:: it's a scary world: rants from a chemically imbalanced mind ::

:: Thursday, July 03, 2008 ::

busy busy busy with movies am i. tuesday it was wanted, wednesday was get smart and this morning we caught the first showing of hancock. wanted was AWESOME, get smart was MUCH funnier than i expected and hancock was really good. hancock is NOT the movie you are expecting from the trailers. much darker than they let on but a very good story with interesting twists. and as always, will smith rocks. laying around doing laundry now while i watch frank sinatra and dean martin in some came running. great old black and white. sinatra really was a hell of an actor. planning on following that with sexy beast... what looks to be an enjoyable british gangster flick.

(0) comments :: Shaman 7/03/2008 04:20:00 PM [+] ::
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wow. april? really did not realize it had been that long. my deepest apologies. been busy with work shit and other various and sundry crap for the past couple of months. and here i am in the midst of vacation once again. just relaxing around the house for the week. spent yesterday waiting for the cable guy to show up for an install. the wife finally convinced me to drop the landline and do the insight cable phone service. saves about 30 bucks. but i just LOVE waiting. so that day was utterly blown. couldn't really get into anything because as soon as i did, he'd end up showing up. unfortunately, he STILL didn't get here till almost four. sigh. still got in some decent gametime in gta iv. today was a little more productive.... me and clint went to see wanted at an early show (oh GOD what a great movie! if you've read the original graphic novel, don't expect a note for note recreation. they've had to change some key points but the intent and result are still the same.)... then came home, worked on ogame.org for awhile and am now catching up on my tivo backlog.... just wrapped up 6 eps of squidbillies and 3 venture brothers episodes. working my way thru two episodes of 1000 ways to die... a twisted little series which is obviously a descendant of the old faces of death series of videotapes. a classic series, if ever there was one. not a bad tv show either. if you're curious, look around on spike tv for it. now we're onto a history channel special on dung. yup. dung. it doesn't take a whole lot to hold my attention. debating on going to see hancock in the morning. definitely want to see it this week, just not sure if i wanna go on wednesday. still have to take the daughter to see get smart. she's a steve carrell fan.

(0) comments :: Shaman 7/01/2008 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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ok, back home again, home again, piggity pig. (am i the only one who heard that as a kid??) interesting trip. i had some fun... i was amused... and in darkness. two things i enjoy. not much of an evening for blogging... unfortunately, my crackberry has a very bright screen and i kept it dark most of the time for fear of sending one of the "ghosthunters" into a panic because my flashlight shone for a moment in their general direction and disturbed "the vortex". no, really. that wasn't just a snappy line. that happened. i'm telling you, some of these nutbags are absolutely batshit crazy. i can dig the whole "looking for some sign" scene. but me and the wife had a group of nutbags start yelling at us down a hallway because of the whole vortex thing. that's ok, traci avenged us by intentionally walking in the path of their cameras, emf meters, ir lights and god knows what else and shining her flashlight down at them as she walked by. and what the FUCK is a vortex?!?! sigh. ah, yea me and the missus left about 615am even though there was still some time left on the overnight... she was done in... i really thought she'd outlast me on this one... shows the slightly older crowd can still occasionally keep up, thank you very much.

so the entries weren't as numerous as "the disney blogs"... but of course, a lot more happened at disney. here's the extent of my "encounters" tonight.... and i only use the word "encounters" because it makes me giggle when i read it..... first, i walked past a room about 2am and DISTINCTLY heard the sound of running water. not something that sounded like, not something that could've been. i heard running water. and damned if 10 seconds later i didn't have to piss. but yes, i'm serious. i heard it and i'll stand by it. and no, it wasn't raining, smartass. did i mention the room had a broken old sink in it? and did i mention none of the plumbing above the first floor works? hmmmm. second thing - i saw something move across a doorway where i know for a fact there were no people around and no flashlights illuminating. now THIS one is easy to debunk. merely by stating the fact that maybe i just didn't see one of the other people in that area. i'm positive there was no one near the doorway where i saw something flit out of the room (really, HOW often do you get to use the word "flit" in a sentence????).... BUT i'm open. therefore prone to mistakes. and presumptions. and assumptions. so that one goes either way. and third - and this one amused me - there is a particular room on the 2nd floor which is considered a very "active" room, or so the guide told us. so me and barb and the girls all went wandering around the floor and eventually me and barb headed to the "active" room... wish i could remember what the room specifically was used for but barb knows that crap better.... so we go in and as i'm walking in the door, BANG! my flashlight goes out. okay, it didn't go BANG, that just looks better on paper than trying to find a word to describe a bulb going dark for the last time. my flashlight is a maglite. best flashlight in the world. i've replaced one bulb out of over 15 or more that i've owned over the years. and this particular bulb picks THAT moment in THAT doorway to blow? hmmmm. but it gets weirder. barb looks over as i'm griping about my mag and says "uh.. my video camera just shut down." ... huh? lemme see that. it was fine. a few seconds later she reached for the power button, hit it and it booted right up. no problem, battery at full 100% charge? hmmmm. now THAT is interesting. explain that, bill nye the science guy. thank GOD for maglite supplying an extra bulb in the butt of all their flashlights. KUDOS to you, sirs! i'm straying again, aren't i. so yea. that's a little too simultaneous for me. again, i don't believe in all this hokey stuff. BUT. i don't necessarily disbelieve it, either. i'm open. to suggestion, to new experiences and to cash donations. again, i digress. i'm not saying what was what, just saying.... "hmmm. interesting.".

oh and by the way - an admission on my part. i'm smoking again. someone posted a comment asking how the non-smoking was going a few weeks ago and i didn't publish it.. mainly because i was still keeping it on the down low at that point. but i've let the wife and the world know now cuz i'm tired of sneaking the damn things. SO in response to the question - not too good hehe .. BUT on the upside - i was hitting 2 and a half packs a day before i stopped. since i've picked them back up, i've kept it to half a pack a day. granted, no packs a day would be the ideal situation but that's not happening anytime soon... for the moment. who knows... maybe better luck next time. the wife, on the other hand, is still not smoking. kudos to her! BUT if she chose to go back to it, that's her business. i'd rather her not but it's not for me to say. to quote johnny mathis. (how often do you get to do THAT!) alright, i need coffee badly and by the way, at this point i'm going on 29 hours without sleep. no hallucinations yet but i can only hope.... clint thinks i'll crash before 6 tonight. i'd LIKE to make it to 36 hours... THAT would be cool. so upstairs i go for coffee and out to the porch for a smoke. i won't [and neither will she] allow myself to smoke in the house or in the garage. i keep it outside or at work. or in the car. my car. already smells of smoke. all my friends smoke in my car. okay, except clint. and that's only because he's a wuss for refusing to bow to peer pressure like the rest of us....... bitch.... dammit, this started with me going for coffee and a smoke. i'm out. peace. or peace out. or whatever it is the kids are saying nowadays. me, i always liked........ lates!

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 10:20:00 AM [+] ::
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Ok, looks like this time may be a bust....  No "in yo face" ghosties.... Just a few "happenings" and unfortunately I'm the only one who saw them.... And we all know I live on the edge of reality anyway........ Dawn is beginning to break and they tell us there's a lot of activity this time of morning.
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 06:04:00 AM [+] ::
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Nothing really terribly interesting to report :( but really, what did you expect?  The girls are somewhat peeved.  They want ghosts.  But I did get a buttload of great pics including a killer one of me behind bars on a patient bed hehehe
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 04:48:00 AM [+] ::
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Still going strong.... Really thought I'd be out like a light by this point but I was wrong..... The power of april 20th, my friends.  Powerful indeed.  We're finally wandering on our own without a guide, thank god.  Daylight is just 90 minutes away.
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 04:43:00 AM [+] ::
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Smoking now outside.  Must have nicotine in bloodstream.  NOW.  Saw some diffused lights in an area where no one could have been.  (Probably just indigestion)
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 02:29:00 AM [+] ::
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More amusing than interesting - I was just wandering a hallway by myself and distinctly heard the sound of running water.  Now I have to pee.  Fuck.  And the wife doesn't believe me, I'm pretty sure.
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 02:04:00 AM [+] ::
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Ok, not terribly impressed so far.  This is basically a big guided tour, on the whole.  We were looking more for a do it yourself kind of thing.  Worth one hundred bucks a pop?  Hmmmm probably not.
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 01:38:00 AM [+] ::
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Well, the orientation consists mostly of an old video that's on youtube, half an episode of ghost hunters and part of the old mtv haunted series.  So basically a bunch of stuff that anyone who is interested in waverly has already seen.  I took a nap for the first 15 minutes.... Don't feel very rested though..... We brought FAR too much stuff, I'm figuring out suddenly.....
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 12:22:00 AM [+] ::
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Well, we're in the side building now and suddenly somewhat apprehensive... There seems to be around fifty or so people here for this jaunt.... Which we think may be too many people to keep from trippinfg over but only time will tell, kiddies...... But I do like this place at night.... Creepy.  Better go - they're starting the "orientation" .... Snicker, snicker.....
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/20/2008 12:00:00 AM [+] ::
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We have arrived..... In the parking lot now.... Man, I gotta PEEEEEEE!!!  But alas, we're stuck here waiting for another 15 minutes to get in.... More to come.
Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/19/2008 11:34:00 PM [+] ::
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Let the blogging begin!! Getting ready to hit the road for Louisville and the waverly hills sanitorium. For those of you who don't know what that is, go wiki it now.... I'll wait. A massive abandoned building supposedly haunted by many ghosties. In the cold and rain. Sigh. Keep an eye here though - I'll be posting as the night wears on.(Yeah right...he'll be asleep by midnight. -CL) Talk to ya soon. Unless the spirits get me. In which case I'll be blogging from beyond...........

Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 4/19/2008 07:04:00 PM [+] ::
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58%

(0) comments :: Shaman 3/28/2008 02:20:00 PM [+] ::
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i'm still out here in the ether.... just being quiet for now. just so you know.

(0) comments :: Shaman 3/25/2008 11:20:00 AM [+] ::
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WOOHOO!!! EARL RETURNS!!!!!






oh.. almost forgot - for all you Repo Man fans out there, good news is on the horizon - Alex Cox Returns With A Sequel

(0) comments :: Shaman 3/05/2008 04:20:00 PM [+] ::
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currently playing - whipped cream from herb alpert and the tijuana brass' whipped cream and other delights. to be followed with green peppers, peanuts and a taste of honey. no, those really are the song titles. everybody ready for the oscars tonight?? i'm pulling for javier bardem for best supporting and no country for old men for best picture. oh and daniel day-lewis in there will be blood for best actor. though i have yet to see it, the clips i've sought out online have been enough to convince me i'll be a big fan of the movie. and i'll mention that if you HAVEN'T seen no country for old men, do so. DO so. i guarantee you won't regret it. i can't wait for the dvd release. and i'm off again. off to enjoy a little forza 2 on xbox 360.

(0) comments :: Shaman 2/24/2008 05:20:00 PM [+] ::
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pigfucker - noun - a despicable, disgusting and/or unpleasant person. an all-purpose term of strong abuse, usually applied to males. this version of the insult is probably more prevalent in the USA; fuckpig is a british synonym.

just thought you should know. might as well learn something here if you're gonna waste time reading my tripe. hugz.

(0) comments :: Shaman 2/19/2008 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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oops... neglected the site once again. it happens. but the new year is here... which means another resolution to blog more. which i'll end up neglecting again. until vacation. because we all know i LOVE to blog via blackberry on vacation. (if you don't know what i'm talking about, scroll down to may of 07 entries.) watched a lot of stuff since last we talked.... the ninth gate with depp (3 out of 5 stars).. war with jet lie/jason statham (4 out of 5).. shoot 'em up (3 out of 5).. the brothers solomon (just wait for it on cable.)... eastern promises (4 1/2 out of 5).. balls of fury (3 1/2 out of 5)... bourne ultimatum (4 out of 5)... zombie's halloween remake (4 out of 5) and more that i've already forgotten... been a good movie month. looking forward to 3:10 to yuma and dragon wars this week provided blockbuster gets them out to me on monday... if you hadn't heard, blockbuster raised their prices across the board in late december. bitCHES. RIGHT after i join, of course. and though there are some GREAT bonuses to being with them as opposed to netflix, i'm starting to wonder if i should've just stayed where i was. though it IS convenient to just drop them at the store and they are immediately checked into the online system.... so my new movies (usually new releases for that week) end up going out on monday and are in hand by tuesday. that is a BIG plus. but if you don't have a total access bbuster store, it's all pointless. been busy playing guitar hero and honing my fretting skills hehehehe... rented an extra guitar this week so the daughter could play coop mode with me on the 360... can't wait for charlie to come down sometime with his axe and we'll have a laugh riot playing. otherwise, it's business as usual.... i'm still sedated... the grass is still green and the sky is still blue. been dipping my toe back in the pool o' ebay. going thru clint to do it... makes me wanna start a new account but i've been there once and put years of work into it just to have it yanked away. partially my own fault but involving implied approval on their part. sigh. long story. but i do miss the whole auction thing. kinda fun to sit there and write descriptions, take photos, do a little coding and put it all together. knowing odds are good that you'll make a few bucks. usually. not always. alright, i'm weary and still getting over a vicious flu/cold/bug/thing... still hacking my guts out every ten minutes. so on that note, i'm off to find a shot of nyquil, a shot of whiskey and a small glass of tea. a surefire recipe for almost instantaneous sleep, my children. you have a good night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 1/06/2008 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

(1) comments :: Shaman 12/23/2007 02:20:00 PM [+] ::
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no THIS is a cool little toy... ever wonder what i listen to on my zune? well, here ya go - the last ten artists played. and if you click on upper right pop out menu, you can see even MORE details on what/who i listen to. sounds damned invasive, doesn't it? but i'm amused.

OR if you CLICK HERE, you'll go to "my" zune page which has more in depth listings and sound samples. gotta love that microsoft. and hate 'em too, of course. thanks for vista, bill. hell has a special place for people who create bloatware.

(0) comments :: Shaman 12/20/2007 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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as god is my witness, i WILL get mass quantities of dvd viewing in this late afternoon/early evening if it kills me and everyone around me. i've got superbad in now. not really in the mood to watch it but hopefully a few laughs will turn me around. after that it's the best of futurama 4 episode dvd then the animated feature doctor strange. then later tonight, the bourne ultimatum. really looking forward to that. the first two films rocked in the most pleasant of ways. blew most of the day out shopping with the wife. did find a killer deal - a hard shell clear case for my zune, regular 30 bucks, clearanced out at compwhore for 8 bucks. seems like a logical move with the release of the new zune line. played with one of the new models today at best buy. the "squircle" is cute and all but i kind of like the tactile button aspect of the original model zune. if i did pick up another deck, it'd be the ipod touch. basically for the video and internet abilities. email is handy too. but that money would be better served being used on a new desktop. mine's getting a little long in the tooth, processor-wise. soon it'll be time for an intel quad-core system. with 3 gig of ram. and WITHOUT vista. been pricing them out.... looks like around 1200. maybe a little less. ok, ten minutes in and i've already had one good laugh. that's a good sign. (75 minutes later....) wow. that was funny. NOT aimed at a female audience, for damn sure. very much a guy movie. but funny as hell. rent it. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll grab your balls.

(0) comments :: Shaman 12/15/2007 05:20:00 PM [+] ::
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wow. tip for the day - don't offer to drive your daughter to a hannah montana concert. every inch of the sidewalk near the venue was moms and daughters. enough bad dye jobs to keep every stylist in the city busy. and the wife has been giving me updates on the show as the evening wears on and all i can say is thank god i'm sitting home relaxing and playing guitar hero iii. working on a streak for my xbox status page over at 360voice.com... currently at 29 days straight of playing every day. don't know yet whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. but one thing i do know is i'm getting better at guitar hero. and that makes me happy. just a quick entry tonight because i've gotta run back out in a little while and pick them up but i also dropped in to post my annual christmas card to the world and all the good little boys and girls.

merry fucking christmas.

(0) comments :: Shaman 12/12/2007 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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never DID get to finish kiss meets the phantom of the park. dammit. was just too tired and fell asleep 3/4 of the way through. so i'll have to go back this weekend and finish watching it. sigh. the older i get, the harder it is to make it past that 1 a.m. mark. it happens to the best of us. nothing to watch on the tube so i think i'll go to the next room and play dragonforce's through the fire and flames on guitar hero III. because it IS god's game. haven't had this much fun with an xbox 360 game in a long time. and MAN oh man time flies when you're playing. be back later.

(0) comments :: Shaman 12/04/2007 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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and back again. never did get around to any more entries while on vacation.... i just found it too hard to reach for the laptop while i was watching movies, to be honest. watched all three season of bbc's black books... various and sundry movies which i can't remember most of.. which gives you an idea of the quality of most of them... except ocean's thirteen. that was damn good. i'm one of the few who seem to feel that way but that's ok with me. on the other hand, johnny depp's 1985 teen comedy private resort was realllly bad. eighties movie bad. flight of the living dead was so bad it was good. subtitles undead on a plane. BWAHAHAHAHAH.... no really, corny but enjoyable. i've seen worse. and it WAS a zombie movie. currently 10 minutes into kiss meets the phantom of the park and loving every minute of it. ah, the seventies. i miss them so. i could get away with shaggy hair then. not so much now. for those of you who don't see me, suffice it to say that my hair has grown like wildfire over the past few months. quite shaggy. seventies jeff lynne of elo big. and as much as i loved it, it was hell to take care of and got a lot of weird stares. so i shaved it down to the scalp. which means..... over the next few months i'll be growing it all back in and it should be back to mega-shag by may. sidenote - anthony zerbe is an incredible actor - my favorite role of his is matthias in the omega man... the villain of the piece... (depending on your definition of villain).... ok. time to wrap up. i need to do a little guitar hero III.

(0) comments :: Shaman 12/01/2007 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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and the reason the last entry ended abruptly was that my attention was taken away by something else. god only knows what. i found that entry 2 days after the fact saved in draft mode. so i posted it. doesn't make much sense but..... so my life has now been taken over by guitar hero III.... WOW what a game.... i'm in love... can't get past that goddamn slayer song though!! i can score five stars on every song but that one... granted, i'm starting out on easy level. if i can just finish that one song, i'll move on and run through the game in medium, which adds a fret to the difficulty. again, KILLER game. i highly recommend it. plus the controller is compatible with guitar hero II for the 360. which means i've got another 70 some odd songs to play with. and that many more achievements to score! and we LOVE gamerscore points.... if you aren't familiar with the 360, i've just left you in a cloud of dust. eh, it happens. otherwise, i've been playing lots of madden 08 football. the super bowl is up next. i'll tackle that one tomorrow. if any spelling mistakes make it through, forgive me... i'm typing this after downing two quick shots of jameson's. my poison of choice. at least my alcohol poison of choice. three more days and back to work. BUT i've got a vacation the last week of december to look forward to. and who knows, maybe i'll have picked up GH II by then. the daughter is looking forward to that one because it apparently has lots of eighties music in it. did i mention that if i have to hear slayer's raining blood one more time i may kill myself? i've played it over thirty times trying to beat it. sigh. i HAVE to beat it. i can only score four stars out of five. but i want FIVE stars to complete the achievement. been a quiet day today besides the loud game playing. wife and daughter were at the in-laws for thanksgiving and i stayed here to do laundry and gaming. had some turkey when they brought home some leftovers. sigh. i REALLY had every intention of watching a movie tonight but as i look at the clock, i notice its 10:58 PM now and i really should be getting to bed. i'd prefer to not repeat last nights drunken guitar hero rampage. sidenote - it is NOT a good idea to guitar duel while under the influence. it's just not doable. to say i butchered the song would be grand understatement. alright, i'm getting a little loopier by the moment and i hear the daughter banging around upstairs and that's my cue to hit the hay. till tomorrow, people..............

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/22/2007 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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let the vacation begin! yea. like i'm going to do anything constructive this week. more movies, more laying around and more procrastinating about doing things i OUGHT to be doing. knocked out black books season one so far. on the list this vacation - mpd psycho, ned kelly, the duellists, ocean's thirteen, rise: blood hunter, some more of saturday night live season one, die hard 4: live free or die hard, black books season 2 and whatever else i decide to pick up this week at blockbuster video since i've now joined the blockbuster online total access program. say that five times fast. basically netflix with cool fringe benefits... like being able to turn in your movies at the local bbuster and get rentals from the store in return... and they send them back for you.... and other stuff that made the shift from netflix worthwhile... (entry abruptly ends)

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/18/2007 01:20:00 PM [+] ::
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ok, back home now. yes, i survived. so here's the rundown - unless you just CREAM over the music of the trans-siberian orchestra, skip the live show if it rolls into your town. first, the players are technically very proficient. i just didn't feel much "soul" in the music being played or in their playing itself. most of the music made me want to choke on my own scrotum. christmas music. grand. there were a few pleasing tracks. wizards in winter. you know... the song everyone likes to synch their christmas lights to? yea, that one. the actual songs with lyrics were WRETCHED! stick with the orchestral stuff. instrumental. liked the first song they came out with but don't know what it was. even barb (who liked the show) agreed on about half my points. especially the feelings about the vocal music. i would have to call this a mediocre show at BEST. at worst, it was a complete waste of 2 1/2 hours of my time. but the daughter loved it and the wife enjoyed it so what do i know. i'm a music snob. i say if you REALLY want to hear an electric orchestra, listen to THE Electric Light Orchestra.... or emerson, lake & palmer... not this corporate group for the 2000s. again, all my opinion. my final analysis of the group is 1 part electric light orchestra, 1 part whitesnake (any hair metal band will do) and 1 part shakespearean actor with average talent and a bag of unnecessary theatrics. does that about sum it up? but again - that's just me and what do i know.

addendum - i got curious and went out looking for some of the members of trans-siberian in the wiki. turns out most of the guys we saw here are ex-members of savatage and a few other groups. mainly... wait for it..... hair bands that do power metal. can i call 'em or what?

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/17/2007 11:20:00 PM [+] ::
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Trans-siberian orchestra is kind of like electric light orchestra but with lots of holiday schlock.  And not nearly as talented.  I gave 'em two full songs before I've started insulting, in case you think I'm just being bitchy.
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Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/17/2007 07:58:00 PM [+] ::
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Help.  Help.  For god's sake, help me.  I'm trapped third row at a trans-siberian orchestra concert in rupp arena.  No, really.  I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this..... I coulda been home watching ocean's thirteen.  More to come.  Pity me.
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Sent from an incredibly small device which haunts me day and night.

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/17/2007 07:09:00 PM [+] ::
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that's it.. i'm done. finished. finito. kaput. fuck netflix. they've fucked me for the last time. i sent my shit in on MONDAY morning first thing. first off, i know there was a postal holiday BUT that doesn't explain why my movies weren't checked in until THURSDAY morning. i can guarantee they were there by wednesday at their regional site. it's not MY problem if you have people who can't deal with the holiday mail overflow and check things in on time. so off to blockbuster i go. they've got this "total access" deal where you can get 3 at a time with an unlimited number thru the mail every month PLUS 5 free in-store rentals at your local store. AND you can return your movies to your local blockbuster where they're checked in immediately and then home office sends out your next movies the next day. oh yea. count me in kiddies.

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/15/2007 07:20:00 PM [+] ::
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ok, i have to tell SOMEone this because it's just too amusing to me. so we've had a recurring problem in the wbul studio recently that has REALLY caused problems - the dual monitors they use on-air have been going BERSERK.... going out of synch, blanking out for a full 5 seconds at a time (which in radio time is unbearably long) and scrolling hideous black lines up and down the screen. it wasn't a CONSTANT but always seemed to happen at just the wrong time. Makes doing a live morning show a BITCH when you can't see what the next song coming up is or if you've got a traffic break coming up. well, this has been going on for almost a month now. and everything i tried was pointless in solving the problem. and the real bitch was that i couldn't just replace something and look at it. i had to wait for the problem to recur or not recur. (once we went FOUR days with no problems... thought i'd solved it... but then......) so i replaced the video card. then i replaced monitors. then i moved the hard drive over to a duplicate, ready to go pc. NOTHING. okay, what about the long distance kvm's inline? was informed by some fellow it people in the company that a common problem was the wall warts (you know, those big ungainly plug in the wall power supplies for electronics? of course you do.) they sometimes go bad and generate bad signals. hmmm. ok, maybe. i'll try it. so i hookup with the it guy in nashville and he has a couple of spares so he send them to me. i put them inline on the studio side. problem goes away for a day but comes right back and now it's actually getting worse. move the two new wall warts to the OTHER end of the chain. nope. same shit. godDAMMIT. fuck it. i'll go take the kvm receivers and transmitters from whir and move them over to the bull and try THAT. so i spend an hour undoing cabling and cable ties to make the switch. hmmm... looks good. no lines.. no blanking... i walk away praying this is the problem fix. two hours later, what do i hear? HEY DOOD! IT'S FUCKING UP AGAIN! GOOOODDDDDDammit. so i grab gerry (chief engineer and my boss) to take a look at it with me. we start poking and prodding everything. pulling pieces and trying to figure out if i have a duplicate somewhere to use yatta yatta yatta. just all manner of crazy "hey could it be this?!" and "could it be that?" questions flying back and forth. i throw my hands up in disgust and come over to gerry's side of the board. he's thinking software at this point because face it, we've replaced damn near everything but the hard drive and the cabling at this point. i'm still thinking hardware because basically i don't trust trust any machine. they're all bastards and they're all out to get me. in a moment of nervous energy, anger and dissappointment at not being able to fix this, i start playing with things. i play with the pen. i play with the little pig figure. i poke the power button to the flat screen monitor on my left (the pc the jocks use to surf content on) and suddenly, the other screens clear up. HUH?!!??! i reach over and turn the side monitor on again. the on air monitors start going BATSHIT. turn it off. monitors fine. turn it on. hell on a screen. no FUCKING way. i yank the power from the surfer and the SECOND i do, it clears up again. son. of. a. bitch. now me, i'm no electrical engineer like gerry so i don't understand this shit BUT suffice it to say that the power supply on the side monitor was slowly going bad and in the process, it was causing the synch rates on the other two to go berserk. sigh. you cannot IMAGINE the weight that lifted off my shoulders. i tore out the monitor, grabbed a new one, put it inline and the damn things have been FLAWLESS ever since. amazing. i've been doing computers for 31 years now and that is the FIRST time i have EVER seen anything like that. EVER. i'll file this one away in the back of my mind for future use. (by the way, the reason i never replaced that side monitor during the whole affair is the fact that it is a totally separate computer/monitor setup.)

phew. that was a lungful. sorry if i bored you but i just wanted to get that one down on paper. it REALLY was becoming a large part of my life and a serious problem for the jocks. and an imperative from management. BUT. all's well that ends well. so now i know i can look forward to going back in on monday morning and NOT hearing complaints from the moo crew. and that will make for a relaxing monday morning. that and the fact that the following week i'll be off and doing nothing but laundry and lounging.

(0) comments :: Shaman 11/09/2007 06:20:00 PM [+] ::
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as i sit here once again working on fine tuning my ipod/zune library (yea... a little obsessive. i'm ok with that.)... and trying to find a solid reason i shouldn't be slitting my own wrists. why, you concernedly ask? because i'm adding the coverdale/page cd and bringing shame upon my house. (only a zep fan would understand.) oh my GOD i hate david coverdale. but the more i listen to this thing a few years removed from my last listen, the more i realize it's really good. for god's sake, it IS jimmy page. and yea, it's basically led zeppelin light. but in the absence of the real thing, i'll take what i can get.

though i won't feel clean.

oh and for those keeping track, my hair has gotten REALLLY shaggy. i've completely let it go starting in May and it's growing out of control. see, the thicker my hair gets, the BIGGER it gets. kinda like an afro. only scary. according to my wife, more like "oh my god something has attached to his head and is sucking his skull dry!" scary. she really really really hates it. hehe. the funny part is, its much like it was when we first met (i've got the pics to prove it on my desk at work)... just greyer. but i've got to admit, it's actually starting to bug me. not the appearance. i think it looks just fine. it's the upkeep. this is a pain in the ASS to blowdry every morning. and a pain in the ass to shampoo every morning. part of me does prefer the ease of hair shorter than 1/4 inch. but part of me like the shaggy long hair thing. it's like a warm rug on my head. of course, that could explain the past few nights sweating. hmmmm. alright dammit.. this was supposed to be a quick hit and run entry and looked what it has turned into. i'm crashing for the nigh. i suggest you should do the same.

(0) comments :: Shaman 10/24/2007 11:20:00 PM [+] ::
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i'm torn. terribly torn. on the one hand, i think hilary is a bit of a wacko plus the fact that i don't know if america is ready for a female president (don't get me wrong - i'm fine with it. we could do worse. like the current administration. but that's for another time.) BUT on the OTHER hand.... we'd have bill back in the white house. and you KNOW she's going to go to him as a personal advisor. as long as he stays away from the interns. so it'll be as close to we can get to getting bill back in office. and i'm all about that. so yea. i'm torn. as natalie imbruglia would say. and i just think barack obama is just too young. for god's sake, he's only four years older than me!!!! so who do i vote for? a republican? sigh. god, i hope not. we'll see....

on to brighter news - my ipod is back! woohoo!!! unfortunately, it's not a brand new 80 gig classic. (one can hope). on the upside, it is my original pod with a new battery and a full checkup. and i'm quite happy with that. testing the new battery life now. started it playing at 9am this morning, locked it and it's been playing on autopilot ever since. it's seven twenty now and it's got just a liiiitttle battery life left. and i think that is QUITE acceptable for a full charge. because in all the testing that shows it as having a 12 hour battery life also specifies something to the effect of "Apple runs tests for battery life using songs encoded at 128-Kbps AAC and songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store (128-Kbps AAC). The songs are played continuously through a playlist without interruption, with backlight and equalizer off.". yea. something to that effect. and REALLY.. who rips their music at 128?? for music you aren't overly concerned about... for quick rips to make a copy for your mp3 playing car deck.... fine. but for music you care about? minimum 160K, preferably 192K. can the human ear hear the difference between 128 and 192? oh HELL yes it can. try it sometime. and who plays all their music via playlist so the system can look ahead and preload the next track in the buffer? me, i tend to hit shuffle songs and let it go. because in a perfect world, that is the ideal commercial free radio station for me. unfortunately i still run across some clunkers and wonder what the hell i was originally thinking. but i digress. yea. 10 1/2 hour battery life? yea, i can live with that. it's actually better than the original battery by about an hour or so. definitely better than the 4 hour charge it was holding at the end. not a scratch on it, just as polished and pristine as it was when i turned it in at best buy. color me impressed. and THIS is why i buy service plans. cost of service plan - 50 bucks. cost of replacing battery via official apple method - 65 bucks. cost of self replacing battery - approximately 30-40 bucks and countless scratches with a good chance of gouging the case getting it apart. i'm thinkin' the service plan was the wise choice. to quote indy III. AND i'm still covered under the warranty till december of 2008! BOOYAAA!

but as i've said recently, i've been pruning the library and recitifying some serious holes in the ipod/zune collection. (yes, i keep duplicate musical libraries on both decks. but i keep different videos on each one. though high fidelity is on both decks. i have a great love and respect for that movie.) in particular, i've been working on my zeppelin selection. i've always carried the entire zeppelin discography around. but i've decided i need the complete collection of page, plant and zeppelin. so i've been busy adding all 9 of robert plants albums, his page/plant unledded and walking into clarksdale, the alison krauss duet album, both cds by the firm, various official live led zeppelin discs, page's outrider and i'm in the midst of digging up page's show with the black crowes where they did mostly zep tunes, death wish II soundtrack, lucifer rising soundtrack and a couple of other page pieces. so far i've got 295 tracks in the playlist. (ok, i OCCASIONALLY use playlists, i admit) it amounts to about 25 hours of material. it's been playing all day on the ipod. ooohhh.. its playing carouselambra now... dammit where are my headphones. ah, screw it. but yea. i'm at a carry around library of about 22 gig in size, 4010 tracks roughly and about 8 gig of video. basically a 14 episode season of frisky dingo or south park and 2 or 3 additional movies. with a few odds and ends half hour episodes to round it off. so no matter where i am, i can be entertained. always a good thing. which reminds me that i need to put a pair of headphones in the car. cuz those i have at home, at work but not in the car. and you never know when you might wanna catch a south park ep. family guy kept me chuckling for two episodes last time i got my oil changed. which reminds me. i gotta get my oil changed this weekend. kind of important.

and as a sidenote - to the dood or doodette who left a comment on my last entry - thanks for the comments on the apocalypse! we see the rss feed numbers and the website stats so we know we have a listener base, small though it may be compared to keith and the girl (i LOVE those guys!!!) but its nice to actually hear from someone who is listening.... and yea, netflix is definitely throttling me. but that's ok. they're on the edge of losing another customer and i know their attrition rate is not where they'd like it to be. keep pissing customers off, boys.

the only reason i'm really keeping it at the moment is the daughter.. she's HARDCORE into johnny depp (ok, at least this obsession i can understand... never got her whole panic at the disco thing) and is deep in the midst of season four of 21 jump street. no, really. admittedly, i loved it when it originally aired. so it get why she digs it. i'm renting a disc or two for her each week since they never seem to have shit i'm looking for. the 3 at a time plan used to rock in the early days of dvd. we're talking late summer 98 when the decks were 700-800 a pop. (ok, netflix was actually a year or two later.) i was one of the first on the block with one thanks to fred. he managed to get me a promotional deck from his distributor and the rest was history. fred's store was the ONLY place in town to preorder dvds from. again, these are the "old" days of dvd. when there were less than 100 titles on dvd. first one i bought was fifth element. which was a mind number the first time after being used to vhs for years. and from there it snowballed. the current count? over 1000 discs. no bootlegs, no home burns. all originals. (never EVER look at your dvd collection and try to figure out the cost. it WILL depress you, trust me. unless you're one of those people who just doesn't buy dvds. in which case i say... i've got all these really cool movies to watch day and night and all you've got is that really cool money............ bastard. damn you.) and i can guarantee you i've traded or sold over 1000 more on top of that over the past 9 years. but it's so cool to be able to map large portions of your life via the movies you have. kind of like rob in high fidelity but he did it with his music. it's a very cool concept. some people collect snowglobes from places they've been. as roger miller would say, it takes all kinds to make a world. my GOD this is a book! didn't realize i'd been yapping this long. anything else i was in the mood to cover? hmmmm. nope. guess not. i'm off to watch lucy daughter of the devil and frisky dingo's latest episodes. then it's heroes at 9. though i seem to be having one of those days where i can't get motivated about tonight's ep. can't tell if it's my mood or if the show just isn't grabbing me by the balls like it did last year. ttfn.

(0) comments :: Shaman 10/22/2007 07:20:00 PM [+] ::
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i get the feeling that the person who left the comment on the last entry wasn't particularly enthralled with my penchant for non-stop stream of thought style of writing. can't says i blame 'em. damn hard to read and i always keep losing my place. so. why did i come here..... oh. so, is 4 journey tracks TOO much?? lovin' touchin' squeezin', any way you want it, don't stop believin and open arms? and before you mock me for open arms, as sappy and cliche as the song is, i can't help but hear it and see heavy metal the motion picture in my mind. which is in my top 25 movies of all time. (one of these days i'll actually get around to drafting that top 25 list.. did it once but lost it. and god knows my tastes have changed to some degree so i'm sure it needs adjusting.) so yea. there's my rationalization. notice i didn't say reason. STILL haven't gotten my ipod back yet. if i didn't have the zune, i'd be real pissy right about now. actually, i am pissy about it. but what the hell can i do. just wait it out, i guess. i'll give it till tuesday the 16th. maybe then i'll start yanking some 1800 chains. i liiiiiike to call customer service. easiest way to jack my bp up pronto. off for a bit to do some online insurance yearly enrollment yabba yabba yabba. i hate this crap. they just jerk us for a little more money and a little less coverage every damned year.

back. and don't know if i've mentioned it or not but my broadband connection is FINALLY cruising along full speed with no interruptions. i can't remember if i've discussed it before or not but long and short of it is i've had NON-stop broadband issues since may. and after call after call after call... "but it's okay now, sir... we see you as online" yes you asshole but you won't in fifteen goddamn minutes if you just hang around and watch!! so the wife took over (i got sick of talking to them and said screw it, the net will come back up eventually, i'm going to do laundry.) and we got them out friday... discovered a questionable splitter in the ceiling. he replaced it. looked good. he left. 2 hours later, no web. sigh. we call back. they send someone out on saturday. when he gets here, i tell him - dood, just replace the line out to the box. it's bad. trust me. and amazingly enough, he doesn't argue. he says ok. he laid new line, said somebody would be out to bury it in the next couple of weeks and went on his way. and i have not had ONE outtage since that day. i TOLD them REPEATEDLY on the phone that the cable outside needed to be replaced. after SIX months, they finally did as i asked. and every connection problem i had went away. NOW if i just find the missing 2.5 megabit in bandwidth i'm losing somewhere in this switch/router/switch/wap chain of mine. and no, it's not the switches. already took them out of line for a test and results didn't change. sigh. why do i get the feeling it's gonna be awhile before i figure this one out. and speaking of laundry, i gotta go put in a load. be back.

(am i hitting enter enough? hehehe by the way - who here remembers the refreshment's banditos????? i love that song! from the old days at z103. finally found a copy for the zune)

got caught up there in the laundry. and now i'm falling asleep at the keyboard so this is as good a time as any to wrap this up..... anything i've forgotten? oh, halloween is here so make sure to load up the dvd player with lots of horror movies... good or bad, it doesn't matter. ok, just retyped that three times. exit stage left. ttfn.

(1) comments :: Shaman 10/11/2007 11:20:00 PM [+] ::
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sitting here going thru my ipod/zune library backups... deciding what to shitcan and what not to.... disturbed that i was carrying around 6 carpenters tunes. how that got thru i'll never know. cat stevens... really all you need is peace train, moonshadow, wild world and another saturday night. and there's no reason for my chicago choice to be color my world. it should've been 25 or 6 to 4. i must've been asleep at the wheel. a little too much csny. you think three culture club tracks is too much?? HAH! NO SUCH THING! hehehehe i'm a sucker for the worst of the eighties. i still worship taco's performance of puttin' on the ritz. textbook example of bad eighties. there's a few dave matthews tracks that can go bye bye. and really, what library would be complete without dee-lite's groove is in the heart? and yes, i'm being serious. hmmm. didn't realize i had that much depeche mode. i am a fan though. how many people can say they actually have desi arnaz's cuban pete on their ipod? remember that godawful dan akroyd/tom hanks remake of dragnet? (i actually love it) remember the wretched song/video they did for city of crime? where they let tom hanks kind of sing? got it. that took a while to find. you don't find many copies of the dragnet soundtrack laying around on the torrent boards. of course, there's the electric light orchestra's entire discography. i consider the two greatest bands to exist to be led zeppelin and elo. behind that comes bad company. number four might be nine inch nails but i'd have to consider that. no, make that five. frank sinatra would be four. no actually frank would be three and badco would be four. yea. that's better. edgar winter.. all you need is free ride. enigma... just the first album. ah, the fifth dimension... again, the only track i need is one less bell to answer. killer tune. anything by fiona apple is platinum in my book. (she was the most scared, timid little girl i've ever met. and you would not BELIEVE how.... i grasp for the word... weird? dorky? scary i looked that night. i wore my "pirate shirt" with big puffy sleeves that i used to think was sooo slick looking... well, to be honest, i still do. but yea. as if that wasn't bad enough, i wore a black vest over that. did i mention i had billy idol bleached hair at that point? i've unfortunately got pictures. maybe i'll post one. then again, maybe i'll keep my dignity.) i got the fleetwood mac selections down to 11 but i can go no further. to much good stuff there... even if a lot of it DOES qualify as adult contemporary nowadays. lindsey buckingham is a god. (what WAS it with these guys and fading in the music?!?! 5 of the 11 tracks on the pod fade-in at the start of the song!) remember fleming & john's i'm not afraid? no, you probably don't. but i do! and i'll bet dennis dillon does. and the wife does. so that's three of us. and you can't have enough frank sinatra. two different mixes of frankie goes to hollywood's relax. (i REALLY like the eighties disco remixes) do i REALLY need freddie hart's easy loving from 1971??? sigh. ditch it. the general rule is if i was driving to florida and had a fully loaded/powered ipod or zune which gives roughly 13 hours playtime and the song came on, would i listen or would i hit next? and to further complicate matters - i then ask are you hitting next because you just aren't in the MOOD to listen to it or because you really don't want to hear it and can't imagine why you put it on in the first place. if the latter, then it gets shitcanned. (hell of a complex little rule. flowcharting CAN be fun, kids!) need to make room for some more music i'm getting into that'll widen the library even further, genre-wise. like trash pour 4... they, amazingly enough, have no wiki entry. you don't see THAT very often. good music. some interesting cover tunes. kevin turned me onto them. i like. i'll pick the best 5 tracks and sync them. shit. washers done. must transport to dryer. back uno momento. and that's done. even had enough whites to do 3/4 of a load. which is good enough for me. the wife and i have distinctly different ideas about laundry. in my book, unless it's delicate, everything goes with everything. i've never had a problem with it. nor have my clothes. but in deference to her, i make sure to do the whole whites, colors, darks thing. but whereas she refuses to do anything but a FULL load, i'm not so stingy with the water. i'm happy with at least a half full hopper. set it to small load and let 'er rip. but i digress. just realized as i glanced thru a stack of cds i found in a drawer that i have no randy travis in the ipod. i dig randy. i must rectify that situation. steve vai. kiss. all missing. this is constant work when you're a music freak. currently on the zune, we're looking at roughly 4000 tracks and over 750 different artists. transister? look who's perfect now? not ringing any bells? oddly enough, i'm not surprised. obscure alternative one hit wonder. good song though. alright, enough work for the night. i just ripped the aforementioned plus white town and beck's odelay. time for beddy bye. ttfn.

(1) comments :: Shaman 10/03/2007 11:20:00 PM [+] ::
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hmmm. just got informed it's world vegetarian day. just thought you should know. now, of course, i'm off to have chili in a can. interesting note - in armenia, it's national teacher's day. and coincidentally, i had a teacher cut me off today at my daughter's school.... he was not, however, armenian. and for the curious, it's currently 4:20 in tijuana.

(0) comments :: Shaman 10/01/2007 07:20:00 PM [+] ::
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fox news alert!!! (only a heavy duty watcher of fox news will get that) BRITNEY LOSES CUSTODY OF THE KIDS!!! no, really. which means.... OFFICE POOL!!!! when will britney try to off herself??? get yer votes in now! i'm betting within 21 days, she tries it. a half hearted attempt, i'm sure. but i'm betting 3 weeks. now, that's assuming the custody conditions stay the same. (kind of sad that it takes a britney news item to shake me out of my dazed state to post) so WHILE i'm here... caught more of the new shows this season, kiddies? not a bumper crop, in my opinion. a lot of middle of the road shows. a few stinkers. no real standouts for me so far. well, pushing daisies but that doesn't actually start for a few more days. now THAT one will knock your socks off. give it a spin... lemme check when it premieres.... ok, that would be wednesday october 3rd. two days hence. hopefully you aren't reading this after the fact. that would be bad. i need you to see it. we need numbers for the bigwigs to keep it on the air. yea, rambling a little, i know. kind of doing that floating thing right about now... ya know when you just come in from work and you're looking forward to the evening but still somewhat wiped from the day's work. that floaty thing. where you're not quite grounded. currently playing on the zune - irresistable you by bobby darin. a classic. yes, i said zune. the daughter gave me hers. long story short - my ipod went sickly, i had to send it in for repairs (bought the 3 year warranty, smart me) BUT i got nada in the meantime. daughter just got an iphone (don't look at me - she paid for the majority of it.) so she decided she didn't want the zune so she gave it to me. when it comes to electronics, i don't care how old or out of date it is, give it to me. i'll find something to do with it. or some way to gut it and use the parts. so now i'm an ipod/zune person. i get to ride the fence. i must admit it's a very nice deck. quite comparable to the ipod 30 gig video. BUT it was the WORST bear to set the software up and get it initially started up! and i mean BEAR! almost soured me from the get-go. but i persevered knowing that it could be weeks before i see my ipod again and knowing i needed something to put on that set of speakers and subwoofer i setup in the office... voila! instant sound system! with over 4000 songs at my fingertips. every one a guaranteed enjoyable listen according to my standards. though i did discover today the occasional track that really didn't need to be there. nothing actually offensive but i really can't remember why i put 2 carpenters tracks on it. one i might be able to justify.. but two? no. sorry. just can't rationalize that one. so looks like i need to do a little fine tuning to the library... what's playing now? dj jazzy jeff and the fresh prince's ring my bell is trailing out and starting up we have the police with can't stand losing you. nice thing that the zune has over the ipod - on a zune, after you hit shuffle all, you can hit the button and see what the upcoming song list is.... it's cheating though. but i will tell you what's coming up - of wolf and man by metallica into don't let's start by they might be giants segues to rikki don't lose that number from steely dan knocking heads with the gorillaz's clint eastwood. now THAT is a random shuffle! not a bad battery life either - been going since 840am this morning without stopping and i've still got a quarter of a battery left. my first choice would still be an ipod video 80g but the zune makes a great second player or to use as mainly a video player. but it only takes wmv format files. it will convert m4v but it takes a godawful long time. alright my gut is screaming for food. only had a double stack and a sprite today. and still i can't get this weight off. dammit dammit dammit.

(0) comments :: Shaman 10/01/2007 06:20:00 PM [+] ::
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i want to open up a pastry shop that does just donuts and breads.... why? just so i can use this on the sign over the doorway.....

Dough or Donut, There is no Thai.

(coincidentally, i don't like thai food.)

(0) comments :: Shaman 9/10/2007 06:20:00 PM [+] ::
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late night post.. one of those whose origins arise from too much free time in the wee hours and too much oneness with the cosmos... you start asking really weird questions.. like... what would the average psychiatrist make of my blog? really. i wanna know. was just reading an article on a soldier who was found just offbase here in the states after committing suicide... they remarked that "his extensive writings revealed a soldier with low self-esteem who might have been depressed". how can you tell that JUST from someone's writings? with a cursory glance, my writings might appear to be from someone who sits on the fringes of sanity. but you and i KNOW better. hehe. which again begs the question - what would a health care professional make of my blog? or your blog... or anyone's blog for that matter. all this shit is SOOOO open to interpretation. my writing is the equivalent of occasionally going out on the farm with a 12 gauge, 5 boxes of ammo and a case of clay pigeons. just a way to blow off a few rounds and be loud. and that's all. for some, yes, it is a way of crying out for help. but reallly... how can you know just from someone's writings their mental bent? sigh. we all like to pretend we know so much when we all know so little. on the upside though, i just beat the living shit out of annika sorenstam and took the bitches golf ball. screw with ME on a golf course, lady! HA! big mo is in my sights next.

(0) comments :: Shaman 9/06/2007 12:20:00 AM [+] ::
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it's amazing the things you can find out online. like when i went looking up some of my ancestors in germany.... oh my oh my.

Maria Xxxxxx was a guard at two concentration camps during the last year of World War II. She was born on May 11, 1906 in Essen, Germany. In 1944, she submitted an application to the camp office in Essen and they accepted her into the SS ranks. Eventually, she served as an Aufseherin in Buchenwald, and in its subcamp at Essen. In April, 1945, she walked out of the subcamp with the arrival of the US Army and was never tried for war crimes.

that's kind of disturbing. and interesting. and creepy.

i guess some stones ARE better left unturned.

(i wonder if she'll show up at the next family reunion. hmmmm.)

by the way - it's 39 days and counting cigarette free. but i still want one dammit.

(0) comments :: Shaman 8/28/2007 05:20:00 PM [+] ::
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again, i let too much time pass between entries here. day 30. no smokes. haven't killed anyone yet. came off the chantix on day 23. again, still no dead. this is a good thing. not jonesing too horribly much. still want one but i figure i'll feel that way the rest of my life and i'm okay with that. but the REAL trick is staying off the smokes. chantix is considered the most successful smoking cessation program out there. and its success rate? 23%. out of one hundred smokers who quit, twenty three of them will continue to NOT smoke. 77 of them will go back to smoking. wow. those are scary numbers. but so far so good and i refuse to work with the assumption that i'll eventually backslide. i've put this much effort into it so far, i'd like to go ahead and stick it out. well, just dropped in for a quick visit while i was over next door working on the apocalypse radio entry for the week.... now i'm done with both and stating to nod off so it's beddybye time for me. ttfn.

(0) comments :: Shaman 8/19/2007 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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ok, i'm back. after a more extended absence than i had intended.... since i last wrote, i've stopped smoking. i know, i know. you think i'm a lying bastard. but no... really. i haven't had a cigarette in two weeks as of today. not even one of those "oh shit i gotta have one" cigarettes.... which are the ones that have always ruined it for me every other time i've stopped. so yea. smokeless...... hrmm. well, you know what i mean. poor rj reynolds. think of all the money they'll be losing. on the upside, look at the money i'll be gaining. from my nearest guestimates, i will save approximately $2350.00 a year. that's JUST from my smoking. that's at the rate of 2.3 packs a day and assuming 28.00 a carton. which is actually low-balling it on both sides of the equation. so between 2300 and 2600. that's FUCKing scary. 84 cartons a year. EIGHTY FOUR CARTONS. shit. that's a lotta leaves. by the by, i'm using chantix, the new wonder drug. yes, it definitely helps. basically, it blankets the nicotine receptor in the brain so when you smoke, you get nothing from it. no nicotine rush, no relaxing feeling, etc etc. and the longer you smoke on this stuff, the more it occurs to you that this tastes like shit with no payoff in return. so after a week or two on the pills (yer choice.. i took 2), you lay down the smokes and go from there. and the pills do their job well. very well. within four days, i was noticing that i didn't crave them as much - though i still did crave them. and by that point, i was getting nothing FROM the ciggy in respect to nicotine. i smoked normally the first week then dropped back to 10-15 a day the second week... which i found surprisingly easy... then that friday put them down after a last binge that evening hehehehe. and here we are two weeks later. not sure yet how this will go long term AFTER i've jumped off the chantix pills. i do still want one, to a degree. i still do immediately think of one after i eat. i've finally gotten away from thinking of a smoke first thing in the morning. now i jump up, get coffee, brush teeth and head straight into the shower. same thing on the weekends, for the most part. whereas before it was ten minutes of smoking before i did ANYthing in the morning and on the weekends, a minimum of one hour of drinking coffee and chain smoking before showering. and of course, the usual apply - i can breath MUCH better and haven't coughed in days. i don't struggle for deep breaths when i yawn now. i can smell sooo much better which is NOT a blessing, let me tell you. i am catching smells i NEVER did before. and in some cases, smell things i never wanted to smell. i can smell a smoker from 10 feet. a heavy smoker from 20. and that's NOT a joke. i understand now what non-smokers gripe about when they cry about getting smoke smells in their clothes. (whiny bitches.) i don't sympathize, by any means.. but i do understand perfectly. i can walk thru an area and tell you if someone has smoked there in the last 10 minutes. and it's scary how much i still enjoy the smell of it hehehe i make sure i go out with my smoker friend's to bask in their carcinogens. and this is just after two weeks. BUT will it work long term? we'll see. (wow. that was some seriously long winded shit.)

ok, this actually started out as a chance for me to pass along a couple of new tv season pilot reviews.... if yer into the bittorrent, you probably already know this but if not - a slew of new tv show pilot/premiere episodes from the upcoming 07/08 season SOMEhow leaked out onto the bittorrent network (this reeks of planted material from the networks to generate early buzz, but that's just my opinion) and the stack includes chuck, reaper, pushing daisies, cavemen, terminator: the sarah connor chronicles and the bionic woman. of the two and a half i've watched so far, pushing daisies is easily my favorite and my pick for the hot newcomer of the year. mark my words. it's inheriting the old lost spot on wednesdays at 8p on abc and i'm predicting big numbers. think dead like me meets pee wee's big adventure. more structural and set-type pee wee. kinda that semi-surreal feel all around. maybe i should label it dead like me meets tim burton. hmm. that might work too. without giving away too much, the basic premise is this - young guy can bring the dead back to life with a touch. but if he touches them again, they go back to dead. but if he DOESN'T touch them within 60 seconds, someone in the vicinity randomly dies. there are rules to these things, after all. and that's all i'll say. WONderful show. lee pace is perfect as ned, the piemaker. and the whole relationship between ned and chuck rawks. the set design is magnificent... very quirky and cool to look at. and the story was second to none. great snappy dialogue. if you enjoyed dead like me, you will love this series. i also watched cavemen. word is the original pilot was soooo bad that they scrapped the entire thing and did a rewrite. i can only PRAY that's the case. what i just finished watching was so bland and pointless it need not ever have seen the light of day. ok, there might have been a moment of laughter or two. and one of the three cavemen actors made an excellent radical left wing caveman. but on the whole, i need not have even wasted the 22 minutes. let's hope the reshoot is better because i really had high hopes for this one. i love the geico spots... though everyone i know hates them hehehe... and finally, the 1/2 - reaper, the kevin smith directed pilot. basically, a couple have a baby. they sell the babies soul to the devil, due when the boy turns 21. he does. devil shows up to claim soul, makes boy his bounty hunter for escaped souls. it's a classic tale. older than time. (actually, it HAS been told before - it was called brimstone and starred peter horton. but it was man makes bad judgement call, man's soul is damned, devil makes him his bounty hunter. amazing series. lasted 13 episodes. only the good die young. meanwhile, laverne and shirley breathed life for eight seasons. life IS unfair. but then again what's your basis for comparison. of fair, that is.) but i've moved away from my point - after watching about half of the episode, i can give it a resounding recommendation. i like. now maybe it's just the fact that i love smith as a director but i think it more than anything it's the actors and the writing. tyler whatsisname (always plays the beefy sidekick) is a hoot... the door/dog thing pulled a big snort from me. i'll finish watching it later tonight and let you know if the second half turns to shit but i'm kinda doubting that'll be the case. and on a final note, while i've been typing this, i've been watching the latest sandra bullock flick, premonition.... it's holding my interest..... so far... though it's convoluted as shit in places. and i don't mean that in a good way. (45 minutes later)... okay, that was utter shite. if i hadn't been spending my time constructively during the viewing, i'd be really pissed off right about now. reallllly pissed off.

(0) comments :: Shaman 8/03/2007 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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picture: midnight fifteen. driving around the neighborhood looking for someplace open that sells the new harry potter book. kroger just down the street is closed and not selling the book. bastards. they had a damn sign up less than a week ago crowing that they'd be open for the debut of the book at midnight. bastards. so it's back in the car and down the road a few miles to the next krogers. damned if i'm fighting some ridiculous line at joseph beth or barnes/noble. thank god the other kroger is open. and selling the book. and it's basically empty. just a few late night stragglers and some poor forlorn looking chick at a table with copies of the book handing them out. unfortunately for her, i was the only one looking for a copy at that moment. "not getting many shoppers for the book tonight?" "no, doesn't look like it. and we really thought we'd have more buyers." mission accomplished. the wife will be pleased when she wakes up. me, i've already read the book. earlier this week. thank god for bittorrent. hehehehe.

(0) comments :: Shaman 7/21/2007 12:20:00 AM [+] ::
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and after much ado (about NOTHING), we've come full circle. the orthopedic said... wait for it.... theresnothingyoucando. surprise! so we'll end that topic here. i'm tired of the whole affair and i'd rather grimace a little in pain than wear that goofy damned sandal for one more day. so there ya go. deep dark secret #420 - i ENJOYED the movie battlefield earth. matter of fact, i have an extra tall battlefield earth shot glass that i fill every couple of nights (twas a gift from ken). gonna watch it tomorrow with commentary track by the mystery science theater guys... go check out www.rifftrax.com... they do separate commentary tracks for a buttload of big budget scifi flicks and the like... 3 bucks a pop... i highly recommend them... VERY VERY funny stuff.. their commentary for star trek vi: the undiscovered country was riotous, to say the least. and willie wonka was hilarious (i swear to god i'll cut you, kid)... get it if you enjoy looking at your favorite movies in a whole new light. got x-men, daredevil, terminator 3 and the matrix to watch over the next week or so... all with mst3k commentaries. WOO! good stuff, good stuff. alright, i weary and it's time for a shot o' a little kentucky bourbon.. woodford reserve tonight. so i'm off to bed to watch a little die hard 4 on my ipod and hopefully sleep the sleep of the undead. ttfn.

(0) comments :: Shaman 7/13/2007 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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so the toe saga continues. after another x-ray and doctor visit this week, we've discovered my toe is not healing. no progress. so he wants me to go see an orthopedic surgeon on wednesday. sigh. all this from trying to get out of someone's way in disney world. lovely. on a lighter note though, clint and jennifer got married today. i officiated the ceremony in my inimitable fashion. this one was short and sweet and timed to end at exactly 7:07pm. everything worked out wonderfully. this was my third performed marriage and my last. i am officially retired now. clint's was my third and final. only in the event of a major "something" would i do another. it was a long and illustrious career. starting with alex and denise. and then clint's brother denver and jennifer. and then clint and jennifer (different jennifer, trust me.) i'm batting 3 for 3 so far. quit at the top of your game, i always say. did i mention the time i won a golf tournament as part of a foursome about 20 years ago during my early days in radio? well, i did. (and YES, i pulled my weight scorewise) won a couple hundred bucks, some golf stuff and a beautiful trophy. and refused to ever play in another tournament again. i could never top that so why try. ok, the women are finished watching the pilot for 21 jump street... remember THAT one??? barb swears she never watched an episode while it was on so this is all new to her. and both of us are amazed at the crap quality of the prints and the horrible overdubbing... among other things. but the daughter is enchanted. and i REALLY don't remember there being 5 seasons of this show! but if i remember right, season 5 was the season that johnny depp and holly robinson both quit. which means it was the richard grieco year. which was ok but he was no johnny depp, doncha' know. speaking of which, i set myself the task of watching all three seasons of deadwood over the course of a few weeks. and i cannot TELL you how enjoyable those four weeks were. if you've never seen deadwood, please do so. borrow it, steal it, rent it or buy it (well worth having in a collection) but see it. and the next series i've set myself upon is dead like me. kevin tells me it's right up my alley so watch it i shall. jeni had a copy of seasons one and two on dvd and let me borrow them. i've watched the odd episode or two over the past few days since scifi was running marathons. daughter is hooked on it and i've loved what i've watched so far. even barb likes it so we'll just make this a family affair on dvd. not to be confused with the brian keith series. you remember him - starred as the father in the original parent trap? and later the lead on hardcastle and mccormick? yea, him. so we'll start that with the pilot tomorrow afternoon. only 14 eps per season so this shouldn't take long. alright, i'm all typed out. ttfn.

(0) comments :: Shaman 7/07/2007 10:20:00 PM [+] ::
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wish me luck. i'm heading out into the big scary world to go see die hard 4. not even my irrational fear of public places could stop me from going to see this one. i'm half tempted to phone blog it while i watch..... but no. and tomorrow, transformers. i'm thinking a 9 or 10am showing. up out and early. we shall see. i'll be back with details later.

(1) comments :: Shaman 7/02/2007 11:20:00 AM [+] ::
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so for the curious among you, the tale of the broken toe woefully goes on.... when last we talked, i was buddy taping the toe (because that's all you can really do for a broken toe) and it seemed to be going well with a bearable amount of pain in that area of my foot. well, after four weeks of "healing" i made the stupid mistake of squatting down on the balls of my feet to look at something and heard an ugly SNAP. suddenly the foot was hurting worse. so i broke down and took my ass over to the doc's to let him look at it. his reaction was exactly as i expected - it's a broken toe, not much you can do except tape it. then he adds BUT... i'd like to take an x-ray JUST in case so we can be certain. so we did. turns out i broke it. i rebroke it. and i fractured the toe joint. WOOHOO! and i mean that in an ever so sarcastic way. so the doc stuck me in an orthopedic shoe for a few weeks. the fun just never ends, does it? so now i limp along for the moment in an incredibly irritating foot device. nothing like barely being able to move your toes. and walking with a weird limp because the shoe is about 1/2 inch thicker than my other shoe AND it's stiff as steel. no bend at all. which means my calf muscles are operating in a whole new manner. which means charlie horses. sigh. growing old sucks the ass of the llama.

(0) comments :: Shaman 6/28/2007 02:20:00 PM [+] ::
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my latest pride and joy :) a limited edition mini bust of a zombie from robert's the walking dead comic. WOOHOO! been wanting one of these for awhile and found a shop in-town that actually had the nate bust in stock. and it is MINE! now i just have to decide if i want robert to sign the back of the statue on the zombie's t-shirt. and of course, i couldn't resist putting a picture below. kirkman RAWKS! as do all of the books he writes. (i'm such a sycophant sometimes.) and if you're looking for something GREAT to read, i recommend going to amazon.com or bn.com and picking up the first trade paperback of the walking dead series. you will not regret it.

(0) comments :: Shaman 6/07/2007 01:20:00 PM [+] ::
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a few people have asked me exactly HOW i managed to break my toe on vacation... it's a short story and it boils down to a rude cockbag who took up the entire walkway at the poly. i had come back to the room for the evening and decided i'd go for a stroll around the hotel and enjoy the early evening before house at 9. i was walking down the walkway near the pool and looked up and saw three people coming towards me. 2 were over to the left and taking up the proper amount of room. the other guy was walking towards me on the right and refused to budge. i'm thinking "oh he'll realize what's going on in a minute and move over". dumbass me. he kept barrelling towards me and at the last minute i had to jump right and walk on the side of the walk. which forced me into a huge lava rock. i felt my toe hit it, yelped louder than intended and hopped over to a chair. it hit me that it was the most painful toe stubbing that i'd ever had. i took my coffee cup and hobbled over to the cafe to grab some java and hobbled up to the room thinking it'd feel better soon. HA! after a while it wouldn't quit pounding. i finally sat down on the bed and looked at it. something looked funny. i took the other pinkie toe in hand and moved it. the whole unit moved side to side. then i took the damaged toe and moved it. didn't realize it would hurt that much. hmmm. then i noticed when i moved it, it did a right angel maneuver. hmm. THAT'S not the way a toe is supposed to move. eventually it sunk in that i had seperated the two two bones forcibly from the joint. sigh. of all the people, it would have to be me. which is why you'll probably never see me going barefoot again. now this makes THREE downer entries in a row - but DON'T get the idea that i didn't adore this vacation cuz i did. i just figured i'd let you in on some of the not so happy things that happened in the happiest place on earth. sigh. i'd still probably do it all over again though. i'd just wear shoes this time.

(0) comments :: Shaman 6/05/2007 07:20:00 AM [+] ::
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in today's entry, another in the continuing series of "what happened on my vacation" entries. this one concerns my meds. now, i am somewhat of a stubborn (translation: stupid) individual. i'm one of those "oh, I won't get sunburned! not me!" morons. now, usually my way of thinking works. for the first few days at the parks, i ignored the sunscreen option and didn't burn. tanned nicely but no burn. of course, i was also wearing jeans to cover my legs. one thing i didn't consider was that one of the meds i'm on causes the patient to become photosensitive. which means sunlight is BAD for me. (and you kids thought that was just a running joke about me and my hatred of sunlight....) not for the sunburn but for the blisters and rash i can conceivably get. or in my case, definitely get. the third day i looked down at my arms when i woke up and noticed they were blotchy red with lots of little blister looking things. i thought nothing of it. until later in the day when it had turned into full blown bubonic plague. ugly red blisters up and down the arm, rash everywhere. now, it didn't hurt. and only slightly itched. it was more of an annoyance than anything. but it looked absolutely apocalyptic. so starting the next day i did everything i could to cover my arms.. carried towels over them at the pool and on castaway cay... kept them under shade, etc etc. it's thursday and my arms have basically returned to normal now. next time i wear sunscreen on the arms or long sleeves. lesson learned.

(0) comments :: Shaman 5/31/2007 01:20:00 PM [+] ::
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worst part of the trip? that's easy. i was carrying a friend's evdo card so i'd have broadband access on my laptop no matter where i was, as long as i was in the u.s. well, in the evenings when i would go back to the polynesian and let the women go watch the fireworks shows in the parks, i would kick back with the tv and the laptop and log into the home machines to check on everything via the live cams i had running. i could see everything going on in our court and in the house live. well, wednesday night, the night of the lost finale, the wife decided to stay in the room to watch it with me. we kicked back and watched the ep and about 1030p, i decided to check on the house. imagine my horror when i logged into my machine, loaded up the cam shots and saw a shitload of emergency vehicles on my court and what appeared to be fire trucks. imagine my mind going into ultra hyper overdrive. i was phone calling clint and im'ing him on the pc within 20 seconds.... after rousing him from activities one should not be roused from, he ran over to the house to make sure everything was ok. THAT was the most agonizing 20 minutes of my life. barb called the lexington police to find out what the deal was and the only report they had was a false report of a fire at 8 o'clock. which sent my mind into MEGA hyper overdrive. at least until clint got there and called to let me know it was the neighbor's house three doors down that had a fire start in the kitchen. so much for false alarms, thank you, lexington police. so after finally finding out the gig, i and the wife (more me than her) calmed down. i spend the next hour on an adrenalin rush smoking camels outside to calm down. and that's my horror story from the trip. as horror stories go, it could have been much worse. i've felt bad for that woman ever since. turns out she lost her dog, her hamster and an aquarium of fish in the fire. the upstairs was gutted and the downstairs was rife with mega water damage. fire dept is speculating it started as a short circuit in the stove. the same stove that's been there since the house was built. like ours. which, as you can guess, will be replaced as quickly as humanly possible here in the shaman household. i'd rather spend a few hundred than worry about it for even one minute. there's a nice down story for you. well, i figure every other story has been an up one.. it was time for a downer. and tomorrow, i'll have a tale of woe for you involving medications and photosensitivity.

(0) comments :: Shaman 5/30/2007 06:20:00 AM [+] ::
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had to post this cuz it's just too cool. it's shelby being grabbed by a shark and pushed thru the water as he thrashes her about. oh wait.. no, that's the other video... this one is the daughter being pushed along in the water by a dolphin at about 25 miles per hour. OH YEA!

(0) comments :: Shaman 5/29/2007 08:20:00 PM [+] ::
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okay, there are some odds and ends from the trip that i've still got bottled up and i need to post.. one is a very funny story (at least to me) of our ride on the tower of terror - here's the deal - we are picked as the family of the day at the disney/mgm park, which i've already talked about in an earlier entry, after the whole skit and everything for the crowd waiting to get in, Will, our handler, asks what ride we'd like to ride first because they would take us there by car and we would be the only ones on the ride. Well, me and Shelby had already decided to do the Tower Of Terror immediately - she was PSYCHED for it. we immediately said "tower of terror". now, barb had already categorically stated that there was no way in HELL she was going to get on that ride. BUT.. once me and Shelby had said it, they headed in that direction and Barb had somewhat of a surprised look on her face. we get there and they walk us into the lobby. well, at this point, barb really has NO choice but to get on the ride. we'd been picked as family of the day, given the opportunity to ride the first ride in the park and alone, at that! how could she be so rude as to say thanks but no thanks??? it was FAMILY of the day. and families do things together. she was screwed. so she smiled and played along and walked the plank with us towards the elevator car. we got in the car, the whole thing played out with a cool spoken intro about missing/dissappearing elevators and fun stuff like that and then the real ride hit. it came so unexpectedly that even MY heart jumped. but once we started to fall, i started laughing my ass off. this same maniacal laughter was NOT what i was hearing from my right. next to me was the daughter. she was just screaming a nice normal scream. and then to her right was barb. i could hear barb over shelby AND the ride. and she was pissed. hehehe. she was producing a scream of pure terror. (i THINK i might've heard some actual words in there but i think she was speaking in tongues.) i've never heard anybody scream quite like that. i was present at the birth of our daughter and i don't remember a scream like that when shelby popped out of her. i almost expected to find her either completely grey haired when we hit bottom or dead and stuck in a rictus, mouth open and fingers clenched on the bar forever. thankfully, she made it. (really, i don't think anyone has ever died on this ride. though i'm sure some have come close. like barb. hehe) but when we finally hit bottom, for real, this time... for those who don't know, you get pulled up and dropped in freefall varying distance but at one point in the ride, you get dropped between 10 and 13 stories. makes my hands shake just thinking about it with excitement. i LOVE that ride. you never know when to expect it. they run a program that generates a random pattern each time for each ride. i'm told you could ride it seven days straight and it would never be the same ride. but i digress. when we finally hit bottom, barb DID indeed survive the ride. survived but somewhat scarred for life. of course, this is one of those rides where they take a picture of you during the ride. hehe. at the end of our visit that day, that presented us with a certificate for our family of the day jaunt AND our picture from tower of terror. which she has sworn me to never show anyone. and she's serious. it is the FUNNIEST picture you will ever see. three monkeys displaying three emotions. barb's shows complete and utter terror. it's the only way to describe it. shelby's shows great fear of what's happening to her. and mine show's maniacal laughter and smiles from ear to ear. sigh. i would so love to post this one but..... she says i can only post it if i black out their faces. argh. dammit.

(1) comments :: Shaman 5/29/2007 01:20:00 PM [+] ::
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well, home again, home again, piggety pig. WOOHOO!! back on kentucky soil... back at the house and back in my home office!! and with some great memories and souvenirs (and about 770 camera shots) from the past week. there are still a few things i haven't passed along but i'll do a more indepth entry on monday. suffice to say, we left port at 8am and arrived back in lexington at 920pm. not bad time considering we took the i-95 router on the way back. alright, i'm tired but i'll be back tommorow................ lates!

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