December 2001 Archives
One day
DECEMBER 31, 2001
One day Macy Gray is going to cough and then she'll lose that rasp. She'll begin talking like Mrs. Doubtfire. "Helloooo!!"
Posted in Tidbits at 2:47 am.
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Uh oh.
DECEMBER 29, 2001
Uh oh. Nelly is going to get punched by her brother. A quote from her...
This Conversation:
Me: Greg, little bro, are there emo kids at your school?
Greg: yeah i wanna hit them in their faces.
Awesome.
I also remember hearing her say or reading that she did quite well on one or two emo tests. So watch out nelly, greg might be poppin' you one.
Posted in My Life at 9:05 pm.
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The blog is hot.
DECEMBER 28, 2001
The blog is hot. Lots of good blogging going on. I'm enjoying not having anything particularly interesting to blog about. No drama=relaxation=happy matty. I've been reading the Zeldman book and it has been pretty informative so far. No web design book can be perfect, but his concept of web design is probably the closest to perfect I have come across.
On another note, I now have 6 cameras, 3 of them from polaroid. The number was upped when I got a joycam from my cousins/uncle. I think this is my favorite. The size of the photos are just right. It's like goldilocks -- the regular is too big and the Izone is too small. Not too many exciting photos from this trip, but I have a big backlog of photos to post to the site when I return. That reminds me, the site redesign will come feb02 because I don't have it done and jan02 comes in three days.
The dinner bell is ringing.
Posted in My Life at 10:28 pm.
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My time has been consistently relaxing.
DECEMBER 27, 2001
Not too much to report from the land of hot hotness. Pretty much all I do is sit around and eat food. I would try to do other things but this has only resulted in injury thus far. I went on a ride with my mom and she fell and scraped her leg and bruised a rib. My dad tried to bodysurf but hit his head and scraped up his face. Physical activity is looking pretty dangerous. The only thing I have going for me is that the injuries our occuring to progressively older people.
So my mom and I got to talk to Wolfgang Puck. He is very nice and amusing. He's not really trying to be amusing, but his voice is just so funny. Hee hee. We also saw Michael Bolton who is funny without talking.
Posted in My Life at 9:05 pm.
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I'm here, but getting ill.
DECEMBER 24, 2001
I'm here, but getting ill. Safe and sound but the one time I get sick is when I'm vacation in Hawaii. Ugh. The Zeldman book is good though.
I'll keep you posted on any amusing celeb sightings.
Posted in My Life at 11:34 pm.
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Like I said, intermittent.
DECEMBER 24, 2001
Like I said, intermittent. So, I'm leaving for the wondrous land of Maui once again. As the link implicates, I was in Maui this time last year. I saw lots of celebrities and I was just beginning to get fat. It was a good time and I am expecting this one to be hot, literally and physically, as well.
Here is a list of books I plan to be reading while there:
The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Next: The Future Just Happened by Michael Lewis
Naked (I have yet to finish) by David Sedaris
Taking Your Talent to the Web by Jeffrey Zeldman
I think it should be a fun group of uber-nerd books. In addition to reading I will take pictures on my brand spanking new lomo, which will be a blast. I'm already halfway into my first roll and am pumped to get them developed. Well, enough for tonight as I have to get up in four hours to get on this freakin' plane. Hopefully they'll be good movies. Last long flight I had Antitrust and Wedding Planner, the worst combination ever. Even though I'm one of the chosen, I hope that Santa brings me good movies a day early.
Posted in My Life at 1:31 am.
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Less hair, more fun.
DECEMBER 20, 2001
Less hair, more fun. Today I got 'em all cut. It was long overdue since this thanksgiving break I went to NYC to be with family. My head feels lighter and more aerodynamic, two positive things. I always get my hair cut at home because I'm nervous to try and find someone to cut my hair elsewhere. Also, I'm not very adventurous with that kind of thing. There are certain types of things that demand an adventurous spirit and others that don't. Your toothpaste doesn't. Dinner with your best friend does. I could give more examples but it's winter break and my brain is nearly shut off. Speaking of which, I'm not going to see Vanilla Sky.
Posted in My Life at 9:30 pm.
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Goodbye apartment. I'll miss you.
DECEMBER 19, 2001
Goodbye apartment. I'll miss you. It is time for me to shove off and head home for the holidays. It is refreshing to be done but I still have a little something lingering -- not sure what it is. Once I get home I think I'll be able to kick back and let it all hang out, then I should be ok. I'm looking forward to it. To everyone else: enjoy your break and do everything I would do. Gotta stay positive.
I'll blog over break, but expect it to be intermittent.
Posted in My Life at 1:46 pm.
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I get jealous.
DECEMBER 18, 2001
I get jealous. I love blogging and I wish I really spent time thinking about it. There have been times when I did really work to create an interesting blog and I feel that recently it has become garble. A lot of people think you should just put up whatever you feel like writing at any given moment -- just write and don't edit. I don't think I totally ascribe to that view. I like to spend some time and think about what I'm going to write. I like to offer something interesting.
I'm not sure what's going to happen next year. I have spent an unnecessary amount of time online this semester and I think it has been negatively affecting my life. I need to get out more and do things. If I can't, I might take a break from this world we call blog. If I can, which is very feasible, then I will be here once again, enjoying my blogging lifestyle.
In the spirit of good blogging, I offer up two blogs and a blog I'd love to see. One I read all the time and one I just truly discovered. dollarshort.org and lifeuncommon.org. I'd also love to see an Aesthetic Apparatus blog.
Posted in My Life at 10:37 pm.
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The home stretch.
DECEMBER 18, 2001
The home stretch. I have finished my two conventional finals and now I must write my takehome. It is nice to be just about finished. When I get home I will do a number of things. Here are some in no particular order:
play videogames
go to movies, many of them
see everyone
redesign this page
go on vacations to warm and cold places
do as much nothing as possible
I will stop teasing myself now and start finishing up my work.
Posted in My Life at 2:28 pm.
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My next opponent.
DECEMBER 17, 2001
My next opponent. I have conquered one final and have two left. First on the list is constitutional law, which I will bring down in 6 to 7 rounds. Following that is great speakers and speeches, which may take as few as 3 rounds. And after that, I am finished for the semester and I can breathe out. At this point, it is just a matter of time.
I would mention other things but this is all I can think of as I am running on just sugar and shoestrings. (what?) (beats me, this guy's crazy)
Posted in My Life at 2:48 am.
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Finals. Eh.
DECEMBER 16, 2001
Finals. Eh. This has been a bad semester for me, school-wise. I've slacked off worse than I thought was possible and I've only semi-enjoyed my classes. Now I am still at the beginning of studying for an exam that is at noon tomorrow. At least I have been distracting myself today with something interesting. I've been installing Movable Type on my computer so that I can get used to it. Movable Type is similar to blogger except it runs off of your server and allows you more options. I'm going to be using this for future blogs/sites in the next year, so I've gotta know what I'm getting myself into.
Wish me luck ya'll, as I'll need it to scrape by this finals week.
Posted in My Life at 12:22 am.
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All things geek.
DECEMBER 14, 2001
All things geek. A couple days ago roomie and I were watching Comedy Central's new show, Beat the Geeks. Two contestants are pitted against movie, tv and film geeks in addition to one special guest geek. The guest geek may know Star Trek or Simpsons. Anyway, what makes the show brilliant is the fact that these are real geeks and they don't try to hide it. You have to see it to truly understand.
While I was looking at Doc's page this morning I noticed he linked to a t-shirt that is funny, but way too geek. It is a blue shirt with the "blue screen of death" text on it. Yes, it is funny, but you would be forever geekified if you wore that, even in your own home. That is a level of geek that I am just not prepared for.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 1:26 pm.
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I finally got a menorah.
DECEMBER 13, 2001
I finally got a menorah. Hannukah just isn't the same if you're not lighting the candles. I have great memories of being a youngin on the first night of Channukah.
Me: "Presents!!! Give me presents!"
Parents: "Take a chill pill, first we light the candles and say the prayers."
Me: " Awwgghhhh. Then presents?"
Parents: "Yes"
Together: "Barukh atah Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam asher keed'shanu b'meetzvotav v'tzeevanu l’had’lik neir shel Chanukkah. Amein." (two more follow)
Me: "Presents?
Parents: "Yes, presents."
For a long time my sister and I would get a present every night and then get the big gift on the 8th night. It was always torture trying to wait, especially when I was young and didn't just tell people what I wanted. As the years went on we would get all our presents on one night, which was nice. It also put more focus on lighting the candles every night since it wasn't followed by presents. Normally I would zip through the prayers so that I could get Tecmo Bowl 20 seconds faster, but the quick deployment of presents meant we spent more time saying prayers and playing with fire.
The one really odd thing about Chanukkah was when we used to have a Hannukkah Bush, which was just a renamed Christmas Tree. In the end it didn't matter because it was just fun to have something to decorate in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, we just used very generic decorations since the market for Channukkah ornamets is awfully small.
In conclusion, this holiday is great and enjoy the 5th night of Hanukah.
Posted in My Life at 3:44 pm.
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Not clever, dumb.
DECEMBER 12, 2001
Not clever, dumb. You have all heard of IT/Segway, but you probably haven't heard of DANZA/Megway It is a spoof of the new transportation device and I think it's just dumb. Instead of being on some new contraption, you just hang onto someone else's shoulders. I'm normally a fan of things from Kottke.org, but this is just lame. Not everyone seems to agree with me though. Maybe I'm just too cool, so check it out and you might think it's funny.
Posted in Culture\Politics\Law at 11:52 am.
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You may have been fooled.
DECEMBER 12, 2001
You may have been fooled. If someone sends you an email saying you have the SULFNBK.EXE virus, they are lying. According to McAfee.com, it is a hoax. Here is what the nice people at McAfee had to say.
McAfee AVERT Labs would like to inform you of a new email HOAX.So yeah, don't worry about it if you get an email saying that you got passed this virus. I know I almost fell for it.This email message is just a HOAX. Although, the SULFNBK.EXE file may become infected by a number of valid viruses (most commonly W32/Magistr@MM, the details of this HOAX message are not based on actual events.
We are advising users who receive the email to delete the message and DO NOT pass it on as this is how an email HOAX propagates.
SULFNBK.EXE is a Microsoft Windows utility that is used to restore long file names.
Really, this is quite an interesting virus. Most common viruses try to bring down big email systems by forcing your email client to send an email to everyone you know. When a big company gets this virus it ends up shutting down their whole system because of the flood of emails. This time, there is still a flood of emails but it is just propogated by the actually users. The definition of virus is expanding everyday. I know it's not the first time something like this has happened, but I haven't heard anyone actually consider these to be a virus themselves. I would like to hear some smart people talk about this.
Posted in Technology\Web at 12:28 am.
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What's yr favorite comic strip?
DECEMBER 11, 2001
What's yr favorite comic strip? About a month ago I went to see James Sturm, and he did a little slide show which included his favorite comics when he was a little kid. He mentioned Peanuts and Family Circus as his favorites. They are both classics, and I can't argue, but I think I'm going to have to go with two contemporary favorites: Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes. I started out with Garfield when I was young and then I matured into C&H. I still really enjoy going back and looking at old C&H strips as a lot of them are just so well done. The strip wasn't exactly in line with the news of the day, but it did get to the heart of growing up as a mischevious young boy. I sure as hell wasn't as evil as Calvin, but I can definitely relate.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 10:59 pm.
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The Onion is so passe,
DECEMBER 11, 2001
The Onion is so passe, but I can't help but post this link. It is just to the newest issue of The Onion, but I'd like to point your attention to the "STATshot," specifically the last point. It is asking what sequels are least anticipated and their #6 is "Schindler's List and a Little Lady."
God damn that's funny. There are also plenty of other funny items, but I'm just barely too cool to mention more than one Onion article in a single post. Sorry.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 10:47 pm.
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Robbie Williams.
DECEMBER 11, 2001
Robbie Williams. Sometime next year Robbie will be releasing an album of standards. I know this sounds crazy and would likely be pretty horrible, but it's not. I've been downloading some tracks today and they are all really quite good. A lot of times I'm against albums that are full of covers, but this one is really good. WIlliams has a great voice and an assload of style. Download "Me and My Shadow" and "Mack the Knife" for starters.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 1:04 am.
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Rock and Suck.
DECEMBER 9, 2001
Rock and Suck. Ryan Adams was so incredibly horrible that it made me not want to listen to his records any more. He is just an ass. I say that first because he and his band seemed to have no setlist and they would "jam" for about 5 minutes in every song. The word ass also comes to mind because of his response to a heckle I offered up. I yelled for "Summer of 69" (an obvious Bryan Adams joke), which resulted in the drummer flicking me off before I finished yelling, the guitarist saying "he he he" in a snickering tone and Mr. Adams jumping down my throat. Here is a brief paraphrase: "Hey man, I wasn't even born in 69, so don't fuck around. Oh, and I make more money in two days then you'll make all year." Then he starts into a "hard" song. This would be less amusing if the whole crowd wasn't laughing at him and his ridiculous reaction. The whole scene was priceless. The other big downer was not seeing Paula Derdiger. I wasn't promised a phone call this weekend so that I could see her and I got nothing. A letdown.
The rest of the weekend was fine, uneventful. It consisted of me sitting on my ass, not doing the things I was supposed to be doing. My grades are going to be pretty bad this semester, but I deserve it. Ah well, I'll still graduate and life will go on. Now I will do some work because bad grades are fine but flunking is not.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 11:59 pm.
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I'm jewish, but this is nice.
DECEMBER 9, 2001
I'm jewish, but this is nice. A great advent calendar for all of ya'll who celebrate the birth of Christ/presents.
Posted in Culture\Politics\Law at 4:54 pm.
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Ryan Adams and Paula Derdiger.
DECEMBER 7, 2001
Ryan Adams and Paula Derdiger. Tonight I am going to see Sr. Adams at the Barrymore. I had no intentions of going but three factors changed my mind.
1. One of my best friends from high school, who I haven't seen in almost three years, Paula Derdiger is coming into town for this show. I can't wait to see here and I hope I find her.
2. Thanks to a fine little magazine I am going for free.
3. Kara, Steve, JP, and Jorie are coming.
So, I couldn't resist. I really do like Ryan Adams but he is starting to fall into my Dashboard Confessional file. I hear band, I like band, band gets hyped, I back off. This isn't quite the same because Ryan Adams doesn't suck. I'll give you a report on the show a lil later.
Posted in My Life at 6:09 pm.
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I was gonna leave it alone
DECEMBER 7, 2001
I was gonna leave it alone, but this bit just makes it too funny. For those of ya'll keeping tabs on the weblog community you've probably heard about the company KPMG who asked a weblogger not to link to their site without an agreement, which breaks a cardinal rule of the internet. So, he sent a call out for everyone to link to KPMG whenever possible. This forced their site to go down because of all the traffic.
That's funny, but what's really funny is the reason why they didn't want this weblogger to link in the first place. He had the company's theme song, yes theme song, up on his webpage. The theme song is so ridiculous. The lyrics go "KPMG/We're strong as can be/A dream of power and energy/We go for the goal/Together we hold/On to our vision of global strategy..." So asinine. You can listen to the song for yourself at Wired News. It's definitely good for a chuckle, I promise.
Posted in Technology\Web at 12:56 pm.
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Muck Ficrosoft.
DECEMBER 7, 2001
Muck Ficrosoft. I agree with Steve Jobs; Microsoft should give cash instead of computers. As you may or may not know, Microsoft is giving $1 billion worth of computers to schools as a part of their settlement. The reason this is ridiculous is because the one market Apple has any reasonable marketshare in is education. It sounds like a good idea, giving a ton of computer equiptment to schools, but not when the gesture is anti-competitive itself. Oh Bill Gates, you rule the world already; please make some room for the others to play.
Posted in Technology\Web at 12:35 pm.
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Emmie has arrived.
DECEMBER 6, 2001
Emmie has arrived. For those of you in the Madison area, you should check out your local music, coffee, trendy shop and pick up a copy of the new emmie. It is chock full of good reviews from They Might Be Giants, Bis, Beulah, Death Cab For Cutie, Mates of State and James Sturm. There's also plenty of reviews and other features. And you will have the pleasure of reading some articles by yours truly. Unforunately for those outside of Madison, not all of the articles are online yet, but they will be. Promise. I'd also like to say that this is easily the best, most professional version of Emmie to date. Congrats to everyone involved.
The rest of evening is devoted to a paper revision and not the Karaoke Kid. Too bad, but I needs to do this.
Posted in My Life at 11:26 pm.
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I just...can't...stop!
DECEMBER 5, 2001
I just...can't...stop! According to WIRED News, videogame addiction has become a serious problem. They use the game Everquest as an example of an addictive game. It is an online RPG that sucks up hours of people's lives, supposedly. In turn, two groups were formed, "Spouses Against Everquest" and "Everquest Widows." No joke. Here are some choice excerpts.
Members also share tips on how to sabotage EverQuest by deleting characters or blocking access to servers. As a result, the board is regularly raided by angry gamers who warn the widows "not to fuck with EQ."
"For the first week, I didn't go to sleep," said Logsdon, who has also posted his experience online. "It was worse than being on crank. I'd always get a sinking feeling when I looked out the window and saw it was dawn. I'd get angry at myself for being such a loser because the game was controlling my life."
The games are clearly addictive, but this is still funny.
Posted in Video Games at 12:57 pm.
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End of the year lists.
DECEMBER 5, 2001
End of the year lists. I'm striking early this year because I have to and because I don't see much changing the list in the next month. A few comments before you read on: movies sucked this year, making this list made me realize there was a ton of great music, a bunch of hot singles were missed because I didn't do a singles list.
MOVIES
1. The Royal Tennenbaums*
2. Ginger Snaps
3. Shrek
4. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
5. Monsters Inc.
6. Ghost World
7. Startup.com
8. Legally Blonde
9. Zoolander
10. Memento
*preemptive yes, but i have unending faith in Wes Anderson.
MUSIC-
1. Ash - Free All Angels**
2. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
3. Call and Response - Nightflight
4. Pernice Bros. - The World Won't End
5. Sloan - Pretty Together
6. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
7. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart
8. Faint - Danse Macabre
9. Ben Folds - Rockin the Suburbs
10. Beta Band - Hot Shots II
11. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World**
12. Spoon - Girls Can Tell
13. Wilco - Foxtrot Hotel
14. Bran Van 3000 - Discosis
15. Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album
**just in europe for now, sorry.
GAME CONSOLES-
1. Sony Playstation 2
2. Nintendo Gamecube
3. Sega Dreamcast***
4. Microsoft Xbox
***out of production, but still better than Micro$uck.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 1:44 am.
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Laughin's good.
DECEMBER 3, 2001
Laughin's good. After a little surfing I've got some great things to share. The first is a japanese videogame called "Boon-ga Boon-ga." The point of the game is to stick your finger up a girl's butt. The harder you do it the more reaction you'll get from the face on the screen. I really just want to see this game in action. Head over to The Register to get some more background and look at some photos.
Staying on the Japanese theme, Elizabeth offered up a hillarious link to a music video from a Japanese band called Yatta, I think. Well, there song is definitely called Yatta. In the video they are wearing underwear with a leaf over it and women are going nuts. It must be how they perceive N*Sync. You have to see it to belive it.
Man, if the defamation of Japanese people is this funny then I might be OK with it.
Posted in Music\TV\Film\Media at 4:15 pm.
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Holiday cheer.
DECEMBER 2, 2001
Holiday cheer. I just got back from kara's holiday party followed by a trip to the Pub. It was a damn good time. The holiday party was an eclectic mix of people and music, which is just what the doctor ordered for tonight. The Pub was hillarious. Bacardi was having some kind of promotional event and there were half nekkid women in red nylon daisy dukes. That alone is somewhat amusing because they travel around with this Bacardi crew turning on men all around the country. I mean, it's their job to let men hit on them and fain interest. I guess that's really what was amusing--watching these dudes get temporary tattoos from these girls even though no one in their right mind would wear a bacardi temporary tattoo. Aside from the women, people were getting all kind of free hats, t-shirts and bags (i.e. shwag). This sh*t is dumb because when you're drunk it might sound like a good idea but when you wake up with two bacardi t-shirts, a bacardi bandana and a bacardi bag you will quickly drop that in the garbage.
Enough ranting. If you really want to read about sex etc., go to this article about a Northwestern study that looks into what turns on men and women. Pretty interesting (via Obscure Store)