Offline

So, I'm moving my computer to the basement for a week or so to record some drums. I may or may not connect my internet cable down there, so I'll probably be offline for a bit. I think I'm gonna delete this blog eventually, too. It's unfocused and random. I think I'll create a different one, or a couple different ones. Or maybe not. I like blogging, but it's been hard to get myself to do it. I think if I make a new one, I'll go with a more "creative writing" approach. Because writing about the rummage sale I just had is, well, kinda boring. And those of you who read this are probably gonna find out about my life happenings through other channels anyway. I tried a time traveler blog for a bit, and it was okay. Any suggestions on what I could do for a creative one? Maybe I'll just write crazy random shit with some underlying theme. Anyway, I should probably concentrate on music anyway. I ain't gettin any younger. Gotta write and record as much punk as I can before I get soft and start writing all polkas. 'Cause it's comin, folks... sewiously.

Rock the Vote!

Bring the gays back from Iraq! Let the troops get married! And KILL WHITEY! umm... yeah. I hope my vote counts this time. :)

YES!

Stephen Colbert just got every Star Wars geek to vote democrat. Way to go, Steve-o!

New Weird Al!

Fuckin A! .... http://axiomsun.com/todays_buzz/videosift/weird_al_-_white_and_nerdy.html

Weird Al is one of the very few bands from whom I'll buy a new album without listening first. The guy is a fuckin' genius, I tell ya. I've worked on a few parodies in my life, but none will compare to Al. I bow to him.

Me likey funny.

"I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Ray Charles. He also taught me how to drive."
-Billy Joel, "Secrets", Conan O'Brien-

I'm sick of these mutha fuckin' snakes on this mutha fuckin' plane!!!

And the crowd goes wild! haha... I bet half of the dorks who saw "Snakes On A Plane" tonight are gonna use that as the title of their next post. Man, it was fun. My Oscar prediction right now is that, well, "Snakes On A Plane" will win NOTHING! haha.. But it was fun to see a movie with a theater full of movie geeks cheering and laughing and clapping. Good times, I tell ya. Just go into it expecting crap and you'll be surprised. It's not super cheesy like I thought it would be. Lots of action. And.. well... snakes! Man, I'm still smilin' a half hour after leaving the theater.

"Fluff nugget munch-mallow"

That's the kind of thing drunk people say. A guy we met at the Bristled Boar last night said it. Not sure what he was talking about, but we thought it was funny. Another good title for this post would be "What the hell did I do last night?" or "Lost Sunday" since I basically slept all day today after a crazy afterbar until 8am. Chris (GovZero guitarist) and I checked out Johnny Rocker and the High Rollers for a bit at Club Tavern, then walked over to the Bristled Boar. Started talking to this other guy Chris and he invited us to his afterbar. We drank a LOT of alcohol, met some cool people, played Yahtzee and then... well my memory gets fuzzy after the Yahtzee. Woke up at 4pm, got a ride back to my place and slept until 10pm. Now I'm having breakfast before going back to sleep for the night. Fucked up, huh? So, if any of those kids read this, thanks to Chris and Shawn for having us over to their SWEET apartment, and thanks to Julia for the engaging political discussion. When you run for president, I'll vote for you. Okay. Need... sleep... now.

Sunspot's Special Little Day

It's been 10 years of Mikey, The Stud, and Wendy Lynn, and Sunspot is having their anniversary show at the Capital Brewery right by our house tomorrow (Friday)! It's from 6pm to 9pm and everyone is welcome over to see our new place afterwards. BYOB. We're pretty much unpacked enough. At least enough to have people over. :) The end of 2006 marks 10 years since BORD started, too, although Sunspot stayed together a little longer. I think the members of BORD just didn't have sex with each other enough. We've had some great times with the 'Spot, so show your support for our best friends in rock and come to the show. It's free, too! So, if you need our address just give a call. We're right on University, so we'll probably walk on over to the Beer Garden around 5:30 or so.

Re-Punk-blican

Oh man, this video is freakin hilarious! Well, it's not like being a republican makes your music suck, 'cause Michale (yeah, I didn't know it was spelled like that, either) Graves fuckin rules. His voice is like melted... metal.. or something. It's awesome. But I think just to keep band tension to a minimum, I'll start a side project with Jon Stewart instead of Michale. I'm sure ol' Jonny plays at least a mean tambourine. Maybe he'll help me write that anti-Ann Coulter song that's been swimmin' round in my head. Nah.. that would be WAY too easy. That chick is fuckin wack. Even Bill O'Reilly thinks so, and he's the spawn of Hilter. Anyway, back to music. Check out Dragonforce. They too, rule. They don't write 'em like that anymore! And although most would say "NO ONE should write music like that" I say fuck it. I think it's fun. A little cheesy I guess, but shit, I listen to NERFHERDER for christ's sake. I write songs about monkeys and beer.

Anyway, here I am at my new house. It's awesome. It's in Middleton, so stop by sometime everybody! Just call a couple minutes ahead of time, since I walk around naked sometimes now since it's just me and E. On second thought, just come on in. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Signing off for a week or so...

Saturday we'll be moving into our new place, which will freakin rock. We won't have internet until next Wednesday or something. I may check my email at work if I can be sneaky, otherwise I might get the shakes from withdrawal. Anyway, we'll have a new phone number then, too. Until then we'll have E's cell phone. So.. see ya soon!

Weird Dream, and Moving

Last night I had a weird dream. There were two huge lines with maybe a thousand people in each one or so. They led from the streets of some city into two different buildings. At the end of each line was a keg of beer. I assume they were never-ending kegs. (sing Never-Ending BEEER Keg!...) Anyway, the people in one line were all war veterans, and the people in the other line were all FAWMers. Maybe I think that vets and songwriters all deserve a beer. :) Or maybe I dream of a world where songwriters outnumber our armies, because war no longer exists and all that's left are old vets. That would rock. In another part of the dream, a gang of Italians were chasing me (maybe I miss the Sopranos) and then Erika was sitting on the lap of a S.W.A.T. team member, feeding him trail mix. I don't know where that came from.

So, in two weeks we're moving out of the Springswood Manor. It's been an awesome house. We've had some sweet parties (7 keggers in 4 years!) and good times. Our new house will only be 50% Ensign, as opposed to 75%, like here. I'll miss the "kids," as we call Amber and Dylan, but it'll be nice not to have their leftover fast food in the fridge tempting me all the time. :) We'll have three bedrooms, so I'll have a bigger room to put my computer and amps in, and all I have to do is invest in a nicer sound card and I'm ready to start recording a ton of stuff.

Our phone number will probably change, but we'll still have E's cellphone for a while until we get a new phone line (I might get a cell myself, if I can afford it). If you need the number, email or call me!

Oh, one more thing. Government Zero, my new punk band, will be playing our FIRST SHOW EVER at the King Club next Saturday, June 24th. We'll be playing with Sunspot and Big Fur, who both kick a snow leopard's ass. Show starts at 10, we play first, cover's about 5 bucks or so.. the usual. Hope to see you there!

FAWM

I got to meet the other "FAWMers" Thursday, and they rock. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out HERE! Come to the show. It's gonna be a blast! I guess we're gonna decorate the stage like a living room, and we're all gonna sit up there and take turns playing songs. Sweet! Catch a rare acoustic performance by myself, with Wendy from Sunspot on violin for a couple tunes! It's gonna be a good time. And if you want to help me out, feel free to download this FLYER for the show, and hang it up where people will see. Hopefully we'll get a good crowd to come out and chill with us on a Sunday night (May 21st). It's from 7pm to around 10 or so. At the High Noon Saloon in Madison! So, not too late for you folks that gotta wake up early (most of us). It'll be laid back, fun, alcoholic if you so prefer, and musical. The cover is a measly 6 bucks. Hope to see you there!

ps- to listen to a few of the songs I may be playing, go here.

America... fuck yeah.

If you haven't seen Stephen Colbert rip Bush a new asshole at his very own White House Correspondence Dinner, you have to check it out. I guess Jon Stewart said something like it was the balls-iest thing he'd ever seen, but I don't know. I think it was just what I would expect. I just wonder why the hell they'd invite Colbert to the dinner to SPEAK! I think possibly the administration is dumb enough to actually BELIEVE that Colbert is really right-wing, since he plays that character on his show. Well, anyway, I think I'll blog about something else non-political later, but I couldn't pass up the chance to let the world (aka the 5 people who read this blog) know about this video. Kick ass, man. Anarchy. Hell yeah.

I Love Music

I'm home sick from work today. And this time I'm actually sick. Just a little sore throat, no need to worry. (insert blowjob joke here). Anyway, my cousin Kevin, who I call Cousin Kevin, sent me the link to Pandora.com and it rocks. It's a pretty simple idea and I'm sure there are more like it out there on the ol' "internet" but I love this one. Right now I created a Ramones / Green Day station. They have a ton of music I haven't heard, which is cool. You should check it out. I also still frequent allofmp3.com to download stuff cheap. Speaking of music, I still need to buy some good equipment for recording. I have a decent vocal mic and condenser mic now, but I need a small mixer with phantom power (I wasn't even sure what that WAS until yesterday when a co-worker who works at a studio told me) and a good sound card. So far I have whatever Dell had that was the best they could give me. But it's still only a mono 1/8 inch input. So, if anyone has any suggestions where I can get stuff for cheap, let me know. I really want to be able to record stuff well. Right now everything I do is okay, but there's still a lot of background hiss and such. When Erika and I move, I'm gonna try to soundproof my computer room and see if that helps. Right now I think a lot of the computer humming is what you hear in the background.

I'm gonna be playing some acoustic stuff for the FAWM showcase coming up Sunday, May 21st at the High Noon Saloon. More details on that later. So far I think there will be about 6 Madison songwriters who made it to the 14-song mark and we'll each play about 4 or 5 songs or something. It should be a lot of fun!

Movies and such...

This is frickin sweet.

E and I saw CSA this weekend. Stands for "Confederate States of America" and it's a mockumentary about what the country would be like had the South won the Civil War. It was awesome! Funny, yet frightening as the same time. I recommend it to all! It's playing at the Orpheum in Madison. In the same little theater that BORD played a show in once!

Speaking of movies, anyone seen Wet Hot American Summer? It's a comedy few have heard about, but I thought it was frickin hilarious. It's made by a few of the guys from that old sketch comedy show on MTV, The State. I loved that show.

I also love Netflix. I can see what my friends are watching and how they rated stuff. And make fun of them when they give Miss Congeniality 5 stars.

I watched "Big" on AMC last night. It was that DVD_TV thing, where they show fun facts about the flick on the lower half of the screen while it's playing. Pretty cool. Did you know Harrison Ford applied to be the main character? haha.. man, I couldn't see that. Robert De Niro, too! I love Tom Hanks. He's so god damn happy all the time. I hear he's the nicest guy in Hollywood. I'd be second, if Hollywood would give me a chance.

Speaking of Holly Wood, that's the name of my good friend's fiance. Sweet, huh? My best friend is also getting married, but not until next year. Crazy shit, I tell ya. I always thought it would be weird when my really good friends got married, but it's really not. There's not much difference between that and just dating and living together. Just that piece of paper you get, and you have to buy an expensive-ass ring! I hear the tax benefits are nice, though. I wish them the best marriage has to offer, like oral sex whenever you want! (I've been watching too much porn lately).

I read this article about people approaching 30 and how you have less friends. I guess that's true, but the ones you hold on to are the ones who truly rock. Rock on, friends. You rock.

We know nothing.

Every once in a while people get the impression that mankind has discovered everything it possibly can on Earth. I mean, there are so many billions of people spread out everywhere, how could we miss something? But in fact, we know nothing. These two articles (crater and mouse-squirrel) are pretty exciting. It blows my mind when shit like this is discovered. Kick ass.

Also, we are but mere infants when it comes to where technology can take us. We think of chamber pots and aquaducts as pretty primitive now, but in the future (the future, Conan?) people will laugh at our silly little "internet" and how you have to "type" with your "hands." This article reminds me of a quote from BTTF2: "You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy!"

Here's lookin' at you, kid

I finally saw Casablanca. What a great movie! It's a classic for a reason. And Ingred Bergman is hot. Now I know where Rick's Cafe (the Madison music newspaper) got its name, and where the line "Play it, Sam" came from. Although I always thought it was "Play it again, Sam." But, they didn't say again in the movie. hmm.. I also understand about the line "We'll always have Paris," which in Red Dwarf is "We'll always have parrots." haha.. Anyway, I like knowing origins of things like that. For years I had no idea where the line in UHF "This means something; this is important!" came from. I just thought it was Weird Al being, well, weird! I have a friend who knows the origin of a lot of English words and phrases. It's always fun to ask him about things. I know there are plenty of websites to find these answers, but it's cool to hear it from a knowledgable friend instead. I still wanna know the REAL origin of "shit," though. I don't know what to believe online.

La la la la la....

I wrote 14 songs this February. Check them out here. Hope you like it! Rumors are we might do a show in the future with some artists from Madison who joined in on this thing.

:(

Why didn't anyone tell me G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) died? A toast... to our favorite Narn. He will be missed by all. Even Londo. "No little fishies, just Londo and me."

Can't have kids - saving up for mansion...

Read THIS. Maybe that will help with overpopulation. hehe. Sorry, ma, you're just gonna have to wait for Dan or Mike if you wanna become a grandma.

Lottery, FAWM, Over-peopleified

What would you do if I won the lottery? Like the BIG one. I was listening to 92.1 the other day, and instead of the usual political talk, there was a nice change of pace because Ed Schultz was interviewing a guy who won 150 million bucks in the lottery a few years back. Largest pot ever (up until 2001). The guy said if he could go back, he wouldn't buy the ticket. He said the money didn't change him personally, but he lost a lot of friends because they all changed. A guy he knew for 30 years asked if he'd pay off 18,000 dollars in credit card debt for him. He did it out of the kindness of his heart, and then a year or so later the same guy racked up another 20 grand in debt and wanted THAT paid off, too. Well, of course the lottery guy didn't do it, and he lost a friend because of it. Shitty. I'd like to think my friends wouldn't do that, because I think most of them realize that if I won a shitload of money, the first thing I would do would be to give away half a shitload, at least! Half a shitload is a crapload, I think. And a fuckload is 2.5 shitloads. Anyway, the point the guy made is that it was really cool to give money to people that can't help themselves, like the ridiculously poor and whatnot. But the credit card guy could've paid off his own debt and learned some responsibility. I've often thought of the kick-ass things I'd do if I won the lottery. Emotionally, I'm pretty tough, so I don't think it would be too horrible going through all the crap like that guy did. The good stuff would far outweigh the bad. Plus, I'd find out who my real friends are. The ones patient enough to wait for a fraction of a shitload of money, instead of asking first. :) Hell, I'm broke as fuck right now but I'll still buy your makin-more-money-than-me ass a beer!

Check out the songs on www.fawm.org - My name on there is JRamoneWI and I've uploaded 3 songs so far. That's pretty short of the expected 14 for the month. I may be able to do it. Not sure. If I don't, I won't be too disappointed. I think I'll crank out a few "off the top of my head" songs. The other day at GZ practice, I came up with a tune about "head lice and the gout." The "kids" seemed to like it.

I promised myself I wouldn't blog about the snow, so I won't. But I have to express my perplexedness at the homeless in Wisconsin, the land of the cold... I've always thought that if for some unforseen reason I become homeless without a chance for recovery anytime soon, the first thing I'd do is WALK THE FUCK SOUTH! As much as I despise the white trash redneck hicks and their rusty pickup trucks blasting Alan Jackson, I sure do like their weather. Hey, homeless people - it's WARM DOWN THERE! It's not like there's more room up here or anything. I'd rather find a nice open stretch of beach in Florida to sleep on than a cardboard box in 20 below weather here. You know, I'm watching Deadwood right now (which is friggin' sweet, if you ask me!) and it makes me wonder. When we (the whiteys) settled this stolen land of ours, were we aware that it was warmer down south? I mean, there WEREN'T 6 billion people on Earth yet. There was room to move around and settle wherever. And if somewhere was already settled, you could just shoot whoever got their first. Awesome! haha. I'm just sayin' I wish my ancestors would've been a little more like me and HATED the cold more than anything in the world. That's all I'm saying.

Speaking of 6 billion people, I have something to say to everyone. Stop having so many god damn kids! Catholics bug the shit out of me because of their policy to have as many kids as humanly possible. Why? What is the point? Believe me, there ain't no fuckin' shortage! In fact, there are thousands of kids waiting to be adopted, and some never will because there's no one around for them. Everyone is busy creating their own little people to overpopulate this dying planet. Maybe if we start cooking children. That would take care of overpopulation and feeding the hungry. The government is already taking care of killing off the elderly earlier. By the time we get old, we'll have to wait until 75 to retire. Which means the uber-stress of working when we're too old to be working will stop our tickers short of their expected um.. expectancy. Also, "they" employ airplanes to fly over elderly communities and release contrails of chemicals that slowly poison old folk but make it look like they are dying of natural causes.

What do mean I'm paranoid?

I love the internet.

This proves my theory.

Oldies

Today I heard Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" on the "oldies" station in Madison, 94.9. WTF? I mean, I like some 80's tunes like that one, and I like oldies, like Elvis and such, but it reminds me of the line in the song "1985" by Bowling for Soup. "When did Motley Crue become classic rock?" I think the term "oldies" pretty much brings to mind doo-wop, 50's and 60's rock, malt shops and poodle skirts. But according to how Madison's oldies station is progressing, in 15 years MC Hammer will be considered oldies. And that is just wrong.

Speaking of music, I think I might attempt this little project - The February Album Writing Month Challenge. Kinda like what I did with The Stint, only I don't need to book a show. Just record a shitload of songs in a short time. I'm writing one for my Dad and Cindy's wedding reception which is in a week. In Milwaukee. Should be a good time! They got married in Jamaica, barefoot on a beach. Sweet.

Anyone know how to back up DVDs or parts of DVDs to .avi files, or .mpegs on your hard drive? I've tried to no avail with a couple freeware programs, but it never seems to work. I wanna get footage of the Spoof Fests I've done on my computer (from the DVDs I got) so I can post it on my website, as soon as I get one. The bordfans site will be no more soon, so I'm gettin' a different site. Any suggestions for a name? I'll have a separate one, most likely, for Government Zero, but I need name ideas for my personal site. www.timbudziszewski.com would be a little to hard to spell for most.

Anyone listen to 92.1 in Madison? They talk about some good stuff on there, but it really infuriates me most of the time. Ignorance really is bliss, I tell ya. Sometimes I just need to take a break from listening to any news about our fuckhead of a president, because it gets me to the verge of screaming.

I saw King Kong. It was freakin' sweet. God damn, that monkey looked real. They still haven't perfected making CGI humans look real enough, though.

I have a new position at work. It's pretty sweet. I monitor and time calls for all the CAs (captioning assistants) at Captel. It's nice because I get to stay as busy as I want so the day goes by fast. But if I'm tired or feeling lazy, I can work at a slower pace. Everyday there is always something to do, but very little that absolutely HAS to be done by any specific person in my team. That rocks.

Albuquerque

Kicks ass that I can spell that, huh? And that's where I'll be for the next week, if ya need me. Visiting my mom and stepdad, Ken. I love flying. Love riding in planes, too. I'm sure I wouldn't if I was a business man or something and had to do it often. But once every year or so is cool. Should be in the 50s or 60s down there. Sweet. We might take a short trip to Roswell to uncover the truth the government has been hiding from us for decades. Or we might just sit around playing boardgames. Whatever. I'm gonna listen to Weird Al's "Albuquerque" to get pumped. It's probably the best 12 minute, two-chord song ever written.

Happy New Year

2006 sounds so futuristic, doesn't it? Where the hell is my robot? Or my flying car? Actually, the robot thing is doable. I read (in PopSci, of course) that the newest version of the Roomba vacuum cleaner will have a port where you can plug in a small computer and do some hacking to be able to control it with your Bluetooth cell phone, or program where you want it to go. You could attach a webcam to it, and have a home security system. Sweet.

Last week I stayed at my dad's place for Xmas. It was fun. They have about 30 movie channels on their digital cable, so when I'm just chillin' there, I usually catch a movie I've been wanting to see but didn't know if it was actually worth the 4 dollar rental (or Netflix queue space). But last week, guess what was on? The Garbage Pail Kids Movie! Holy crap, I was so excited. I saw it in the theater when I was about 9. I still have a small box of cards, too. Let me say, it was one of the most horribly terrific movies I've seen in a long time. One of those that is so bad, that it's actually watchable because you know they weren't even trying to make a decent movie. Man, it brought back memories. Greaser Greg was my favorite in that flick. They also had Foul Phil, Ali Gator, Nat Nerd... awesome.

Well, this year was pretty freakin sweet. Although it started with the official demise of B.o.r.d. (RIP) in January, that at least left me open to do other projects and expand my music... ality? Sure, that's a word. "Government Zero" now has almost a complete setlist which still needs work, but we should be playing a show within, I'd say, 2 months. Also, I've been writing a lot of really poppy oldies-punk rock and roll type songs for a project I've dubbed "Eddie Ate Dynamite." I think that one will be something where I will attempt to do some good recordings playing all the instruments myself. If it works out, I may hunt down some musicians to put together a live show for that.

I also did "The Stint" with Dan from Rattbelly (and the Dark Clan and Null Device and Stromkern and... how many fuckin bands is that guy in!?) which was shitloads of fun, and a real challenge. I think setting a deadline was the key to getting it done. I hate to be the guy that's a stickler for a set schedule for things like that, but I think maybe setting some "due dates" for GZero will help us speed this shit up. I really want to play again, and I don't know if I'll be able to round up anyone for Spoof Fest again this year. We'll see. Maybe I need a year off. So anyway, Dan convinced me to start yet ANOTHER band with him, so we'll see how that pans out. We both have some kick-ass shit to bring to the table, so there's no telling what'll come of it. Plus, I've always wanted to do a Rattbelly cover. :)

Well, thanks to everyone who made this a great year. January gave me and E a chance to take a nice trip to Florida, thanks to stepdad Ken's timeshare. Rock! Spoof Fest in April was awesome. Playing bass with The Culture Club rocked. Tinker (who was Boy George) and the rest of the guys kick ass and we're so fun to work with. Trivia in Stevens Point was awesome (a radio trivia contest where we got together with about 8 friends in a hotel room and didn't sleep all weekend while we fed on junk food and soda and surfed online to find out what the sign on Napolean Dynamite's bedroom door said!). Our Halloween party was a total success with beer a-flowin' and chocolate a-fountainin'!

To top it all off, I turned 27 and haven't yet OD'd on heroine, like the rockstar I am. (Or would like to believe I am!). So, on that note, let me knock on wood, because I only have until my 28th birthday - October 19th, 2006 (the FUTURE, CONAN?) to make my first million with one of my bands before I die a tragic rockstar death in a trashed hotel room with hookers and coke and burned lampshades and broken bottles of Jack Daniels all around. Wish me luck, and Happy Fuckin' New Year!

Walmart

I just got back from seeing the Madison musical WALMARTOPIA at the Bartell Theater on Mifflin. Oh man, it was some funny stuff. Wednesday is student discount day, so I pulled out my dusty old ID from the UW (I'll never throw that thing away!) and got in for 5 bucks. Dan and Bill from Government Zero (that's my BAND, assholes!) also got in cheap, cause they both work at Walmart (sucks for them!). I highly recommend it. I think it's playing one more Wednesday, too. But it's worth 15 bucks if you go another night. The songs are catchy and fun, and one of the characters is Sam Walton's severed head (think "Futurama"). haha.. It plays until the 14th. What's funny is that I just stepped into a Walmart for the first time in a couple years probably just the other day. I had to return a movie. 40 Year Old Virgin. But c'mon, loving brother Dan - FULL SCREEN? What kinda movie guy you think I am? haha. I took the cash and will buy the widescreen version (probably cheaper, too) online somewhere, so the greedy bastards at Walmart won't get the money. bwahaha! Did you know that Vermont declared itself a Historical Landmark so that no Walmarts could be built there? I'm not sure if it's completely Walmart-free, but no new ones can be built. There are some other fun facts on the various anti-Walmart sites you can find online. Fun read. More on my cynical view of big business and my cynical view in general (which I'm really trying to change, I mean it!) on my next post. I need to get some sleep. "I got a big day tomorrow... a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."

He-Bay

Just in case anyone's curious, this is what I'm selling. I kept Castle Grayskull and about 7 or 8 of the best figures. I figure I'll make back at least most of what I spent on the entire lot on Ebay about a year ago. Fun times! Well, I better get to sleep. Got Government Zero practice tomorrow, then this weekend it's the lesbian party. Gotta get the cameras ready. More on that later... Hey, anyone wanna see Walmartopia with me? It sounds pretty funny and cheesy, and I'll go on Wednesday when it's only 5 bucks with a student ID. I still have mine! Bill and Dan from GZ both work at Walmart, so they get in for 5 bucks for any show. Kick ass! I'll let y'all know how it is.

Guffman

Anyone seen Waiting For Guffman? I watched it tonight, courtesy of Netflix. Pretty funny shit. That Christopher Guest is hilarious. And it rocks that he and the other Spinal Tap guys wrote all the music again. You know, I think I like Mighty Wind even better than Spinal Tap. Guffman wasn't as good, but still worth watching. You can't NOT like Eugene Levy and Catherine O'hara and all the other actors in the Christopher Guest posse. I hope that guy keeps making the mockumentaries for years to come!

Haven't talked about politics in a while. I'm too tired for it now. I should be sleeping. But here's something that will make you laugh, whether you're a lefty, righty, or one of us few and proud who don't label ourselves as anything because we realize that, as Extreme would tell us, there are 3 sides to every story.

Darkness!

Hey kids, just listening to the new "The Darkness" album on myspace. It comes out tomorrow, and I'm totally buying it. It ROCKS! Sounds a lot more like Queen than the first album. Some of the songs could totally come out of a rock opera. Massive amounts of overdubbed harmonies. SWEET! It's really cool that they put the whole album streaming on myspace before you can buy it. Wish all bands did that. Also, their song "Hazel Eyes" was very familiar. They actually played it last year when I saw them at Summerfest! I thought it was a b-side, so I searched online and bought all their b-sides, but it wasn't one of them. I just remember fuckin lovin that song. How many bands play new songs that aren't released ANYWHERE? Well, okay, LOCAL bands do, but big, signed bands hardly ever do that. Weezer used to, but I'm sure the "man" tells them not to anymore. Basically, there's no point to that for the guys making the money at the label, because who wants to hear a song they can't buy? What a bunch of bullshit. I remember after The Stint show we did, I gave a CD to this "promoter" in Madison that is a friend of mine. He was like "When are you playing next?" I told him we weren't playing at all. It was a one-time project. Well, the fucker actually GAVE me the CD back (it was FREE, by the way!) because he said it wasn't "marketable". WTF? Music is about music, and even though you have to make money to go anywhere, I think most people still appreciate when bands do cool shit like playing b-sides, hanging out with fans afterword (thanks, AWK!) and stuff like that. Sure, they're not making money doing that specific act, but in the long run they get a lot more respect. And that fuckin ROCKS, like the new Darkness album, which I'm sure you will all buy. WOOHOO!

Bad bad movie...

So, I just watched JASON X on the Sci-Fi channel. I guess it was exactly what I expected. Very bad. If I could somehow reach my brain, I would wash it with warm water and soap. Rinse. Repeat. But at least it was Halloween-y. Slightly. VERY slightly. Anyway, don't forget about the party this weekend, y'all!

I was reading Popular Science today and came across an article about the "hobbit" people remains they found in Indonesia. Seems there was another species of human consisting of 3 foot tall people with very small brains. Here is an artist's rendition of what they may have looked like. They evolved according to some "island dwarfing" theory. If a group of people, creatures, whatever, are isolated with very few predators and scarce resources, they will shrink over generations. If you don't have predators, you don't have to worry about being big to protect yourself, and if you have less resources, you'll want to be smaller so you'll consume less. I guess that makes sense. I thought about this further and came up with a kick-ass crackpot theory that I'd like to share...

If the population of Earth continues growing exponentially like it has been, there will be no more room for us and we'll all be cramped together with few resources. This of course will make us evolve into midgets. Then ALL porn will be midget porn. Sweet. On the other hand, if we begin to colonize other worlds or have a big ol' nuclear war, either way it will lower the population on Earth. Then those of who are left will continue to buy our humungoid SUV's and huge houses with rooms we'll never use. We will also continue to eat fast food a lot. This will make us grow larger over time. Eventually, we will be about 20 to 30 feet tall. We will also probably grow scales or something, and larger teeth to better eat the other people left (which will be the only food around besides a few animal species and some plants). We will evolve BACK into our original primal state. Basically, "huma-sauruses." Pretty sweet idea, huh? Then, we will die out when the next ice age comes and turn into oil for the NEXT wave of people to use in THEIR SUVs! It's an endless crazy circle. Of life. Like that Elton John song... "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" I think it's called.

These and other ideas can be read about more thoroughly (thorough is a fun word to type, ever notice that?) in my new book, "Shit I Think About When I Should Be Sleeping." Pick it up in bookstores near you.

"I Love Music" - AWK

THE MEME: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

Volcanic - The Treats
--The Treats are an excellent Madison band mixing the sound of Nirvana, blues, rock, and pop. They are on the soundtrack for an upcoming independent film called "Side Effects". It's like a REAL movie, unlike the two that BORD was on the soundtrack for which both were just flicks made by local dudes with crappy equipment. The chick in it was from Grey's Anatomy.--

I Have a Date - The Vandals
--The Vandals are just plain fun. Do doubt about it. Don't get their first couple albums though. I guess a few years into their existence, the vocalist got singing lessons. Before that, they were pretty shitty.--

HaHa You're Dead - Green Day
--This is possibly the best Green Day song. I don't know why it never made it onto an actual album. I mean, the b-sides album "Shenanigans" is totally kick-ass, so I guess it should count as a real album.

Saturday Night - Misfits
--I heard them play this live in like '97 or something at the Rave in Milwaukee. I was totally blown away, because it's really simple, but very powerfully sung. I love love love LOVE the oldies-punk sound, and this song embodies it. It also rocks to play it! A band called Tuuli played with Sunspot at the Annex in Madison, and they covered this song and let me sing. Kick ass!--

Everybody's Girl - The Dwarves
--This is one of those songs I randomly found back in that 2 or 3 year span when Napster was in full force, and you could find ANYTHING online. I think I just searched for "punk" or something, and this came up. Glad I found it, cause it RULES. Sorry I don't have a link to it, but I'm sure you can find it on your own.--

Almost Like Bein' in Love - Frank Sinatra
--This and the next song are both in the movie "Groundhog Day", which is one of my absolute favorites. Ol' Blue Eyes rocks. I think he said something once about rock n' roll being music for apes or something. Awesome. He'll roll in his grave when I come out with my novelty punk cover band, PUNK SINATRA. Fuckin' A.--

You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles
--We covered this song in The Stint, if anyone who was there recognized it. We wanted to do a cover, but something that you wouldn't expect to be covered. We weren't gonna do a Green Day song or anything like that. I LOVE this song, and it makes me cry. I'm such a pussy.

*I don't often just sit down and listen to music. No ipod, no computer (that I can use for myself) at work, no stereo in my room. So these are the most recent big ones I listen to a lot and don't get sick of. When I'm on my computer, I listen to mp3s while searching for midget porn and when I'm in the car, I use my cd player that plays mp3 cds. Which is a lot like an ipod anyway because I got about 180 songs on a CD. We'll use a Halloween mix on an mp3 cd for our party comin' up, too!

(Oh yeah, I guess I tag Jameel, E, Sunspot, Robin, and the other 2 people who read this blog)

Funny

Every once in a while I check out thisisbroken.com - Someone pointed out the funny message you see when you google kodakgallery... awesome.

Smile, it's free.

Just a little funny thing I found on the "internet"...
"Most people were attracted to the Zach (sp) Morris oversized cell phone but were disappointed when they realized it was really a water bottle that just looked like a phone. I would point out that the items were replicas because the actual 1997 items were far too valuable and were in museums."

Springswood Halloween Party '05!!!

E and A bought a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN for our party, which I guess means we're having one this Halloween for sure now! :) It'll actually be the weekend AFTER Halloween, since most people have plans the weekend of. So, Saturday, November 5th, 2005 (exactly 50 years after Doc Brown invented time travel) come one come all to SPRINGSWOOD (formerly Nine Springs) for festivities. We may have a band. Stay tuned for more details. Oh, and send me your emails if I don't already have them. (tim AT bordfans.com)---- I think I'll do the "E-vite" thing, so we know who's all comin'.

Serenity now!

Man, I just saw Serenity, the Firefly movie, and I have to say it blew me away! I can't say much about it except go see it NOW, and be prepared to feel every emotion you have all at once during parts of this flick. If you haven't seen the series, it's okay. Joss does an awesome job revealing the characters and backstory, without having something obvious like a narrator or something.

I saw this puppy on the ULTRASCREEN, too! Holy crap. Good times. Oh, and whatever you do do NOT read the forums at the bottom of the imdb.com page for Serenity! Don't even read the forum post TITLES! Idiots don't realize that writing *Spoiler* and then in the same line actually giving it away, doesn't help. haha. But after you see it, go ahead and read 'em. Lots of geeks complaining, but for the most part, lots of geeks saying they loved it! Man, it's gonna be hard to get to sleep. That movie pumped me up like you wouldn't believe. Good thing I get to sleep in. Too bad Inara won't be joining me.

Stint Photos and Killer Dolphins

Here's some pics Mercedes (Dan's woman) took at the Stint show. God damn, I am HOT. And here's a really fucked up story about dolphins that our government trained to kill terrorists. Man, they just HAD to know they were gonna escape. I mean, come on! Here's how the movie would go... -bunch of guys sitting around a table... "Man, wouldn't it be funny if those dolphins we trained somehow escaped and starting shooting toxic darts at innocent divers!" Then they all have a good chuckle, whilst the front door opens and in walks a dolphin with an uzi. That would be awesome. I'm calling FOX right now.

Speaking of movies, this is hilarious.

He-Man and 4-Non-Blondes

A lot of the "funny" videos floating around the internet are put together by some teen with editing software, and a few hours to kill. But THIS is the funniest shit you will see all day!

I'm into the 4th season of The Sopranos now. Holy crap, that's a great show. I went to a bachelor party this weekend that reminded me of Bada-Bing. Our group as a whole must've gone through at least 1 "box of ziti" the whole night. We had some "gabagool" first, then played an "executive game", then went to the Bada-Bing to find the bachelor a "goomah", at least for the night. It was a fun night, but I can't say more due to the "omerta" regarding bachelor parties. I ain't a "rat." No "puttanas" were killed. I don't think.

Various items of interest to about 7 people I know, probably:

My cousin Kevin, whom I call "Cousin Kevin" (check out his photoblog, it rocks!), told me my blog posts are too random and that I should separate thoughts into paragraphs. This is why he's a writer, and I play songs. haha..

PARAGRAPHED!!! *in Strongbad voice* So, Mike from Sunspot posted this on their blog. I commented on it in detail, because it's very very sad. Don't read it until I cheer you up a bit first. That way the fall down will hurt more. :)

STANZA'D!!! I changed my Sunday shift at work to 2 to 10, which is great. I get to sleep on Sundays now, and it's not busy at all at night at Captel. I had time in between calls to read a Fall Of Hyperion, the 2nd in a series of one of the coolest stories I've ever read. Sci-fi or not. I also had time to think, which can be a dangerous thing.

ENTER KEY!!! What does a lad like me think about? Oh, lots of things. Are we alone in the universe? Does God exist? Did I leave the iron on? I have a busy brain sometimes. I was also thinking about how so many people are cynical and selfish and separated from each other, and how it will be our demise. Much deeper than that "iron" thing. I keep reading articles accentuating the fact that our country is more divided than it's been since the Civil War. It's scary to think about, because I've also read about predictions of a new civil war (articles you won't find in your daily newspaper, however). Are we to become the United States of Not-Texas? Will I have to shoot my mom, now that she lives in New Mexico?

CONCLUDED!!! I read in one of my many time-travel books a theory that says "you are most likely not special"... statistically speaking. Meaning, if you choose a random time, being NOW, chances are very slight that we are in the last century of mankind. Mankind has been around for many many millenia (say many many millenia a bunch of times in a row), so statistically speaking, we have only a 1% chance of existing within the last 1% of mankind's timeline. Got it? So, I guess you can rest easy knowing that even if the sorry state our country and world is in escalates to nuclear carnage and destruction, we most likely won't ALL die. Probably, we'll ride around on motorcycles with Tina Turner. I'm stocking up on canned food, just in case. Tina likes corn.

Rummage Sale

I'm having a rummage sale this Saturday, Sept 17th, 9am-5pm. Email me or call for the address and directions to my house, if you don't know already. I'm selling a lot of cool shit I just don't need anymore. A bunch of He-Man figures I'm too lazy to put on Ebay, a working stereo, tons of clothes REALLY cheap (I just want to get rid of this stuff) and some Penthouse magazines. I'm not sure if it's legal to re-sell porn at a rummage, but I'll give it a try anyway. I'll have to make some sort of "back room" in my garage, like they have at video stores. haha. I'll also have some other cool magazines (like After Dark, the Art Bell newsletter.. I've read them all), old toys, and various junk you may find valuable. Whatever I don't sell will go to charity (or Ebay for the pricier stuff), but don't let that stop you from checking it out. Hope to see you!

Movie Review

Alright, I think I'll make it a rule that each time I put a "bitchy" or "moody" or "punk-ass" post on my blog, I have to follow it up with a fun one. This is my review of The 40 Year Old Virgin - which I just saw... ten minutes ago.

AWESOME! Two thumbs up. (Can I use thumbs, or is that copyrighted?). Steve Carrell has always been hilarious in The Daily Show, and his character in this flick is very... Steve Carrell. The other characters are all really fun, too. You know, the kinda guys who you see in the movie and you wish YOUR friends were that exciting? hahaha... Just kidding, friends o' Tim. The love interest in the movie is really believable, which is rare in movies lately. Of course, there are a few extremely low-brow moments in the film, but all in all, it keeps you laughing most of the way through. I came out of the theater, and my face hurt from smiling. I love those kinda movies! Think I'll stay away from any hurricane news for a day or so, and keep this happy mood for a while. Anyway, I highly recommend seeing The 40 Year Old Virgin. If you like Steve Carrell, you'll love him in this. And even if you're not familiar with him, you won't be able to resist the boyish charm and innocence of his character, and his good ol' fun-time pals. :)

Warning: Political rant not for the red-state at heart...

I wasn't going to write anything about the hurricane, but I can't help it. There's so much to say, and so much to be sad and angry about. And so much to do. I wish I had money right now, but since I don't have much to spare, I've donated a crapload of food, and Erika and I are donating blood tomorrow. Z104 will be at, I believe, West Town mall on Wednesday to collect food, diapers, toiletries, clothes, etc. At work, they've taken up a collection of stuff, and some people are gonna bring it down to the mall. You wouldn't believe the pile of stuff people have donated already. It's awesome. Right now there are a TON of things to be angry about, which I will get to later, but there are also a lot of good things going on that make you proud of humanity once again. I'll admit I'm a huge fuckin' cynic because of the way our country is goin, but there are so many people offering help and donations down south right now, and it almost makes up for those we should all be angry with. Almost. Firemen and police risking their lives, getting very little if any sleep, have to deal with that small minority of assholes who are actually stealing tvs and shit. WTF! In times like this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking diapers and food from a flooded store, so that you can survive. But a handful of people make everyone else look like criminals, because they're only thinking of themselves. Disgusting. Fortunately, it's a very small minority, and most people are trying their hardest to help other people. Why does it take something of this magnitude for that to happen? We are such a divided society, and individually, we remain separated from everyone else. "A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet" doesn't apply anymore. Nowadays it's more like "a stranger is someone you shouldn't trust and if they come upon bad fortune, walk away and be glad it wasn't you." That, in my opinion, is what our government is doing right now. And do you know WHY it took so long to get help to New Orleans? Because helping poor black people isn't profitable in ANY WAY. In fact, oil prices are up, and so is Bush's stock, so he's happy as a pig in shit.

Okay, enough. I don't need to explain the situation to anyone. There are a million fuckin websites you can get real info on right now. I would choose The Mic 92.1. They have a lot of links to recent articles, and you can listen online. All I can say right now is that right-wingers should not try to place blame on the citizens of New Orleans. Rush Limbaugh actually said something along the lines of "What do you mean, they don't have cars?" when talking about the poor New Orleans residents who couldn't evacuate. Keep in mind, there were no busses, trains, or planes AVAILABLE when the shit hit the fan. And left-wingers shouldn't start celebrating because this whole thing makes Bush look bad. Don't gloat. It's not appropriate to be happy about this situation. In fact, it makes me really upset to think that Americans are so blind, that it takes their president fucking up ROYALLY for them to see that he is NOT A GOOD LEADER. He runs this country like a business, not a "land of the free." If "Forward" is Wisconsin's motto, "Self-Interest" should be Bush's. And I don't give a flying fuck that he flew Air Force 1 over the wreckage to "assess the damage." Go back to your office and make some fucking phone calls. Maybe he's so used to lies, that he figured maybe someone made up this whole "hurricane" and "flood." Better fly over and make sure it's.... oh, yep, yeah, looks pretty flooded. Floating corpses? 'Suppose I'll send in a few dozen troops. I don't think they're ALL in Iraq. Right? Are they? Hmm... better have someone check into that.

Anyway, I won't apologize for how I feel about this. I've read a shitload of info, and listened to the radio, as I'm sure you all have. Left, right, conservative, liberal, who gives a fuck. Things have to god damn CHANGE in this world if we're gonna make it. Our clusterfuck priorities have to be re-examined, and I'm sure a lot of you agree. What will be left when we're all dead? I tell you, this is just the beginning. We are headed towards some serious shit in the near future. I've got a really bad feeling about it. We can only hope the people of this country don't require too many more "wake up calls" like Katrina. 'Cause I have a feeling they're coming.

Random

"You know what bugs the shit out of me? The way people always refer to me as if I was the most insignificant, unneeded thing in the world. 'Man, you packed a lot in that suitcase.' Everything but ME, they'd say. And if that isn't bad enough, now they're referring to me in completely ridiculous circumstances like 'This is an excellent homemade cake, Flo, what's in it?' Again... pretty much everything but me. And WTF? I was never intended to be part of any recipe, or to be packed in a suitcase. And should anyone be surprised that burglars would steal everything from your home but me? I mean, really, I'm sure they've already got one of me, plus I wouldn't go for much on the black market. Well, all I've gotta say to those of you using my name to represent the last resort... EVERYTHING... is screw you! Screw. You."
--- T. Kitchen Sink ---

John Titor

Man, I think I remember hearing about this guy on Art Bell once, but you HAVE to read about him. I couldn't tear myself away, because I'm so into time travel it's nuts.

Ebay stuff

I selling some George Carlin autographed records on Ebay right now, along with another custom song. I'm going to try and do more of those as my equipment gets better, and I have better samples to put online. But, I'm sorry... no more songs about Kinko's. I'm over it already! haha

XXX ain't just a shitty action movie anymore!

Don't know if y'all have heard of this yet. It's a new domain suffix that would allow pervs like me to sign up for, oh, maybe bordfans.xxx or something. haha. I think it's a good idea, but only if the SLEW of porno on .com sites, .net sites, .org sites, (non-profit porn? I'm sure it's online somewhere!) or whatever is moved over to .xxx sites. But then, as the article points out, what happens when informational sex-ed sites, or sites having to do with abortion or other touchy issues are forced to move to .xxx and can therefore be blocked by parents mean enough to block porn from their kids? (In 1996, when we got our first computer, my parents had no clue how to block porn. Thanks Ma and Pa!) It's not like the .xxx sites will make porn any easier to find. I mean, just type in www.(insert any combination of pornographic words here).com and I'm sure you'll find some sassy entertainment. I'm a little worried at what you'll find at say, www.teletubbies.xxx - hmm... If the WORD exists, it WILL be a website. The Bush administration is against the new domain suffix, but then again, they think preaching abstinence is a good idea. But hey, with more porn available, maybe abstinence will be more doable. No pun intended. What are your thoughts, ring of friends?

What a weekend!

So, Thursday night was the big STINT show, and it went great! Dan had a little cold, and we were slightly off on a couple songs, but I don't think anyone noticed much. Trevor at The Klinic loved it, and was exstatic to get such a big crowd on a Thursday. It blew my mind, also, to see how many people showed up! Thanks to all you punk rockers out there, and thanks to those who aren't yet punk rockers, but secretly yearn to be (aka - everyone else). Friday E, Dan H. and I drove up to Hudson (near MN's Twin Cities) Wisconsin for a big ol' party with old friends. It was an awesome time, and no one got too hungover. There are fewer and fewer of those now that we're "adults". haha. I finally got to see Team America, and now I believe everyone that told me it was hilarious. "AMERICA... FUCK YEAH!!!" Yesterday (Sunday) we came back home and rented Glengarry Glen Ross at Blockbuster, because we heard an interview with the director on the radio, and it sounded interesting. It was kinda boring, mostly just dialogue, but you get to hear Jack Lemmon say "fuck" a lot, so that was cool. The director talked it up WAY too much. But it seemed to get critical acclaim and all that, so maybe you'd like it. I guess it was worth watching. Unlike this movie, which you should never rent. VERY mediocre. I didn't get it. Jameel gave me my birthday present from last year that he's been holdin' onto since then. It was America: The Book, by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show writers. So far, it's AWESOME! They lay it out like a textbook, which makes it funnier. They even have the little stamped-in grid where you write your name at the beginning of the year, so you can see if you got the same textbook as one of your older siblings from years ago or something. haha. Read the first few pages on Amazon. Well, today (Monday) I'm sick. Actually, I feel okay, but my throat since yesterday was really sore (insert inappropriate male felatio joke here). I love that Vicks throat spray stuff. Works like a charm. So, since I took of Friday and Sunday for our trip, I have off Saturdays and Tuedays, and I'm sick today, that means I had myself a sweet 5-day vacation. Nice. Only now my personal hours are dwindling. Oh well. In a way I want things to get busier at work, so I can pick up hours on days I don't work instead of using personal time. On the other hand, that means I'll have to work that much MORE when I'm actually there. Hm... Guess I'll just leave it up to fate. It's in my best interest to want the company to grow, 'cause then I have a better chance at moving up within the company. Even though I'm sleeping with the training coordinator, it hasn't seemed to help yet. haha. Well, for now I leave you with this thought... Why don't bands give themselves names like LeatherWolf anymore?

The Stint songs

Here are the demo songs we recorded. They'll be up on the main website soon, too.
http://www.bordfans.com/SummerNight.mp3
http://www.bordfans.com/FlipACoin.mp3
http://www.bordfans.com/NothingPersonal.mp3
http://www.bordfans.com/21000Miles.mp3
Enjoy, and hope to see ya at the show in TWO days!
Tim
http://www.listless.info/thestint

Toy

Did you know Milton-Bradley used to be Milton-Hitler? Not really. But here's a funny picture from ThisIsBroken.com. Took me a while to get it, since the explanation of why it was "broken" just said "ill-advised board design." haha. This one is funny and requires no explanation. Look at the last line on the menu on the left.

Poor baby...

If anyone watched tonight's pre-season Packer game, it was pretty good. But I was very saddened by Terrell Owen. My heart goes out to him. He is NOT in the top ten highest players of the league, and that is NOT fair, according to his agent. The poor sap has to live on a measly 6 million bucks a year. How can he even feed HIMSELF on that, let alone a family? It's a tragedy, to be sure. I mean, forget about the children in third-world countries whose only food is flies they happen to have the strength to pick off their bloated bellies or get from their eyes, which can't produce tears because of dehydration. Forget about the homeless during Christmastime. I'm calling the American Red Cross right now and asking them to help out good ol' T.O. I'm also starting my own fund to help him through these tough times. First, I'm going to steal from our country's teachers. I mean, shit, they make 20 THOUSAND dollars a year! That's the price of a really nice car. They could buy themselves a new car every year, so I'm sure they get paid well more than what they are worth. I mean all they are doing is leading the children of today into good futures so they can take care of us when we're 80 and shitting our pants again. I'm also taking paypal payment donations. Please send what you can to this email- whinybitch_t_o@richfuck.com - but first take a minute to sit down and let this all sink in. Wipe the tears from your eyes and relax with a glass of water while you get your senses back. It's okay. Everything will be fine.

Great Scott!

A "friend" of mine showed this to me, and it seems interesting. I hope people actually read it, because my "friend" is having fun writing about his adventures. "He" also hopes there aren't any holes in his "true" story, and is going to see how long "he" can "pull it off". Not like it's not "real" or anything, though. -- http://realtimetravel.blogspot.com/ --

Fun facts.

This blog post will be about fun facts learned OFF the internet (IS there such a thing anymore? haha)...
1. Did you know ZIP in zip code stands for Zone Improvement Plan? Came about in the late 60's, I think. Maybe the 70's. Anyway, not that long ago.
2. Gatorade was developed by University of Florida researchers to quench the thirst of the Florida Gators. After its invention, they won two bowl games!

"You know, I thought dogs... laid eggs. And I learned something today!"
-Peter Griffin-

Happy fun time

Some of the "missions" this group does are a little sketchy, and some piss people off a little, but for the most part, I think it's awesome. This one made me smile. Now my mouth hurts.

Band in a month project...

Here's the blog for info on my newest project, the BAND-IN-A-MONTH. Yep, you heard it. It's gonna be kinda like Morgan Spurlock's new show, 30 Days, because we're video taping the process. Only this is one show no one, not even my mother, will want to watch. But it's gonna rock, and I get to form a "super-group" with Dan from the now defunct Rattbelly. We're gonna write a set's worth of songs, record most if not all of them, make cd demos to hand out, and play about two shows before we break up because of my drinking problem and Dan's control issues. haha... Just... read the freakin blog... http://thestintrocks.blogspot.com/

Royal dead dudes

So, of course I heard this in Popular Science- Apparently men are becoming extinct. Soon there will be an entire world filled with only women. No, this isn't a porn I rented... well, actually.. it IS, but it's also a theory from this book called Adam's Curse. Men are men because of the Y chromosome, if you don't remember from high school biology. Passed down from father to son over and over. But see, the X chromosomes, which make up like 99% of us or something, and make women women (I'd like to think that it is I who make women REAL women, if you know what I mean) over the course of evolution are able to trade A's, C's, T's, and G's to fix small mutations that occur for whatever reason. But the Y chromosome can't do that, so eventually men will become infertile. So, the Y is like my 1990 Plymouth Voyager, if I don't update it and give it oil and stuff. Eventually it will just die, and be discarded. And the X is like leasing a car. You can trade it for a slightly better one. So, what this all means in a nutshell is that in approximately 125,000 years.. NO MORE SAUSAGE FESTS. And, shit, the parties that go on year 124,999 are gonna freakin ROCK! Of course, by this time we'll either have figured out a way to fix those pesky Y's ourselves, or figured out a way to impregnate a woman with another woman. (That's in the book, too). Or, if we figure out how to speed up evolution, we'll either become X-Men or, more realistically, asexual balls of light. Which would make a good band name. Anyway, just thought you'd find this interesting. And kind of kinky for you lesbian fans.

Losing faith in technology...

So, after reading a shitload of Popular Science at work lately, I've gotten really excited about humanity's progress toward a world with kick-ass A.I. robots, and stuff like that. But then tonight I went into Walgreens to get E some pre-cold medicine (called "Airborn") and saw a game called 20Q. Basically 20 Questions, only in little, electronic game form. It asked me 20 questions, and although what I was thinking of was a BANANA, it guessed "Is it a fart?". Sigh.... Looks like we've got a long way to until robots will clean our houses, raise our children, and do everything... but cry.

Super size THIS

Morgan Spurlock fuckin rules. I just saw the first episode of his new show, 30 Days, tonight, on E's TiVo. Awesome. He's so damn charismatic, and gets his point across pretty well. The first episode was him and his fiance trying to live on minimum wage for 30 days. Check it out.. I think it was on FX.

Super size THIS

Morgan Spurlock fuckin rules. I just saw the first episode of his new show, 30 Days, tonight, on E's TiVo. Awesome. He's so damn charismatic, and gets his point across pretty well. The first episode was him and his fiance trying to live on minimum wage for 30 days. Check it out.. I think it was on FX.

Light-hearted humor

Since my last post showed the asshole side of me (sorry you had to see that), I thought I'd write about something fun now. I'm really not an asshole. Usually. Anyway, I've been reading a lot of my back issues of Popular Science, the coolest magazine in the world, because I have free time at work in which to do so. Here are a couple awesome links I read about in there... Check 'em out, if you have free time at work. Or even if you don't. Just pretend you're working, and keep your mouse near the "minimize" button, just in case Lumberg walks by.....
Funny mistakes in ads and signs and such (like the Jay Leno thing).
Ze Frank. I don't know what this guy is about, but the video that made him famous on his site isn't even very funny. Some of it is, though. I like "New Year".
Xrated. Not necessarily funny, but it would be funny to see you go to this site at work.
Ever wonder what BIFF is up to these days? I think his paintings fuckin rock!
A movie in Wisconsin. With robots. The guy who just left the crew (Jason) is the dude who films all the Spoof Fests. I think he mentioned something about needing soundtrack music. hmm... wonder if they still need some!

Really pissed off.

Alright, I'm not pissed anymore.

I'm not psychic... :(

Well, not yet, anyway. Try this test. "A couple of wavy lines?" You get extra points if you know what movie that is from.

Smoky Mountains trip...

I wrote this on my trip around June 22nd or so...

For lack of a computer out here in the Smoky Mountains, I have to blog in my dream journal - the xmas present from my brother Dan that I haven't used yet. We're on vacation in some cabins on a mountainside. The view is breathtaking. The drive up the mountain is pretty steep, but it's worth it. Anyway, I just realized how slow I write compared to typing. Man. Well, at least transfering it to my actual online blog won't take too long. Shit, my penmanship is atrocious! Well, I've got my acoustic guitar with me, and I thought I'd finish writing a song I started writing about 7 years ago or so. Plus maybe I'll work on a few things Chris (guitarist) and I were playing around with. Be right back... Alright, I'm back. Sitting on a big, comfy leather couch in front of the big widescreen tv. We watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail a bit ago. It's one of the 30 or so DVDs we brought. We also brought about 40 boardgames. It's good to have options. Hanging out with E's family has been pretty fun. It's great that they find the time to get together with each other every once in a while. The only time I ever see my whole family is at funerals or weddings. We're so spread out now, and no one really wants to make an effort to stay in touch these months between christmases. I remember telling my cousins, whom I saw at my mom's wedding, that we should get together sometime. I meant it, but I think in the back of our minds we knew it wouldn't happen. They've all got kids and houses and pets and SUVs and basement repairs and lawns to mow and Little League games to attend. What I want to know is WHEN the hell did we become part of this freakin' age category? I mean, my cousins are about 10 years older than me, but it's the same with a lot of my friends. I try to be the guy who calls the group of friends every few months just to keep in touch, because I know most of them won't do the same. I know some of my once-close friends would probably never speak to me again until one of us dies or gets married, unless I make the effort to remain friends. It's not as if I'm complaining, though. I like doing it. I figure if I invest 5 or 10 years in hanging out and getting to know someone, I'm not just gonna let it go because I've made new friends. A lot of people do that, though, and I guess it's their perogative, but I think there has to be a certain amount of regret there, ya know? I mean, my mom and dad told me plenty of stories of great times they had with what's-her-face and whose-his-name, and when I ask where their friends are now the answer is usually "I don't know. I think they moved south. Had some kids. Maybe he's dead. We lost touch." I don't know, I think that when I think of how much work keeping a dating-type (or married) relationship going strong takes, then in comparison a regular old hang-out-and-drink-a-beer-together-every-few-months relationship is a piece of cake. Minimal effort is required to stay in contact, but I think a lot of people see other friendships fade away after kids, houses, and moving away come into the picture, and they just assume that's the way things are. I'm glad most of my friends are geeks and use the internet a lot. It's a lot easier to keep in touch with groups of people who each live hundreds or thousands of miles from each other when you've got email. And blogs, of course. Well, speaking of blogs, I hope my next entry can be actually typed, because my frickin' hand hurts from writing all this. Maybe I'll continue to use this book for what it's meant for. Writing down dreams. Believe me, I've got some weird ones.

Uncle Timmy

Sitting here updating my band member tryout list, and I came across this. It's horrible, so I hope he doesn't make it big and ruin my good nickname! haha

New song demo...

Soon I will get off my ass and blog about my wonderful vacation I just came back from, but for now, you get to listen to a demo of a song I wrote for some friends of mine and E's. They got married, so this is the song they got. For Pete's sake, though, I need some recording lessons. And some better equipment, maybe. Yeah, that's it, I'll blame the equipment!

Holiday roooooad....

Goin on vacation starting tomorrow morning! We're driving south toward Bush territory. I'm bringing my bb gun just in case I run into some rednecks. We're staying somewhere in the Smoky Mountains. Smokie? Whatever. Tennesee, I think. Really I'm just gonna sit in the van and wherever we end up - awesome. I'll be with Erika and the "kids" (her brother and sister), Erika's parents, and her mom's side of the family. We got some rental houses, and they look sweet from the pictures online. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be like the Hotel Coral Essex from Revenge of the Nerds 2. We'll probably go to Rock City one of the days (we'll be gone a week) to check out the scene from Neil Gaiman's American Gods. If you haven't read it, you should. It's freakin sweet. He wrote the Sandman comics, and to tell you the truth, he could write a 200 page book on the mating habits of dirt, and it would be really fuckin interesting. He's got a gift. Kinda like me and.. um.. water polo? Umm..... anyway, if you need to get a hold of me, we will have Erika's cell phone for those of you cool enough to know the number. Rock on, and I'll catch y'all when I gets back.

Few things...

Gotta love those Brits... http://www.moveonpac.org/tellthetruth/?id=5653-5149328-PjsoihsNFI8OXNfQyY4dng&t=1

Anyway, is anyone goin to see Weezer with the Pixies at Summerfest? It's July 7th. A Thursday. Holy shit, what an awesome pairing. Weird, I guess. But Weezer did do Veloria on the Pixies tribute album. Anyway, we're gonna have to miss Nightranger to see 'em. I just found that out. Dammit! Just kidding. Their two songs were okay, I suppose. But fuckin "Binky Tunny and the Farmland Chokehold" are opening for Skid Row! I'd say good for them, but really they aren't that good. I mean, what's the deal? How are they getting this publicity? And not until after Cara (and the rest of the band) was booted! I mean, I could see this happening if Binky was hot, but she ain't. She's got a bubbly personality, I guess, but shit, so do a lot of musicians ten times better than her. I mean, I'm not mad or jealous at all, just perplexed. Why isn't Sunpot opening for Skid Row? Or Skid Row opening for Sunspot! Or the two bands combining to form Skidspot! hmm... too fecal, I agree.

Game of tag...

So, my good friend Dan C. Got "tagged" by a friend, and then decided to "tag" me. Apparently this means I have to answer these questions he was posed. Kinda like those "gettin-to-know-you" emails that I only do when I'm REALLY bored. Anyway, here they are, con respuestas...

1. What is the total number of books I've owned?
--- Hmm.. Probably a few dozen. I'm pickier with books than I am with music, at least what I buy. Luckily I live with Erika and her siblings, which gives me access to the coolest, geekiest stuff available! A plethora, if you will. Yes, I would say we have a plethora.

2. What is the last book I bought?
--- I think it was Time Travel in Einstein's Universe. I have ten or so books on time travel. The quantum physics behind it, practical implications, theories, etc. Non-fiction stuff. I also have a large metal contraption I've been building in the garage. It's a... um... weather experiment. Yeah, that's it. Don't touch!

3. What is the last book I've read?
--- This totally counts as a book, I don't care what anyone says. I just finished (last night actually) the Sandman series of comics, in graphic novel form. Took me only a few weeks in between calls at work. And let me just say.. HOLY SHIT! Such incredible stories. I couldn't believe it. I laughed out loud, teared up, got chills down my back in parts. Great continuity, which is something I love in long stories. Like Babylon 5, where at the end, they tie up shit that happened at the very beginning of the series. Wow. Seriously, people, if you haven't read them, come over. Bring beer and we'll let you sit in our living room for 20 hours or so and read 'em all. I really hope no one makes a shitty movie out of them, although if done well, they are very movie-esque. They're also very deep and emotional and get you thinking about the world. Dreaming and death, mostly. Man, oh man. I could go on forever, but only Hob Gadling has that luxury (that we know of, at least).

4. What are the 5 books that have meant a lot to me?
--- This is a tough one. I'll probably change my mind later, but here goes.
a. A Wrinkle in Time - Read it first in 4th grade for shits and giggles. I think it was required in 5th grade, too. Since then I've probably read it 6 or so times. Every few years I go back. I don't know, it just spoke to me in a special way I guess. Me, being the time-travel geek I am. Disney made a horrific movie out of it with the little kid from The Ring as Charles Wallace. Ugh.. I used to go outside on warm summer nights when I was a kid and try to tesseract. Look up at the sky and wonder what I had to mentally do to bend the universe and travel wherever I wanted to go. Never worked, but I sure must've looked silly!
b. Breakfast Of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. for those of you not in the know. This was the first book of his I read and I was hooked. He's a great writer and storyteller. Peter from BORD got me into him. There really isn't describing it. Just great fiction. Entertaining. A little bit of sci-fi at times. Not too much, for those of you afraid of that sorta thing!
c. The Monster at the End of This Book - Grover. Sesame Street. The reason I picked this one is because my dad used to read it to me when I was in my late teens. Just kidding. I was probably 2 or something. He read it with such expression and vigor, it really stuck in my mind. He doesn't give himself enough credit for being a good father, but he should. Weird how it's little stuff like that that I remember.
d. Black Holes and Baby Universes - A collection of essays from Stephen Hawking. You know, the "wheelchair guy". Ben Webster let me borrow this once, and from there I was in a downward spiral of quantum geekdom. It's an easy read, and he's actually an entertaining guy. I think I remember him talking about making a bet with one of his friends in physics about the existence of a black hole. The prize was a Playboy subscription. Awesome.
e. Untitled (as of yet), by Tim Budziszewski - Does this count? A book unwritten? In The Sandman comics, the dreaming world contains a library of books only dreamed of and never written. But there they are, complete, bound, and on the shelves. I think that's awesome. Anyway, I had a dream one night. One of those movie-like ones with a complete story and everything. Luckily I woke up and wrote down the ideas right away. (For some reason, the characters in my dream were all from He-Man, but that's beside the point). Basically it's a sci-fi story set in the near future. Earth was invaded by a race of aliens whose sole purpose is to spread across the universe to planets with intelligent life and make sure they are progressing the way they believe lifeforms should progress. You know- clean house, steal all remaining weapons from the humans, do genetic experiments, etc. Basically interstellar communists. There was a great war 40 years before the beginning of the story in which the humans almost succeeded in revolting against the aliens. (The humans called the aliens "The Watchers" because they had been watching the progression of humanity for centuries before their invasion). The problem with the first war was that the humans were outnumbered, with few effective weapons, and no means of communication between each other. So, one of the characters discovers the secret solution to that communication problem in a cave during an exile. I can't give away the secret, though. Because then I would have to kill you, or hire you to write my novel. It's one of the things I want to do before I die, so hopefully I've got a lot of time in which to improve my writing skills. Scratch that.. GET writing skills. Erika is a great wordsmith, and I've explained what I have of the story so far to her. It still needs a lot of thinkin' done about it, and a lot of research. Sci-fi geeks will not stand for holes in the story (I let 'em slide in time-travel stories, because they are inevitable, but that's IT!) so I gotta make sure I do it right. Someday maybe. I'll let you know when it's in a bookstore near you!

5. Extra credit question, ‘What book would you wish to buy next'?
--- I heard The DaVinci Code was good. I should read it before the movie comes out in case they make it suck. But Tom Hanks is always awesome. There are still PLENTY of time-travel books, too. As for what I will read next, I think I'll finish The Self Aware Universe. It's got some really awesome ideas in it which I'm sure I'll write about when I'm done with it.

So, there you are. Now, I am tagging Jon, Kevin, Dave, Jameel, Sunspot, and Ben Weasel. So, respond if you will. And if you have a blog, feel free to tag yourself and answer these insightful queries. Ciao.

"5 years, my brain hurts a lot"

A David Bowie quote is very appropriate for this blog entry, but that one sounds so negative. Anyway, yesterday, May 23rd, was the 5 year anniversary of my first date with Erika. We went to see Hitchcock's Rear Window. Pretty good flick. I thought it was cool that she picked something a little non-mainstream. Little did I know she liked a lot of the coolest non-mainstream stuff I did, and the stuff I didn't like I just hadn't discovered yet. I've discovered a lot of cool shit because of her. Babylon 5, the Sandman comics, Dr. Who, David Bowie, etc. I could go on. She's great. The B.o.r.d. song, "E", is pretty good. But she deserves better. Maybe one day I'll write something ten times better for her. She puts up with my stupid jokes, and I put up with her moods. But unlike a lot of couples, our relationship isn't based solely on "putting up with" each other. She's one of only a couple of girls I've dated that I can actually say are my FRIEND, too. My next longest relationship before this one lasted almost 2 years, and in retrospect, I didn't really even LIKE the girl. It was Dana, for those of you that remember her. She's probably popping out babies by now. Glad I got out of that one while I could! Alright, time for a toast... (raise your glass) - So, here's to another 5 years with Erika. (We renewed our contract!) May you all find a love so great that can be called "friend" before anything. Someone to get along with, to share your dreams and downfalls. Someone who along with you will revel in your happiness and care for you during your sadness. Then brush it off and start all over again. - I've always thought whatever master plan decided that boys and girls should get together was a freakin disatrous idea. I mean, physically, the two work together very well, but emotionally it's crazy. That's what makes it so great when you can find someone who you can live with and who becomes almost like a part of your own personality. If you've found the same, I tip my glass to you. If you haven't, don't despair. I've probably got some friends I could hook you up with.

Podcast + Gomeroke

I went to Gomeroke tonight. Did "Saw Her Standing There" and "Daydream Believer", both BORD covers! I don't have to work tomorrow, so that's cool. For the next month or two or three I have off on Tuesdays. Kick ass. Only problem with that is that I have to work on Sundays. Fuck. Oh well. I'll live with that for now. I'm listening to Sunspot's podcast right now. Pretty cool. Anyone can be a DJ now! I should make my own radio show sometime! That Sunspot band really has to be a little more discriminating with their taste in local music though. I mean, I really am NOT an asshole (I don't think) when I say that 80% of local music (and ALL music, for that matter) is complete turd for the ears. Shit, really, people, I mean, learn your fucking instrument and play it correctly, and don't write songs unless you can do it well. I mean, to each his own really, but don't expect me to LIKE anything you ever do unless it is good. How hard is that? Man. Fuck. God damn. I really AM a positive person. Really! I love most everything for what it is. But most of what IS is crap. So, I guess I love crap. Okay, sometimes. I don't know what I'm saying. Sunspot is in the carwash right now. This is funny stuff. Wish I could be there with them. Chris (guitarist) and I finished some songs today and wrote some more material, so that's pretty cool. I think we almost have a complete set's worth of songs now. Now all we need is a bassist and drummer. Easy, huh! ;)

Weezer rocks.

Got the new album. Pretty good. Didn't blow me away like the Green Album when it was new, but it's still pretty sweet. Really mellow compared to everything else. But it's cool. Get one! Oh yeah, and Mike Huberty looks like Gary Sinese. I can't believe it took me this long to realize that.

Help out a fellow musician!

If you have a minute, vote for my brother Dan's band on this site. They are "The Smokin' Bandits" and they rock. They play a mix of bluegrass, rockabilly, and jam. But not the annoying goes-on-forever type jams. Looks like they aren't doing to bad with votes, but they definitely are far behind where they need to be! Thanks!

Reviews time...

Here are Tim's reviews for the last few weeks:
1.) Job - So far my job is pretty sweet. I've gotten through the training for the most part, and it was a cinch. From now on I'll pretty much get to my cubicle, sit down, and repeat what other people are saying for 8 hours. Sounds boring, but it's really not. Most of the calls are of a friendly nature, you know, friends calling each other and such. I can't get into details at all for obvious confidentiality reasons, but it's a lot easier on my psyche than the people at my last job were. The pay is enough to live on, if I had no debt. But since doctor bills, car bills, Vegas trips, DVDs, and student loans really build up, I'm gonna need to do some other shit or get promotions to make more money. Captel is an awesome company, so I recommend anyone looking for a job to look into it. Oh yeah, and they don't test for drug use there!

2.) The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy - I loved the series of books by Douglas Adams, so I figured I'd at least like the movie for the most part, and I was right. I assumed they'd add shit that wasn't necessary and take out really good, funny stuff, and I was also right about that. But since I expected it, it wasn't so bad. At least Douglas Adams co-wrote the screenplay and was an executive producer on the movie, so you knew it wasn't just a bastardized version of a dead guy's life's work. The special effects were AWESOME. If you've read the first book, the scene where they tour the planet-building factory is incredible. When I read that, my imagination could not come up with imagery to do that idea justice, but that scene in the movie does! Trillian is freakin hot in the movie, which I imagined she was in the book. Expect a love story between her and Arthur that was definitely not in the book. But hey, it's a movie, right? There's got to be at least one shower scene!

3.) Beatallica - Let me say, these guys fuckin crack me up. "And Justice For All My Lovin" is probably my favorite, since "All My Lovin" is one of my top Beatles favorites. "Kirk Hammison" (I think that's right) is the only guy not wearing a wig in the band, and he twirls that hair around like crazy while he shreds just like the real Kirk (not quite like George, though).

4.) Exercise - I hear it's good for you. Seems that way, I guess. I give it a 4.

Band name...

How does "The Exploding Toads" sound? Band names are fun. I should just come up with a pseudo band name for every song I've ever written. And get a separate webpage for each. That would be hilarious. Well, I've got a wedding to go to now, so I'll blog at ya later.

Beatallica

If you haven't heard of them yet, here's a link to all the FREE mp3s! - http://www.mp3search.ru/album.html?id=15631 I'm goin to see them tonight. I'll give a show review and also a "tim's new job" review next blog. Oh, and I saw Hitchhikers Guide tonight. Really fun, but don't expect it to be much like the book. They really "movie-ized" it.

Whistle while we...

Off to work today. It's almost like going back to school after summer vacation. I always liked the first day. No real responsibilities. Just meeting everyone and gettin used to the place again. And since I'm used to pressing snooze in the morning for about a half hour, I set my alarm accordingly. But the first couple days I'll be ready to get up right away, so right now I have about a half hour to kill. I really miss school. I went down to State Street a couple times last week to see if EarWax had the newest Teen Idols album, which they don't. Seeing all those students walking around to their classes was a real sensory overload for me. I miss the times I'd see at least five people I knew walking past on their way to some other class. I miss the times when on any given day I could get together with some friends and it didn't have to be a special occasion. Well, hopefully I'll meet some musicians to play with at Captel. It's the kinda place where a LOT of musicians work. Kinda like Kinko's was, I guess. Only this place has a few hundred employees, and each Crapko's had about 15. Speaking of music, I've decided I'm gonna try to have two bands, so that means I'm gonna have to find twice the musicians. Wish me luck with that! I already have about ten songs to play in the "good" band. And only about four for the "evil" band. We still don't have a name for the band yet (Chris the guitarist and I). Hopefully something will stick once we get a drummer and bassist. I have a lot of good band names, and I already picked one for the "good" band. But the "evil" band is gonna have a lot more minor key, faster, more serious songs. The stuff we have so far is almost No Use For A Name-ish. There will still be some poppier fast punk songs, but they may seem out of place with the other stuff. I don't care. I'm not out to impress with this band. Just wanna try something different. With the other one, I'm gonna do almost all of the songwriting, so there will be a lot more "Tim" in the songs. Which of course means more Ramones, and maybe a dash of Elvis. And monkeys, Dan C., LOTS of songs about monkeys...

Music

Doin' some more punk website surfing and came across Parry Gripp's solo project. He's the singer from Nerfherder, one of my all-time favorite bands. Okay, I love heart-felt rock anthems and clever lyrics about life and love and powerful vocals that make your skin tingle and your fist pump in the air and music that is respectable and worthy of our money. But I also like this.. http://www.coolcds.com/artists/parrygripp/
hahaha... holy shit. That is the best, most horrible thing I've heard in a while. I'm gonna buy it.

My shallow self...

Alright, I had all these deep philisophical things I was gonna blog about, but then I totally forgot what they were. Maybe they'll come back to me. So, I'll just take this moment to tell you all that Me First and The Gimme-Gimmes are fuckin awesome. I'm listening to their latest album "Ruin Jonny's Barmitzvah". They do punk covers of Auld Lang Sine, Strawberry Fields Forever, and Heart of Glass. Heck yeah! Also in punk news, three members of The Teen Idols, minus the guitarist who left, are starting a new band. I still have to get the Teen Idols' latest album. It's more of the same, but I still like it. Pogo-punk is one of my favorite genres. I think.

Improv Everywhere

Okay, I know I just wrote about it saying you should check out the website, but I just read some of the missions and now I must say you HAVE to read about them! It's fuckin hilarious! I especially like the one where they have Anton Chekov do a reading at, and meet-and-greet outside, a Barnes And Noble. See, he died in 1904. All the "agents" that do the pranks tell what they saw or heard as far as crowd reactions. I bet you would see stunts like these in Madison. It's a weird enough town. Not as strange as New York, I guess. I think my favorite "mission" is the Mobius one. Go to the website! NOW!

A few things.

1.) I heard a radio show on NPR called This American Life. They were interviewing a guy from Improv Everywhere, a group of actors and artists in New York who go around to public places putting on "shows" simply because they can. I think it's fuckin hilarious, but you have to read about them on their site to understand what the hell they do. Here's a blurb from This American Life's site about one of Improv Everywhere's missions...
---A group called Improv Everywhere decides that an unknown band, Ghosts of Pasha, playing their first ever tour in New York, ought to think they're a smash hit. So they study the band's music and then crowd the performance, pretending to be hard-core fans. Improv Everywhere just wants to make the band happy – to give them the best day of their lives. But the band doesn't see it that way. Nor does another subject of one of Improv Everywhere's "missions."---

2.) Well, I finally broke down and got a job. I've been searching for something that will pay decently, but since none of those crappy opportunities came through for me, I had to take the crappy opportunity of Captel. Actually, it will be rewarding, not too difficult (once I get the hang of it), and the people there are fun. I've already met a lot of them, since Erika and Dylan both work there. But, the pay is shit. There's still a possibility one of the jobs I've applied for will get back to me, but I couldn't keep holding my breath. I can always leave Captel if that happens. I guess they have a LOT of turnaround. And like I always say, "ONE GOOD BANK HEIST" would really solve all my money problems. But if it comes to that, I'll definitely share the wealth with all of you, my friends.

3.) Today Dylan said "Skatoonzy the Euppet". Search the internet all you want. You will never find the meaning behind this. I'm not sure that there is one. There may have been one... wait.. yes! I remember now. But I can't tell you. I'm going to let this torture you for eternity.

Choose your own adventure!

Tonight I (and the Ensigns) got drunk and watched "Troll." The rest of this blog entry can be filled in by you, the general public!