on Monsters Inc, as all other Disney films get on my nerves.
8:53am : CLEAN UP : Late Thursday we found out just how much the Monday storm impacted the office. There's nothing quite like the smell of mildew after four days. I start to get a headache just thinking about it. After moving around the entire office, ripping up half the carpet, and throwing away two hundred pounds of rain soaked carpet padding...the rebuild begins. Today we move everything back into the front office, and try to get back to actual work. Fun stuff indeed. I got the new BURN CD and it just isn't cutting it. Still, it's hard to match the old BURN circa 1990. I wore out my tape of the 7" in my headphones my senior year of high school. The song Drown just seemed so important, and powerful as I sat in English class, not able to speak to the girl I liked.
11:43am : BOOK REPORT : I've been reading a lot lately. I have almost finished Heroes and Villains : The True Story of the Beach Boys...about 100 pages to go. Pretty interesting stuff. They really weren't the clean cut guys that you might imagine. Yeah, I know, this was all on VH-1 and that ABC special, but the book goes into pretty deep detail about Dennis and Manson, Brian's mental health, and the horrible things Murray Wilson did. A solid read. I was side tracked because Dance of Days arrived in the mail Saturday morning and I have been reading it anytime I have a free moment. It's an amazing book documenting the DC harDCcore scene from it's birth in the mid-seventies to present day. It was co-written by Mark Anderson, the man responsible for Positive Force DC. It's an amazing read...go to Soft Skull Press and order it now. I can't wait until the chapters dealing with 89-96...when I lived there. I also was given the new book by designer Chip Kidd, Cheese Monkeys as a gift from my Mom. It's well designed, of course and has received fairly good reviews for the writing. Could be a good one. It feels good to turn off the TV more and more lately...
2:55pm : RAIN LIKE THE SOUND OF TRAINS : After two previous attempts my Mom arrived Saturday night to visit. After sitting on the ground, in the plane for two hours, she took off from Philly and got here to the year's first large rain storm. Sunday was nice, with no rain, and chilly winds. We saw Monsters Inc, and ate Indian Food. Monday had a few challenges. The crash of Flight 587 was more than a little nerve racking. We watched a bit of news, but decided to just brave the rain and go about our day. After going to Berkeley and Pier 39 in the pouring rain, it finally cleared up and we went to Luna Park for dinner. It was a good visit. It was great to see her and makes me hate the large distance between coasts even more. I'm glad she braved the airports to get here. In other news, our office flooded. Monday morning the entire carpet in the main office (including under my desk) was soaked. My G4, which was on the floor, got completely wet and the hard-drive was fried. Thanks to the server, nothing major was lost. Our landlord is an idiot. I hate rain.
10:59am : WHAT HAPPENED TO BUBBLES AND WEBSTER? : It may be just me, but I am stunned that Michael Jackson has any sort of a draw with kids these days. It shocks me that his new album was ranked number one this week on the Billboard charts. I can understand people my age buying it, longing for the days of Thriller, but what do *NSYNC loving pre-teens see in a man who looks like a bleached chimp and sounds like he did two albums ago? His Billboard victory will be short lived as Britney will kick his ass next week. Last night I caught TRL for ten minutes and Carson seemed like he had to force excitement after getting a glimpse of the crotch grabbing freak. Go back to Neverland...
9:55am : DAVID CRANE IS GOD : We have added Sam's Atari 2600 to the game system collection here at THREAT, which already includes my Vectrex and the Playstation2 test station. Even with all the advances in game technology there is nothing like a two player game of Combat to get the blood going. Other popular games in the office include Journey Escape, Frogger, and Basketball. (super bonus points if you know the David Crane reference) Bryce an I went to the San Ramon skate park last night andmet upwith Mike, Tom, and Dave and skated under the lights. Pretty fun. The street course layout is strange, but the small bowl is fun. I just skate it like a mini-ramp as I suck. Still, I'm out there skating, and it's still fun...
4:22pm : CHLOROFORM PERFUME: After looking for it for weeks, I finally found the From Autumn To Ashes LP. Damn fine CD if I do say so my damn self. I've heard them described as Saves the Day meets Converge, which is sort of true...but it is mostly some metalcore and some emo mixed into the same songs. I enjoy it a great deal, but I'm sure it's not for everyone. What is for everyone is the fine film Startup.com. A great documentary about the rise and fall of a dot com business by the name of govworks.com. I related to so many things in this film. What's truely amazing is how you get caught up in the lives of these people and it plays out with more drama than an actual Hollywood script. It's now out on DVD and worth a rental. I also purchased the new Emperor CD, but I'll save that for another post.That's five CDs this weekend. Yes, I have a problem...
1:25pm : WE LAUGH INDOORS : Listening to the new Death Cab For Cutie album, The Photo Album. It's fantastic so far, as I've only listened to the first five tracks. I love going across the bridge to Berkeley and selling CDs. I also picked up the new Poison the Well, and a used copy of the last Oasis. I forgot to get the new / final Emperor disc as I just read they broke up. Oh well...someone else will pick up the torch for black metal I suppose. I guess I'll get it here in town. The reviews I've read have been prasing the hell out of it and the last album is still in my Cd wallet at all times. I want to be in a band... Just for the record, seeing soldiers with automatic weapons as I cross the Bay Bridge doesn't make me feel safer.
1:25pm : WAZOWSKI : Just got back from seeing Monsters Inc. Pixar has done it again. I liked Toy Story and Toy Story 2, but this film is my definite favorite. The story was really well done...very funny, but also very watchable. Not just a running gag, but complex and solid. All the characters were cool (except Roz, the Dispatch Manager...she looked like she was created for another movie entirely). Steve Buscemi as Randall, the bad guy, was perfect. And the animation...Pixar has certainly raised the bar. And oh yeah..the Star Wars: Episode II teaser for the actual teaser. (Insert shoulder shrug here). It was basically a little more than a 20 second slide show. The scenes were OK but didn't blow me away at all. Sure, it was cool...but it didn't even get me excited about the film. Skating last night at the Vans park was fun. I 'helped' Bryce shoot some photos of cab in the pool, which was cool. Although unless I can get on a list,I'm not going to be going to the Vans park again anytime soon. My pass expired and $14 a session is robbery. I do have the 'money saving' option of joining again for $50 and paying $9. Scam artists.
You'll notce the new design...simple, but I think it works. The daily image will be a link as well...above is KG and JB as Wonderboy and Nastyman. That's it for now... |
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