Potential Lunch Winner

The Greatest Movie of All Time (or, My Awesome Long Weekend, Part One)

2007-07-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm going to really try and blog more here, even if it means just cutting and pasting from my 1up page, because honestly, I feel really out of touch with some people who I don't get to see often. While it's not ideal, I do feel a little more in touch with them even if our only means of communication is blogging.

So anyway, I pretty much had the greatest long weekend of all time this last week. For starters, I only worked Monday and Tuesday, so that kicked ass. To make things even more kick ass, I went with Jess, Bill and Nathan Trimm to go see what is quite possibly the greatest movie ever made, The Transformers.

In all seriousness, the only time I've ever been this excited for a movie was for the Star Wars prequels. There are few things in the world of sci-fi that I dig more than Transformers. So, while I was excited, the fanboy in me was still a little nervous. Could the movie live up to my expectations? Honestly, I didn't think it would, so I set them kind of low. It wasn't because of the movie itself or anyone involved in the making of it, it's just that I'd been building up the idea of a live action Transformers movie in my head for so long, there was no possible way anything could live up to my expectations. Or could it?

Maybe it's because I went in not expecting much, but I'll be damned if I didn't love this movie. It had everything I could hope for- Giant robots kicking the crap out of each other, a couple of hot girls, more explosions than I could count and a pretty decent storyline. I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. If I wanted to nitpick, there were a couple of small things that bugged me a little, but overall it was a great summertime action flick.

I'm not going to go into the plot or anything, because I suck at that kind of thing and the movie is still really new, so I don't want to unintentionally spoil it for anyone. I will say that the designs for the robots in the movie pretty much rule, especially the Decepticon character, Barricade.

Barricade was everything a Decepticon should be- Intimidating, brutal and mean as fuck. His alternate form was a police car, but the coolest thing about it was instead of having the typical "To Protect and Serve" slogan on the side, it said "To Punish and Enslave". Hell. Yeah. This movie ruled.

So, since seeing the movie I've been totally geeking out on all things Transformers. I've been rewatching my Transformers: Armada DVD's as well as reading the movie prequel novel, Ghosts of Yesterday. The novel is actually pretty decent and gives a lot of insight to the personalities of the different characters in the movie. It not by any means necessary to read to enjoy the movie, but I think it adds a lot.

On a side note, I'd also like to add that Nathan Trimm is seriously one of the coolest people in the known universe. I'd always thought he was a really good guy but had no idea he was as big of a Transformers nerd as I am, if not even bigger. That kinda rules.

Hello, remember me?

2007-04-28T19:31:00.000-05:00

So, it's been a while since I've last posted on this blog. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I've just felt like most of the people who read my blog weren't interested in or didn't know what I was talking about, namely video games, heavy metal and comics. That, and when I last posted I just felt like I didn't have much I wanted to share with the world. However, around January, I decided to start blogging again in my page at 1Up.com, where people who want to talk about video games and nerdery would want to discuss said subjects. You can find my 1Up page from the links in the sidebar.

Still, I've decided to give the PLW blog another try, so I made some changes and additions here with more to come. So, welcome to PLW 2.0.

So here's what has happened since my last post-

1. Jess moved into our new apartment on New Year's Day.

2. I discovered podcasting. Blog post regarding my favorites soon to come.

3. I married Jess.

4. We went on our Honeymoon in Las Vegas. A good time was had.

5. I moved into our new apartment. Hooray for getting out of G-Town.

6. I had a job interview that went really well and I thought I had it, but didn't get it. I'm bummed. They wanted me, but a vice president type decided they didn't want to spend the money on a new employee. I'm bummed.

So that's what's been going on. It's good to be back.

Special thanks to Sandy Landers for telling me to post more.

An open letter to someone I may or may not work with at either of my jobs...

2006-09-18T23:50:00.000-05:00

If while on a break I'm off sitting in a corner reading a book, please rest assured that I'm not interested in any sort of conversation with you. I don't give a fuck about what you thought of the TV show you watched last night and I don't care how your day is going. I brought a book with me to avoid lunch time small talk. Please take my not so subtle hints of one word answers and grunts. Thank you.

How My Day is Going, 9/6/2006

2006-09-06T14:26:00.000-05:00

1. So I've been kind of sick over the past couple of days. Earlier today I started to sneeze but couldn't get my hands up in time to fully cover. I swear I felt a phlegm missle fly out but have yet to find where it hit so I can clean it up. I probably owe somebody an apology.

2. I'm listening to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel on the iPod right now. It's finally occurred to me that I only like two songs on the album, The King of Carrot Flowers pt. 1 and Holland, 1945. I could never hear the rest of the album for the rest of my life and be totally okay with that. I think indie hipsters might be overrating this one a bit.

3. I can't figure out if my arch nemesis at work is just really stupid, or some kind of diabolical genius. Despite every hint I've dropped to let him know I can't fucking stand him, he seems to think we're friends. Not only this, but it seems as if he just knows how to push every last one of my buttons. Is he just really this annoying, or has he figured me out? To quote Nigel Tufnel, there's a fine line between clever and stupid.

4. I just saw on the news that one of those obnoxious investigative reporters got the shit beaten out of him by the people he was investigating. Yeah, the people in question looked pretty seedy and were probably guilty, but I did get a small sense of satisfaction seeing one of those dickhole reporters get their ass handed to them. I really hate that shit.

Animefest 2006, or why I'm now gay for Greg Ayres

2006-09-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

So this Labor Day weekend I hit Animefest 2006. As per usual, it was a good time. I got to nerd out with my friend Kyle and totally OD on anime and all that goes with it. Needless to say, I had a metric shitload of fun. I checked out a couple of new titles in the video rooms, picked up a couple of DVD's and attended a few panels. Normally, I don't attend the panels, because they're usually on topics that just don't interest me, such as cosplay or voice actors telling suposedly funny anecdotes. Not that I think there is anything wron with these, I just don't find them particularly interesting. However, this year was a little different, because one panel titled "Fansubbing, Downloading, the Industry and You" caught my eye.

As with pretty much any topic, I have some pretty strong opinions on this and was interested in hearing what someone from the industry would have to say and their reasoning. The person leading the panel was a voice actor by the name of Greg Ayres and truth be told, I wasn't too familiar with his work. In fact, my initial impression of him at the opening ceremonies was that he seemed to be kind of a douchebag (Greg- If you happen to read this, I am so, so sorry. Please keep reading, it gets better, I swear). Anyway, the panel was on the topic of bootlegging and downloading free anime. What I appreciated the most was that Greg was a guy who actually had something to say, said it and made no apologies. As someone who works in the anime industry and has been lucky enough to meet many anime and manga creators, he has a perspective on the issue that most fans don't and was able to give solid reasons why downloading anime from the internet or buying bootlegged DVD's was not only bad for the industry, but flat out wrong.

I was really happy to hear someone come out and say in this kind of forum what I have felt for some time now. The excuses I hear for people who buy bootlegs or download (steal) music and anime are just fucking ridiculous. Things like music and anime are luxeries, not a right. You are not entitled to take something without paying for it just because you can. If you're going to give me the "well, it's too expensive so I should I pay for it?" excuse, my answer to you is tough shit. Find a less expensive hobby or figure out ways to get free or inexpensive music and anime. Last I checked, songs are still only .99 on iTunes and prices for anime continue to drop. Not to mention there are other options like Netflix, public libraries or borrowing from friends. But I digress, so I'll get back to the virtual humping of Greg Ayres' leg.

The best part of the panel was at the end when Greg confronted a guy in the front row who said he had no problem with downloading anime and had no intention of spending any money in the dealer's room. The guy in the front looked like the guy you probably knew in high school who's ass you really wanted to kick. Not because he was different, mind you, but because he was that bitter as fuck dipshit (I was originally going to say nerd, but I don't want to associate the nerds of the world with this waste of space) who sat in the back of the class making comments about how stupid everyone else was and how smart he was, never mind the fact he's in all basic classes and bringing home straight C's. Of course, I don't know this guy and I could be wrong, but that was the impression I got. Anyway, Greg looked him straight in the eye, told him exactly what he thought of him and flat out said he'd offer nothing in the way of an apology. I really wanted to yell out "FUCK YEAH!!", but I do seem to remember kids being in the room, so that probably wouldn't have been good.

I was really hoping I could maybe catch him at the bar and have a beer with him some time during the weekend, because he was definitely the kind of guy I'd love to sit and talk about shit with, because he didn't seem to be short on opinions or things to say. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, but I did attend another panel he did on dubbing vs. subbing in anime, which was also entertaining.

In closing, I just want give a big shout out to my new favorite voice actor Greg Ayres. Thank you for having something to say and the balls to say it. You truly did make my weekend. I hope you don't mind that I lifted a photo of you from your website.

www.gregayres.com

In Heavy Rotation- Music

2006-08-29T09:10:00.000-05:00

Mayhem- European Legions: Mayhem, while notorious has been one of the more inconsistent bands in the Norweigian black metal scene. I think a lot of their popularity is based more on their antics in the early 90's than their actual music. However, their live album proves that there is some substance to Mayhem and they can put on one hell of a show. A lot of the material is from their album A Grand Declaration of War, which I thought had it's moments, but overall was just decent. However, the songs sound a lot better and a lot more raw live. I really wish Mayhem would tour the US, I'd love the chance to see them live.

Brian Eno- Ambient 1: Music for Airports: One of my favorite records to listen to at 4:00am on a Saturday morning. It's perfect music for contemplation of life while watching the night turn to dawn.

Hell's Kitchen- A Retrospective

2006-08-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

So tonight will be the first Monday night I haven't had an episode of Hell's Kitchen to look forward to. It's probably a good thing, I still maintain that 99% of reality TV is for idiots and is bringing down our collective IQ exponentially. Still, I am human and will succomb to the more than occasional guilty pleasure. (And just a side note here, the person in the cube next to me is eating what appear to be Doritos in the loudest, rudest manner possible. Seriously, it sounds like an ill-behaved five year old with all of the rustling, smacking and horrible manners in general. )

So, if you don't know yet, Heather, who was my prediction from day one to win did in fact win. I don't think she was necessarily the best at any one cooking skill, but seemed to just be solid in all aspects. However, she was smart and by far the best leader in the kitchen, which is what put her over the top. If I go to Vegas, I have to definitely check out the Red Rock Resort, which is now where she is the executive chef.

While I was happy to see Heather make it through to the final round, I was disappointed she had to go up against Virgina, because that really didn't seem like much competition. Virginia had done nothing but dodge bullets throughout the whole series and was a consistent fuckup in the kitchen. I'm pretty much convinced that at some point she blew Chef Ramsay. If that is the case then good job, Chef Ramsay. Virginia was pretty hot. Still, I have to give Virginia points for giving Crotchrot (Sara) the royal screw in the final four. Crotchrot had gone out of her way to screw Virginia over a couple of times and it was nice seeing Virginia get the payback.

Basically what happened was that Virginia had won the challenge in that episode which gave her immunity from elimination. However, because of yet another horrible performance in the kitchen, she thought she wasn't ready for her own restaurant, so she said she would volunteer herself for elimination. However, Crotchrot also had a terrible service and was nominated for elimination as well. When Virginia volunteered herself, Chef Ramsay (probably remembering the hummer Virginia may or may not have given him) reminded her that she was safe from elimination and didn't have to leave if she didn't want to. It was there Virginia decided to give Crotchrot the ultimate screw and sent her home. I laughed my ass off.

I was disappointed to see that Keith, AKA K-Grease didn't make it to the final round. I tried to tape the episode that night because I went out, but the tape cut off before the end of the show, so I don't know exactly what happened. I do know that Keith copped a little bit of an attitude with Chef Ramsay, and he never, EVER takes well to that, so that's probably what got him eliminated.

All in all, it was a fun show and I enjoyed it this time around as much as I did last season, so I'm hoping it'll come back next summer. Now I'm looking forward to the new season of The Office and My Name is Earl, along with the new show Heroes. Hopefully this fall there will be something on worth watching other than Adult Swim.

Things that are bugging me more than they probably should...

2006-08-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

Things that are bugging me-

1. I am the most useless softball player in the world. My team won last night, but all I contributed were two blown defensive plays and no hits. I apologize to my team, I know that you know that I'm not very good, but last night was awful, even for me. I'm sorry.

2. The B-52’s were a great band who had some great songs with some real substance like Legal Tender, Song for a Future Generation and The Deadbeat Club, but they’ll always be remembered for the ridiculous Love Shack, which would definitely crack my top 10 most hated songs.

3. Transformers: The Movie gave me unrealistic expectations for the millennium. The movie came out in 1987 but takes place in the year 2005. So what gives? It’s the year 2006 and I have yet to see any form of intergalactic civil war involving giant robots.

From the Obvious Files...

2006-07-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

So Lance Bass of N'Sync revealed he's gay. Wow, this is some seriously shocking news.

In other news, I have long hair and like heavy metal.

How do I spell video game love?

2006-07-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

With two letters- a D and an S. The Nintendo DS is by far my favorite video game system right now, by and large because of innovative titles like Brain Age.

Brain Age isn't your typical running, jumping and blowing stuff up video game. Instead, it was based on a series of tests created by Dr. Ryuta Kawashima designed to be a daily workout for your brain. The exercises consist of fairly simple tasks like reading aloud, simple arithmatic, counting syllables in sentences and such. Then, based on how quickly and how accurately you complete the exercises, the game tells you the age level your brain is working at. Then, as you complete the tasks from day to day, the game charts your progress overall and for each different exercise It sounds boring, but I swear it's not, it's actually very addictive.

Another cool feature is the inclusion of 100 different Sudoku puzzles. I'd never even heard of Sudoku until about a month ago, but now I've given it a try I see what the fuss is about. Like the rest of the game, it's very addictive and a lot of fun. Not only that, but after solving a Sudoku puzzle, I feel like the smartest man alive.

What I appreciate most about Brain Age is Nintendo's willingness to think outside the box and create a game that not only video game nerds like myself can enjoy, but something that people like my parents can also enjoy. I don't know how else to say it, but Nintendo gets it. While Sony is busy trying to show the world how big their technological wang is and Microsoft continues to churn out yet more WWII first person games, Nintendo is focusing on what matters most- fun. God, I can't wait fo see what they do with their Wii. (HEY-O!!!)

New Getter Robo- A PLW Anime Review

2006-07-13T14:44:00.000-05:00

Alright, it's common knowledge that I loves me some anime and will not hesitate to completely geek out in coversations in which any reference to those sweet, sweet cartoons from Japan is made. I don't think it's possible to know me for long and not know that. However, I won't watch just any form of anime. I'll be honest, I just like stuff with sweet giant robots, ninjas and lots of blood and violence. For my admittedly shallow tastes, New Getter Robo is just what the doctor ordered.

New Getter Robo is a remake(hence the "new") of the classic series from the 70's, Getter Robo. In NGR, the earth is under constant attack from demons called the Oni. So to combat them, Professer Saotome creates a series of robots so completely badass that most people die trying to pilot them, so he has to find the right pilots. The first one he finds is Ryoma, a hot headed, down on his luck martial arts instructor. Next, he finds Hayato, a sadistic political revolutionary. Last, he recruits Benkei, a buddhist monk trying to atone for his past of violence and debauchery. Together, they pilot the Getter Robo, which is actually three aircraft that can be configured into three different robot modes. Getter 1 for overall badassery (piloted by Ryoma), Getter 2 for speed (piloted by Hayato) and Getter 3 for heavy hitting and underwater use. The three must not only learn to pilot the Getter Robo, but also learn to work together despite their conflicting personalities. It's cliche', I know, when when there are totally sweet giant robots kicking ass, I'm okay with that.

The disc contains episodes 1-4 (out of 13 total episodes) and they mainly focus on introductions of the characters and the crisis at hand. Episode one focus's on the introduction of the Professor Saotome, the Getter Robo and Ryoma, episode two introduces Hayato, episode three introduces Benkei and episode four focus's on them learning to work together. While there are a few choice moments, such as Hayato kicking the crap out of a bunch of Yakuza thugs in episode one or seeing what a psychotic bastard Hayato is in episode two, not much is really done to advance the storyline. This is pretty typical for this kind series, but things do drag a little bit in episode three and for the first half of episode four.

My interest in the series probably would have started to wane at episode three had it not been for the fact that this series has plenty of violence and blood, but also for the style of art the directors chose to go with. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, it's almost like the 70's anime style fused with the art of the Japanese feudal era. It sounds strange but it totally works and also gives the series a look completely it's own.

Overall, I enjoyed this DVD a lot, but I'll be the first to say it's definitely not for everybody. The plot (so far) is pretty shallow and the violence is pretty much non stop. But, if you like giant robots don't have a problem with copious amounts of blood and simply want to watch something that's a lot of fun, I'd say give New Getter Robo a try.

Holy crap!!!

2006-07-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

Dawne is on AIM right now!! Do I give in to temptation??? AAAAARRRRRGH!!!

Can't decide...

head about to explode...

The Weekly PLW Hell's Kitchen Review- Rachel Can Fuck Off Edition

2006-07-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

So after no Hell's Kitchen last week, I was really, really looking forward to this episode. With the red team starting to fall apart and the blue team seemingly starting to come together, things were getting interesting.

Well, it turns out after last episodes dinner service (in which Tom the New Jersey douchebag got kicked off), both teams still have a long way to go. It seemed that a big problem both teams were having with the last dinner service was that no one was tasting food before they sent it out, so Chef Ramsay set up a little taste challenge. He started off by presenting a table which included cheese fondue, pate', caviar and some sort of chicken kebab. Little did either team know that the fondue was made from melted spray can cheese, the pate' was from ground hot dogs, the caviar was from catfish eggs and the kebabs were made from frozen dinners. It was actually pretty funny watching everyone dig in and trying to see who could sound like the most pretentious food snob. The only one who seemed to give any indication that something wasn't right was Heather, who kept sniffing the kebabs and making a weird face. Finally, Chef Ramsay let them know what it was they were actually eating, and it looked like everyone felt like a dumbass, which led them into this weeks challenge.

The challenge for this week was a taste challenge in which each contestant was blindfolded and given earmuffs anf then given different foods to identify by taste alone. Victoria, the hot salad chef wound up winning the challenge for the red team (which now consists of Victoria, Rachel, Maribell and Sara the Whore), and the blue team (which is now down to Heather, Garret and the not quite as big of a douchebag as I originally thought Keith who still is kind of a douche) to clean the kitchen from the previous nights service.

The reward for the red team was quite possibly the worst thing for Sara the Whore's already unjustifibly inflated ego. They got to go on a photo shoot for TV Guide and were given the whole celebrity treatment and such with limos, champagne, etc... Sara just acted completely ridiculous through the whole thing and wound up farting during the shoot. Wow, that is one classy broad. Now, if she would have lit it, then I'd take back every bad thing I've ever said about her. But she didn't and she's still a cunt.

So the dinner service started and Chef Ramsay was determined to finally have a complete service in which all of the guests were served. Things started off badly for the blue team when Heather (probably a lesbian) got laid into from Chef Ramsay for starting to cook the pasta too early. I was starting to wonder about the blue team because this time they didn't seem to have it together. I think if Heather has one weakness, it's that she tries too hard sometimes. She was trying to help both Keith (douche) and Garrett (prison bitch) when they didn't ask for or even seem to need any help. Chef Ramsay also lambasted Keith (still a douche) for a dish that was sent back and it really seemed to rattle him. Still, the blue team managed to pull it together and complete their part of the service.

The red team, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of the blue team. Things started off smoothly for them as they got their starters out, but after a dish was sent back for having a hair in it, things started to fall apart. The hair was a black hair, and seeing as Maribell (also a douche) was the only one on the red side with black hair, it was pretty obvious who's hair it was, but she denied it and acted like a total retard. Speaking of retards, Rachel completely buckled under the pressure in this episode and was a consistent fuck up. For whatever reason, she couldn't seem to get anything right. Victoria (hot, but probably wouldn't go down)) for once seemed to rise to the occasion while Sara (who probably has some form of crotchrot) didn't fuck things up.

When all was said and done, the blue team had the better service and won the evening. Victoria was named best of the worst and given the task of nominating the people going to the chopping block. She picked Rachel because she had been a complete fuck up the whole night and surprisingly chose Maribell for the hair incident. Not surprisingly, Chef Ramsay eliminated Rachel.

One thing I really liked about this episode and Chef Ramsay in general is that while he's a perfectionist and a complete hard ass, he's also perfectly willing to give encouragment and praise when it is due. Keith, while slightly retarded, has always been pretty strong in the kitchen but had a bad night this time around and caught Ramsay wrath. Afterwards, Ramsay pulled him aside and asked Keith if anyone had ever told him he was a good cook. Keith said no, so Chef Ramsay looked him in the eye and told him he was a good cook and that he believed in him. I thought that was really cool.

All in all it was a another good episode and bye bye Rachel, don't bother to write.

Way to go out like a champ, Zidane...

2006-07-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I watched the World Cup final between France and Italy in all of it's international glory. I used to keep up with European soccer quite a bit (I support Celtic and Manchester City) but will admit that over the past couple of years I've drifted away a bit. Anyway, I tried to catch as much as possible of this year's World Cup and my interest in soccer has been renewed.

One of the players I was most looking forward to watching yesterday was the frenchman Zinedine Zidane, who was well on his way to being remembered with the likes of Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. However, his legacy now probably won't be remembered for being arguably the greatest player of his era, but for headbutting italian player Marco Materazzi like a dipshit. Apparently, it was because Materazzi made a comment about Zidane's mom. Not that sort of thing is called for, but really Zidane, what are you, twelve years old?

If you're not familiar with european soccer, let me make this comparison- Let's say next year in his last year as a pro, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers make it to the Superbowl. The game is close and winds up in overtime. So let's say that during a play, Warren Sapp sacks Favre and makes some comment as they're getting up. In retaliation, Favre walks up to Sapp, kicks him in the nuts and is thrown out of the game. The last game of his career, in the Superbowl, Brett Favre gets ejected. That's what this was like.

So congratulations to Zinedine Zidane, you're one of the all time great players of the world's most popular sport and this is your legacy- headbutting some dude in the biggest and supposedly final game of your career and getting thrown out over a childish comment. Good show man, good show.

Damn You, FOX Network...

2006-07-05T07:50:00.000-05:00

So, there was no Hell's Kitchen this week. Instead, Fox chose to show some movie I vaguely remember being in the theatres a few years ago about deep sea diving or something. I was bummed. I mean, I know it was the night before the 4th and all, but I was really looking forward to Hell's Kitchen. So, I guess I'll have to wait until next week to see if anyone gets their revenge on that bitch Sara.

The PLW Media Review- Live Music Edition

2006-06-29T14:29:00.000-05:00

It was looking like it might be a bleak summer for metal in Dallas. First, the lineup for Ozzfest was announced, and for the most part it was terrible. So, when the dates were announced and there wasn’t a Dallas date, it was no big deal. Then, the lineup for Sounds of the Underground was announced and it was piss your pants awesome. However, the tour dates were announced and the closest SotU would be to Dallas was San Antonio. Damn. Two major metal tours this summer, no Dallas dates.

Enter Slayer. They wisely turned down a spot on the Ozzfest tour in favor of their own summer tour, The Unholy Alliance. When I heard the lineup, I got sixteen major boners. It was as if Slayer had asked me to help them put together a tour and the conversation went like this-

(ring)

Me: Hello?

Kerry King: Hi, Shawn, this is heavy metal legend Kerry King from Slayer, what’s going on?

Me: Hey heavy metal legend Kerry King, not much. I heard you guys turned down a slot on Ozzfest.

Kerry King: Yeah, the lineup really sucks this year and we fucking hate that cunt Sharon.

Me: Whoa, that’s uncalled for. That’s not a nice thing to say about the lineup.

Kerry King: Yeah. Anyway, we’re putting together a tour for this summer and wanted your input. What bands would you want to see us with?

Me: Off the top of my head, how about Mastodon and Lamb of God?

Kerry King: SWEET!! I was thinking the same thing. Man, it’s like you’re the 5th member of Slayer!!

Me: Well, I am pretty cool.

Kerry King: Okay, we were hoping to have a couple of other bands, maybe someone from Europe…

Me: Are Children of Bodom doing anything this summer?

Kerry King: Lemme check… No, they’re free.

Me: Sweet. You should definitely get them, they wail.

Kerry King: Totally. Okay, we need one more band…

Me: How about Behemoth?

Kerry King: No can do, they’re doing Sounds of the Underground.

Me: The Red Chord?

Kerry King: Nope, they’re doing Ozzfest.

Me: Damn!!

Kerry King: I have a suggestion, how about Tom Araya’s kid brother’s band, Thine Eyes Bleed?

Me: I don’t think I’ve heard them…

Kerry King: Dude, you’d totally dig them, even though the rest of the band is Canadian.

Me: Yeah? Well, I’ll take your word for it. You are heavy metal legend Kerry King.

Kerry King: I know.

Me: Well, I gotta go, but it was good talking to you again, heavy metal legend Kerry King.

Kerry King: Right on, man. We just wanted to make sure that you approved of our tour this summer.

Me: Thanks man. Talk to you later.

So, after getting my tickets and waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the big day finally came this past Saturday. It was a long afternoon of anticipation, but around 4:45 I started to make the trek out to Grand Prairie to see what was sure to be my favorite concert of the summer. The show was to start at 5:30, so forty five minutes should have been plenty of time to get to the venue and have a little time to spare, but as soon as I got on the freeway the biggest rainstorm in months decided to hit, slowing traffic down to a crawl. So, it took a lot longer than expected to get to Nokia Theatre and I missed Thine Eyes Bleed, which sucked, because I was really curious to see them. Though while caught in the rain I did see lightning strike a road sign, which scared the crap out of me but at the same time was pretty sweet.

So, while disappointed I missed the first band, I knew there were four more amazing bands to see. Children of Bodom from Finland were up next, and I was looking forward to seeing them. There latest album Are You Dead Yet? kicks ass and every live review I’ve read about them has been nothing short of stellar. I also noticed a lot of people seemed to be buying their shirts at the merch booth, so it looked like the crowd would be into it. Well, CoB didn’t disappoint. They came out, kicked ass and left the audience wanting more. My suspicions at the merch booth were confirmed, there were a lot of people there to see CoB judging from the audience reaction. It was my first time to see them but I have a suspicion it won’t be my last. They were amazing.

Next up was Mastodon, who next to Slayer, was my favorite band on the bill. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see many people wearing their shirts and was kind of afraid they might be too well received. To be honest, it wouldn’t have surprised me, because Mastodon is one of the few metal bands I can think of that doesn’t sound like anyone else. While in my opinion this is a good thing, it can also work against a lot of bands, because sometimes people have trouble with music they can’t immediately categorize and say “Okay, this band sounds like this band, therefore they’re a death/thrash/whatever band.” When Mastodon came out and opened with Iron Tusk a lot of people seemed like they didn’t know what to think. But as Mastodon got further into their set with songs like Megalodon and Circle of the Sasquatch (off of their upcoming album Blood Mountain) the audience really started to warm up to them. When they ended their set with Blood and Thunder, they had a sizable pit going and had seemed to have won over most of the audience. Personally, I thought they were brilliant and think they’re the best band in the current new wave of American metal.

Lamb of God was up next, and in the audience I think I saw as many of their shirts as I did Slayer shirts. I began to wonder if they’re about to break out of the underground and join the ranks of bands like Slayer and Slipknot as a major draw on their own. After seeing their set, I think they’re pretty much done with being a small venue headliner/big venue support act. When their new album Sacrament hits the stores, they’re going to explode and it’s about fucking time. Their set was nothing short of brutal. They came out and kicked ass. Their set list consisted of songs spanning their entire career with highlights being Laid to Rest and 11th Hour, which they dedicated to Dimebag Darrell from Pantera. I can’t give a lot of details on their set because I couldn’t resist getting in the pit for a few songs, but I can say this- I predict Lamb of God will get fucking huge in the next year. Consider yourself warned.

Finally, it was up to Slayer to close out the night. I have to admit, as I was in my seat recovering from the Lamb of God set, I was wondering they had upstaged Slayer. After the frenzy that LoG had whipped the crowd into, Slayer was in the unenviable position of having to not only sustain that energy, but take it to the next level. Could they do it?

In a word, yes. As the dry ice smoke cleared to the opening notes of South of Heaven, revealing their amps arranged to form inverted crosses and a video screen displaying their different logos through the years, the crowd erupted and I went nuts. Slayer proceeded to play a set of their greatest hits including the aforementioned South of Heaven, War Ensemble, Mandatory Suicide, Seasons in the Abyss, Dead Skin Mask, Disciple and a shitload of others. They played pretty much everything a Slayer fan would want to hear, including the new song Cult, which will be on their upcoming new album. The highlight of their set was the final two songs of the evening, the first being a brutal version of Raining Blood, which they did under a sea of red lights and the video screen showing falling red inverted crosses. After which, they went straight into Angel of Death, which Tom Araya hardly sang, because the audience, including myself, was doing it for him. This was my sixth time to see Slayer and it might have been the best.

It’s been four days and finally I’m over the soreness in my neck, shoulders, arms and legs from the thrashing and moshing at the best damn metal show I’ve been to in ages. I’m still not over it though because I still can’t believe how good it was and how much fun I had.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, I have a few words for you- Be afraid, be very afraid. With Ozzy’s inability to do a full Ozzfest tour and you having to find other headliners, lineups like the one you put together on this year’s shitfest aren’t going to fly with fans. Look at the message board on the Ozzfest website and see what the fans are saying. They aren’t happy. Look at what Slayer are doing and putting together a real metal tour with real metal bands, not that Avenged Sevenfold/Atreyu/Norma Jean poser bullshit. And don’t think you have to reduce yourself to that to get an audience, because there were a shitload of people in Dallas having a damn good time. I hope when you’re planning next year’s Ozzfest you’ll look at The Unholy Alliance and see how a metal tour should be done.

The PLW Media Review- Hell's Kitchen Edition

2006-06-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

Okay, I’ve given it a couple of weeks and I think my original fears about this season of Hell’s Kitchen may have been premature, because things are starting to get good. To recap-

The teams are divided between the men and women. The men won the first challenge and service, but the women struck back by winning the next challenge and service. The first guy to get cut was Gabe, who seemed like a pretty nice guy, but also came off as being completely useless in the kitchen. In the next week, the women won again and Giacomo, the guy I liked for his sweet hair and youthful enthusiasm got the axe. Why? Because he forgot to turn on the oven. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the handiest guy around the kitchen and there must have been a million things going on in Giacomo’s head, but forgetting to turn on the oven? Isn’t that day one material in Cooking 101? “To heat up food, you have to first turn on the oven.” Anyway, the poor guy got cut, which I thought was a bit of a shame because he seemed like a nice kid.

Now, with back to back victories, everything should be great for the women, right? Wrong. Tensions are brewing between them and at the center of it is Sara, a deli chef from Dallas. To put it frankly, she’s a total whore and makes some very questionable fashion choices (since when is wearing one of those old train engineers caps considered cool?). I’ll give her credit, she’s playing the strategy aspect of the competition well, but she’s relying on sabotage and dishonesty rather than the strength of her skills in the kitchen, but more on that later.

This weeks episode started off with Heather, who is now my pick to win the competition, getting moved to the guys team because they were down to only three and in desperate need of leadership. The move worked, because the blue team won the first challenge, which was doing a lunch service for the most obnoxious children in Los Angeles. Not only that, but Tom the New Jersey douchebag actually seemed competent. Still, I imagine it’s pretty hard to mess up hamburgers, french fries and pizza, so I wasn’t ready to give him much credit. So, the blue team got the rest of the day off while the red team had to stay behind and clean up the considerable mess the kids left behind. This is where the tension started between the red team. Obviously, they weren’t happy about having to clean up after a bunch of kids, but Sara was making things worse by acting like a complete dipshit. Not only was she pissing off her teammates, but she was also pissing off one of Chef Ramsay’s cronies. She (I can’t remember her name) had enough of Sara’s dipshittery so took a cake off of a table and chucked it on the floor in front of Sara and was all like “Now clean that up, bitch.” It was pretty awesome.

So the next day everyone starts getting ready for that night’s dinner service and Chef Ramsay kept stressing how important it was that they have a complete service that night, because they haven’t been able to complete one yet. Also, their ice machine was jacked up, so whenever ice was needed someone from the red team had to make an ice run, because they lost the challenge from the day before. So, the dinner service starts and nothing is going well. Dishes are being screwed up and no one seems to have any idea what they’re doing. On top of that, Asshat Sara is sabotaging everyone else on the team by lying, saying she was never told about incoming tickets when clearly she was, making herself look good while Chef Ramsay went off on Victoria and the other chef.

Things weren’t much better on the blue side either, thanks to Tom. How this whiney ass blowhard has gotten anywhere in life is beyond me. The guy just comes of as being thoroughly incompetent in everything he does. Not only that, it’s so funny listening to this guy talk complete shit about what a total badass he is and how smart he is but does nothing whatsoever to back it up. Anyway, Tom kept screwing everything up to the point in which Chef Ramsay had to step in, tell Keith, who seems like kind of a dumbass, he does seem pretty competent in the kitchen, to take over for him. And to add insult to injury, Chef Ramsay also told Tom to watch Keith and not to cook anything else. It looked like Tom was going to cry, I LOVED it.

Still, this dinner service was a total disaster and Chef Ramsay shut the kitchen down early. Again. Both teams really did suck equally but to no one’s surprise, Tom got cut. He kept whining about how he didn’t know what he was going to do with his life now and again looked like he was going to cry, and again I loved it. I hate this douchebag. Still, there’s a lot going on with the red team and I think Chef Ramsay will wise up to Sara. She can only pull the wool over his eyes for so long.

Like I said a couple of weeks ago, for the most part I hate this type of reality TV, but I can’t get enough of Chef Ramsay, this guy rules. I can’t wait for next week’s episode and will have to pass the time watching Chef Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares on BBC.

VIVA LA RAMSAY!!!

New! Exciting! The Dawne Tracker!!!!

2006-06-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

It looks as if Yours Truly was the topic of a blog devoted to nothing but tracking the exploits of my favorite internet looney, Dawn with a silent E. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. Also, thanks to whoever came up with the idea and made it happen. You're a genius.

http://crazyfan.wordpress.com/

I hear the thunder outside...

2006-06-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

...Slayer must be doing their sound check right now.

Tonight will be the greatest night in metal of all time. I'm lucky enough to be attending the Unholy Alliance tour featuring Thine Eyes Bleed, Children of Bodom, Mastodon, Lamb of God and Slayer. I'm about to wet myself just thinking about it.

I'll post a full review tonight.

It just ain't right.... again.

2006-06-22T21:40:00.001-05:00

What the fuck,man? WHAT THE FUCK?? This is quite possibly the most fucked up thing you could ever give your daughter (or son, if that's how he rolls) as a gift. "Here you go, kid. I'm going to teach you tolerance and diversity with a Barbie named Oreo!!"

Great job, Mattel, great job...

Apologies to All

2006-06-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

It looks like apologies are in order to everyone who posts and/or reads this blog. Somehow, I inadvertantly turned on the comment moderation option without realizing I'd done so. So, any comments made I'd have to approve before they would be able to be viewed. However, I didn't know this so there's been a backlog of comments I didn't know I had to approve.

So yeah, I'm pretty dumb sometimes. A big thanks to my lovely fiance for pointing out that something might be wrong with the comments here. I just thought that nobody was reading.

Three Things Going Through My Head Right Now...

2006-06-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

1. I hate the entire city of Miami.

2. I can't get enough of the Quik Trip. They must put an addictive ingredient in their fountain drinks that make you crave them fortnightly. (smart ass)

3. I can't wait for Superman Returns.

The PLW Media Review for the Week of 6/12/06- Music Edition

2006-06-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, so as you may or may not know, in the past year I've really embraced my metal roots and have come completely out of the closet about being a metalhead. It's not that I've ever denied being into metal, but I'd always just downplay it because I'd kind of begun to believe that maybe it wasn't a cool thing to be into and it somehow didn't jibe with my love of indie rock. Well, fuck that, metal rules, (which isn't to say I don't love bands like the Postal Service, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or The New Pornographers)

Anyway, thanks to the Virgin Megastore going out of business 50% off sale, I had a chance to stock up on a lot of CD's and most of what I bought was metal. One of the albums I picked up was Dimmu Borgir's Stormblast, which had been rerecorded and included a bonus DVD. The only Dimmu Borgir album I had before picking up Stormblast was their most recent release, Death Cult Armageddon. It's by no means bad, but it also didn't blow me away. However, I'd heard that Stormblast was the Dimmu Borgir album to own, and seeing as it was half off, I figured I'd give it a shot.

This album pretty much rules. I totally need to join a black metal band. First, I'd get to have a totally sweet name like Shagrath, Necrobutcher or Hellhammer. Second, I'd get to wear totally cool things like spiked shinguards and bracelets. On top of that, I could parade around in totally evil corpsepaint. People would then see me and be all like "Holy crap, that guy walks around in corpsepaint and spiked shinguards, he's totally evil and doesn't even care!!!" Last, I'd be in a band that makes totally kickass music that would make my mother in law go crazy and then start crying.

I could go on about the shreiking vocals and epic songs that conjure images of the vast Norwiegen wilds and the evil that lurks there, but all you need to know is that this album kicks ass. Sure, the vocals are in Norwiegen, but it's not as if you can understand them anyway, so who gives a fuck? This is essential metal, period.

The PLW Media Review for the Week of 6/12/06- TV Edition

2006-06-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

For the most part, I hate reality TV, but for some reason last summer I got totally addicted to the Fox series Hell's Kitchen featuring Chef Gordon Ramsay. I guess the thing that drew me into this show was how much Chef Ramsay reminded me of one of my all time favorite art teachers, a man by the name of of Tim Pashley. Both are total hard asses, both will make you want to beat the shit of them, but they'll also praise you when you've earned it and make you better at what you're doing. The premise of the show is that aspiring chefs go to a culinary boot camp with Chef Ramsay acting as their drill sargeant. At the end, the winner will be awarded with their own restaurant. Pretty standard reality TV fare.

So Monday night the 2 hour premier of the new season of Hell's Kitchen kicked off. This time around it's the men vs. the women in the initial elimination rounds. I get the feeling I'm not going to like this season nearly as much as last season, mainly due to the contestants. I'd describe them so far as being slimy, whiny or a combination of both.

On the guys side, you have one guy who's a former stockbroker who kicks off the show by sweating in the food he's preparing, another guy who's a bartender and has is about as dumb as he looks and a guy who learned to cook while he was in prison.The only guy who looks like he might be somewhat likable is the mop topped Giacomo, who's actually from the Dallas/Ft Worth area (Euless, I believe). He's the only one who seems to be somewhat honest and might have some shred of decency. However, I don't think he's long for the show, seeing as he's young and appears to be pretty inexperienced.

The girls fare a little bit better, but there's this one bitch from Dallas who I really want to see Chef Ramsay lay into. I don't know how, but she managed to dodge a bullet in the first episode and not get eliminated after being a consistent fuck-up. Then there's the salad chef who's kind of hot (she reminds of this girl I used to work with years ago), but also a bit clueless about any kind of food that isn't based on greens of some sort and is cooked. My money is on Heather, who's the only one who seems to have any clue as to what's going on and despite burning her hand in the second episode, still continued to kick ass.

Unless things somehow start to get really good, however, I'm not sure I'm going to stick with Hell's Kitchen this time around. The contestants this time around are for the most part a really unlikable lot and something just seems to be missing. I'll give it a couple of more episodes to see how it turns out, but I'm not holding my breath.

To Quote Stewie Griffin...

2006-06-11T00:36:00.000-05:00

"This so good it just has to be fattening!!!" More comedy from my favorite Kids Inc. fan Dawne at her blog at http://www.imallwrite.com/weblog/.

The latest study in Teh Crazy from Dawne-

You just don’t get it, do you? You wouldn’t keep chucking fans at me if you did. What good is trying to fix things if you just stick your fingers in your ears and pretend I’m not here? You don’t WANT to understand because it’s more convenient for you! If you paid attention in the first place, none of this would have happened! I suppose you’re actually cooing over that fake holiday shit that they made up so that you would think they were “real” fans, without even bothering to see they’ve actually insulted WO, and couldn’t even be bothered to do their homework. I used to think you were smarter than that. Guess not. Anyone who thinks Bucher doesn’t lie and manipulate in order to get you to believe what he wants ought to check again.

Oh, and I am indeed right: forgery - signing someone else’s name to something with the intent of tricking a person - is a felony! Now, who do we know that’s signed someone else’s name - twice - because she thought it was funny since all of her fans were doing it?

I know DAMN WELL it was a trick, because Randy told me what was really going on! First of all, it was HIS IDEA for that stupid bribe, NOT MINE! Besides, I didn’t believe the damn card, anyway! You never noticed a damn thing I did until I started yelling! All these years, I’ve been here, I said a whole bunch of great things, and EVERYONE ELSE gets all the emails and phone calls and links! And I’ll bet EVERYONE ELSE got their letters answered, even though I’ve sent tons of them and you never once noticed! I’ve even sent letters to Renee, and I have no idea if she even got them, because even though one of them had my cell phone number in it, I didn’t know it was going to get shut off after I sent the letter, so now I’ll never know if she actually called it or not - but if she did get them, couldn’t she…I don’t know…WRITE SOMETHING BACK?

WHY IS IT YOU NEVER NOTICE I’M HERE UNLESS I’M YELLING? I’m just going to keep going until I get through to you, because I deserve an apology, and I’m not going away until I get one. If you think it’s okay to lie to me and have my site shut down and have everyone pretend to be Renee and have people pretend to be my friends long enough to convince me to write to her like that and then disappear even though I really thought they liked me and I hadn’t even done anything to make them mad at me, well then you don’t even DESERVE me as a fan, and why the hell would you continue to pay money to have a site set up if you DIDN’T think that all these people were better than me and that the few measly fans you met were all that there was?

I don’t know what else I can do to be good enough for you. I did everything that these idiots did! I bought all the stuff they did and created a whole damn website and joined that stupid fan club - WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?

What are they doing that I’m not? What have they got that I haven’t? I don’t understand why they are your favorite little fans when I’ve done everything they have and yet I don’t even rate! I’m not even a person to you, am I? What makes their sites so “GREAT”? Because you’ve met them? That has to be it! It’s the only difference between them and me - AND THAT JUST ISN’T FAIR! All that sappy shit you wrote in the damn card and you STILL couldn’t answer the one question I’ve been asking for 5 years now - Why do you treat fans you’ve met better than the ones you haven’t? And don’t say you don’t, because YOU GAVE THE ENTIRE DAMN SITE TO A FAN YOU MET! I wasn’t even asking for freaking autographs! All I wanted was an answer, and now you try to make me look greedy. I was so happy when I got it, though! I actually thought that I had gotten through to you at last, and they were wrong about you hating me and not wanting me around. I was actually going to leave after that - but you can thank your asshole fans for pointing out that it was just another trick! YOU DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO GET ANGRY AT THOSE FAKE RENEES! That was wrong, and you just let it slide! YOU KNOW THAT I WAS YELLING AT THEM AND NOT HER! You deliberately kept her in the dark even though I could swear both of your pictures are on here. And now the one person I’ve waited 23 years to say thank you to hates me and thinks I hate her, and I can’t clear it up! The LEAST you could do is answer something YOURSELF! I’m sick and tired of hearing what everyone else has to say! Don’t you even open the P.O. Box anymore? I even sent a thank you note for that stupid card! So you see, I TRIED!

If you supposedly wanted this all over and your board looking all nice and pretty with people sucking up to you and me to go away, why didn’t you just think of asking ME what was going on instead of everyone else? I know I should have pressed Randy to pass on my phone number to you (bet he never told you he called me, did he?), but you could have asked for it, too! You have to have an email address to post here - did you ever think of looking mine up? How am I supposed to believe that you treat fans equally when you can go to them and not me? IF IT’S ALL ME, ME, ME DOING IT LIKE THEY SAY, WHY NOT FIND ME AND SEE WHAT THE FUCK THE PROBLEM WAS?

You never even tried to see me as one of your fans with incredibly hurt feelings. I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that. I’m sure you won’t get this message or any of the others I’ve been trying to send you. But you would if you actually saw me.

An open letter to this Renee person that Dawne seems to love a little too much:

Hi Renee, my name is Shawn and we don't know each other. That's okay because I'd probably think your music sucks and you probably wouldn't like me. But that's not the point of this. Whatever you're doing to make Dawne so crazy, please continue. You're responsible for being the catalyst for some great comedy. But in an effort to keep the comedy alive, please stay out of Virginia. I have a feeling if Dawne knows you're there you'll wind up as a skin suit, like in Silence of the Lambs. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Your Pal,
Shawn

On the Subject of Gay Superheroes...

2006-06-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not have heard, DC recently announced that a new version of Batwoman is on the horizon. Normally, this kind of thing isn't newsworthy, seeing as new comic book characters come and go every week. However, what makes this newsworthy is that the new Batwoman is gay, or as described by the New York times, a lipstick lesbian.

I'll be the first to say that there definitely needs to be more diversity in comics. One of the most common and justified criticisms of the comic book medium has been the lack of representation of different minority groups as major characters. When they have been represented, they've been shallow, one dimensional stereotypes. Having said this, I'd like to applaud DC for creating a gay character, but I won't.

Why? because they took the easy way out. It looks like instead of coming up with a complex, three dimensional character who happened to be gay, they came up with something else to get the fanboys foaming at the mouth. I mean seriously, what dude wouldn't want to see a hot redhead dressed up in black latex getting it on with another hot chick? I'll admit, I'd pay to see that. Fanboy fantasies aside, this isn't controversial or challenging, it's just fucking easy.

Why is it so difficult to come up with a gay character who isn't there strictly for sex appeal, or on the other side of the coin, have a gay character in which everything about their character doesn't revolve around the fact they're gay? Why can't the comic industry come up with a superhero who is confident, powerful, charasmatic and just happen to be gay?

Well, congratulations DC, you made the news and got people talking, which is what I'm sure you wanted. Let me know when you actually decide to do something challenging and not take the easy way out.

Having said that, you really should be reading Teen Titans right now. It's really, really fucking good.

It just ain't right...

2006-06-05T19:41:00.001-05:00

"Hey kid, got any Kryptonian in you?

No?

Want some?"

It just ain't right, Pt II

2006-06-05T19:41:00.000-05:00

Truth, justice and the white American way...

I'd like to hope that someone lost their job over this. I mean really, how did this get by the editors?

I had a catchy title but I forgot what it was...

2006-05-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, so if you read this blog with any regularity, you probably know me fairly well. If you know me fairly well, you probably know that A) I have a tendency to run my mouth and B) I love being right so much that I will fight until the end to be right despite the fact I know I'm probably wrong.

This combination of character flaws, while bad on their own, tend to make things worse when combined. I'm not going to go into the detail of the story, because it's actually pretty mundane. But I will say this, I'm about to eat a lot of crow here due to the fact I ran my mouth off at my lovely and intelligent fiance' Jess over DART scheduling and destinations. She told me I was wrong and had evidence to back it up, but I refused to listen. In fact, I was so sure of myself I told her that if she could prove me wrong I'd wear a sandwich board to Journey stating how she was always right. Well, she proved me wrong.

In her infinite mercy, she backed off the sandwich board at church and told me she'd just settle for a blog post. So here I am to tell the world that I should listen to Jess more often than not, because more often than not I'm the one who's wrong. In fact, with a couple of exceptions, one could even say she's ALWAYS right. Why? Because she's much smarter than me.

So here I am, to be ridiculed by all of the intarwebs because I don't know when to shut my mouth.

NATIONAL SLAYER DAY!!!

2006-05-18T07:39:00.000-05:00

This will be the greatest holiday ever in the history of holidays.

http://www.nationaldayofslayer.org/

I've reached a level of nerdom I didn't even think was possible...

2006-05-11T00:27:00.000-05:00

The other night I dreamt I was in a video game. Not playing, mind you, but an actual character in a video game. It wasn't some game made up by my subconscious either, in the dream I knew immediately what game it was. It was an obscure game for the Playstation 1 called Tecmo's Deception.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why my brain chose this. Don't get me wrong, this was a great game and in my opinion, it's one of the most underrated games for the PS1. The premise of the game is that you're a spirit who was unjustly murdered and is now haunting a castle. Adventurer's, theives and the like invade the castle searching for treasure and you, as the spirit, set traps for them to keep them away from what's yours. So in the dream, I was the spirit and I was going around setting traps for any would be invaders. It was totally sweet.

When Tecmo's Deception was released in the late 90's, there was nothing else like it then and I can't think of anything recently released that has been similar. It's easily one of the most original games I've ever played and it would definitely be on my Top 20 PS1 Games of All Time list.

Having said that, I haven't even thought of this game in years and I'm stymied as to why my subconcious chose this game to build a dream around. Honestly, I have no clue. I did, however, find a copy of the game on eBay in supposedly like new condition for less than twenty bucks, so I went ahead and bought it. I'm looking forward to playing it again.

Suicide

2006-04-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

For a Monday, everything was going well. I'd just come back from a weekend at the lake. I'd gotten a lot accomplished at work and the weather was great. I came home from work, ate some dinner, watched some TV and played video games. Things were still great. Then I decided to go up to Starbucks and pick up my tips for the week, Then, things all of a sudden became the exact opposite of great. I got the news that my friend and co-worker Fudakochi Narcisse had committed suicide.

Fuda was one of my closest friends at Starbucks, he was one of the only two people there I'd ever hung out with outside of work and actually wanted to. He was one of the friendliest people I've ever known and had a great sense of humor. Of course by "great" I mean "tells jokes that result in nothing but groans and rolled eyes", but it was his unique brand of humor. He was also a brilliant musician and turned me on to a lot of the dub reggae stuff I'm into now such as Augustus Pablo, Alpha and Omega and Bill Laswell.

So why'd he have to do it? What was so bad in life that death was the only way out? I know he was having a rough time outside of work which I won't elaborate on, but he never seemed to give any indication it was more than he could deal with. He was always just Fuda, and when he'd talk about things going on he'd do it with a smile on his face and interject one of his horrible jokes.

It had been a while since I'd last talked to Fuda, maybe a month, but he had seemed to be doing pretty well, which is why the news last night hit me like a ton of bricks.

I'm still trying to figure out how I feel, I'm sad, angry, confused and still a little in shock. I'm sure it's pretty typical of how most people feel when they get this kind of news. I just keep looking back and wishing there was something I could have said or done, but I know that's naive and there probably wasn't much anyone could have done. All I know is that I miss him already.

Thoughts on MySpace

2006-04-18T16:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I've been doing the MySpace thing for about a month now (I know, welcome to 2004) and it really is kinda cool. I've discovered some new bands and even got in touch with an old friend who I haven't talked to in years, which I'm completely stoked about.

However, while I've been on MySpace, I couldn't help but make a few observations-

1) I get a lot of requests from cam whores and I've been denying them. If you want some comedy, if you get a cam whore request, go take a look at their profile and read the comments that some sad bastards post. It's always something like "Dizzam, gurl, U R 2 fine!!! Thx 4 teh add!!! we should hook up, yo." Honestly, I don't know which is worse, the fact that these sad sacks think the cam whore in question is a real person, or the fact they're trying to impress her with their netspeak. I think I'm going to start approving every cam whore request I get and try to post the most ridiculous comments possible.

2) There are lots of people who need to learn the phrase "less is more" in regards to customizing their pages. Seriously, you don't need to post every cute internet video or supposedly funny graphic you find to your page. Unless, of course, you're deliberately trying to make the most ridiculous page on MySpace. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making your page your own by adding a cool wallpaper, music or whatever, but just because you can add something, doesn't mean you should.

3) On the subject of bulletins- On one hand they're great. A lot of bands will post bulletins about tour dates, upcoming releases, etc... and that kicks ass. On the other, there are those who feel the need to forward every goddamn ridiculous good luck e-mail, survey, rate yourself at whatever bulletin or what have and that tends to annoy the fuck out of me. I've removed people from my friends list for such offenses already and there are a couple skating on the edge. The worst ones are the ones that were obviously created by some twelve year old girl and end with "If you don't pass this on than somone you like will laugh at you and never speak to you again..." I could understand if maybe an actual twelve year old passed it on, but I'd say when you hit fifteen, maybe you're a bit old to be doing that. But hey, that's just me.

Still, overall I think MySpace is a pretty cool thing, if for nothing else being able to keep up with my favorite bands and the possibility of getting back in touch with old friends.

www.myspace.com

Stuff and Crap

2006-04-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

I’ve been meaning to update my blog for a while now, but haven’t for a few reasons. First, I wanted to keep Thomas Bickle at the top for a while, in hopes that some random person might stumble on to this lame excuse for a blog and might find something that’s actually worthwhile in Thomas’s website.

Second, I really haven’t had much to say that I’d want to post here. I have a ton of material for another project I’ve started working on in and hope to have something up and running by the end of June. I’m still figuring out the details, but I’m looking forward to it. This is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I discovered this entity called the internet. I start giving details as it comes closer to completion. Not that anyone except a couple of people who read this blog will care, but I like to pretend they do.

Last, the infamous Dawne keeps rejecting my friend requests on MySpace. This makes me sad. I’d think she could use all the friends she could get, whether in real life or on some website. Call me crazy, but I do get the distinct impression that she might be lacking in the social skills. Still, I could be and probably am wrong. I’m sure she’s a lovely person. www.imallwrite.com

Anyway, this was the best I could do at 8:20am on a Sunday morning, when I originally came up with this post.

Thomas Bickle

2006-03-21T21:56:00.001-06:00

Not quite a month ago, I was given the very difficult news that Thomas Bickle, the 7 month old son of two of my closest frends, Sarah and Scott Bickle, was in the hospital with a brain tumor. He has been in the ICU at Children's Hospital ever since. He had the tumor removed and the operation seems to have been a success. However, this is far from over. He will soon begin chemo treatments and when those are done he'll be getting radiation treatment as well.

As you can imagine, this has put a huge financial burden on Sarah and Scott. Scott has quit his job to be home with Thomas and to take him to and from his treatments at Children's. So in addition to their hospital bills they still have to worry about day to day expenses and the upkeep of their home. In short, they need help.

To read more about their story you can visit www.thomasbickle.com . Please feel free to leave any words of encouragement and if you feel inclined, make a donation. No matter how big or small, every bit helps. This is a rough time for the Bickles so any kind of support, be it monetary or simple words of encouragement, will be greatly appreciated.

Toys from the Crypt- Power Lords

2006-03-13T12:07:00.000-06:00

The year was 1983 and Masters of the Universe were all the rage. As with any other toy phenomonon other toy companies soon followed suit with their own lines of sci-fi/fantasy action figures, cartoons, comic books and such. One line which I remember fondly were Power Lords by Revell.

I didn't really remember much of the background story for the figures, so I looked up some info on the internet and found this-

"The story of Power Lords concerns Adam Power, an earthling who is given the Power Jewel, an item of cosmic might, which allows him to change into Lord Power, a blue-skinned humanoid with red veins revealed on the outside. With these cosmic powers, Adam must face the greatest threat to the galaxy in the form of the evil dictator, Arkuss. Arkuss is best described as a purple mosquito with crab-like claws and red wings. Arkuss is nearly invincible - never needing to eat or sleep. Arkuss is determined to take Adam's Power Jewel as well as his secret stronghold, Volcan Rock and use it's weaponry to conquer the galaxy.

Shaya, The Queen of Power (a humanoid with a third eye who has cosmic might equal to Adam's and can change into a red alien form that gives off an intense heat), and Sydot the Supreme (an alien scientific genius who can best be described as Dr.Zarkov meets Mr. Spock meets Barney the Dinosaur) teamed up with Adam to help battle Arkuss.

But evil Arkuss also has helpers in the form of the loyal alien Shock Trooper called Raygoth (billed as the goon of doom) and Ggripptogg a four armed brute who hates to serve Arkuss because before Arkuss came along, Ggripptogg was the big bad guy of the galaxy and then Arkuss took it all away. "

They weren't around for long, but these were some of my favorite toys. Looking back, I think they might have been a little too out there for most kids and their parents, which is a shame. The character designs were unlike anything else out at the time. Not only that, I didn't remember any other action figures at the time that had the amount of detail Power Lords did.

Thank you Revell, for contributing to a small part of my childhood. Power Lords kicked ass.

Two things that bug me way more than they should...

2006-03-10T12:03:00.000-06:00

1. This dude at work who gets in an hour and a half before his shift starts. Granted, I don't know his situation and why he gets in as early as he does, but the earliness isn't what bugs me. He constantly paces around the office loudly. He's just one of those guys who does everything loudly, including walking. He's a decent enough guy, I suppose. I don't really know him, I just wish he'd stop being loud at 6:30 in the morning.

2. K-Swiss Commercials. I've never had any desire to own K-Swiss sneakers before, and their commercials have seen to it that I never will. The worst one is the one where a bunch of kids are sitting around trying to look street and one starts rapping "I love my K-swiss, I love my K-Swiss." Yeah, way to bust a genius rhyme, Chuck D.

I'll freely admit that I probably shouldn't be as annoyed with this stuff as I am, I'm just retarded.

Why does America ignore the Audio Drama?

2006-03-08T21:44:00.000-06:00

So as you may or may not remember, my Sirius satellite radio reciever died and not long after that, the rest of the car went with it. So, I bought a new car and needed a satellite radio fix. I decided to give XM a try because the Roady 2 reciever was only twenty dollars at Best Buy. So far, I like it. XM does some things better than XM, and some not as well, but that's not what this post is about.

One of my favorite channels on XM is called Sonic Theater. From the XM website (www.xmradio.com)- "Feel the drama. Live the suspense. Hear the story unfold. Pull up a chair in XM's Sonic Theater. Enter a world that comes alive with storytellers, actors and readers. From popular bestsellers to the classics - from abridged audio books to live radio dramas. "

Call me a nerd, but I absolutely love this channel. I love the idea of the story only being told with words and sound effects, leaving me use my imagination and come up with my own visuals. The experience for me is every bit as rewarding as any TV show or movie, sometimes even more so. When given the freedom to come up with my own idea of what a character or scene looks like, it almost feels like I own a small part of the program, because I’m the only one enjoying my version of the story. That’s part of the fun of the audio drama, nobody will have the same idea of the show. For me, it’s always fun to see and hear other peoples interpretations of the show and compare them to my own.

From my understanding (and I could be wrong on this), audio dramas are still popular in Europe and Japan. I know in Japan it’s not uncommon for popular television and anime series to be adapted to radio and in England BBC Radio 7 is devoted to nothing but things like spoken word and audio drama.

So what's up with the U.S.? Why do we not embrace this form of entertainment? Are we really so dumb that we can only be entertained by mediums that require no thinking or imagination whatsoever? Or is the idea of radio drama looked upon as some quaint throwback to the old radio programs of the 30's and 40's? I dunno. However, I do believe that if more people gave it a chance, they'd find that a well written and produced audio drama can be every bit as entertaining as any TV show.

And don't get me wrong, I loves me some TV. However, I also think it's nice to take a break from it and try out something new.

www.zbs.org
www.newfrequencyradio.com
www.themoonlitroad.com
www.joefrank.com
www.colonialradio.com
www.alienworlds.com
www.childrenofthegods.net

Thoughts on the New Spider Man Costume

2006-03-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, so lately there has been a lot internet message board controversy over the new Spider Man costume. I don’t know the exact circumstances surrounding how the new costume fits into the storyline because I still need to get caught up on the Amazing Spider Man comics, but I have seen the new costume.

All I have to say about it is this- To all of the fanboys pissing and moaning about the new costume, I suggest you help yourself to a tall, cool glass of Shut the Fuck Up. First of all, the new costume looks totally kick ass and if you don't like it you're wrong. Second, I seriously doubt it’ll be a permanent thing and third, what’s the matter with shaking things up from time to time? I for one am glad to see a new costume being used for Spidey, as I was a fan of the alternate black and white alien symbiote costume. Hell, I still wish they would find a way to work the black and white costume back into the storyline somehow.

Anyway, thank you to Marvel for having the balls to shake things up with Spidey over the last couple of years. While I haven’t always liked everything you’ve done, I do appreciate the fact you try new things and you don’t want your characters to stagnate. Now give me a job.

The Semi Weekly Comic book Roundup and Review

2006-03-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

So I picked up comics for the first time in a couple of months yesterday. I really hate it when I let things go this long because A) I love reading comics B) I enjoy the experience of going to Zeus Comics on Oak Lawn (shameless plug for the best comic shop in Dallas) and talking to the employees there and C) I feel bad that they take the time to set my titles aside for me and I just leave them sitting there for weeks. Anyway, I picked up a bunch of stuff yesterday and spent the better part of my evening getting caught up on the world of bulging muscles and spandex. My thoughts on what I read-

All Star Batman and Robin #3- I’m still not sure what to make of this title. I don’t dislike it, at least not yet. All Star Batman and Robin is a retelling of the Batman legend set in an even darker, grittier and more corrupt version of Gotham City. This issue focuses on the character of Black Canary (#2 two on my list of women from the DC universe I’d like to nail) and how she’ll fit into to alternate Gotham that writer Frank Miller has created. I wouldn’t say this is a bad issue by any means, but it just left me wondering where this series is going. Granted, it’s only issue three, so I’m curious to see where this story goes. On the plus side, Jim Lee’s art was fantastic and there some funny bits of dialogue. I give it a 6.5.

The Ultimates 2 #’s 9 & 10- Say what you want about the scheduling issues that have plagued The Ultimates since it first came out, every issue has been worth the wait. In issue nine, the proverbial shit hits the fan as the real traitor is revealed to the team. By the time they find out, it’s much too late as a super team put together by the enemies of the US invade New York and hand The Ultimates asses to them. In issue 10 there is a ray of hope for the US and The Ultimates as the traitor is taken care of and their plans are downloaded to the one team member who hasn’t been captured. Will it be enough? If you’re not reading The Ultimates, you should be. I give both issues a strong 8.5 .

Green Arrow #’s 57-59- Judd Winick (formerly of The Real World: San Francisco) over the past couple of years has become one of my favorite writers. I was a big fan of his work on The Green Lantern and when I found out he was taking over The Green Arrow, I immediately added it to my pull list. Since then, Green Arrow has become a title I look forward to every month. The past three issues have done nothing to change that, with each ending on a cliffhanger that left me begging for the next issue. I also have to say that in the wake of Identity Crisis that Dr. Light has become one of my three favorite DC Villains. The sick, twisted psycho angle works well with him. Each issue gets an 8.

I'm going to try and do this at least every week, not that most people who read my blog care about comics, but because doing stuff like this gives me incentive to post. Having said that, if you're not reading comics, you really should be. Why? Because they will make you cooler and more attractive to the opposite sex.

So I bought a new car today...

2006-02-15T20:35:00.001-06:00

So the Saturn officially died a week ago today. I'm not sure what exactly happened and I'm not sure I even want to know. All I know was the sound the engine was making as I pulled over sounded expensive to fix. Seeing as I plunked down some major sweet moolah when the transmission went out a couple of years ago, I decided I didn't want to spend what would be more than the car was actually worth. So, I decided to get a new car.

This was the first car I've ever bought on my own, and I can see why people hate buying a car so much. I can't think of any other process that's been such a mind numbing asswhip, except maybe hearing my future mother-in-law wax nostalgic about Iowa. I took the entire day off from work to do this, and I'm glad I did. I think had I tried to do this after working an eight hour day, I would have been the lead story on the nightly news after I'g gouged out the eyes of numerous car salesmen with a car key and filled the orafices with finance forms and car brochures.

Still, all's well that end's well and I'm now the proud owner of a white 2005 PT Cruiser. It wasn't what I originally wanted, but I'm glad it's what I left with. It's such a fun car to drive. Jess named him Kip and I'm ok with that. All I have to do now is get the satellite radio installed.

This Sucks...

2006-02-03T10:15:00.000-06:00

I think think mt Sirius radio reciever has officially died on me. Last night I turned it on to tune into Beyond the Pit (a nightly show devoted to death, black, grind and gore metal) and I couldn't get any kind of display to come up. I tried again on my way to work this morning, still nothing.

Dammit, this blows. This is probably somehow the fault of Dawne and Kids Incorporated.

www.imallwrite.com

Game of the Year 2005

2006-02-01T22:19:00.000-06:00

So 2005 has come to an end and a lot has gone down in the videogame world from system launches (the PSP and X Box 360) to mindless industry trends (Can we please have at least seventeen more WWII shooters? Because there aren’t nearly enough…) to games that arrived with a boatload of hype and not much else (Advent Rising). But despite the trends and hype, there were some absolutely amazing games released this year. But what were the best? Well, not that anyone cares, but here are my picks for the best of 2005.

Game of the Year- Basically, my criteria for choosing game of the year was simple- What game did I have the most fun playing in 2005? There was a lot of good stuff to come out this year; Ridge Racer, Lumines and GTA: Liberty City Stories for the PSP, God of War, Digital Devil Saga and Ratchet and Clank 3 for the PS2, Forza Motorsport, Psychonauts and Jade Empire for the X Box, and Resident Evil 4 for the Gamecube (which was the only game I bought for the GC that was released this year). It was a tough choice because these were all great games, but in the end it came down to God of War vs. Resident Evil 4.

God of War
The first word that comes to mind when I think of God of War is brutal. From dropping spikes onto the heads of a hydra to ripping open the jaws of a minotaur, this game certainly does not lack in creative and disturbing ways to kill your enemies. You assume the role of Kratos, a Spartan warrior hell bent on revenge against Ares, the God of War. While the game is a bit on the short side and there are only three bosses, this game is amazing while it lasts. The graphics are the best I’ve seen on the PS2, the epic soundtrack is quite possibly the best I’ve ever heard in a game, the control is nearly flawless and the gameplay is some of the most creative I’ve seen in a hack and slash type game. If you own a PS2, you owe it to yourself to play God of War.

Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 was probably the biggest game to come out this year for the Nintendo Gamecube. Capcom gave the new RE a complete overhaul and now it’s better than ever. The most noticeable change in gameplay is the switch to an over the shoulder view with active environments, as opposed to the older games, which used varying camera angles in static environments. Due to this, the gameplay has improved exponentially over past RE games (Make no mistake, the were excellent). Now, aiming has become much easier, allowing you to target specific areas, such as the legs or head of an oncoming zombie. Another big improvement to the game is the unlimited amount of saves the player has. I past RE games, one had to first find a typewriter ribbon that allowed a limited amount of save when used with the typewriters (which were the save points). Now, as long as you’re in a room with a typewriter, you can save as often as you like.
As with the other RE games on the Gamecube, the graphics are top notch. They convey a perfect sense of dread and impending doom, just like a Resident Evil game should. The soundtrack is also excellent, it goes hand in hand with the graphics in setting the atmosphere. Overall, this is by far the best Resident Evil game yet.
Between the two, it really was a tough decision, because both games are nearly flawless and I enjoyed every minute of both. However, because I love me some zombies and Resident Evil is my all time favorite videogame series, I have to give the Potential Lunch Winner Game of the Year award to Resident Evil 4. If you own a Gamecube, this game is essential. It’s also now available on the PS2, so if you have a PS2 you can finally see what the fuss is about. Congratulations to Capcom for injecting new life into the series and making one of the most memorable videogame experiences of all time.

The Year in Videogames, Pt. 2

2006-01-24T15:26:00.000-06:00

Best Platformer- Psychonauts (Xbox, PS2): Like with Digital Devil Saga with RPG’s, Psychonauts doesn’t add anything new in terms of gameplay to the platformer genre. Don’t get me wrong, the controls are tight, the levels are well designed and the game is a ton of fun, it’s just not very original in terms of gameplay. Where this game shines is in its presentation and storyline. The surreal graphics are perfectly suited for the setting (a summer camp for psychic kids) and the games sense of humor. Think Salvador Dali meets Animaniacs. The story is lots of fun as well, telling the tale of a psychic kid who want’s to become a Psychonaut, which is kind of a Psychic secret agent. Also noteworthy in the presentation is the quality of voice acting. It’s top notch.

Runners Up- Lego Star Wars and I want to say Ratchet and Clank 3, but I think that came out in 2004. It’s still brilliant and well worth picking up, though. I didn’t play any other platformers that came out this year, but I hear Sly Cooper 3 and Jak 3 are good.

Best Fighting Game- The only fighting game I bought this year was Guilty Gear X2, and that game is a couple of years old (but kicks ass). I’m fairly certain if I’d played Soul Calibur III, I’d love it.

Best First Person Shooter- Other than Halo 2 (which came out in 2004) the only FPS I spent any significant amount of time with was Star Wars: Republic Commando. It’s a solid game with fun multiplayer modes and great graphics. My only major complaint is that the single player mode is too short.

Best Adventure Game- Resident Evil 4 (GC, PS2): Great story, amazing graphics, kick ass gameplay. What else can be said? If you buy only one game this year, buy Resident Evil 4.

Runners Up- Ultimate Spider-Man, Gun

Best Puzzle Game- Lumines (PSP): It’s the only puzzle game I played this year, and the only one I’ll need for a long long time. Lumines is digital crack and one of the best reasons to own a PSP. After getting my PSP for Christmas (from my lovely and talented fiancée), I played this for four hours straight on Christmas day. The only thing that could pull me away was the Christmas dinner lovingly prepared by my mom.

Best Portable Game: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories- Seeing as I don’t yet have a DS and I only bought one Gameboy game this year (Fire Emblem, which was excellent) this category is really the best PSP game. It was actually a really tough choice between three games- the aforementioned Lumines, Ridge Racer and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. All are excellent games with plenty to offer. In the end, I have to go with GTA. Why? For the same reasons the PS2 and Xbox versions are so popular, total freedom to play the game however you choose. You can focus on the missions aspect and play through the story line, you can roam around, steal cars and go on a killing spree, you can hijack a police car and go on vigilante missions, you can hijack an ambulance and go rescue missions, there are so many possibilities. Not only that, the graphics are even better than the original GTA III on the PS2 and Xbox, but all of the gameplay is still intact. After picking up LCS, it didn’t leave my PSP for two weeks, even with Lumines and Ridge Racer sitting on my desk. This is the game to own for the PSP.

Runners Up- Lumines, Ridge Racer

Best Game That Had to Grow on Me- Killer 7 (GC, PS2): I’m not sure how to classify this one. It’s part graphic adventure, part shooter and all weird. I don’t know how to describe it, but based on the very mixed reviews I’ve seen online, this game isn’t for everybody. It’s definitely off the beaten path and I can honestly say there’s nothing else out there like it. Let me just say this- Can you really go wrong with a game in which your character has seven different personalities and one of which is a Mexican wrestler? Just something to think about.

Best Game I bought this Year that Didn’t Come out this Year- Katamari Damacy (PS2): You roll around a big ball collecting junk to really infectious yet weird music. That’s the game, and I can’t remember the last time I played a game this fun. I still need to get the sequel, We Love Katamari, and I anxiously await the PSP version, Me and My Katamari.

Best Game I Saved from the Bargain Bin- Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (GC): While this game will never be remembered for it’s innovation, it’s still a pretty fun game. To make it even better, I picked it up brand new for only twelve bucks. For that price, the game has quite a bit to offer. Good graphics, fun (though at time flawed) levels and cool story set in the Star Wars universe. If you find this one used and/or in the bargain bin, give it a try.

Biggest Letdown- Prince of Persia: Revelations (PSP): This was one game I couldn’t wait to have on my PSP because the Xbox versions were so brilliant. It turns out I should have checked out some reviews before buying it. It’s not that it’s bad, it just feels unfinished. First, there’s the loading. When initially loading up the game, it takes forever to load (more than the average PSP game). When the game does load, everything looks okay at first, but then the music starts cutting out and reloading at strange times, which is annoying. But worst of all is the way the game will seem to pick the worst times possible to load levels, like when you’re in the middle of a battle. It messes up your timing and makes the game a lot less fun to play. On the plus side, the graphics are great and with the exception of the loading issues, the gameplay from the other games is still intact. The shame is that with a little more time in development, this could have been a PSP game on par with Lumines and GTA.

2005- The Year in Videogames Pt. 1

2006-01-23T07:52:00.000-06:00

So 2005 has come to an end and a lot has gone down in the videogame world from system launches (the PSP and X Box 360) to mindless industry trends (Can we please have at least seventeen more WWII shooters? Because there aren’t nearly enough…) to games that arrived with a boatload of hype and not much else (Advent Rising). But despite the trends and hype, there were some absolutely amazing games released this year. But what were the best? Well, not that anyone cares, but here are my picks for the best of 2005.

Best Racing Game- Forza Motorsport (Xbox): Move over Gran Turismo, you’ve been topped. Forza Motorsport is the new king of the driving sims. It tops Gran Turismo in every category except for car selection. While GT has more cars, Forza Motorsport does feature cars from both Ferrari and Porsche (along with loads of other manufacturers), neither of which make an appearance in GT. Forza also features better and more realistic driving physics, you can’t bumper car tactics like you can in GT. If you try driving like that in Forza, you’ll pay big time. Also, Forza features a key element that’s been missing in GT ever since its inception- body damage. Not only is the damage cosmetic, it’ll also affect how your car handles, giving Forza yet another element of realism lacking in GT. Last and most importantly, Forza Motorsport features online play, which gives the game almost limitless replayability. A word of warning- Be careful about playing Forza online, those guys are serious. If you don’t know what you’re doing, not only will you lose big, the hardcore Forza players will be sure to let you know how bad you are. Anyway, Forza Motorsport is hands down the best racing game on any system.

Runners Up- Burnout Revenge (PS2, Xbox), Ridge Racer (PSP)

Best Sports Game- World Series Baseball 2K5 (Xbox): I’m not one to buy sports game updates every year, I usually wait a couple of years between franchises, so I only bought two sports games this year. World Series Baseball 2K5 and NHL 2006. Of the two, World Series Baseball gets the nod. I’m not the biggest baseball fan in the world, but this game is incredibly fun to play. It’s just the right mix of arcade and simulation to keep it fun but also give it some semblance of realism. It’s only 19.99, but don’t think this is some bargain basement game. It’s easily better than EA’s MVP Baseball, which retails for 49.99. If you like baseball games at all, this is the game to own.

Runner Up- NHL 2006 by default. It’s a fun game, though.

Best RPG- Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2): Up until the end of December, I was ready to give this award to BioWare’s Jade Empire. However, after using some Christmas money to buy Digital Devil Saga and staying up until five in the morning playing it that night, I have to give it the RPG of the year award. As far as gameplay goes, it’s a pretty standard Japanese style RPG. You go from town to town, talk to people, go through the dungeon, fight the boss, repeat. However, the world in which the game takes place is so unique you want to go further into the game just to find out more about it. On top of that, the stylized cel shaded graphics are gorgeous, some of the best I’ve seen in an RPG. The storyline is also very good, though the ending leaves you hanging for Digital Devil Saga 2, which I have yet to get. Still, if you’re into RPG’s, give this one a look.

Runners Up- Jade Empire (Xbox), Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Gameboy Advance)

Best Action Game- God of War (PS2): What can be said that hasn’t been said already? This is hands down the best action game released in ages. Buy it.

Runners Up- Ninja Gaiden: Black, Devil May Cry 3 (PS2)

There's still plenty more to talk about in the world of gaming, so be sure to check tomorrow for part two of the year in gaming and for the final PLW Game of the Year.

2005- The Year in Review, Part One

2006-01-17T10:17:00.000-06:00

Now that we're into 2006 and I've had some time to reflect, I'll go over the significant events in my life of 2005. Overall, I'd have to say 2005 was a good year, a lot happened for me personally and when I look back over my life I think 2005 will be a standout year.

Event of the Year- Not only was I able to convince a girl who should have been way out of my league to begin with to continue to date me, I somehow managed to con her into agreeing to marry me. I'm as surprised as you are.

Intarwebs Drama of the Year- The Dawne vs. Jess Kids Incorporated Royal Rumble. After posting a few lighthearted comments about the 80's children's TV show Kids Incorporated, Dawne came out of nowhere and started telling her how she should be shot and assaulted pretty much every aspect of her character. Over Kids-fucking-Incorporated. Seriously.

Truth be told, I miss that psycho. Dawne, if you're out there, I want you to know that we miss you and that you've been the source of many an inside joke. Please come back to us.
http://www.greatestjournal.com/users/dark_of_heart/

Coming in a distant second was some anonymous poster who took my jibes at Dawne seriously while I was making jokes about Canada and their dumb money.

Vacation Drama of the Year- Me getting left behind while tubing down the Guadalupe, almost combusting into a volcano of waterlogged rage, only to be calmed down by a friendly turtle. Hello turtle, I hope you and your turtle family are well. I hope to see you next summer.

Anyhoo, that's a few highlights of 2005, now saved to the intarwebs for posterity. Tune in later when I look back at The Year in Videogames. Stay tuned, kids.

The Sony PSP- More Addictive than Crack, Heroin and The Incredible Hulk Put Together

2006-01-17T08:05:00.000-06:00

One of my New Years Resolutions was to get off my ass and blog more, and I honestly mean to. However, I'm off to kind of a bad start. Why? Because my wonderful, wonderful fiancee' bought me a PSP for Christmas.

How is this interfering with my blogging? Well, I'd say I do a good 90% of my blogging on my luch break while I'm at work. However, since returning to work after my Christmas vacation, I've had my PSP with me every day, and in the blog vs. PSP battle, the PSP has been kicking the blog's ass. So, this morning, and for the rest of the week, I will be keeping the PSP safely at home to devote more time to my inane ramblings. I don't know what'll happen next week, but this week it's all about the blog.

But seriously, the PSP is so freakin' sweet.

On the Subject of Howard Stern

2006-01-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

As you may or may not know, for the past year I have been a subscriber to Sirius satellite radio. I have to say that I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. You may also be aware due to the media blitz that has taken place over the past month and half that Howard Stern was coming to Sirius. This has been pretty common knowledege for the past year, really, and knowing this played no part in my decision to become a Sirius subscriber.

Anyway, today was the big day of Howards' first broadcast on Sirius. I have to confess, when Howard first came to Dallas back in '92, I was a huge fan. I was already aware of him because of his Saturday night TV show (which was different than the one on the E network) and thought he was hilarious. Then soon after he came to Dallas, his first book came out, which I bought on the day of its' release and I was sucked in. I was convinced that God was walking the earth, and his name was Howard Stern.

But as I listened more and started to get older, Howard started to lose his charm with me. I don't know if I was growing up, or maybe I was just getting bored with his schtick, it was probably both. So eventually, I stopped listening all together.

So, this morning, I remembered my former love for Howard, so I tuned in on the way to work. I chuckled a couple of times, but it still seemed to be the same show. After about ten minutes, I switched back over to music. Don't get me wrong, I won't begrudge anyone who likes Howard Stern, everybody is different.

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I just don't get how people don't get bored with the show. Granted, I didn't listen long this morning, but it still sounded like essentially the same show it was back in '92. It doesn't seem like the show has evolved in any significant way.

So, does anyone who reads my idiodic ramblings listen to Howard? What keeps you coming back? What about his show appeals to you? I'm just curious to know if maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway, that's what was on my mind this morning.

Shameful Comic Book Confessions Pt 1

2005-12-08T13:57:00.000-06:00

As you may or may not know, in the world of comic books, I prefer the DC Universe to Marvel. This isn't to say I don't like Marvel and exclusively read DC titles, quite the contrary. There are a lot of Marvel titles I absolutely love and I think both publishers have a lot to offer, I simply prefer DC.

That's not what's shameful though. The shameful part of this entry is that one of the biggest reasons I prefer DC to Marvel is my undying love for Aquaman. That's right, Aquaman, the guy who's superpower is breathing underwater and talking to the fish. I didn't used to think this was so bad until I was recently humbled at a comic book shop in this exchange-

Me: Hey, I was in here a couple of weeks ago and saw an Aquaman/Black Manta action figure two pack and was wondering if you still had it.

Comic Shop Employee: Seriously?

Me: Um, yeah. Do you still have it?

CSE: Yeah, I was going to put it on EBay because I didn't think anyone actually wanted an Aquaman figure, but let me check... (to another employee working in the back) HEY, DO WE STILL HAVE THAT AQUAMAN/BLACK MANTA BOX SET??? SOMEONE ACTUALLY WANTS TO BUY IT!!

Me: ...

CSE 2: Seriously?

CSE: Yep.

CSE 2: (Emerging from the back room with box in hand) I action figure set devoted to the lamest superhero evr coming up. Enjoy!!

Me: Just take my money.

Ok, so Aquaman's powers arent all flashy like Superman or the Green Lantern, and he doesn't have the oh-so-dark yet totally edgy brooding angle of Batman, is this any reason to hate on Aquaman? I say no.

First, he's royalty. He's the king of Atlantis. I don't care who you are, being the king of a long lost civilization is cool. Second, being able to communicate and command sea life is NOT a lame superpower. If you're underwater and up to no good, seeing the king of Atlantis accompanied by a bunch of great white sharks coming after you will make you rethink what you're doing with your life. Third, he's married to a hot redhead, Mera.

Okay, so maybe Aquaman is lame, but I don't care, I love him anyway. So go ahead, point and the guy who likes, no, LOVES Aquaman and laugh. If being lame is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Yikes...

2005-12-05T08:02:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post. I'm sure this has been rather disconcerting for all who take the time to read my blog, because I know that theur quality of life is directly affected by ramblings.

Seriously, I don't know what's been up, I just haven't had too terribly much to say, at least that I wanted to say in a blog format. I've been working a shitload of hours at Starbucks, which has had its good and bad points. The good being the extra money and getting to hang out with some of my co-workers, who are really cool people. The bad being stupid customers and even worse, our district manager, who is hands down the biggest tool I've had the misfortune of interacting with in the past five years. I seriously can't stand that guy. Think Lumbergh (from Office Space) hopped up on lots of caffiene.

I finally bit the bullet and picked up the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy for X-Box. I have to say that I think I've been wrong about the GTA games. When I first played GTA III I never really got much into the story or mission aspects of the game, I just drove around and blew shit up. So, I got bored with it pretty quick. However, now that I've been doing the missions and getting into the story, I'm finally understanding what the big deal is about these games. It's like living in my very own mob movie, and it's almost everything I'd hoped it would be.

I'm also totally digging on this years holiday movie season. Goblet of Fire rocked, and I can't wait to see Narnia and King Kong. I'm especially looking forward to King Kong. I absolutely love the original and this looks like this will be one of the few remakes that actually does justice to the original.

That's pretty much all I've got for now. I'll try and make up for my lack of posting this week and promise at least one new post per day. I know all of the PLW readers are now just about to wet themselves in anticipation.

Shameless Promotion

2005-11-14T13:04:00.000-06:00

I just started a community blog devoted to music discussion for the members of Journey (www.journeydallas.com).

Find out more at www.journeyipodding.blogspot.com .

Anyone who wants to be a member, let me know your account name on Blogger and I'll add you to the member list. If you'd like to be a member but aren't on Blogger, just sign up for an account and let me know. I'll add you to the list. Or, if you just want to reply to posts anonymously, that's cool too.

I'm really excited about this, I think it could be a really cool thing.

Heavy Rotation Pt 2

2005-11-12T13:04:00.000-06:00

1. Soul Coughing- Ruby Vroom: Listening to this record conjures up a lot of great memories for me, most of which involve my first semester in art school. The semester was about a month old and I really hadn't made any new friends. I figured since this was an art school there had to be some people I'd have some common interests with, but so far I hadn't met any. So, I was sitting in the student lounge area with my discman and a copy of Ruby Vroom. I was finishing up some homework and a guy from my class saw the Ruby Vroom case sitting on the table and was like, "Hey man, you like Soul Coughing? "I answered yes and we started talking music. The conversation continued into class, where he introduced me to a couple of other guys, who wound up becoming my closest friends at school. Anyway, this album is great and I still can't get enough of it.

2. Sun Ra- The Magic City: I'm not too much into jazz, but for a few artists, I'll make an exception and Sun Ra is at the top of that list. I don't know if I can put my finger on exactly what I find so appealing about his music, whether it's the chaotic arrangements or the figurative space trip his music takes me on, but there's something I find so engaging about his music I don't find with other jazz artists. Also, it's great Saturday morning at 3:37AM listening.

In Heavy Rotation- 11/09/05

2005-11-09T10:26:00.000-06:00

1. Phish- Live Phish Vol. 18 5/7/94 The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX: Something weird happens to me around November. I really get into a lot more musician orented, jam band and jazz kind of stuff. Phish fits the bill perfectly and seeing as on this one they're playing my hometown, it's a personal favorite. Their cover of Cannonball by The Breeders is great.

2. Oysterhead- The Grand Pecking Order: Oysterhead is a jam type supergroup composed of Les Claypool from Primus, Trey Anastasio from Phish and Stuart Copeland from The Police. The musicianship on this album is amazing, but the songs are also great, if you're into that kind of thing. I'd suggest giving Primus a try first and if you like that, then give Oysterhead a try.

3. Primus- Sailing the Seas of Cheese: I've been all up on the Les Claypool tip this week and Sailing the Seas of Cheese is still my favorite Primus album. You can't go wrong with tunes like Sgt Baker and Those Damn Blue Collar Tweekers.

So yeah, that's what I've been listening to over the past couple of days.

Top 5 things I'd like to say at a NASCAR event but won't out of fear for my life

2005-11-07T10:16:00.000-06:00

So this weekend I went to my very first NASCAR race with my dad and brother. I have to say that I had a really good time and look forward to going back again. You really can't appreciate how fast those guys are going and how close they actually are to each other until you see it live. It really was a good time.

However, I also have to say that as much as I'd like to deny the NASCAR redneck stereotype, I can't. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of regular guys like my dad and brother there, but, there were also a lot of people who, well, let's just say they do nothing to change people's perceptions of the typical NASCAR fan. As we were waiting for the race, I started thinking of things that would be funny to yell, but didn't because I'd probably get killed. Anyway, here are the Top 5-

5. "I just don't see why gays in the military is such a big deal."

4. "I just watched Farenheit 9/11 for the eighth time, and it keeps getting better every time I see it. Fuck George Bush, Micheal Moore should run for president."

3. "You know, the more I think about it, the happier I am that the North won the Civil War."

2. "Hey, is anyone here a liberal democrat who supports gay marriage? I know I am!"

1. "I don't see what the big deal about Dale Earnhardt was. He was just a dumb redneck race car driver and obviously wasn't very good."

But, I do value my life, so I just kept my mouth shut and had a good time.

Top 5 Reasons I'm Totally Gay for Tim Schermbeck

2005-11-01T10:08:00.000-06:00

1. He brews his own beer. I recommend anything he brews, but his coffee beer is is fucking amazing.

2. He's a teacher who gives his students totally sweet projects like determining which U.S. State is the lamest. (According to his class, it's Delaware. I can't find any reason to disagree.)

3. He's one of the few people I don't want to strangle when we discuss music. He knows his shit.

4. If he beaks a bottle of Jack Daniels on the ground, he's all like "Fuck cleaning it up, I'm lighting that shit on fire!!!"

5. He's moderately attractive.

Tim Schermbeck, I love you. Please be gay with me.

Don't I wish...

2005-10-26T09:36:00.000-05:00

"ACHTUNG!

Potential Lunch Winner may actually be a spider-human hybrid

From Go-Quiz.com

DANGERDOOM!!

2005-10-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

It's hip-hop, it's Adult Swim, it's genius. If you're not familiar, Dangerdoom is the album that Adult Swim has been pimping the fuck out of lately. I wasn't sure what to think at first, because usually TV show soundtracks tend to suck ass. I'm glad to say that's not the case here.

Dangerdoom is a collaboration between Danger Mouse (the brains behind the genius Jay-Z/Beatles mashup The Grey Album) and MF Doom (I'm not too familiar with his past work, but I'm definitely going to check out more of his stuff) based on the Cartoon Network Adult Swim lineup. So, in addition to guest MC's such as Cee-Lo and Talib Kweli, you also get some hilarious appearances from AS characters such as Master Shake, Harvey Birdman and Brak.

While it sounds like a gimmick, the music on the album holds up on it's own. You could easily take out the AS guest appearances and the album would still be brilliant. Danger Mouses' sampling and production are beyond brilliant, and MF Doom has got be one of the best MC's I've heard in years.

If you like hip hop and Adult Swim, there is no reason not to buy Dangerdoom. Even if you just like one or the other, I'd still suggest giving it a try. I honestly think this is one of the best albums to be released this year.

www.adultswim.com
www.dangerdoom.com

An Open Letter to the Nation of Canada

2005-10-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Canada, or as I like to call you, the 51st state,

Hi, my name is Shawn. I know I make a lot of jokes at your expense, but the truth is that I'm actually quite fond of you. After all, you gave us Hockey, The Degrassi Junior High Saga, William Shatner, You Can't Do That On Television, Michael J Fox, Voivod and totally sweet words like "aboot". On top of that, I'm also a big fan of your liberal social policies and national healthcare plan. So please, don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way.

Would you please keep your fucking money out of the US? I swear to God if somone tries to pay for their coffee at Starbucks with Canadian coins one more time, I'm going to jam a hockey stick straight up their ass sideways and piss down the newly opened orafice while singing Blame Canada (from South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut) the whole time. I'm sick of people trying to pay for shit down here with your worthless damn money.

Sorry if that seems harsh, but I know you're a friendly and understanding people. I'd really appreciate you taking the necessary steps to prevent this in the future. Thanks!

Your Pal,

Shawn

PS- It sure is great to have the NHL back, eh?

On the Subject of Mondays...

2005-10-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

Other than getting kicked in the balls, my absolute least favorite feeling in the world is the sense of dread I get on Sunday night knowing that the weekend is officially ending. It just seems so wrong that something I'd been looking forward to for five days is over in two. I mean really, what the fuck? But yeah, on Sunday night I start getting really uneasy because I know in less than twelve hours I'll be at work.

I don't know why this is. Most of the time, I like my job. Not only that, Mondays are never nearly as bad as I build them up to be on the previous Sunday night. In fact, Mondays are usually pretty good for me. Thanks to the weekend's worth of rest, I'm almost always more alert and on top of things on Monday than I am any other day of the week, therefore, I always get a lot done. So what's my problem? I know this on Sunday night, and I tell myself everything I just mentioned, but I can't stop the feeling of dread. Of course yesterday wasn't a bad day at all, in fact, it was rather good.

You know, on second thought, I think I'd rather get kicked in the balls than torture myself the way I do on Sunday night. I suck.

SKATE ROCK RETURNS!!!

2005-10-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

The Good- After something like 13 years, Thrasher Magazine's music series is back!! I've already preordered my copy, because this disc will kick ass with bands like Die Hunns, Turbonegro, Alkaline Trio, Riverboat Gamblers and Leviathan. It also includes a DVD with live performances from Turbonegro, interviews with Tony Trujillo and Duane Peters, and a documentary on the how and why music is such a huge part of skatboarding and vice versa. FUCK YEAH!!!

The Bad- I was hoping this would lead to a CD reissue of all of the old Skate Rock volumes, because A) They were only released on cassette, B) They're way out of print and there are a couple of volumes I'd like to get my hands on and C) The volumes I do have are so old and worn out they're pretty much unlistenable. I checked the Thrasher message board and they said rereleasing the older volumes is pretty much impossible because most of the bands are long gone and there would be too many legal hoops they'd have to jump through. That fucking sucks.

Still, I'm completely stoked about the new CD. I guarantee I'll post a full review when I get it in November. Not that most of you will care.

Stuff On My Brain

2005-10-12T10:13:00.000-05:00

So I hear that my friend Sandy said I need to blog, and my friend Shannon told me the same thing at church the other night, so I figure it must be time to update.

I really haven't had too teribly much going on as of late, just wake up, go to work, go home, watch TV, go to bed, repeat. In fact, I feel like I'm in a pretty deep rut right now. Life hasn't been by any means bad, I just haven't been particularly excited by much lately.

One thing that has been exciting, however is a website I just discovered called www.super-robots.com The site is pretty lo-fi as far as the design goes, but there's a lot of great info on it regarding totally sweet Japanese super robot TV shows of the 70's and 80's. What excited me the most was that I finally found the name of a toy robot I used to have when I was a kid. If you're around my age, chances are you remember Shogun Warriors, which as far as I know, were the beginning of the 80's giant robot craze in the US. They were about two feet tall each and had totally cool features like firing missles and fists, and on top of that, they looked totally sweet. The one I had was called Daimos, and it turns out there was a complete 44 episode TV series devoted to him in Japan. So, one of these days I might try and get around to trying to find him again, because that was one friggin' sweet toy.

I also want to try and be more intentional about getting out and skating more. I claim I'm into it and all, yet I never make the time to go skate which means I probably go out and skate maybe once a month. That kinda sucks and I really need to get off of my lazy ass and skate more. You know, I piss and moan about how I'm in this rut and yet I don't do anything about it. First one who volunteers has permission to kick me in the balls.

Actually, I'd really rather you didn't kick me in the balls. I take that back.

My Top 5 for the Week of October 3rd, 2005

2005-10-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

1. Adult Swim Getting an extra hour on Sundays. www.adultswim.com

2. No longer being sick.

3. Full Metal Alchemist for the PS2. As a game it's by no means revolutionary, but for fans of the show it's fun.

4. The NBC version of The Office. I might ruffle a few feathers here, but I think it's every bit as good as the british version. Different, but still every bit as good. Move over Will Farrell, Steve Carell is the new king of comedy.

5. Sirius Coffeehouse. along with Underground Garage, Left of Center and Hard Attack, it's one of my favorite Sirius channels. www.sirius.com

Fuck Being Sick

2005-10-03T12:58:00.000-05:00

So I've been sick the past couple of days. Yesterday, I thought I was feeling better, then I woke up today and was feeling worse than ever. My throat and chest feel like they're lined with sandpaper, my head feels like it's made of stone and has demolition derby going on inside, and my nose feels like it's filled with mayonnaise. Needless to say, I'm not in a good mood, so I'm going to do a little venting-

Fuck the Raiders

Fuck the entire city of Philadelphia

Fuck those crotch rocket motorcycle riding assrammers

Fuck the NHL

Fuck baseball

Fuck people who think mayo on a hamburger is a good idea

Fuck onions

Fuck Toby Keith

Fuck celery

Fuck daytime TV

Fuck anything else I don't like

The Sirius Radio Shakeup of 2005- A Review

2005-09-29T16:34:00.000-05:00

If you're a Sirius satellite radio subscriber like me, then today September 29th, is probably a pretty big day for you. Why, the non Sirius subscribers ask? Because today is the first day of the new Sirius lineup. Today Sirius has rolled new channels covering a variety of music and talk genres. The upside is that they've added new content. The downside is some other channels had to be cut to make room for the new. Were the changes worth it? Well, I've been by the radio all day today listening to the new stations to see if Sirius has been improved.

First, what's been deleted? The three music stations I somwhat cared about that were taken off were Folktown, Remix and Wax. Folktown, as the name would imply, was all folk, all the time. I never listened to it, so fine, it got cut, no big deal. The next was Remix, which was a channel devoted to DJ remixes of various techno. I like techno, but always enjoyed the offerings on Area 63, which is devoted to trance and progressive house, and Boombox, which is devoted to breakbeats, old school techno and underground hip hop. So again, I'm fine without Remix. The last channel to be deleted (at least the last channel I had any passing interest in) was Wax, which is to hip hop what Remix was to techno. However, unlike Remix, I listened Wax quite a bit and really enjoyed the different takes on hip hop I'd hear there. Seeing as there is nothing like it on FM radio, I'm really bummed to see Wax go. I think there were a couple of other music stations to get the axe, but I don't know what they were and to be honest, I really don't care. But that was then, this is now. What are the new stations and how do they stack up? Let's start with -

Sirius advertises SuperShuffle as having Sirius set to shuffle, like on an iPod. And I guess that would be pretty accurate, if Sirius only had five music channels. I listened to SuperShuffle for about an hour this morning and heard nothing but classic rock, 70's easy listening, 80's hair metal and one Frank Sinatra song. I checked back later in the day and heard pretty much the same type of mix, minus the Frank Sinatra. Essentially, this sounds like a Jack FM station. I'm sure a lot of people will like it, and a it seems to be getting favorable comments on the message boards at www.siriusbackstage.com, but I see it as a waste of bandwidth. Especially since Wax was cut and there's still no dedicated punk and hardcore channel. Thumbs down. So next, I moved over to-

I had high hopes for this channel and I must say that so far it does not disappoint. Sirius describes it as "acoustic rock from the world's best singer songwriters", but there's more to it than that. In addition to stuff like Allison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Counting Crows and Dave Matthews, they also played stuff like Moby and Tony Bennett. It pretty much sounds like the mix of music played at Starbucks, which I have to say is pretty good. This will probably be my morning drive to work and Saturday morning station. Two big thumbs up. Next on the list-

One of the channels causing a stir on the message boards at www.siriusbackstage.com was Revolution, a new channel devoted to Christian rock. At first I was a bit skeptical, because Christian music is so hit and miss. For every Christian band that I like such as Starflyer 59, Zao, Joy Electric, Velour 100 and Demon Hunter, there are about fifty who are a complete joke. I turned it on and as I thought it would be, it was very hit and miss. They played a couple of groups I think are decent such as Thousand Foot Krutch and Blindside, but also played crap like Stryper and bands I've never heard of. I'll keep my eye on this channel and their scheduling. If maybe they have devoted shows to Christian hardcore and metal as well as indie rock, I'll probably listen then. I'm going to keep the thumb neutral and see what happens with this channel.

This was the last channel I checked out and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's mostly New Age instrumental music, some of which is really, really lame. But a lot of it I found to be really soothing and kinda nice. But then I felt really dirty and quickly switched over to Hard Attack, the dedicated metal channel. But I could possibly see a time when I might switch back over to Spa 73. I'll give a somewhat confused and slightly ashamed thumbs up.

While I'm sad to see Wax go, I really enjoy The Coffeehouse, the jury is still out on Revolution and even though it might make me gay, I like Spa 73. The only channel I flat out disliked was SuperShuffle, and that wasn't really due to the content itself, it was just the format it was presented in. Overall, I'm glad to be a Sirius subscriber and would gladly encourage anyone to take the plunge and give it a try.

And besides-

WE'VE GOT MARTHA STEWART, BITCHES!!!

The Last Post Devoted to Kids Incorporated Obsessive Dawne

2005-09-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Ok, because making fun of Dawne is so last week, this is my last post devoted on the subject.

I didn't think it would actually happen, but I was hoping to engage Dawn in some serious discussion about why she feels the need to bash people for not liking her favorite show, Kids Incorporated. I even went as far as to register on the forums at www.kidsincorporated.us and send her a private message. I know she's seen it, but still has not responded. Fine. So, here are my closing words, An Open Letter to Dawn with an E, Pt. II-

Hi Dawne, this is Shawn again. I have to say that I'm disappointed that you refused to take part in any kind of serious discussion with me. I honestly just wanted to know where you were coming from in your anger.

Since you have chosen not to, and don't seem capable of accepting any opinion that differs from your own, let me point out that you are the one who started this. You are the one who attacked Jess unprovoked, called her a cunt and told her she should be shot. All of this over some lighthearted comments about a childrens television show. Well, I hope you feel better about yourself. If this little internet drama is truly ruining your day, the fact is that you have no one but yourself to blame.

Clearly, there's something else going on in your life to make you want to fill whatever void you have inside with your passion for a television show. I hope you resolve whatever bigger issue is behind all of this, I really do.

-Shawn

PS- Have fun fingerbanging yourself to all of your Renee photos while listening to your 600 Kids Incorporated MP3's, you ball licking thundercunt.

An Open Letter to Dawn with an E

2005-09-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hi, Dawne, my name is Shawn. You don't know me, but you do seem to be familiar with my girlfriend, Jess. Apparently, you think she needs to be shot and you've seen fit to call her a whore, cunt and a piece of trash. Why? Because she took a few lighthearted jabs at Kids Incorporated, a television show you seem to hold very dear.

I'd honestly like to engage you in a serious discussion here. First, let me explain where I'm coming from. Personally, I think KI is lame. I did when it was on, I do now. However, I'm totally cool with other people taking a trip down nostalgia lane and enjoying the things of their youth. It makes them happy, it's not hurting anyone, it's all good. I know I've spent a small fortune on DVD's of lame movies and tv shows I liked when I was a kid such as The Transformers, The Black Hole and the like. Feel free to voice any opinions on the subject, it won't affect my enjoyment either way. Better yet, let me find a little common ground between the two of us. I checked out your website and LJ and saw that you also are a fan of New Order. Well hot damn, they're my favorite band. In fact, there probably isn't a band out who I'm as passionate about as I am New Order. However, if somone wants to call Bernard Sumner a cock juggleing cum dumpster, I say fine. That's their opinion, and regardless I'll enjoy Power, Corruption and Lies as much as ever. It doesn't matter what other people think of New Order, what matters to me is that I enjoy their music. So, let me ask you- Is it really worth it to get this worked up over a few lighthearted comments about a TV show?

I perused your Live Journal last night and one thing almost all of the posts had in common was that you don't seem to be happy with your life. I was just reading the subtext and could be wrong, but given the way you've lashed out at complete strangers who voiced an opinion different than yours, I'm guessing that's a result of a bigger issue. I mean, you said you were having a fucked up day and blamed my girlfriend for it. I'm sorry, but there just seems to be a bigger problem here. But then again, I could be wrong.

I hope that you'll take the time to think about this and answer me seriously.

And here are a few of my interests you can feel free to bash at any time-

Music- Slayer, Spiritualized, Sonic Youth, Mastodon, Queens of the Stone Age, The Happy Mondays, My bloody Valentine

TV- The Kids in the Hall, Mobile Suit Gundam, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman

Movies- Anything with Zombies, High Fidelity, Star Wars

Books- Anything from Nick Hornby or Douglas Coupland, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings

Fire away.

Wow...

2005-09-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

From our friend Dawnie at www.imallwrite.com-

"Fuck you, people! Fuck you!I am so sick and FUCKING TIRED of pathetic fucking self-righteous losers who apparently have all the free time in the world to go to message boards/communities/websites of things that they hate, actually JOIN these fucking places, and then have the balls to tell everyone off for having taste! "U r so dum, dis show is so ghei, blah, blah, blah..." FUCK YOU! DO NOT link to my site on your filthy ass blog, or I will find out what shows you watch and bash the fuck out of them!! Do you see me searching for all sorts of country music fansites and then telling my friends, "Cum see dese lozers, dey dont no dat cuntry suxors!!! 111!" IF YOU DO NOT SHARE MY INTERESTS, STAY THE FUCK OFF OF MY WEBSITE, DON'T FUCKING TAKE MY GRAPHICS, STAY THE FUCK OUT OF MY COMMUNITIES, AND STAY THE FUCK OFF OF MY MESSAGE BOARD!!Who the fuck do you think you are, telling me what I can and cannot be a fan of? Your fucking tv shows are the ones that suck! Just because you think something is lame doesn't make it lame! You don't have the power to decree something "unkewl!" FUCK YOU! I just might unban you from my journal just so you can see this fucking entry! You're nothing but a pathetic little piece of shit who makes fun of others to make yourself feel better - but it doesn't work! You're a whore, and if you keep sending your gay ass friends to comment in my community, I will have you all permanently banned from both LiveJournal and GreatestJournal. Go back to fucking high school, because in the real world, people have the right to like whatever the fuck they damn well please, whether you like it or not! And I will! I'll comment all over your fucking journal and gag your ass with it! Since when do you have the right to make fun of everyone who isn't you, and expect them to just curl up and die? FUCK YOU, FUCK YOUR TASTE IN TELEVISION SHOWS, GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I START POSTING ALL THE SONG LYRICS ONE AFTER ANOTHER! You are not the Cool Police. Anyone who makes fun of what other people like is a fucking pathetic loser who is so insecure about their own likes that they try to make themselves feel better by ripping into others! You even suck at making fun of people, because you can't even get the fucking details right! Frankly, I'm surprised that you even knew how to spell! People like you should not be allowed access to cable television. What do you watch, redneck porno movies? Drunk midget wrestling? Yes, I'm sure your viewing habits are so classy, much better than others! What a pathetic little waste of sperm you are. Someone should have rammed into the back of your daddy's pickup truck that night on the highway. Or maybe they did, and that's why you're so fucked up now.Oh, you think I'm fangirly, now, cunt? You just wait! I will make you sorry you ever got Internet access. You do not fuck with me."

The Kids Incorporated angst is delicious...

Best. Website. Evar.

2005-09-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

www.imallwrite.com

Just when I thought I could no longer be shocked or amused by any sort of internet fandom, I see this scathing response on my girlfriend's blog, www.papergraffiti.com-

You…ought to be shot.
If you’re going to bash somebody, be sure you get your facts straight! Riley wasn’t the sneaker inventor, Flip was.You may think Renee’s nothing, but she’s a damn sight better than some jackass who blogs about a show and gets all the details wrong! And you call yourself a fan?!?!?!
Oh, and SPEAKING of getting everything wrong, nearly all of these commenters are dumbasses, too!Kids Inc. was taped in CA, so no one in Florida has the right to do anything with the episodes. This is more than likely the moron who posted all over TvTome that DVD’s were “comming”.
Do any of you have a halfway decent thing to say about a single member of this show? If not, SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!

What could cause such a stir, you ask? A lighthearted post about the children's television show Kids Incorporated. That's right, Kids fucking Incorporated, quite possibly the worst idea for a TV show other than Cop Rock.

But wait, it gets better. Dawne (the brains behind the genius that is www.imallwrite.com) hs this to say in her hall of shame- "This bitch - Jess, I guess her name is. Not only does she not have a clue what she's talking about, she bashed not one, but EVERY KI alum!! It's people like this that give fandoms a bad name. I will personally see to it that she is forced to remove the link to ki.us from her blog or whatever the hell she considers it. " All I can say is- DELICIOUS!!!

Dawnie, sweetheart, I've got news for you. First, Kids Incorporated sucks. It sucks now, it sucked back when it was on the Disney Channel, it'll always suck. Second, people making fun of lame shows we watched when we were kids isn't what gives fandom a bad name, it's people who take horrible TV show fandom to the psychotic heights you have which gives fandom a bad name. Third, you probably have a big ass. That, or you're a dude. Probably both.

So in conclusion, Kids Incorporated is one of the most worthless shows of all time, even more so than Planet of the Apes: The Series and Eight is Enough. But it's still better than Cop Rock, I'll give you that.

Oh, and fuck you, I'll link to whatever damn website I want. WILL YOU MAKE ME PAY? http://www.kidsincorporated.us/

Why is there No Love for Fat Japanese Men in Diapers?

2005-09-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

As you might have read in my previous post I spent Labor Day weekend at Animefest 2005. On my there I came up with a couple of things I hoped to accomplish while there. They were-

1) Discover a new Anime Series I'd previously known nothing about.

2) Scour the dealer room and maybe find a couple of decent deals on DVD's.

3) Try not to spend more than $100 in the dealer room

4) Find action figures, toys or other paraphenalia related to my all time favorite Street Fighter II character, Edmund Honda.

Items one and two were no problem. I met up with my girlfriend's pal Kyle, and he introduced me to Genshiken, a GENIUS anime series about a group of anime nerds and one of said nerd's long suffering girlfriend. It was amazing, I can't wait to start picking up the DVD's. On item 2, Again, mission accomplished. I got a sweet deal on the limited edition box set of the Ninja Scroll TV series for only $40. Item 3- Well, I came close, but I went a little over $100. I wound up spending around $120. Still, not bad.

Item 4, however, was a completely different matter. If I may, I'd like turn the clock back to late 1991. I was a senior in high school with a bad case of senioritis. I'd joined the debate team that year because A) I knew I'd be pretty decent, B) I needed something to fill out my schedule, and C) the debate team class period was the last of the day, and I could leave campus pretty much any time I wanted to for "research". Riiiiiight. So, one afternoon as another debater and I were leaving to grab a late lunch at Pancho's (www.panchosmexicanbuffet.com) he asked me, "So, you play Street Fighter II?" Truth be told, I only remembered the original Street Fighter, a game which I abso-fucking-lutely hated. I told him no and he just said, "Well, you'll start today." I honestly had no interest, but I figured playing a suck videogame and not being at school was easily preferable to being at school. We got to Panchos, ate, paid our bill, got some quarters and headed over to the SFII machine. I looked over the different fighters and chose Ken, mainly because Sean (the dude I was with) told me he was easiest to play. I proceeded to get my ass kicked for the next half hour, but I was having fun doing it. The controls were fluid, the special moves were cool, and the graphics (for the time) were amazing.

I quickly became addicted and ditched debate every chance I got to go play SFII. As it turned out, pretty much every male on the debate team was also hopelessy addicted to SFII as well. We'd all meet up the same places with quarters in hand and waste our afternoon playing that stupid game. I was having fun, but at the same time was getting a little bored because everyone was playing either Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Guile or Dhalsim. I wanted to play somone no one else was, which was the beginning of my favorite fat man in a diaper, Edmund Honda.

Sure everyone laughed at first, but armed with some tips and guides from Electronic Gaming Monthly, I spent every opportunity learning the controls, tricks and special moves of E. Honda. My opponents would learn to fear me when I selected Honda from the menu screen. As it turned out, I got really good with Honda and could hold my own against damn near anyone while playing as him.

As SFII grew in popularity, precious little merchandise for devoted to Honda came out. Most of the toys were being devoted to boring, lame ass characters like Ryu and Guile. Still, I'd pick up whatever I could. My all time favorite trinket was a little keychain action figure of Honda. I wish I knew what happened to it.

So, fast forward to Labor Day 2005. I searched the Animefest dealer room for two days straight and found plenty of SFII toys, buttons and other trinkets, but still, nothing devoted to Honda. I left dejected and sad, but still hoping to have some luck this winter at Ushicon in Austin.

VIVA LA HUNDRED HAND SLAP!!!

Animefest 2005

2005-09-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

I spent the majority of this Labor Day Weekend geeking it up at Animefest 2005 (www.animefest.org). I'll go out on a limb and say that I'm probably the only person in the MOL Nation who is "into" anime- By that I mean I have a sizable collection of anime DVD's, frequent anime online forums to argue the merits of subs vs. dubs, saw the entire series Planetes fansubbed before it was licensed in the US and know the difference between the Gundam Universal Century and Future Century Timelines. So yeah, one could safely say I'm an anime geek. And having said that, the best place for an anime geek to be is at an anime con.

Anime cons are great because it's a place you can check out new stuff before it's released in the US, meet and hang with other fans, find cool stuff and get good DVD deals in the dealer room, and occasionally meet convention guests from the industry, such as japanese voice actors, writers and directors. If you're into anime, it's always a good time.

One of my favorite things to do while at a con is just peoplewatch in general. First, you always have the people in costumes of their favorite anime and videogame characters, which is always fun to see. It's pretty amazing how much time and effort people will put into their costumes and I have to say I'm constantly impressed by them. Also, I just like watching fellow anime geeks in their natural habitat and how they interact with eachother. I have to admit, there was more than one occasion when I was thinking how much blogfodder Animefest could potentially provide. With all of the costumes and assorted nerdery going on, there was too much material not to take advantage of.

But then I started thinking about it. Not to stereotype, but from interacting with other fans, both in life and online,, I know that being into anime isn't exactly considered cool. I remembered back to my middle school years and having to learn the hard way that being a fat kid who's hobbies include watching Star Trek after school and playing Dungeons and Dragons is the best way to get beat up on a regular basis. I've learned that today, being into anime carries a similar stigma and a lot of these kids get ridiculed and picked on because of their hobby. I started to worry that maybe if I posted pictures of the costumers and attendees there that I might open a lot of these kids up to even more ridicule. I seriously doubt any of them will stumble onto my blog, but for me, it's the principle of the matter.

Cons are one of the few places that a lot of kids can come and just completely be themselves without having to fear some kind getting made fun of or ostracized, and I didn't want to open up anybody to that, even if would never know about it. Like I said, it's the principle of the thing. And I hope this doesn't come off as condescending or that all anime fans are are a bunch of complete social retards. I know quite a few and like any other group of people, they certainly do not fall into the traditional "nerd" stereotype. But then, my judgement on this matter is probably a bit skewed...

Anyway, I raise a glass to all of the anime fans out there who aren't afraid to let their geek flag fly and wear costumes to conventions, brag about the their gimormous manga and dvd collections and will unabashedly defend the merits of anime to an anime hating society. VIVA LA ANIME GEEKS!!

In Heavy Rotation- Videogame Edition

2005-09-08T10:41:00.000-05:00

Top 3 videogames I've been playing over the last couple of weeks-

1. Guilty Gear X2- I haven't played a 2D fighter in years and this game reminded why I loved them in the first place. Besides you can't argue with a game that references heavy metal by having characters named Slayer, Axl and Chip Zanuff.

2. Katamari Damacy- Further proof the Japanese are insane. But as long as they keep giving the world games this addictive and fun, I'm ok with that. You roll around a ball of junk trying to pick up more junk to make the ball bigger. Who woulda thought that you can make a game this fun out of that premise? ROYAL RAINBOW!!!

3. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal- After the genius that was God of War, no action game is going to feel right, but this comes pretty damn close. Think Mario with a sense of humor and totally sweet weapons. I haven't tried playing it online yet, but if it's half as much fun as the single player, I'll be playing this for a long time.

In Heavy Rotation...

2005-09-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

Top albums for this week-
1. Absolution by Muse- Big props to The Bagboy for getting me into these guys. Man, this album kicks ass.

2. Blues for the Red Sun by Kyuss- I've been in a big stoner metal mood this week, and Kyuss just what I need. Essentially, they're a Black Sabbath cover band, but really, is that a bad thing?

3. Abdullah by Abdullah- Another stoner metal band, essentially a Kyuss cover band. Again, not a bad thing.

Two Reasons Why Brian Griffin Pretty Much Rules

2005-09-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

Peter: I sent him to go buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks...

Brian: I don't care if he ever gets back. I wasn't being cute, I really hope he's dead.

The Albums That Changed My Life

2005-08-31T17:29:00.000-05:00

So, I'm copying my girlfriend and posting the Top 5 albums that changed my life, based on a coversation had while tubing down the Guadalupe. Keep in mind these aren't necessarily my favorite records, but these were the ones that had the biggest impact on me and my tastes in music. So, in chronological order, here goes-

1. Revolver by The Beatles- This is one of the first things I remember my mom playing for me as a kid. I loved songs like Yellow Submarine and Good Day Sunshinewhen I was little and as I got older I fell in love with songs like She Said, She Said, Eleanor Rigby and Tomorrow Never Knows. If there was one record that I can say turned me on to rock music, this was it.

2. Pyromania by Def Leppard- This was the first hard rock record I remember listening to that what wasn't one of my mom's Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix albums. I recieved it as a birthday gift from my grandma, and as soon as I put it on my record player, my life was changed. I would play it over and over, and for a long time I knew every word to every song on it. I would rock out to Photograph, Rock Rock (Till You Drop) and Foolin' into the wee hours of the morning until my mom would come in and make me go to bed. Those were the days.

3. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols- Easily the most influential record of my life. I discovered The Sex Pistols on some Saturday late night video show (that wasn't MTV) when I was in the 7th grade. They were doing a punk retrospective, and the first video they played was Anarchy in the UK. I'd never seen anything like it, the sound was so beautiful, completely chatoic and totally pissed off. I'd had some allowance money saved up, and fortunately for me my mom was going to the mall the next day. As soon as we got there, I bolted for the music store and found myself a copy of Never Mind the Bollocks. I got home, rushed to my room, put it in and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Despite the fact I wasn't poor or English, I instantly identified with it. At the time, I was what most middle schoolers would consider to be a nerd. I could count the number of friends I had on one hand and I either got my ass kicked, tripped in the hall or humiliated in some way on pretty much a daily basis. After almost two years, I was fed up with it and now I'd heard the perfect soundtrack to how I felt at the time. These guys were angry with what was happening in their life and like me they were fed up. I don't know how to describe it, but listening to Holidays in the Sun, God Save the Queen and Pretty Vacant just woke the sleeping giant inside of me. After hearing the Pistols, I knew I didn't have to take it anymore. I got pissed off. I stopped taking it and started pushing back. It was the most liberating feeling in the world. What a fucking great record.

4. Disintigration by The Cure- At the time Disintigration came out, I already worshipped The Cure and I was convinced that there was no way that the Brilliance of Faith or The Head on the Door could be topped, but Bob and company proved me wrong. Besides being one of the most influential albums of my life, this is definitely one of my favorites. Atmospheric and moody, this is a great record to listen to during a thunderstorm or on a cold and windy autumn day. This is also the first album that I actually payed attention to the the structure and arrangement of the songs, how each song flowed together to make an album that can be listened to as individual songs, it's best experienced as a whole. Simply a brilliant album.

5. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie- This is my all time favorite rock and roll record. When I listened to it for the first time, It was as if i'd finally found the record I'd been searching for all of my life. In my opinion, it's the perfect rock album. It's raw, it's epic, it's beautiful, it's sad. It's just amazing. Anyone who calls themselves a rock fan should own this album.

Thanks to Babs for initiating this conversation so we didn't try to drown each other in the river.

SPLORT!!!

2005-08-31T07:45:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, I'm completely addicted to and in love with my Sirius Satellite Radio. (www.sirius.com) It's hands down the most important invention to grace mankind since the wheel. If you're into music and radio, it's the best thirteen dollars a month you can spend.

However, there is a problem. Sometimes there will be shows airing that I might not always be able to catch because I'm working or perhaps discussing the merits of Christopher Marlowe over Ben Jonson with my lovely and talented intellectual life partner (www.papergraffiti.com).

Not anymore!! Thanks to the Sirius S50, I can record all of my favorite Sirius shows and take them with me when and wherever I want!!! When this comes out, my life will finally be complete. I will finally acheive the zen like state of being I've always dreamed of.

In short, I am a consumer whore, and how!!!

Burrito Shootout- Chipotle Edition

2005-08-28T21:54:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Round 2 of The Great Burrito Shootout. In this edition I'll be reviewing what has become the new standard in burritos- Chipotle. I'll be using the same criteria I used for my review of Freebirds- The food itself, service and construction of the burrito (which, as you may recall, was a big knock against Freebirds). So, on with the burrito love.

Simply put, Chipotle is to mexican food what Subway is to sandwiches. You get in line, you pick what you want, and an employee guides you through the line so you can, in theory, build the perfect burrito. So, in an attempt to keep my burrito as similar as possible to what I had at Freebirds, I ordered a chicken burrito with black beans, rice, lettuce, sour cream, cheese, corn salsa and red hot salsa.

The first thing about Chipotle is that for their burritos, they only offer regular flour tortillas. That's kind of a bummer, because I really like the cayenne tortillas at Freebirds. Also, there are only two choices of beans at Chipotle- black and pinto (freebirds also offers refried). However, Chipotle offers four kinds of meat- steak, chicken, pork carnitas and barbacoa, which more than makes up for the lack of choices in the tortilla and bean departments.

Another big difference is the rice offered at Chipotle. Freebirds offers the traditional mexican rice, while Chipotle offers a cilantro-lime rice. Both are good, and I'm not sure which I prefer, actually. It would really depend on my mood, I suppose.

As for the rest of the line at Chipotle doesn't disappoint. The sour cream tastes fresh, I also like the fact they use romaine lettuce instead of iceberg, and they have an excellent array of fresh salsas.

The salsa variety is probably my favorite thing about Chipotle. My personal favorites are the red hot and roasted corn, but the green tomatillo and fresh tomato are both excellent as well. All are full of flavor and give your food a much welcomed kick.

The staff at the Chipotle we were at was very friendly. In fact, I'd say it was much better than average, everyone in the line was friendly and talkative, which is a rarity in fast food type environments. Mad props to the good people at the Greenville location.

We sat down to eat, and everything tasted as good as it looked. The ingredients were fresh, the meat was flavorful and the salsa was nice and spicy. There were no issues with burrito construction (although there have been at past Chipotle visits, I think it depends on the person building your burrito) as my burrito stayed together admirably.

Overall, this was a great burrito outing. Chipotle gets big points for it's salsa and meat selection, but loses a few for lack of tortilla variety and no refried bean options. Still, I'd recommend Chipotle to anyone, I give it an 8.5.

Top 5 for This Week

2005-08-26T10:21:00.000-05:00

1. The Ballad of Padre Miguel by Deadman (www.deadmanonline.com)
2. Green Tea Lemonades from Starbucks
3. BBC1 on Sirius Satellite Radio (www.sirius.com)

Actually, this week has been kind of shitty. I can't think of 5 things. I suck.
That, and I really, really need to get the new Deadman record.

A Call Out of a Different Sort

2005-08-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

Yes this is a call out, but no, it's not what you think it is.

I'd like to turn back the clock to the summer of 1994. I was out Deep Ellum Live seeing the band Weezer for the first time in anticipation for the headliner, Lush. Yes, you read that correctly, Weezer was opener, but that's not the point of the story. I noticed a pretty redheaded girl standing next to me, this was my first contact ever with Anastasia Davis. I didn't speak to her that night because, well, my chatting up skills weren't the best and she looked as if she'd be way out of my league. Not in some kind of sorority girl snob way, but in that indie rock bohemian way that made her look as if Lush was the most mainstream band she listened to. I knew if I tried to talk to her, she'd see right through me and it would be a total disaster, so I didn't even attempt it.

As Summer turned to fall and I started attending classes at Richland Community college, I saw her hanging around campus quite a bit, and also at the Miranda Sex Garden/Dambuilders show at Deep Ellum Live. As fate would have it, the following Monday she noticed me in the student lounge and asked if I was at the MSG show the friday before, I said yes, and that was when our friendship started. It turned out she was one of the nicest, sweetest, most open and outgoing people I'd ever met. We shared a love of bands like Velocity Girl, That Dog and Archers of Loaf, as well as crazy art and weird movies. We started hanging out a lot, going to see bands like Crash Worship and movies like Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!, as well as hanging out constantly at the late, great Grinders Coffee House on lower Greenville. Our friendship was completely platonic, although I must confess, at first I was really trying to put the moves on her, but somehow I wound up in the friend zone, but I was ok with that. It was nice having a female friend in which there was no kind of dating pressure, I could just be myself around her and yet count on her to always give a female point of view on things. It truly was a wonderful, wonderful friendship.

Then she disappeared, literally overnight. She had been dating this guy who I thought was a bit of an asshat. I mean, he wore Fedora's (at least I think that was the type of hat it was. Regardless, he was a tool) on a regular basis. Anyway, they'd been going through a rough time and had been fighting a lot. I was hanging with Anastasia at Grinders after they'd had a pretty big one and she was venting about all that had been going on. She seemed really unhappy, and I was trying to be a good friend and be there for her. I walked her to her car, gave her a hug and asked if she was going to be okay. She assured me that she would be, hugged me tightly and said "Take care of yourself, okay?" The way she said it sounded so final and I was little worried.

That was the last time I ever spoke to her. I tried calling her the next day and a few more times after, but never heard back from her. I still think about her all the time, especially when I hear music by Lush or That Dog. I hope she's all right, but often times I fear the worst. I just hate not knowing what happened to her. I'd be ok if maybe we just drifted apart, as friends sometimes do, but I hate how it ended so suddenly, with no explanation. There isn't much I wouldn't give to see her again, or at least just find out what happened.

Honestly, I truly believe Anastasia and I could be wonderful friends. I think she and Jess would get along really, really well, they really are a lot alike. I guess maybe there is some part of me that hopes that someone who reads my blog knows Anastasia, or knows someone who does and they'll lead send her this post. Or maybe one day she'll randomly google her name and she'll find my blog. I hope something comes out of this, because I miss her friendship, I really, really do.

Supplemental Footage- Freebirds

2005-08-18T15:30:00.000-05:00

More pics from the Freebirds outing- (photos by Jessica Northrop)

Clearly, I wasn't happy as my burrito started to self destruct...

I mean, would you be happy if this was exploding all over your hands??

Self destructing burritos make Shawn SMASH!!!

The Great Burrito Shootout Pt 1- Freebirds Edition

2005-08-18T08:27:00.000-05:00

There are two things you should know about me- 1) I know more about rock music than you ever will, so don't even try to hang because you can't handle it, and 2) I loves me some burritos. I mean, who would have thought that heaven on earth would come wrapped in a tortilla?

Anyway, this is something I've been meaning to do for months, but for whatever reasonI hadn't gotten around to it. Kerri Miller touched on it a bit on her blog (www.blondebutnotabimbo.blogspot.com/) but in my opinion didn't go far enough with the analyzation. But then, I have a compulsion to be a nerd about everything I do, so mad props to Kerri for being somewhat normal.

I'll be scouring the Dallas area for any and all burrito places I can find so I can truly recommend The Best Burrito in Dallas. Today, I'll start with Freebirds on Greenville Avenue. I'll be judging each place strictly on their burritos, things like tacos, quesadillas and burrito bowls will not be taken into consideration. I'll try to keep each burrito as similar as possible for purposes of judging. So, in each place I go to I'll order a burrito with rice, beans and chicken. Anything else will depend on the restaurant. Also, service and burrito construction will also be taken into consideration as well. So, let's get started-

Like Chipotle, the ordering process at Freebirds is pretty much like going to subway. You tell them the size of the burrito you want the type of tortilla and what you want on it. So I ordered the regular sized burrito on cayenne tortilla with refried beans, rice, white meat chicken, peppers, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and their habanero sauce.

One thing I love about freebirds is the tortilla selection. Besides the cayenne tortillas, you can also order regular flour, spinach and whole wheat tortillas as well. There are also three types of beans- refried, pinto and black, and when you order chicken, you get your choice of white, dark or mixed meat. Options like these are always a nice touch.

The service was friendly, but nothing to scream about. I do like the fact that the employees do get some freedom of self expression, and I chuckled at my burrito guy's anti Dubya pins.

So, I sat down with my burrito full of anticipation of the culinary delight that awaited me. However, all did not seem to be well with the burrito construction. My burrito seemed to be on the verge of splitting in the middle, and that just wasn't cool. Still, I tried to make the best of it and tried to be careful. Well, the harder I tried, the worse things got. My burrito started falling apart, And I was starting to get really, really pissed off.

Despite the mess, everything was pretty tasty and I went home full, so that definitely counted for something.

Overall, I liked the sheer number of options that Freebirds offered, from the sizes, the different tortillas, the types of beans, meat and vegetables, theres something for every burrito lover. However, part of the genius of the burrito is havving a whole meal wrapped up in a tortilla. If said tortilla is falling apart and the insides are falling out all over the place, that pretty much defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Because of the shoddy construction of my burrito, Freebirds gets a 7.5/10.

I'll post more pictures from the big Freebirds outing later this afternoon.

Adventures on X Box Live

2005-08-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

So this weekend I decided to take the plunge and get X Box live. If you're not familiar, X Box Live is Microsoft's online gaming service which lets X Box owners connect to teh intarwebs and play various games online. If I can dork out for just a bit here- It's really, really, seriously 16 boner poppin' sweet. And by sixteen boner poppin' sweet, I mean it kicks ass.

For example, even though I suck at it, I love playing Halo 2. While the one player mode is excellent, the true genius of the game is in it's multiplayer mode. However, it's not always easy to get a group together to meet up and play. This is no longer a problem. Now anytime I want to play, I just log on, find the type of game I want and let the fragging begin. Of course, this usually involves me getting my ass handed to me numerous times, but it's all in good fun, and I'm already starting to get better.

Another aspect of genius in the XBL communicator. This is a headset that comes with the XBL startup kit that allows you to to communicate in real time with the people you're playing online with. Sure, you can trash talk, discuss tactics or plan strategy, but I discovered the true genius of the communicator last night.

I was playing a 16 player round of Capture the Flag on Halo 2. The players are split into two 8 person teams (red and blue), I was put on the blue team. Now, there were what sounded like two brothers on my team based on this conversation-

Brother 1- Okay, I'm going to get the sniper rifle and snipe from the top of the bunker...

Brother 2- NO!! YOU ALWAYS GET IT AND NEVER GIVE ME A CHANCE!!! I WANT TO SNIPE THIS ROUND!!!

Brother 1- No, you suck at using it!!

Brother 2- I DO NOT!! IT'S NOT FAIR!!! YOU'RE ALWAYS DOING THIS!!!

This went back and forth for another few seconds as I watced both of their guys do nothing. So, I just lobbed a grenade between them, killed them and took the sniper rifle myself. As I did that I said "If you can't play nice neither of you get it", which got lots of laughter from the rest of the team. One of them called me an asshole and quit the game, the other kept whining the whole time about people cheating and he never gets to do what he wanted and then quit. It was great. And on top of that, even though we were two team members short, we still won. It should be illegal to have this much fun.

In short, if you own an X Box and don't have Live yet, you have no idea what you're missing. I''m kicking myself for not taking the plunge earlier.

Oh, and my Gamertag is AladdinSane3000, so if you are on XBL, put me on you friend list. Or, post your tag here.

An Open Letter to Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl Safety Roy Williams

2005-08-12T12:14:00.000-05:00

Dear All Pro Safety Roy Williams,

Hi, my name is Shawn and you don't know me, but I'm a huge fan of your work. Being a lifelong Cowboy fan, the day you were drafted I predicted that you would be the next great safety in the NFL. Sure enough, I was right. Of course, I also predicted that Greg Ellis would be the next Reggie White, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, of your many career highlights so far, my favorite was last year when you took out Terrell Owens. Man, that kicked ass. Anyway, as you may have heard, TO is shooting his mouth off again and being an overall jackass, so I was wondering if you could do me a favor. If he's playing the next time you and the Eagles meet, could you injure him again? I know this is a lot to ask and normally I don't want players to get injured, but TO is an exception. I mean, c'mon, you and I both know he's asking for it. Besides, I once think I heard him talking about how he banged your mom and then he called you a homo. But, I could be wrong.

I don't have to much to offer in way of compensation, other than I'd be willing to do the Napolean Dynamite dance on demand and if you come into the Starbucks I work at (North Dallas, Preston and Forest across the street from La Madeline) I'll hook you up with free drinks. It's not much, I know, but I'm more than willing to do whatever it takes to make this dream become a reality.

Anyway, just think it over and let me know at your earliest convienience.

Your Pal,
Potential Lunch Winner (Shawn)

Misadventures in Buffalo Wings

2005-08-11T10:23:00.000-05:00

So last night on my way home I decided to get some buffalo wings so I stopped by Wingstop. Normally I get the original hot sauce. Now, I think this is a little misleading, because I consider their hot not to be hot, but merely spicy. Seeing as I wanted something hot, I decided to order the Atomic wings, which I'd never had before. I knew a red light should have gone off when the girl taking my order looked at me and said "Are you sure? Not many people can handle the Atomic..." Well, obviously she didn't know who she was dealing with, so I assured her that was what I wanted.

A few minutes pass and they call me up to get my order. As I'm at the counter getting everything, the guy behind me says "YOU'RE GETTING THE ATOMIC WINGS???" I'm like "Yeah, it's cool because I like hot foods." Then he was all "Yeah, me too, but I can't handle those...". Again, clearly he had no idea who he was dealing with.

So I get home, take out my little wing box and open it up. I get a whiff of the sauce and immediately start coughing. I was like "Wow, these must be pretty hot..." So I take out the first wing, take a bite, and my mouth went ablaze immediately, I'd never eaten anything this hot. At this point I was guessing that maybe I'd just got an extra strong one, so I tried a couple more. After three, I was in so much pain I knew there was no way I was going to be able to finsh them.

As I was recovering, the immense amount of sweat caused by the napalm in your mouth wings had started to drip down into my eyes, so I absent mindedly sstarted to rub them- BIG mistake. I guess I still had the remains of some kind of pepper oil/sauce or whatever on my fingers because no my eyes and forehead were burning like hell. Seriously, I was almost screaming in pain, I really do think I have some sort of inkling what it might be like to be napalmed. I went to take shower hoping that would help, but managed to just spread the burning to other parts of my body. Mass amounts of soap and water didn't do shit.

Finally, the sauce started to burn itself out about fifteen to twenty minutes later and I came to a realization. The Atomic wings aren't meant for you to eat. They're there for you to serve to unwelcome house guests, in-laws or people you just really hate. Just be sure you're wearing gloves of some sort when you serve them.

Fuck you Wingstop, fuck you.

Last Night I Rocked So I Hard I Pissed My Pants!!!

2005-08-10T00:27:00.000-05:00

You know, I think this pretty much speaks for itself. Still, I break out into mad fits of laughter every time I see it. Pissing your pants humor never gets old.

www.adultswim.com

2005-08-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

If you're a fan of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, I suggest you check out their new website. It's got a lot of great content such as free mp3's, wallpapers and online games. They also have a sweet Friendster/MySpace type profile thing you can sign up for as well. If you sign up, add me as your friend. My screen name is KaBlamo74 and my e-mail address is jackdangers74@hotmail.com.

www.adultswim.com

Viva la Dreamcast

2005-08-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

This post is dedicated to the late, great Sega Dreamcast. The DC is/was, in my opinion, hands down the most underrated gaming system of all time. It had a metric shitload of great games, it was the first home system to have built in online support, and some of the most innovative software and hardware I've ever seen in a home system. But for whatever reason, be it Sega's track record with hardware, lack of advertising or just being overshadowed by Sony's and Microsoft's marketing juggernauts. the little DC never took off. If you're into videogaming and were down with the DC, I hope you'll enjoy this little trip down memory lane. If you're into videogaming but never experienced the DC, then I hope you'll check the DC out, you can get one cheap from eBay along with some great games. If you're not into videogaming, I doubt you'll have any idea what I'm talking about, so I suggest you go read my posts about comic book characters I'd like to nail. I think that was in March. Anyway, on with the fond memories...

I picked up my DC at midnight on it's release date on 9/9/99 with the games Soul Calibur, Sonic Adventure and NFL 2K. It was actually pretty fun waiting in line with other fellow videogame nerds, talking about which games we were looking forward to, speculating on the future of the system and arguing whether or not the PS2 would be worth it. Finally, midnight came and the employees at my local Electronics Boutique opened their doors and started selling Dreamcasts to the ravenous nerd hordes outside. I was second in line, so I was out the door pretty quickly.

It was the first system of the next generation consoles and I could hardly contain myself as I rushed home in sweet anticipation. When I did finally get home (I've never had a fifteen minute drive seem so long) I ripped open the box and hooked up the system as fast as I could. I had decided on the way home that the first game I would play would be Sonic Adventure. After all, this was a Sega system, and playing anything before their little blue mascot just wouldn't seem right. With shaking hands, I put the Sonic Adventure disc in the Dreamcast and fired it up. I was blown away with the jump in quality of graphics from the current systems (the original Playstation and N64) to the DC. Sonic had never looked so good. I played Sonic for three hours straight just taking in the new gaming experience being offered by the wonderful, wonderful people at Sega.

In preparation for my Dreamcast, I had taken a vacation day on 9/9 because I knew I'd be up late and that there would be no possible way I could concentrate on work knowing my DC was waiting for me at home. So the following morning I popped in Soul Calibur and started kicking Samurai ass. A lot of fighting games have come and gone since Soul Calibur, but precious few have surpassed it. In fact, the only fighting game I like better is Street Fighter II: CE Turbo. It was that good. That morning, I beat it with Mitsurugi and Ivy to unlock some of the hidden characters. I'm not going to lie, I had it on easy, but that was just for the purposes of unlocking characters and features. I'll take on anyone at Soul Calibur and hold my own.

Next, I popped in NFL 2K. I'll admit, in the gameplay department it was good, but still not up to Madden standards. Where the game excelled, however, was in presentation. For the first time in a football videogame, it really felt as though you were watching a real NFL broadcast. I started a season and eventually led the Cowboys to another Superbowl victory.

But that was just the beginning. Like I said earlier, there was a metric shitload of great games released for the DC, which will be discussed in Viva la Dreamcast: Pt 2.

In the meantime, check out http://www.planetdreamcast.com . It's a great site devoted to all things Dreamcast.

On the Subject of Personal Fragrance...

2005-08-03T10:05:00.000-05:00

If I can smell your perfume and/or cologne and I'm more than a foot away from you (and there's no wind) you're wearing too damn much. Seriously, tone it the fuck down, it's every bit as obnoxious as horrid body odor. Either way you're causing my nostrils to burn and making me want to vomit.

My Current Top 5

2005-08-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

1. Those KFC Snacker sandwiches.

2. Coheed and Cambria (http://www.coheedandcambria.com)

3. God of War on the PS2. (http://www.us.playstation.com)

4. NFL Training Camp. Mark my words, the Cowboys will be in the playoffs this year.

5. Anything related to the genius video game and anime series .hack . (http://www.dothack.com)

Hopefully Renewed

2005-08-01T10:35:00.000-05:00

Last night, for the first time in a really long time, I was excited to go to my church. And better yet, when I left I was excited about it's future.

Over the past couple of months, I've been on a hiatus from church. A lot has happened, people have left and to make a long story short, I felt like I should have been punching a time clock as I came in and left. As hard as I was trying, I was getting nothing out of it. I couldn't bring myself to sing during the worship time and during the teaching I would find myself planning my upcoming week, or just think about things not related to the teaching at all. I had no enthusiasm for church nor any desire to be there. So, I decided to take some time off.

Fast forward to last night. Last night was our new pastor test drive (I don't know what the correct term would be) and I truly do hope everything woks out (and I can't see why it won't). The potential pastor Danielle brought an enthusiasm and aura of leadership which (in my estimation) was/is greatly needed. On top of that, I saw some old friends I haven't seen in quite a while, and that made me very, very happy.

Viva la Journey.

http://www.journeydallas.com

Stuff and Crap

2005-07-28T13:10:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting much lately and this is because of two things. 1) I've been working loads at Starbucks (along with William the Dick Loving Christian Junkie) and 2) I just haven't had anything to say. But here a few quick hits-

1) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- Kicked ass.

2) Jade Empire- My current favorite game on XBox. Pick it up if you haven't already.

3) Holiday by The Magnetic Fields- Still their best album.

After that, I got nothin'.

The Year In Music 2005 So Far...

2005-07-20T10:29:00.000-05:00

So the year is a little over halfway over and I've come to this conclusion- There's been a lot of stuff I've liked, but nothing (other than the new New Order album, but that's extreme personal bias) I've loved. There's been some good stuff. but nothing that has really made me do my big gay pee-pee dance of joy. Still, there has been some good stuff.

Best Debut- Thunder, Lightning Strike by The Go! Team. It's rock music, it's dance music, it's all good. A very strong debut by the happiest band in the world not called The Polyphonic Spree.

Biggest Letdown- Demon Days by Gorillaz. In a word, boooooring.

Best Follow Up- Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta. a worthy follow up to the flirts with genius Deloused in the Comatorium.

Best Album (so far)- Silent Alarm by Bloc Party. There is no good reason that you shouldn't own this. It's fucking excellent.

Most Anticipated Album- Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness by Coheed and Cambria. I simultaneously get 16 boners and mess myself just thinking about it. http://www.coheedandcambria.com

Hopefully, as the year goes on and we get closer to the all important Christmas season, some really, really good stuff will come out.

Things I Had Done Before I Turned 18 That MOL Jr Hadn't

2005-07-19T00:09:00.000-05:00

Seeing as I love me some Harry Potter (I finished reading The Half Blood Prince last night, it was excellent) according to my friend and sometimes gay lover (http://moljunior.typepad.com/my_weblog/), I am a loser. I'm okay with that, but let me point out a few things. By the time I had turned eighteen, I had-

Had numerous beers

Had sex

Been to numerous big rock concerts such as Metallica, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order and the first Lollapalooza

Also, I had started discovering the local music scene by going to shows from bands such as Course of Empire, The Spin, Clever Pennies and The Hunger

Actually listened to rock music without fear of righteous retribution from my mom.

Picked out my own clothes and dressed myself

Wiped my own ass

Whereas Ronnie, had not.

Now in defense of my good friend and sometimes gay lover (make no mistake, I'm the butch, he's the bitch) he's somehow managed to land a beautiful wife, become a successful account and has devolped a taste in music that's for the most part good, but at times still questionable. I did j want to point out he has not always been the bastion of cool that he likes to pretend he is. We all have our dark secrets, folks. I suspect deep down inside, MOL Jr really wants to check out Harry Potter. I think maybe we should just let him come to terms with that on his own.

Viva la MOL Jr.

Benanti Watch- Day 29

2005-07-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

It's over, I have on good authority that according to Benanti, blogging is no longer cool and he can't be bothered with them.

Well, since he'll never see this, I'm so gonna Tonya Harding his ass when he least expects it. Then, as I'm busy kicking him when he's down I'll say "You could have avoided this, all you had to do was blog, bitch."

People who wear Bono brand jeans are dumb.

A PLW Snacking Tip

2005-07-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

If you're eating a Butterfinger candy bar and have a jar of peaunt butter handy, dip the Butterfinger in the peanut butter while eating. I did this for the first time ever yesterday and my knees buckled. Why I never thought of this before I don't know, but now I'll never eat a naked Butterfinger again.

For MOL Jr- PLW's Top 5 Metal Bands

2005-07-12T10:56:00.000-05:00

A while back, MOL Jr asked me if I was into Motorhead, to which I responded yes, they're my 2nd favorite metal band of all time. He e-mailed me later wanting to know who was first. Last night, it occurred to me that I never responded. So Fauss, this post is dedicated to you.

1. Slayer- Hands down my favorite metal band of all time and easily the best thrash metal band to ever exist. From Haunting the Chapel to God Hates Us All, they have yet to make a bad album. Also, I think a strong case could be made for Angel of Death being the greatest heavy metal song of all time.

Recommended Albums- Reign in Blood, Divine Intervention

2. Motorhead- Lemmy Kilmister is damn near the coolest man to ever live. Motorhead hits with the force of a full on Panzer assault and never lets up. They also at one time set the Guinness world record for loudest band ever. Hell. Yeah.

Recommended Albums- Ace of Spades, Iron Fist

3. Iron Maiden- The first metal band I ever really got into. Their stuff still sounds as good today as it did back in '84. Bruce Dickinson is still a madman.

Recommended Albums- Number of the Beast, Powerslave

4. Black Sabbath- Make no mistake, they invented heavy metal. Steppenwolf may have coined the phrase, Led Zeppelin may claim they were the first heavy metal band, but Black Sabbath is the first true heavy metal band. They created the blueprint that was to become what we refer to as heavy metal today. The original lineup with Ozzy on vocals is still the best, but they also did some damn good work with Ronnie James Dio as well.

Recommended Albums- Paranoid, Master of Reality

5. Mastodon- They've only been around a few years and only have two full length albums and an EP out, but they're already on the verge of becoming huge. Their sound is just like their namesake, huge pounding and brutal as fuck. Mark my words, they'll be the next Slayer.

Recommended Albums- Leviathan, Remission

Honorable mentions go to- Judas Priest, Venom, Bolt Thrower, Bathory and Color Me Badd.

Fauss, I encourage you to use this list as a starting point for creating that CD we talked about (OK, I talked about...) to send to your sister.

Benanti Watch- Day 27

2005-07-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

Maybe he just quit his normal life to follow Michael W Smith on tour or something. You know, kinda like a deadhead, only for Jesus.

Monday Morning Quick Hits

2005-07-11T08:08:00.000-05:00

1. All Star Batman and Robin will be out soon (next week I think). The creative team- Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Can you say sixteen boners? Speaking of Batman, Batman Begins is hands down the best comic book movie ever made. Anyone who would disagree is a dumb ass.

2. Working your regular job on the weekend never stops sucking ass.

3. I really have an overwhelming desire to get back into uber nerd gaming. I'm not talking videogames or boardgames like Trivial Pursuit, I'm talking games that require painting little pewter miniatures and such. (http://www.gamesworkshop.com)

4. Speaking of the suckassery of working on the weekends, I caught the highlights of yesterdays NASCAR race on ESPN this morning. It looked like it was a really good race and I missed the whole thing. Damn.

5. The NFL network is pretty much the greatest thing to ever happen to TV (next to Adult Swim). It makes waiting for football season almost tolerable.

America's Drive In my Ass...

2005-07-05T22:44:00.000-05:00

So the other day I went to Sonic (http://www.sonicdrivein.com) to get my usual chicken fried steak sandwich (actually, my usual alternates between that or the foot long cheese coney), onion rings and cherry slush. I ordered the sandwich and they told me they no longer serve it. WHAT THE FUCK??? On top of that, they no longer serve the frito pie (which was genius), or the regular cheese coney. Again, WHAT THE FUCK??? I asked the waitress (who was very nice) about this crime against humanity and she said certain Sonic's were surveyed and these were the things that weren't selling. she followed up by saying her store obviously wasn't one in the survey, because the chicken fried steak sandwich and frito pie were two of their biggest sellers. Where in the hell did they do this survey? Nebraska? New Jersey?

Anyway, I'm outraged . They will be getting an angry letter from PLW and I encourage all PLW readers to do the same. The Sonic website is http://www.sonicdrivein.com. While I couldn't find any contact info, I didn't look very hard, at least not yet. I'm sure somebody smarter than me can find that info.

I'm not going to stand for this. Fuck that no chicken fried steak, no frito pie noise. Fuck that.

Things About Me I Probably Shouldn't Share

2005-07-05T10:27:00.000-05:00

I hate sunburn, but I love the peeling. I will occupy myself for hours peeling away sunburnt skin. I don't know where this fixation comes from, but I swear if at all possible, it will keep me busy for hours.

Benanti Watch- Day 16

2005-06-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

Dear Eric Benanti,

YOU'RE WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICA.

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=pleasantlydisoriented