A Decision To Be Indecisive

We know Chuck Norris is awesome, I now have proof he's evil too. Check out the view count on the Octagon trailer I uploaded to Youtube a while back:

Went to Wal-Mart this fine evening just to peruse their entertainment section, buy some coffee cream, a frozen pizza, and snacks. It happens to be close to home, so even though I despise going in there, I did anyway.

While I was deciding on what sugar (chocolate bar) to force into my system, there was a whole lot of noise coming from the bicycles by the toy section. We're talking the old school "honk-a-honk-a!" horn being pressed over and over. My friend and I decided that, just maybe, there was a clown being raped off in the corner somewhere and that was his desperate plea for help.

After that we're standing at the checkout and some French-Canadian dude, who looks like he needs a shave and a hair cut - the curly haired fuck, is literally clasping his toddler by the throat and asking him "why aren't you saying potty?", of course with the accent it sounded like "poddy", but perhaps he wasn't saying it because you've cut of his air flow. He also grabbed the kid's head between his two large froggy mits and kept telling him to "look into my eyes" like he's trying to hypnotize this, now traumatized, two-year-old into saying potty for him. Bizarre parenting there, if you can call it that.

That's probably it, and I do realize I haven't written in here since March, I just haven't felt the need. Deal with it.

Lately on the way to and from work, and from driving my wife to work, I've been spinning a lot of CD's from my collection I haven't listened to in a while. Recently I made my way through the Escape From L.A. soundtrack, which is not only better than the movie could ever hope to be, but also made me aware of a lot of cool bands.

One of those bands is the main subject here: Sugar Ray. They went through an extremely sad transformation and "sold-out" more than any hard rock band I can think of. This is a band who started out playing quickly paced, straight-ahead rock music and went on to crank out shit like "When It's Over" and "Falls Apart" - songs your mom could happily sing to herself while making casserole for dinner.

And to blame is a little song called "Fly", which came from their second album "Floored". It's an irritating and crappy little pop ballad and feels totally out of place in the context of the rest of the album with such aggressive songs like "Breathe" and "Tap, Twist, Shout". It also became a huge radio hit. Rather than stick to their guns, Mark McGrath and the boys decided they'd go for more fame and their next album "14:59" was a complete and utter about-face from their first two efforts. The best thing about it is the jokey title, which is referring to their fifteen minutes of fame almost being over.

And it was all downhill from there. Two more crappy albums followed, McGrath went on to get a gig on the tabloid celebrity stroke-a-thon "Extra!" as well as other shitty reality shows. He even got his tattoos removed - much too rock for this fucker.

How can a band go from this awesome cover (Ami Dolenz, spank my Monkee - see what I did there?):


To this?


Boggles my mind. At least the other bands I got into from that soundtrack: Clutch and Orange 9mm stayed true to their musical statements - Hell, Clutch is still doing it to this day and they're still kicking much ass. Don't believe me? Visit their WEBPAGE.

Since I happen to work in a retail store, and I also happen to have a Facebook page, I get the joy of seeing all of the younger people on my lists' feeble attempts at getting attention. You know, saying stuff about how they miss someone, how their lives have no hope, all that. For fuck's sake, most of you aren't even (or barely) twenty, come back to me once you've lived a little more and then complain.

Also, check out this little status tidbit (I won't put the name, because that's not nice):
"Jane Doe is sick as Jeffory Dahlmer is..."

Wow, just wow. To be a complete asshole, just for a fleeting moment, it's "Jeffrey Dahmer" and you can't possibly use "is" when he's been dead for years. So, yeah, "Jane Doe is as sick as Jeffrey Dahmer was..." just rolls off the tongue so much better. Though why you'd relate your illness with a cannibalistic serial killer I'm still wondering about.

There's not been a whole heck of a lot going on of note lately but I have noticed a few things on my daily journey through life.

I went to the local HMV today in order to buy the seventh season of Trailer Park Boys on DVD. To get there I had to walk through the Sport-Chek next door because they have a good portion of the mall's parking lot blocked-off as they build a Best Buy. On the way through I noticed just how dead it was in there, a trend that continued into the HMV. Damn, nobody is shopping anymore. I'm hesitant to blame the economy, but maybe that's because I'm ignorant due to nobody I know being affected by it. While I was in HMV I had the honour of seeing a cracked-out lady donning the listening station headphones and dancing around like a looney tune while he abundant jewelry jingled about.

Later this evening, when I was reading the latest issue of Blender magazine, I saw an ad on the back cover for Axe body wash. For one of the types they sell, called "Snake Peel", they actually have the ad line, "Scrub away the skank with Snake Peel" - what the fuck? Anyone who knows me knows I'm completely not politically correct but this is a major print magazine and a pretty big company, they really should know better.

Didn't watch the Oscars, don't care about Hollywood giving each other congratulatory hand-jobs.

Watched the comedy Role Models tonight with Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd, it wasn't that bad and had a good handful of laughs even if it played up it's L.A.R.P. (Live Action Role Playing) angle a bit too much in the finale. I also recorded the John Candy comedy Summer Rental simply because everyone needs a 80's comedy now and then.

While I was waiting outside the grocery store my wife works at (this being almost midnight) I saw some dude putting his food into his car and slowly returning his cart. He looked sad. Sometimes I wonder what's going through people's heads as they go about the bland routines life tends to throw at you all the time. Maybe he was out shopping that late because he was alone. Maybe he's just afraid of people and prefers later hours when there's less people. Or maybe he just wanted to get away from his home life. Who really knows? The human mind is much too elaborate and fucked-up to try and get a grip on.

Yeah, so I haven't written a thing here in a while. Perhaps it is because things have been boring but, really, it's just because I'm so damn lazy. Just thought I'd recap a few, random and mostly pointless, things:

-I finally entered the World of HD. Went out last night to buy a HD television set and ended up at Future Shop. Jen and I knew which set we were interested in but, thanks to high pressure sales tactics by a salesman who looked barely nineteen (and told us he'd worked there a year but hadn't sold a solitary unit of the one we wanted), we ended up leaving a bit perturbed and annoyed. Now, I know we only really wanted to spend $700 before taxes but after shopping around a bit, we ended up buying THIS. They chopped about $120 off the price at London Drugs for us and, so far, I'm happy. Remember, all I've had it a 27-inch Citizen TV, so even seeing my 360 in "TrueColor HD" was cool. Tomorrow they come by and hook up the HD cable and buying the PVR ended up costing $650 - which you can pay for monthly. So, yeah, it's quite an expense we weren't expecting but, with heavy budgeting and all that, it'll be cool.

-When putting back the Megadeth CD, "Rust in Peace" today, I noticed that only The Melvins seperate the 'deth from Metallica. Which amused me because we all know what a whiny bitch Dave Mustaine was in Some Kind of Monster.

-Got tickets to go see the Flight of the Conchords concert in May. I guess I was lucky since my fellow Graveyard writer Josh told me that it was extremely difficult to get them and they sold out in under two minutes. Thank goodness for the early tip by someone at work they were coming and the fact I did internet pre-order three days before general sale (using the code "SUGALUMPS").

-This Chinese food I am currently eating re-heated is pretty good.

-I have twelve 360 games I have purchased I haven't even put into my system. The last one was Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, which I plan on playing after I finish Conan and Call of Duty 3. I recently completed Dark Sector, which is a mix of Gears of War and Krull. It was an entertaining game and well worth the eight bucks I paid for it.

-I'm thinking of trying alligator when I go out for Valentine's dinner on Saturday.

-The new Bang Camaro CD is pretty kick-ass. Plus when I ordered I got an autographed CD book, a pin, and a iron on patch.

-The new My Bloody Valentine probably would've sucked if it wasn't in 3D. Probably the best thing about seeing it (apart from it was free because a friend gave me advance passes) was finally getting to meet Josh. He's been writing for the site for years and we talked for a while even before that (back in his Chainsaw Fodder days), so it was super cool to finally meet up. The best thing was that we got along pretty darn good with each other. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again sometime.

Can't really think of much else, so there!

Since everyone else seems to be writing a blog post about what they received for Christmas, I guess I'll get in on it.

We went to the house of a couple we're friends with for Christmas Eve and I ended-up getting the 2-disc version of Step Brothers and Iron Man from them - which I wasn't expecting at all.

My wife bought me a $20 HMV card (I used to it to buy season one of "The Venture Bros."), some Microsoft points (which I downloaded the game Cloning Clyde and some Rock Band 2 songs), a pair of jeans, a Minimates set of Batman/Killer Croc, an Iron Maiden hat, some candy stuffs, and the 3-disc special edition of Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.

From the mother-in-law I received a Starbucks mug with gift card, the fifth season of "Trailer Park Boys" and the massive 16-disc "Monty Python's Flying Circus" collection that contains all of the show's episodes and a couple of their live performances.

I also received $125 in cash, which I used to buy: 2 Xbox 360 games to the tune of Condemned 2 and Prince of Persia, the new AC/DC album "Black Ice", the 2-disc edition of True Romance, the complete series of The Office (the BBC version), the 2-disc gift set for Silverado, and The Dark Knight. I also bought my wife some socks, because I'm nice.

Overall, I came out with way more than I deserved. Now I'm going to be chained to my television for days watching it all.

We're closing in on the end of the year and I'm ramping up on site to make up my choices for "Best" and "Worst" horror films. I've got a complete list currently but I'm trying to cram in a handful of 2008 movies I've yet to see just in case something slipped by. I seriously doubt it, but there's about eight movies I need to view before the end of the month and you never know.

The end of the year is notorious for "best of" lists and I was thinking about music releases of the past twelve months that've made an impression on me. The one album that stands out the most, much to my surprise, is Metallica's "Death Magnetic". Despite what all the 'real fans' say, this is one Hell of an album. Sure, it's not the piss 'n' vinegar of their earlier stuff, but you have to remember these are guys now in their forties. And fuck you stupid metal forever fan boys for making issue of them shopping in expensive stores. They're goddamn millionaires, there's no way they'll keep their DIY aesthetic from when they were in their early twenties making thrash records and living in tour buses. It's a complete album and they've brought back the solos "St. Anger" didn't have, tons of wah-wah pedal and all, as well as got rid of that awful snare drum sound. I particularly like "That Was Your Life" and "The Unforgiven III" (it should've been called something different, then it wouldn't of been so harshly judged). I continue spinning this disc and am glad it's again cool to like them.

I've also been listening to Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy". It really should've just been an Axl Rose solo project considering all the people with a finger in the pie. The title track has six guitar players credited! It's a pretty mixed bag and all over the place. I've heard a bunch of the songs on it before in various leaks over the years and I absolutely hate "Street of Dreams" where it sounds like Axl is sobbing while singing or, at least, trying out to be cast in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera. I need to listen more before I pass final judgment.

On a last music related note, lately metal ballads have been big on my play list. I just love these damn things, don't know right why. If you're wondering what I mean exactly then check out "Beyond the Realms of Death" by Judas Priest, "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera, or "Fade to Black" by Metallica. Holy shit, they're good - though I'm a mite concerned they're all death themed, but then I suppose they couldn't be called metal.

If I ever needed proof of the absolute wrecking power of Celine Dion's music, and I'm mostly shifting the blame to her song from Titanic, then I have photographic evidence from the cover of last month's Canadian edition of Reader's Digest:


That poor child has had his entire face burnt off by her songs!! Damn her!

I don't really pay much attention to entertainment news - which, granted, is difficult considering I run a webpage where I constantly get press releases - but the following article just blew my freaking mind.

Batman Is Evil

So the mayor of this horse-fuck town is suing the makers of The Dark Knight saying that the fact they're using the same name that they are responsible for several unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate due to the "psychological impact" from the success of the movie. This just reeks of "piece of the pie" to me and if Warner Brothers actually decides to offer a settlement, they're just as retarded.

The Batman character was created by Bob Kane in 1939, why is it when a movie based on such a character makes almost a billion dollars Worldwide (as of this entry) that this comes out of the woodwork? The almighty dollar, that's why.

Last week when I was listening to the music podcast from IGN their topic was listing the first five songs that came up on shuffle when they turned on their ipods (or itunes). Since I am apt to be interested in such nerdy endeavors, I decided I would do the same thing. The only difference being: a) I own a Zune and b) it's only me talking about it and, it's quite likely, nobody gives a shit. But this is my blog, so I'll do whatever I damn well please!

In order of arrival to my ear drums, after shutting off Metallica's new CD, "Death Magnetic" (which is rather good and makes them almost cool again to listen to):

1. "Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran
You can colour me surprised that one of my numerous guilty pleasures from the 80's came up first. But I show no shame in enjoying earlier Duran Duran stuff. This song probably isn't in my top five songs by the band, but I can't say it's shite either. Lots of synths, a funky bass line, and a catchy enough chours.

2. "No Sign of Life" by OK Go
This one comes from their second LP, "Oh No", which I admit I don't have a very close relationship with. But it's an alright romp anyway.

3. "Bag O Miracles" by Eagles of Death Metal
Pretty Southern rock sounding, but most of this band's stuff does show that influence. It's 70's rock filtered through modern day with the help of Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme in tow. This one's got lots of hand claps, harmonizing, and folky guitar.

4. "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson
I was seven when "Thriller" came out. It was the shit to my little brain and I was soon cutting up my mother's dress gloves, sporting them on one hand, and attempting to do a moonwalk. This song isn't off that album, this song isn't one I like by Jacko. It's a bland, crappy ballad that shows up here simply because it's on the "Number Ones" compilation on my Zune.

5. "Emily" by Bowling for Soup
Standard pop punk and nothing I listen to much. I didn't pay much for this disc and I think I bought it because I heard "Punk Rock 101" on one of EA's various sports games soundtracks. I don't have a huge affinity for pop punk like this and Blink-182, but I can tolerate it.

Early impressions of the abundance of gaming that headed my way this past week:
Age of Booty: I hate the name for this Xbox Live Arcade game. I much preferred its original moniker, Plunder. It's a fairly basic strategy game where you control pirate ships and try to gather resources and take over towns before your opponents can. It took me a few games to get the hang of it but once I did, I enjoyed myself. I've yet to try it on-line but I've read that's what makes this game worth the 800 points I spent (or 10 bucks in money talk).

Dead Space: Like I said before, this feels a lot like John Carpenter's The Thing with it's mutating humans and the like, but for an unestablished "horror survival" game this (so far) hits all the right notes. It looks good, it's gory as fuck, and there's something satisfying about taking apart a creature who's out for your blood limb-by-bloody-limb. I've only spent 2-3 hours with it but I'm digging it.

I played a heck of a lot of Fable II today and I wasn't that enthralled in the first few hours but it's managed to grow on me as my trusty dog and I have explored various countrysides killing beasties, collecting treasures, robbing houses, and trying to get rid of one of the townsfolk who become much too enamoured of me for my liking. The working mini-games are pretty simple and the gambling tables they've included make for mild fun, but I've just enjoyed cruising around seeing the sights.

Finally, I popped in Saint's Row 2 this evening for some co-op with a buddy and damned if it wasn't one of the most fun times I've had playing on-line in recent memory. It's completely over-the-top stuff what with you busting out of jail in the opening moments, destroying a court house, and generally being a bad-ass. I loved stealing a samurai sword and slice 'n' dicing people with the cool stabby animation. It's not a lot different from the first and won't win any awards for graphics but I had a great time laughing it up and acting goofy.

Now if I can just get through more of these before Fallout 3 next week.

Yeah, I lied. I didn't buy it like planned. I did get a good deal on Fable II though as I took in the flier from my work which was ten dollars cheaper and not only did they match it, but they gave me an additional 10% off - the entire amount, when it was supposed to just be on the ten dollar difference. Not complaining. So far, the game is alright. A bit dull at first but I can sense it getting better.

The West Coast chain of stores called A&B Sound are totally going under. In the last year they've shut almost all their stores with only four remaining in business. However, judging from the fact they're clearing out almost all their CDs for 70% off, I don't think they're going to last much longer. But when I can get 6 discs for 29 bucks, I will reap such benefits.

Yesterday another birthday came and went. It wasn't an overly exciting day, but that's mostly my fault due to having an early afternoon nap and coming out of it both grumpy and with no desire to do anything. My plans to see Max Payne I pushed aside after skimming the numerous horrible reviews it got. I did go to EB Games and trade stuff in to get Dead Space for 360 which, so far, if pretty damn awesome. Think The Thing mixed with Event Horizon and you get the basis behind the game.

I make no qualms about getting cold, hard cash for my birthday so I accepted the 50 bucks from my mother and 50 gift card from my mother-in-law quite happily. Went to Blockbuster and traded in some stuff I had no interest in keeping and got Saint's Row 2 (had to throw in 25 of some of my cash to get it) because one of my friends wants to play co-op in it - let's just hope he buys it now. Though, I liked the original, so even if I play by myself, no biggie.

Tomorrow I'm picking up Fable II and going full-on evil in the fantasy world of Albion, plus I'm going to get the new AC/DC album - which is getting middling reviews so far.

But, the ultimate present I got from my darling wife, Jennifer. She's known I wanted this forever and now it can take its place above my PC so, when I'm having a difficult time writing reviews, I can feel invigorated:


How awesome is that?

With the video game season getting into full swing very soon - what with Dead Space, Fallout 3, Fable II, Gears Of War 2, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts all on my wish list - there's a shitload of stuff hitting in a short period of time. I've paid for Fallout in full for when it comes out on the 28th, so that's not an issue. I have to pre-order Banjo to get my code to get the original game for free. And somehow I have to squeeze all the others in there.

Along with releases comes demos to entice you into buying more games. I recently downloaded the ones for Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway and Tom Clancy's EndWar with little to no expectations. And both of them kicked my ass enough for me to want those now too.

Hell's Highway is another World War II game but it's done very cinematic-like, let's you control units, and feels more like you need to use some strategy rather than "run 'n' gun". It looks good, plays good, and the small taste I was given makes me want to play more. Of course seeing my grenade blast apart some German soldiers in slow motion didn't hurt matters.

Then there's EndWar, a game one of my friends is practically in love with. I wasn't sure what it'd be like since I'm not a fan of RTS (Real Time Strategy) games on consoles. I didn't like Command & Conquer 3 and all other demos I've checked out failed too. But EndWar takes the basis of using simple voice commands to control your Army and it works surprisingly well. A few times, in the heat of battle, it didn't recognize what I was saying, but usually it worked like a charm. After destroying said friend in a match, I think I might be swayed into buying this as well.

Oh, and he also wants me to get Saints Row 2 so we can roll in co-op mode.

Looks like my gaming tablet was gotten much fuller - now if I can just convince someone to buy Left 4 Dead and help me kill zombie scum.

In my town there's this guy called Tim Felger who's been a thorn in the side of the city due to his over-the-top pushes for the legalization of marijuana. This is a topic I myself agree with, but this guy goes about it in such a way, that it's no wonder people won't take it seriously and look at 'users' as unintelligent laze-abouts.

Firstly, he crashes whatever public event he can with dumb slogan signs (he stormed the Canada Day parade with a sign saying "your mom just called and wants you to pick up a twenty-bag") and he runs a shop (using the term lightly) in the downtown area called Da Kine, which makes me wonder if the backpack company knows this, where he's posted such ridiculous things on the doors as "9-11 Was An Inside Job". Just what the fuck does that have to do with legalization? And why the Hell have you and your cronies spray painted '9-11 = Inside Job' all over town? What does this prove? If you want to rant about politics, then separate it from your leanings towards making a plant not against the law to grow and smoke. Shake your damn head and see that nobody is going to take you seriously when you're being so pushy about your ideals.

I know all the concerns people have over legalizing marijuana and I also know a lot of the misconceptions people have such as how it's so addicting and how it kills brain cells, yadda yadda yadda. Unlike alcohol, you will never see anyone get violent when they are on pot. And you probably won't see many cases of impaired driving as someone who is high is less likely to leave their couch while munching Cheetos and either listing to music or watching something extremely dumb on television. There's the discussion that if it was regulated, then the government would over-tax things and people would still buy from illegal sources. Fine. There's also those retarded ads running on my local TV listings channel (with the Ghostbusters music in the background, no less) about turning in grow-ops. Because it wouldn't be better to go after all the Meth labs and crack dealers in a town where the problem is getting out of hand. Sure, fine, points taken. If you don't want to make it so the Government can't control pricing, then perhaps just pass a law where it is not illegal for someone to grow a few plants for their own personal use. Make them buy a yearly license to do so, just like how you need to buy a fishing license. Charge 60-100 bucks. The Government would still make some money off it and, in turn, you'd be cutting down on the amount of grow-ops as people would probably take the gumption to grow their own - unless they fall under the "lazy stoner" stereotype, of course.

Recently I've been interested in album covers, most specifically older LP covers, because a lot of them are hilarious gaudy, cornball, and chintzy. On my travels I've found such delicious albums as "Viva Le Crepes!" and various crooners who've titled their albums with vague sexual references.

But here's a bunch of bands who do not know the meaning of the word restraint, in fact, most of these are pretty damn sexist and prove that the joke in This Is Spinal Tap about "Smell the Glove" was rooted very firmly in reality.

Our first entry is from a band I've never heard of called Boxer and their 1975 album, "Below the Belt". The boxing motif is expected but the "c*nt punt" shown isn't:


When he left Deep Purple, blonde locked David Coverdale formed a band called Whitesnake. Perhaps some of you have heard of them thanks to their massive 1987 self-titled hit album. But they've been flying the sexist flag for quite some time as seen by the evidence here in the form of 1979's "Lovehunter", which looks almost inspired by Conan the Barbarian until you realize it came out three years earlier, and 1984's "Slide It In" and their continued obsession with mild-Hentai like themes of snakes going places they really shouldn't. It's almost surprising that their 1989 album, "Slip of the Tongue" restrained itself and had nothing sexist at all on the cover:


We all know that Ted Nugent isn't exactly the classiest of guys and his redneck-like persona and obsession with hunting has made him look like quite the jackass lately. But look at his songs and you'll see the pervert inside as he's recorded such "hits" as 'My Baby Likes My Butter on Her Gritz', 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang', and 'Thunder Thighs'. But nothing quite matches his 2007 album, "Love Grenade". It's hard to figure out which could be considered more offensive, the stuck pig version or the one that is, I assume, mocking breast cancer:



And finally, before hitting their popularity in North America with their 1984 song, 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' and later unleashing the quite awful ballad, 'Wind of Change', Germany's The Scorpions had a trio of albums released in the late 70's that objectified women like no other band has managed to since. Their 1977 LP, "Virgin Killer" is the worst of the bunch and, to this very day, I have no idea how it even got released (consider the version I've posted here is censored and you'll get what I mean), but their follow-ups 1979's "Lovedrive" and 1980's "Animal Magnetism" both flew the sexist flag, be it in a more "oh ho ho, we're so tongue-in-cheek!" way:


How about you? Are there any album covers that have affected you in one way or that other? Any that have made you angry? Any that you've found offensive (and not just because you think the artist "sucks")? Let's hear some of them!

Since everyone and their monkey seems to be worked up over The Dark Knight, and also since I am a huge Batman fan in general, I thought it'd be a waste of your time to list Batman movies in order from best to worst.

They are:
-Batman Begins
-The Dark Knight
-Batman Returns
-Batman (1989)
-Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
-Batman: The Movie (1966)
-Batman & Robin
-Batman Forever

Of that list, 3 & 4 as well as the last two could switch places without much consequence. Also, the latter two are the only ones I truly didn't like - even if Uma Thurman looked kind of hot as Poison Ivy.

On a quick observation note, have you ever noticed how easy it is to pick out the obvious dullards in society? There's just something about their slack-jaw look that makes it simple...

Sometimes, I swear I see the weirdest things.

Today on my way to work, Jen and I stopped at McDonald's to get a coffee. The reason for this is simple, their coffee isn't that bad and we don't have to wait in line for ten minutes like we do at the local Tim Horton's (a Canadian donut chain that I'm sure laces their beans with heroin to keep you coming back). On the way out of the drive-thru we see an employee of St. John's Ambulance heading into the place carrying a red and white cooler. Now, we all know what's in such a device when a paramedic is carrying it, but considering he was heading into a McDonald's I became a little bit concerned.

Later in the day I was outside cleaning up the garden center with one of my new, inherited, employees. All the sudden we hear "damn... damn... damn" and not in the pissed off kind of damn either. This was the kind of damn you hear when someone sees something they consider amazing. We look out and it's this guy who looks no older than maybe twenty-two and he's directing these comments towards a woman heading for her car. This doesn't concern me much until I realize the woman is probably in her early forties and the fact the guy keeps repeating his one word phrase over and over again - to whom I have no idea since the person it is directed to is much too far away to even hear.

First off, while I am typing this a fine sheen of sweat is running down the front of my face. It's damn hot in my apartment tonight and, since I don't have any hair up there to stop it, I have the unpleasant sticky/wet feeling all over my face.

Tomorrow I go back to work after having nine days off and, I must admit, it doesn't feel like I did a heck of a lot of anything. I didn't finish any games like I intended to, I barely watched any movies, and I slept in less than I should have - a few nights I got a whole three hours sleep because I was having insomnia.

I did go to the movies three times, though. I saw The Happening which was too stupid for words and not at all suspenseful, The Strangers which I enjoyed quite a bit despite it treading on a few time-worn cliches, and Pixar's Wall-E that was an entertaining and charming ride though not only the same level as The Incredibles and Finding Nemo for me - still go see it, it's worth it.

I also finally finished putting all my CDs onto my new Zune yesterday night. Over 400 discs having to be ripped to my hard drive was quite a strain, then I plunked the other 500 albums on my computer on there too. So, basically, I have over 900 albums and still have about 19 gigs of space left... very nice. However, and this qualifies as my dumbest moment of the week, when I went to listen to it this evening and was shocked at how shitty the sound quality was. The vocals were very tinny and in the background which is not how they are supposed to sound. I got very upset, found my receipt, and was ready to wipe it clean so I could return it to the store tomorrow and go back to my iPod. However, upon inspecting around the web as to why it would sound like crap, I saw the simple suggestion to make sure the headphones were firmly into the jack. No way I could not have done something as easy as that! Well, turns out that's exactly what I did because when I pushed down on the plug it went in further and clicked. Upon listening to the same songs again, I realized that was the problem, and felt stupid for the next fifteen minutes or so.

Anyhow, it's too hot to stay in this room, I am going to get where the fan is and perhaps watch Shutter since it's only about 80 minutes long. Oh, and before I forget, I guess my previous post about cassettes I used to own was seen by someone searching for TMA albums as well and they were nice enough to leave me download links for both of their LP's in my comments section. I'd love to thank them personally, but they didn't put a name on their comments, so consider this your thanks, oh faceless one, you certainly made my day on that one.