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All the cat news that's fit to purr
mood:   anxious
Today is November 27. A clown on TV just said, "You're a pretty boy...with a pretty pair of shoes." This combines me telling Calypso he is pretty, and that he has pretty paws, with Jill's comment of her cats' paws-with-claws being "sharp shoes." So that is cool because it relates to the cats. Calypso Orange Kitty is definitely a pretty boy. Right now he is washing. Here he is doing some imiportant computering.

Other cool stuff from this ep of American Dad (the WRONG AD....sorry....) included the talking like Robert Evans bit, and Steve naming his new mansion Steveadu. OK I just heard a promo for the show "Prison Break" and it totally sounded like they said "Prison Rape"


It's Movie Night in WDM
mood:   anxious
Today is November 26. Worked 9 hours yesterday (Friday) and about 8.5 today. Tomorrow will be 7.5 and then I have Monday off. Today's topic is, "Why wasn't I Anna Paquin?" Yes, I am watching Buffalo Soldiers. So far it is a pretty interesting movie.

When I got home from there was weirdness afoot. Presently I discovered that someone had pulled a ziplock of catnip down from the cupboard and scattered quite a bit of it all over the living room/dining room carpet. It also looked like someone had gotten a little sicky from all the 'nip so I cleaned that up, and then vacuumed up the majority of the rest.

I have been on a kick of making breakfast foods for dinner. Tonight I had a cheese omelette, a few lit'l smokies, and a refrigerator pancake, but sometimes instead of a pancake I willmake some southern-style hash browns. The little square kind, so good. Some marjarine heated up in the pan with seasoned salt, cook and then turn.

Back to the movie, there was a scene where Joaquin tells a comrade to quit being so negative all the time. It reminded me of some movie, can't think of it, where Vince Vaughn similarly berates someone for their negativity. (I'm thinking it's Old School...or maybe it's all in my mind, who knows) Anyway it made me think of how cool it would be if Joe-quinn and VV were in a movie together. How about it, Hollywood? OK - so 2 movies together already in 98. Good to do some research before posting


Six bucks and a gas card
mood:   contemplative
...is no way to make a trip to Ames. Especially when the six bucks in question isn't in your nice wallet with all your IDs and credit cards and such, but is just loose, ha ha, in your purse. Luckily Jess covered the pizza (extra fancy with spinach or something - from PJ's) and even took me to the movies. We saw Good Night, And Good Luck at the Varsity. It is sooooo the prequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. There was a scene where Murrow was getting ready, preparing to do his broadcast, and I said "I love scotch, scotchy scotchy scotch..." and then like at the end of the scene when he was done with the news the character actually said he could use a scotch! So it was off to the bar where they got tanked in classy black and white. The next day, George Cloony's character walked in and said I'm *hung over*....ok maybe he didn't say it just like Brian, but the sentiment was there and it was still pretty awesome.


I needs me some Chris in the Morning
mood:   drained
Today is November 18 and I am totally watching Northern Exposure. It is taking me back to a time known as Freshman Year at ISU. It used to be on at 1pm every weekday. I would schedule my classes around it, setting the stage for scheduling my classes around Kids in the Hall and Newsradio. Sometimes Laura would let us have our peer mentor session during that hour on A&E. Obviously in some ways it's kind of a pretentious show, but the characters are interesting and multi-dimensional, and it mostly makes you feel good to watch it.


My gum has lost its flavor
mood:   thirsty
Today is November 17. 2 topics. First - I think it is not just for creativity that dorms paint different murals and designs on the walls of each floor. It is also a safety feature! This is not an excuse for me trying to use my key to open the door of #211, I'm just sayin'. I have now done this twice (two times) in the 14 months I have been living at Cambridge Ct. If there was some kinda crazy mural of Atlantis, or my apt number written in huge, blue numerals (both prominent features of the now-defunct Westgate) I would be less likely to startle the inhabitants of the unit one floor below my own.

2nd topic. So basically I am a huge fraud for only having been to one iPod night at the lift. I would like to go again, it just has trouble happening. I tremendously enjoyed the time I did go; not only the people and the drinks, but also the chance to wow people with my awesome musical choices. A couple days ago I thought of a good theme for an iPod night: "Soundtrack To A Fight," or, to crib from the theme they had when I was there, "Good Songs For When You're In A Fight."
  1. "Battery" - Metallica - Master of Puppets. Starts out slow, to disarm your opponent (for some reason I almost put "appointment") but then it gets into the heavy part where you can kick ass. You even get some squeedly action in the guitar solo. Not to mention that Battery has to do with beating the crap out of someone just in the word itself.
  2. "Ace of Spades" - Motörhead - Ace of Spades. If you can listen to this song and not get totally pumped then there might be something wrong with you. I love how Lemmy yells "and don't forget the joker!" right before the solo, which presents another great moment for whaling on someone.
  3. "Get Rid Of That GIrl" - The Donnas - The Donnas. A bit of a change of pace but you cannot deny that the gals from Palo Alto have true metal cred. This one is put in for the ladies; the lyrics are essentially a step-by-step plan for taking out that skank who's with your guy. You can imagine Torry/Donna C right there with you, using her kick pedal to cause some supreme pain on some ho-bag.
  4. "Raining Blood" - Slayer - Reign In Blood. The fight-enhancing properties of this song are well-documented in Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City. He had to go review a Slayer show in Cleveland, and right when the band launched into "Raining," some guy just cold-cocked a random dude standing right by him. They didn't know each other, hadn't been arguing beforehand, but just that initial riff was enough to kick-start some mayhem. Crazy!
  5. "T.N.T." - AC/DC - High Voltage. Obviously there are lots of great AC/DC tunes that could be included in this list (I initially wanted to start off with "Let Me Put My Love Into You," just because of the intro, but the rest of it doesn't really work as a fightin' song) but I think the "Oi!s" really put it over the top. Plus it talks about exploding, which makes me think of like throwin down smoke bombs or some shit and then getting the heck out of there if the cops show up.
  6. "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" - Rush - Different Stages. I chose this live version rather than the studio one from Fly By Night only because it is shorter. (in case I was getting tired from fighting. But seriously, if I was the least bit needing to have words with someone, and "Tobes of hades lit by flickering torchlight" came booming over the speakers, you would instantly hear that barstool scoot-sound* and then just see me laying into them.
Well I hope you have enjoyed my list....feel free to contact me with suggestions for musical asskickery, or if you want/need to hear any of the above tunes!

*Documented by David Cross as the best sound to hear in a redneck bar because then you know you'll get to see a redneck fight. "You opened up the wrong can of worms, motherfucker..." etc


You got to roll me
mood:   satisfied
Today is November 16. Actually after the midnight so it is the 17th but I choose to give credit to the 16th. I'm listening to the music that is acutally stored on the PB (still nameless) which pretty much consists of good 70's Rolling Stones songs, some misc. oldies, and the Cool Tapes song from Homestar. Tumbling Dice is a pretty awesome song. As I was just reading over the lyrics that I linked to for you, I was like "Oh, so *those* are the words." Coulda fooled me, as they used to say.

To follow up on the chili bean story (for anyone who was fortunate enough to hear me tell it, Dad and Brent I guess) the can of beans was in fact in the trunk of the Taurus, and I brought them up into the apt and made the chili for dinner tonight.

Movies I have watched lately. The Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal. Jen was probably the best at keeping her accent through the movie. To me it seems like Mike White is a really interesting writer. He comes up with characters and situations that most other people wouldn't, and he is a good actor too. I can't say that this movie changed my life but it was something different at least. My main complaint is that a pretentious book-guy would not say that someone "got" him if that someone didn't know the name of the main character of said book ("So what's your name, Catcher?")

Tonight I watched Martin and Orloff which was written by Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts from UCB. All 4 UCB members, as well as lots of your other favorite people were in it. Jon Benjamin was hilarious but boy is he tiny. I guess I am too used to thinking of him as McGuirk. The movie was not overly funny, I mean I did laugh out loud some times, plus Antoine appeared to have painful celebrity manorexia. I think if you are a fan of UCB or sketch comedy you would like this movie although there will not be anyone shouting "Say I'm your mama!" or "I want to kick ass so bad!"


I Miss the 90's
mood:   relieved
Today is November 11. I am watching my current Netflix selection, The Adventures of Pete & Pete disc 1. One of themjust used the phrase "Buck Naked" and it reminded me of George so I started laughing. This show is pretty funny. I never watched it when it was on, maybe it was like on at nighttime or something when we weren't at Grandma's or Doris's. Like some Nickelodeon shows I watched all the time like Double Dare or Salute Your Shorts or Rugrats, but some never at all. This show and its tone and the indie-rock theme make me totally miss the early 90's (along with watching Beavis & Butthead, watching the videos especially). I think I was mostly too into my own thing in the early 90's to be really conscious of pop culture and music and stuff. So, missing out.

I just looked up at the tv screen (i'm watching this dvd on my powerbook but I still have the TV on, on mute, so I can see the clock and know when I have to leave and go to Billy Joe's) and home boy Stephen Tobolowsky is on there as a judge. Adding yet another to his crazy long acting resume. My favorite still being Groudhog Day where he shouts "Phil???? Phil Connors????" I have been captivated by this dude since I half-recognized him in an episode of Deadwood and then found out he made a documentary basically all about how he has been in all these movies yet no one actually knows who he is. Now that I think about it, his part in Sneakers is even better. "My voice is my passport. Verify me."


We gotta get you a friend, Fred
mood:   silly
Today is November 8. I'm watching My Name Is Earl on TV and they were totally just playing "Eastbound and Down" over a golfing montage. It was like a gift just for my brother! Speaking of gifts I finally got him a real birthday present: the I'm Kind Of A Big Deal shirt and a Ray Stevens ("The Streak") video from half.com.

Today I got to visit my grandma Hazel and we went for lunch at Hickory Park. Then I gave my dad a ride home from the Ford dealership in Story City and we traded cars back. Then on my way home I stopped by the store and picked up the discount DVI-ADC adapter and now I have hooked up my cinema display to my Powerbook and it is pretty neat. I watched last night's 2 episodes of AD and they were pretty hilarious. I'm sure I'll have to watch them again to catch all the jokes - was that a reference to "Pretty Woman" where Rita was giggling like an idiot after that little case snapped? Also there was a sports training montage! How can you go wrong?

Everybody's talking at me....I don't hear a word they're saying....just driving around in Jon Voight's car...


It's pronounced "birfday"
mood:   cheerful
Today is November 6. "I can't believe I had to go to work on my birthday!" But I did get to open some presents - I got a flowering plant, a Steve birthday cake topper, and "a sucker and it looks like Blue." All those nice things were from Kara, Bill, Ella, Molly (and McGwire and Calypso!) The cool thing is that Ella's birthday is November 5th too. She had a cute Blue's Clues-inspired overalls outfit on.

Special thanks also to my friends who called and IM'ed me to wish me well. You guys made it a nice day even with having to go to work. My dad also came down and we had a tasty dinner at Chammps. Then we traded cars so that he could put new tires on the mighty Taurus.

Booze update: pineapple-flavored rum is awesome and you can mix it with that orange 7-up, regular orange juice, or even just sprite.


Happy Frovember, you jive-ass turkeys!
mood:   happy
Today is November 2. The title to this post comes from Conan where he was coming up with nicknames for November to compete with Rocktober, Croctober, etc. The finalists were Stovember (stagehand drags an electric range across the stage), Moevember (2 dudes have a stooge-slap fight) and Frovember (Shaft-type fellow with massive 'fro, just like the guy in the Elvis jumpsuit at the Halloween party). The other cool thing with Late Night this week is that "tha man" Neil Young is the musical guest for all four shows this week. Last night he did a pretty good song about singing the blues or being a cowboy (-poet?) so it will be fun to see what song he performs tonight.

So I am watching the Penn and Teller Bull$hit show on the DVD. The people on this show are always so misshapen and hopeless. Obviously even though they claim to be debunking a lot of these things, they still have their opinions going into it. There was an interesting piece on bio-engineered food and it was pretty shocking, as far as the scare tactics these groups use, influencing policy at a global level.

P.S. Conan's Oscar (or Emny) acceptance speech: "Hehe, girls are pretty!"


It's new page time agai-han
mood:   calm
Today is November 1. I rearranged my living room last week and I am slowly getting it all set and nice. I would like for people to be able to enter my home and not immediately think a mental patient lives here. Do you remember seeing those bits on 20/20 or Dateline Catilsday where they showed the inside of a crazy person's home or apartment and it was invariably filled with thousands of newspapers and bags and cups and containers.

Right now I'm watching "What's Up, Doc?" directed by none other than Peter Bogdonavitch. Awesome chase scene through the streets of SF that I am pretty sure has *now* been done to death but is very enjoyable here. A running-around door slamming farce if you want to know the truth - recommended for fans of 70's films.

so yeah i know the colors look weird - i have to do purple for November but I will try to make it nice later


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