On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering
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| I Am John's Stomach Pains. On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering |
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Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Livin' It Up At The Hotel Pennsylvania Gonna make this quick b/c I'm on a dial up right now, and if i'm on here much longer, I'll have to kill myself. Honestly, I don't know how people do it... Anyway, jet lag seriously screwed me up a bit, and I've been sleeping way too much, but it's all good, that's what a vacay is for. Hopefully, I'll be able to hook up with the guy's tomorrow, and the girls sometime this weekend. Today was basically spent sleeping and shopping at King of Prussia... which is just hell with two women. I hit the comic shop (where I picked up Vol 2 of Transmetropolitan, a book I'm quickly getting engrossed in) and a sports store for some sneakers... that took about 20 minutes total. I was there for over 3 hours. So. Boring. Oh well, the things we must suffer when visiting family. Just wish I wasn't still sick o I could enjoy the Yuengling a little more. Here's hoping it clears up for Thanksgiving... posted by Holz | 7:37 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Sunday, November 23, 2003 Sorry Stephen Lynch, There's Something Wrong with a Peepshow Friday night was the Barenaked Ladies concert I've been looking forward to for two months, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, it just didn't feel like a BNL concert. Since Stunt was released, I'd seen them 7 times, and they always brought their A-game, living up to the hype I've told friends and family as The Greatest Live Band Ever. However, The Peepshow Tour is very different from every other show, and while it definately has it's strengths, it fell short of expectations for me. First of all, previous shows have been in large venues, stadiums amphitheatre, but this show took place in the Berkeley High School Theatre. Bascially a place you'd go to see a community performance of Oklahoma. Our seats where in the final row of the floor, up against the wall, under the balcony. What this setting did was make the audience more reserved. Usually you have fans belting out their lyrics, but here, you could see most were a little self-conscious (not me of course, I had no trouble singing along). Also, the acoustics weren't very conducive in my opinion, as the music became drowned out my the singing. The Peepshow Tour was also designed for them to get a feel for their new album, so on each show, the play every single one of the tracks off Everything to Everyone. This is a double-edged sword. One one hand, my friends all agreed the best song of the night, and one of the best songs performances I've seen Steven give, was Next Time, which somehow blew the recorded track (which on it's own is a favorite) away. However, this means we also had to listen to For You and Have You Seen My Love. The strangest performance, though, was Shopping. This song has split many fans, with a majority disliking it, and not picking up on the subtext, but the band did everything they could to get the audience to love it. It was one of the few times the guys ran around on stage, and the only real Sing-A-Long with the audience. Didn't work though... while I like the song, walking out, I heard many people say it was the lowpoint. Oh well. The biggest drawback though was the absence of two BNL staples. I had heard rumors that they weren't going to be doing If I Had $1,000,000 on the tour but couldn't beleive it, but sure enough, no Kraft Mac-n-Cheese flew. The other absense was the BNL Rap Medley, where they just go buckwild on alot of covers. No Medley make Holz a sad boy. I really don't understand the artisitic choice there... Final thing to comment on was the Q & A session halfway through. Sure, it was funny, but really, the questions were pretty piss poor, and didn't really add to the experience. Thank God the boys are comic geniuses and they can improv with the best of 'em. posted by Holz | 12:51 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Friday, November 21, 2003 Anyway, onto the quick hits: 1) I finally got the story I had been working on for the past week completed and put up, Who Needs Sleep?. It's part of a collection of stories I'm writing that are set in the Buffy universe, but they don't star any of the characters, so if you've never watched an ep, you probably won't be lost. This one is different from other stories I've written in that it doesn't really have a 'twist' ending. It's pretty straight forward and simple, though hopefully not too boring. Next up will hopefully be a story called Hunter & Pray, and then my opus, ParkerAbrahms Gets F*cked (don't worry, won't be too slash-y) 2) On the subject of how friends of mine like to bring up questioning my sexuality, some more ammo for them: I'm a big fan of HoYay! on television, and this week I was even able to ask an actor on one of my favorite shows, Chris Pratt of Everwood, his feelings on the HoYay! subtext that seems to be surrounding his character this season (scroll down). 3) A couple days ago I mentioned two of my favorite new shows this season, but I forgot to include the best one, Jake 2.0. This show has been critically praised for good reason, and thankfully the audience seems to be growing. At first I was afraid it was going to come off as too Six-Million-Dollar-Man-ish, but thankfully it hasn't. The show has some great acting, likeable characters, hilarious dialogue, and a relatable protagonist. I highly recommend checking out a few episodes, especially if your a fan of shows like Alias or 24, I rank it up with them. 4) Despite original intrigue, after numerous horrible reviews, I will not be seeing Cat In The Hat, even though Dakota Fanning's in it. I ranked The Grinch as the worst movie of 2000, and I will most likely hate this one, so nope... not gonna happen. 5) If your in the mood for some hilarious comic book reading, I recommend looking for some trades of a book called Barry Ween: Boy Genius. It's by Judd Winick (he of Real World and Exiles fame) and it is excellent. A cross between Calvin & Hobbes, South Park, and Little Stewey from Family Guy. I've only read Vol. 1, but will be picking up the other ones soon. 6) Had to update with this Onion article, on what happens when your Mom finds your blog. Thankfully, I have the coolest mom in the world, who thinks I don't do enough outlandish things, that I don't think I'll ever shock her... my Dad on the on the other hand... posted by Holz | 10:30 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Thursday, November 20, 2003 They All Float Down Here Yesterday, I read that former teen heartthrob Jonathon Brandis died of an apparent suicide on November 12th. Since then, I've been trying to track down some kind of corroboration, or whether it was a hoax. Y'see, very few places have reported it, and even those are incredibly vague. The only two 'reputable' places I've found have been the Chicago Suntimes and EOnline, both basically saying the same thing... not much. It's all very odd. Maybe it's because of my age, but when I think of the "child-stars" I've grew up with, Jonathan Brandis is always at the top of my list, at least movie-wise. I wa sa fan of flicks like Ladybugs and Sidekicks, and while the DeLuise borthers ruined it, Seaquest was a weekly viewing for me. Probably the role I'll always remember him in though was as Stuttering Bill Denbrough, the younger self of John-Boy in the IT miniseries. Oh well, sorry to hear he passed (if he did that is)... celebrity deaths always make you feel weird. posted by Holz | 6:44 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Wednesday, November 19, 2003 *Cough* I Can't Fucking Believe This. *Cough* Since I've moved out here to NorCal, I can't ever remembr taking a sick day from, aside from a bad food reaction, and even then it was a half day. But today, every hour at work has gotten progressively worse. It started as a mild headache, and by new became a head-pulsing pain. At first I thought it was because of the damn lights above me, but by the time I got back from lunch, maintenance had finally gotten around to removing a few, and the pain persisted. Then the headache morphed into a slight cough, and I am now gettin' that phlem-y feeling in the back of my throw, as well as annoying my coworkers with my occassional clearing-cough. This. Fucking. Sucks. My BNL concert, where I hope to be able to ask the band a question, is coming up in 2.5 days, not to mention my trip back home... please let this be temporary, please let this be temporary... posted by Holz | 3:50 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Tuesday, November 18, 2003 Go for the Turkey, Stay for the Yuengling and Scrapple Yeppers, this Sunday I will be headed back to the big P-A, for some much needed R-n-R! I'll be taking the red-eye into Philly on Sunday night, always my favorite way to fly, and will be around until the following Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It's been a couple months since I;ve had a vacation, so I'm definately looking forward to this. I hope I'l be able to hang out with some of ya', has been far too long. posted by Holz | 2:12 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Monday, November 17, 2003 Even from a Koontz fanatic, this is hilarious I'm sure the Fischer's will love this, I swear they've said the same thing to me on more than one occassion. Special thanks to Mal for the link, Book-A-Minute: The Collected Works of Dean Koontz: Badguy: I'm crazy, so I will do something evil and scary. Male Lead: I'll use my CIA/NSA/Navy Seals/Green Beret/Marine/Army Ranger/Boy Scout training to stop him. (He doesn't. Everybody gets CHASED around Southern California. Somebody steals a CAR and changes its LICENSE PLATE. The villain seems to be SUPERNATURAL, but he's just using SCIENCE to seem SCARY, just like in SCOOBY DOO. Male Lead STOPS him.) Female Lead: I love you. Male Lead: I'm rich. Let's live happily ever after. THE END I think they missed out on the inclusion of a dog and a gifted retarded brother. posted by Holz | 9:05 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) Sunday, November 16, 2003 A Life More Ordinary So yes, as you can see, I have been quite out of the loop for about two weeks. I appreciate the messages from y'all asking after me and if I'm okay... basically, aside from not feeling too good about my exam (results come out in January, but I don't hold much hope), I've been fine, just haven't had much drive to get online very much. Couldn't do much at work either, seeing as I've been swamped as of late, getting everything done before I move into my new job. Yeppers, I'll be leaving my comfy home of Property and Catastrophe Management, and heading into my new rotation, in the area of Excess & Special Risk. So I'll be learning alot of on reinsurance, so that should be very cool. I'm pretty excited. Anyway, since my last update, I've just been going out, hanging with friends, seeing movies, drinking beer... y'know, normal stuff. A few tidbits before I go to bed, may discuss them more later: Hmph, well, I need to hit the sack, hopefully I'll get a comic book post up tomorrow, the last two weeks have been pretty big, with some good issues (as well as some stinkers) Saturday, November 01, 2003 Comic Books of the Week Wow, this was probably my lightest week in a long time, with only 4 new pickups (and one after the fact). This either means I've been good at cutting down on the books... or the more likely - next week is gonna be huge an expensive. Favorite: Caper #1. Combining two of my least favorite things, gangsters and a historical setting, it was quite a surprise how much I enjoyed this one. The art is a little boring, but the storyline of the mob running the streets of San Francisco in the early 1900's is an immediate pull, with interesting character and fun dialogue. If you're a fan of Road to Perdition, this is the book for you. Least Favorite: The Eternal #5. I really don't know why I've been reading this book, it's been up and down for me. Maybe it's all the cursing in nudity... The art is average, but thankfully saved by some great coloring by Dan Brown (gotta keep an eye out for him), but realy, Austen's dialogue in this issue seriously drug it down. I'll pick up the next issue since it's the final one, but I wouldn't recommend this book. Best Cover: Silver Surfer #2. I'm enjoying the book, and the cover sums up the character really well, an all-powerful being, but one who lives with a certain loneliness. Great balance of darks and lights. Worst Cover: Again, they were good... Belated Praise: Spiderman/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure #1. I had read some lukewarm reviews on this book, so didn't pick it up, thinking it would just be a boring stunt set up for a trade to be released before the movie next year, but thankfully another review convinced me to pick it up. So far, this is a damn fun classic story, with an interesting perspective. Vaughn is quickly becoming one of Marvel's golden boys, and Johnson and Miki's art reminds me of Kyle Hotz, which is always good. Quote of the week: "London... should I be running on the wrong side of the street? I think I was running this way yesterday. Was it yesterday? Oh, no, wait, it couldn't have been. It's always now. Well, that's comforting, I suppose. Less confusing than it sometimes being then or later. Except for the part where I have to go tinkle. If it's always now, will I always have to wee-wee?"posted by Holz | 7:48 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0) |
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"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42 | |||||
