Application for Friend

This application is for the position of Friend of Crystal Brown. Should your application not be accepted, Crystal Brown reserves the right to post any and all information on her blog and ridicule it mercilessly. Your application will not be held and a new application must be filed for any other Friend positions that might open in the future. Crystal Brown is not an equal opportunity friend and does make decisions based on race, gender, religious orientation and sexual identity. Accordingly, all Gay Friends but fill out the appropriate Gay Friend application. Crystal Brown is an At Will friend and friendship can be terminated by either parties at any time.

Name___________________________________________________________________
(last) (first) (middle)

Nickname: (note: if you do not have a nickname, one will be provided for you)_____________________

Address:________________________________________________________________
(street address) (state) (zip)

Contact Numbers: (home) ________-________-___________

(cell) ________-________-_____________

General Friend Information:

Have you ever been convicted of a felony?:  ___Yes ___ No  ___I Don’t Remember
If so, what was the conviction?: 
___ Public Drunkeness
 ___Drug Posession
 ___Prostitution
 ___I was framed!

Have you or any of your family members ever been friends of Crystal Brown before?:
___ Yes  ___No  ___I don’t remember  ___I don’t have any family  ___Who’s Crystal Brown? ___ I’ve never had a friend before  ___I killed my family  ___and then I ate them.

Previous Friend Experience
How many friends have you had in the past 5 years?__________________________

How many friends have you kept?________________________________________

How many friends have you cut and why?__________________________________

How many friends have cut you and why?__________________________________

How much money do you make?_________________________________________

How much money have you spent/ are you willing to spend on your friends?____________________________________________________________

Please list your fiend skills and abilities:____________________________________

____________________________________________________________________


Personality Questionnaire:
Please choose the option or options that most closely resembles yourself
My favorite actor is:  __Tom Cruise  ___Robert Downey Jr.  ___Seth Rogan ___Vince Vaughn

My favorite actor to make fun of is:  ___Tom Cruise  ___Christian Bale  ___Toby MacGuire  ___Keanu Reeves ___Sean Connery

My favorite movie is:  ___Scary Movie  ___National Lampoon  ___Saw  ___Hot Fuzz ___Napoleon Dynamite  ___Barbarella

When I’m alone I:  ___read books  ___crochet doilies  ___look at porn
 ___obsessively clean myself  ___cut myself  ___drink a lot  ___sleep in

When I’m with my friends I:  ___drink a lot  ___talk about people behind their backs 
___get really bossy  ___am a buzz kill  ___make people laugh  ___am a drama queen 
___can’t take a joke  ___tend to cry  ___am passively aggressive 
___know everything in the world

My sense of humor is:  ___Sarcastic  ___Demeaning  ___Absurd  ___Slap stick 
___not remotely funny  ___Ghetto  ___Ironic  ___Dry  ___Dead

I dislike people who:  ___Talk politics  ___Talk sports  ___Talk about themselves 
___over react  ___are easily surprised  ___hate surprises  ___hate animals 
___are too serious  ___are never serious  ___love soy  ___wear Birkenstocks 
___interrupt  ___drive recklessly ___are opinionated  ___stare

I like people who:  ___make me laugh  ___give me hugs  ___give me money 
___help me diet  ___watch American Idol  ___make me food  ___are clean
 ___are very emotional  ___are very intelligent  ___are not too intelligent 
___are never sick  ___scare easily  ___let me touch them.

Thank you for filling out the Crystal Brown friend application. Please include with your application verification of your citizenship, three references, a list of all current prescription medication, urine sample, current headshots, physical measurements, blood sample, most recent pay stub, medical history for the past 5 years, and a $25 processing fee.

poll update

i'm shocked that clooney even got a vote. i admit i was a big fan of the huge black turtleneck sweater, but that was about it. keaton was a great choice except for the physical aspects of the character. what are you going to do? bale was a relative unknown before taking the role, and i think he has nailed it. could be a little taller, but that would be my only comment.

i suppose the poll for later this summer will be the best joker. nicholson, hamill, romero or ledger.

moving on, the latest indiana jones movie came out, so i'm interested to know reader's favorite franchisee. i'm sure i have left something out, so please use the comments to suggest other series of movies.

don't be afraid to vote often, perhaps voting three times for your absolute favorite, voting twice for your next favorite and so on.

Making some cuts?

It's been a really long day, probably one of the most exasperating work days I've experienced in a long time. But apparently our "fresh legs" on our blog only lasted one week, because Austin is the only one who's posted since Crystal last Friday. So I've gotta put something up here!

In an effort to "unwind" tonight, besides watching the Spurs come apart again and allow the Lakers to cruise into the NBA Finals (fingers crossed for tomorrow night that the NBA won't get their dream matchup!), I wound up watching "Pleasantville" on the USA Network. It's cleaned up a little, obviously, but I think I only really ever watched it through once, when it came out on DVD. And now, watching it again, I can't help but find it really thought-provoking. I'm only about 3/4 through it, but I'm wondering exactly what the evolving "colored" items are supposed to represent. I remember thinking the first time through that it represented Sin, or at least creatures who recognized that they could sin. But watching it again, it seems a little less black-and-white than that (no pun intended!). Now I'm thinking that it represents self-awareness, or at least a personal acknowledgment of their own freedom to make choices, any choices. What do you all think? Or better yet, what was it intended to be by the movie's creators? I could look it up, but I'd rather just hear from other people.

I was also looking at the upcoming fall TV schedule this year, and I discovered that in JUST continuing to watch the shows that I've enjoyed recently, I would be committed to 9.5 hours of television a week with the current schedule. That's out of control, not to mention the fact that it doesn't even allow for any possible new additions to my viewing habits. Here are the ones that I am currently planning on watching. What should I cut?

Boston Legal
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Chuck
Heroes
Eli Stone
House
Pushing Daisies
Friday Night Lights
30 Rock
Desperate Housewives

battlestar galactica, soccer (suprise) and gen X

i'll admit that the holiday weekend threw off my blogging clock. i was buried at work and then realized, hey, it's my day to post.


i spent the weekend watching the first season of battlestar galactica. the religious theme of the first season cannot be ignored and yet i have no idea how it is resolved. i seemed to remember it being dropped during the second season, but we'll see. all of this has happened and will happen again was the recurring verse from the sacred scrolls, and i'm interested to see how the final season resolves this element of the story.


other than that, just hung out. didn't watch any other tv. i mean what is there to watch?


manchester united won the champions league. talk about a game of two halves. penalties are no way to decide a game, but i don't know how else to determine a winner. i have thought about a replay, which the modern era of money and tv would never allow, but then it's like what happens if they tie after the replay. you are either back to penalties or another replay, which could morph into the american best of whatever series. i suppose it could be like hockey where they play forever until the game is won, but i really don't like that option based on time and physical limits.


i'm getting ready for euro 2008. that starts a week from saturday and every free moment will be spent trying to catch up on the day's events. it has the possibility of being a very lively, free flowing tournament.


if you get a chance, visit radaronline.com and check out the debate between the gen x'ers and the millenials. it is funny that people get that hacked off about the differences in the generations. i remember when i used to wear my gen x status on my sleeve and be proud of the nihlistic, cynical, depressing qualities that came with it. oh, those were the days.

It's Friday in Michigan!

I was figuratively surfing the internet and thinking about my dutiful friday blog when I realized that 10pm Thursday in California is actually 1pm Friday in Michigan. And taking into account that our blog reader demographics tilts liberally to the Michiganders I said "Hey, I'm blogging now so I don't have to think about it tomorrow, because tomorrow is now! Rock on California!"

There are several things over the past week that have made us stop and say "Rock on California!".

So here's to you California! I appreciate your affordable produce! Avocados for 5o cents!? Tomatos for 38 cents a pound! Limes, Cilantro, Peppers! I'm makin myself some salsa!

I love waking up at 7 in the morning and feeling like I got to sleep in! I love your clean, ready, and respectable public transportation.

And thanks for making me laugh California! Bulk organic honey that's still in the hive?! Oh, silly silly California, that's good times.

Ah, but there are certain aspects of living I have come to expect from Michigan, and I'm sorry to say, "You suck California!"

Why can't you make butter the same shape and size as basically every other state of the union! Why is your butter so short and squat and doesn't fit into my universally excepted butter dish? Who told you it was acceptable to change it? Aren't you ashamed of your disfigured and smallish butter? You suck California!

And where did all the pop go? What is this Soda? Why don't you have any decent diet choices? And why does it cost so much! And how come I'm expected to recycle it without any sort of remuneration? You suck California!

And why are your local business commercials just as bad, if not worse, than the ones in Michigan! Come one! You're the TV capitol of the world and this is the best you can do? They're not even entertaining in their badness, at least in Michigan we have Terry Hanks to give us a chuckle. You suck California!

And considering this is one of the largest states of the union, why is it that there is nary a sidewalk in sight? Why is all of the space that should be designated for front yards and sidewalks taken up by graveled parking spaces? Don't you know what a driveway is? I thought we liked non-vehicular transportation! Now my dog has to walk in your pathetic version of grass! You suck California!

And speaking of grass, why do I have to pull burs out of my dogs coat after every walk? Are we not civilized enough here to use grass seed and a little fertilizer? A little weed killer too much to ask? I despise your arid soil and your scrubby lawns! You suck California!

So yeah, I think that went really well. I'm definatly giving myself a 3 hour buffer zone on either side of my designated blog day. You rock California!

Feeling the pinch yet?

Experts are still waiting for most of America to reach its "breaking point" with the price of gasoline, the point at which gas consumption sees a significant drop due to major cutbacks in our driving habits. While most of us would probably say that we have made some adjustments to our style of living, the oil industry is waiting to see if we will actually change our daily routine. For example, while I used to drive over to the Detroit area to see friends and family at least once a month, year-round, those trips are now much fewer and far between. And I've already purchased tickets to too many good Tigers games this summer to let them go wasted, but I do plan on severely scaling back my trips to Comerica next summer.

But as to my daily routine, the gas crunch still hasn't hit home enough with me to force major habitual changes. I still drive roughly the same around town every week... if I stay in the Lansing area, I average usage of about 6 or 7 gallons a week, the same as I did a couple years ago. While I have CONSIDERED the possibility of using Lansing's bus system, or the idea of buying a bike and riding that to work or for other errands, the cost of gas still hasn't gone high enough to make those inconveniences worth the savings for me.

But the fact that I've even thought about them, represents a change in my thought pattern. I talked to Ben about driving downtown, he guesstimated it would be about 6 miles, or 12 miles round-trip. That would be great exercise every day, and save me money both on gas and parking. But it would probably subtract two waking hours from my average day, and it would be more difficult to transport things back and forth between the store and my home. Plus, many days I go directly from work to some other time-sensitive activity, so I would still wind up driving a few days a week.

The bus system is also an interesting idea. The time problem becomes less of an issue... if anything, I am able to utilize that time on the bus to read or be otherwise productive, in essence "adding" time to my day. But I still have to walk to and from the bus stop, and there is a charge for a monthly bus pass which cuts into the money I'm saving by not driving. And again, I am not in complete control of when and where I am going, so when is that inconvenience worth the money?

Some "experts" (I don't know how much credibility I assign to this guy's expertise) are now predicting that gas will hit $12-$15 and cause a monstrous recession between 2010 and 2015 (see Youtube end of post). The financial impact would be obvious, but one possible fallout will probably be the even GREATER urbanization of America, in which more people move into areas like Chicago or New York with cheap inter-city transportation systems which allows them to hold down a job without paying for gas every week. But the rising costs on virtually EVERYTHING else, and the effects on "rural" Americans, and even those of us in cities like Lansing without any really good public transportation, would still drive the country into a massive financial mess.

So I guess I'm just curious... has the cost of gasoline caused you to make any major changes to your daily routine? Has anyone passed the "breaking point", and changed their way of life to correspond with these prices?

summer movies

final results

dark night 45%
indiana jones 18%
other 18%
iron man 9%
xfiles 9%

so dark knight seems to be the fans' favorite. i can't wait. i hear heath ledger as the joker is truly frightening. indiana jones may be a possibility, but i just can't imagine it will be the same.

i'm interested in knowing what people voted as "other." please comment.

following up on the batman theme, the next poll will be your favorite actor as bruce wayne or batman. i suppose this could be a split vote if you like A as bruce wayne and B as batman.

please feel free to comment.

salut.

technology issues, craig's list and House season finale

I have been having a hard time on the technology front lately. The monitor on my computer at work (I’m told it is not a laptop but rather a “desktop replacement”) has gone out creating a situation in which I have to plug in another monitor to function. Not horrible but just annoying. The IT boy is supposed to sort me out soon.

At home, the DVD player has died. We have been borrowing Jeremy’s for the time being because we are too lazy and cheap to go out and buy one.

Finally, my ipod mini died. The battery was slowly going but I had managed to get around that. The proverbial straw was the hold button. I searched for remedies and none of them worked. Surprisingly, hitting the ipod against your hand didn’t pan out. I was shocked. I tried calling Apple support and while the interactive recording was amazingly helpful and a touch arrogant, it hung up on me at the crucial moment. So forget that.

Which brings me to my first craig’s list experience. I knew of its existence and had played around with it a couple of times. But now I was focused. I searched ipod and to my astonishment, an ipod nano was the first result and recently posted. I called the guy and he told me to come over. Now I understand craig’s list altruistic nature, but I was still leery, to the point that I wanted to bring a witness, who would be bringing a small firearm. I understand how things are supposed to go, but I also now that many black comedies have started with the seemingly simple premise of a routine exchange. Everything turned out fine and, after reinstalling itunes all afternoon, I know have a functioning used ipod nano. Sweet. Wonder how long this will last.

Moving on, I won’t bore you (and by you I mean Brandon) with a recap of European soccer, but instead will just say how great House was last night. Forget the medical mystery part of the show. It just doesn’t matter. The inner conflict of House and its ripple effects is by far the most compelling part of the show. Does he really want to live without pain? Does he really want to change? On another note, would the writers/producers please do something with 13? Either get on with it or just get rid of her. She just hides in the background and alternates between brooding and fear and looking she is holding back the answer to world’s great mysteries. Ugh. Where will the show go from here? Next season will be key. I could see the show petering out next season or really exploring the characters in a way that could reinvigorate the show and allow it to push for another 2 to 3 seasons.

That’s all I’ve got. Tomorrow United go for the double. C’mon you Reds.

Ripping the Past

As I work towards packing my things for the big move to Kentucky, I have tried to consolidate my technology. One such effort was getting rid of my hundreds of CDs that I kept in 2 huge books and wherever else I had room. In my high school and college days, I bought WAY too many CDs. And to be honest, way too many crappy CDs. At the time I couldn’t pass them up. They were only $10 or at the most $13. I figured they were a good investment. I was wrong.

Regardless, I kept the CDs all these years and never tried to sell them because I figured no one would want them. And besides, you never know when Ska music would come back into vogue. Well, time has taught me that these CDs have not stood the test of time and these groups will never be heard from again. Regardless, I began the process of ripping my CDs so that I could store them in some corner in the basement. However, I decided not to rip all of the hundreds of CDs for 2 reasons. First, I don’t even really like all the CDs I have any more. Secondly, I would be embarrassed if someone opened up my iTunes and saw what was in my library. So, I chose about 100 of the CDs and went to work. It was kind of fun listening to some of these songs from my formative years.

Two CD’s in particular brought back fond memories. The soundtrack from the movie “The Crow” is great. It has always been one of my favorite movies not just for the content but because of the bizarre circumstances surrounding the death of the lead Brandon Lee while on set of the movie. The songs that went with movie are great, especially if you like rock, metal, and 90’s alternative music. Here is a run down of some of the real “Monsters of Rock”:
The Cure, Machines of Loving Grace, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Rollins Band, Helmet, Pantera. Seriously, can you get any better than that?

The other CD was by “Love Spit Love.” You can read the background of the group on wikipedia. Basically some of the guys from the Psychedelic Furs started the group. It was a decent CD, but mostly I used to listen to it while studying for Bible Bowl. Not sure why, it just was in the player and seemed to soothe my mind.

Plenty more could be said about my old CDs from the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, Afghan Whigs, Poor Old Lu, Plankeye, Cracker, INXS, and others. The point is, I have 1000 songs on shuffle and am loving every second.

Detroit Sports "O" Spot

It's been a great couple weeks here in D-troit in regards to the professional sports teams. Every night since March you've had some great entertainment, from Michigan State in the Final Four to the Opening Day of the Detroit Tigers.
Ok, the Tigers stink, but the Red Wings have been phenomenal. I understand hockey a little better than soccer, and have noticed that since Osgood has been in goal, they have been undefeated in the playoffs. The Wings are on a nine-game winning streak and have a chance to make it ten tonight to close out the Dallas Stars. The NHL record is 11, also held by the Red Wings.


The Detroit Pistons had a shaky start against the all-or-nothing Philadelphia 76ers. But since game 4 of that series the guys seem to have awakened and gotten serious, handling Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic pretty handily. You could say that they did it in spite of being without Billups. But, in my opinion, playing without Billups has forced them to play more as a team and with more focus, not depending on Chauncey down the stretch.

In the closeout game at the Palace last night, they set a NBA Playoff record with only three turnovers the entire game. They did that without Chauncey. The thing that troubles me about that is that it was still a very close game. But hey, a win is a win.
I really don't want to talk about the Lions, but I guess it close it out I have to. I was pretty happy with the draft. Overall I was surprised they didn't take a wide receiver in the first round because that would have been the absolute worst move possible and one I would fully expect them to make. Instead they made acquisitions that actually might make them better. Is this some sort of misdirection? Is Matt Millen messing with my head?
All in all, as one sports writer here in Detroit put it "It's a Detroit Sports Orgasm". With the doomed economy and auto industry, the crime rate, the housing market collapse, and the most ridiculous mayor since Marion Barry of Washington DC, at least the sports can give this town some sort of hope, and some distraction from the miserable reality.
As I write this, the Wings are losing 2-1 in the third.

Glory Glory Man United

Sunday morning was spent in front of two TV’s as the English Premier League culminated in Super Sunday, sponsored by Ford. Could United hold their nerve and beat Wigan to win the title? United started well but could not break down and a very organized and determined Wigan defense. Meanwhile Chelsea did not look they had any way of scoring against Bolton, which isn’t a surprise if you’re only going to play one forward against a team looking to defend. After 30 minutes, United won a penalty which CR 7 scored and one hand was on the title. At halftime, United was 1 up and Chelsea was tied. Advantage, Manchester United.


The second half started with Chelsea going to 4-4-2 and putting Shevchenko up front. I asked why him and not Anelka? Chelsea came out and battered Bolton, and after a couple of minutes the Ukranian, of course, bundled in the opening goal and it was game on. At Wigan, United was all over the Latics but could not beat GK Chris Kirkland. And after 15 minutes everything changed. Wigan was taking the game to United and everything was slipping away. A Wigan goal, like a Barcelona goal only days earlier would snatch everything away. But then Giggsy slotted home a Rooney pass and the title was done and dusted. Bolton grabbed a late equalizer to really rub it in. Manchester United has now won 10 of the last 16 English domestic titles. Amazing dominance in the era of multiple competitions, the Bosman ruling and the globalization of the sport.


To be fair, I used a pessimistic betting pattern on centsports, and took Chelsea to win. Had I bet on United, the exact opposite would have occurred, so the 10 cent sacrifice was worth it. As for the rest of Europe, France and Italy go down to the wire this weekend. I’m hoping to catch the games somewhere, and three major titles going to the last day of competition is amazing.


Moving from on soccer, I watched The End of the Affair this weekend. Strange how a movie centered on adultery could deal with the existence of God and His influence in the world. Thought that parts of the dialogue were contrived. A husband and a friend/his wife’s lover do not have those sorts of conversations. It was a nice touch that, in the end, they both took care of the dying wife. One of the closing scenes between the priest, the lover and the husband would be a nice jumping off point for a theological/existential/rational discussion of the world we live in.



No West Wing last night due to the Brown’s moving. I am looking forward to Crystal’s posts from the West Coast. Will the sunshine and different culture and threats of earthquakes and mountain lions influence her uplifting and joyful posts? Here’s hoping.

House was out of control. I have no idea how it will end next week, but can't wait. If Amber dies, I could see the House/Wilson dynamic fracturing beyond repair and causing Wilson to leave the hospital next season.


Looking forward to a G & T tonight, courtesy of the wife. Thanks babe.

Springtime for Hitler and Germany

It's springtime in the Baltics. The birds are signing. The bees are buzzing. People awake from the winter slumber.

Every man, woman, and child leave their abodes for sunny beaches, green parks, and countryside picnics. Balts value warm weather because summers here are short. Men walk around shirtless. Women wear short skirts. By the time June arrives, people will turn brown from spending time at the beach so often. Young people congregate in parks with drinks in one hand and laptop in another. No longer burdened by lousy weather and perpetual nighttime.

It gets dark as late as 10 p.m. already, and it's not even the middle of the summer quite yet.

It's best time of the year.

Review of Iron Man.

I took my son to see Iron Man this week. What a treat! Robert Downey Jr. plays a convincing Tony Stark set in the modern era of Islamic terrorists. Of course, there is nothing believable about Iron Man's suit, but it is straight out of the comic book, very accurate. Gwyneth Paltrow is convincing and charming as Pepper Potts. Jeff Bridges is the creepy corporate bad guy and Terrence Howard plays the military liason to Stark Industries.

There are things that do not work in the movie. The fight scene with Jeff Bridges was schtick. It reminded me a lot of some of the more boring parts of Transformers. The fact that Terrence Howard's character was a military liason to a corporation AND calling shots in command center is a bit of a stretch (it would never happen).

I loved how SHIELD was introduced and also how (oops, I can't give away the ending.) Yeah, there is a surprise ending after the credits that made the whole movie for me. I'll leave it at that.

There are comical moments where Robert Downey Jr. is dialoguing with his robotic assistant that definitely lighten the mood and appeal to the kids in the audience.

This was the first of many Marvel Studios productions. All the previous Marvel Movies have been made by other Hollywood studios. Now Marvel owns the rights to their movies and have a massive budget to pay for their production.

John Favreau (who also made MADE, and SWINGERS) directed. I think his experience with quirky dialogue, character development, and scene production made a difference in this movie compared to the other high-octane Marvel Thrill rides.

Given that Iron Man had the second biggest opening of a non-sequel (ever) it looks like Marvel will be producing a lot more movies.

I might also add that this was (to me) the best of the Marvel movies. The trailer for the Hulk did not disappoint either.

recent media intake

So I’m back into Battlestar Galactica. Season 3 has been released on DVD and Season 4 has started on Sci-Fi. I have Season 3 on hold at the library, and since it will be months before I will get it, I’m starting over. I finished the mini-series last night and it was great the second time around, with me catching a couple of things I missed the first time. Still unnerved by the Cylons as God’s children. Haven’t quite figured out how that plays out. Are they God’s ordained punishment or just as confused as humanity? Since Season 4 is the end of the series, I really hope they resolve some of big questions from the series. If it ends really open ended, I will be pretty disappointed. I don’t even care if the surviving humans find Earth; I am more interested in the Cylons and the purpose of their return—revenge, divine retribution, humanity’s savior, something else entirely?

House came back last week. The two episodes after the strike have been uneven in that the interplay between the characters if hilarious, savage, and interesting, with the “medical mystery” ranging from confusing to irrelevant.

See this comment from politedissent.com regarding the first episode after the strike:
"I don’t have too much to comment about this one, medically. In this episode, the medicine was clearly secondary to the personality issues (What is Jeff’s real personality? and House vs. Amber). House and the team skipped over a bunch of more common causes of Jeff’s symptoms, going straight for the obscure. They then focused on these obscure causes, when some simple — and frankly standard of care — follow-up tests would have shown them their error from the beginning.

I give the medical mystery a B+ because it brought up some interesting points — is being too happy a bad sign? And if so, is being too curmudgeonly equally bad? The final solution was moderately clever, but even more an out-of-the-blue answer than usual, earning a C. The medicine was weak and sloppy throughout and could have been handled better by a second year medical student; it deserves only a measly D. The House/Amber/Wilson/Cuddy soap opera was good, the House-has-syphilis not as good. Still, I give the soap opera aspect a generous A-."

Totally agree. I am almost to the point of them solving the “medical mystery” in the first or last segment, or even eliminating it all together, and concentrating on the interaction of the characters. Far more interesting. The final two episodes of the season are on the way and I can’t wait to see how they leave the characters going into the summer.


In an effort to expand my musical horizons, I’ve checked out the following bands:

Frank Black/The Pixies. I really missed this the first time around and have slowly filled in the gaps. “Monkey Gone to Heaven” is one of my favorite songs ever. I checked out Frank Black on his own and would give it a so-so grade. Pixies is where it’s at. Belly wasn’t too bad and the initial album from the Breeders was great, with Cannonball being an awesome single.


Angels and Airwaves. On the advice of Tom, I gave them a listen. I wasn’t that big of a Blink 182 fan, “All the Small Things” being my favorite single. I-Empire is the second album, and I guess the first one is better. This album had a couple of catchy songs but seemed quite repetitive. I’ll give the debut album a try and we’ll see.


Right now, I’m listening to the best of Iggy Pop. There’s a couple of decent singles, with Lust for Life and The Passenger being highlights so far.


For any soccer fans out there, this Sunday is Super Sunday. The only comparison I could make in American sports is to the two drivers having the same amount of points going into the final NASCAR race. Manchester United and Chelsea have the same amount of points with United possessing the superior goal difference, and the tension will be unbearable as the momentum swings in each game. With the Champions League final between these two teams ten days later, it is possible that one team could be so close to everything and yet achieve nothing.


Finally, how great was Crystal’s post last week? I really enjoyed it and it brought back memories of my days on the retail front lines. Customers asking the most outrageous questions; customers not reading clearly posted signs regarding a number of issues; customers trying to “multi-task” by talking to you and the cell phone at the same time; customers thinking that you, a marginally paid employee, are their personal slave/encyclopedia/phone book/concierge and that you, a human being with your issues, give an ounce about their lives. Ohhh, those were such good times.

What I do all day...

Here's a minute by minute rundown of what I do at work on an average day, for those of you who can stand it.



12:58- Blog.
12:59- Someone needs to use the business phone to call for a ride.
1:00- Send book back to Tech Services for a new cover
1:01- Tell patron we don't have a papercutter (go to kinkos)
1:02- Pretend to listen while LA tells me about planting peas.
1:03-1:06- Shelve DVDs
1:07- Tell LA to go to lunch. Check email (nothing, sigh)
1:08-1:09- Scratched itchy arm, nothing.
1:10-1:12- Check out DVD's and look up crappy author for patron.
1:13- Tell yet another patron we don't have a papercutter.
1:14-1:16- Ate wheat thins. Checked husbands blog (nothing, sigh)
1:17- Watched patron try to walk through glass before realizing it wasn't a door.
1:18- Nothing
1:19- Told patron to have a good day as she was leaving.
1:20-1:25- Selected books from catalog for next order.
1:25- Tell patron we do not have High School Musical.
1:25- Go back to book ordering
1:25- Interuppted by same patron asking where kids area is (Answer:right behind you)
1:26- Go back to book ordering
1:27- Check in DVD
1:27- Go back to book ordering
1:28- Take phone call from patron who thinks someone might have called her but can't remember anything about the message.
1:30- Go back to book ordering
1:34- Check out DVD's to Patron with last name of Smutz (awesome)
1:35- Show someone how to use copier
1:37- Explain to someone where Biographies are
1:40- Send fax for patron
1:41- Go back to book ordering
1:42- Remind patron I don't know everything there is to know about Microsoft Word
1:43- Read dirty joke given to me by patron.
1:44- Check out books to patrons (Yes! Books!)
1:45- Go back to book ordering
1:48- Compliment patron on dirty jokes.
1:48- Go back to book ordering
1:55- Interuppted to listen to racist joke by patron (yes, same joke patron).
2:oo-2:30- Lunch break, read a book and eat peanuts
2:30-2:35- Check out books
2:35-2:43- Answer calls about when the library closes while checking out books while being interupted several times, check out DVD's
2:44- Go back to book order
2:48- Look up Raymond Burr in Wikipedia (just cause I wanted to) while being interupted by phone calls.
3:00- Interrupt book order to try and convince a caller that learning the Dvorak keyboard was pointless.
3:07- Tell patron that cell phones can only be used outside, smile while patron glares at me.
3:08- Go back to book order
3:11- Interuppted to argue with patron about fines. That patron intruppted by patron who wants to check out books, that patron interuppted by LA who has question to ask me.
3:14- Book order
3:20- Interrupted by patrons who have no idea why they have to pay fines.
3:24- Book order
3:26- Inturrupted to explain to patron where to find poetry section
3:27- book order
3:28- Interuppted again to show patron where to find poetry section since no one can follow simple directions.
3:29- Book order
3:30-3:55 Argue about fines, suggest DVD's, get phone numbers to companies so that people can complain, show people how to log into the computers.
3:56- Book order
3:57-4:19- Do money report, search for DVD, fix printer
4:20- Screw book order, it's never getting done anyway, mess around on the internet.
4:45- Explain to patrons we are closing and the computers automatically shut down just like the pop up message says and no we didn't purpsely kick you off the computer.
4:50- Remind people looking at DVD's that the library closes at 5 and we will not be checking out materials to them after 5.
4:58- Tell patrons who came in at 4:55 that they are not able to log into the computers because we're closing in two minutes.
5:00 Remind patrons that are asking where certain books are that we are closed and cannot look up books for them, or check out DVD's, or get them on a computer. Tell them to go to Genesee Valley because they are open later and rush them out the door.
5:10- Finally leave the building.

So yeah, that's why I get the big bucks.

Juno, Yankees, GTA IV

MOVIE REVIEW: Juno.

My anticipation of this movie was not high, because even though I usually am anxious to check out movies that the Academy gives multiple nominations to, I just thought... it's about a teenage pregnancy. How riveting is this really going to be?

It just goes to show you the same thing I am preaching to my customers all the time: good writing overcomes many, if not all, shortcomings. You may think Daredevil is an uninspiring character, but put him in the hands of Frank Miller, and you've got a book that will sell, re-sell, and sell some more, for decades down the line. Same thing with this movie. The plotline and the primary actress were not interesting to me. But what a great movie.

I don't want to talk much about plot, so as not to ruin it for anyone else. I just want to hit a couple points that stuck out to me, and let you comment if you've seen the movie. I loved - I LOVED - the dialogue for Juno. I am so attracted to personalities with that kind of wit, that kind of cynicism. Especially because the cynicism usually is there to mask a type of self-deprecation. This character was quick with the sarcasm and snappy remark, and I was laughing out loud through a lot of the first hour at her remarks.

I don't know exactly how I feel about it, but I had a bit of a problem with the way the pregnancy was handled by the parents, I almost felt it was a sampling of how the subject matter was handled by the movie as a whole. A serious issue, but really not all that hard to handle. The parents were at first stunned and betrayed, but after that first scene, they seemed to take it in stride without any real loss of trust for their daughter. And even though it wasn't a smooth ride, at first the pregnancy seemed to be dealt with as a "aw, shucks" sort of wink and a nod. That's too bad... well, just go get an abortion. Not your cup of tea? No problem... we can find you adoptive parents. You'll be back to life as you knew it, in 9 short months. It's just a speed bump.

Am I over-reacting? Perhaps the tone of the movie that they were going for, just didn't lend itself to the serious drama. Perhaps the relational problems between daughter and parents, or the emotional difficulty of letting go of a child you've borne for nine months, weren't things that would fit well into the story that was being crafted. OR... maybe I'm out of touch. Maybe this sort of thing really isn't a big deal anymore. But I was both delighted with the movie, and left feeling a little morose that the subject wasn't discussed with more gravity.

SERIES REVIEW: Tigers vs. Yankees.

Tigers sweep their first series IN New York since 1966. The meat of the order hit the way they were supposed to, we finally had our original lineup (as it was SUPPOSED to be on Opening Day) and they mashed. We still need more innings from our starting pitchers... why can't these guys get into the 7th or 8th innings? This surprising bullpen is going to be a lot less surprising if we have to keep using them for 4 innings a game. THROW STRIKES!!!

GAME REVIEW: Grand Theft Auto IV.

Oh, right, I don't own it. I probably won't play it for a long time, if at all. But I still have to admit that I am SO intrigued by this game. I like open-ended games that allow you to basically choose your own path, go where you want, and do what you want. Imagine the entire city of New York laid out in a virtual environment, and from what I've read, that's GTA 4. Unfortunately, I've also seen a few videos on Youtube containing the various "women of Liberty City" and their activities, along with all the other morally questionable material like stealing cars and shooting the homeless, and I'm having serious misgivings.

Someone is eventually going to trade this game into the store, and I'm going to have to decide whether I'm going to play it or not. What to do?