Ramblings (AKA How Was Your Weekend? II)

I went to my first surprise birthday party ever. There is something odd about surprise birthday parties, particularly if you've only met the the surprisee twice. There's that awkward silence where everyone waits for the surprisee to walk through the door. They walk through the door. Everyone yells surprise. I mumble so as not to draw attention to myself. Then I slowly back away while everyone that knows the person goes in for hugs. What am I supposed to do? Go in to wish someone a happy birthday to someone I don't know? I'm just there for the food, and to hang out with people I know. I thought for a moment that I could have avoided the whole surprise moment by hanging out in the bathroom. Then I realized if I ended up having to wait in the bathroom for an extended period of time it would be more embarrassing.

I also realized that I feel old hanging out with 20 somethings.

Watched the Cubs clinch their division Saturday. They are one win away from securing home field advantage through the playoffs. This really has been a rather magical season. I hope it continues.

I finished playing The Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. While it has a few camera issues, and there is some rather difficult sections that just show up, the story is pretty good. It also never gets tiring using force combos that sends a Stormtrooper hurling in the air. SPOILERS DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING BOB: Basically you play as Darth Vader's apprentice and start taking out the Jedi that have gone into hiding. You are then tasked with pretending to be a good guy and flush out those who would oppose the Emperor. Darth Vader double crosses you and your realize your true path as a Jedi. You get to then kick Darth Vader and the Emperor's ass. You save Princess Leah and Jimmy Smitts. Then you die, and the Rebel Alliance is formed because of you. They even use your family crest as the symbol for the Rebel Alliance. There are a couple problems with a story that is in fact better than the last three Star Wars disasters. First, you get double crossed by Darth Vader twice. Twice! I realize you're Vader's apprentice, and he raised you from a young boy, but twice? Second, after being able to kick Vader and the Emperor's asses back to back, how is it Skywalker is the chosen one? Third, I'm tired of the whole Jedi way of don't kill the head bad guy or you'll be a bad guy too. What about the thousands of stormtroopers I killed just to get here? I can kill them, but not the Emperor? So you are standing there ready to kill the Emperor, and everybody runs up to saying, "Don't kill him or you'll become evil." Only I'm thinking, "Look guys, I know how this turns out. I will be saving a lot a people a lot of trouble if I do this. Besides, I've only been a Jedi for about an hour." Still, it is very well acted, it looks great, and having the ability to use the force is always fun. I do recommend it for you Star Wars fans out there.

And of course there is Rock Band 2. You can download nearly all of the original game's songs onto your hard drive, so there is no changing of disks to play all of the songs. There are some great song choices on Rock Band 2. The list of upcoming downloadable songs and albums looks very promising as well. The plan is to have 500 songs available by the end of the year. 500.

For the first time ever, I think I'm going to become a member of the church I attend. For those of you who know my cynical tendency toward churches will realize this is a pretty big deal.

This unfortunately has led to me signing up for the church retreat this weekend. I am going to be in nature with a bunch of strangers, and no way out. It will be fun. It will be fun. It will be fun.

Rumblings (The 5.4 Magnitude Edition)

As I sat through the largest earthquake that I've ever experienced during my 7+ years of living out here, one thing went through my mind: Jiff will have no idea what I'm pondering. So, here is what was going through my mind- Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

So there used to be a time when odd, strange, creepy, and sadly funny things would happen in my life. Well, something has happened, and those things are no longer taking place. Maybe I've matured? Maybe I'm just living in a better neighborhood? Maybe I just don't put myself in situations where such things could happen? Either way, I'm bored. I have no new crazy stories to tell. I've worn out all my old stories. I have simply this boring and normal existence. Changes need to be made.

A couple weeks ago, I had my first taste of caffeine in about 4 months. I was like a kid released in pixie stix factory. It was nice actually noticing the caffeine coursing through my body.

Last week I learned my first full song on guitar. Well I didn't learn the solo, but I can crappily play The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses." On my own I've dabbled into a little Priest, some more AC/DC, and The Outfield's "Say It Isn't So." I realize this is probably normal, but I now can't stop looking at guitars, and gear, and pedals. It's become a slight addiction, which will be fine as long as I keep it to window shopping. I now understand why those guys have all those guitars.

Ida Maria (of the spectacular "Oh My God" on Snobfest 2007) just released her debut album. Of course it's UK only at this moment. I never understood that. Why not try to get into as many hands as possible? Is international distribution that much of pain in the ass?

Still digging Hold Steady's latest. Black and Whites album is quite good. Paul Westerberg just released an album for $0.49. It's an interesting experiment. The song Perfect Games has raised my expectations for The Broken West's upcoming album. Now is the following an unacceptable bastardization of a classic, or an intriguing take on a classic?


We are only a couple weeks away from a new season for Tottenham Hotspur. They've really strengthened their midfield, but one of our star strikers left to Liverpool. Their other striker is trying to get out of Tottenham as well. So unless we can sign some quality before the deadline they could be struggling for some goals this season.

I found a PS3 on my TV stand a few months ago. Really weird.

There is a new sports rivalry heating up this year. We've had our Ohio State vs. Michigan, Red Sox vs. Yankees, Cowboys vs. Redskins, etc. The Cubs rival has always been the Cardinals. The problem is that while it was a strong rival it never seemed to have the excitement or vitriol of say the Red Sox and Yankees. I put most of the blame on the Cardinal fans. Sure they might be knowledgeable, and not really like us, but they have always been too polite and stuffy. Well, it looks like the Cubs have gained a proper rival in the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have been mostly awful since they came over to the National League years ago. It got so bad that Cubs fans started calling Miller Park "Wrigley North." But things have changed. The Brewers got their shit together and have had a good youthful team the last couple seasons. Last year the Brewers were in first place up until after the All Star break where the Cubs finally caught and surpassed them. This year the Brewers are trying to catch the Cubs. The Brewers traded for Cy Young award winner CC Sabathia. The Cubs then fired back by trading for stud pitcher (when healthy) Rich Harden. It's lead to a series this week that has come across like it's the playoffs in its intensity. The fans have been crazy. The players and managers are clearly feeding off it. Just watching last night's game on TV you could feel that something special is...um...brewing...sigh. Even ESPN has even jumped all over this series giving it the opening slot on Sportscenter. I'm all for this rivalry growing. I think it could grow into something special. The Cubs and Brewers play the final series of season against each other in Milwaukee. If the playoff spots haven't been settled by then, that series could be something to behold. Yes, I realize the Cubs would play the role of the Yankees to the Brewers' Red Sox.

Ramblings

So I haven't posted here in nearly a month. I haven't been sick or down. I've just been busy. As in real life busy. There's guitar lessons, therapy, I've joined a community group, trying to finish a spec script, working with BOB on a comic book, and other things. I've been so busy I haven't even played many video games. I have not been busy enough to miss Kobe prove he's no Jordan. Let's get this ramblings underway.

It's nice to see the Cubs curse finally arriving what with Zambrano, Soriano, and the bastard Edmonds all getting hurt this month. I assume traffic on the I-90 must have been a bitch.

It's the off-season for Tottenham Hotspur, but big things have still been happening. They have signed two top line players, and show no sign of stopping there. Once they can sell off a bit more of the dead weight, and perhaps even Berbatov, they will be able scoop up who they need to for a possible run at the top four this season. To fulfill my soccer jones I have been enjoying Euro 2008. ESPN has been showing a lot of the games, and in glorious HD.

Everyone is back to work here on the 7th (yes 7th!) season of CSI: Miami. Vegas has the over/under on people killed by Horatio this season at 10. Take the over.

Somehow I must have accidentally hit the "grow up" switch or dial within the last couple weeks. I don't know what's happening to me.

Remember the group Supergrass? They had their one U.S. hit "Alright" back in 1995. Well they have been the one consistently good bands from the BritPop years. I never plan on it, but I always end up buying their albums. And it's happened again with their latest "Diamond Hoo Ha." It's got a great batch of tunes. My favorite being "Rebel In You." But there's no video for that, so here's the title track. All I have to say is BABY!.


Because their album was leaked early on the internet (which seems to be a standard these days), The Hold Steady released their album, "Stay Positive" early on iTunes. It's another great album. They really know how to sequence an album. It's not as continuous story wise as "Separation Sunday," but they know how to open and close an album. Favorite initial songs, "Constructive Summer," "Lord, I'm Discouraged," and "Yeah, Sapphire."

Is Coldplay still relevant? The answer is no.

Here's a list of songs I can partially play awfully enough that it could work for a "Name That Tune" game show.

AC/DC's "Back in Black"
White Stripes "Black Math"
Led Zep "Black Dog"
Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
Doobie Bros. "China Grove"

Of course if the contestants needed more than 10 notes to name the song I'd be screwed.

I've heard so many awful things about the movie "The Happening" that I kind of want to see the train wreck.

Another thing that indicates that somehow I might be growing up is that I've found myself going to bed before 2AM. Maybe I'm not growing up but just growing old.

And finally...wait for the "Hey!"

Ramblings (At Least It's Not An American Idol Post Edition)

I'm know I'm going to be kicking myself for saying this, but the Cubs are looking good. So good that I find myself surprised when they lose. I don't know what to do with myself. I think it's all about Fukudome!

We are just 4 days away from the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. The game that everyone loves to hate. I can't wait. I might call in sick Tuesday, or at least go home early.

Stuff I'm listening to:

The Night Marchers new album See You In Magic that came out Tuesday. The Night Marchers are the new group led by Speedo of Rocket from the Crypt and Hot Snakes fame. It's exactly the kind of album you would expect: Rock n' Roll!

The Muslims self-titled album. Oddly enough they are the opening act for The Night Marchers. They fit in the Modern Lovers/Velvet Underground vein.

I've been playing the hell out of The Sweet Serenades song "First Taste of Trouble."

There has been a rash of Blank and Blank groups appearing on my Zune. Plants and Animals ("Bye Bye Bye" being my favorite cut), Pete and the Pirates (just get this whole album), Apes and Androids, Snake and Jets.

Finally, The Wet Secrets have come up with my favorite song title of the year so far: Grow Your Own F***ing Moustache, Asshole. The song is actually very good.


We are reaching the end of the season here on CSI: Miami. All the episodes have been written, and now there is only the task of shooting them and editing. Thankfully, that doesn't require anything from me. I will say that our season finale is pretty huge. In fact, for the first time ever, I am probably going to suggest everyone watch it. Even if you hate the show, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy it.

I have a date tonight. I guess that's news.

The CSI: Miami wrap party is Saturday. That could become news.

I'm still playing Rock Band about twice a week, and I still get blisters from drumming. Is my skin that baby soft and delicate? I know I've gone on and one about this, but Harmonix who made this game have really done a fantastic job keeping this game in my 360. The current count for downloadable songs is at 94. They just now begining to roll out their full albums. The Pixies Doolittle is coming out in the next couple monts. The thing is I've had this game since November and I still play it every week. Most games last a couple months at most in my Xbox. It's really something I guess that you have to experience to see just how perfectly it hits that "pure fun" mark.

Ben I. do you ever wonder what would've happened to us, if we stayed at Bob Jones?

Ramblings

TNT HD has been showing X-Files and Angel reruns late at night. This has resulted in some nice geek living when I just get home at work. Two fantastic shows that I've really enjoyed re-watching. I've enjoyed Angel the most. Sure there were missteps in the last two seasons, but damn it if I wasn't in tears during the finale. Which I would like to say is how a cut to black finale should work. cough Sopranos cough I actually clapped at the end, and I hate it when people clap at the end of watching a movie or TV show. How can you turn down a show that has an episode where the lead character is turned into a puppet? Ok, most of you probably can, but I can't.

For the past two months, I've been eating around 2 pints of ice cream a week.

Thanks to therapy, I've now fully realized how paranoid I am. I'm not paranoid toward strangers or if someone is going to hurt me. It's the reverse. I'm paranoid that someone will think I'm trying to hurt them or doing something wrong. If I end up walking behind a stranger for too long, I will stop or cross the street or go the long way around the block just so they don't think I'm some creepy guy following them. Sure I've written about my paranoia before. But talking about it out loud to someone kind of puts a different spin on it.

Using my Diana+ camera, I took photos of a friend's graduation performance from DJ Academy. I was so excited when I picked them up. Then I was furious when I realized they were all black. Then I cursed myself for thinking I could do this film camera thing. Then I wished I'd paid more attention in my lighting class. Then I bought a used Holga for the flash. So, now I have the Diana+ for daytime, long exposures, and pinholes, and my Holga for nighttime and dark shots. I've still found myself using my Diana+ more often.

We are now up to five weeks with no caffeine. Oddly it has only been recently that I have had cravings for Pepsi.

I'm torn right now. I think it would be a perfect fit for the Cubs to trade for Brian Roberts from Baltimore. It would give us a legitimate lead off hitter, and serious contenders in the National League. But, do I really want a player mentioned in the Mitchell Report on the team? On the other hand, to think that none of the current Cubs players have ever used performance enhancement drugs would be a bit naive on my part. Still...

I thought I lost it. I thought I lost my plastic guitar playing ability. After playing just the drums for over a month, I decided I wanted to strum a little guitar. There were some freshly downloaded Grateful Dead songs I wanted to try. (Yes, Grateful Dead) I expected there to be some rust so I set it on the hard setting. I quickly found myself being booed off the stage. What the hell? I've never failed a song on hard. I thought it was a fluke. I tried again. I didn't fail but I struggled mightily. I became a little concerned. I now sucked at guitar. Was I now going to have to play on medium? Well, eventually I was able to regain most of my form in about a week. I still can't beat Green Grass and High Tides on expert. It could vary well be my one video game regret in my life. 85% that's as far as I can get. I've realized the best way to describe my ability at Rock Band. I'm cover band talented.

I picked up the She & Him album. The album with M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. You know what? It's quite good. Maybe it's my affection for the AM Goldish sound? Maybe it's my affection for Ms. Deschanel? But I like it.

Ramblings (Basbeall Season is Upon Us! Hello? Where Did Everyone Go Edition?)

I'm so excited at how this final season of The Wire is shaping up. I was a little concerned with the homeless story line, but it is all coming together so nicely. Of course the fact that I wrote "final season" is a bit of a bummer. I'm totally hooked now on this OnDemand. HBO makes the new episodes of The Wire available a week early which makes Mondays bearable.

Speaking of TV. The flash forwards on Lost have completely saved show and was a brilliant move by the writers. Unlike Heroes, the strike might have actually helped Lost, because they seem so honed in and moving the plot along because they don't have to try to fill a full season.

Unfortunately, it looks like the strike might have put an end to Friday Night Lights. If a couple years from now you Netflix the series and end up realizing its brilliance, don't come telling me I was right. I don't want to hear it because you will be two years too late.

We are a little over a week away from the American Idol's final 12. I will be back blogging again about the show, but other than readership spikes I have no idea why it even matters. We already know that David Archuleta is going to when. Have you heard how loud the pre-teen girls squeal when even his name it uttered? It would take some monumental scandal or Paula Abdul actually killing him with love for him not to win. Worst idol season ever? Maybe.

Almost four weeks and still no caffeine intake.

I'm really enjoying The Mae Shi's new album.


Looking forward to The Gutter Twins album tomorrow and the concert April 2.

I recently started a new workout program. It's called Rock Band Drummer. Playing drums for an hour works everything. Well everything except my left leg. The next Rock Band needs double kick drums so I can get the complete workout.

Finally, I will end this post with some practice shots I took with the wonderful Diana+ camera Ben, Julie, and Ella gave me for Christmas.

Ramblings (The Week of Suck)

How about we get the suck part out of the way first. For the past two weeks I've been battling some weird throat infection. This isn't your normal sore throat or strep throat. Somehow my throat got some kind of bacteria or something below my Adam's apple, so I had the constant feeling of gag. Worse is that it would tease me by making me think it was going away only to have it come back stronger. Of course the doctor's remedy was antibiotics which you would think should be working by now. The worse is the lidocaine I was given to numb my throat. It's basically ectoplasm. Wretched tasting ectoplasm.

A side effect to this illness is that my schedule is now all thrown out of whack. With the fear of choking to death in my sleep, it has taken me till 6 or 7 in the morning for me to fall asleep. There's nothing like trying to fall asleep only to see the sunrise.

To top off this wonderful week, my Xbox 360 is once again on the fritz. This time it isn't a red ring of death but simply one blinking red light. If I spin in around on one foot three and a half times and then say "Microsoft Quality Control" backwards followed by the slaughtering of two silverfish I can usually get it to boot on the tenth try. But, that's three dead Xboxes in a little over one calendar year. Three! Why can't the PS3 have decent games?

Finally, my desktop is on death's door. It seems every week one more thing goes wrong with it. This week it has been my display driver.

It hasn't all been bad.

The Mets basically locked up the NL by trading nothing to the Twins for Johan Santana. He just happens to be the best pitcher in the last ten years. Wait no that sucks too for every other NL team. The Cubs need to trade for Bedard and even Roberts too. I'm tired of this thinking that once you make it to the playoffs anything can happen. Well, right now the AL is kicking the NL's ass. We need talent that competes with the AL and not just within the crappy NL central.

But really there is good news. The Tottenham Hotspurs actually got players in the transfer window that will finally help our defense. No more overpaid fourth strikers, but honest to goodness quality defenders. Sure there is now way we can get near the top now, but I think we now have a defense to support our attacking offense.

I picked up both Vampire Weekend's debut album and The Evangelicals album "The Evening Descends." Both are quite good. The Evangelicals is a little trippy, but I really like it for some reason.

I finally was able to survive Metallica's "One" on the hard difficulty in Guitar Hero 3. Really, you have no idea how thrilled I was by this. Maybe that's what killed my Xbox? Slayer's "Raining Blood" still kicks my ass. Stupid old fingers.

Ramblings (Sitting On My Ass Edition) + Christmas List Updated

What's going on kids? Yeah, nothing much here either. But I will try to fill in some white space with some words.

I spent a very nice Thanksgiving up in Ojai with the Anne Marie, the Heilveils, four dogs, and another creature that was apparently a dog, but really looked like a breeding experiment gone awry.

What does it say about me that I get along better with those older than me than I do those my age?

When does being young at heart turn into simply being immature?

They demolished a house across the street so they can build a new one. Of course they are doing all this during my current opportunity to sleep in all the time. There is also dust and odd smells constantly entering my apartment. Last night I was overwhelmed by diesel fumes as a semi truck was left idling for about half an hour.

This Facebook thing is working out much better than myspace ever did. Not only did I find fellow high school president/vice president running mate Craig Keim, but Brent Underwood as well. Brent Underwood! Growing up before my parents divorce we were the dynamic duo. We went to the same school and church. My Mom adored the hell out of Brent. Brent has the wonderful distinction of being at my last birthday party that ever involved people outside my family. Below is a picture documenting the event. Brent is on my left. We both had a lot more hair back then. Yes that is a cake with a bunch of army men on there and it rocks. I have no idea who the other kid is removing the army man. Those were some good times. Brent also has a blog that is now linked om the left.

Oh! I picked up Rock Band. Because I am poor I only picked up the game and not the whole package. With the Xbox 360 you can use the Guitar Hero guitars to play Rock Band. This is a good thing because I'm not a fan of the Rock Band guitar I tested at Best Buy. The Guitar Hero 3 wireless guitar is the best by far. How do they compare you might ask? That's a good question. Guitar Hero 3 is a more polished Guitar Hero 2. Obviously it is focused on
delivering the guitar god experience. Rock Band is built to be a mulitplayer game. To achieve the full enjoyment of the game you should play with four friends to play guitar, bass, drums, and singing. This leads to the game being a little lacking in single player. It's not till the last tier of songs that playing the guitar becomes a challenge similar to Guitar Hero. This though isn't exactly a deal breaker because the presentation of Rock Band I think trumps Guitar Hero. I really like the visuals of Rock Band. I love that it gives you a fairly in depth menu to design your own character. Guitar Hero has pre-designed ones that you get to select and some you unlock. Maybe I'm just a little pissed that GH3 didn't include my favorite character from GH2. I love that the crowd in Rock Band sings along with you during the choruses and at the points where a crowd would normally join in. It all blends to create the feeling of being a band on stage. The songs are also a bit more accessible. For example, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" would be boring playing it on Guitar Hero. Add a few friends though and it becomes a blast in Rock Band. Rock Band also comes out on top for me a little because of the songs you can download. Rock Band already has over 15 songs you can download from artists ranging from Metallica to The Police to Creedence. There are another 15 or more scheduled to be available in the next month. I know this sounds a little like I'm putting down Guitar Hero 3. I'm not. I love Guitar Hero 3. There are just some things that Rock Band does that I would like to see in Guitar Hero. In a way Guitar Hero is for the hardcore, while Rock Band is a little more for the masses. Now I just need to buy the drums once this strike ends and then recruit some people who aren't embarrassed rocking in view of other people. I will say my favorite moment between both games is playing Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time." I get goose bumps playing that on Rock Band.



What else to talk about? Hmm...

Hollywood people seem to be cautiously optimistic about the current negotiations that began this week. I would say I am cautiously pessimistic that the strike will end soon. Can someone be cautiously pessimistic?

I will go ahead and admit now that I really liked No Country for Old Men. I even liked the last thirty minutes that left most people grumbling.

I guess I could do my Christmas list. So you non-family readers can simply stop reading now.

How about a guitar? Acoustic or electric (Fender American Stratocaster.) New or Used. Wait! How about money for a guitar? I don't want to haul a guitar on the airplane.

Xbox 360 Live Points

Mass Effect

Shirts like this or this. (Side note: Damn that model's hair!)

Cardigan like this. I will also accept one in a navy color.

Crew neck sweaters in charcoal, navy, hunter green, or brown.

I'm still debating on this whole vest making a come back. So I tentatively ask for this.

You know I kind of like the new 80GB Zune. One with one of those Zune original designs would be a nice added tough. But I will also accept an 80GB iPod classic or 16GB iPod Touch.

I guess that's about it.

I guess that isn't about it:

Here are some DVD's:

Duck, You Sucker 2 Disc Edition
The Third Man Criterion Edition
Ace In The Hole Criterion
Spellbound Criterion

Some PSP games:

Crush (If you can find it)
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow

Nintendo DS:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Finally a little lo-fi:

A Diana+ camera with film

Lomo Smena 8M camera with film

Ramblings (Why Edition)

Why does Netflix guess that I will rate Fantastic Four's: Rise of the Silver Surfer 1 and 3/4th star yet when I actually rate movies I am limited to only whole stars?

Why hasn't science come up with a better way for the common man to do laundry? Haven't we been waiting an hour for the laundry to dry since the 1960's? In forty plus years we haven't come up with a way to at least shorten that time?

Why did I decide to wear a sweater today? It is unseasonably warm outside.

Why do they even bother assigning jury service during the month of December? I got a notice stating that I have to serve starting the 17th of December. Yeah, that's not going to happen.

Why did I replace my nicotine addiction with Guitar Hero? I thought for sure it would be replaced with food so I would gain at least 100 lbs. It's one o'clock and the morning, and I'm right now thinking I could squeeze in a couple plays of "Cliffs Over Dover."

Why can't I think of anything that I want for Christmas?

Why can't I get past this absurd sense of being polite? If I was Jack Bauer, the world would have been destroyed because I wouldn't want to interrupt Chloe and Edgar bickering at each other.

Why does it itch?

Why would anybody want to sign A-Rod? You might get what you pay for, but you also can't get anything else to compliment him. Unless you are the Yankees or Red Sox.

Why am I always scared I will miss something?

Why can't people stop talking and enjoy a little silence?

Ramblings (Happy Halloween/Writer's Strike Eve Edition)

What's happening kiddies? Do you have a bunch of people meeting together to see if you have to come into work? I do. They call it negotiations. I'm probably going to be a little disappointed if there isn't at least like two or three days of a strike. I've psyched myself up so much I'm sort of looking forward to some time off as long as it's only a week or two. Any more than that and I'm no longer keen. It's also a little funny how people's attitudes have changed slightly as the contract deadline has approached. Used to be a lot of joking about it mixed with a little concern. Now there are a lot more people with the "Shit! This is really gonna happen!" look on their face. There is a nice undercurrent of panic flowing through the lot. It's a little weird. My personal stance on this whole strike things is: Screw 'em. I know I'm a little bias since I'm pursuing the writing profession. Still the producers have come across like such bullies during this whole ordeal. They concede parts of their proposal that had no right being there in the first place, and then act like they have made a huge concession by removing it. I'm just tired of this whole mess that it seems a group of logical people could have figured out in a week.

Coinciding with the most job stress I've had in the last few years, I quit smoking on Monday. There are a couple reasons why.

First, I had to quit so that the impending back surgery will have a better chance at success. Second, it's cheaper not to smoke.
Third, I'm tired of being associated with the second worst group of people on earth. If you were to do a poll on what groups were considered the worst type of people it would probably come out a lot like this:

1. People that club baby seals
2. Smokers
3. Republicans
4. Democrats
5. Soccer Moms
6. Terrorists

I get more dirty looks walking around with a cigarette than I would walking around with a bloody axe.

Speaking of bloody axe, I got my Guitar Hero 3 in the mail Monday. First off, the new wireless guitar is fantastic. The buttons are much better, and the guitar just feels great with its added heft. I found myself hitting a lot more runs than I could with the old guitar. Second, the song list is pretty fantastic, and more than half of the songs are from the original artists, and not cover songs. The game though is a little more hardcore. The Hard difficulty is a bit more difficult than in II, but the Medium difficulty is about the same but easier because of the nicer guitar. This leaves with a bit of a problem of one difficulty being too easy and the other too difficult to be enjoyable. The bonus songs you unlock also aren't as enjoyable as in Guitar Hero 2. The core of Guitar Hero though is firmly intact with a better main songlist and better wireless guitar.

Hmm...anything else?

I have no idea what I want for Christmas.

The office is addicted to Scrabulous.

Ah, screw it. I've got nothing. Nothing. This whole town is about to shut down and that's all everybody is thinking about.

Ramblings (Kids, Santa Might Not Be Coming This Year Edition)

First off it's really creepy outside today. There's a visible breeze but you can't feel it. The weather is not your normal California warm. Smoke from all the fires has cast a strange smoky haze over the coast. Oh and I had to worry that I should run home and close my windows because of the ash falling from the sky.

For those who live outside Los Angeles, or don't read Variety, or live in a world where reason and sanity exist, you might not know that there is a writer's strike just on the horizon and is approaching at speeds up to 90 mph. I'm not going go into detail of what the Writer's Guild wants and what the studios and networks are offering because that will exceed the boredom factor of even this blog. All I will say is that it sucks...big time. When this strike happens thousands of PA's, writer's assistants, and other help staff are going to either flood the employment market or take a few unemployment checks and hope the strike doesn't last long. For the record, the last strike happened in 1988 and lasted 5 months. Oh, and you dear viewers can expect a flood of reruns and reality programs sometime around early to mid January. Maybe even reruns of reality programs. In between work and late afternoon rounds of scrabulous, the strike has dominated office conversation. Heck, even the old guy writers that work on Boston Legal keep mentioning it to me during smoke breaks. What are you going to do? How far can you go on your saving? What about you no longer having health insurance? Wouldn't it be nice if there was an assistant union? What would all the producers and writers do if they had to get their own lunch and coffee, or work a photo copier, or learn how to send an email? What really sucks is that it's that Holiday season, and I love giving, and now perhaps I might not have as much to give. On to more enjoyable things...

Mandy, have you seen the geektastic chumby?

Somehow some eleven year old somewhere figured out how to get the Guitar Hero III demo online so you can simply download it, burn it onto a DVD, and play it on your 360. That means last night I got to rock out to some new tunes without having to buy another Tony Hawk game. One week from Sunday the full version will be released. My one hesitation is that the bonus tracks won't include some of my favorite bands from Guitar Hero 2. In Guitar Hero 2 you had lesser known bands like Valient Thorr and personal fav Bang Camaro. Come on they have 20 lead singers singing at the same time. Now that Harmonix is out and doing their thang with Rock Band, we aren't going to get these bands in Guitar Hero 3. Still, rocking my toy guitar to "Rock You Like a Hurricane" sure does bring a smile to my face.



Yes, I'm tempted to ask for Rock Band for Christmas or maybe a Chumby.

Speaking of nerd things I only care about, back in the early 80's my Mom signed me up for a computer class. In that class, I wrote a program that drew a picture of a bear. Later on I would try to write my own Zork computer games on my Mom's old IBM. First of all, big ups to Mom for seeing how important computers would be even at that time. Second, why didn't I keep up with this? It wasn't like music lessons or something. Also, where would I be if I did keep up with that? Would I be living in some retro cool town house in San Fransisco? Perhaps I'd just be living in someone's basement among Taco Bell wrappers, playing Warcraft, thinking I could've made this game.

Sunday, my brother Sam and I played Halo 3 co-op. Over twenty years ago we were taking turns playing King's Quest or Vanguard. Now, we are simultaneously playing the same game with one continent and the Atlantic Ocean separating us. Sweet technology, how I love you.

Went to my second Reading to Kids a couple Saturday's ago. It went even better than last time. I had a better partner, and the group was smaller. I'm hoping that in the upcoming months I can become a favorite. When the kids all get in line and wait for the readers to come out, I want the kids in my row to be thrilled. I want kids in the other rows to try to swindle their way into my row. At the very least, I'd be happy if they remembered me from the week before.

Ohio State's first real test of the season happens this weekend when the play Penn State at Happy Valley. Anne Marie, would you like to come over and watch the game in glorious HD?

The Tottenham Hotspurs this season are simply awful. The games have ranged from abysmal blowouts to dominating leads given up in the last minutes of injury time. Twice they had commanding leads over Fulham and Liverpool only to give up tying goals in the last minute. It's like watching the 2005 Cubs. It's just painful.

Ramblings (Updated)

The Cubs are in the closest race for the playoffs this season, and there is little to no national TV coverage. Can't WGN work a deal with Comcast so they can air more than two games a week? Why doesn't ESPN have a deal to show games during tight races? What Cubs fan across the nation isn't going watch? Man, my nerves are already shot. That Houston series nearly killed me.

In the latest issue of ESPN the magazine, Bill Simmons wrote a piece on saving Friday Night Lights. He praises it better than I did in my plea. ESPN.com finally put up the article. You can read it here

A week and a half till Halo 3 and the season premiere of Heroes.

A month and a half till Guitar Hero 3.

This year has clearly been brought to you by the number 3.

I've been battling myself over buying NHL '08, but I don't think it would be the same playing a hockey video game without Jiff.

iPod classic or iPod touch? Reading that Apple stores received the iPod touch early, I almost bought one...almost. This current control I've been showing over my impulse purchasing has impressed even me. I think it's that thought of the impending writer's strike?

I know I've been told that we won't care about such things, but I want to know answers to some of history's mysteries when I get to heaven. And, I don't mean Easter Island statues or Stonehenge or even Area 51. I mean I want to know those, but I'm more interested in who killed Hoffa and where is he buried? I'd like to know who Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac was.
Where did D.B. Cooper go after he jumped out of that plane? Who killed the Black Dahlia? Things like that. I'd also like to know who wrote those dirty poems to Susan Rice and put my name on them. That still bugs me.

Tottenham Spurs plays Arsenal this weekend. Again this is like OSU vs. Michigan only with more hatred in the fans hearts.

It's taken me longer to come up with a review for Bioshock than it took me to actually play the game.

I really enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma, though the turn in the story still doesn't seem rational.

Ramblings (Partial Days of the Week Edition)

Sunday Robert and I played a little Guitar Hero. After playing the rhythm guitar part of Free Bird on the hard difficulty session I wonder if I'm strengthening my wrists and fingers or am I destroying them. In five years am I going to have to replace my hands with prosthetics?

Saturday I went to see Anne's new place in Silverlake. It's a great little place. It also was so nice driving only a half hour to see my sister.

Also, while eating at Mallie's (?) with Anne and Ben we saw Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame. Unfortunately, Ben and Anne have not had the pleasure of seeing the show. Luckily, the lady sitting next to us had, and was extremely enthusiastic about seeing him. So it seems the ladies love Bret, and the guys like Jermaine.



Thursday was my last physical therapy session. Sigh. I've been trying to work a monthly massage now into my budget. But I still don't think it'd be the same without the therapist. Apparently, if I hurt something else I can go back. Hmm.

Monday some coworkers and I went to go see the Simpson's movie after work. Rather than give some long review about the movie, let me talk about something else: the overlaugher. Sitting right behind me was the overlaugher. I despise the overlaugher. In fact the overlaugher is in the upper echelon of people I despise. Are they scared to appear as if they don't get every joke? Do they want to make sure that everyone knows what the funny parts are? Why do they have to be the loudest person in the theater? I will hate a movie just out of spite because of the overlaugher. I hate you overlaugher. I hate you.

This Saturday marks the beginning of my second season as a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. I actually think Spurs have a chance to break into the top four this season. High hopes.

I wish I was as creative in real as I am in my dreams. Also, is everyone's dreams as excellently edited and have as great frame composition as mine? Technically, my dreams are top notch.

Ramblings (Just Post Something Please! Edition)

I've been daydream shopping again. The daydream part involves me having any musical talent at all. The shopping though has been rather realistic. I've found myself wanting a miniKORG. See, that's reasonable. It's fairly cheap and small enough to fit into my apartment. I'd also need a drum machine but I need to research that a little more. Part of me thinks that I might be able to somehow piece together a simple synth-dance-pop track after maybe five years. Why am I the only one in the family that didn't get the musical gene?

The Cubs are en fuego. Unfortunately, so are the Brewers.

This Sunday there will be another Bad Movie Night. I think there needs to be a more clever official name to this event other than Bad Movie Night.

I only have three more visits to the physical therapists office. I'm really down about this. I can't wait till I'm wealthy enough to hire a full time masseuse. My back aches just thinking about the lack of massages.

Is it only a month till Anne Marie moves out here?

For the first time in almost four years I wrote actual pages for a script.

I've found this lack of psoriasis is affecting my spending. Not having to wear a hat everyday has to not only needing to get my hair cut, rather than cut it myself, but products like face lotion with sunscreen. Things that were unneccessary before. I also have gotten over the phantom hat pains. For the first month or so I would constantly reach to remove or adjust a hat that wasn't there.

I'd like to recommend a free computer program called Simplify Media. You know how you can listen to other peoples iTunes that are on the same network that you are like school or work. Well simplify media allows you to do this and not have to be on the same network. So I can listen to Mandy's iTunes, or I can listen to the music I have on my home computer while at work. The only problem right now is that you can't listen to protected files like the ones you buy from iTunes. They apparently are efforting a way around that. Did I mention it's free?

Finally, I am Flunky the Clown.

Ramblings (It's Been Such a Long Time. I Think I Should Be Going Edition)

I would like to blame an exciting and busy life for my lack of blogging. Unfortunately, it would be a lie. But let me give you an update on the mundane that is my life.

It's been three days now in a row that I haven't worn a hat. The Enbrel's working well. Now if everyone would stop pointing out that I'm not wearing a hat I'd be set.

My therapist was thrilled when I showed up at the office without a hat. It's the happiest I've seen her during our sessions. She still pauses for extended periods of time in order to force me to carry the conversation. It drives me a little batty to the point that I just want to throw out something like: "I've found myself becoming more distracted and forgetful. Like this morning I completely forgot to put out the new air fresheners I bought last night. All day I was stressed out that someone will smell the dead body in my closet."

Speaking of therapy, I've come to terms with the massages for my physical therapy. It helps that the aide that gives me the massages is cute, and either really likes me or is easy. I guess either way that's a win. Still, if I ever did actually ask her out she would have the upper hand considering the vulnerable position she has me in twice a week. I should wait till after I finish physical therapy.

As promised, I picked up the new Blitzen Trapper album Wild Mountain Nation. It's been stuck in heavy rotation since I picked it up. I guess you could call them a psychedelic country rock group, but they hit on other genre's too like the indie pop of Futures & Folly, the Beckish Sci-Fi Kid, or the Supergrassed glam of Murder Babe. Things is they cross from genre to genre effortlessly and with such joy that it works. There is still that twang and oodles of slide guitar that makes me keep this band in the psychedelic country rock category.

Saw the movie Once, and really enjoyed it. The scene where they first play together in the music shop caused the room to get a little dusty. That was then followed by numerous scenes where the dust in the room kept building up. It's such a simple and joyful film. I do have one question though: Is this movie a musical? It's loaded with music and the characters in the movie sing the songs on screen. It's just that when they sing it's natural. They sing when they are writing or playing a song, not out of the blue the whole cast breaks into song norm of the standard musical. I don't think it is a musical, but some reviewers list it as a musical. I just don't want to admit I like a musical.


This weekend the horror movie you've all been waiting for opens in LA and NY. Get ready because it's coming soon to a theater near you. Well, except for Mandy. I doubt your little theater is going to book this.


Sometimes weird just works in a music video. I kept waiting for one of them to screw up.

Ramblings (One Sentence Edition)

Why do I always sing louder at church when a cute girl is sitting next to me?

Did you do yourself a favor and see Hot Fuzz over the weekend?

Why does TNT's NBA Playoffs coverage look so crappy?

Also, during every Mavericks' home game that I catch on TV I will spend 10-15 minutes trying to spot M.O.L. Jr.

Why are the Cubs paying Floyd $3 mil, DeRosa $2.75 mil, and Jones $5.6 mil. even though they have three younger and better players in Theriot, Murton, and Pie making a total of $1.2 mil combined?

I love me some NHL Playoffs in glorious HD.

What does it say about me that I become frustrated when I can't find what I want in any stores?

What does it say about me that I dreamt about zombie chickens?

Can I tell you how excited I was when the invitation to Anne's graduation recommends that you wear a hat?

Have Sanjaya's 15 minutes come to an end or have they just begun?

I hit 302 notes in a row in Guitar Hero II on "Carry On My Wayward Son."

After what has felt like a two year hiatus there is a new Heroes tonight.

Ramblings (Too Short Edition)

I hate Florida...and the three point line.

In case you haven't heard the Tribune Co. is going to sell the Cubs by the end of this year. That gives me less than a year to wrangle up $600 million dollars which is the estimated going price. I assume I'm actually going to need around a billion dollars after it's all said and done. I will consider investment partners, but only after an exhausting interview process.

Big, big weekend coming up. Among the end of the season craziness there are a few things I'm looking forward to: Friday is the CSI: Miami wrap party where something weird is bound to happen. I will the follow that up with a "Hot Fuzz" showing with director and writer present as part of a triple bill including John Woo's "Hard Boiled" and then the brilliant "Point Break." In between everything else I have to fit in a viewing of "Grindhouse."

It is so nice to have the Shield back on TV after a year long absence.

My therapist gave homework to do over the week. I have to write down any dreams I have over the week. Last I dreamt that the family and I were going to Ann's graduation only we couldn't get out of Ohio. The really odd thing was that the wandering was bookended by Columbus' own guitar wielding mega mall car salesman Fred Ricart trying to sell his wares. The problem was he apparently expanded into selling women. Which lead to the line of Fred Ricart saying "We're Dealin...in whores!" Our family did not purchase any whores. Can't wait to see what my therapist says about this one.

So Gina Jett has been sent home. Second to last is better than last I guess. I still think Midnight Oil, Legs, Indian Barry Gibb and the Other Chris are worse than both Gina and Stephanie. At least I'll be eating cookies and not baking them, right Dominic?

The Friday Night Lights season and most likely series finale is next week. There is so much in the air. I'm scared they will try to squeeze and wrap it all up in one hour. It's be nice if it's two hours. I hope they don't end it with a cliff hangar. I hope they give us a concrete end, and at least make this one great season with an ending the two or three fans can live with.

Tomorrow, I'm having 3,000 dollars worth of psoriasis drugs delivered to my house. That price of course could be a bit of an exaggeration by my doctor. Still, I'm looking into a security guard for my apartment.

Ramblings

It's funny how one weekend can completely ruin your NCAA brackets. At the beginning of the week I was set with only two of my teams missing from the Sweet Sixteen and I didn't have the two teams out of it going very far. Now? All I have is Georgetown left and I have them only making the final not winning it. I'm not even close to winning now. The good news is that after the Buckeyes won two games that had no business winning they played their best game of the season against Memphis. Of course, that was only in Elite Eight. Can the Buckeyes do it again against Georgetown, who have their own big man to counter Oden? Also, there is now a possibility of the Buckeyes playing Florida for the National Championship in basketball this time. If that happens, I hope the Buckeyes can get some revenge. If not, I'm never going to Florida again in my life. Unless work gives me a free trip to Miami some time in my life. So I guess I won't ever pay to go to Florida again in my life.

One week till the Cubs opening day. The excitement and anticipation of great things should last maybe a month.

Throughout history, television has given us plenty of wonderful TV moms from June Cleaver to Clair Huxtable to Marge Simpson. Well there's a new mom to add to the list: Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights. She is clearly the rock of not only her family, but the high school where she is the school counselor. Is she perfect? No, but she keeps trying. She admitted her struggle when her teenage daughter told her she wanted to have sex. Eventually, she realized she had to trust that her daughter would make the right decision. When she realized she jumped to judgement about one of her daughters friends, she admitted her mistake and is now working to help the girl get on her feet. Most of the time she's right on the money which why her husband the coach relies on her to be his best friend, wife, and counselor. She's smart, funny as hell, and yes sexy. She's my favorite TV Mom to appear on the tube in awhile.

Veronica's father from Veronica Mars is probably the best TV Dad.

Tomorrow morning for the first time ever I'm going to a therapist. I have two concerns. First, for some reason I scheduled it in the morning. I don't start functioning till 1:00pm. How am I supposed to work with a therapist before then? Second, I am skeptic of most therapist. Remember in Good Will Hunting when Will went to all those therapists and was a smart ass to all of them? I'm too considerate to go to that extent, but there's a good chance I'll be a smart ass and throw a wall up. Mandy though helped me pick what I think is one of the good ones...I hope. The other option was simply too attractive.

Watching Kings of Leon perform on Letterman, I've realized they are the new Collective Soul. That's not a compliment.

I'm saving my whole rant detailing how ripped off I was by Stephanie Edwards getting the boot from American Idol for tomorrow. It's ridiculous!

The snobbiest thing I did over the weekend was watch Louis Malle's "Elevator to the Gallows." When someone asks what you Netflixed how can you not sound like an ass when you say Elevator to the Gallows directed by Louis Malle?

Am I the only one excited about the final episodes of Sopranos starting soon? Yeah, me neither.

Ramblings (The Nothing Edition)

Good grief. My life has become increasingly boring since my wisdom teeth were removed. I've been tempted to put myself purposely into awkward situations just so I could have something to write about. You would think with all this boringness that I would've at least accomplished something. Well...I beat Crackdown...and that's about it. Bob and I played the fantastic multiplayer which consisted of us simply blowing the shit out of things with rocket launchers. You would think that would get boring quick, but it lasted probably a combined 6 maybe 7 hours over the weekend. And I still went back to the game last night just to see how many criminals I could get in one area to blow up. Man, I need help.

One of the many problems that arise when I find myself overwhelmed with boredom is that I find myself filling that time in pointless ways. For example, I found myself spending over an hour at ancestry.com looking up Iten. Here are some random facts I've discovered about Itens:
(All this information is taken from US Federal Census, so take it all with a big grain of salt)

In 1840 there was only one Iten family and they lived in Indiana.

1853 was the year that the most Itens immigrated to the US with 15. 1854 was a close second with 14. 1866 came in third with 9.

In 1880 the Iten occupations broke down like this:
Farmers - 43%
Carpenter - 14%
Plasterer, Keeps House, Boarding House, Blacksmith - 7%

Also in 1880, Minnesota had the largest population of Itens. This seems to be the state that most Itens immigrated to.

11 Itens served in the Civil War, and they all fought for the Union.

Most of the Iten immigrants (40) originated from Switzerland.

19 Itens departed Europe from La Havre, France.

I was slightly tempted to buy a year subscription to ancestry.com which leads to another problem I have when boredom sets in: I start buying pointless things.

Late last week at Target I went to pick up a couple necessities like toilet paper. I left with said toilet paper, and a green Ireland T-shirt, a cookie sheet, and a pair of shorts. Shorts! I wear shorts maybe one day a year. I don't need shorts. I don't need a cookie sheet either. Yet, I somehow thought I would perhaps someday need to bake cookies. I have a completely rational explanation for the Ireland T-shirt. You see, on St. Patrick's day last year I got a lot of flak from co-workers for only wearing drab green pants. They didn't think it counted as a real green. This made me realize I didn't really have an green in my wardrobe. Over the past year I have since bought a green sweater, a shirt with green checks, and now a green Ireland T-shirt. Actually, yesterday I just bought a green Cubs baseball cap with a clover on the back. I'm so going to show my co-workers this St. Patrick's day which of course falls on a Saturday this year. Doh!

If there is one thing we all should have taken away from the Oscars, it is that Helen Mirren is really hot. I'm not joking. She's beautiful.

I have 30 lbs of therapeutic dead sea bathing salts under my bathroom sink.

I'm so hoping Sony's upcoming a/v receivers with hdmi capabilities end up performing well. Ranging from $200 to $500 dollars depending on the model, it's absolutely in my budget's wheelhouse.

A couple of friends are had an American Idol fantasy draft. I never saw the finalists perform, so I was choosing blindly. I ended up with:

Stephanie Edwards who seems to be my best bet.
Gina Glocksen who is a long, long, long shot.
Amy Krebs who was already booted.

I just ask that I don't come in last.

Maybe I should just adopt a kid so I could have more things to blog about. That's a good reason isn't it. I'd adopt a boy and name him The Devastator. Dev for short. Just think of the blog posts:
"Dev's First Word: Pepsi"
"I'll Be Damned If Dev Isn't Going To Be A Left Handed Pitcher"
"Dev's Got First Head Shot Kill In Halo 2 Today"
"Dev Has Fully Realized The Pain Of Being a Cubs Fan."
"Dev: Chick Magnet!"
"I Guess I Need To Shorten That Leash For Dev When I Got To Work."
"Why Are All Dev's Cousins Scared Of Him?"

Well that's it for this post. I need to go buy something.

Ramblings

Tuesday night I went to The Village Idiot on Melrose to celebrate Lisa becoming a staff writer on the brilliant television show "The Shield." That is the coolest Hollywood sounding thing I'll do all year.

Here are some movies I'm looking forward to this upcoming year (at least the first half of it.)

Sunshine: With Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Millions, Danny Boyle has become a director I'll see whatever he makes. Why are you mentioning The Beach, and A Life Less Ordinary? I've never heard of them. They don't exist in my mind. Moving on.

Grindhouse: At least I'm interested in the Tarantino half in which Kurt Russel plays a killer named Stuntman Mike. The image of Rose McGowan with a assault rifle for a leg intrigues me, but I have no faith in Rodriguez. I like the idea that different directors were brought in to shoot the trailers that will be spread out between the two movies. Being a fan of a lot of exploitation film, this seems to be up my alley. Yet, I'm still only cautiously optimistic.

Black Book: Yes, I'm looking forward to a Paul Verhoeven film. Yes, this is the same guy who gave us Basic Instinct, Hollow Man, Starship Troopers, and Showgirls. He also gave us RoboCop and Total Recall which can be a plus or a minus in your book. This time though Verhoeven when back to the Netherlands to get this film made. The very good word of mouth has me interested in this World War II epic. I also like to see these once credible directors leave the American system and find creative rebirth. Yes, I'm looking at you Mr. John Woo.

Hot Fuzz: The creators of Shaun of the Dead and Spaced are making an action movie comedy with references to Point Break and Bad Boys? Really, you still aren't interested? Have you not seen Shaun of the Dead or Spaced? Hmm. I don't know if we can hang out anymore.

Spiderman 3: I know he doesn't get the "black suit" like he does in the comic book, but Black Suit! Black Suit! Black Suit!

28 Weeks Later: I feel confident Danny Boyle wouldn't hand over the reigns to a boob that would destroy the nice feelings I had about 28 Days Later.

Knocked Up: I'm putting my money on this becoming the underrated comedy that will do all right in the theaters but word of mouth will lead it to making a lot of money on DVD. I have faith in Judd Apatow. I still miss Freaks and Geeks.

Here are two I'm hesitant on, but might see if I get off work early or am really, really bored.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The only thing that intrigues me about this is that the animation style resembles the comic book when it first came out. That's how I used to draw them when I made my own mini-comic books.

Fido: It's the story of boy trying to keep his pet zombie safe after it eats the neighbors. I know I had you at "pet zombie." It could be creatively funny, or enjoyably bad like Monster Squad, or it could be just an awful kids movie.

I recently found out Nova Scotian band Sloan released a new album called Never Hear the End of It. I kind of gave up on them after their last two albums and the following greatest hits CD. Still wanting to give them a chance, I took a listen, and it's their best album since their classic One Chord to Another. Don't be overwhelmed when you see the track list stops at 30. Many of the songs are simply songs that bridge two other songs. Even at 30 tracks it still holds together really well and doesn't lag. All four members are song writers and they all get a chance to shine on this album. This is that album that bands make where they shake everything up by taking everything they've learned and not holding back. Sloan has taken their influences of Brit Invasion, Beach Boys, 70's AM gold, power pop and compiled it all into an opus of an album. This I hope is their resurgence. My question to Mandy is Sloan must be rock gods on your campus right? Hometown boys done good?

Did you think the same thing when I heard about the story of the astronaut going to kill her rival? She so has an alien inside her. I bet the astronauts that went up with her are going to start going crazy too.

I know none of you will believe this but I'm actually getting kind of fat. Wait. It might just be my mirror. Nope. For the first time in my life I'm putting on weight.