trying to reach you

My TV is broken, but I'll party since I dam well feel like it!

2012-02-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

Gosh, I'm so behind on this blog. MY TV IS BROKEN! My Mom loaned me hers yesterday, it's like a 10" or some crazy thing like that. Good enough for now I guess. My BD player hooks up to it smoothly so I don't need to downgrade my movie collection...
I could buy a new one before the end of the month if everything goes as expected. I'm not sure I will though...maybe I'll find a better deal in the future, but so far all I can find is a 19" for over $100. A 15" might suffice, I'm not sure...guess I could try it...

Last time TV functioned: Hekk if I know...

i am NOT wrong!

2012-02-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

To anyone who scoffed at the idea of the Kenner REAL GHOSTBUSTERS toys being re-made - as opposed to the absolutely absurd RGB toys being made by Mattel:
here it is. A 1977 (non-MEGO) Kenner Star Wars toy. The only difference between this and the 1977 version is they mini'd it and the packaging MIGHT be different, more or less (I haven't seen the packaging for either one, so I don't know).

Oh, and yeah, I AM wrong for going so long w/o posting anything. Been busy spending and trying to find ways to unspend the $613 I got from the DOR/MO. I now have $97 in my bank acct after spending $11 more than I really should have. I have a dental appt coming up on the 8th of Feb, so I need to have $125.50 ready to spend on that since my "Lazy Person's" insurance doesn't cover it. Actually, I might have a little more than $97 currently. I'm expecting two deposits from Amazon - one for almost $8 and one for almost $17. I haven't checked my bank acct yet, so I don't know if they've come. One of them MIGHT have come already, not sure...the other one I highly doubt. I might have already posted most of this on a previous blog entry. It sure seems like it's been too long, I'll have to look back in a moment. ttfn.

Star Wars toy can be found @: http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GE80130

I wouldn't have 5 star feedback on Amazon if some sellers had their way...

2011-12-24T10:47:00.000-06:00

This is the fact, from what I can see:
The free market world is run by greed and selfishness. People don't donate, they buy. They buy based on advertising, whether it be loud and obnoxious ads like TV & radio, or just posting a listing on eBay with the idea in mind that if you build it they will come. The ads must be honest. If not, the free market world is no longer anything of meaning, and people have no reason to keep shopping unless someone threatens their life or the life of someone they care about. But that's not free market. That's a sequel to Goodfellas. Whoever reads this and doesn't get it, I guess you should be locked up and put away from civilization. That probably won't happen though because the justice system has become too soft on crime, largely in part because society has become soft on crime, meaning that most people do not have a sharp sense of morality. People keep bending the rules until the rules no longer exist.
But as I was saying, the free market is not The Salvation Army of ChildFund. The free market is people getting stuff they want or need in exchange for pieces of paper good for stuff the person/people selling the stuff-people-get might want or need. In a market that is as strong as the USA's, it is illogical and harmful to the strength of the market to donate if you can barely make ends meet. I only make $700/mo and I have in the past donated. The market is a very complicated puzzle that I have spent lots of time pondering. And what I'm writing here is what I have concluded. And when I say "can barely make ends meet", I mean if there's stuff you want that you can't have, buy it first, then donate if you can. Even if it's only a few cents, that can go a long way with 300 million citizens doing the same thing as dirt poor people are in countries that a lot of people in the USA have never been to.
What really bothers me, as a member of the free market, is sellers who think buyers owe them something, like Best Buy and many sellers on eBay, and a lot of your Ma & Pa stores. If someone buys something by mistake, either b/c they didn't read the fine print or b/c the product was advertised incorrectly, or a buyer ends up with something that breaks in a few months and they paid more than they would have expected to for something of such short longevity, the seller shouldn't act like the buyer promised the seller anything. Re-stocking fees do make sense if the buyer is too stupid to understand or read the "Fine Print" or the item breaks down within what the buyer insists is an unfair amount of time for the price they paid for it & the seller begs to differ. Of course, there's usually a "standard return policy" that big box retailers like WalMart, Best Buy, Target etc. have, and that should not include any sort of re-stocking fee, IMO, unless the buyer is just being wishy washy in their decision making and nonetheless opened the product and devalued it. That's not to say the stores I just mentioned HAVE re-stocking fees toward buyers who open and use something they weren't even sure why they bought, but if they did, I wouldn't complain. I would just be more careful about what I buy and why. And I don't know if WalMart & co. have any sort of exceptions to the standard return policy. They might have at one time or another, before they started waving their "extended warranty" coverage in buyer's faces, making it known that if you don't buy the extra warranty, you either need to pray that it breaks within 3 months to a year (depending on the product), or buy the warranty and know that in 3 years or whenever the extended warranty you might have bought wears out, you very well might need to buy another one of X item...kind of odd, IMO. WalMart and all the big retailer giants have basically concluded that anything you buy isn't made to last more than 3 years. Maybe 4 if you buy an expensive TV...seems kind of sad.
So, yeah...anyway; for now I have 5 star feedback on Amazon b/c they don't count seller feedback. Sellers have left me good feedback, but it didn't help my rating at all. All it does is show people that I'm not a total con artist. When you see people say that I'm difficult to deal with or some b.s. like that, just know it means that I am a buyer who does not put up with sHpit from sellers who can't keep their promises. Word.

"Are you stupid or something?"

2011-12-21T14:18:00.000-06:00

Ok, a Roku & a TV = Rdio & Pandora, not to mention NetFlix etc. RokuLT $50. A TV is $150. Why would I get a new computer instead of those two things?

STALKING BOOKS AT THE COFFEE SHOP

2011-12-21T14:14:00.000-06:00

Now that I have my Roku LT, I don't need to ever buy a single thing from Barnes & Noble or any other media retailer. No longer shall I consume my delicious latte and pretend that sucking it from the accompanying cup is not the only reason I leave my house.
Wait, it's not the only reason for leaving the house; I still need nutrients to keep my body going. If I wasn't living on food stamps I could order them from Schnucks and have them delivered to my door.
If I wasn't too stupid to read, I could go to B&N and buy brand new hardcover editions of books by my favorite authors.
At least I know I'm stupid; brick & mortar store owners will soon have the ground removed from their feet and complain about it, coming off bitter and arrogant. The obvious truth is they could have invested their $ in the stock market like Warren Buffet and Martha Stewart did. They either have some undefined prejudice against doing so or are too stupid to know how to do it right. People like that deserve the minuscule amount of money that welfare provides. The sad fact is they'll have the ground removed from their feet and no one will help them stand up because selfishness and blind materialism are a virtues in the eyes of lawmakers.

all i want for the rest of my life is Rdio/Grooveshark (or equivalent) and the ability to use it!

2011-12-14T07:45:00.000-06:00

No Blu ray player
No TV
No DVD player
No Roku

'nuff said.

I will not replace my computer usage with a Blu ray player
I hardly ever use my TV
I hardly ever use my DVD player
I will not replace my computer usage with a Roku

Maybe inner peace (ain't happenin', i don't think)
Or some sort of ultra-happiness, ya know? Maybe in Heaven, later on?
Oh, and of course headphones, and a DVD/CD drive for the computer I might get
And some CDs and DVDs would be nice

That's all.

If I let myself die of the flue would that be good enough?

2011-12-10T14:23:00.000-06:00

Perhaps The Bible says...I'm not interested enough in the various bits of subject matter contained in it to bother reading all 2K+ pages of it. But just by hearing what people say, it's hard to tell. On one hand, life is precious, yet on the other hand, this Earth is meaningless compared to the afterlife and all that lay ahead for humanity. So if I savor what little beauty stand before my senses and let death take me away without fighting it, is that bad? I don't see how that is. I would think for a normal person, someone whose more in touch with society and love for their fellow man and all that, it might be better to spread their life around, in the spirit of giving etc., but I have nothing to offer my fellow man. I have no interest in having anything to offer my fellow man. Well, I do have some interest, but not enough to make anything of it. I'm a drain on society. All that I've done for my fellow man was be born so my mom would have a reason to keep living and eventually become ReBorn. I'm guessing that was God's purpose for putting me here. So, really, not committing suicide is a rather cowardly act. It's based on instinct, self-preservation I guess...fear of Death more like it...but there's nothing to fear, right? Based on observation, it seems like death is traditionally dealt with by force. You don't call it, it calls you. But I am not a traditional person. Grg.

Things Shaped In Passing

2011-12-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

Pandora plays me a Bank Of America ad. Followed by a song titled "Seems Like Most Everything Used To Be Something Else". Is this a subliminal stab at their own sponsor? A little more subliminal is the follow up to THAT, a song "If I Still Still, Maybe I'll Get Out Of Here". Both are good songs, BTW. But still, ya gotta wonder...

the empire submits - godspeed you-u!

2011-12-09T14:18:00.000-06:00

WOW. I had heard 3 or 4 songs by these guys on my local modern rock station coupled with various online radio sources.
THIS is AMAZING. I listened to NEVER TAKE FRIENDSHIP PERSONAL (2005) and didn't really care much for it. I checked NEW SURRENDER out from the library, was more fond of that, but THIS is AMA-ZING. (emphasis on Zing!)
(Zing!).
I sold THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 2disc limited edition yesterday, after having bought it a few hours earlier that day (yeah, you know, THAT day?...). For those who aren't already fainting at those two facts put together, let me give you some back story. George Lucas has committed himself to f*****ng up the STAR WARS legacy by making a 2nd trilogy and fidgeting around needlessly with the first one. He gave in to fans demand for the ORIGINAL original trilogy to be released on DVD by releasing a somewhat shoddy master of the films on DVD. But now they are out of print. So the fact that I bought the 2nd installment of the original trilogy yesterday is amazing. What's even more amazing is it was only $15 apprx.
So naturally, since it was OOP, I made some profit. Eleven dollars to be more specific. Yeah, I could have savored the moment and bought RETURN OF THE JEDI and eventually A NEW HOPE (my local store that was selling ESB and ROTJ didn't have A NEW HOPE at that time...). But A) I'm not a big fan of the STAR WARS trilogy. I'm not a big fan of any movie. There's movies I like, there's movies I like a lot, probably none that I HAVE to have. GHOSTBUSTERS is a sound investment b/c it's become a part of me, after most of my childhood spent watching it and its sequel. And it's a good++ movie so it's watchable on that level too. Aside from that though there's very few movies I feel compelled to watch time and time again. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and THE EXORCIST are two (other) examples. I sometimes enjoy Gregg Araki's 'nowhere' and Rankin/Bass' THE LAST UNICORN. I probably re-watch those films more than most other films.
So anyway.
When the funds for ESB come to my bank acct, I can buy CITIES(!!).
And...um...hmm...my roommate moved out yesterday. I miss her already. It was nice having her around. Yesterday I was quite saddened. I was fine today until I looked in the pantry and it was almost empty. I almost cried, no lie. CITIES brightened my spirits tho. It's supposedly a Christian CD, but it sounds like regular music to me. I'm not fond of Christian radio b/c the songs just seem to corny. They have bland lyrics that don't mean anything to me in any way whatsoever and the melodies are almost as bland. Maybe if I was one of those people that could honestly say I love Jesus/God, it might be different. I don't hate God like I once did. Sometimes I wonder weather I dislike him, but it really doesn't matter. I don't like going to church/parties/social events, and aside from evangelical donations, there's really nothing I can do to prove myself in his eyes. If I don't have enough faith or whatever it is that makes someone a "Christian", then I guess I'm going to Hell. Not much else to it. But I do like this Anberlin CD. I'd call it a emo with a bit of pop/punk mixed in.

Too much sunshine

2011-12-08T14:40:00.000-06:00

The sunshine screams through all windows of this house, this empty house, this big empty house
This house screams her name, begging her to come back, tugging at my soul, tearing at my eyes, demanding grief
I guess this is why I've been ignoring her, more or less
I knew this would happen
In a way it already had
Today it's official, but it's been this way for almost a week
I still get her mail
Sometimes it's hard to register these kinds of things

Nothing For Christmas

2011-12-07T12:51:00.002-06:00

I guess I saw a future between us
I’m not sure what kind
Maybe a miniature friendship
I don’t hate you
I just hate how I feel when I think about you

You don’t deserve coal in your stockings
I wish you all the best
But I know I’ll never have
Anything to do with it

What the hell was I thinking
I’m not sure
what if
Maybe you don’t give a damn
I don’t hate you
I just hate how I feel when I’m around you

You don’t deserve coal in your stockings
I wish you all the best
But I know I’ll never have
Anything to do with it

(guitar solo?)

You didn't forget my birthday did you?

2011-11-27T08:32:00.000-06:00

Yep. I'm 28. And what have I done? Nothing? Um...yeah...anyway. I had a German chocolate cake. My mom has been very sick as of late, one thing after another, some on top of each other. So she had to buy it, it tasted good. Hey! My sister won me a GHOSTBUSTERS "plush buddy" from The Claw machine at her local WalMart. I think she mailed it a couple days ago, it might arrive tomorrow (I know it's for the greater good, but I gotta savor these Saturday deliveries while I can!!). My mom got me my gifts early, my Gramma AND my Mom's housekeeper Beverly got me $20 (each!). Unfortunately I spent the vast majority of my gift from Gramma before Beverly gave me hers. So I had $31 as opposed to the $53 I would have otherwise had...which is important b/c $53 would have been enough to buy that $50 BD player that Best Buy had for a few days, but on the other hand I would have felt washed out if I had spent all my $ on one thing, so I guess it worked out well either way...I bought the new Lindqvist book HARBOR. He's the guy who wrote LET ME IN aka LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. I think MOST people think the book is titled LET THE RIGHT ONE IN b/c the softcover had that title printed on it, and the softcover had that print on it b/c it was a movie tie-in, directed at people who had maybe seen or wanted to see the movie, which actually IS titled LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. The original hardcover book of the text had the title LET ME IN printed on it, which is where the U.S. remake got its title from. If the author of the book hadn't decided to come up with a whole new title when writing the screenplay for the movie, it wouldn't be so confusing! But this is what happens when people's minds are allowed to turn to slush and details become irrelevant...Most people don't even know what a screenplay is!
I didn't actually read LET ME IN, although I did get about halfway through it. I Just haven't felt like finishing it and it's been...6 months? Maybe longer...since I last read from it. This book might be the same way. I paid a good chunk of $ for it, which makes me seem stupid I suppose...the list price was $26, but I had a 20% off coupon, which along with my B&N member discount, brought the total down to $18. It would have been $13 or less if I'd bought it online. The price last I checked was about $16, and 20% off that is like $3 or something like that...

"You have another one of those proton packs? My kid brother really wants one"

2011-11-27T08:12:00.000-06:00

Well NOW HE CAN HAVE ONE! Well, actually, this has been the case since 1986 or thereabouts...but for the last 15 years or so, that's only been the case on and off. And it's still the case, actually. There was a 5 year period in time, when nobody had internet access and the GHOSTBUSTERS toyline by Kenner was winding down, that buying a proton pack was quite difficult.

I like the GHOSTBUSTERS 2 logo more so than the regular logo. And the cartoon image of the "Powerpack Heroes"-ized Egon was a nice touch. I liked his black w/purple highlights suit.
I never actually owned the "Ecto-Charger" (known as a "Slime Blower" to those who don't read the label on the box of the Kenner toy, but were paying attention while watching GHOSTBUSTERS II), so I can't exactly reminisce about this on Amazon's product review page, so I came here to do that(!). Mmmmmmmm...those are the days!

dream of pretty insects

2011-11-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

I feel so unworthy, I feel in need, incapable of love, yet constantly yearning for it. A hug of epic proportions that folds into itself onto the bed and into sex. I’m an animal, very tame, domesticated, very much, but disgusting, disgusted, with myself, unshaven most times, sometimes filthy with the smell of my own sweat, uncaring enough of my life to take a shower twice or more a week. I reek of loneliness and desperation, I hold no myths of my greatness, perhaps I do blow my lack thereof into mythic proportions, it’s not up to me. If everyone wanted a piece of me, I’d feel secure. They don’t. I feel insecure. I am a train wreck of a human being, unwilling to change for the fear of failure. I feel I know I would fail. I feel failure is inevitable. I’m stuck in my skin, my skin is unfit for me, I just wish I were dead so my skin and worries can fade into the swamps.

THE DARK KNIGHT Trilogy

2011-11-02T15:49:00.000-05:00

(Hopefully!) COMING CHRISTMAS 2012

Room

2011-10-31T18:55:00.000-05:00

My Mom's friends Margaret had been planning to move in to me and my mom's house for some time...at least a month; she finally did, like 3? days ago...she made us french toast yesterday afternoon.

I got $6 from those 3 CDs & a book I had bought on impulse and never had enough interest in it to try to fit it in my media shelf, located in the closet. Most of that $6 came from two of the CDs, can't remember exactly which ones...

I deleted the listing for Genesis' INVISIBLE TOUCH I mentioned having listed on Amazon. I mean, my one and only friend bought it for me, even though I don't have most of what he's bought me in the past, and I know dang well I'll end up buying it again - and again, and again....I need to keep a special edition of it around so I can't get rid of it as easily! Speaking of INVISIBLE TOUCH, I accidentally heard the remixed 2007 version of the title track on MySpace and found myself not really caring that much about the differences in sound between the original mix and the 2007 one. The 2007 one packs more punch, albeit with more distortion, which I honestly don't have a problem with. With so many different types of music INTENTIONALLY adding distortion, why can't Genesis? I probably would say I prefer the 1986 mix by Hugh Padgeham over the 2007 Nick Davis remix if I hadn't heard the 1986 version so many times that I'm downright sick of it most of the time and *tolerating* it most of the rest of the time...
I need to read more. So many books, so little time...idk...I just wish I could be more believable as somebody else, somebody with a bigger brain, and enough common sense to enjoy life more...I don't know why I always see those professor types, the ones with itchy jackets and a button up shirt underneath, and itchy pants (not sure what that material is called, they also make blankets out of that material), and a book in their hands, sitting in a chair that envelops them, and if they weren't in public you could just imagine them sitting in front of a fireplace with a pipe hanging out of their mouth...I see them and I think "I want to be him". His life is probably not much better than mine, maybe he has more pride and dignity, maybe he enjoys his work...idk...I always feel like I have bugs crawling in my skin, just coursing through my veins, destroying my foundation slowly but surely so that I'll rot and lie stinking in the Earth when I'm 40...which I know, or at least I *think* I know is b/c of all the junk I eat. I don't remember what I've eaten lately that would make me feel that way; maybe I drink too much milk/hot chocolate...my caffeine intake is probably too high b/c of that as well...and I haven't lost anywhere neat the weight I need to. I still weigh at least 250 lbs...which is 60 lbs more than recommended...

I think I should transfer my favorite CDS to FLAC files and take SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO and GHOSTBUSTERS: ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM and find a way to display them. Maybe buy a few "vintage" VHS tapes, ones with super-great covers and display those and put my DVDs in a better place, hidden...my room in general needs to be cleaned, like DEEEEP.......I need to get on my hands and knees and scrub the floor, and pick up all the little pieces of trash I have laying around...then I really need to, when I get some moolah, buy a "TV stand" and put my stuff on it so I have more room, my "table" takes up WAAAAY too much room....dannnrg...ate too much candy today...I feel sick already...

to sell some gifts that I got...

2011-10-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

EWW! The only CDs I have are OLD! Not like it matters really I have over half a dozen on MP3 CDs/CD-Rs...I just listened to The Get Up Kids' SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT, then Hidden In Plain View's RESOLUTION (which I also own on CD), followed by Mineral's THE POWER OF FAILING, and Senses Fail's LIFE IS NOT A WAITING ROOM and STILL SEARCHING, plus The Starting Line's SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT & last but not least WE THE KINGS by We The Kings...I was actually asleep through most of all those, but my subconscious still heard it (?)...I think it had been AT LEAST a month since I even touched that disc, probably much longer. Most of the music on that MP3 CD is legally mine, some if it used to be...some of it wasn't legal at the time, but became legal...
But anyway; hopefully in less than an hour I'll be on my way to sell the most recent 3 CDs I own - not like recent as in "new release", but, ya know, recently acquired by me...New Order's INTERNATIONAL: THE BEST OF being 2002 (semi-old), The Smith's LOUDER THAN BOMBS (modern classic) and Hawthorne Height's SKELETONS (semi-recent). The CDs I won't be selling are Phil Collins' BOTH SIDES, Hidden In Plain View's RESOLUTION and Oingo Boingo's SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF. If anyone ever finds it, maybe I'll (eventually?) sell my Japanese mini-LP pressing of Genesis' INVISIBLE TOUCH, which will probably be replaced by a regular pressing. I don't know when or if it will sell b/c Amazon's listings are so screwy. If you type in 'GENESIS INVISIBLE TOUCH', it won't show up, but if you type in 'INVISIBLE TOUCH' it will. Not to mention the CD has been out of print for several years, which means I'll get more $ out of it, but also means there's a lot less people to draw from. I mean, the mini-LP replica was first released in 1999, and those mini-LP editions almost always go out of print, but they usually come back every year or two if the demand is strong enough. That CD only came back once, in 2001 I think...the only reason I wanted the thing was b/c it's the only edition of that CD that I'm aware of that has been remastered w/o a bunch of remixing as well, which I should have known means very little if anything; most remasters don't really improve my enjoyment of the recording; Michael Jackson's BAD will always be Michael Jackson - BAD, even if the 2001 remaster is a little amped up in comparison to the original edition, which is hard to gauge without SOMETHING more than a DVD player playing through TV speakers. And they don't make shelf systems that are worth anything anymore. Sony has a bunch of shelf systems that are rated four+ stars by Amazon customers - but all of them are from 2010 or later; the ones from 2009 or older have 3 1/2 stars - you know why? Because a lot of them failed to operate 3 years after purchase and a significant amount of 4 or 5 star reviews became 1-3 star reviews and some people who probably wouldn't have written a review otherwise probably jumped on deck as well...so I'm probably not going to be buying a Sony shelf system. Panasonic has several, but I don't know if any of them are safe to put near TVS or computers, and there's no where in between that I can put a shelf system. The cheapest shelf system I can find is $300, which is a rather big chunk of money that I don't even know if I'll ever have, and that shelf system, made by Yamaha, cannot be hooked up with my DVD player, which means concert DVDS and movies will still sound mediocre. Actually, I take that back - I think Onkyo makes a fairly good+ unit that has inputs...I'll check in a moment......why am I writing? Am I done? I think so...

Oh, wait! Great news! My dormant friend Chris Gipson has joined gmail! Hopefully this means I'll be in touch with him more via Gmail's built in chat feature...

The Wrath Of Silk (e.g.: nog)

2011-10-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

WOW; WalMart is already selling egg nog and other kinds of nog - soy nog being one of them, a much healthier option, but A LOT less good tasting. In fact, I wouldn't even say it tastes "good", whereas egg nog is pure greatness.
But earlier that day I had a blood test to measure my cholesterol, and although I've lost 10 lbs in the past 3 months, my triglycerides have gone UP. Which I suppose makes sense; I've eaten out at fast food and the like probably six times in the so far days of this month of October. Maybe if I cut that in half, I'll be all right. I also need to make sure when I buy lattes at Starbucks or a local cafe to make it a light latte, fat free if possible. I keep forgetting about that. I don't even remember the last time I had a light latte.
I met with my case worker today, for the first time in, like, six(?) weeks...we had to keep rescheduling. And we didn't talk much today. She seemed in a hurry.
I owe my Mom $18 for pizza, and my sister $8. At least I'll have something...yay.
Word on the web is Spencer's has a new truck load of GHOSTBUSTERS merch to swim through. I'll have to make my way over there soon...

DURN YOOOOOU!!

2011-10-12T21:16:00.000-05:00

Here's a simple fact that I realized today: YOU STUPID FKING IDIOTS ARE GONNA GO DEF BY AGE 40!!! I'm 27, I don't exactly listen to whisper quiet music, but I could not BELIEVE how painful it was to go to Cartel's Facebook page and click on a song's "play" button. I, who am smart enough to take the steps necessary to keep from going def by age 40, apparently need to shell out $400+ ASAP b/c my computer's volume control button was too frrrking slow for the speed of painful sound that was shooting me in the ears. Whereas all the idiots who think going def is just some stupid myth adults made up for no good reason get special treatment with automatic topshelf loudness, no hassle needed.

got to admit...all the time...

2011-10-09T17:10:00.000-05:00

I read another 25 pages, last night, of S.J. Watson's BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP. So now I'm on page 65. When I finish the chapter facing me I'll be on page 81. I would do that now, but I am sooo tired. I walked to Hastings to sell a few things, got $4.25 out of 'em, and spent $0.50 and the last of my food stamps at U Kwik Stop, got a surprisingly great(!) tasting Fritz Cream Soda + some fig bars. Now I have $3.75, plus $0.61 in my bank account. If I merge those two, I'll have over $4.25(!!). I should be getting $5-$10 later in the month, that's probably two more weeks, or almost, from now, oh, and I also got two more CDs on the way, one of which I'll probably sell as well, get $1 or $2 from it...Since my sister would rather me give her my money to stash for future emergency rather than buy her something for Christmas, I guess it doesn't matter when I send her the $ I was planning on sending her...I could send her that toward the end of the month; $4 + $1 + $10...might be enough. I promised her I'd send her $16 though, then there's the cost of the money order itself, which is at least $0.50...I'm still thinking...um...'til next time!

Before I Go To Sleep, Super

2011-10-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

I think - maybe - I forgot to mention that I did a rare thing (for me) - I bought a current bestselling book. BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, by S.J. Watson. And after almost a week of procrastinating, read 30 pages, like, a couple days ago. Around that same time frame - 2-3 days ago - I watched SUPER, the whole thing(!) and enjoyed it a good bit. I got allergies up the wazoo, but at least all other facets of my life seem to be seamlessly integrated at this time...ah; the weather....

library gains

2011-10-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

Finally was/am able to check stuff out from the library this afternoon, after laying down $8.25 of the $11.50apprx that I owed them. Now i have $0.60 in my bank acct and won't have any more until later in the month when I get $10 from Complete Savings. I did request a refund for one of the items I bought on amazon that hasn't shipped yet...IF they act on my favor on that it'll only be $2.91, better than what I have now I suppose...just barely...and it's only the 3rd!

Ok, well...I've been on a diet as outlined by the case worker, haven't been doing too well with it. I've been consuming about 120 carbs a day by my estimation...I'm supposed to eat fruits 3x daily and the ditto w/ veggies.

Haven't taken a shower in at least almost a week...need to do that!! I finally brushed my teeth after a 3++ day break...argh...the weather's been really lovely though...

How I plan to survive the Republican apocalypse

2011-09-14T17:06:00.000-05:00

I can't believe with all the money government wastes, the Republicans seem to want to cut SSI and medicaid first. As far as my personal budget/situation goes, if Republicans cut $50/mo per recipient, it would be hard to swallow, but not impossible. I live in a fairly nice neighborhood, which is nice considering I used to live in a ghetto. It wouldn't be a big deal living in the ghetto once again. The problem would be paying a deposit and finding a land lord that would let me have my two cats and knowing that my two cats will have to get used to living in a small space once again, not to mention the transition would be weird...just...idk...like always, I guess...like going to a new school is for most people...heck, I'd get nightmares about getting lost in the same high school that I'd been going to for the previous two years for several days during the month before the new school year started.

it would be rather difficult maintaining the apartment. Heck, I haven't swept the basement/downstairs in over two weeks...and I haven't scooped the litter box this week, and I don't THINK any of the cats have gone elsewhere to do their business, but if I lived in an apartment, they would certainly at least dare; not only is an apartment (a regular/small one) less kind to a cat's wild instincts, but the smell from their litter box carries more. Of course, I would take the trash out more often, try to keep the kitchen area clean(er), and try not to let the place rot like my old apartment almost did before my Mom and Sister stepped in and almost reversed the process.

Anyway...

Recently found out my sister is living in near poverty. If she didn't have a car, I'd consider doing a fundraiser, lol...hopefully I can gather up a good $40 to send her for Christmas. I would try to equal that for my mom, but she doesn't need it and I can get her something other than money, which I could tell her is a $40 value, which may be true, more or less...I mean, my Grandpa sent two $100 gift cards in the mail and a $70 Sony Walkman MP3 player. How much do you want to bet he paid the same amount for the MP3 player that he did for each gift card? You see, it all depends on where you buy X item...not to mention WHEN. I mean, if I only spend $15 on Mom's Xmas gift and the item goes on clearance for $2, does that mean Mom's gift was only worth $2? Yeah, I think I made my point...

Let me see if I can keep from segueing with "anyway" again...

Umm...

(not much better is it?)

ANYWAY!....

What was I gonna say? Heck, I don't even know if I was going to say anything else...still can't think of anything,......going, going, alright, that's it.

xx

don't leave home w/o it

2011-09-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

Or shall I say "don't leave WalMart without groceries and wait 'til you get home to realize you've done it". But that's not really an order that needs to given, b/c after all, who'd do anything contrary to that? Well, I would. I have. I hope I don't do it again...

Yep. It was about $10 worth of stuff (a large sum of $ for a person in my circumstances).

You see, yesterday was the day I ponied up my dough and went grocery shopping pre-12th. Just needed a few things - bread, coffee, and, um,...Oh yeah, cocoa; baking cocoa with sucrolose (sp?) mixed with hot milk can = hot chocolate! And it's virtually fat and sugar free!

I also bought some boneless BBQ wings. Shouldn't have done that.

I forgot to take my cholesterol medicine at least half of the previous week. I took it on Saturday though and immediately proceeded to fill my pillbox and took them on Sunday too. I'm supposed to take it before I go to sleep, so I haven't taken it today yet.

The weather here's been phenominal(sp??). It's like a zombie film w/o the zombies...whut the...? Anyway...

Um...gosh this is a boring post. OH! I wrote a WHOLE PAGE of one of my scripts. It's been quite some time, quantity of which would be risky to even guestimate, since I toiled at screenwriting. My problem has always been I can't make 'em long enough w/o making them boring. AAAH!

Peace out
~Jonathan

monday, aug 29, The Conformist was sent back...

2011-08-30T00:48:00.000-05:00

FINALLY returned THE CONFORMIST (1970) to NetFlix. I kept it for like 5 days. And I only saw about 7 minutes of it. Total waste...but I think I might still have enough time to receive another movie before I cancel my membership...I would keep it, but I'm expecting to have to spend $35 minimum on groceries, and then there's the near mandatory Complete Savings cost - $7 - and that alone leaves me with $24 supposing I don't have to spend more money on groceries than I had thought...$24 - $9 = $15 which isn't much to work w/...I mean, I've got 5 movies from NetFlix this month and none of them were enjoyed by me. The mailman actually came somewhat early too; well, he was "on time", but he could have been up to three hours later than he was considering Sunday all that incoming mail was just building up at the processing center...

Domino's Noid

2011-08-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

Domino's Noid
HOLY SMIT, THIS IS FUNNY!

"It didn't seem to have much to do with pizza, but in 1989 the campaign went even further when a video game based on the character was released. However, the Noid turned out to be not only strange but also incendiary: in January 1989, a mentally ill man named Kenneth Noid held up a Domino's in Georgia, claiming that the chain was personally attacking him. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Domino's abandoned the creepy pizza-hating Noid shortly thereafter."

coffee pot rises

2011-08-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

got a replacement coffee pot, for $6 at WalMart. If it breaks down in two months and the one year warranty doesn't pan out, it's still a fairly OK deal...

I'm eating bread again...not like I went that long w/o it...but...I was thinking I would stay away from it...don't think that's gonna work...

so...I ordered Cartel's CHROMA (the original Militia Records version) a few days ago. It might arrive today, not sure why or if I care...I've owned that album, like, 5(?) times...at least three anyway...I guess I bought it 'cause i was thinking I loved it when I first heard it so it must be worth owning...which may or may not be true depending on what version of the future turns out to be THE future...as well as what ideology one were to go by...I'm starting to think owning albums I seldom listen to is a total waste of time/money...I should re-join eMusic...maybe not...I mean, I already bought most of the albums I like/love; once I do that what does it matter if I own it? Sure it decreases the value if I don't keep it, but why does it even matter? If CDs are truly on their way out, then MP3 downloads, which can't be legally redistributed, should take care of that issue, if it really is one. Of course, it really comes down to the fact that people don't have enough money to have everything they want. People can't accept that so they take instead of buy. I'd say "FBI - fire away!" but I think the root of the problem is so widespread, it would be like Vietnam - a war one can't win. I'm not immune to it, I've downloaded quite a bit in my time, although I got caught and was given a warning, so I don't do it anymore...it's just a matter of greed and selfishness. Rich people of course don't have any price to pay for being greedy or selfish, but the middle class and poor have no choice but to either join a convent or commit a crime...or, ya know, try to rise above temptation in a world where everyone else is giving in without even questioning their actions...

"gotta problem with plumbing (gotta problem with plumbing...}"

2011-08-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

I think I have two favorite songs - "Losing Your Memory" by Ryan Star and "Obscurity Knocks" by The Trashcan Sinatras.

Ok. Well, coffee pot is broken. The accompanying carafe is cracked and there might be some other (mechanical) problem...looks like me and/or Mom will need to buy a new one...thankfully we got FIVE Complete Savings checks a couple days ago in the mail...(that's $50 for those of you - whoever the heck you are - who aren't in the know...).

After budgeting how much food we'll need, I came to the conclusion that my mom must have been putting her neck out big time. We've been going - I think - at least $30 over budget on food, maybe $50, although we have some misc. cash in the "household fund", I don't think we have THAT much, probably no more than $20...so that means my mom has been paying at least apprx $20 out of her own pocket to feed me and her (mostly me; she doesn't eat very much...).

So I'm gonna pay for the food in Sept. I might do that again in October. At some point hopefully we can split it evenly, or at least arrange it so I'm paying no more than 3/4 (maybe 2/3...I'd hope...) of the excess food budget. Hopefully that'll happen sooner than later...but anyway...

I signed up to NetFlix for the first time in what feels like AGES on the 3rd of Sept. By Friday I should have my FIFTH movie from them. It'd be GREAT if I got a sixth one before the membership renews, but I'm not counting on it...well, maybe I am but I'm trying to be modest about it, idk...

I think it might make more sense to get computer speakers of a higher caliber, or hi-fi headphones rather than a receiver and speakers etc....I mean, how many CDs do I actually own? Right now I have five, and I plan/hope to get maybe 2 or 3 more...there's some music items I think I might want to buy, but I doubt I'd keep them...most of the music I listen to is "indie" music, which isn't recorded with the kind of concern that "major" label music is. So I'm not sure my listening gear needs to be so strict...I like how receivers and CD players look. I don't know what it is, I guess I have fond memories of that kind of stuff...my father had a lot of high end audio gear. He's been gone since I turned 7, I last saw him in person when I was like 12 or so...but I probably remember a bit more from my pre-K-garden days than most people do...I remember how impressed I was by seeing the CD tray open and hearing the creaking guitar sound of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" (my dad used to have the soundtrack). It's been a LONG time since I felt that kind of deep excitement by hearing that sound. Most of the time I barely notice it, except after the opening scene in GHOSTBUSTERS II, where I think they slightly modified it to have a bit more of a creepiness to it. I swear, it sounded like a ghost was laughing in a really demonic way when Dana was picking up her baby and that white swoosh that pieced together to form the GB2 no-ghost insignia was appearing...of course, a lot of you (and by "you" I mean everybody in the planet in general, which I guess means "nobody") probably don't know what I'm talking about b/c you just saw it one time in theaters back in 1989 and don't even remember 20 minutes of the movie...which I guess is understandable. GB2 probably isn't worth the number of viewings I gave it when I was younger and got older...it's got a hold of me though; the feelings it inspired in me have not been duplicated by any other film. It had a unique combination of good intentions and a surreal kind of 2am-half-awake-why-is-everything-glowing kind of creepiness to it. I remember being about 6 years old and watching that scene with the Statue Of Liberty walking through the ocean with only the crown sticking above water, and Bill Murray referenced some advertising icon from the time period that was used to sell vegetables (I don't think "The Jolly Green Giant" appears in the ads anymore, does he?) and the water was all lit up by the New York nightlife and New Year's festivities. MAN life used to be intense! That scene was especially cool when viewed in the dark.

dumpweed redux

2011-08-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

There's this piece of Blink 182's "Dumpweed" (opening track from ENEMA OF THE STATE) that kinda sounds (IMO.?) like circus music sped up...it seems like someone at some point made a song that focuses mainly on that portion and did it with synths but I can't for the life of me remember/figure out what song that was or how to find it...maybe I dreamt it...sux b/c I don't know how to play the synthesizer (although if I tried I'd probably fair better at that than the guitar...) and I don't know anyone who does play synth...if I did, I could maybe relay my dreams and get them to come true...oh well...

madness! MA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA-DNESS!!!!!

2011-08-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

This editor who writes articles for Fandago's website was bashing the UNDERWORLD franchise. I swear, all the idiots crawled out from under their couches to rebuke his attitude. Most of them just spewed out meaningless insults, but at least a couple tried to say something other than "you're mean; you hurt my feelings". One guy tried to justify UNDERWORLD being a piece of garbage b/c he "doesn't need to be any smarter having watched it". Actually, good movies don't make you smart. It's just a stupid thing to watch bad movies b/c the definition of a "bad movie" is one that does not involve any use of brain cells whatsoever, either on the filmmakers' part or the part of the audience. A bad movie can also fall under a myriad of other categories...Another guy, I think, was TRYING to say that the editor couldn't handle the imaginative aspect of the film. That's ALSO b.s. b/c a smart person, or even someone who isn't that smart, is capable of imagining most of what happens in the UNDERWORLD films before seeing four+ sequels, and, maybe, before seeing the 1st one.
If you "want to be entertained" and don't want to eat half baked popcorn, here's some examples of well crafted, well thought-out cinema that isn't "some drama":

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI
GHOSTBUSTERS
JURASSIC PARK
THE TERMINATOR
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
DIE HARD
END OF DAYS
TRUE LIES

the return of the miniature DVD player & throwing it all away...

2011-08-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

Yeah, um...

I finally have a DVD player - again, for the Nth++(?HU?) time...man, I wish I'd kept that Denon 1940CI DVD etc. player...it was probably more than I needed, but something of that build quality isn't easy to come by...I guess maybe the $50 Sony player would be pretty close...neither are region free, so...I guess what I SHOULD HAVE done is used the $70 or so I got from the 1940CI was buy the Sony DVD player...now I have this cheapppp DVD player that doesn't even playback the first half second of most songs (it plays DVDS just fine so far...).

Today is the 12th day of ownership if you count Aug 1, the purchase date.

Sorry I've been silent all these years...thank you Tori Amos...

Spent 5 hours out and about total, plus 3 hours in between waiting for Mom to get out of the torture chamber...SHE'S been out for 8 hours today. I stayed home while she was at Dr. Phibb's laboratory b/c misery may prefer company but mercy says no...(?)

Anyway; listening to Katy Perry's TEENAGE DREAM. It's got good melody and sweet sounds, the lyrics are kinda retarded...so far the only weak song is "Peacock", which seems more of a novelty, rather tongue and cheek.

I rented YOUR HIGHNESS this morning. I heard about it on what apparently was a rerun of ES.TV (not sure what that stands for...they interview celebrities about their current movies etc.). They showed clips of it on ES.TV, looked pretty funny. I should be shot for wasting money on it, I STILL haven't looked at the average verdict per the Amazon shoppers, hopefully I'll remember to do that when I finish this rambling...

Not sure what else was missed in the last however the heKK long it's been since I looked at this site...I hope to update more frequently....

OH! I have 12 CDs! And I don't actually own all the CDs I've bought...I had like 15 or so, would have more if I hadn't sold any of 'em, maybe 20...usually I think "GET THIS SH!T AWAY FROM ME!!!" and end up leaving myself with zilch, but this time I thought "why????".

I bought 6 DVDs at Big Lots the day I got a DVD player, returned two of 'em and tried to sell two of them, failed at one of those, so I still have that one, so I still have three out of four of the ones I paid for for good.

And keeping in step with my lifestyle, my DVD collection isn't as vast as my CD collection, since I don't watch movies very often. I also have like 5 books, one of them I started reading quite some time ago and haven't resumed at all since I bought it...I don't like to ruin dust jackets, so I'm afraid to touch it...I keep thinking I should buy it in softcover and then donate that or sell it somewhere, but lately I'm just not interested in doing that...I snagged SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane from my mom who received it from her friend. I kinda look forward to seeing how much better it is than MYSTIC RIVER, which although entertaining was monumentally depressing, to the point it was almost laughable. He makes EVERYTHING look grim and bleak. That's not life.

Right now I'm writing this blog post, listening to TEENAGE DREAM and I NEED to watch YOUR HIGHNESS and would LIKE to read SHUTTER ISLAND. Can't do all four!!!

an emotional episode - Vol. 1-12

2011-06-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

These are the twelve (twelve!!!!) CDs I think, based on their emotional resonance, are ones to keep:

American Football - s/t
Bayside - s/t
Bayside - Shudder
Bayside - Sirens And Condolences
Bayside - The Walking Wounded
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
PrimeSTH - Underneath The Surface

I chose these based on a combination of factors: the # of times I can listen to them in a short period of time w/o getting sick of it/them, their personal value (i.e.: nostalgia, where they fit in in my past, and the history of pop culture in general, and weather or not they say something about me...), and also how good they are (of course!). I might add Trespassers William's DIFFERENT STARS and HAVING to the list. It's been a loong time since I've been able to enjoy the entirety of DIFFERENT STARS and it's been probably just as long with HAVING. I used to be pretty big on The Cranberries and Third Eye Blind, I think Trespassers William are one of those bands that just get left behind in the fields of time. TPW's HAVING is better than DIFFERENT STARS, imo, but the production is so dang dense, the melodies, some of which are just classic, just don't resonate after 50 or so listens. I'll revisit them from time to time, on occasion, probably on Pandora Radio, but I doubt I'll relish owning any CDs by them should I ever re-buy HAVING or DIFFERENT STARS.
BTW, I think I prefer Third Eye Blind's newer music, from 2003 onward, but they've yet to make an entire album of good++ music. I hope the consistency of their first two albums will someday (soon?!) merge with the passion of their current-er work. As for The Cranberries, I think my tastes have changed a bit and they no longer fit in with how I feel about things...BURY THE HATCHET was their only really good album, imo.

almost brushed my teeth...

2011-06-20T10:30:00.002-05:00

I (finally) took a shower yesterday, after a week of not doing that. Aaah! I thought about the fact that I was too tired to brush my teeth and knew I was gonna pay for that...I did brush them this morning, but I'm about due for another shower - HOOOOOMID!
Been listening to Bayside quite a bit the last 2 or 3 days. Mainly SHUDDER (2008) and THE WALKING WOUNDED (2006). I finally bought SIRENS AND CONDOLENCES (2004) a couple months ago, don't know what kept me from doing so way sooner. I did buy their 2011 release KILLING TIME a couple weeks after its release date, even though I don't like it as much as their Victory Records output. Hopefully they'll go back to the raw emotion of their "older" recordings. Or maybe I just need to open up more, idk...pop-punk is nice, but it gets old really fast. Panic! At The Disco's VICES AND VIRTUES was amazing on the first several listens, but, just like All Time Low's NOTHING PERSONAL and every other loud and shiny album of the last few years, it gets to be rather hard on the nerves. In the case of VICES AND VIRTUES, I can't help but get the feeling that I'm hearing someone making noises with a rusty saw in the background of the music. The production just reeks of an old house on its last leg. All Time Low's NOTHING PERSONAL is perfect in the production dept, but the music is a bit shallow. KILLING TIME on the other hand just doesn't have any songs that stand tall on their own, which is important when judging pop-punk. VICES AND VIRTUES probably would have some standout tracks (apprx half the album), but the production just soils them.
But I probably will order Bayside's THE WALKING WOUNDED and SHUDDER. I've been listening to Silverstein's DISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT a bit since yesterday. It's a pretty good CD too, but not as good as the work of Bayside.

the audience

2011-06-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

People always say the airwaves are polluted with junk. Sometimes they are right, but people go way overboard in that notion. I swear, every genre of popular music has been accused of being 'generic' - hair metal, folk-pop, modern (post-1999) emo, new wave, etc....
I think a lot of these accusations come from people who are A) jaded and stone-hearted and B) people who are out of touch with their emotions and just want to hear sound rather than feel anything significant.
What's really annoying is people saying "every song could be a hit" when they comment on a CD. Cartel's CHROMA (2005) was a very energetic and emotional journey, but there's a good portion of that CD that either doesn't click when heard at random and/or just doesn't compare to a solid-gold pop song. Even the two 'hits' on the album - "Honestly" and "Say Anything (Else)" were not highly successful. Then there's people who review 80's albums written by a band who had some name recognition after having a hit or two but didn't want to or couldn't keep the fire burning. Mr. Mister had an album in 1985 called "Welcome To The Real World" that had a couple songs that made them a household name - those two songs are still played on the radio to this day. "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings" (especially the latter) are classic pop. For whatever reason their follow up "Go On" (1986) had nothing half as good as the aforementioned hits. And if it did, the songs would have been on the radio then fizzed out. People don't want mediocrity on the radio. At least back then they didn't. Five year olds used to be treated like five year olds - that is, they've got a lot to learn. I'm pretty sure the average request for "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" by the Backstreet Boys was made by an overprivilidged grade schooler. Your average five year old is apt to think PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is genius. They are the culprit for mediocrity on the radio. It's not the "general public" that was/is DYING to hear some awkward example of shallow songwriting - it's the general public in the making forcing the general public to put up with it b/c not doing so is a waste of time in their eyes.
Johny Hates Jazz also had a classic 80's song - "Shattered Dreams". Very smooth, slick while also managing to be very melodious and heartfelt. Your average review on Amazon will ignore TURN BACK THE CLOCK (1987)'s shortcomings, ie the fact that "Shattered Dreams" is the only song they're likely to remember a few+++ days after listening to it and that the only reason they'll ever put the album back in their CD player is b/c they paid $10++ for it and by golly they might as well use it. After all, they can't remember the album being BAD. Of course not. They can't remember ANYTHING about the album - the word for the opposite would be "memorable". If it's not memorable, why bother? B/c you made the mistake of buying an album just for one song?
Men At Work isn't really an example of mediocrity. However, their music is a matter of taste, which varies from person to person. I personally think the opening track from CARGO (1983) is a nicely wicked groove with some nice melodious moments, but it's not the kind of song that you run out to your local record store and buy. It's more of the kind of song that you find at WalMart while you're buying groceries and you're just passing by the music department browsing idly; you find it for a good price and figure "why not? I've got nothing better to do with my money" and you add it to your cart and keep moving. Chances are you won't even listen to it when you get home. It may very well sit there for weeks or maybe months.
It seems a lot of people can't tell the difference between a solid gold pop song and album filler and songs that are awesome but don't appeal to most airwave listeners. I don't know how to explain the difference. All I know is Genesis' "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was a very good song before it got cut in half, but nonetheless it WAS cut in half, and in that form it became a Top 10 hit. My tastes are kind of quirky, so naturally I like the 9 minute freeform expressionistic version, and I also like the 12" remix of "Land of Confusion" that it seems most people don't even know exist. Those who bought INVISIBLE TOUCH (1986) didn't mind hearing a 10 minute suite with cryptic lyrics ("Domino"), but it is a select few who actually LIKE or LOVE that song. I think the former attitude is where these four and five star customer reviews of albums like Mr. Mister's GO ON and Johny Hates Jazz's TURN BACK ON THE CLOCK come from.
If people had to put up with whatever the DJ played on the radio, it probably wouldn't bother too many people. It would bother the artists though - they expose their passions and work hard at getting the job done right and some random music snob gets to decide if they pulled it off? That doesn't mean anything to them. To know that a song is on the radio because millions of people across the country are taking the time out of their day to call up the radio station and tell the DJ that it must be heard I'm sure is a rewarding experience to the artists. It lets the artists know that their passion is mutual and that the universal language of music has been translated well.

pa-pa-pandora!

2011-06-13T13:52:00.000-05:00

Been listening to Pandora a bit. I figure(d) I can buy songs I hear from Pandora while listening to them. That way Pandora, the artist and the great folks at Amazon get their $$. If you don't already know, I am highly opposed to the iTunes brand. So far I've bought...3? Or was it two...idk...I think it was two today, then I got like one yesterday, eye, I don't know...

Anyway...I almost indebted myself to the bank for a prolonged amount of time by placing an order for a wi-fi enabled blu ray player from Panasonic. Then I figured "I already have a computer; why this?" so I then tried to order a DVD player and some DVDs; my debit card was declined. Thank God! My impatience makes me laugh sometimes.

I just don't know if I'll be able to get my "Tax Assistance" check in 2012. The news announced that Missouri is in need of budget cut(s). I'm hoping they don't all out eliminate the program. I can take half! Heck, even 1/5 would be great!

cruel and unusual consequence

2011-06-05T04:19:00.000-05:00

I guess a punishment is unwarranted whereas a "consequence" is justified? But I guess if the "consequence" doesn't fit the crime, then it becomes cruel and/or unusual, thus also becoming a punishment, since a punishment is unwarranted...not sure how that would play out in a US Court...

panic at the sleep!

2011-05-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

Dam, I'm sleepy! I want to sleep! I've been doing nothing BUT sleep! I'm tired of sleeping!!!
I finally got a real listen to Panic! At The Disco's new album VICES AND VIRTUES. I think I tried listening to the first track closer to when it first came out and didn't like it 'cause it was just too murky sounding...then I somehow managed to listen to the first track a few days ago, and got to track #2 and was like "yay!" and was just amazed at almost every track from then on. 9/10 ain't bad! ...well...I guess you could make a case that no good album should be left with only ten tracks, but, c'mon...
And...I get $ tomorrow...I am expecting $ for completing a series of surveys, should be here "no later than" a week or so from now. I will use that to buy a bidpack from BidCactus and use that bidpack to buy a $100 Amazon.com gift card. The $ I get tomorrow will be almost half used up to pay back my Mom's housekeeper and then $13 will go to a public domain DVD w/ case and cover-art (!) and then a few things from Amazon that I thought were too good to pass up...I already placed an order for three items, just need to update my payment info...

altered opinion...

2011-05-22T13:45:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I'm so anxious to have a "hi end" audio setup. It's simply NOT gonna happen. I want to see how long my TV lasts, I don't care about fullHD or whatever, but I would like to see A CLOCKWORK ORANGE in its correct aspect ratio and see THE LAST UNICORN uncensored w/o being a fugitive for having a region free DVD player in my home......and it would be cool to have a blu ray player with internet apps that matter i.e. pandora, netflix etc. I don't think I'll convert every movie I want to own to blu ray, if I end up needing to, so what? At least I'll still have the packaging to look at (depending on what movie it is; a lot of movies these days have really pathetic packaging...).
But having SACD playback is totally pointless, there aren't even any SACDs worth owning, IMO. SACD is for people who get hung up on "how it sounds" and not just how it FEELS to listen to it. I guess I'm just more into cathartic music, vs. that middle of the road jazzrock/progrock/artrock of the 70's and 80's. Not to say that the 70s and 80s didn't have good music. Joy Division's debut came out in 1979...oh, yeah - and Pink Floyd is a pretty good band, but DARK SIDE OF THE MOON is probably the most overrated album EVER. The last two or three songs are totally meandering b.s.. I much prefer their ECHOES retrospective, even if it is missing a few "key" tracks...
I might want to own the Denon rec'er in my previous post - no matter what you listen to, the little things do make an impact...but I surely don't need a Plasma right now and I don't need a $500 blu ray player either...

$2,000.00 a/v set-up...

2011-05-22T06:24:00.000-05:00

$668 Plasma HDTV from Panasonic
$559 home theater receiver that doesn't kick music to the curb by Denon
$500 blu ray disc player that also plays hi-def music (SACD etc.)
$268 (apprx) highly rated speakers!!!
----
$1,995

If by any chance anyone who is willing/able to buy this stuff me is reading this, these items are on my Amazon wishlist and they can be found by searching Jonathan Cardwell's wishlist. No need to ask my address because it's built in to my wishlist....it'd take me at least 3 years to buy these items with what I have to spare each month on stuff of this sort.

blackout

2011-05-22T03:44:00.000-05:00

quote from Senses Fail's "Blackout" (from LIFE IS NOT A WAITING ROOM on Vagrant Records)

"If I had a shot for every *odamn time I thought about your face and what I lost, at least I'd get some sleep"

I love that song, not sure if I'd feel the same about it hearing it at random...on the LIFE IS NOT A WAITING ROOM album, it's like they subconsciously lead you to expect a big payoff at the end (that being "Blackout"). I don't know how they do/did it, I'm not even sure if that's the correct conclusion, but looking back I don't see how I was able to listen to the entire album with songs like "Wolves At The Door" and "Hair Of The Dog", the latter having a rather nice melody with kind of barf-inducing lyrics, if it weren't for the subliminal message of more-to-come (??) in the opening song "Fireworks At Dawn" (??).

I also like the lyric in the song: "There were times, there were times, I reached for the phone, to tell you there might still be some hope...".

I don't know why those two parts of the song appease me so much. I didn't even realize what he was saying in the first quote until I looked up the lyrics on MetroLyrics to verify content. I just remember the melody and the part where he keeps repeating the word "sleep".

You'd think "Blackout" would be the backbone of their 2010 release, since it leaves you wanting more, but alas, they decided to go for a more aggressive sound for the newest CD THE FIRE.

pulling teeth

2011-05-13T18:20:00.000-05:00

I got one tooth pulled today. It was infected, so a local dentist pulled it for $102. The novacane or whatever they used is wearing off finally (it's been 3 hours since I got out of there...), and my teeth are starting to hurt. I was laying down, watching THE EXORCIST, not sure if that did anything to help...I couldn't sleep - I'm a little tired, but far from ready to sleep. i need to feed my cats. xx.

A "Crash" course in shipping...

2011-05-10T15:13:00.000-05:00

My sister used her debit card - I don't have one, I finally will be getting one soon tho(!!!!!!!) - to buy J.G. Ballard's CRASH in hardcover on my behalf. I somehow managed to find it for $6 w/ S&H. This edition of the book typically goes for $40 on up. So I figure I can have it to read until someone else buys it from me (on Amazon) and if I'm not totally disappointed with the book by that time, I can rebuy at least one copy, maybe two - one for display and one for reading - and have a few+(++?) dollars left over...
I was worried the seller wouldn't ship the book after realizing they were offering it for too low of a price...one thing looks promising though and that's the fact that the seller's Amazon listing for the exact same book was taken down. There's still time for them to cancel the order and try to sell the book to someone with $40++ falling out of their pockets...I mean, ya know, nothing's final 'til the book ships, and even then I have to receive the book, safe and sound, neither have happened yet. So I'm hoping still...anywaz...

my first bluray player - returned

2011-05-10T06:58:00.000-05:00

I returned my Magnavox Blu ray player. I used it every day since I bought it, but not for movies. It was essentially just a CD player with movie-watching capacities. The only thing I'll miss out on b/c of this is seeing A CLOCKWORK ORANGE in its correct aspect ratio. That can surely wait 'til...whenever $75 isn't such a large amount of money in my eyes. I will hopefully get apprx $500++ in January or February of 2012, but I might need to give that to my sister to help out with paying a deposit on whatever apartment I move into after the house I live in now is bought, supposing that even happens...but anyway...if it takes a whole 3 years for this house to sell, that'll just mean it's gonna be awhile before I can afford a blu ray player. So what? i enjoyed A CLOCKWORK ORANGE w/o seeing it in its correct aspect ratio. Heck, if I could rent movies on VHS, I'd just use my VCR to watch GHOSTBUSTERS and whatever else even though most VHS tapes are in Full Screen.

Fear of a better tomorrow...

2011-05-01T06:38:00.000-05:00

This country fought a 50 year war in the name of Capitalism/Free Trade, but only 5% of it chooses to save money by buying online. People would rather give their money to seedy companies like Best Buy and give into the convenience of thinking thoughts that don't acknowledge all facets of the reality at hand.
The fact is most identity theft happens online, yes, but the majority of it happens because people open emails from people they don't know or don't know how to spot spoof emails.
If people would get their act together, identity theft would probably be more likely to happen the way people are afraid it would happen if they shopped online, but it would probably be less common because websites that have valuable information pay good money to secure that information so that unwarranted peeks don't take place.
I can understand that saving $5 on a CD or DVD or whatever isn't a big deal to a lot of people, but in this economy, you'd think a lot of people, maybe not as many but certainly more than 5%, would value their money enough to try to keep as much of it as possible by not wasting that $5. I mean, with that $5 saved, whoever saves it could pay for half of a casual dining meal w/ a drink (unless the casual dining meal is at Red Lobster; half of a Red Lobster meal is apprx $7.50, which isn't much more than $5; and if you save $5 on each of THREE CDs/other/? that's pretty close to, if not just plain all, that you need to visit a casually fancy place like Red Lobster...).

my first bluray player

2011-04-30T18:58:00.000-05:00

I got this yesterday at WalMart for $68 + tax. Since it doesn't have NetFlix (I didn't assume it would, was just hoping...), I need to get some Blu ray disc(s) before I can decide if it is worth being broke for the next month...I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter. Other big news is that my Mom decided to give up her car, so now I have to rely on other people to take me places if/when I need it, which means going places for the sake of going somewhere is no longer an option, unless I feel like walking, which I've been trying to do more of since the rain etc. has been easing off since Thursday, although today it rained, I don't think it thundered etc. though...BUT ANYWAY; since I don't have any money I'll need to try harder to be self sufficient. Which will be easier since I won't have anyone to indulge me in my road warrior dreams...or whatever you call that...um...anyway.
I probably don't need a Blu ray player, at least not yet...but I really didn't need an HDTV either, although I didn't know that when I got one...it's nice having a TV that doesn't weigh a ton, but as far as functionality goes, this blu ray player has been a long time coming. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out whose idea it was to make HDTVs when television wasn't being broadcast in HD, and blu ray players were still in development, if that, when HDTVs first came on the market. I mean, it's nice to see that the consuming public actually bought an HDTV in the hopes of someday being able to watch something in HD on it, but you'd think more people would hold off on something like that. So, to summarize, I'm stuck with my HDTV, so $68 ain't a bad price to pay for making it useful.

And we don't just have neon logo signs...

2011-04-24T20:42:00.000-05:00

Wow. Took long enough. The grand total and the MSRP had a minimal gap for quite awhile from the time this became available for pre-order 'til about a month ago...I still think this is a complete waste of $, tho. The Ghosthead community seemed pretty stoked about it in general, but a silhouette of the all-awesome Ghostbusters logo is not worth more than $30. If it didn't light up, I'd knock it down to $10. The no-ghost detail is a very lovingly-detailed design, a visual marvel. Heck, if Columbia Pictures just made the no-ghost logo, they'd still have a cash cow; the fact that it's associated with such an artful and enjoyable film as GHOSTBUSTERS just makes it more lovable!

if i get home before i wake

2011-04-24T20:23:00.000-05:00

walking, just barely
Running, no way
Crawling, may be
Can't seem to move
at all
People say that scientists have decoded dreams;
that they are a way to tackle things too big to think about
Maybe they're wrong
If I drove all the way through North America and back, asleep the entire time
I doubt I'd feel safe
At peace
Rested
Ready

dismissed

2011-04-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

When I awoke my neck was glazed with water
When I turned my head to assess the damage,
the damage was too much to feel undamaged
My cats did not survive the flood,
they were simply too short, and they couldn't swim
My TV was broken beyond repair
My wallet wasn't worth replacing, and it had no money in it for almost a month
I turned my head the other way and said "why bother?"
At last, dismissed
The water carried me away

FYI, a little known fact about the BMG music club

2011-04-08T11:11:00.000-05:00

You ever wonder how BMG Music Club offer(ed) their CDS for so cheap?

Well, here's your answer:

BMG buys CDs from the record companies for discounted prices. The discount is applied with the understanding that the artists who made the music ON the CDs possible will not be paid for those copies that BMG sells to their customers.

Hold up, you might ask; that doesn't make any sense (right?). Well, it doesn't. In order to MAKE it make sense, BMG includes a policy with their terms of service that states BMG MEMBERS ARE NOT MEANT TO RESELL THIS/THESE CD's!

Ignoring this policy and reselling those CDs anyway isn't a big deal to a lot of the buyer(s), especially those who buy all their stuff 'in-store' where they can inspect their merchandise before they buy. But regardless if you buy it in store or online where most sellers don't even mention this "minor" detail, the used CD market is, in theory, a place where artists who inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally, but not likely...) sold their CD to someone who never wanted it to begin with, can be at peace knowing that SOMEWHERE down the line, that CD that was wrongly sold to someone will be enjoyed, as was intended. Personally, I think BMG Music Club is wrong in its very existence, but if it stays in the club, there's no legal basis for intervention. The problem is, it doesn't always stay in the club.

action! action!

2011-03-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

http://tiny.cc/xbc3u

it's Gregg Araki, everyone!

2011-03-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's one thing to be the maker of a Top Quality movie - MYSTERIOUS SKIN - but it's an entirely other realm to be that AND the maker of the most celebrated film of a generation - nowhere.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN is just awesome. There's absolutely no flaws in that film, it's a masterpiece, not some half-baked idea that gets 1/4 cooked...(unlike most movies these days...).

nowhere is possibly the greatest film ever.

Personally, I'd be surprised of KABOOM comes anywhere near the quality of these two movies. I mean, I wasn't too thrilled with THE DOOM GENERATION, TOTALLY F***ED UP was OK, not a classic or anything like that.... And THE LIVING END was about as good as TFU.

But still; it's nice to know he's at least trying. The odds of him succeeding are better than most movie-makers...

are you eating it or is it eating you?

2011-03-18T19:17:00.000-05:00

I saw this "cleansing drink" on Google Product Search when my pursuit of a poster for THE STUFF that resembled the original VHS cover-art failed...didn't see the added word "extra" at first, but anyway.........

YO! YOU BE LIKE THE BUZZIN' OF FLIEZ 2 HIM!

2011-03-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

BA DA!

Letters To Two00tu / when Finch was fab

2011-03-06T12:51:00.000-06:00

Dedicated to Megan Irvin (sp?) circa 2001-2002. I don't know if she liked any significant number of these albums, but I was glad to have discovered this "trend" when I did, when I was so hopelessly infatuated with her and these singers' hearts were bleeding on the microphone...from about 2001-2005 I was having the time of my life...pop-punk and emo is still popular, but the "big names" in the genre have more in common with Green Day than Blink 182, focusing on the stupid-jokes and the dirty sounding guitars than the breathtaking emotional resonance...

WATER

2011-02-28T19:47:00.002-06:00

WATER

Call The cops
Call the Army
Call the Red Cross
My money’s about to disappear
Because it’s raining
And my roof isn’t blocking it
It’s seeping
Through
Into
My most expensive treasures
My computer
My television and stereo
Let me pray
That the water doesn’t fall too hard
Into my home
Run - to the hills! It’s invading my home
NASA what the hell are you doing?
We need out of here!
There’s too much water falling
Not enough money to fix the damage done by it
China will kill us b/c my gov’t can’t get enough money to fix my stuff
To fix my drowning body
Oh, no
What if it falls into my mouth?
I can’t exactly DRINK this shit can I?
Ohhh, no….
I think I’m going to faint
Perhaps I’ll just let myself die
Just go with it
I don’t even care
I’m too beautiful for this world anyway…

just checkin' in...

2011-02-26T21:03:00.000-06:00

I heard two of February's obvious "to buy" candidates today, and luckily they're both worth buying...Bayside's 2009 CD SHUDDER was pretty darn boring, IMO. The two prior ones were OK, but nothing compared to SIRENS AND CONDOLENCES from 2004. This new one I haven't listened to more than once, so I don't know if it'll be worth keeping at all; I tried listening to it a 2nd time and was like "is this the same CD?"...
A more recent emo-esque band, A Skylit Drive, released their third full length not long ago, and it's a little bit better as far as staying power goes, but I still didn't feel the same way listening to it immediately after hearing it the first time. If I had nothing else to listen to, it'd be one thing, but there's a ton of stuff out there...
I heard this country song by Avril Lavigne that according to wikipedia, or some other info site, was given to someone else to perform on another album. I'm not against country, but this song was just boring. Her vocals sounded really subdued and the instrumentation was nowhere near as fascinating as the lead single "What The Hell". I really don't know if there's anything about the song 'What The Hell", lyrical or otherwise, that will bleed into her other songs from GOODBYE LULLABY (Mar 8), but I hope so...I really don't think anyone wants to hear a bunch of Frank Sinatra type songs when they run to the store after not being able to get "What The Hell" out their heads...
R.E.M. has an album out the same day as Avril; the track "Discoverer" is, or was, available for streaming on R.E.M.'s website, and it's an OK song. Kind of reminds me of the opening track on DOCUMENT, which could be a good thing if they made the song something more than a catchy piece of alt-pop, but, alas, there's rhythm abound, but not enough melody to sustain the rhythm. I guess I'm spoiled by Oingo Boingo...although I gotta admit sometimes their rhythms are a bit too much..."Dead Man's Party" is probably their best song, "Weird Science" isn't even on that list, even though it was their only hit and was from the same album as "Dead Man's Party"...just goes to show you how necessary it is to dumb yourself down if you want radio success; my honest opinion on that is radio is controlled by advertising. People will listen to the radio primarily for the music, but they in turn have to hear advertisements. Thing is, these advertisements are usually for stuff that people don't need - it is not needed and it is not direly wanted. It's just prompting people to spend money so the economy doesn't collapse - it doesn't matter what you spend your money on, just as long as people think they're earning their money "fair and square". My guess is if everything people bought was something they REALLY WANTED - not something that "seems" like a good idea, or "might be useful someday" or whatever, but just a simple old fashioned WANT - something that isn't essential to your survival but makes it worth fighting for - then jobs would be cut by 30%. And we all know that looking out for our fellow man, and feeding the poor just aren't very American ideals...But anyway...the better the music, the more the audience feels it. If the audience is stuffed with pure emotion, those ads become laughable - the audience realizes "I don't need a freakin' car, I need to go buy that song!".
I actually caught an Onkyo receiver, finally received a refund for it; it was a home theater receiver, so the sound was centered more toward surround sound in movies; I guess you live and learn. I don't know why movies are so important to people as far as sound goes. Stereo speakers gives you plenty ability to hear dialogue and feel the rumble of an explosion if you buy the right speakers. And the best thing is you can hear MUSIC - nothing but sound - more clearly with stereo speakers. The only music you can hear better with a 5.1 set-up is concert DVDs and multi-channel SACDs, both of which are limited in what they have to offer. So here's hoping 2012 isn't the end for us all...maybe I can buy a decent STEREO receiver and enjoy it before I die...
Oh, but I guess that might not happen either;...I'm moving out sometime in 2012, probably early in the year. My mom thinks she'd be less depressed and stressed etc. living w/o me in her domain all the time. Hopefully I won't need to spend my entire Circuit Breaker check on a deposit...if I do that better include a pet deposit, I'd really hate to get rid of Napoleon, and/or Harrison. I'm sure I can find some place that isn't too shabby for $350 or less a month. If it weren't for the toilet issue, my apartment on Lorimier would have been fine, I don't know if he'd allow me to have Napoleon and Harrison w/ me though, since they did a little damage to the apt while they were there...ugh...

freedom...more or less...

2011-02-13T09:02:00.000-06:00

The most electric, striking, breath-taking, most beautiful work of art - banned by the land of the free. But it's OK b/c everyone's so stuffed inside themselves to enjoy life? Hey, if you can't enjoy life w/o banning books/movies/music then maybe YOU don't belong here. There's always somewhere you can go if the site of blood and/or nudity is too much to ignore. It's called home. And if you're at work and have to put up with a cuss word here and there, you can always just do your job and get distracted by your goals to not really notice.
It's really weird how society seems to not know WHY cuss words are offensive - they just say "It's negative" or "it shows a lack of intelligence" or "other people find it offensive". ALL THREE of those most common "reasons" are STUPID - EVERYBODY lacks intelligence, some more so than others. There's ALWAYS alternate words to use to say what's on your mind. If negativity is on your mind, venting IS a good thing. In public around 10 or 15++ people? Maybe not, but not all cuss words are negative. "F*** yeah" is like saying "Yay!". Is "yay!" negative? HELL NO! And why spend time being offended b/c someone else is? It only adds more stupidity to an already illogical situation.
And what the heck is wrong with naked people? Do anti-naked people shower and urinate with their clothes on? I mean, is God a pornographic life - casting director for creating children with no clothes? People say "if he wanted us to be naked, he wouldn't have created clothes" - hello? Did the nurses at the hospital somehow mislead you into thinking that blanket wrapped around your newborn came out of your pelvis along with the baby? So if Man kills someone and doesn't say it was for God, then it's a sin but everything else Man does is God's glory? Is playing golf God's glory? Is marijuana God's glory? What about SMOKING marijuana? The creation of clothing is not a Godly act. The only reason people even have clothing on in the summer in the South continental USA is b/c of these irrational thoughts on clothing. Clothes are simply not needed except when it's cooold outside.
SO - with this in mind, unless there's some ACTUAL ground I haven't covered - like a non-vague-as-death quote from The Bible that says "the f word" and "the/those b-word(s)" should be banned from use or hell will be to pay - then what's your defense for thinking a slight majority of offended people equates jail time for those who offend?

"that's life"

2011-02-13T08:36:00.000-06:00

It's weird how *certain politicians* who elect criminals to aid them and block the flow of justice are defended by the phrase "that's life". It's weird how *certain people* don't see how realistic justice is. It's weird how people would rather live in a corrupted country and defend it to the death but not die for the sake of a better tomorrow for those who might live to see it.

copyright protection - it's like Communism, except everyone's OK with it...

2011-02-13T05:52:00.000-06:00

I'm sick of Hollywood and the music industry using deceit and threats to squash the competition. They tried closing people off from the opportunity to hear GOOD music by killing internet radio, they distribute viruses to people's computers, they sell blu-rays that don't work with anyone's blu-ray player, and now I read that my copy of THE LAST UNICORN is in violation of "copyright protection" laws?
Let's get this straight - I, for one, don't have a job. But that's b/c I would fail, and be fired for it. My eye hand coordination is half-axed, and my ability to concentrate is almost always impaired. And mostly I'm just not motivated by threats, like "shape up or ship out". If this were an accurate description for everyone, I could see how Hollywood's actions could have a valid defense, even a sympathetic one, but the fact is if you have a job, you're supposed to do it - not do something that LOOKS like you're doing it and then fail and then cry to the gov't about not having any money.
If Hollywood wants a valid reason for having a job, they should A) make movies that SOMEONE in this world wants to see B) quit making movies that minimal or no value to ANYONE other than punk kids who just wanna see an "R rated" movie regardless of what it is and C) distribute these movies as they were in theaters, maybe with an option for an "extended cut" or "unrated version" or whatever the situation may call for...And they should look and sound at least as they were in theaters, if not better, w/ no freezes or jumps or anything else that can easily be avoided...
My copy of THE LAST UNICORN is a German import - with "25th Anniversary" Edition picture quality UNCENSORED. Whoever is/was responsible for getting THE LAST UNICORN out on DVD in Germany did it right long before the 25th "Anniversary" of the film - they did it right the first time. The U.S. on the other hand released a super-crumby looking version of the film, then released it again with the picture restored EXCEPT ---- IT'S CENSORED!!!! First off, the MOTION PICTURE Association of AMERICA is supposed to eliminate the need for censorship am I not right? - and second, THE GERMANS DID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. But I'm not German, so I can't have it.
Racism might be stretching it - but greed should not be freely granted by the courts. If someone wants to hog what's rightfully theirs, fine, just as long as Dennis Cooper books are still legal, but to stave people away from what is rightfully THEIRS should not be upheld by the courts.
I'm getting a region free DVD player - I'll see you in court if you really want...

"It's true! I chopped him up; but I didn't kill him!"

2011-02-02T17:05:00.000-06:00

nowhere (1997), not officially released on DVD b/c some prissy parts don't want their music used in the movie or at least not without monetary compensation or some other b.s....not sure what the deal is. I think New Line Cinema/Fine Line Features gave up on an agreeable settlement between all parties involved in the hold-up...
But the FILM, with the music, and all other aspects herein, is a teen-angst masterpiece. I'm no longer a teenager, old enough in fact to be late in going to college; 27 going on 30...maybe it's b/c I'm a romantic with his head in the sky, but the film resonates with me like a 85 minute music video. The film, for some reason(s) or another, was released in Australia, was available to buy from 3rd party sellers on Amazon, but not anymore; there's also a region 5 DVD (from Germany I think...) but nobody ever offers it for sale. The Australian version is out of print, and I guess the German one is OOP, and has been for a looong time now. There was a French edition on eBay several years ago, with a supposed running time of like 2 hours, there's nothing I've found on the internet since then explaining this...
If you want your normal USA DVD player to play this cult-classic I suggest doing what I did and go to CultCine.com and buy it. Those morons holding up the release have deprived EVERYONE from a proper profit by legally allowing the film to end up in Public Domain, which basically means the anti-piracy laws don't apply...I mean, thank goodness I don't have to keep buying a VCR every 10 years to keep the FBI from being allowed to knock down my door any time they feel like it...
But anyway, there's a book, very colorful cover, that I noticed while shopping on Amazon or some site (I think it was Amazon...), that looked a lot like the book in nowhere, but I had myself thinking "that can't be it!". But as I was watching the film this afternoon I saw the book and recognized the name on the cover and I was like "well, I'll be darned! I FOUND the thing!". And I would not have found it if I had not somehow come across this author by the name of Dennis Cooper, who I guess sponsored the publication of "Dear Dead Person And Other Stories" by Benjamin Weissman.
So, in a nutshell, a curiosity has been fulfilled and if you're a moody teen, find 'nowhere' and see it. It's not wildly experimental, although it is pretty out there considering it's a professionally made film backed by a professional movie studio.
And remember "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed".

finally - attempt 2 - adventures in hi-fi (or "hi-fi" - ?)

2011-02-01T11:18:00.000-06:00

I finally bought a replacement receiver; I actually bought it about half a month ago, but didn't get it paid for until the 25th, then I received it via UPS last night. The speakers are on the way, probably to arrive this evening...so I haven't tested many of its functions, I listened to a little music with my $4 sony headphones I got from WalMart several years ago - not exactly the best test, but I did find the re-mastering in the Japanese mini-LP edition of INVISIBLE TOUCH wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought - I guess it just didn't import properly to my computer, idk...
I didn't get a very good speaker set to compliment my receiver, but I think it'll be at least tolerable until I get money to get a better set. I still need to get speaker wire, which I have not bought yet (will probably buy it later this month...) and HDMI 1.4 cables are also not here yet, they were shipped a couple days before the speakers, but they didn't have the benefit of UPS Ground shipping...(it was shipped with UPS Mail Innovations, which is basically UPS getting from Point A to ALMOST Point B and then USPS gets it the rest of the way...Actually, it's not UPS' fault it's not here yet - USPS received the cables like on Thursday or Friday...not sure what the deal is...).
Anyway, the receiver will also need some time to "break in" (I don't fully understand it, but then again is there anything I truly understand when it comes to electronics? Or even the mere existence of electricity for that matter?), so even after I get the speakers, speaker wire & HDMI cables, it won't sound as good as possible...but I'm still relieved to have this! I think if I'm not satisfied thoroughly with this receiver, I'll just keep it until I can get a new one. I hate being without a real audio set-up; I mean, a TV & DVD player is fine, but it just seems stupid buying/owning CDs with cover-art if the discs themselves don't do anymore than a CD-R...I figure I might as well just buy a painting(s), which would be more expensive, and would get boring looking at through time...I doubt this receiver will fully utilize all the benefits of the compact digital audio disc, but I'm confident it'll do it justice, or at least something like it...

Two-Faced Bane?

2011-01-20T12:45:00.000-06:00

Since Two-Face died in THE DARK KNIGHT before he could even become anything he was in the comics (i.e: crime boss), it's hard to know what the Christopher & Jonathan Nolan's Batman series will make him out to be, but since Warner Bros apparently wants Robin to be introduced to the series, maybe Bane will kill Batman (like he did in the comics back in the early 1990s) and WB can re-start the series anew? It'd kinda suck, but really, Christopher Nolan will die one of these days, and who wants Christian Bale playing Batman 'til he's 80? Also, as interesting as the last two were, they weren't perfect. I think the whole Batman big screen adapting is an experiment still. People thought the Tim Burton films were untouchable, but then (eventually) everyone saw how great Batman Begins was and by the time The Dark Knight came out on video, Tim Burton's Batman films were out of print. There'd be a lot of ifs and buts, but I think the public will at least someday have to face the idea of a new Batman series, if not a long-term absence from the big screen. Batman is more suited for the small screen (i.e.: Batman: The Animated Series) anyhow. After all, its origins were in comics books, which, at the time, were small stories spread out through even smaller installments. The closest thing to that is a TV show, which is often used as a way to express movie-sized ideas as well.

The Vietnam Sport

2011-01-20T10:19:00.000-06:00

I've never liked sports. I know they always say winning isn't everything, but why play if you can't win? And why lose if you're gonna play? I mean, sports IS a game, is it not? And like all games, isn't winning the objective?
Of course, if we as humans were more loving and peaceful, we could show the kids how to play games/sports without getting all hell-bent on winning. But underneath our clean clothes and skin and conscious minds are a savage beast just inches from the surface, awaiting an opportunity to lash out.
Hence, sports = war. If people want to play sports, sure, let them. It doesn't harm anyone and if you're playing with friends, you'll all get over it. But schools teach kids the principles of winning by simply having a "physical education" class. I think things have gotten a little better in this department. However, instead of p.e. teachers putting pressure on children to win, p.e. class is essentially a waste. Kids have 55 minutes to learn all kinds of stuff and they don't learn anything. Instead you learn this in health class. So, really, p.e. is a waste of money. Phys ed teacher-material would be better suited in a private business rather than a welfare program; in my semi-small town, there's already two health-centric places where people can exercise and learn. My town keeps growing, so sooner or later I'm sure another one will open up...
It just boggles my mind how human beings that grew up in this great nation can find reasons to put thousands of people through such Hell. I mean, even if the Vietnamese WANTED to expand and take over the world, how the heck could they? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they were one of those countries that doesn't (and still doesn't) have any sort of say in what goes on in the rest of the world. I mean, if England or Japan or Mexico wanted to become communists, I could understand the argument of sticking with it. I wouldn't agree with it, especially if the public was against it, but I would understand the argument. But Vietnam should have been left alone like they were to begin with. If we had any will to free them from their poverty in some way or another, THAT would have been an accomplishment. Invading Vietnam, win or lose, is not an accomplishment. The Republicans talk about wasting money on the welfare of the people, then, to this day, defend Vietnam, every other War that ever happened or even could have happened, as well as greed and selfishness. Creating jobs is not a top priority. Having enough money to live and not feel suffocated is. If jobs are available, great, but how can business be given all this freedom to destroy the unemployment rate while the common man has to go without medical care?

hope for the best, but know it won't happen...

2010-12-31T12:00:00.000-06:00

I always thought I'd get a hi-fi music set-up - receiver, probably the Denon AVR-391, although it'd be nice if I had a large enough living space to include the Onkyo TX-8255, since I do mainly listen to my music in stereo. The AVR-391 would be a comparable space saving solution since it can play hi-fi audio in stereo AND surround sound...I probably wouldn't use surround sound very often, but how can I know? Aside from the local movie theater (which I have a bone to pick with for cranking the base so high on INCEPTION that I couldn't even hear the dialogue in some parts), I have no experience(s) with surround sound. But just the concept - movies, which I hardly ever watch, and music DVDs, which are about as hard to come by as SACDs are, unless you're into the more mainstream stuff. And speaking of SACDs being hard to come by, I don't think there's a single album that is available on SACD that I want to AND will buy. Toto IV (1982) by Toto is a great album, but it's almost $100 to buy, which is absurd, IMO, and a few others have also come and gone and left outrageous price tags behind - Boston (1976) by Boston, Peter Gabriel's UP (2002)...

I just don't have much to work with financially as it is.
I still can't find any speakers that would go good with the TX8255 NOR the AVR391, although for the AVR391 the Yamaha HTIB speakers would probably be good enough for who knows how long...actually, I can't even find speakers with a low enough wattage to feel safe running the TX8255 at high(ish) volume(s).

So I thought the CS 325 by Onkyo would be a good solution, yeah it's a shelf system, but it's an extraordinarily good one, not those crumby $50-$100 ones you find at WalMart. I had the EC55 by SONY (discontinued by about a year at least now...) & the base on it was just too friggin' high, with or without bass boost. BASE IS A BACKGROUND INSTRUMENT!!!! If Korn is all you listen to, tell SONY to make a Korn player. Or just use the base boost function, will ya? Anyway, I simply will have to wait at least another year for the CS 325 and I don't think I'm picky enough about sound as it is for me to shell out the extra money for a seperate receiver & speakers. So I Just recently ordered the far more elegant and sophisticated looking CMTBX20i, made by SONY, which - if looks are at all indicative of the inside - should be a bit more mature when it comes to base/balance/etc. It probably won't rock my world, and it's probably not worth saving up all my $ for, but I'm tired of feeling like I'm wasting my compact digital audio discs on TV speakers. And I don't want to have to buy all my music on mp3 and not be able to tell my CDs apart w/o reading a bunch of generic looking labels that I have to take the time to make myself...
So that leaves my 1940CI that I ordered about two years ago virtually useless. But I can probably get enough back on it to buy a new (smaller) DVD player AND have $20++ left to myself for whatever (CDs?). I just hope someone wants it bad enough to take it off my hands in the next week or so so I can ship it and use the funds from my old player to GET a new DVD player (see link above, also a SONY) and use that to watch GHOSTBUSTERS I & II and whatever I rent from the video store...I boxed up the 1940CI, to make sure I could fit it in there securely (fits like a glove!) and now it's sitting on my table behind my TV. PLEASE TAKE IT! Luckily I have GHOSTBUSTERS on VHS AND A VCR!! I've been using my computer for music listening lately anyway, so that's of no consequence...
I'm sorta counting on my sister to give me some/enough money to pay the majority of the $26 of the CMTBX20i's $128.04 price tag (it was actually $114, but I ordered a Squaretrade 3 year extended warranty with it) that I'm missing, although I actually have another $9.76, but it's on an AMEX gift card, which I can't just deposit in the bank, you see...my mom said this morning that she won't let me buy her a Walmart gift card and give me $9 cash in exchange for it, but she was half asleep when she said that and she got all angry when I acted surprised by her answer, so I'm HOPING all I'm missing is $17, 'cause even if my sister gives me a meager $15, I can get the other $2 from Hastings by selling some stuff....

MyPartyShirt.com Review

2010-12-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

http://mypartyshirt.com/tshirts/movie-shirts/egon-spengler-shirt

Wow, a GHOSTBUSTERS t-shirt for only $14!??! And the shipping ain't too shabby either (under $5). I don't know why I can't find this shirt on Amazon, but most of the shirts on Amazon are sold by 3rd party merchants who have outrageous shipping costs tacked on to their already-inflated price(s).

This shirt is cool and I'm glad I find this website on my Swagbucks search engine (near the top of the results).

I'll be ordering from these guys soon, haven't done so yet 'cause I don't got no dough...well, not enough to buy a novelty shirt...

these are a few...

2010-12-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

I got a $100 AMEX card from my grand father, who I'm sure will at some point want to know what I got w/ it. So if no one else is reading this, at least I can look back on it for reference if need be...

1) INVISIBLE TOUCH Genesis raglan shirt not sure what raglan means, but it's a long sleeve shirt and it looks awesome! It's very thin and doesn't quite fit me (yet?). Hopefully my weight loss intent will become evident in the next few months and then maybe by the end of 2011 I can fit into it, have something to say for myself if the world actually does end in 2012...
Amazon's "marketplace" seller, the well known OldGlory, will have you believe the shirt is worth $35, but I only paid $17.50 for it. Go to BuyRockTshirts.com if you too wanna save some dough.

2) a few CDS: ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR - Marilyn Manson. NO JACKET REQUIRED by Phil Collins. COMMENCEMENT - Deadsy. PALE by Toad The Wet Sprocket. (total: apprx $17)

3) a nice outing with my mother to Panera (fka St. Louis Bread Co.) (total: apprx $23)

4) an introductory package to Columbia House DVD club ($6)

5) THE LAST UNICORN VHS (the only DVD editions out there are censored and/or full-screen w/ low resolution picture) ($2.99)

6) A gift for my sister since I spent my "actual" money on other things... ($20)

7) an online movie rental that I never watched plus a virtual ownership of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM ($4)

8) four mp3s at HotTopic.com that i haven't figured out how to download...apparently I need to call them but I don't even care. The songs are available for free elsewhere, I just thought it'd be nice to own them. I gotta borrow my mom's cell phone to call them since she decided we should have $30/mo instead of phone service..

9) one and a half mp3s at Amazon.com (I already had $0.30 or so left from an Amazon gift card I got from an online promotion company called Swag Bucks). (total - prior gift card = $1.40 apprx)

I still have $5.50 awaiting expiration, since the biznss charge your card IMMEDIATELY when u place an order; the credit card/debit card that one uses typically doesn't give that money to the bizniss right away, but rather freezes the funds that cover the purchase, then the retailer for whatever reason has to request from the CC co. that the money be granted to them If the retailer or whatever business doesn't do that, in this case within seven days, then the money goes back to my card.

I'm gonna use the $5.50 to cover part of a $128.05 transaction on ABT.com for a SONY mini-hifi music system.

My grandmother got me a $25 Walmart gift card that I sold to my mother for cash and my uncle Eddie got me an undisclosed amount; he gave my mother $40 and my mom gave $25 + $10. Make of that what you will...

WHAT THE HEKK!

2010-12-08T13:07:00.000-06:00

Amazon is a day late on posting Avril Lavigne's upcoming CD GOODBYE LULLABY and their price is absurd. You KNOW BestBuy and many other retailers will have it for sale for $9.99 or less the first week or more after the release date! Amazon prolly will too + $2.98 S&H unless you order $15+ worth of stuff w/ it.

double shot of happy!

2010-12-07T17:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm listening to INVISIBLE TOUCH mini-LP CD edition and I can't tell any difference in sound quality on my super-budget PC. Not sure if I could tell any difference in a "real" stereo set-up, but it's not worth finding out...INVISIBLE TOUCH is the only CD I have and plan to keep that's from the pig-out days of the major labels, when indie records were thought to be junk just to take up space & payola was king. So I imported it to my PC and will keep it on there...
But for those who actually HAVE $1,000++ to spend on hi-fi audio, NO JACKET REQUIRED, Phil Collins' (lead singer of Genesis circa INVISIBLE TOUCH) biggest and bestest solo record, is being released on 24 Karat Gold CD. FACE VALUE, remastered by the same person, was released on the same format about a month ago and supposedly doesn't sound any better. But all the same...
And for those who are just into no-frills music, Avril Lavigne FINALLY has a 4th CD coming out. I'll admit, her music doesn't strike one as earthshatteringly original or artistic or whatever, but each of her CDs (thus far) has had a point of interest; her debut was kinda like Disney-emo, her 2nd was slick and sleek pop-punk, and her third was just a crazy pillow fight. Supposedly her 4th album will be more mellow and deep, at least that's what the wikipedia said about a year ago or almost. She may have changed her mind about all that...the first single is apparantly going to be a "He Wasn't" type song ("What The Hell" doesn't sound like the name of a ballad does it?). If the album IS mellow overall, I guess I can look forward to about a month or more of people giving the album 1-3 star reviews on Amazon b/c they bought the album expecting more of what they heard on the radio...
I bought WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU by A Day To Remember, 'cause I had a bunch of stuff to sell to Hastings (GoHastings on the web) and got almost $13 in store credit and it was only $8.99 NEW. Maybe years from now that won't seem like such a steal, but right now Amazon can't even beat that and the marketplace sellers don't want to...oh, and it sounds like krap on my TV/DVD-player set-up. Had to import that to my computer to get any use out of it.

epitaph for a spider...

2010-12-04T15:20:00.000-06:00

I had a couple books that I bought at Goodwill thinking maybe I could get some store credit or cash from my local media retailer (books movies music & games, both new and used) but my local media store (Hastings aka GoHastings dot com) wouldn't take a couple of 'em and only gave $0.50 total for the other two (I bought four (4)). So I sold the other two to The Book Rack (used book store) thinking I would need to sell my store credit ($4.50) to someone (hopefully my mom...), but as it turns out I not only found a book that I can resell in itself (maybe even to Hastings! for a dollar at least, maybe $2+) but I had actually been interested in buying it for a couple months...the book, FYI, was called SPIDER by Patrick McGrath.
There was this other book I tried/started reading like, idk, five years (?) ago, and had to return it to the library and couldn't for the life of me think of who wrote it!!! Or even the name for that matter...the cover I remembered, and the little I read I remembered, that was all. THAT book was titled EPITAPH, by James Siegel, who ALSO wrote a book that I ALSO tried to re-sell to Hastings from the Goodwill titled DERAILED, which I was only familiar with b/c it became a well publicized movie. For some retarded reason, EPITAPH was criticized for being "too slow", which I kinda thought was the selling point...
So I have two books I can read, and another to buy/read at a later time. Yay! that DERAILED book has been collecting dust for at least almost a month...

Oh, and I have no money now. But i'm Ok. That gift card my sister sent me for my b-day really paid off(!).

across five aprils...er, january/februarys...

2010-12-01T09:14:00.000-06:00

wow. this isn't that big of a deal to a lot (most?) audio connsuiers (sp??), but with a monthly budget of $674, the future seems rather long; this set-up, if it stays the same price it is now, would be apprx $500. I do get an annual partial-refund on my rent, but last year it was only like $360. I guess if I didn't have so many bills and responsibilities, I'd have enough in my monthly check to make up the other $140...but at least I can get a shelf system onnathese days, pretty soon actually...I should be getting (I hope) at least (?) $360 again in about a month and a half, so I can at least get a nice stereo bookshelf system. Onkyo makes one for $280 - the typical $80+ Amazon competitiveness...(who'd wanna pay the list price if they have to wait for it in the mail??). And thank goodness all the bullheads of the world haven't hogged up all the electricity so I can at least listen to most any music I want...yeah. It could be A LOT worse...but it could be so much better...sigh...dreeeam...

Aah, the power of DENON

2010-11-23T09:43:00.000-06:00

Ok, I think I'm going to get the Denon AVR-391 (see ad) instead of the Onkyo TX-8255. Surround sound may not be a big concern to me, but it would be nice to have unlocked sound vs. the caged sound of regular CD. Although it may never be the case that plain ol' everyday good++ music will be routinely put on SACD or DVD-Audio or Blu-ray audio discs, it would be nice to be able to have that capability in my home (so far the only blu-ray audio disc I've seen is that Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album, MOJO I think was the name of it, and I totally didn't like that CD, although i can't say I've ever been flat out in love with any of TP&HB's music, although they do have a large handful of pleasantries on any of their hits discs). BTW, if any record execs are reading this, please quit wasting your time, er, I mean, PLEASE stop releasing SACD versions of albums and then taking them off the market two years afterward. SACD should not be a "collector's" item.

I finally have a debit card! BigCrumbs, a cashback service, offered to put my cashback on a "pre-paid" Mastercard, AND they automatically put $5 on the card just 'cause I activated it right away (!!). So I finally was able to use one of those DVD rental kiosks, since a convenience store located a bit up the street from my house did install one of them a month or so ago. i don't have hardly any cashback incoming, and i got hardly any purchase power in December (it's all going to Xmas gifts and clothing), it'll probably be March or April b4 I see anymore $ on the thing. But as I mentioned, I will be buying the Denon AVR391 in January, or early February, unless the "tax assistance" program is canceled by 2011...I plan to buy that and some bookshelf speakers, all together totaling over $300, and BigCrumbs offers 4% via J&R Electronics' website, so that's $12 in cashback I should be expecting. BigCrumbs does expect you to wait almost 2 months for the money to be dispensed, but that'll significantly increase my purchase power in March or April (depending on how long the "tax assistance" check takes to get here).

ah, yes, and the weather is actually nice today. It's been cloudy/foggy/gray-for-whatever-reason-Mr.-Weather-Man-might-have-said for almost a week. Now we can eat...
Hopefully my Gramma will feel up to making dinner Friday. She signed up to work Thursday, although she doesn't know if she's going to be needed, they'll let her know prolly tomorrow or that day...but anyway, she was in the hospital yesterday, I guess she still is, she should be getting out today.
Oh, yeah. My birthday was Saturday. I didn't get anything ON that day, I was hoping my Gramma would remember and stop by with $10+, so me and my mom could go to Starbucks. They were having a BOGO sale on their holiday drinks from 2-5. Sunday was the last day. I still have a free drink from Starbucks, all I had to do was tell them my email address and all that...and of course load money onto a gift card...so b/c they have my email address etc. I not only got a free "birthday" drink (they sent me that earlier in the month and it expires in late December), but i was made aware of the BOGO offer via a promotional email. SEE??? YOU'RE ALL DUMB FOR NOT JUMPING ON THIS! Well, to each his (or her...ah-hem) own...i guess...
Anyway, my mom got me a GHOSTBUSTERS II figurine, part of a Toys 'R' Us exclusive collector's boxed set w/ all 4 of the 'Busters; someone was selling it by itself on eBay. I bid on it, my mom paid for it. She said "can this be your birthday present?" and I said "yeah, that'd be perfect!". And I think I already posted about the $25 whole ones that my sister presented to me in the form of an Amazon gift card. Already got 3 of the items I bought w/ it, still waiting on the other two. One of them was just shipped yesterday and the other one is coming from England, may take awhile...

my $25 birthday gift - circa Nov. 17th

2010-11-19T09:19:00.000-06:00

My sister sent me a $25 Amazon gift card somewhere around 8pm on Wednesday, although I didn't get it 'til after 1am on Thursday...but yeah. I was shopping on Amazon from then 'til about 6am. She sent it to me early b/c I asked her to loan me a $5 apprx Amazon gift card to pay for an Out Of Print DVD edition of THE EXORCIST. I had placed the order, but it wouldn't go through b/c I didn't have any valid form of payment...I had a debit card that my bank deactivated, but Amazon doesn't know that b/c my bank is legally obligated not to tell them (isn't privacy great?). But anyway, my sister sent me the gift card early so that wouldn't be canceled. Turned out the seller didn't have it after all...not sure how/why...kinda rude of him not to send an apology or something more along the lines of an explanation at least...
Anyway; I also bought THE SOUND OF THE SMITHS: THE VERY BEST OF THE SMITHS (that's almost like two titles isn't it?) by The Smiths, a remastered compilation released in 2008. And Michael Jackson's DANGEROUS, Martin Scorsese's 1999 film BRINGING OUT THE DEAD on DVD and Cartel's Sony re-release edition of CHROMA.
I almost bought Jawbreaker's DEAR YOU, been wanting that awhile, but Barnes & Noble dot com has that for over $1 cheaper and I get UPS 3day delivery w/o added cost if my mom buys it on my behalf (she has the membership in her name, I paid for half of it...) and B&N keeps sending me and/or my mom coupons, so if I had the $ b4 X coupon xpired, I'd save at least $2 off Amazon (Marketplace)'s mnm price.

Been listening to Grooveshark the last couple days. MySpace Music's service has been filled with bugs that last couple weeks or more. AVG Anti-virus software told me I had two somethingorother bad thingies on my computer and didn't tell me what I should do about it. I clicked "remove all unhealed" and they told me "forceful removal may cause instability or crash", but I didn't know what else I was supposed to do. Now every time I load a program or window, a warning of a "bad image" loads up. I can ignore it or I can click "OK" and it'll go away. It doesn't seem to interfere with the operation of my computer. Really annoying tho. But while I was trying to perhaps find the source of that b.s., I removed almost 20 programs from my computer including Opera browser and of course I got sick beyond comprehension of Internet Explorer, but I didn't like the way Opera doesn't gel with a lot of websites too well (mainly Amazon, also a few others) so I went back to Firefox after almost a year or more of absence from my computer.

Don't really know what else to say...OH! I got sick for about a day, something that's been going around. My mom's housekeeper seemed to have caught it too and the last time she was here was at least a week ago. I got sick on Monday, the housekeeper was here either Thursday or Friday...my Mom got sick on Friday or Saturday i think...I guess the housekeeper might have caught it from Mom, but I don't think my mom would have been so careless. She called the housekeeper after she found out I was sick and told her not to come b/c of that. But anyway...I think I heard of at least a couple other people who had whatever that was I had. Don't remember what exactly I heard or where, but anyway...
I've been going way too long w/o showers. I finally took one last night and the time before that was either Monday or Tuesday - not the one that just passed, but the one BEFORE that. I mean, I admit, a week w/o a shower isn't healthy or pleasant, although I'm hesitant to take one more often than that just 'cause the act of taking off my clothes, picking new ones out, drying off, and taking the shower itself is a bit of a chore to me. I'd rather just listen to music or talk or drink coffee or read or whatever...but a week and a half is just nonsense. I mean, if this is how long I'm gonna be in between showers in the winter...this past summer the average time between showers was at least 5 days. And that's being generous towards myself. I shouldn't go more than 3 days, if that, and i know there were at least a few times I went over a week w/o one. Of course in Sept, it was way hotter than normal, so I didn't take hardly any showers then. Then toward the end of the month I suddenly realized 'oh, I guess summer's decided to stay a bit longer...'...

And I've neglected this blog obviously. I hope to get this back on a more steady path...maybe make reading it less of a chore...ha!

what's it to me?

2010-10-27T00:06:00.000-05:00

I keep thinking about reading J.G. Ballard's CRASH. And then I wonder "why?". I didn't even read the whole thing, but that was only b/c I got hung up on a slightly inserted lame social commentary. I think I got 20 pages into it...maybe there's something more the book has to offer aside from what I already read...which was pretty powerful stuff, from what I remember...I guess I might as well buy it and read it. It's such a short book as it is, it's not like it'll rob me of my time or anything...
Sux that Elliot Perlman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY is only in print in softcover! An oversized tome such as that looks its best in hardcover. It looks rather tacky in softcover, not to mention it's easier to damage. I don't know if they use plastic to form the softcovers, but hardcovers just don't look as fake. I know plastic and similar substances are not literally "fake", but to me they seem that way...hard to explain why...I want to read that book, but I'm so darn tired right now, I should be in bed. I have to return it to the library the day after tomorrow, or renew it. I've already renewed it once, one more time is all I've got. Seriously doubt I'll finish it by 23 days from now...maybe I'll get far enough through it to decide if it's worth buying...it's 700 pages, so...if I can get 200-275 pages of the way through it, I'll check it out again and see if I can stick with it to page 400. If I can get 400+ pages through it, I'll prolly buy it. I haven't even got to page 100 yet and I've had it for over a month. I guess anything's possible, but I really doubt I'll be able/willing to get to page 400 w/o having to check it out again...

the taste of yell in bloom...

2010-10-26T23:31:00.000-05:00

Nirvana's NEVERMIND's reputation is one of many things that proves how dumb people are. The record throughout just proves that A) Kurt Cobain had a lust for life and had no reason to kill himself and B) that regardless of its influence and how common it sounds today, it's still a cut above the rest; Kurt Cobain didn't just whine about his problems. He 'wined' about much bigger topics. The record doesn't have much in the way of profound lyrics, but the passion with which he sings is explosive. Also, it wasn't as popular as it was in its day b/c of some misplaced idea that Nirvana invented grunge or anything like that. Nirvana wasn't the most 'original' sounding grunge band, nor did they invent grunge. However, they had a much broader appeal than most grunge bands. NEVERMIND's indie predecessor BLEACH still doesn't get the sales it deserves, but that's only b/c the common folk doesn't have enough time and will to dig through piles of records to find something they like. They're fine with what the radio has to offer. If BLEACH were advertised properly, it might have been the NEVERMIND before there was NEVERMIND. Of course, it does have a little of that murkiness that indie records are plauged with, which wasn't an issue with NEVERMIND, which the band decried as being "too polished" or whatever (rolls eyes). I think the band's complaints about NEVERMIND sounding too polished or whatever is rather ironic, considering IN UTERO was just as polished as NEVERMIND. Sure, it's more noisy and chaotic, but that doesn't make it a better record or any less polished. The production techniques of Geffen's mad scientists were in full effect all throughout Nirvana's major label stint. Even BLEACH had amazing sheen considering the amount of money spent on it (less than $1,000). I mean, it doesn't make sense that Nirvana wrote pop songs but didn't want the pop production. If he had kept making murky sounding records, the public would never have caught on and thus college rock/alternative/modern rock would have stayed obscure like it was in the 1980s and Kurt Cobain would still be talking about how much better his music was than Michael Jackson's and nobody would care except maybe some Kurt Cobain stalker, i.e.: someone who was "lucky" enough to live or travel close enough to Kurt Cobain's places of existence to hear what he was saying and couldn't help but be intoxicated by his words and want to feel them from inside...
Not that radio is any better than it was. Less than five years after Kurt Cobain's band disbanded N'Sync won a Grammy for Best New Band. Of course, marketing to spoiled children kind of back fired on the major labels in general - The Get Up Kids, Saves The Day, Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday........none of those bands sell tons and tons of records, but their overall sales have replaced a big chunk of the major leagues' MVPs' sales. In other words, radio may still suck, but people aren't just accepting it. The internet probably keeps that going, but if it weren't for Nirvana, would anyone know something was fundamentally wrong? I mean, Milie Vanilli (sp?) was fraud, OK, but does that mean EVERY pop band is rotten to the core? And no, I'm not saying pop is evil; Mariah Carey and Celine Dion do tend to sing w/o conviction, but at least they can pretend to have passion. Backstreet Boys & N'Sync were so obviously in it for the money and nothing more. But the real proof that pop music isn't inherently evil is the phenominal talent of Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones first said this, or at least he was the first person I heard say this (in the bonus materials on the special edition of BAD from 2001), and I find it to be true: no matter what he sang, it always came out sounding personal to him. And then of course, the fact that Nirvana was basically a pop band with guitars instead of drum machines and synthesisers...but anyway, what I was trying to say with my "pop bashing" or whatever supplemental phrase you would have used, is that pop music USUALLY sucks, or, at least, it isn't as honest and pure as rock music in the majority of cases.
So yeah; Nirvana, I think, made people aware that you can listen to pop without sacrificing integrity and honesty. The internet simply provides a myriad of ways of helping people find pop music containing the often-times elusive honesty & integrity.
In the end, it does sound trite, it gets boring quick, very quick, heck, I feel stupid saying this, but it's true: NEVERMIND, now almost 20 years old, has yet to be equaled in its influence on popular culture. If I hadn't bought the album five+ times already and sold it just as many times just get a quick $1-$4, I'd go out and buy it right now...even albums that I have a personal connection to (I was 7 at the time of NEVERMIND's release and wasn't listening to the radio or watching MTV or VH1) tend to slip my hands too easily, after all, you can go back and re-buy them...if I wasn't two feet away from being dirt poor, it wouldn't be an issue prolly, but...anyway...

three times a seller...

2010-10-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

Amazing. I finally have THREE buyer feedbacks on my Amazon seller profile. And so far I've had no unfair buyers leaving me feedback. So I'm still 100% positive. I guess I shouldn't say "so...", 'cause I'm fairly lucky that I've been able to ship all of the items I have/had in a timely fashion. A recent Amazon website update has really helped me out a lot; they allow me to pay for postage on their website and print a mailing label. I don't need to pay for it seperately either, it just comes out of the funds that result from the purchase. Sweeeet!!

Dear Leon, if you had the time and inclination to read this, I would have sent it in an email...

2010-10-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

Was going to write this in reply to an email I received from a seller on Amazon (which was written in response to an email I sent to him first...)

...I hardly ever went to Barnes & Noble until they relocated to the mall in my town. And even then I hardly ever bought books there, I just ate at the cafe'. Then I started seeing how pointless that was and don't do that much anymore...if I want food, Starbucks or some local establishment is enough. Window shopping makes me feel unfulfilled, which detracts from the joy of food. In a nutshell, I know firsthand that some people dont' have enough money to spend $12++ on a book and I also know that the bigname brick/mortar stores aren't for everyone. I, for one, wish I could shop at a less disposable book store, but there's only one small book store in town and they sell used books, which is cool but the selection is rather limited. They seem focused on selling the current bestsellers and the like to the folks who can't afford to buy them brand new. Current bestsellers are usually either lighthearted girly books or over-the-top thrillers. Stephen King comes out with some good stuff every now and again, but not often. I think the last good book Michael Crichton came out with was RISING SUN (1992), or maybe DISCLOSURE (1993). I haven't read DISCLOSURE, so I can't say anything too good about it, but I did enjoy the film. I'd imagine the book would be at least good. And Jodi Picoult stopped writing quality books a looooong time ago. John Grisham I'm not very familiar with. I tried reading A TIME TO KILL and the style of writing just seemed cartoonish. The rest of his books I haven't tried reading b/c the premises are boring, IMO. And ever since John Grisham became a household name, the crime drama/thriller genere has exploded with half a dozen "masters" of the genre. But I guess Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler were doing it long before Grisham and of course there's tons of no-name books, many of which curiously stand on the shelves of my local library to this day, that are written in that tradition.

A FREE FLOATING FULL TORSO VAPOROUS APPIRATION!!!!!

2010-10-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

HHHHOK!! I was at Toys "R" Us today and SAW - WITH MY OWN EYES - the TRU Exclusive GHOSTBUSTERS II 4 6" Figure + 2" Slimer accessory boxed set (made by Mattel). Yes, it's still $60 + 8% tax (making it more like $65). But if I order a couple $25 TRU gift cards via Complete Savings, I get 20% off of $50, making the set more like $55 ('cause the gift cards are 20% off AT COMPLEte Savings...seriously everybody, what's stopping you??).

Actually, cooler still, I could order THREE $25 gift cards and I'd have $75 in gift cards, covering ALL of the boxed set and part of the "Exploding" Stay Puft Marshmallow Man home bank. I'd still have to pay $17 or so for the bank, but I wouldn't have to do that right away...

I'm just gonna go ahead and order the CS gift cards in Nov, 'cause I can always buy something else and re-sell it on Amazon if the desired toppings are all eaten and digested...

it's beginning to look a lot like imeem...

2010-10-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in old (oldER - I know I haven't posted in awhile...) post(s), Imeem is, now WAS, the greatest thing since music itself (woah!). MySpace bought Imeem and turned it into "MySpace Music", which was fine w/ me except they killed the ability to just sit back and let an album flow into one's ears. You had to push "play" to start track #1 and then skip track #1 in order to get track #2 to play. Well, it looks like either MySpace Music is having a bug in their system or they fixed this nonsense...
I'm reading Elliot Perlman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY, lovin' it, but I'm not even 1/10 of the way through it, so it might change direction unpleasantly like Poppy Z. Brite's LOST SOULS. But so far so good. There's an author by the name of Patrick McGrath who doesn't seem to have any problem churning out great sickly sweet novels and a book titled "The Assault" by Henry (?) Muslich or some similar looking name...I checked out one P. McGrath novel that the library had (they have THREE!) and "The Assault". Just read a page of Patrick McGrath's DR. HAGGARD'S DISEASE and had to close the book and embrace it, enjoying the beauty of having a book to read and enjoy...mmmm...it just flows so perfectly and the type font on that edition (hardcover edition is out of print I think) is beautiful. I hope the in print softcover edition is so splendidly printed. The cover art for the softcover edition is more striking, but, ya know, sux that they have to make everything paper in order to keep from "needing" to charge $10 more...
Been wanting to bask in the air of J.G. Ballard's CRASH (1973). Can't 'cause I'm broke and the library don't got it. That book kinda felt like watching an atrocity occur and not fully understanding it. Then when I did understand it and wrapped my mind around it, it felt like I was walking into a haze, or fog, sprinkled with some sort of subtly unnerving chemical. Yep, that's the 70's for ya. The movie had to wait 23 years to get made b/c there's enough dumb people who think reading a book isn't the same thing as eeing something on a movie screen. Of course, the movie's only virtue was its intense portrayal of sex, which it could have done better at to begin with, but the "plot" (which I never cared much about and barely makes any sense...) would be sacrificed if the sex scenes were any hotter. Some one should make a X-rated sex movie with all the knockout stars they can convince to do it - maybe Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Connolly, or Megan Fox, maybe Avril Lavigne? Heck, they say men prefer blondes, but I know I'm not the only one who would pay good money to see A BEAUTIFUL FACE...I mean, why would Megan Fox be so popular if blondes had all the attention? Maybe someone already thought of it and couldn't get any of 'em to hop on board. You'd think Paul Veerhoven (sp?) could have thought of something...
Spend the last 5 or so hours listening to Funeral For A Friend on MySpace Music. Great band. Love 'em. Mainly been listening to MEMORY AND HUMANITY, surprisingly released on Victory Records. Why did Ferret Records let 'em go?? Maybe they went bankrupt...Victory Records is the home of all those emo bands that either found better homes or aren't any good anyway...well, Silverstein's almost as good as FFAF, well, maybe not almost, but they got about half or a little more of FFAF's greatness. The singer's screaming gets a little annoying pretty quickly. FFAF doesn't scream in their music, they just sorta yell...idk. It's not as unnerving as Silverstein's screaming. The Silverstein singer sure does have a beautiful voice and they got a lot of great songs. A lot of people hated ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES, but I think it's possibly the best of their bunch. Of course, everyone loved DISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT, but hated WHEN BROKEN IS EASILY FIXED, whereas I like DTW, but WHEN BROKEN IS EASILY FIXED beats 'THE WATERFRONT by at least two-fold in my ears. Of course, I probably do have some earwax buildup. I tried clearing them out a week or so ago, and hasn't changed my opinion of Silverstein as far as I know...but I don't think I got everything either...might need a professional (??) to do the job...
GBII 4pk is out now exclusively at Toys "R" Us. Hoping my sister can at least loan me the $ to get it. I'd consider the mere ability to have it w/o draining all my funds gift enough. I don't know if she has that money available tho...I say "gift" 'cause she seems like she might wanna buy me a gift for my b-day coming up in about a month and 4 days...
Welp; that's all for me for now, I think...I think I can always post again if I think of something else...

TAKING IT TO THE MATTRESS BOTTOMS

2010-09-22T02:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, well...it's doubtful I'd ever feel as if I have enough money to start saving a significant amount of change...so the title of this post is actually more of a joke, for those of you know who about that...
But he is soooooo HOT! See what I did there? That's a PUN! Ha!
But yeah, it's so cool. I love repaint variants. They're just so cool. They're colorful, and they're stupid in a childish/carefree/fun-lovin' kinda way. And hey - he glows in the dark!
The price on Amazon is totally outrageous; Toys 'R' Us should still have some left. I could see $55+ being within reason after TRU sells out and they don't get any more, but...wwww??
Hopefully I can get my hands on one in October, when I (finally) get money. I have $5 now, that's it. Oooooh, I'm so antsy with anticippppppppppppppppppppppppppppppation...

nature vs. beast

2010-09-19T01:40:00.000-05:00

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) is often perceived as being sympathic toward Alex, the hoodlum narrator of the story. I think those perceptions are based on the fact that Alex IS the narrator, and thus his feelings about the mind altering drugs the doctors gave him are shed more light on than if a holier-than-thou narrator would have told the story.
It's also interesting how the media kept talking about "changing" his nature and how ashamed the gov't ought to be b/c of it; I mean, nature, pure and simple, changes on its own. And since when has mankind been "natural"? Is being superficial and choosing friends based on social status and lying to them or candy coating the truth and doing anything and everything that doesn't involve genuine human connection NATURAL? Are TVs and computers NATURAL? If so, then I guess kids shouldn't even HAVE parents - they should all be left to their own devices and decide for themslves what's right and wrong. And then be put in prison, 35 years, once out kill again and then be put back.
See, THAT is the moral delemma in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. People everywhere at the mercy of these heartless teenagers are unable to figure out a solution that everyone can agree on.
Of course, hopefully society won't come to that kind of desperation...

the unintended?

2010-09-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

Political views will change, but the route we take to solve society's problems or "problems" will not be easily changed, if at all...

this is why people who feel threatened by Pro-"Life"rs and other dominating Christian types will make The Bible's prophecy of Outlawed Christianity come true. Solution (IMO)? Read my blog; LIVE AND LET LIVE! If it doesn't endanger you, just accept it. Crimany, why the heck is that so hard???

well, I feel like I have something to say on the matter...

2010-09-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

...even if I am talking to a brick wall or someone who fails at understanding or agreeing with me...

This concept, I guess I've referred to it b4; people are so damn hypocritical - they always wanna "vote" on IDEAS that have NO IMPACT on the people that vote on them - abortion, gay marriage, etc.; I mean, I know some Christians think they're gonna go to Hell if they don't limit other people's freedoms, but even the ones who don't think that still act like it's some sort of gift or duty or what-the-hell-ever (no idea what the motivation is, b/c apparantly I'm not worthy of an explanation, even though it COULD damn well impact me if I ever got up and got a life...) to vote "Pro-Life" (in a dumpster) rather than "Pro-Choice"...

But whatever. Most of these old farts like W. and W.H. will be dead some day long before I am, and their opinion will be inherited by a minority. Guess I can find solace in that...

i hope i don't forget you

2010-09-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

I remember
when my life changed; the view, the feel, the tastes, the scents
the air was crisp, the ground was cool
things were good, as much as they can be in this world
The sounds I heard made me happy; music was sweet

You were a friend to me, someone that made me smile and laugh
Someone who made me feel warm inside
That feeling intensified when you left
Now I feel indifferent, excpet when "Sixth Avenue Heartache" or some Wallflowers song plays on my system for the first time in a long while at such a right time

My all time greatest crush made me feel like nothing I've ever felt, before or since
She just about blew me off my feet and into the air
I stayed there for longer than I should have, lost and intoxicated
Now she means nothing to me, save the feelings I no longer feel or clearly remember

So it goes, lost are the ones who stay away too long, forgotten, meaningless

Except for those times when I come across a song when the air is moving just the right way, a song that strikes me like lightning

But as the time passes, those moments become fewer and farther between

I hope I don't forget you.

inception

2010-09-09T01:20:00.000-05:00

gave blood on Monday the 6th at the local movie theater, got done watching INCEPTION at around 4:30pm Wednesday the 8th. I gotta say, I had high hopes for the film, and they were nowhere near met. my caseworker came by today and asked if anything new was happening in my life, and totally forgot to tell her about it. just got done taking a shower (about an hour ago). That's about 2 1/2 days apart from the shower before this one. I guess I'm more ambitious lately. I wrote a little less than a page of a script, like..., a month ago? I was thinking about the idea of the film/script and got all pumped up...I guess I'll be lucky if I'm not dead before I finish it. I Just ate, like...um...idk - 5? servings of peanut butter. It mighta been 8...I didn't measure it, but just one serving is more than I shoulda eaten. I guess I can't feel too guilty about enjoying (slightly over-un-cooled-down) Domino's pizza. At least it got done in the same day as my other evil. I've been walking more, about 30 minutes a day. I think the last time I skipped a day was like either sometime during the weekend or the day preceeding it, maybe Thursday...(not today, I don't wanna walk at night...all the freaks come out at night - aaaaah!).

we know there's an answer but we have to find it by ourselves...

2010-08-28T23:03:00.000-05:00

Actually, the answer, I would think, would be simple: neither. This land of freedom and happiness is for whoever takes it. We slammed the door on Britain with a big sign that says "we're better than you 'cause we're a free country", but from before that moment happened all throughout sometime not that long ago (1970s?), the English setllers have repeatedly rejected that claim in the face of Italians, Jews, blacks, women.......
The police refused to protect the Italians. Thusly, THE GODFATHER TRILOGY.
The government wouldn't declare war on Hitler b/c the President was afraid the people would ridicule a war to save "the Jews"
The People stole black people, tortured/killed them, gave them freedom, then continually deprived them of any social advancement, all the while continually killing them
And doctors - the great people who "heal" society - wouldn't for the life of them believe a woman who said she was having a heart attack b/c "she's just imaginging it"...not to mention the fundamental right to vote was rejected until over 100 years after this country formed. The Law still treats women worse if they forget their child is in the car...I read in an article that RECENT (????) science suggests the memory is more "cue" based, while people have been ASSSSSUMMING all this freakin' time that the memory is based on priority...and b/c of this HYPOTHESIS, people have been ignoring the living proof that walks among them, which I woulda sworn included me as far back as 1995 if I could have thought of how to articulate my thoughts/feelings well enough in the right circumstance, but even if I could have, people would have looked it up in some science journal and it wouldn't be there, so they'd be like "See? You're wrong. Ha".

I think aside from the laws prohibiting gay people from proclaiming their true love - which will probably be repealed soon - we've come a long long way. I find it hard to believe the Holocaust will happen in the United States. But we really ought to start practicing the ideals without exception. When this becomes a priority that has been accomplished 100%, we need to re-word the laws, and re-name this country. The Wall Of Shame is too big to make this country anything to take seriously...

popular vote

2010-08-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

Fact: 12 million people were deprived of happiness AND their life, and many many others were simply deprived of their happiness, in Nazi-era Germany.
Fact: The POPULAR GUY made this happen, with the HELP OF THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY.
Fact: This is called "dictatorship"

Fact: Gay people are being deprived the right to testify their one true human love.
Fact: The (increasingly smaller) POPULAR OPINION keeps this going.
Question: Is this a democracy or a dictatorship?????

LastFM (there'll never be another one like you...)

2010-08-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Man, LastFm is a really really cheap alternative to buying loads of music that I won't hardly ever listen to...I've spent probably at least 8 hours total the last couple days listening to it; I, personally, just type in 'emo' in the tag area and skip whatever sub-par music they might (or might not) throw my way...

I can't think of a single CD I want to listen to at the moment. It's been this way since the night before last. Should i really invest in a receiver?? Hard to say...I mean, why do i even bother listening to Genesis' INVISIBLE TOUCH or Oingo Boingo's SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET these days? I used to get so overwhelmed with emotion when I heard "Throwing It All Away", 'cause I'd remember my early childhood carefree days, now I can't even imagine that feeling...it's like I'm not even the same person anymore...

Most of the other CDs I **Might** want to own are distributed my indie labels, which may not be reason to jump ship on sound quality, but, really, I'm just fine with the setup I already have...I use my computer most of the time anyway...

I guess I'll go ahead and trade my music collection on CD for MP3 music. I can back it up to CD-R and use that when my computer breaks down completely and/or I get I newer, better(?) computer...it'd be nice to have one of those super-power computers that can play video and perform multiple tasks w/o a hitch...****drools*****

my annaul "nowhere fast" test...

2010-08-16T16:30:00.000-05:00

"The poor and the greedy are selfish and needy" - The Smiths

Ok, so I'm being served by a program that the local council for looneys center offers that helps people deal with things they need help with. It's called the CRPC program. The semi-head-hauncho evaulated me for what was supposedly required once a year, to determine where I've been and where I'm headed (i.e.: "nowhere fast". lol...?).

So I killed 3 hours with my CRPC case worker, one hour (apprx) with the evaluation, another waiting for her to get done with a seperate appt, and another half hour or so going to and from Starbucks to get a deluxe hot chocolate thingy (yum!).

No mail today - NONE! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! Well, whatever. NetFlix should have my mother's movie FIVE MINUTES IN HEAVEN in our mailbox, but...na/nope. And Complete Savings ought to have $10 in our mailbox...but no. Yes, it's true. THIS F**** SUX!!

If I save up $14 each month from Sept through December, I should have enough to get the 4-pk of GHOSTBUSTERS II action figures that will be exclusive to Toys 'R' Us in December. I sure as hell hope my local TRU will carry them and that they don't run out of stock permanently before I find out about it...I'll probably start calling them late November to get a feel for what kind of customer service (or lack thereof) the local TRU staff is inclined to dole out, and then if the customer service seems sub-par, I'll probably have to stop by at least once a week (if not every day...).

And then the real goodie is in January, in the form of a GB2 6" Winston Zeddmore w/ SLIME BLOWER!!!!!!!!!!! Kenner never made their GB (RGB) toys w/ a Slime Blower, although they did release a role playing toy that was designed to look like a Slime Blower, although they didn't call it that (darned if I know why...) - they called it the Ecto Charger, I think...

I keep thinking about the Slimed Hero Real Ghostbusters (Kenner) toys that were made around 1990 or 1991. I remember seeing the ads for those on TV and being like "WHAT THE HOLY FRELL!!! THEY'RE BACK!!!" The proton pack was my ALL TIME FAVORITE RGB action figure accessory. The ones they needlessly toiled with and created were OK, but the proton pack was like 1/3 of the GHOSTBUSTERS awesomeness (the other 1/3 being The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the cast...of course, the cast wasn't in the cartoon, which is what the toys were based on at that time...neither was the Ecto 1A, and you just couldn't expect GHOSTBUSTERS I & II quality sound effects to be integrated with your everyday kid's toy/action figures...). But anyway...it was like 1986/1987 all over again(!). What's weird though is how everyone complains about the mold being the same for just about all the main heroes...if people really minded that, Kenner really should have did a little tweaking when they took the liberty of adding a GB-logo patch to the hereo figures while they deleted the GB-logo "patch" from their arm. I never really cared about the toy mold, the paint jobs were always the most important aspect to me...but that raised "patch" on their chest area always interested me. For the 1986-1988 figures, the patch was always on their arm and it was always just painted on there (in great detail, too!!). But with the Slimed Hereos, the patch wasn't as detailed but it stuck up from the uniform, like a coin or a novelty belt buckle or something...it was neat, IMO.
Speaking of bringing back a great thing, Mattel really screwed up the RGB reissues, making them MEGO style, looking nothing like the original RGB figures or any other RGB toy ever made...I mean, sure, people that witnessed STAR WARS/EMPIRE/JEDI toys might have had their hand at RGB playtimes, but RGB toy owners did not necessarily sit through STAR WARS (1977), or even RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) in theaters. In fact, it's highly unlikely most of them did. I mean, when RGB toys were being made, where the hell was MEGO style toy making?? It's really rotten to assume that all GB toy owners were 8-12 years old at the time of ownership beginning. REALLY rotten. Hopefully they'll scrap this b.s. and do another line that's actually WORTH the money invested...MattyCollector is charging $20 + S&H for the Pete Venkman MEGO figure. WTF???? IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!

pk

2010-08-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

finally got some food other than cream of wheat and soup...primarily pancake mix, also got some (fat free) Fig Newtons (Na-biiisskoh!!). I haven't eaten either though. I guess my mom made a bit more extra money off a recent sale on Amazon than I initially thought, 'cause she treated both me and herself to Arby's (over $15 total), so I ate that (my portion, I mean...), and she also bought some muffins, a few of which I ate, and I also had a king size Snickers bar and a hot dog thingy (still don't know what 'kind' it was...tasted good, but not like any hot dog I've ever had; the inside looked like chicken but it didn't taste quite that way...)...

so I guess you could say I've eaten everything BUT pancakes. And those muffins have a lot more fat in them than I realized - 60 grams total if you eat one blueberry and one chocolate. A healthy person - which I am so not - shouldn't eat more than seventy-some-odd calories a day, so I've clearly blown any chance of claiming righteouslness as of today...maybe tomorrow I'll do better.

was thinking tho; I owe my Mom like $70, but once I get her that paid, I might try to do the diet she is doing (she's having a hard time sticking to it lately, not sure why exactly, but anyway...) and maybe a few months or so later I can try the pancake diet...I mean, 1.5-5 grams of fat per meal isn't bad, but it's not helping me lose weight. Especially when I eat out like once a week or thereabouts...I may not be gaining any weight, but I certainly haven't noticed the pounds coming off.

here's lookin' at (pictures of) you, Onkyo

2010-08-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am...nothing much has changed since my last visit...well, my mom's car is at the auto shop or something pending a $150 towing expense payment. Hopefully it'll be back next month, since the $80 (I think...) gas money that me and my mom put aside is effectively NOT going to gas for the time being...$80 x 2 is $160, making the car idle next month if the gas money is what gets it back in our posession...but, ya knnow, better late than never...by October we should be paintin' the town once again...I hope...

At the current prices on Amazon, I shouldn't need more than $295 to get a decent home audio set up - speakers, speaker wire, banana plugs & a receiver. If I get the same amount in 2011 (January or early February) that I got in 2010, I should be more than able to afford that. I'm worried the program fka "Circuit Breaker" will be terminated to make way for cashflow to those who need it a lot more than I do...here's hoping things start looking up for those who fight so hard every day just to get bread etc. on the table...

Haven't eaten anything today...just coffee and a cup of hot chocolate from the convenience store. Hoping to have some pancakes for dinner...my mom has some newly-acquired money, which she plans to loan me when she gets a ride to the grocery store...I won't be going with her, 'cause I don't need to and I haven't taken a shower since Monday evening...

John Anderson is gone. He switched jobs, someone new has replaced him. She's cool. A lot younger than John, guess she's semi-fresh out of college...a far cry from John, who was in his line of work for over 20 years...

I decided not to get a new Napster card. They apparantly got rid of the $5 cards. You need to get a 3, 6, or 12 month susbscription or pay $7 vs. $5 in order to have access to the service. The 3+ card(s) are $5/mo, but that's $5 x 3...which, ultimately, seemed rather pointless. I like to have CDs, I still buy them...Napster can take a backseat over Imeem...if I like listening to something enough, I can ditch Imeem (read: commercials) and have a permanent hard copy...

So...um...that about covers it.

XX

bittersweet

2010-07-26T20:39:00.000-05:00

In the dark edges of the high tower, where the spaceships meet, praying for daylight. Such dry spaces shan't be ever seen by human eyes, lest they sleep and feel strange sensathish that they feel embarrased to speak their memories of. Yet ye fall helplessly, seeing again what cannot be seen with logical site.
In the dark crevaces of this high tower, thy wonders who dareth jump high enough to etch these things that were made from rock so high up from the ordinary ground. Thy feels strange, yet thy dare not speaks. If ye understood, I doubt ye would say so.

In the paint, the colors, vivid and rife with life. These walls, filled with aforementioned colors, I shall walk and feel the weight of my body in a different light. I have walked through said walls, ye shall refuse to believe, but I was once invincible.

Mattypalooza video online – check out what’s coming for 2011! [UPDATE]

2010-07-25T21:34:00.000-05:00

Mattypalooza video online – check out what’s coming for 2011! [UPDATE]

THIS IS JUST SO F--------'N AWESOME!!!!!! Looks like Mattel is finally A) getting their arses in gear with getting the darn things into the hands of the public and B) branching out into other territories of GB-hood and C) not being as "exclusive" with their license, as in TOYS R' US HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - THIS XMAS!! GB2 4-pk @ $50 coming through...........
This is just REALLY REALLY good news. Now let's hope the 4 pak doesn't look too dull to spend fifty smakaroos on..........they've already shaat all over their RGB aspect of the line, making them "mego" style, as if mego was something a kid in 1986/1987 was typically playing with......not to mention the proton pak accessories they're supposed to come w/ look like a stick someone gathered while in the yard...(as opposed to the ultra-neato electronic superduty nuclear accelerator seen in the films, and more or less in the cartoon...). I swear, those IDIOTS! I'll probably buy 'em anyway if they don't charge $10++ for 'em tho. I might be OK w/ paying $8 for 'em, although I'd hope for them to be less....they're selling those at Toys 'R' Us as well so I can just pick 'em up "on impulse" (or whatever) instead of shelling out X cost + S&H for something so close yet even further away.....

dangerous beauty

2010-07-13T00:13:00.000-05:00

Last year, circa late summer, I became aware of an ultra-passionate pop-punk/emo hybrid band named THE DANGEROUS SUMMER. Via the previously mentioned (see most recent post excluding this 1) Napster on-demand streaming audio service, I just finished listening to a live EP (simply titled "Live In Baltimore"; I checked at 11:55 apprx central time and Amazon didn't have it for sale yet, but I guess Napster isn't as strict about who and when they can listen in...) and surprisingly, they actually know how to play their instruments & sing... - either that or they have a bag of tricks at their disposal - which would be weird b/c THE STARTING LINE (same genre, except less emo)'s semi-recently released live recording sounds like CRUD! And TSL have been around longer & are sorta the poster boys for emo-y pop-punk (which admittedly isn't as popular as the snot-nose pop-punk, i.e.: FALL OUT BOY, GREEN DAY...)
So now I'm revisiting their full-length debut, and I'm just not impressed. Crazy, they sound better live. If only it weren't a whopping 22 minutes long...parting is the pits...

penniless so soon? So?

2010-07-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

My money's all gone...but I got a month of {up to} 7 MILLION songs to listen to...the whole world is at my fingertips...yep. I spent about 15 minutes looking around in BestBuy, thinking I could get that AND a CD. Turns out all i got was the Napster prepaid card...couldn't be happier!

I've noticed I get bored listening to albums...I always put one on, but lately I've been wondering "Why? Why don't you just listen to LastFM or...something?" Napster gives me the ability to listen to ANY song, ANY time, in ANY WAY I wish!!!

Then the thought comes that someday Napster won't be here. When that day comes, I hope THE PEOPLE have enough guts to wage war...I mean, they could raise the price by thee or four times the monthly rate and that'd be worlds better than them going away...and they've been offering the $5/mo rate for over 2 years now, and the service itself has been around for almost a decade (I'm excluding the now-illegal/defunct service of the same name...) so if it ever does get shut down, either the economy will have changed in some way that makes it impossible for the service to operate, or the gov't will shut them down...things change. I'm fine w/ that (so far...). But the gov't "cracking down" on too-good-to-be-true-ness is just unjustifiable. The gov't already tried that with the internet radio companies and so far hasn't succeeded, and so it's a lot easier to bank on that sort of horror than the unforseeable (at least to a guy with my low-mid intellect) events that the tides of time may or may not bring...

I swear, this country could so easily turn into a war zone. I, for one, don't have enough money to pay for every single song BEFORE I hear it. There's too much crud I don't like, too much crud that shouldn't exist in the first place, and a MAMMOTH amount of mediocrity. I'm not sure how much of a minority that makes me, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Just about everyone was against the Vietname Conflict, but only a tiny handful of citizens stood up and tried to do something about it.

...and to "top" it off...

2010-06-22T17:23:00.000-05:00

I gotta tell you off the bat - I'm gross. Most of the time I smell like I came out of the sewer. Fortunately it's only been four days since I last took a shower, since it's summer (I've been known to go almost a month in the winter...), but today I've been passing gas uncontrollably. And I was out at a grocery store, acquiring a couple donuts for myself, and while my shorts were down in the bathroom a couple hours after arriving back to my abode, I noticed a sparkly black substance on my leg. The donuts were sprinkled-covered-chocolate covered, I might add. This is the only evidence I have to suggest the problem didn't get waaaaay out of hand, aside from the fact that I can usually make it to the bathroom before it makes it's escape from the toilet...However, I can only imagine the horror of anyone in the grocery store who may have noticed the smell I was unleashing and happened to look down at my leg before passing me by completely...and if their eyesight was dead on enough for them to SEE the red substance in the midst of the topping, they'd very well possibly vomit...and don't even ask them what that green stuff is. They can only take so much! And besides, what kind of sick frunk do you think they are? You think they're gonna put up with the horror of ape-man AND dig through his feces? Man, you musbeouchamine!
In closing, I leave you with the wisdom of Mr. Hop himself: "EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH TOPPINGS!"

maybe I'm stupid?

2010-06-18T07:40:00.000-05:00

i guess I don't understand Blu-Ray technology that well...I was looking at the blu-ray ad on ghostbusters dot com and wow the picture quality is even better than DVD - I guess a lot of people have said that, but I was viewing the ad on a SD computer screen, so I'd imagine even at 720p, my television would probably pick up an even better picture than what I saw on the ad at Sony's GB site. plus I'd forgotten the packaging for the GHOSTBUSTERS Blu-ray is way better than any of the DVD pressings, and...well...I guess I might as well buy a Blu-Ray player when I get my Circuit Breaker check early next year. I'll probably get $300++, so a Blu-Ray player will be a piece of cake...

2010-06-07T20:25:00.000-05:00

Wow. Never before have I been so happy to be penniless. I now have in my posession L.I.E. (Uncut). All you folks in Cape Girardeau (if any are reading this aside from my mom who I know has no desire to see this film...) who decided NOT to rent this movie since Sept '09 will never have another chance. For Hastings has deemed the lack of rentals of this movie reason enough to practically GIVE it to me - for $4.22 apprx (it actually should have been $4.35, but I just rented A CLOCKWORK ORANGE a few minutes prior which ate $0.13 of the needed $4.35. The cashier said "don't worry about it", but if he hadn't, I'm sure my mother would have come to my aide...right?).
True, there are less expensive movies, some of you may be thinking. But they suck. At least compared to this film - they suck. I remember just last night aching to be with this movie, thinking "we belong together...", and thinking it a tragic sequence of non events that the world had divided us so widely. But I was foolish, for I could've merely dialed Hastings' number and asked them what I thought until now would be a pointless question - "do you sell movies that are available for rent to those who wish to pay an extra price?". Surely, I thought, a laugh or two would ensue. But the cashier took me seriously and said "YES!", twice, with glee, but it was I who felt the true glee, still glowing. So tonight that I might see...and I think...nobody's reading this...?

Video drowned the cinema...

2010-06-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

Blu-Ray SOUNDS like a great idea. And in some cases it probably does do a great service. But the fact of the matter is that A LOT of AMAZING films, landmarks of cinema, do not benefit from a Blu-Ray transfer. If anything, Blu-Ray diverts attention to what the director(s) and writer(s) want(ed) you to see, the sights and sounds that make the film as profound as it is...GHOSTBUSTERS, for instance, looks GREAT on DVD, but carried over to Blu-ray you NOTICE the non-HDness of the video quality it was shot with. Granted, this may be more accurate in the mechanical sense, but what good does it do to see obscuring lines and white/grey patches on your television?
Personally, I hate most of what comes out in theaters these days. Sometimes they're cute and enjoyable - like marshmallows - but they lack longevity. You forget them 1 year later and ten years later you revisit the film and wonder why you liked it to begin with. Perhaps that's why people are so apt to re-watch films so often - there's so little substance, yet there IS stuff happening, so people end up in this half-catatonic state where 3/4 of their brain is just not even paying attention to the film so they pick up more of the film with repeated viewings...and of course people are so friggin' superficial and short-attention spanned that anything not from the "current" time of viewing is going to turn people off due to the different kinds of cars, clothing and hair style on display. Films of the 1970's and 1980's often time don't look as shiny and glossy as current Hollywood productions and since everyone's obsessed with new-technology, people turn away from the not-so-perfect looking films, even though there's still a lot of visual beauty IN those movies for people who can accept and realize the fact that fashions change - they have - a million times over - and they will continue to do so. I mean, admittedly, I don't watch movies, usually, made before 1968, simply because this country - the land of the free - was essentially a dictatorship run by superstitious pod-people who existed according to trumped up social codes that didn't make a dang big of sense. People couldn't forgive themselves for thinking about anything sexual, and if they SAID anything of the sort, oh no, what would God think?! Women especially were bogged down in that department, and if someone was suffering - from either internal or external ills - they couldn't tell anyone and if they did, nobody would do anything about it. People couldn't handle thoughts of "mental illness" and living with a child automatically meant it was OK to beat them. Just as long as they weren't physically dead, the parents couldn't be wrong for what they did...
And the films of that day, because of everyone's fear of open communication and expression, were stale and have grown unwatchable as time's gone on.
But then the government made a huge mistake - the Vietnam "conflict". The grown ups tried to ignore it, but the children wouldn't. Hollywood was losing money because they tried acting like nothing was happening, but the country was hurting, and the children were fed up with the world they were brought in to. Movies were making more money from distrusting children and adventours college kids than adults who didn't even have as much time to gaze at the silver screen to begin with. It was the age of artistic expression, honesty, beauty...
And then Hollywood figured out how to modernize the Blockbuster - put fake things that look real in them. A giant shark! Space ships! Aliens! And as the education, legal, and parental units have all but washed their hands of responsibility and accountability, people walk around thinking things that don't make any sense as if they DO make sense, applying world views that defy truth to their purchasing habits - including movie tickets etc.!
So most movies are either random flashes of shiny light, or half baked excuses for "drama". In the case of AVATER, it's a bad case of both and it beat TITANIC - another example of technology-with-no-use - for the #1 highest ranking film of all time - financially speaking!

So BELIEVE me - when I say that having a Blu-ray player would be nice, but continuing to be able to watch my VHS tapes would be just as important to me if not more so. VHS is cheaper anywayz, and the quality isn't really all that much worse than DVD, although I admit I like DVDs better, if I can get them for a good price...
Right now I have a VCR, but it's really old and I always thank my lucky stars that it still works when I pop a tape in it. But this will pass. Is replacing it worth $300? If it has a Blu-ray & a DVD player that isn't made by the mind of Satan? Possibly. Currently it's over $300 at Amazon, although not long ago it was on sale for $120...and it's got some bragging rights - a four star average customer rating? If there's a better DVD and/or Blu-Ray player out there, it can't be worth trading over the 1-and-only Hi-Q VHS player currently being manufactured. I mean, what more can a DVD and/or Blu-Ray player do? Maybe NetFlix...but I'll probably need to replace this computer someday too ---- if i could get a computer that doesn't freeze up when NetFlix tries to stream movies on my computer, that would be great. But nobody I know currently can afford to get me a $1K+ computer. And I'm only 26...gosh, I'm getting old...

ego basher

2010-05-11T00:06:00.000-05:00

the emo songs i always hear are like a refuge
the emo girls I always see around are like a dream
the dreams I have are like an addiction
I know they wouldn't feel the same
I'm either too selective or not selective enough
I like the prog-rock, new wave, hair-bands...
Can't say I'm hardcore when I'm so soft in the middle

the punk songs I always hear are like a plauge
punks are always bashing what's beautiful
my inner beuty is like a joke
I know they'd feel the same
I'm either too selective or not selective enough
I like to bash those punk-rock/noise-rock junk-rock amatuers
Can't say I'm open minded when I'm so hateful

the emo girl I always think of is just a passing thought
the thoughts I have revolve around this emo music
this music is like an addiction
i'm nothing without it
I hope she doesn't feel the same
But is it possible to embrace such a deformed soul?
When said embracer is relatively normal?
If so, I hope she stops me before I say another nasty word
But doesn't bash my ego

southcott flees the scene

2010-05-09T17:12:00.000-05:00

A pop-punk band called Southcott once had a song titled "Red Lights And Rooftops" (wake up, wake up, we can't keep sleeping on the job, watching my neck for knives you plant beneath my jaw...) which was played regularly on my local RAGE 103.7 in its day (2005), yet the album (FLEE THE SCENE) is scarcely available used/new on Amazon, out of print, and the customer reviews (7 total, 3 1/2 star avg) are largely written from the standpoint of "just another pop-punk band" type thing, seemingly oblivious to there having been any airplay of them.
It's like a ghost-CD! I mean, who knows, maybe the band has some local (Cape Girardeau, Missouri) roots, but it seems odd that my local alt-rock station would be the ONLY station that plays/played these guys (I don't listen to RAGE much anymore since they started reverting back to the "real rock" w/ demons - ala Godsmack - style of "alternative" that was all the rage back in 1998, with very little "indie" rock, or pop-punk/emo...I mean, RAGE used to be Cape Girardeau's radio center for people who wanted stuff like The Shins, Radiohead, etc....but that's so 2005, I guess...). I mean, if the CD had any exposure to the masses, you'd think there'd be a good 20++ copies available for sale on Amazon, but there's 13 total, 5 of which are "new" (some Amazon sellers sell a "new but opened" CD and list it as "NEW", which is AGAINST Amazon's guidelines, but whose paying attn, right?), so there's 8 used copies. For a CD rated at 3 1/2 stars on average by "the people", there sure must be an awful lot of people who are either packrats or can't bear the thought of letting go of such mediocrity (although I like that one song A LOT, I haven't heard the rest of the CD, so...but anyway...); OR the CD just didn't touchdown on many a CD player and THAT'S why it's out of print...I mean, there's all kinds of reasons music goes OOP, a lot of CDs that are out of print go back into print at some point or another, and usually the ones that are unavailable are unavailable b/c the demand has reached a plateu - everybody that wants it has it, so there's no need to manufacture anymore...for a 5 year old CD, that seems like an odd scenario...