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Wednesday, December 31
Well, the year is almost over. I don't know that it's been a particularly good year overall, considering all the people who died. It seems like a different celebrity died every week, and my grandfather and cat also passed away. On the bright side, I did get a new job late this year, even if it is just part-time. I suppose most of the year wasn't bad for me, personally, but it wasn't so great for the world in general, I guess. I remember when I used to think it was a big deal to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. Now I do that pretty much every day. Tuesday, December 30
I hate cleaning and organizing things. Actually, I don't mind it if there's a specific place to put things, but I hate finding places for things. I'd say this might be the case with papers more so than anything else. I'm always getting more of them, and I don't know whether I should keep them. If I decide I should, there's never anywhere convenient to put them. It's annoying. Since 2003 is almost over, I think it might be about time for me to say what good came out of it, in terms of music. New albums I've heard this year: Belle and Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress -- I don't have that much to say about it, but it's a cool album. Frank Black and the Catholics: Show Me Your Tears -- Not my favorite effort by Frank's current band (I prefer Dog in the Sand by a considerable margin), but still a worthy album. Favorite song: Massif Centrale Cracker: Countrysides -- Based on what I've read about it, it's a collection of covers of redneck-style country songs, done with a generous dose of irony, but not intended to be funny. I'm not totally sure I understand the concept, but it's fun to listen to, and that's what counts, right? The Minus Five: Down with Wilco -- This is a good record. I'm glad Scott McCaughey is still writing songs. I hope a new Young Fresh Fellows album will be released in the future. Favorite song: Retrieval Of You The New Pornographers: Electric Version -- Not as good or as eclectic as Mass Romantic, but really catchy and enjoyable. Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles Volume 3 -- The third in this collection of excellent but expensive discs of demos and rarities by XTC's leading man. I think Volume 2 remains my favorite, but this is still very good. My favorite song, as it now stands, is probably "My Train Is Coming." "Weird Al" Yankovic: Poodle Hat -- I've been a big fan of Al for longer than any other musician or band, and a new album from him is always a big event. This was no exception, especially after the long wait since Running with Scissors. This is pretty typical Al, but that's not a problem. "Bob" is one of the most clever concepts he's come up with in some time, and "Why Does This Always Happen To Me?" is an amusing Ben Folds style parody. The best direct parody is probably "eBay," a takeoff on the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way." Albums I've heard, but not enough times to form that much of an opinion: Erin McKeown: Grand -- Based on only one listen all the way through, I thought this was a pretty strong album. More average than Distillation, probably, in that there really weren't any songs as good as the best ones on the earlier record, but there didn't seem to be any as weak as the worst ones on Distillation. Sloan: Action Pact -- I only listened to this once, and I thought it was all right, but not spectacular. Somewhat disappointing when compared with the other Sloan albums I've heard. Not really albums, but still cool: Ben Folds: Speed Graphic and Sunny 16 They Might Be Giants: Bed, Bed, Bed Stuff I'd like to hear, but haven't: Tori Amos: Tales of a Librarian, Blur: Think Tank, and Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers -- Beth has these, but I've never had a chance to listen to them all the way through. The Minus Five: I Don't Know Who I Am -- I've seen this listed at Amazon, but they don't have a tracklist, and I know of no other evidence that it actually exists. Maybe I should check on that. Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles Volume 4 -- There were two of these released this year. Liz Phair: Self-titled -- I'm not all that impressed by the way "Why Can't I" sounds like a zillion other overproduced female-sung songs on the radio, but I've heard the rest of the album is different. Not released this year, but purchased by me this year: The big one here would be the Sugarplastic's Bang, the Earth Is Round, which blew me away. If I were capable of writing songs, the lyrics would probably be kind of similar to theirs. Laura Cantrell's When the Roses Bloom Again is also pretty cool. Concerts I've attended: Camper Van Beethoven, TMBG (four times, I think), Tori Amos and Ben Folds (twice), Erin McKeown, Belle and Sebastian with Rasputina opening, and that show with Neko Case, Carolyn Mark, Kelly Hogan, and John Rauhouse Monday, December 29
 What Finding Nemo Character are You? brought to you by Quizilla I made it up to what's probably the final battle in Dragon Warrior Monsters, but I can't win it. I guess I'll have to build up my monsters some more. It's apparently free to set up a LiveJournal now (about time, says I), so I created one, which you can see right here. I probably won't write anything in it, but I wanted to be able to reply to other LiveJournal posts without being anonymous. I finished reading The Lavender Bear of Oz last night. It was really short, but it was a good book. I liked it better than the authors' earlier effort, Masquerade in Oz, which I found a little overly silly in spots. There was a lot of silliness in Lavender Bear, too, but I think it fit in better with the plot. I liked revisiting Bear Center (which first appeared in The Lost Princess of Oz), and I think Irwin and Terry did a good job at expanding upon life in this city of stuffed bears. The fairly useless riding bears, the Lavender Bear's pogo stick for long-distance travel, and the Squirrel King's magic eight-ball were all clever touches. The choice of babies from Merryland as pseudo-villains was rather odd (I didn't much care for the Valley of Babies when I first read about it in Dot and Tot of Merryland), but it worked pretty well. I should probably do some more work on my own Oz manuscript. Sunday, December 28
Last night, I finally used the gift certificate that my mom had given me for my birthday, and went to Red Lobster with Beth and her Uncle John. Beth and I both had the all-you-can-eat shrimp, which is a good deal. I had had that last year, and I'm glad they brought it back. Shrimp is one of my favorite foods, although I'm different from a lot of people in that I prefer it hot. Chilled shrimp just doesn't seem as good to me. My favorite preparation method is probably scampi. Later that night, Beth and I watched some HBO documentary about hate sites on the Internet. It was scary stuff. Apparently the crap that's out there inspired some people to shoot multi-racial couples, and commit other acts of the sort. Saturday, December 27
I had a good Christmas. I spent it at Beth's house, and I got some nice gifts from her family, including shirts, socks, candy, and a stuffed penguin from her Uncle John. From Beth herself, I got a shirt, a copy of the movie Beetlejuice, a Play-Doh toy, and Ben Folds's Sunny 16 EP. On the day after Christmas (yesterday), Beth and I went up to New York City. We went shopping at the Sanrio store and Books of Wonder. At the latter store, I bought two Oz books: Jack Snow's The Shaggy Man of Oz (the only Famous Forty Oz book I didn't already own in SOME form) and Bill Campbell and Irwin Terry's The Lavender Bear of Oz. After that, we went out to eat with erin and Matt at a restaurant called Chat and Chew. There actually used to be a restaurant near where I live with that same name, but I don't think it was related. That Chat and Chew has been gone for years, and I believe it was a pizza place, which the one in Manhattan isn't. It did, however, have excellent macaroni and cheese. After dinner, we went to the They Might Be Giants concert at Irving Plaza. The opener, Corn Mo, was, well, quite unusual. He was a guy who played an accordion, but the more amusing and interesting part of his act was that he told all kinds of weird, long, fast-paced stories relating to his songs, most of which I can't really remember. He claimed that John Flansburgh wanted him to be chatty, and he certainly was. I know he said something about how crappy the mall the area of Texas where he grew up was, and he mentioned that he had joined the circus at their request. I can't explain it all that well; it's something you would have to see and hear to believe. Oh, and I believe it's worth mentioning that some girl standing near us at the show was wearing jeans on which she had written the titles of a bunch of Queen songs. Corn Mo covered "We Are The Champions," and I think this girl practically exploded in her excitement. TMBG's set was probably one of the better ones I've heard from them. They were accompanied by a three-piece horn section: Mark Pender on the trumpet, Dan Levine on the trombone, and some guy whose name I can't remember on the tuba. The drummer was Marty Beller, the same person who drummed at that in-store last month. I really don't know what happened to Dan Hickey. Anyway, the setlist included several songs I had heard only rarely or never at all before, including "Metal Detector," "Dirt Bike," "Mr. Me," "Lie Still, Little Bottle" (with The Stick), and the new "Stalk Of Wheat." They did play "Spy," which I've never really liked that much, but they thankfully kept the improvisational section pretty short. "She's Actual Size" was totally absent from the set. "Shoehorn With Teeth" had Marty playing a set of three of those "ring for service" bells for the glockenspiel parts, which was amusing, but I have to wonder whether they're ever going to get another actual glockenspiel. I'm pretty sure they said they would, but I think they also said they'd get new puppet heads (they gave these old props away to contest winners, for those of you who might be wondering what happened to the original ones), and I have no evidence that they've done that, either. They covered the Beach Boys' "Caroline No" (of which I can't recall ever actually hearing the original; I've never listened to Pet Sounds, despite the fact that lots of musicians have said it was the greatest album ever or some such) and talked about how the Beach Boys were their nemeses (I had to look up the plural of "nemesis," by the way), and joked about how Mike Love was on his ninth wife. They really were quite talkative (Corn Mo had told them to be chatty, according to Flans), which was good. Flans said that he had gotten four pairs of pajamas for Christmas, three of them from John Linnell. He also made a reference to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (which Beth appreciated {g}) and said that the last conversation he had had about rock music with his mom was about the "Walking Heads," which prompted Linnell to refer to TMBG as "They Walk Be Giants." After the show, I got a little bit of sleep at Beth's, and now I'm at work. I'm not sure exactly why a community college library would be open today, but there are some people using it, and I can use the money. I just wish I'd gotten more sleep, because I'm pretty tired. Thursday, December 25
Hey, everybody! It's the Christmas alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Get it? Too bad I don't remember how that joke with the punchline "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear" goes. Anyway, merry Christmas to anyone reading this! Yes, all three or four of you. Wednesday, December 24
Now playing: Dr. Demento, The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time Great. Blogger just lost my last entry. I guess I'll try to rewrite it. It wasn't that long, but I'm still annoyed. Yesterday, I went with Beth and her Uncle John to see Elf. I thought it was good, and certainly much better than the commercials made it look. I have to wonder when it was supposed to have taken place, since a Gimbels features in it. I still need to take Beth to see Brother Bear, and see The Return of the King without Beth (not that I would mind Beth seeing it with me, but she hasn't seen either of the other Lord of the Rings movies). Happy Christmas Eve! Tuesday, December 23
I have to wonder if the specialty Monopoly sets are getting out of hand. That's not to say that I have anything against such sets, but they should make sense. When the spaces are, say, characters or events from a movie, how does that work? Doesn't it only work if the spaces are properties? Do you buy characters and events? I've never actually played one of these games, so maybe they figured out some way to make them work. I don't know. So, is everyone all ready for Christmas? I think I should get another gift for my dad, but I won't see him until New Year's, so there's no hurry there. Monday, December 22
 Congratulations! You're Pippin! Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you? brought to you by Quizilla I finished most of my shopping today, which is good. I went to a shopping center in Monroeville, which was apparently designed by the minds behind the Labyrinth of Crete, because it's incredibly difficult to find the entrance to any particular set of stores. The heavy holiday traffic didn't certainly didn't help matters in this respect. I think I got everything I wanted from there, though. Sunday, December 21
I had a dream last night about a video game that I think might actually be a good idea. Beth owned this game that let you play other games (mostly ones for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, I think; I remember trying it out with the original Super Mario Bros.) and bring their characters into this new game. I'm not sure what you would do with them after that, but it seems like a neat concept. In the same dream, I was riding a bus that was identified as the Hopper-Horner Express, in order to deliver a package to a Horner. The Hoppers and Horners are two neighboring peoples in the Oz books who constantly declare war on each other for silly reasons; The Patchwork Girl of Oz had the Hoppers declare war because of a bad joke that the Horners made. I don't have Oz-related dreams as often as I'd like, so that was cool, even though the dreamscape didn't really look much like Oz. I don't think Oz has buses, for one thing. Saturday, December 20
Now Internet Explorer won't work on my computer. I don't know what's wrong with it. Apparently something happened when my brother tried to install router software, and he said to reinstall Windows, but that did no good. I guess I'll have to talk to him about it. My anti-virus updates still won't load. Why must my computer be such a piece of crap? I'm going to give my family some Christmas presents tonight, since I won't be seeing them on Christmas Day. I hope they like the presents, but they might not. I still have to do some more shopping for some non-family people. Friday, December 19
I should get my oil changed today. Actually, I'm probably due for a tune-up soon. I wonder where I could get that done. Thursday, December 18
The WB's annoying split-screen credits identified How the Grinch Stole Christmas as being by "Dr. Suess." Holy typo, Batman! Well, I ended up being late for both of my interviews. I was late for the first one because of traffic, and I don't think that was a particularly big deal. For the second one, I took a wrong turn and ended up crossing the state line into Delaware (the interview was at Neumann College in Aston, Pennsylvania), which was pretty embarrassing. I guess the interviews themselves went all right, but I really have no way of knowing. After my interviews, Beth, her cousin Dorothea, and I went to the King of Prussia Mall. The only thing I ended up buying there was a present for Beth from the Sanrio store. I still need to buy gifts for a few people, but I don't think I'll do that in King of Prussia. Tuesday, December 16
This week's Simpsons episode was one of the better ones so far this season. The talking astrolabe was funny, as were the numerous Christmas special parodies. I think this is the second time stop-motion animation has been used on the show, and while it seems somewhat out of place (back in the day, they probably would have just drawn a California Raisins parody, had they chosen to do one), but it's pretty cool. Two more interviews tomorrow. Wish me luck! Monday, December 15
Sunday, December 14
So, they captured Saddam Hussein, huh? That's good, considering that he was a rotten guy and all, but I don't know that it's really an amazing victory for the forces of good, or a step towards peace in the Middle East, or anything like that. Anyway, in news more close to home, I've played a little more of Superstar, and gotten one of my Sims started on the track to fame. I haven't had to make any famous friends yet, though. I wonder how that will go when I have to do that. Saturday, December 13
Well, my computer seems to be able to load web pages again now, thanks to the foreign guy from Dell tech support who called me "ma'am." I guess I'll try installing DSL soon, but I'm not sure if we're going to go through with getting it. My mom has hinted that my sister might not want to use it after all, and that there are problems with using it on her computer, but I'm not really sure what's going on there. I'm on AOL right now. The other day, I played Super Mario Advance 4 at a few stores. That game, for those of you who don't know, is a version of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the GameBoy Advance. I've never been any good at that game, but I was even worse than usual yesterday. I guess I'm out of practice. Someday when I have the time and resources, I should sit down with those old Nintendo games I could never get anywhere in, and finally try to win them. I'm not good with the timing or eye-hand coordination, but maybe I could get better with practice. Who knows? I really would like to be able to get somewhere in SMB3, because it's one of the best video games ever. Yeah, I know I'm going along with the crowd here, but it really is. It introduced so many innovations in the Super Mario series, like the map screen and Mario's ability to fly. It was essentially the game that made my family want to get a Nintendo in the first place. (Yes, we did get it pretty late in the system's run. I'm generally behind the times in getting new things.) Friday, December 12
 Congrats! You're Mario! What Super Mario Bros. character are you? brought to you by Quizilla Kind of a weird quiz, but much better than that other Mario quiz I took a few years back. I like that there are some more unexpected choices, including Princess Daisy, Donkey Kong, and a Bob-omb. Of course, with all of these choices, I ended up getting Mario. It figures, doesn't it? {g} (I like Luigi better, for what it's worth.) It looks like I'll be working the weekend after Christmas. That's not really a big deal, but I was going to go to Virginia with my family then. Oh, well. I guess I could go down there on my own at some point, since I DO have a car now. I've never driven that far before, though.  You are the grammar Fuhrer. All bow to your authority. You will crush all the inferior people under the soles of your jackboots, and any who question your motives will be eliminated. Your punishment is being the bane of every other person's existence, because you're constantly contradicting stupidity. Everyone will be gunning for you. Your dreams of a master race of spellers and grammarians frighten the masses. You must always watch your back. If only your power could be used for good instead of evil. What is your grammar aptitude? brought to you by Quizilla Just what I need! A big old picture of Hitler on my blog! THAT will send a good message! Anyway, if anyone else takes this quiz, take a look at the fifth question. Is it just me, or are ALL of those choices grammatically incorrect? I'm here at work early on a Friday morning. I hate getting up so early, but I don't mind working, especially considering that there isn't generally that much to do here. This will be my longest time working at this job so far. I'm covering for my supervisor. Thursday, December 11
I got my copy of Andy Partridge's Fuzzy Warbles Volume 3 in the mail today. It was an indirect birthday present from my brother (he gave me an Amazon gift certificate, and I picked this out and paid the remainder of what it cost). I've only gotten to listen to it once all the way through, but it sounds good. The first song, "My Train Is Coming," is cool, with a sixties feel to it. I believe Andy wrote it for a movie soundtrack, but it was rejected. There's also a cover of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever," with Andy singing and Dave Gregory doing everything else. It's quite faithful to the original arrangement. The demos for songs that were released on XTC albums are "Great Fire," "Collideascope," "Train Running Low On Soul Coal," "Holly Up On Poppy," and "Little Lighthouse," all excellent songs. I really wish the Fuzzy Warbles CDs didn't cost so much, or I would buy them closer to when they came out. I know a Volume 4 was released earlier this year (at the same time as Volume 3, I believe), and I'm sure 5 and 6 will be out soon. I played a few seconds of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga at Kmart the other day. I'm curious to know whether it's more RPG-ish or action-based (and, for that matter, I have pretty much the same question about Paper Mario). I like RPGs, and Beth prefers action games. Really, I have nothing AGAINST action games, but I suck at them. Tuesday, December 9
Now playing: The Sugarplastic, "Sheep" I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but I don't really have much to say. Yesterday, Beth took me out to Denny's, which was really nice of her. I had a Breakfast Dagwood, and, as usual, I couldn't finish it in one sitting. I just ate the rest recently. Beth also helped me start my Christmas shopping. I have quite a bit more of that to do, so maybe I'd better get serious about it. Sunday, December 7
Blogger is apparently down, or at least not loading here at work, so I'll probably have to wait until tonight to post this. 1. When I turned on WXPN this morning, I heard the end of Cracker's "Satisfy You." First the Pixies, and now this. I don't think I'd even bother noting it if I hadn't heard both of these songs immediately after turning on the radio, but as it is, it makes for some pretty cool coincidences. 2. I had a dream last night that I was in a store, and I found a few boxes of tiny Final Fantasy figures. Each one promised that it had at least one character from every game. As far as I know, there are really only figures based on characters in the later games, at least in this country. I remember seeing some FF7 and 8 action figures back when I worked at a toy store, and thinking that I would buy them if they were FF3 figures. There was also a Super Mario Kart figure there, but it was Wario, and I'm not an especially big fan of his. If it were Luigi or Bowser or possibly Toad, I probably would have bought it. Beth DID get me a Bowser toy for Christmas last year, and I'm glad to have that. I've seen a few Zelda figures at video game stores, but they're usually pretty expensive. I guess the point I'm trying to make here (if any) is that I want there to be more relatively cheap toys based on video games I like. Oh, and non-movie-based Oz toys would be fun, too. I can't help wondering whether a playset of, say, Ugu the Shoemaker's wicker castle or the Wizard of Wutz's secret mountain laboratory would be at least semi-popular even with people who had no desire to read the books. Probably not, though. Oh, well. I think they'd be cool. 3. I still can't load web pages on my computer. I'll probably call tech support soon. If anyone else has any idea as to what I should do, please tell me. I really want to get this fixed. By the way, I'm not sure whether we're going to go through with installing DSL or not. 4. I tried out the Superstar expansion pack for The Sims last night. It seems kind of confusing, but maybe I'll eventually get the hang of it, like I did with most of the other expansions. Or maybe I'll just generally refrain from using the additional features, like I did with Hot Date. Saturday, December 6
I have my computer set up now, but I'm not sure it's going to do me much good. I tried to set up a DSL connection, but it wouldn't work, and the tech guy I called might have made things worse, rather than better. My mom called tech support again, and found out that, despite what a recording had said, we couldn't use it yet. So I installed AOL, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. I can load some web pages, but apparently only through the AOL browser, and only occasionally. I'm typing this on my computer, but I couldn't load my e-mail, so I don't know what's going on. It's really weird, because I can get connected to the Internet, but not do much on it. I did get to check out the new Sims expansion pack, and I'm guessing my CD burner still works, so if anyone wants me to burn them a CD, let me know. I just hope I can get the Internet to work properly. I'm afraid it's the fault of my computer, and that I might have to take it into a shop or something. Friday, December 5
I have to admit that I have been known to do something that is frowned upon in online discussion groups. I have fed trolls. I guess I can chalk this up largely to three weaknesses of mine: I like to debate, I like attention, and I often feel like I have to say something when a matter comes up on which I have an opinion. And, as I'm sure you all know, if you oblige a troll, they'll argue with you until the cows come home. I'm generally not dumb enough to think that I could actually win an argument with a troll, but I have a sort of morbid curiosity, and I just wonder what kind of idiocy and flame bait they're going to come up with next. While such arguments tend to be fairly harmless, they can be quite frustrating, and, if they take place on a public forum, they can annoy the good denizens who did what they were supposed to do and NOT feed the trolls. With this in mind, I'll try not to reply to troll posts in the future, and I would advise others to do the same. On an unrelated note, has anyone else noticed that people who don't play video games tend to be annoyed by video game music? I think part of this is due to the fact that the music is part of the whole experience of the game, and doesn't have as much effect when you're not actually playing. Therefore, someone who never plays video games isn't going to understand the effect at all. The thing is, though, that such music varies in quality. I'll admit to liking some of it enough to listen to it when I'm not even playing a game, while there's other music that's fairly obnoxious even to me. The school where I work closed early today, and will be closed all day tomorrow. I THINK I might be getting paid for my hours tomorrow anyway, which would be good, but I'm not totally sure. If so, that would be good, but I had actually wanted to go to work. Oh, well. Thursday, December 4
Anyone who's into They Might Be Giants and hasn't done so already should read this. John Flansburgh took the questions from an interview with some actor named Shia LeBeouf, who's apparently on Even Stevens, and changed the answers. I especially liked this part: "B: Do you ever help write any of the episodes of Even Stevens? F: Sometimes I talk back to the TV in character voices just to make it more interesting. That's my way of contributing." How is it that Fountains of Wayne could receive a Grammy nomination for "best new artist"? Their first album came out in 1996! The list of nominees says that the award is "[f]or a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist," so I guess that gives them a little bit of wiggle room, but I think they had a "public identity" before that. (I certainly knew who they were, even if I wasn't that familiar with their music. Jamal gave me a mix tape with some of their songs on it back in 2000, and I'd heard the name thrown around before that.) If they replaced "establishes the public identity of that artist" to "includes a song that made the Billboard charts," I THINK it would be accurate (just in case it isn't obvious by now, I don't follow the charts), but "best new artist" would still be a misnomer. I guess it's pretty cool that they've been nominated, but it really strikes me as a backhanded compliment. "We ignored you for seven years, but here's an inaccurate award nomination!" Of course, I've also seen either MTV or VH1 refer to Liz Phair as an "emerging artist," so I think we can just assume what I'm sure most of us have suspected for some time: the record industry is full of crap. Wednesday, December 3
Oh, I just thought of something to say. It's supposed to snow this weekend. I don't want that to happen. Actually, I think there's supposed to be ice on Friday, which is even worse. I hate winter weather. Can't anyone come up with a way to re-tilt the Earth, so that we can skip it? Somebody just returned a bunch of books on the Vatican II council. They made me think of "The Vatican Rag." I really don't have anything to say, but I'm blogging anyway. With the trend of Disney World attractions being made into movies (The Country Bears, Pirates of the Carribean, The Haunted Mansion), I have to wonder what the next one they come out with will be. Space Mountain? Big Thunder Railroad (that one would HAVE to be about a train robbery, right?)? The Hall of Presidents? Maybe I should start taking bets on this. Tuesday, December 2
 Thom: Design Doctor Which Member from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is your type? brought to you by Quizilla Okay, WHY does Hotmail keep changing the look of their site so often? Rarely does the new layout offer any improvements over the last one. What I wish they'd change is how, when I reply to a message, it keeps putting my signature ABOVE the quoted text, requiring me to cut and paste (which isn't THAT big of a deal, but it wasn't that way when I first started using Hotmail). I just don't do the quote-bottom-reply-top thing; I think it makes it harder to get context, especially in a post to a mailing list. I guess it's fine in personal replies, but it's not the way I do things. Can you tell I don't have anything of actual significance to blog about? {g} Actually, it looks like I might be getting another interview, but I still have to set it up. Monday, December 1
Now playing: The New Pornographers, The Electric Version You know, I haven't actually heard any of WXPN's top 50 CDs of 2003. Beth has Erin McKeown's Grand, but I've never listened to it all the way through. Maybe I should. Now playing: Frank Black and the Catholics, Show Me Your Tears Speaking of Frank, I heard "Monkey Gone To Heaven" on the radio this morning. That was a pleasant surprise. I think it's only the second time I've heard the Pixies on the radio, and both times were on WXPN. (The other Pixies song I heard on there was "Gigantic.") Last night's Simpsons episode isn't one that I find likely to go down into history as a classic, but it had some good jokes. I liked the mileage they got out of Homer's fear of bears, showing just how prevalent bears are in popular culture (fairy tales, product mascots, etc.). Homer's becoming friends with the bear was a nice twist. I do have to agree with what someone wrote on alt.tv.simpsons about electric shocks having been ridiculously overdone as of late. Sunday, November 30
I finally had to knuckle under and look at a walkthrough for Dragon Warrior Monsters, since I couldn't figure out how to get to the SkyDragon. It took me longer to have to turn there than it does for most games, though. I've also started playing Final Fantasy Legend III, which my brother owns. I probably won't do that much in it until I've finished (or get stuck in) the other game, though. Based on what little I've played, I'm not sure I care for the way message speed is dealt with. In a lot of games with large quantities of text, you can choose the rate at which the displays and/or scrolls through this text. In FFL3, though, the text generally runs really slowly, but you can speed it up with the A button. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually, but it's definitely different. Oh, and I've started reading Terry Pratchett's new Discworld book, Monstrous Regiment, so I have a few things to occupy my time in the near future (aside from working and all that). Saturday, November 29
Several radio stations have already started playing nothing but Christmas music. It seems a little bit early, but I don't have a problem with it. I can't hear "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" without thinking of that old Staples back-to-school commercial, though. I got something in the mail advertising some Greatest Hits of the Eagles CD, and it referred to "the hard-rocking 'Hotel California.'" Well, I guess it's "hard-rocking" compared to other Eagles songs, but still, that's not exactly what I would describe as hard rock. Friday, November 28
I had a pretty good Thanksgiving, just in case you were wondering. I spent the day at Beth's house, and a lot of her family members came over. There were as many as twenty-three people here at any given time. I did have turkey, as well as ham and lasagna. It was a good meal. At night, I caught the final episode of Futurama, which I missed the first time around. It was a really good episode, I thought, with a mix of comedy with some more emotional stuff. The Robot Devil had a good part in it. I really wish the show hadn't been cancelled so quickly, as it had a lot of potential. I guess if no one was watching it there wasn't much help for it, but I'm sure FOX constantly pre-empting the show and switching its time slot around didn't help matters much. Thursday, November 27
Happy Thanksgiving to anyone reading this! Since it's Thanksgiving, that means Christmas is just around the metaphorical corner, so I should start shopping soon. I don't know what to get anyone, though. Speaking of shopping, the other day, Beth played Super Mario Kart Double Dash at Kmart. It looked pretty cool, but one thing I'm wondering about it is how baby Mario and Luigi can be separate racers from their adult versions. Were time machines involved? Tuesday, November 25
It's annoying when I try to find online information for a question on Q&A NJ, and all I find are old term papers, or, worse yet, sites that want you to BUY old term papers. I mean, I'm sure the information in them is relatively accurate, but I'd prefer to find something more authoritative, you know? I hate cold weather. There was rain last night, and I couldn't figure out whether it was frozen or just hard. Fortunately, it didn't leave any ice on the roads. I'm REALLY hoping there won't be any of that this year. I had a dream last night that there was snow all over, and I was going to blog about how annoying that was, but I guess it didn't really happen. Oh, well. It's still getting cold, and I still don't like it. Monday, November 24
I wish more people would send me e-mail while I was at work. I wish more people would send me e-mail ANYWAY, but especially while I was at work. I'm hungry. I don't know what to eat, though. This post is pretty pointless. Hey, that's alliterative! I didn't take any wrong turns on my way to work today! Aren't you proud of me? {g} This library has a book called Being Sexual...And Celibate. Weird. Sunday, November 23
I've been playing Dragon Warrior Monsters quite a bit as of late. Like Pokémon, you can capture and train monsters. Unlike Pokémon (any Pokémon game I'm aware of, anyway), you can breed monsters. I tried out that feature today, breeding a Healer and something else to get a SlimeNite. You need one male and one female to breed, but, while I haven't tried seeking his services yet, there's a guy who will apparently change a monster's gender if you need him to. That's right--it's a video game with sex change operations! I almost always make some kind of wrong turn when coming here to my new job. I guess I'll get over that eventually. I hope so, anyway. Saturday, November 22
Now playing: Cracker, Countrysides I got this album in a package from my dad today, along with Tori Amos' To Venus and Back and the Superstar expansion pack for The Sims. There's already another expansion pack beyond that out, so I haven't been keeping up with them as well as before. It's been a long time since I've played the game, though. I guess I'll have to get back to it when (and if) I get my computer hooked up. Speaking of presents, Beth informed me that she also got a package today, with birthday presents for both of us from Colleen. She gave me Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, by Terry Pratchett, and both of us Tori's "Caught A Lite Sneeze" EP. Colleen is awesome. Late this afternoon, a bunch of birds perched in a tree, yelled a lot, and then left. I wonder what that was about. Now playing: The Smiths, Singles We might be getting DSL at my house soon. That means I'll be able to hook up my own computer! Hooray! Friday, November 21
Last night, my family celebrated my birthday. My mom made me a carrot cake. Beth's mom had already made me a cake, so I now have two cakes to eat. My sister gave me two shirts, and my mom gave me a gift certificate to Red Lobster, which was nice of them. Today was my first day volunteering at Longwood Gardens. I did cataloging, which wasn't that difficult. Fortunately, it wasn't original cataloging, or anything of that sort. It basically just consisted of following directions for the books that had not yet been cataloged. If I keep this up, I suppose I can tell potential employers that I have cataloging experience. I know a lot of libraries and other businesses seem to want that. Thursday, November 20
Yesterday was apparently an auspicious day for losing things, since I misplaced both my cell phone and Beth's GameBoy. I found both of them, but I have to say that I wish the world could be put on hold when I'm looking for things. It's annoying to have to look for something when I know I'm going to have to get to work really soon, and the clock just keeps ticking (or advancing, anyway, since I wasn't looking in a place where the clocks actually tick). After I found the GameBoy, I finally beat Pokémon Yellow. Take THAT, Elite Four! In your face, Gary Oak! I'm sure there have been five-year-olds who beat it less time, but I'm usually really bad at video games, so that's pretty cool. In Dragon Warrior Monsters, I defeated some dragon and it joined me. On a totally unrelated note, does anyone think Dr. Seuss would really have been cool with a movie adaptation of The Cat in the Hat that includes mild innuendo and crude humor? Wednesday, November 19
58% of people who voted in an AOL poll think same-sex couples shouldn't be allowed to get married? What is WRONG with people? Is there any way that allowing same-sex marriages would even affect them? As I mentioned earlier, yesterday was my birthday. After work, I opened presents from Beth and her family. Beth's mom and Uncle John both gave me shirts, and her mom also gave me a blanket. Her uncle Harry gave me some chocolates, deodorant, and cologne. I've never worn cologne before, so this might be a good opportunity to start. Beth herself gave me the CD of Frank Black's John Peel sessions with Teenage Fanclub, a copy of L. Frank Baum's The Sea Fairies, and Pokémon Red. I guess I'll start playing that if I can EVER beat the Elite Four in Yellow. Also, my brother gave me a gift certificate to Amazon, so I'll have to decide how to spend that. After I opened presents, Beth and I went out to eat at Denny's. I had a Breakfast Dagwood, something I can never finish in one sitting, and last night was no exception. While I enjoy going places just with Beth, I kind of wish someone else could have gone with us. My birthday is one time of year when I wish I had more friends, and not just for the extra presents. Overall, though, my birthday was a fun occasion. Tuesday, November 18
Today is my birthday, and I'm stuck here at work. Tonight, though, I should be able to open some of my presents, and Beth and I will go out to eat. Monday, November 17
There was some song on the radio about farting on Santa's lap. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong that is. Wow, this is weird. Apparently some people think this baby toy is saying, "I hate you" in the background of ocean noises. If it's true, it's pretty creepy, but I have to wonder whether this is along the lines of people thinking the talking Po dolls were saying "faggot." I thought last night's Simpsons was a good episode, although I haven't seen Evita, so the parody was pretty much lost on me. My dad had given Beth the first season Simpsons DVD, so we also watched some early episodes with commentary. That was interesting, even if they did use some animation jargon that we didn't understand. Sunday, November 16
They put in a new printing system at work recently, and it's been eating people's money and not printing things out. I hope they can get it fixed soon. It's annoying.  Neutron -- You don't take sides, you just sort of hang out and blend into the crowd. If someone lets you loose though, you can cause some serious damage. If you are arround too many other neutrons you get bored and start to decay. What kind of subatomic particle are you? brought to you by Quizilla You know, I like They Might Be Giants as much as the next person, and probably more than many people, but I have to say that listing 21 different TMBG-related things as interests is going a little too far.  You are Form 3, Unicorn: The Innocent. "And The Unicorn knew she wasn't meant to go into the Dark Wood. Disregarding the advice given to her by the spirits, Unicorn went inside and bled silver blood.. For her misdeed, the world knew evil." Some examples of the Unicorn Form are Eve (Christian) and Pandora (Greek). The Unicorn is associated with the concept of innocence, the number 3, and the element of water. Her sign is the twilight sun. As a member of Form 3, you are a curious individual. You are drawn to new things and become fascinated with ideas you've never come in contact with before. Some people may say you are too nosey, but it's only because you like getting to the bottom of things and solving them. Unicorns are the best friends to have because they are inquisitive. Which Mythological Form Are You? brought to you by Quizilla I just got a spam e-mail where the subject line was "Damn! I have an STD!" I didn't open it, but that made me laugh. Anyway, Beth and I just recently got back from Atlantic City, where we saw Elton John. I thought he put on a good show, and he played for a long time. I didn't know every song he played, but he did do "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues," "Tiny Dancer," and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," which are really good songs. Our seats were pretty lousy, but I guess that's to be expected in a huge venue, unless you're willing to pay upwards of $100 per seat. I think this was the biggest concert audience I'd ever been in, but it's also the most famous musician I've ever seen, so that's no surprise. Beth told me some amusing stories about the guy sitting next to her. He apparently called his brother twice, once during "Rocket Man" and again during "Tiny Dancer," and told him that he was hearing those songs. He also played air piano, and tricked his daughter (who seemed to be really into the show; she had a sign and dressed up) into leaving before the last encore (which was "Your Song," by the way). There were also annoying people behind us, one of whom spilled beer on my seat. They talked through some of the songs, and one of them yelled out, "Play The Lion King!" I think it's impossible to go to a show and NOT be surrounded by obnoxious people. The show was a lot of fun, though, and I'm glad Beth finally got to see Elton, and on her birthday at that. Saturday, November 15
Beth and I saw They Might Be Giants, Rasputina, and Belle and Sebastian in Philadelphia last night. For most of the details about the shows, you can read Beth's entry, since she details most of the good and not-so-good aspects. I do have a few things to add, however. The TMBG in-store at Borders was really crowded, and there were more little kids than I would have expected. Yes, I know the in-store was for a children's book and CD, but I still thought it would be pretty much all adult fans. I would imagine that a lot of the children there had parents who were TMBG fans, and the parents were forcing the kids to listen to the same music that they do. I certainly don't have a problem with parents playing TMBG (or whatever other band they like) to their kids, but I have to wonder how far some of these parents go, and how many of their kids will end up HATING TMBG as a form of rebellion. The performance was good. They played: Why Does The Sun Shine? ("The heat and light of the Sun are caused by the nuclear reactions between Conshohocken, King of Prussia, Main Line, and Camden!") Particle Man (with John Linnell playing the stylophone) Cyclops Rock (Peter Noone version) Bed, Bed, Bed (with drummer Marty Beller doing the sound effects) Robot Parade Wicked Little Critta (followed by a discussion about whether "dink" counts as a curse word) Idlewild Stalk Of Wheat (the first time I'd ever heard this song, and I really liked it) Impossible Istanbul I was disappointed that we weren't able to stick around to get stuff signed. I don't know that I'll EVER meet the Johns. I liked what we saw of Rasputina's set. I'm not really that familiar with their songs, but based on what I have heard, they sound pretty similar live and on their albums. Same way with Belle and Sebastian, actually. There are a lot of people in the band, and they managed to work in pretty much all of the instruments that they have in their recorded work, which is a considerable amount on some songs. They played a lot of stuff from their new album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, as well as some older stuff that I knew, like "She's Losing It," "Sing Jonathan David," "Judy And The Dream Of Horses," "Sleep The Clock Around," and "The Boy With The Arab Strap." They invited Rasputina on stage to play "Fox In The Snow" and to play along with another song (I forget which one), and it's always cool when the main band and the opener interact. I really liked the show, even if the audience was annoying. The band sort of set a precedent for obnoxious behavior by taking a few requests and letting some people dance on the stage. I can see that the band would want to be viewed as cool with their fans' antics, but allowing stuff like that can open the door to people shouting out the titles of every song the band ever played (and then some), as well as other inappropriate concert behavior. After the show, I bought some B&S postcards, and Beth and I headed back to the bus station to wait there for hours. This seems to happen to me every time I take the bus to Philadelphia for a concert. I'm sure there's a reason why they have such a long break between buses on Friday nights, but I really can't understand why there aren't more passengers right after the concerts let out. The venues and public transportation companies really should start coordinating better than they do now, but I don't foresee it happening in the near future. And, last but certainly not least, today is Beth's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETH! Thursday, November 13
Things I wish I could do: 1. Be funny, in a way that people laugh WITH me, rather than AT me 2. Cook 3. Draw 4. Sing, play instruments, and write songs (all related things) 5. Something that would get me a job that pays well enough for me to support myself I heard Tori Amos' "Mary" on WXPN on the way to work today. I assume it's the version that's going to be on Tales of a Librarian, the new greatest hits collection, which I probably won't be buying despite the fact that it comes out on my birthday and has "librarian" in the title. Speaking of librarians and my birthday, I share the same birthday as the former director of the library near my house, and of my next-door neighbor, who was an elementary school librarian. Perhaps the eighteenth is just a good day for librarians to be born. Here are my results from the Belief-O-Matic: 1. Secular Humanism (100%) 2. Unitarian Universalism (99%) 3. Liberal Quakers (91%) 4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (86%) 5. Neo-Pagan (77%) 6. New Age (70%) 7. Theravada Buddhism (70%) 8. Nontheist (65%) 9. Reform Judaism (59%) 10. Scientology (55%) 11. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (54%) 12. New Thought (54%) 13. Orthodox Quaker (53%) 14. Bahá'í Faith (52%) 15. Mahayana Buddhism (52%) 16. Taoism (50%) 17. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (39%) 18. Jainism (36%) 19. Jehovah's Witness (36%) 20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (34%) 21. Sikhism (34%) 22. Islam (24%) 23. Orthodox Judaism (24%) 24. Seventh Day Adventist (24%) 25. Hinduism (20%) 26. Eastern Orthodox (13%) 27. Roman Catholic (13%) The wind sure is strong today. I remember hearing that they were going to be. Last night, I finally got to see the global warming episode of Futurama. It was pretty good. I mean, it had Al Gore, a dark wizard, and the headless body of Spiro Agnew. What more could you ask for? I hope Cartoon Network is going to be showing the rest of the episodes from the last "season" (that's in quotation marks since it wasn't really a full season), since I missed a few, including the very last one. Maybe I should check on that. Have you noticed how so many of my entires and paragraphs start with "yesterday," "last night," "today," or something similar? I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to starting blog entries. Wednesday, November 12
I just recently watched Sunday's Simpsons episode, which was pretty good. Not as good as the original episode with Homer's mother, but a decent follow-up. Beth brought up the possibility that the very end of the episode might have been tacked on, so that it wouldn't end on such a depressing (and final) note. I guess it's possible, but if it's true, I'm glad they didn't go with the depressing ending. We also watched the Family Guy episode that FOX refused to air. Neither of us could figure out why they wouldn't show it; it didn't strike me as particularly offensive. Oh, well. At least I got to see it. Tuesday, November 11
Happy Veterans' Day! Since I don't have much to say today, and I try to write something here every day, I thought I'd write a little bit about some of my favorite albums. Listing albums that are strong all the way through has been done on several forums I've been on, and I thought I'd do that now without a forum. XTC: Skylarking If anyone were to ask me about my favorite album ever, this would be the answer I'd give. Great songs all the way through, with a definite summer-y feel to the whole thing. Oddly enough, this album isn't even the same throughout the world. When "Dear God" was a relative hit in the States, the record company decided to put it on in place of "Mermaid Smiled." I haven't actually heard the British version of the album, but I've heard "Mermaid Smiled," and I think the album would be excellent with either of these songs on it. The weakest track on Skylarking is probably "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul," and even that is pretty good. As far as XTC goes, their psychadelic pastiche work that they did as the Dukes of Stratosphear was also excellent. The Chips from the Chocolate Fireball CD contains both their "25 O'Clock" EP and the Psonic Psunspot album. I'd say it also ranks pretty high in my favorites. Frank Black: Teenager of the Year: Pretty tough feat here, since it has 22 songs, but I think that's a large part of what I like about it. People say they'd rather have, say, 12 good songs than more not-so-great ones, but I really don't think any of the songs here are bad. As with most Frank albums, it took me a little while to get into it, but when it did click, it became one of my all-time favorites. I'd also like to give honorable mentions to Dog in the Sand, probably the Frank album that took the LEAST time to click with me, and the Pixies' Bossanova. Moxy Früvous: Bargainville This wasn't my first Früvous album. My first was You Will Go to the Moon, which I thought was pretty good, but not really great. I guess I took somewhat of a gamble in getting this one as well, but it was worth it. It blew me away the first time I listened to it. The best song on the album is definitely "BJ Don't Cry," my all-time favorite Früvous song. There's a little bit of everything in that song. (Well, not EVERYTHING, I suppose, but it does an excellent job of mixing musical styles.) The Posies: Failure I downloaded this album from eMusic, and found it incredibly catchy, without any real weak spots. I have some of the band's other albums, and they have some good songs, but I don't think they've ever surpassed Failure, which was their first album. Ben Folds: Rockin' the Suburbs, and Sloan: Navy Blues These two albums don't have that much in common, but I included them together because Beth introduced me to both of them, and I have to agree with her that they're just really solid albums. A few other albums that would probably go on my Top Whatever list, if I were to make one: Tori Amos: Under the Pink Camper Van Beethoven: self-titled Hypnotic Clambake: Kent the Zen Master Tom Lehrer: That Was the Year That Was I'd also be pretty much obligated to include at least one They Might Be Giants album, since they're my favorite band and all. I don't think their albums tend to be all that consistent overall, though. I usually say that Lincoln is my favorite, but even that has some songs that just aren't as good as the rest, like "Lie Still, Little Bottle" and "You'll Miss Me." That's not to say that these songs are BAD, but they sort of mess up the flow. Same deal with "Spy" on John Henry, which is perhaps TMBG's most consistent album in other respects. It's also difficult for me to choose an overall favorite album by Weird Al, but maybe I'd go with In 3-D. Monday, November 10
I bought a used copy of Dragon Warrior Monsters at GameStop today. I'd say it's sort of a Pokémon rip-off, but I don't actually know when it was created with respect to Pokémon. I'm pretty sure the Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest in Japan) games had the idea of capturing and training monsters and having them fight battles before Pokémon even existed, but the idea to have a game based ENTIRELY around that might well have been inspired by the popularity of Pokémon. Anyway, I only played a little bit of the game, but it seems like it'll be fun. I wish we could just skip winter this year. I guess I still want to have Christmas, but I think I could do without the ice, snow, and low temperatures. I need to cut my fingernails. Last night, I met my dad at an Italian restaurant for dinner. On the way there, I was listening to WXPN, and I heard the end of a Mountain Stage set by Ralph Stanley. I didn't know the guy's name, but I immediately thought he was probably the person who sang "O Death" (a song I originally knew through Camper Van Beethoven's cover) on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Sure enough, the next song he sang was "O Death," which he introduced as having been on that very soundtrack. I thought it was pretty cool that I recognized the guy's voice. Anyway, at the restaurant, I ordered a pizza, but I only ended up eating one piece of it. My dad gave me about half of his lasagna, and he and his wife Barbara had some of my pizza. I still have about half of it left over, though, so that's probably what I'll eat for breakfast (brunch?). After dinner, my dad bought me a pair of new sneakers, which I kind of needed. I picked them out quickly, though, so I'm hoping they work out all right for me. They seemed to fit fine when I tried them on at the store. Sunday, November 9
Reading the TMBG off-topic list archives makes me kind of nostalgic for the heyday of that list. Not only did I meet some cool people there, including my girlfriend, but I liked that I could check my e-mail at nearly any time of day and find something amusing. Certainly a contrast to now, when, if I'm lucky, I'll get something from Nonestica, and very little else. All I got within the past several hours were some automated messages. The thing is, despite the occasional resurgence, I don't think the off-topic list itself will ever regain its former glory. Too many people have either left entirely or changed their attitudes. I certainly wouldn't mind being on another fun, high-traffic mailing list with people I liked (or at least didn't strongly dislike), but I've yet to find one. Other lists I've joined are fun but limited in scope (like Nonestica), boring (Chalkhills), low-traffic, or difficult to keep up with or get into. And blogs and online forums, while fun in their own way, aren't really the same. I guess it's not really such a big deal, but I miss that old list sometimes. My dad is up from New Mexico for a visit. I should be going out to eat with him in about an hour.  I am Ash, from the "Evil Dead" trilogy. I'm the guy with the...chainsaw. Which Random Cult Movie Character are you? brought to you by Quizilla I think I'm close to winning Pokémon Yellow, but I still have to beat all of the Elite Four in succession. The first time I tried, I defeated the first trainer with only one Pokémon remaining. I think I need to build up my Pokémon before trying again. It's kind of annoying when I'm at that kind of point in a game. I've pretty much given up on Super Mario RPG, and I'm close to the end of that, too. Maybe I should try it again sometime soon. Saturday, November 8
I don't like the fact that the weather is getting colder, or that the days are getting shorter. I drove to Delaware for the first time today, and knocked off my hubcap on a curb. Fortunately, I was able to get it back and put it back on. While in Delaware, I bought a copy of the new Belle and Sebastian album at Best Buy. I'm planning on giving it to Beth, but I might listen to it first. I felt kind of guilty about Cat this morning, thinking that if I had done things differently, maybe she wouldn't have died so quickly. I guess that's normal, though. There's probably nothing I could have done. I should go out somewhere today. I'm thinking maybe the King of Prussia Mall, or somewhere else with stores. Friday, November 7
I went down to Longwood Gardens today, to see about volunteering at their library. It looks like I'll be doing some cataloging there. Since I'm busy in the upcoming weeks, I won't be going in for training for two more weeks. I think it'll be good experience, since a lot of people seem to be looking for catalogers, and they generally don't seem to consider me for those positions. Thursday, November 6
You know, Mike Leffel was a really funny guy. He probably still is, but I'm not even sure what happened to him. I don't think he's updated his online comics in ages. Maybe I should check and find out for sure, though.
I'm working two jobs now. That's kind of weird. They're both part-time, and I know a lot of people work two or more part-time jobs at a time, but I've never done it before. It might be nice if they weren't so far away from each other, but it's no big deal. Another weird thing is that I've been driving for over a year now. I didn't even start driving until I was twenty-four, and I was thinking that I would never start. I'm glad I learned, though, as it makes it much easier to get places. I'm not sure I would be able to work either of my jobs without driving. There are certainly times I wish I didn't have to drive, like today, with all of the rain and fog on my way to work. It would be nice to have a rain-repelling device like Sir Pryse Bocks has in John Dough and the Cherub, although I would prefer it if it didn't run out of power as quickly as his did. Still, not being able to drive wouldn't help in those situations. I just hope this winter isn't bad in terms of ice and snow, so I won't have to drive through that. Wednesday, November 5
I think I'm getting the hang of this job. That's no surprise, though; it's pretty easy. It tends to move fairly slowly, so I've actually been spending a lot of my time here reading the archives of the Ozzy Digest and the TMBG Off-Topic List. I'm inclined to do things like that when I'm bored. I kind of miss when the off-topic list had a lot of traffic. It's still around today, but no one has said anything there in days, and even that wasn't much. Oh, well. My cat, Cat, died yesterday. She was old and weak, so I was pretty much resigned to the fact that it would happen soon, but it's still upsetting. We've had her for about fifteen years, an she was a good cat, but she had a bad habit of peeing on things, so she spent most of her later life in the basement or the bathroom. I feel like I should have spent more time with her in recent months and years. I guess that kind of feeling is normal. I'm going to miss her. :( Tuesday, November 4
My job was pretty easy, and looks like it will get even easier as I get used to it. The most annoying part about checking out books is that I have to use a label maker to put a sticker on each one telling when it's due back. I take the stickers off when the books are returned. I'm not really a fan of this system. Why not just use cards or slips of paper? I won't be home until around 10:30 at night, so I'm not going to be able to vote today. I really didn't know anything about the people running anyway, so it's not like I would have been able to vote in an educated fashion, but I still think it's an opportunity that should be taken. I'll be sure to vote next year, when my main criterion will probably be "someone who isn't Dubya." Monday, November 3
I've started working at my new job. It doesn't seem like it will be all that difficult, which is good. Sunday, November 2
This year's Simpsons Halloween Special was pretty good. I don't think it'll go down as a classic, but I think it might have been somewhat better overall than the last few. As with many recent episodes, the best jokes tended to be meta-humor: Kang and Kodos making fun of the fact that they were showing the Halloween episode in November, and Homer referencing the first segment in the second. There was some good Milhouse lines, and the Halloween credits were back, which is a good thing. Maybe next year (if the show is still on next year) they should actually show the Halloween special in October, though, rather than referencing the fact that they didn't. Today was the last day this year that Great Adventure was open (well, the theme park part of it, anyway; there's still Winter Lights starting later this month), so Beth and I got one last hurrah out of our season passes by going there. We were both tired, so we didn't stay for that long, but we did ride several rides. The Runaway Train had practically no line, so Beth insisted that we ride numerous times in a row. I also drove through the safari for the first time. It was pretty cool. While some of the more dangerous animals (such as the the typical lions, tigers, and bears) were behind fences, others could walk right into the road. It was both kind of scary and really neat to have camels crossing the street right in front of your car. I always get kind of depressed around this time of year. I guess it has something to do with the changing seasons and shortening days, even though I don't even go outside all that much when the days are long and warm. Saturday, November 1
Last night, Beth and I went trick-or-treating. Yes, I know we're kind of old for it, and the candy isn't usually that good anyway, but it was fun. As per Beth's joking suggestion, I carried a squeaky caveman club so as to be an anesthesiologist, but I only ended up explaining the joke to two or three people. After trick-or-treating, we went to eat at Bennigan's, where we heard Weird Al's "Nature Trail To Hell," which was a pleasant surprise. I couldn't finish my food, and I boxed up my leftovers, but I forgot to bring the box, which pretty much always happens with me. It annoys me somewhat, since it essentially means I wasted both food and money, but I DID eat most of it, so I guess it's not a really big deal. I just have to remember to start bringing those boxes back with me. Later, we watched Halloween III, the only movie in that series that doesn't fit nto the regular continuity. Instead of Michael Myers, there's some ridiculous plot about a murderous Irish toymaker. The movie was...well, different. I'll give it that. There seemed to be a general theme that kids will buy or watch anything with a lot of hype, regardless of how crappy it is. We also saw a little bit of Jason X (and no, I don't know why it's just called Jason and not Friday the 13th either), which was also weird, but in a different way. Jason is cryogenically frozen, and wakes up in a future with space stations, scantily clad women, and sadomasochistic Lolita affairs. In general, I'd say putting characters in space is a last-ditch effort to save a dying series. I should go get my oil changed sometime today. Friday, October 31
I couldn't find a ready-made pirate costume that was cheap enough, nor could I think of what I would need to make the costume myself. I did get an eyepatch, but now I have no use for it. It was only 99 cents, though, and I'm sure I'll be abel to find something to do with it at some point. The costume I'm going to wear this year is a doctor one, which I got for a discounted price because the surgical mask was missing. It's really irritating that so many people steal parts of Halloween costumes. What would anyone want with a mask from a doctor costume, when you get right down to it? Or is it just the thrill of taking something, no matter what it is? Thursday, October 30
Beth and I need to assemble Halloween costumes sometime soon. I'm thinking of going as a pirate this year. It looks like I might have gotten another part-time library job, this one in circulation. I should be going in for training on Monday. Wednesday, October 29
It bugs me when officials make cars bypass an accident scene, construction zone, or something of the sort without officially marking a detour. I realize that it takes time to set up signs and the like, but it shouldn't be assumed that everyone knows the area well enough to get where they're going. Tuesday, October 28
I added a few items to my Amazon Listmania list. I sort of want to make a "so you'd like to" guide, so as to complete my Amazon list-creating experience (or something like that). I don't know what my subject would be, though. ("So you want to listen to the same music that Nathan listens to?") I did this celebrity match thing, which apparently chooses matches based on birthdays. My results were: Rebekah Hurth 100% Laura Wilkinson 99% Cassidy Rae 98% Danae van Oeteren 98% Alsou 98% I've never heard of a single one of them. One of the places I was going to interview tomorrow called up to cancel, saying they had already hired someone. I guess that's good to know so I don't have to go out of my way for nothing, but it's disappointing that they don't even want to talk to me. Rod Roddy, the announcer from The Price Is Right, died recently. This is not a good year for celebrities. :( Monday, October 27
I have two interviews in a row again on Wednesday. It should be less complicated than last Friday, though. I'm glad I'm getting interviews again. Before those last two, I hadn't had one in months. Last night, Beth and I went on a haunted hayride at a Christmas tree farm. We went on the same one last year, and it was pretty much as we remembered it, including the skeletons peeing to the tune of "Dueling Banjos." There was an addition, though, in that we had to walk through a cornfield maze, with some springy false ground and a rickety bridge. It was fun, even if we did have to do part of it in the rain. After we got back, we watched Beth's DVD of The Ring. I found this movie pretty scary at the theater, but it's not as much so when it's on the small screen, and you know what's going to happen. It was still fun to watch it again, though. Sunday, October 26
 YOU ARE EMO! You are one big mess of misunderstood emotions. Unfortunatelly you lost all of your friends once you started wearing only black, Gap sweaters and fake glasses. The good news is that you now have a whole new ring of anti- social, well-dressed friends. You sure got a way with style, and the music you listen to is enough to make even the hardest of people break down in tears. Times used to be tough, but these days life is pretty good for an emo kid. With your short black hair and morbid poetry you are the envy of every depressed, suicide attempting, starbucks drinking mallgoer in your town. What is your anti-conformist personality? brought to you by Quizilla Saturday, October 25
I'm tired, but I'm having trouble sleeping. I just recently woke up from a dream where I got my oil changed. I should probably do that for real pretty soon. Friday, October 24
Wow, Q&A NJ was certainly busy for the past two hours. It's usually pretty quiet when I log on in the afternoons. I haven't written about Pokémon in a while. I'm sure no one cares to read about it, either, but I'll update you on my progress anyway. I've beaten all eight gym leaders, and my Charmeleon and Ivysaur have evolved ("evolved" in the Pokémon sense, anyway, not in the Darwinian manner) into a Charizard and Venusaur, respectively. I still have to get to the Pokémon league place, and I think there's something after that about finding those legendary bird Pokémon that were in the second movie. Still, I'm getting pretty close to finishing, so maybe I should start looking for another game to play when I'm done with that one. I need to get an Internet connection for my home computer. It is possible to hook up two computers to the same ISP through the same phone line as long as you don't use them both at the same time, isn't it? Thursday, October 23
I checked out the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and OKGo's album from the library yesterday. This was actually my first time checking out CDs from the library. It's a pretty good deal, with no fine or anything, but most libraries seem to have a pretty sparse selection. I liked Yoshimi quite a bit. OKGo's CD had some pretty catchy songs, but wasn't all that memorable overall. That's based on only one listen, though; I'm sure to give it another chance or two, since I can keep it out for three weeks. I'm somewhat bitter toward OKGo because they're a They Might Be Giants opener that went on to become semi-famous, while really great opening bands like Lincoln and Muckafurgason broke up and disappeared. I guess that's not OKGo's fault, though. In addition to Melody Grandy's new book, there seem to be several other interesting upcoming releases from Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends. Phyllis Ann Karr, the author of the excellent The Gardener's Boy of Oz, has apparently written something called The Hollyhock Dolls in Oz. The description doesn't really sound that great, but I know Karr is a good writer. There's also another book by the late Lin Carter, who had written Conan the Barbarian books and other sword-and-sorcery stuff I haven't read, as well as one Oz book that I HAVE read (The Tired Tailor of Oz). I thought Tired Tailor was a bit derivative of earlier Oz authors (especially Ruth Plumly Thompson), but it was a good story, and I wouldn't mind reading more by Carter. I hate cold weather, by the way. Wednesday, October 22
One of my search referrals was "Do Amish drink alcohol and have premarital sex?" Don't Amish kids have a period where they can decide whether or not to go on being Amish? If so, I'm sure they do plenty of drinking and having premartial sex during that period. And there are always hypocrites, like those Amish drug dealers.  You are Dave! Laid-back and cool, you are the kind to sit on the back porch, playing your guitar or banjo, and telling stories. You have the poet's touch, with a gift for lyricism. You're pretty easygoing, and you warn people that the King of Spain never rushes! Which Moxy Fruvous guy are you most like? brought to you by Quizilla On an unrelated note, I hear Melody Grandy's third Seven Blue Mountains of Oz book is coming out soon from Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends. Unfortunately, for health reasons, Melody won't be able to finish the illustrations. I remember hearing about how she used to suffer from poltergeist-like problems, and her church convinced her to stop doing Oz-related stuff, but she later got over that. Whether this is related, I don't know. I hope it's nothing really bad. Anyway, the other two books in the trilogy were excellent, and I have high hopes for this one. I had to give a tour of the library yesterday evening. It was only my second time doing so, and while I know where everything is, I'm very nervous when I have to address people. I probably came across as an idiot. My dreams last night mostly seemed to be about amusement parks and roller coasters. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that Beth and I are planning on going to Great Adventure this weekend. In one dream, which either took place at an amusement park or a fair, I fell asleep while waiting for a DaVinci's Notebook concert. There was also one where I went to this place that had a lot of Oz books. I think I realized that I was dreaming, and that I probably wouldn't remember anything I read. There was something about a doll in one of the books, I think. Tuesday, October 21
Why does half.com ask you to leave feedback on buyers? It's not like they can stiff you on payment, since they pay before you even know you've made a sale. Oh, well. I guess it's usually a good way to get some free positive feedback. Beth and I saw that remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre last night. It was all right, but they did change a lot. One thing I noticed was quite similar to an observation Beth had made about Freddy vs. Jason when compared to the original Nightmare on Elm Street movies: the characters were less likeable. This certainly applies to the protagonists, who mostly just did drugs. I mean, they were probably drug users in the first movie, too, but they didn't smoke up on-screen, and didn't talk as much about pot. (Also, why wasn't one of the protagonists in the remake in a wheelchair?) I think this was even true of the villains, though. I didn't care for the new drunken, brutal sheriff character; he was scary in the wrong way for a horror movie. The little boy and baby-snatching women didn't seem to have much purpose. Were they trying to make Leatherface's family more PC by adding women and children, or what? Monday, October 20
I saw two more of those Nintendo "Who are you?" ads. One of them had Mario on the Berlin Wall. The other showed a boxing match, but I couldn't figure out what the Nintendo item in the picture was. It looked like a claw holding an eyeball or something. I wonder what the purpose of that advertising campaign is. Sunday, October 19
Last night, Beth and I went on our first (but hopefully not last) haunted hayride of the year. It was at a junkyard near her house, and it was pretty cool, but I thought it was a bit overpriced. It cost $10 for a ride that took about fifteen minutes, and quite a bit of it didn't really have anything happening. There were guys with torches and chainsaws, though, so it isn't like it was totally pathetic. I just think they should have charged less money. Saturday, October 18
Has anyone else seen those new Nintendo ads, with the faces of Super Mario Bros. characters in weird places? The first one I saw was at the mall, with Princess Peach Toadstool's face on the Mona Lisa. Then, in Philadelphia the other day, there was one of a member of KISS with Yoshi's head. Incidentally, for anyone who might be wondering (which is probably no one), the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was apparently always "Peach" in Japan, but they changed her name to "Toadstool" for the American games, presumably for greater association with mushrooms. They started calling her Peach in the American games starting with Super Mario 64, so she's now officially Princess Peach Toadstool. That's what I've heard, anyway. Friday, October 17
I went to my second interview, which was in Glenside. After that, I ended up getting lost in North Philadelphia, right around when the schools were letting out. I got through there all right, but I ended up being an hour late signing on to Q&A NJ, which sucks. On a totally unrelated note, here's a list of albums released this year that I wouldn't mind hearing: Belle and Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress Cracker: Countrysides Minus Five: Whatever that new one is Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles, Volumes 3 and 4 Liz Phair: Self-titled Thursday, October 16
Ugh. I'm tired, and I have two job interviews tomorrow. Right now, I wish I could cancel one of them, but it would be short notice, and they probably wouldn't want to reschedule. I hope I'll be okay after I get some sleep. After the second interview, I have to hurry over to Beth's house to do Q&A NJ. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm sure most people reading this blog don't care about Oz-related stuff, and I usually don't say that much about it here, but I'm going to now. If you don't like it, you can always skip this entry. I've been doing some newsgroup searches for stuff related to the Oz books, and I've noticed a tendency of casual Oz fans to dislike the books written by Ruth Plumly Thompson, who continued the series after L. Frank Baum died. I know some people argue that Baum, as the creator of the series, should have been the only one to write books about it, and while I can see some merit in that argument, I can't say I agree with it. Thompson really doesn't deviate all that much from Baum's conception of Oz, after all; she just adds her own elements to it. Someone on the rec.arts.sf.written newsgroup claims that most of Thompson's books are "[i]cky-cute twee travelogues," in which "characters go from icky-cute place to icky-cute place" and "nothing happens." He also insists that they have an "icky-sweet singsong authorial voice." I really feel that this is being a bit harsh. This same person thinks that The Land of Oz indicates that the Wizard of Oz had had Ozma's father Pastoria killed, which I suppose is a POSSIBILITY based on what appears in that book (and if you don't accept Thompson's The Lost King of Oz), but quite a bit of a stretch, especially considering that Ozma welcomes the Wizard back to Oz to live later on. Actually, this person and others of his type seem to be drawn toward the darker side of Oz, claiming that such scenes as Princess Langwidere changing her heads and the Tin Woodman having a conversation with HIS old head are disturbing and nightmarish. I suppose I can sort of see that, but I never really thought that way when I first read the books. Since Baum's publicists claim that none of his books ever sent children to bed with troubled dreams, perhaps I'm actually in the majority here. Sometimes I wonder whether people who criticize Thompson confuse her actual stories with her promotional material for the series, which does tend to be geared toward young children, with a "Hey, boys and girls, do you believe in Oz?" tone to it. Then again, it's unlikely that casual fans would have seen much, if any, of this material. Some people also complain about the racial stereotypes, like the Chinese-based Silver Island in The Royal Book of Oz, or the bad-tempered pseudo-Arabs of kingdoms like Mudge and Samandra. While this is certainly a valid criticism in this day and age, the books do reflect the time in which they were written, and, unfortunately, racism was more common back then. It's not like Baum's work was free from this kind of stuff, or that either Baum or Thompson was as bad as other material from the period. There are also those who seem somewhat contradictory, in that they complain that Thompson never allowed the Oz characters to change, and then complain even more when she DOES change someone. I seem to recall someone, who might or might not have been Peter Glassman of Books of Wonder, saying that people who like the Thompson books and consider them to be "official" are usually those who read them when they were fairly young. People who first read the Thompson books as adults tend not to like them as much. Since a Thompson book was actually the fourth Oz book I ever read, and this was when I was eleven years old, I came to see her books as equally valid and almost as good as Baum, if not better in some respects. It's true that there are large portions of her books in which the protagonists escape from villages filled with weird beings who want to keep the heroes as prisoners, but some of these villages are really pretty clever. Her villains tend to have a comical side, but they are still undoubtedly villainous. Some Oz fans have claimed that Mooj, the villain in Ojo in Oz, is one of the scariest in the series. And while Baum's dialogue was probably slightly deeper and more philosophical than Thompson's, the later author's characters seemed (to me, at least) to have somewhat more realistic conversations. I guess it all boils down to personal taste; Baum and Thompson each had some great strengths and some annoying weaknesses as writers. Wow, that's a long entry, and probably no one will even read it. Oh, well. Wednesday, October 15
This was apparently released yesterday, but Amazon doesn't even say what's on it, so I don't know whether it's something I want (although it probably is). They still don't have the tracks for the new Cracker album listed, either. I wonder why they've been so lazy as of late. I've been trying to find an employment agency. One place I called said that they would only help someone find work in a field for which they had a year of previous experience. I'm sure this is useful for some people, but I probably wouldn't be going to an employment agency if such were the case for me. Tuesday, October 14
There's a discussion on the Frank Black forum about musicians talking in between songs at concerts, spawned by a post from Frank himself about how he chooses not to say much on stage. Personally, I like it when performers talk. Actually, when I saw Frank in Philadelphia, he pretty much stuck to songs during the actual show, but it was preceded by an in-store where he DID talk quite a bit, and I thought the explanations of "All My Ghosts" and "Bullet" (two of my favorite Frank songs) were excellent. I've never understood the attitude of hecklers who yell, "SHUT UP AND PLAY A SONG!" or the like at concerts. The banter can often be the most memorable part of a show for me, be it information about the songs, John Flansburgh commenting on the garbage bag taped to the ceiling of the Stone Pony, David Lowery making fun of Creed, or whatever. I think this is especially true when you've seen an artist multiple times, since the talking tends to change more often than the songs do. This is a pretty busy day for me. I volunteered this morning, and now I'm at work. Neither one is all that difficult, really, but I'll probably be tired after this. This year's Simpsons Halloween Special isn't airing until after Halloween, which just doesn't seem appropriate. I can remember a time when the season actually started BEFORE November. Stupid sports. Speaking of TV and stupidity, Beth I were watching MTV or some similar channel last night, and there was a commercial for some show about two girls who live fairly normal lives, but are really rich. What an idiotic concept. The same channel previewed some show about a girls' camp, and there was some character who was either a guy with a girl's voice or a very masculine-looking woman. We couldn't tell. If I may offer MTV some highly unoriginal but still valid advice, go back to showing music videos, okay? Monday, October 13
Is it just me, or is the concept of pornographic Oz pictures a rather disturbing one? Oz fandom and sexual frustration are a dangerous mix. I forgot today was Columbus Day, and didn't realize that the post office would be closed until I actually got there. Oh, well. It's not like it was really far out of my way. I'll just have to mail my old textbook tomorrow. Sunday, October 12
Rhiakath is your Vampire name. You are an image of the Vampire Lestat. You love yourself, and rightly so, because you are clever, witty, sexy, and very cunning. To use your new Vampire name and become a Vampire, go here: www.life-blood.vze.com What is your Vampire name? brought to you by Quizilla |
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