fontosaurus

First off, let me just say that it throws a wrench into the writing habits when you don't bring your keychain drive with you to the office. That's not the worst thing going, though. My friend, Wren, who works for EA, just sent me a pile of console games, and you know that shit's going to impact my writing time. Madden 09, Tiger Woods 09, NHL 09, and Bad Company for the PS3 and Boom Blox for the Wii.

I'm not quite at the stage of freaking out about the move, the major component of which starts three weeks from Saturday. I need to snag some boxes in the next day or two so that I can actually start packing all my shit for the upcoming move.

Last night was fairly relaxing...got home from the second job, wherein Penn informed me that I'm done for the winter. I can still order shit at the employee rate, and pick up shifts for people, but they're not going to be scheduling me. No worries -- I need the additional free time. After a little while, Kate came over, and we curled up on the couch and watched Iron Man. I informed her that an Iron Man suit makes a very suitable first anniversary gift.

I cannot remember where I was going with this post, if anywhere.

First of all, the upcoming Oliver Stone pic, entitled W, while a great idea, is coming in under the "too soon" category. Honestly, we've put up with the douchebag and his cronies for eight years now. Who in the name of god would pay money for a couple of extra hours? I've had about all I can stomach from the Republican party, and I don't care if it means higher taxes for me in the future, but I will never, ever, EVER vote for a Republican candidate again. Their opponent could be spit-roasting live kittens over a nuclear pebble-bed reactor to feed to starving children in some third-world pest-hole, and I'd still vote for them if it meant keeping a Republican out of office. Seriously. Between the debacle of Bush's pseudo-presidency and now the obvious idiocy and hypocrisy of the McCain-Palin campaign, I refuse to understand how anyone can take that party seriously.

I found this one online, and it's too fucking funny not to share. I wish the creator had signed their work, because they deserve serious kudos:



So I'm thinking about picking up a third source of income. I've got my job, and it's fairly secure. I've got my second job, which is probably secure, given that the bike industry as a whole has been having a banner friggin' year due to gas prices/the economy. I think I should probably consider picking up some freelance writing on the side -- just an hour or so of writing a day. I just need to track down a gig, is all. Remember folks, the people that thrive in a down economy are the ones who are in a position to buy when everyone else is selling.

On the more lighthearted side of things, the next time someone calls the NFC East the "NFC Beast", I think I'm either going to have an aneurysm or bitchslap them. I mean, really. Dallas will do what it always does under Tony Romo -- go out in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles were starting to slip before Westbrook broke a few ribs, the Redskins have an average schedule of opponents, and the Giants, well, we'll see how that plays out. But the "Beast"? Really?

This looks to be the best Bond movie ever.

First, lemme thank all of you who have been so supportive of me in my quest for the new job. It's meant a lot to me. I owe all of you for the good karma, encouragement, good thoughts, etc. I'm not sure how I'll repay the kindnesses, but I'm sure I will...

Anyway, for those that don't have all the details yet... I have a position that's an 8 to 12 week contract, fulltime, with the potential to go full-time after the contract is up. It's with the Carlson Leisure Group -- one of the Carlson companies. Schwanky facilities over by where 494 and 394 join up. $26 per hour. I am going to go in there, kick ass, and take names. I'll be doing some intranet development and design, and doing some stuff with their travel bonus site. Should be pretty fun. I'll be doing a lot of front-end user-interface stuff, and some light ASP and ColdFusion dev... I'm totally looking forward to it.

Friday evening I hauled ass down to Mankato to hang out with Carolyn...we were going to go out and get hammered, but by the time I got there, I was pretty tired. We played a bit of Chez Geek, then went down to the bars. I didn't feel like crowds, so we went over to Mexican Village, and had a tequila shot and a beer. Then to bed.

Saturday, we came up here and helped Dave shop for a new Macintosh system. He, as usual, was very methodical about what he should buy. In the end, he got a new G4 desktop. 933 MHz, 768MB RAM, 60GB internal drive, and then an additional 120GB external drive, a new digital camera, a router (which I have to help him configure once his cable service is back online), and some other miscellany. Oh yeah, and a 17" flatscreen. Beautiful system -- I'm mucho jealouso.

Anyway, after setup fun and getting him hooked up with a bunch of the important software, and then Carolyn, myself, Dave, and Kristin went over to Calhoun and went rollerblading. Quite fun. Kristin and Carolyn called it time for a rest after the first lap, and Dave and I did a faster second lap while they sucked down Powerade and kibbitzed.

Carolyn and I went and cleaned up and then had dinner at the Something Original Roadhouse Grill Something Something, which was good. They seem to be an Americanized knock-off of the Outback Steakhouse...their Bloomin' Onion equivelent wasn't very good. The steak and garlic mashed potatoes were awesome, however. Once I got us to 169, she drove the rest of the way -- I was so tired, I fell asleep almost immediate, woke up briefly in LeSueur, and then woke up again in Mankato. Crashed out.

This morning, we went and had a healthy (yeah, right) McDonald's breakfast, then went and saw Lilo and Stitch. Normally, I have a love-hate relationship with Disney. You can never fault the art, music, etc., it's just sometimes a little to saccharine for my tastes. This one isn't the typical Disney fare -- it's got a lot of juvenile humor and a lot of non-whitebread/suburban characters. It managed to make me laugh like hell, and even had me a little choked up at a couple of points. Does that make me a wuss? So be it.

Anyway, I also hit Old Navy -- mom was nice enough to float me $100 for some biz casual clothes, and lo and behold, they had polo shirts on sale, so I grabbed a trio of them. I'm going to hit a few other places tomorrow for more. Variety good. Variety very good.

I guess working in biz clothes is the last step in growing up eh? I can't say I won't miss the jeans-and-t-shirt jobs, but I miss money more than I'll ever miss that.

Real Genius is on one of the multitudes of HBO channels right now. *bliss*

"Man, I dunno what the FUCK you just said, little kid. But you're special. You reached out, and touched a brother's heart." -- Tracy Morgan, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Well, I picked Kristin up at a bit after 4pm. We got to the Mall of America, got her blades, I returned my Vikings license plate frames (they covered the registration stickers, dammit) and got a Vikes car flag and a window sticker. We grabbed some Subway and met Dave over at Lake Calhoun. We ate our subs sitting by the lake, watched a cute girl's micro-dog cop attitude with a giant Doberman (or something), and, of course, commented on its bravery.

This was Kristin's first time on blades, and she was obviously hindered by inexperience. She did manage to biff it pretty hard, once...and had a couple minor dings along the way. It took us over an hour to circumnavigate the lake once. She took my keys and sat in the XTerra and read my copy of Harry Potter (the first one), while Dave and I blazed through a lap in 22 minutes. Not a speed record, but still fun. We did agree that we're all running the Twin Cities Marathon next year (2003), which should be great fun...I haven't done a marathon since 1993, when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg.

Sweaty and gross we blazed from Uptown down to Apple Valley to see Ultimate X on the IMAX screen -- my third time seeing it, D & K's first. They were incredibly impressed by the photography, which is to be expected. Filled up the tank -- despite depositing a large unemployment check today they refused my cash card. Bastards. Dave was nice enough to cover for me. We stopped by my parents' place and they finally met my two cats after dozens of missed opportunities in the past two years. Dropped them off at home after that, came back here, chatted with mso for a bit regarding the birthday plans for tomorrow, and now I am going to get a shower and go to sleep. Yay me!

So, like every other geek on the planet, I saw AOTC several times yesterday, and now I'm dishing up my thoughts on it on my LJ. Basic Summary: it was great, but George Lucas really needs to learn to write dialogue.

On first viewing, I found myself rolling my eyes and even, yes, snickering at the lame factor on some of the dialogue. However, the more times I viewed it, the more tolerable it got. I guess it's like this -- the first time you experience the dialogue, it's like pulling the band-aid off slowly, the second time you know how it is, so it gets yanked.

The CGI was nothing short of fantastic -- the special effects were nothing short of superb. Yoda is now a full CGI character and not a Muppet, and what they have done with him is so good, that it would not surprise me in the least if they were doing photo-realistic humans in a few more years. And environmental design has taken a tremendous leap forward since The Phantom Plot....er, Menace (1999). In TPM, it was obvious that a lot of Tatooine and Coruscant were computer-generated...in AOTC, that's not the case. The scenery is breathtaking -- particular the scene with Anakin riding the speeder into the dusk on Tatooine...the combination of sky and rock formations literally took my breath away. The use of natural environment makes the planets seem more real -- cloud banks enshrouding the skyscrapers on Coruscant, the eerieness of a double-sunset on Tatooine, etc. Absolutely fantastic.

Pacing. Everyone says the first hour is slow. I don't get it. This movie does what TPM couldn't do -- it intersperses action and exposition well enough to keep me interested. In the first hour you have: two assasination attempts, Obi-Wan diving out a multi-hundredth-story window to go after an assasin droid, and a speeder chase among the towers of Coruscant. Excuse me? The first hour is slow?

On the subject of plot -- some people seem to think it's a bit thin on this one, too...but if you've seen the rest of the movies, you'll realize that -- holy shit -- this all ties together. I have my own theories about what's going to happen in Ep3, but I won't share them here.

Lastly, the soundtrack. There aren't enough nice things to say about John Williams. As usual, his work with this series of films is exquisite. I have the soundtrack on CD...it occupies a place in my car's disc changer. I listen to it frequent, particularly the last 2-3 tracks. It's nothing short of fantastic.

I f'n loved it.

It's unlikely that you'd pay a standard admission price at the theatre to see a 48-minute documentary, but Ultimate X is worth every penny and every second of the time invested, whether you're just curious, or a hardcore fan of extreme sports. The movie's photography is nothing short of superb, and the soundtrack does wonders to complement the action on-screen.

Personal favorites: I liked that they reduced the viewing area for the interviews. Personally, I don't want a 6-story IMAXed Tony Hawk in my face, and it made the athletes come across as humans, not larger-than-life gods. Also good -- the street luge scenes (with Moby as the soundtrack). You're right there on the road with these guys at 80 miles per hour, and it's soothing, calm. I'd been interested in trying street luge before this, and the movie cinched it.

Dislikes: They focused pretty much on the Moto-X events, skateboarding, BMX (the downhill race and the dirt-jumping), and street luge. Wakeboarding only makes an appearance, and sky surfing would have been fantastic on the IMAX screen.

The great part was the reaction of the crowd -- a pair of 30-somethings with their two kids, sitting in front of me seemed to get as much of a thrill out of the sequences as their kids and were laughing at the tongue-in-cheek parts of the interviews. Adrenaline junkies like me were on the edge of the seat the entire time. You'll see why extreme sports have such appeal -- they highlight individualism, the athletes are truly athletes -- gifted, athletic, and humble, all rarities in modern professional sports; and the sports are exciting to watch.

Incidentally, the soundtrack is available over @ CDNOW (even if it's not listed here on IMDB), released today (May 14th). Or you can pick it up at the IMAX gift shops. It's a good, solid CD...missing some songs that were in the movie, but all in all, a great disc.

The movie -- highly HIGHLY recommended.

Depression is starting to set in, I think. I really need a job. I need to feel productive again. I mean, shit, I get tons of stuff done around here, with my writing and everything. But I miss my cubicle/veal pen -- I miss being a part of a team and contributing to something. I miss a regular paycheck.

The only totally cool thing about this weekend was seeing Ultimate X at the IMAX. It was filmed entirely at the X Games last summer, which I got to see large portions of, as I was living in Philly at the time. If you have the chance, I highly suggest you go see it. It kicks ass -- the photography is spectacular, the interviews are both tongue-in-cheek and interesting. And I finally know what all the huge cameras were for. The soundtrack is also quite good.

Anyway.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love thunderstorms? I do! They totally kick ass. I woke up to thunder and rain pattering against the windows last night...and it was relaxing. I just snuggled deeper into the blankets, laid there and listened for awhile before sleep overtook me again. A quiet moment of enjoyment without having to spend a dime. And incidentally, there's more on the way:


(Note that this is an updating image.)

Played some Roller Coaster Tycoon today -- the Volcania scenario is kickin' my ass. I've finally got 4 of the 5 coaster fragments finished, and I'd love to be able to ride some of these in real life. :-) I had to rebuild the suspended coaster from scratch because I only managed a 2.83 Excitement rating. Second time around, I managed a 7-point-something deal. Woohoo! (All the coasters have to be finished at 6.7 or higher.) So, I'm pleased with that. I've been stuck on this one for awhile. As I type this, it's running on the Win(D'OH!)s machine, so I'm building up some cash in there.

Mooch has been limping around a bit today, favoring her left front paw. Maybe she's having sympathy pains...my left wrist is killing me. Still. Even with their "it's not broken" verdict, the pain has remained pretty constant. Fucking VA hospital. Ugh. Anyway, if Mooch is still in her on-and-off limping tomorrow, I'll have to take her to the vet. Don't know how I'm going to swing the money for that yet. I worry about her. I love that cat like she was a kid...if anything ever happens to her I'm going to be a wreck. I was traumatized enough by her getting declawed (I'll never have that done to another cat)...and she was too. Basically, she was in for a one-day turnaround declawing, had the surgical sealant instead of stitches. The doc told me to make sure she didn't get up on anything where she'd have to jump down. He might as well have told me to follow her around 24-7...

So I'm in the living room of my place in Philly, about 30 minutes after bringing Mooch home, and I hear a squawk, and Mooch comes running into the living room, favoring a front paw, a huge trail of blood behind her. I panic and scoop her up, and she panics and pees all over the front of my shirt. I run out to the Civic and haul ass back to the vet... They decide to re-seal it and keep her overnight. I was crying the entire time...so much so I couldn't even drive home. I felt awful.

I never want to submit a cat to that again. Ever. (Yes, Pixel still has her claws.)

Let's see...I'm stoked to see that extreme sports thing at the MN Zoo IMAX. A lot of that was filmed at the X Games in Philly last summer, which I was there for. A good time was had by all. And the new Star Wars movie...ohmygodohmygodohmygod...it's going to be better than Empire! I cannot wait! mso ordered our tickets online last night...and we went to go see Changing Lanes. My advice: wait until video for that one. Star Wars we have tickets to the 10am and 10:45pm showing. I am so fucking stoked. I've been waiting since the end of Empire for a real Star Wars movie.

The soundtrack for it is nothing short of breath-taking. I'm convinced that Williams knew what was happened with the entire saga from the day Lucas spoke with him. Beyond "Duel of the Fates", the Episode 1 soundtrack was entirely non-memorable. With Attack of the Clones, it's a whole new story. You have this bittersweet love theme, a new battle theme, and Vader's theme all making appearances throughout the tracks...and the final track blends them all together in a way that gives me goosebumps. I am so crazy about this. I get weird looks for driving around in the XTerra with the "Confrontation with Count Dooku/Finale" track and the "Love Pledge and the Arena" tracks blasting. It kicks that much ass.

On the movie subject, mso and I went to go see Fellowship of the Ring -- my seventh time seeing it. I wanted to see the preview for The Two Towers at the end of it...and OH MY GOD. I must see that movie....whaddaya mean I gotta wait til Christmas??? My Xmas gift better be a ticket to that show! Holy crap. Dark, foreboding, and just downright bad-assed looking. The battle scenes look hella cool. I'm bummed about how the trilogy is ending though...I was talking to Batgar on Monday and he said that Peter Jackson left out the part where the four hobbits return to the Shire and have to liberate it. Damn! That's lunacy! It was a beautiful statement on the responsibility that citizens have to their community. I just can't believe they dropped it... *sigh*

Man, am I rambling or what? Yeah! Anyway, I have some fonts that need to be addressed, so I am going to go get to work on those.

Thank god that weekend is over. I mean, it had it's ups and downs, and all in all, it wasn't too bad. I'm just glad it's over.

Friday...um, Spiderman. Spiderman rocked my afro (okay, I don't have an afro, but I wish I did). I don't care about the purists' whining about the organic web-shooters. Fuck you, fanboys. I have loved that comic since I was five (1977), and I say quit yer fuckin' bitchin'! This is a hell of a good start to the summer movie season. There's so much shit I want to see, it's crazy. I better get employed soon so that I can afford all this. On my agenda: Star Wars Episode 2 (of course), MIB2, Bad Company, Windtalkers, Sum of all Fears, Goldmember, Minority Report (MAYBE -- Tom Cruise can be offset by Phillip K. Dick, who wrote the story that became Bladerunner), The Bourne Identity, and I'm sure that there's some dramas, etc., that I haven't seen previews for yet, that I will probably end up going to. I love movies.

So that was Friday. Saturday I did housework, futzed around, read more of Gaiman's American Gods,etc. Went rollerblading...crashed. Badly. I'm sure it looked quite funny. Anyway, I wasn't wearing any safety gear, and I landed on my left hand and the top/rear of my pelvis. Until that moment, I'd never landed on my ass so hard I thought my face was going to explode. Anyway, I bladed home and groused about the pain for awhile. Rather than go to the doctor, I went to a party with mso at postumus and maus's place. Had a pretty good time, but there were some annoying underage chicks there that, while cute, were just irritating beyond all belief. (Discuss Fight Club and get an, "Oh my god, I am SUCH a BIG Brad Pitt fan!" *insert scatterbrained giggle here*)

So Sunday morning, I went over to the VA to have my wrist looked at. Supposedly, it's not, but a specialist is looking over my x-rays today, and if there's any question, I get to have an MRI! Whee. Went to breakfast with mso, Kellie (her roommate) and K's boyfriend, Seth, at this groovy place down on Lake. Went from there to the Mall of America, got some safety gear for rollerblading (about 24 hours too late). Went to mom's place to mooch a coupon for a free car wash at this place that charges like $23 for one...she gave me the rest of the book, which is groovy. Rain was on the forecast for Sunday and Monday, though, so I am going to wait on washing the XTerra until Tuesday. Played mom in Scrabble, and she beat me by 110 points -- in our last game, I used all seven letters on my opening move, this game, she turned the tables. Ow! How demoralizing. Then, I went over to Amy and Kellie's Sunday night, and Amy and I made a batch of cookies from pre-mixed dough and I bitchslapped her at Scrabble, then everyone else when the four of us from breakfast played again. (Seth is the Official King of the Three-Letter Word!)

So I came home, crashed. Woke up this morning with a nice headache and a bag of leftover chocolate chip cookies. Yum!