"caring is creepy..." limited edition deluxe expansive post...

So I had quite the day. First off I went to work and I barely got there on time (8am)…which isn’t out of the ordinary at all. Then I hear someone page security to the front of the store and I hop down to see what the matter was…apparently someone had just shoplifted and they had cornered him at the front entrance. I called county police and actually had to physically restrain the guy myself…he was VERY uncooperative. I almost had to sock the guy. The cops rolled in about 10 minutes 3 cars deep. They jumped out with their hands at their hips and ready for anything. As soon as the tramp saw the police he went limp and said “all right, all right guys, I got the message.” Too late buddy.



About an hour later I’m in the produce section and I get paged along with the other two managers. I get there first and I see the cashier holding up an elderly gentleman who seems to be having a fainting spell. Turns out the guy was going into some kind of diabetic shock and I called an ambulance immediately. He was passed out on the floor and the ambulance was actually there in about 5 minutes…I couldn’t believe the quick response. Anyway they took him away and said they were going to take good care of him and he would be alright.

All this in my first three hours of work! But wait, there’s more! Half an hour later I get a call at the store from one of my assistant managers who was supposed to close the store tonight. Her child is sick and she has to be at the hospital…this week’s schedule was already extremely tight so the ONLY option would have me closing the store. I was going to drive to North Carolina after work…right…let me explain…

The plan was to drive down to North Carolina to visit a friend whom I haven’t seen for four years. At the last minute she calls me and tells me that she is going to be too busy to have any kind of fun with me and that this weekend is a bad time. I already took the weekend off work and I could’ve just taken off 2 days and go back to work but I decided that I’d drive to Indiana to visit my little sister at college. So now I’m driving 12 hours instead of 6 and taking off 4 days instead of 2. Double the fun!

…ok, where was I? Right…so I went back home for about 4 hours to take a nap. It was an amazing nap and I went right back to work afterwards. I just came back from closing the store and how I’m going to take another nap for a few hours then start the long drive. Sweetness.



[I better go make several mix cds for this trip. ]

caring is creepy...more news at 11...

[I'll explain in detail later ] Basically I just woke up from a nap and I have to go to work tonight even though I was at work at 8am this morning (more on that later)...I really don't want to stay long as my original plans for today had me leaving to go out-of-state at in ONE hour. To North Carolina. Now I'm going to Indiana instead (more on that later). Also I had to call the police at work today and an ambulance on two seperate occassions (more on that later).



Despite all this I'm happy...why? I've listened to The Shin's Oh, Inverted World two times in a row in the car today and that put things in perspective. So calming...I guess Aparna was right...I am fueled by music.

those damn dirty apes!

In Britain, where Arctic Monkeys' "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" is the fastest-selling debut album ever, breathless pop pundits have hailed the Sheffield quartet as bigger or better than another cocky young band from the north of England, the Beatles. But there's a lot more "Anarchy in the U.K." than "All You Need Is Love" in the Monkeys' sound and stance, as the group demonstrated Monday night at a sold-out 9:30 club, playing a brash 50-minute set. No encores, no apologies and -- as one song vowed -- "no surrender."

- The Washington Post

I would have appreciated even a minor apology...

So I went out to get some lunch at Chipotle and I still don’t understand why guacamole is such a hot commodity – it’s $1.50 extra to put it on the burrito…I mean, am I the only one that doesn’t understand why they charge 1/5 of the price of a burrito for a topping?? Anywho, I got in and one of my favorite movies of all time was on TCM – The Roaring Twenties (1939) starring Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and the wonderful, spectacular, talented and supremely underrated Priscilla Lane. It’s a decade long tale of vice, corruption, bootlegging and a love that never dies. I think I’ve seen it probably about 30 times and I know most of the lines by heart. I got in just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of the picture. Then I saw the best lineup for TCM I’ve seen in a while:

12:00PM: The Roaring Twenties (1939)
2:00PM: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
4:00PM: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
6:00PM: Double Indemnity (1944)

For the exception of Angels with Dirty Faces I’ve seen the other films each at least a dozen and a half times. I wish I didn’t have to work tonight!

Cagney and Lane...amazing

playing God -- it's kinda like the Sims...

this isn't a G.O.D. truck
Well, it’s not really but it’s still really cool! Today I stopped traffic at an intersection for almost 20 minutes while directing an 18-wheeler and I actually thought people were going to be so fed up that they would just run me over then proceed to back up and run me over again [I would]. I was at work and I get a call from our transportation department telling me they have a dairy delivery and the driver needs some help getting the truck into the dock, as traffic was not cooperating with him. I *sighed* because it was 6:30PM (rush hour baby) and traffic was at its worst. Deciding to take on the task myself and not leave it to any of the clowns in the store I went outside and assessed the situation…basically I had to stop traffic at an intersection and block traffic in another direction (I got a clerk to come with me) and incur the wrath of drivers just finishing their long day of work. After about 15 minutes of trying to organize an attempt I finally was able to start the process. I don’t have much experience telling a line of motorists that they can’t go even though the light is telling them they can but I was prepared for the responses that I would receive [yelling, honking, angry demands, threats of bodily harm, and whistling…angry whistling]. I can’t remember the last time I felt so much hatred from so many people that I didn’t know. Also a police officer walked by and said “that guy don’t know what he’s doing” [referencing the truck driver]…I kind of agreed with this comment and he continued on his merry way. I thought they were supposed to be helpful?

Speaking of traffic…on my way to work today I got held up in rush hour traffic. Strangely enough it’s not the rush hour traffic that you would think…it was the evening rush of people leaving work as I was just on my way to work at 4:30PM. So no matter what I do I’m always going to hit rush hour traffic. The majority of the week hitting the morning rush hour and the nights I have to close I go in so late I have to hit the second rush hour. What a thorn in my side!

Oh yeah, I saw a Chevrolet Nova today on the road. I rarely see those cars and when I do I always laugh because in the Spanish language “Nova” means “doesn’t go” [‘No va’] and last time I checked the last thing I’m looking for when shopping for cars is one that “doesn’t go”. I can’t believe that name wasn’t vetoed out of whatever board meeting they had whenever they came up with it.

what an ironic tagline

“What is there to lose in a dream, anyway, but my inhibitions?”
- ashley

what's in a name?

Right. So my tax accountant is a crackpot. He must be...he prepared my taxes and SOMEHOW he went through the entire process thinking my name is Roland. He prepared the paperwork for me as Roland. I've never met anyone named Roland in my life. I just got my tax refund and it's for some fella named "Roland". I suppose I should have learned when I was thrown in the middle of this crazy FBI investigation of one of the people that worked for him last year. I was, however, happy about my refund because it included [among other items]:

• My week's paycheck donation to the American Red Cross's Katrina Fund last fall...
• My yearly member dues for the American Film Institute...
• Money that I spent travelling from store to store and job to job earlier last year...
• My weekly union dues all refunded back to me!

Anywho I took it to the bank along with a couple of other checks written to "Ron" and "Ronald". I thought it was funny that I went to the bank to deposit three checks with different names on each one and they didn't ask me any questions. Strange how that works.

Speaking of banks I've always wanted to get an offshore bank account in the Caymans and a Swiss bank account where I'd always tranfers funds back and forth between the two just to confuse everyone...I wonder how easy that would be?

"Swiss banks are frequent locations for spy films like The Bourne Identity, and one held an item of great secrecy in the novel The Da Vinci Code"

- from Wikipedia

so bees ARE good for something [besides stinging me to death]...

Honey! So a customer at work the other day told me I should try a peanut butter and honey sandwich -- with the store brand honey. I just tried it right now and it's fantastic. It's the first time I've actually had a peanut butter and honey sandwich...I don't know how common that is but I should try it more often.

Also all the tea that I drink is directly imported from either Uganda (family there send it) or London (my aunt and my brother live there). I just had the most fantastic English tea with a spice of ginger that I thought would go very well since I was having the PB& honey sandwich.

I'm going out-of-state this weekend and I really do need to stop procrastination and get my oil changed and do some major laundry....eh I guess I can do it tomorrow, I'm pretty tired now.

the boys from Sheffield [Wednesday, not United]...

I had 7 pints of Guinness last night. I was no longer at the 9:30 Club...I was in a pub in the middle of the city of Sheffield listening to the Arctic Monkeys play their brand of high energy brit pop music. Later I'm singing football chants with my mates at the bar and arguing about who should start for England in the summer World Cup.

Last night's concert was pretty good except for one thing: the Arctic Monkeys don't know how to engage an audience. They play and in-between their songs there is nothing but silence. They sort of half introduced themselves after playing 5 songs. At the end they just walked off stage after they were played what was apparently their last song. The house lights didn't go on and so the entire audience thought the band was taking a break...but then a couple guys appear onstage and they begin to break down the set. These "monkeys" need to stop taking notes from Oasis and need to realize that the reason they are there is because of the fans. The ridiculous speed in which they became popular (fastest-selling debut album in British charts history) will probably mean they'll crash just as fast. Also it's kinda funny...their most popular song contains [in the chorus] a line about a year that was before their time [before any of them were born]. That year was 1984. Yeah, I know.

After the concert Matt and I went to the basement bar and as I sat at the counter I heard chants of "Rooney, Rooney, Rooney!" I turn around and realize that the guys making this noise are referring to the player on the back of my t-shirt [I was wearing and English footballer's shirt] and I cheered them. When they stopped chanting I talked to them and realized they were actually from Sheffield [hometown of the Arctic Monkeys] and since I've actually visited Sheffield and have family in London and friends in the surrounding areas I began to bond with these lads. I order two more [half-priced] pints and we cheered everything and continued our drunken football chants until we were ordered to cease and desist by the 9:30 Club staff. Then about two minutes later we starting yelling out another football chant at the top of our lungs. It was fantastic.

short circuit [and i'm not talking about the awesome 80s movie]...

So I wrote this blog entry and when I went to click 'publish post' I got a 'cannot find server' error and because of the way blogger is wonderfully designed I could not go back and retrieve anything that I typed. I'm really pissed off and I don't want to re-type everything that I had so I'm just going to make several disjointed comments that might or might not make any sense but are fragments of what I was going to post.

don't cry over spilled chocolate chip cookie dough...

What a day! I was in one of my moods today at work...everything and everyone was so utterly annoying to me. I think I managed to yell at every single employee out of pure frustration [and one caught my full fury as I well...fired her]. What was causing me to act this way you say? It may be the fact that I haven't stopped moving since Thursday afternoon...it may be that I actually hadn't had a bite of anything until about 8:00PM today...or it just may be that fact that the majority of the people that work for me are inept, incompetent idiots. Sorry. And at the end of the wonderful day that I was having I picked up a gallon of ice cream and it slipped out of my hands and landed [*splat*] all over the floor. Luckily I wasn't harmed. Well, let's not dwell on all the negative...time for a "happy" recap...

*Happy Daily Event 1* - Just before work I went to AFI to see The Emperor Waltz (1948), a Billy Wilder film starring Bing Crosby and Joan Fontaine. I actually was able to make it to downtown Silver Spring in 15 minutes [the time I always say it should take to get down there if there are no cars on the road (none) and one is travelling at the speed of light] and because of an unusual preview [there usually aren't any previews at all] I literally got in the theatre just in time to see the beginning credits start rolling. It was a charming movie...nothing really special about it except, of course, for the Billy Wilder trademark comedy and craftsmanship that put it just a podium higher than other movies.

*Happy Daily Event 2* - I found out that apparently I went into some kind of bill&ted-esque time warp and actually gained a week...I thought I only had 7 days to sell my Neko Case tickets on Ebay but I really have two weeks so I have a better chance at getting more cash money.

*Happy Daily Event 3* - I did it again! I won 2 [Ebay] tickets to the Death Cab for Cutie w/Franz Ferdinand show @ Constitution Hall without being there for the last 10 hours of the auction. 90% of auctions are lost in the last hour but I employed the tactic I used to get the Arctic Monkeys tickets and set a ridiculous max bid [that I would obviously pay if forced to] that would pretty much guarantee I would get the tickets. My max bid for DCFC was $275.77 and I won then for the mind-boggingly low price of $103 [these are pretty damn good seats too]. It looks like the people who were bidding against me basically waited until the last minute to start raising their bids and they just ran out of time as they increased their bids to reach mine. Hah, the fools!

Well, it's time for 5 hours of sleep followed by 9 hours of work and then I'm gonna crash Matt's Kaplan class [when he says "Ron, stay the hell away from my classroom when I'm teaching" it really means "Come, disrupt me and cause panic among my students"] and we're gonna go see 4 British kids who aren't old enough to drink [two are 19 and two are 20] but are "so hot right now" that they completely sold out their whirlwind tour of the United States in days...enter the Arctic Monkeys...

to alcohol! the cause of and solution to all of life's problems...

Huh, so this week[end?] so far has had a few interesting alcohol-related episodes:
(1) @ the Black Cat...mysterious man aimlessly wanders around the bar [clearly in some kind of hangover-induced stupor]...complete in a suit and tie and a briefcase massively cluttered with paper. It's was sooooo Biff Loman!! Also shame on you if you haven't read/seen Death of a Salesman. Adam: "We just saw that guy at Sparky's!"
(2) @ Bar on U Street...Adam (being the model Designated Driver that he is) decides that instead of purchasing [more] alcohol he will instead ask for an innocent glass of tap water that will quench his thirst. The bartender procedes to CARD HIM. I laugh.
(3) @ the Birchmere...I'm singing quite vocally and with arms outstretched the boot-stomping gospel/soul/country music with most of the patrons at the concert. Matt laughs.
(4) @ the 930 Club...very calm and funny bartender gets me a drink. 15 minutes later bartender is yelling wildly [profanities abound] across the bar with some arrogant concert-goer. I shrug. 5 minutes later bartender is cracking jokes with others. 10 minutes later bartender is angrily threatening the life of another drunk concer-goer. The entire 930 Club staff shrugs. I hope he gets to go Jack Bauer on someone's ass but instead Dr. Jekyl comes back.

Rock-maninov? No, Jamie Cullum!

Grande Caramel Macchiato $4. A Pint of Guiness [at the 930 Club] $8. Gas $12. Tickets $35. Seeing Jamie Cullum for a phenomenal 2.5 hour set in which he remixes varies R&B, Pop, and Rock songs into jazz piano tunes...priceless.

Wow...I don't really know what to say. I didn't expect this show to be as ridiculously good as it was. Tied with the John Vanderslice show, this is the longest set that I've ever seen anyone perform. And talk about performing! Jamie Cullum [and his innovative band members] was just out of this world. Including playing his own songs he decided to take some songs and make them into piano jazz melodies. Including 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West, 'Rocketman' by Elton John, 'One Thing' by Amerie, and 'Don't Cha' by The Pussycat Dolls. The set also included the twentysomething phenom banging on (1) Drums in several Brazilian Dance/Pop music concoctions (2) The Piano with...(2a) His Hands (2b) His feet (2c) His bottom (2d) His piano bench [no, really]. Oh, don't forget the drummer...he's allowed to use his drumsticks to bang on things too ---> (1) Drumset (2) Symbols (2a) Symbols on the drumset (2b) Symbols directly on the floor (2c) A symbol on his head (3) The mic stand (4) the floor (5) the piano (5a) the strings INSIDE the piano [really it was a sight to see].

Overall I was blown away by the amount of energy that the band had. The audience was also very much into it, which always helps. Also I'm very happy because it makes three nights with as many fantastic shows. Jenny Lewis (Thursday-sold out), Ted Leo (Friday-sold out) and Jamie Cullum (Sat.-sold out) made this easily the best concert week I've ever had. Oh, also Motion City Soundtrack (sold out) this past Sunday helped! And now it's up to the Arctic Monkeys (sold out) on Monday not to disappoint me...they've got several tough acts to follow. 5 concerts in 8 days...and to think I'm still standing...

Jenny Lewis is going to rule the world...

"The performance was nothing short of breathtaking and provided even more goose bumps in a night filled with them."

- The Washington Post

So like I said earlier...Jenny Lewis was pure hotness. I just finished reading this Post review of the concet that I went to on Thursday. It's a great review and even though nothing can capture how fantastic the show was, this article does a pretty good job. Read It!

Indie Rock-maninov...

Ted Leo + the Pharmacists was a phenominal show. I literally have no time to talk about the entire evening but it was really cool. And now I proceed to Starbucks followed by work followed by Jamie Cullum at the 930 Club. It's the last concert for a while (and by a while I mean two days...hah).

I'm so tired.

two more concerts to go...

Jenny Lewis was pure hotness. Now it's sleep time. Followed by 8 hrs of work. Followed by Ted Leo + Pharmacists at the Black Cat. Followed by 8 hrs of work. Followed by Jamie Cullum at the 930 Club. Where does sleep factor in? There just simply isn't enough time.

I got a new picture. I thought it was time for a profile update.

[also apparently I might have leukemia? sweet. i get to find out if i do next week.]

commit this to memory...

Last 10 Songs that have "Shuffled" through my Laptop...

:Bright Eyes - A Spindle, A Darkness, A Fever, And a Necklace
:Marlene Dietrich - Jonny (In German)
:Pink Floyd - Is there Anybody Out There
:Motion City Soundtrack - Better Open The Door
:Franz Ferdinand - Auf Achse
:John Vanderslice - Me and my 424
:The Starting Line - Playing Favorites
:Motion City Soundtrack - Hangman [I swear I'm not picking these songs...]
:Eugene Edwards - It Doesn't Get Better Than This
:Moby - Down Slow

women of great seductive charm...who lead men into compromising or dangerous situations

women of great seductive charm: Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich singing love songs in German. That's what's currently playing on my laptop. I can't understand a word but the sultry way that she sings makes me wanna learn a few German pick-up lines...but we won't get into that [there are just too many places to go].

women of great seductive charm: Barbara Stanwyck

Double Indemnity! After a long and useless day at work I went to see it at AFI with Sommer [who was late and didn't call me...I may forgive her...I haven't decided yet]. Anyway it was just so spectacular to be able to see a movie on the big screen that I love and have seen at least 20 times. Billy Wilder does such a fantastic job putting together a quintissential film noir film. Barbara Stanwyck does what she did best in the mid-40's: play the femme fatale. Cold as ice but so alluring that you just can't say no when she tells you she wants you to kill her husband and run away together [then she double crosses you with someone else]. Also I know I've already talked about this but Jenny Lewis is tomorrow!! I'm very excited about this show as the last time I saw her in concert (with her band Rilo Kiley) was last September. It's going to be a fantastic concert and what is kinda strange is that the other vocalist in Rilo Kiley has his own side project (The Elected) and they are playing at the 930 Club the same night! Oh how I wish I could see both bands...oh well.

women of great seductive charm: Jenny Lewis and those lovely Watson Twins
Speaking of concerts clap your hands and say yeah for me! I won an auction on Ebay and got tickets to the sold out Arctic Monkeys concert at the 930 Club on next Monday! I don't really know how I won...I put in a maximum bid and went to work...the auction ended while I was still at work so many people had their chance to outbid me (my max wasn't really that high) and yet somehow I walked out on top! The rest of the auctions for this concert are now exceeding $80 a pair so I'm very very glad.

Guess what? Apparently I have too low a count of white blood cells to donate...that kinda sucks and I'm upset. I must have been sick and not known it because I thought I was reasonably healthy when I went to have the blood samples drawn. Better luck next time, right? At least that means tomorrow I'm just going to go in and donate a pint of blood. I'd sure like a pint...of ale! Yup...it was just as bad as it sounded in my head.

I don't really have to go to bed now because I'm off tomorrow so I think I'll stay up all night and party. Who's gonna stop me? Yeah, that's right...no one.

running a twilight marathon...

Twilight Zone marathon! Huzzah! So obviously I’m a big dork and I love the old episodes of The Twilight Zone and on the Sci-Fi channel today they are having a marathon…makes me want to finish watching my DVDs of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”.

Anywho the first episode was about this old man who can kind of predict the future and uses it for good by giving random strangers exactly “what they need” – odds and ends that end up either saving their life or making their life better (like a pair of scissors that are eventually used to save oneself from death). Of course up comes a crazy young gun that finds out that this old codger apparently can give everyone what they need and he [again of course] goes nuts with it and wants the old man to give him anything that can make him win at horse races and become money-laden. So finally the old man says he can’t give the fella what he conflict ensues…I don’t want to spoil the ending but I think you can jump to your own conclusions.

The second episode was about a Faust-like concoction about a hypochondriac who makes a deal with the devil to live forever. He becomes thrilled with his new found longevity and attempts several times to kill himself [unsuccessfully]. Then he gets into an argument with his wife and goes up on the roof to jump but instead there is an accident and SHE ends up falling off the roof [shock!]. He takes this as an opportunity and calls the police claiming that he killed his wife [so he could get sentenced to the electric chair]. Anyway I will ruin this ended for you…he goes to court and he’s so happy that they are going to try to electrocute him that he completely ignores his defense. The judge’s conviction: guilty of 1st degree murder, the sentence: life in prison. That’s right…life, not death. And therein lies the moral – never make a deal with the devil unless you fully understand the terms of the agreement.

The last episode that I watched before getting back to the real world was a strange story about an ad agency exec that gets sick with the New York world and takes a weekend road trip to his home back in a small rural town. Unfortunately it seems he entered a time warp and he’s back to the year that he was about 10 years old. He tries to convince his younger self and his parents that he is who he says he is but that is all in vain as everyone thinks he’s crazy. So anyway after showing his father his wallet he has a heart to heart about life and what to do when you’re up against the wall…yada yada yada. It was all interesting but too predictable.

Ok, I lied…I watched one more episode. It was a Sunset Boulevard-like story…we have an aging actress who coops herself up in her projecting room watching movies of herself from 25 years ago. Her agent keeps trying to bring her back to reality [she should really get with the times, its 1959, not 1934!!]. His attempts are fruitless as she is completely insane and does not realize that she can only get work playing a mother or you know...a character her age. There was no real moral in this story but for some reason she ended up physically walking into the screen she was watching and becoming a part of the movies she was watching…I didn’t really understand that…

So now I’m going to get my oil changed and pay some bills. Then that necessary evil called work. Maybe something spooky and life-affirming will happen to me…who knows?

P.S. I lied again. I watched my fifth and final episode as I was typing this on my laptop. I know, I know, I’m a scoundrel. This episode was another strange one about an aging salesman who gets a visit from death…basically telling him that he has to take him away later that night. Now this man makes a deal with death that he could stay a live a little while longer if he is able to make one final grand sales pitch. But he tricks death and says “Now I’m never gonna make any more pitches!” So death says “Well, have to get someone!” and he says he’s going to take the life of this little girl whom the elder man is fond of. Anyway complications arise and the salesman delivers a pitch to death. He accepts his fate of death and the girl lives. Coolness.

words are poisoned darts of pleasure...

What a day yesturday! I slept off my Motion City Soundtrack night for pretty much all the morning and I stopped by a particular fast food drive-thru for lunch and the car in front of me had the most ridiculous antenna. The car didn't appear to be shaking but the antenna had such violent vibrations that I had a feeling it was just going to fall right off. It was a bit strange. When it was my turn to go through and pay the employee told me what my total order was...in Spanish. I was a little confused at first and I just looked at her then I realized she didn't realize her mistake and I just gave her the money [since I am half-fluent in the language]. Then later in the day I got to work and for some reason as soon as I stepped in the door I turned into an angry person. For some reason I just got into a really bad mood as soon I entered the store...

I yelled at many of my employees as the littlest things that they did annoyed me. ESPECIALLY when my assistant and this other staffer that I was training to be my assistant constantly were speaking bad English...like for example...using the [non-existant] word "mines" [as in "that camera is mines"]. I'm quite the stickler for proper grammer and it just really hurts my brain to hear people blatenly abuse every word in the English language. Especially that horrible and abominable term...mines...yuck. Anyway everyone realized I was in a bad mood so they didn't bother me.

Hey...two more days til Jenny Lewis [+ the Watson Twins].

"let's get fucked up and die" or "i'm so full of love it deeply sickens me"

Motion City Soundtrack was ammmazzzzing [yes, I do realize it's spelled with one 'z']! They rocked the 930 Club like I've never seen them rock a concert before. I had plenty to drink. PLENTY. I ran into three people that I haven't seen since high school. It was really cool...and now it's time for shhhleeeeeppp.......

a concert for hollywood...

I shouldn't have gone out last night...I had all of two hours of sleep this morning [4am-6am] and I went to work straight after that. I had a great day of people complaining about their schedules and I got home and napped. Apparently after receiving less sleep than I did Matt went on to teach a class this morning...spectacular...except he had NO clue what was going on...nice. So in the past 35 hours we've had a combined 5 hours of sleep. And now it's time to go see Motion City Soundtrack...I hope I don't collapse...and now I leave!

v for isolated...

All alone. Having just got the memo that I have no friends I am spending this night waiting for Germanio Anno Zero (1947) to play on TCM at 2:00AM [T-minus 1 hour and 20 minutes]. It's considered one of Roberto Rossellini's best films and I have never seen it before. I've been wanting to see it for quite some time [and satifsy my need for seeing true neo-realism in it's early and best form] so now I finally get a chance to see it. On a related note I am a little sad that I didn't get a chance to see Double Indemnity at the American Film Institute tonight but I had to stay at work and finish writing the schedule for next week. However I will get my one and only chance to see it next Wednesday. Drop me a line if you are in the area and want to see one of the best movies ever made.

Continuing on the topic, I went to see V for Vendetta this evening with the only person who currently can be identified as a pal o' mine...it was a very interesting movie. Basically it's your typical revolutionary film with a futuristic dystopian Orwell-esque Great Britain. Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman were both really good [I mean...a lot better than your contemporary big budget actors] but unfortunately the script was wholly unoriginal [I mean...exactly like your contemporary big budget film].

Oh dear...I have such an interesting week coming up. On Sunday right after work I am going to see Motion City Soundtrack at the 930 Club then I'm closing on Monday and Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday after work I am going to see Double Indemnity. On Thursday morning [bright and early] I'm going for an apherisis process to donate white blood cells...later on in the same day I am going to donate a pint of blood...then I am going to the Birchmere to see Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins [probably by myself]. Friday I work and directly after I am going to see Ted Leo + The Pharmacists at The Black Cat. Saturday I work and directly after that day I am going to see Jamie Cullum at the 930 Club. I'm going to be so tired it's ridiculous.

jenny lewis, will you marry me?

Oh yea, and I promise I'll "blog" those spam mail "jokes" tomorrow...right now it's T-minus 1 hour and I have to make sure that my VCR is set just in case I [when i do, that is] fall asleep before the movie is over.

It's strange. I feel like a complete and total loser right now [or as Beck would say soy un perdedor] and it's about 98% certain to be true but I felt so great 12 hours ago when someone a pair of tickets or $25 to a $40 sold out concert. My life is composed of several crescendos that never quite peak but have tremendous d'enouements. Keep the music rolling.

"a picture mimes a thousand words" or "to the batcave!"

a few more...

spam? spam. spam! spam...

So don't actually click the picture. I didn't link it. The actual link is http://www.spam-uk.com/spamup/spamup.htm. Seriously they could've kept going with that...I wonder if they have unlimited spam folders...that would be cool.

Around lunch time today I checked my emails and apparently my mother is apparently still ignoring the fact that I don't like/read her repeated attempts to send me spam mail. I don't care about whatever semi-self interest story or Aesop fable they might contain. And I don't fancy whatever the joke-of-the-day is. Anywho I decided to actually open it and to my surprise the two jokes I read were kinda funny. I would post them right now but that would involve actually going back to my email so I'll do that later.


Guess who had four vials of blood samples taken today? That's right [me]...and I actually didn't know I was going to have any kind of blood being withdrawn this morning. My mom calls me up just before noon and goes "Hey Ronnie [yea, that's right, you wanna make something of it? that's what i thought] come down to my work...we need your blood!". And since my blood was just planning on loafing around my body all day I decided to put it to work. I hope I'll be ok when I go to work later today...they took four vials. Oh, also this is for the White Blood Cell donation...which is next week, not the Whole Blood [Red] Donation...which is also next week. Ok, now I'm done Trebuchet, you can open your eyes.

the great white hope...

zzzzzzzz...

So today..ahh i'm too tired i'm going to bed...just enjoy the pictures...

a hyper-modified Atari battling a souped-up Colecovision in a chess match/battle royal...

So Sufjan Stevens ended up on top of my weekly top ten music list thingy. He's pretty cool, you should check out his latest album -- "Illinois"...it's very much indie rock and therefore very very different from mainstream. I likes it mucho.

"Sufjan's other interests include graphic design, painting, running, knitting, crocheting, weaving, quilting, cleaning, photography, haircutting, and dry wall installation. He collects stamps and wheat pennies. He cooks legendary omelets and can whip up a sushi feast at the drop of a sake glass. In high school he played second string guard on a district champion basketball team and created his own language, now spoken by only two other people. His brother Marzuki is a nationally recognized marathon runner, elite status. His sister Djohariah has the most complicated, most whimsical, most monumental laugh in all of mankind. "
- from his website

"the 56-day itch..." or "donate a dollar to communism!"

Yeah, so last night I went to see The Seven Year Itch, a Billy Wilder film [with the volumptious Marilyn Monroe] at AFI. It was the first time that I'd ever seen the film and it was amazing. It was quite funny and had me laughing out loud in more than a few scenes. I am not surprised however because it is a Billy Wilder film and his movies are absolutely phenomenal. So Double Indemnity is EASILY one of my favorite favorite favorite movies of all time and I get to see it this Friday at AFI...and next week it's The Lost Weekend then The Apartment (another of my Wilder favorites) and later on Sunset Boulevard. I'm in for a rollickin' good time!

Remember when I said that I was gonna go give blood last week? Well, true to form I actually procrastinated and didn't give anything that day. I drove into D.C. today [I got lost...as per usual] to donate at the large donation center that the Red Cross has there. Instead of going to my normal donor center practically across the street I went out of my way so I could visit one of the nurses that told me she moved down there. She was, of course, delighted and shocked to see me and told me that she was apparently getting married later on in the year. She [again, of course] invited me to the wedding and I accepted. So far I'm slated to go to three weddings later this year and it's just so nutty...I just need one more and a funeral to go with it and then I can be Hugh Grant! Anyway she pulled up my information and apparently someone lied to me at my donor center and my 56 days aren't actually up until NEXT Wednesday. Sucks, I drove down there for nothing...she said I could donate platelets but I didn't have the time since the process takes at least an hour and there was a 2 hour queue of people who had appointments. So I'm gonna jump ahead to tonight...my mom told me that I should donate my white blood cells for research at the stem cell company that she works for. I'm not one to just wildly donate to anyone and I like the Red Cross because my blood/platelets actually get to be used to actually save lives and not just for research that could possibly save lives [like what my mom was trying to get me to do]. So I said that I'd think about it and she kept harping on and on about the money that they give you to donate ($125) and I told her that I don't really care about money and every time she hears this she acts like it's the first time I told her. I unfortunately had to prove my point by tearing up a dollar bill I dug out of my pocket. My little sister broke down in tears [well...she at least went "noo! think of the dollar menu!"]. I'll probably need to get a lawyer now that I've admitted to commiting a federal crime.

Yeah, so I got lazy today and instead to taking my car to Jiffy Lube and also to the car wash I got back home and watched The Sandlot with my 9-year-old cousin (he hadn't seen it yet). I forgot how much the kids actually swore in that movie...and if you forgot too it was many many times. If I actually had known beforehand I actually might not have shown him the movie.

I thought that I was going to be stuck with these Motion City Soundtrack tickets that seeminly noone was bidding for on Ebay but I've suddenly received interest in them and I've got some bids! I started the bidding at $25 a pair and I bought them for $15 each plus the service charge so I won't get any money from them but I'm not in it for the money...I'm in it to make sure people can enjoy a quality sold out show for a low low price. It's all for the love of music. Only in this crazy cool capitalistic country can this happen. God bless America. Land of the free. Home of the...ok I'm done.

On a completely related topic John Vanderslice is coming back to the States!!! Huzzah! The last time I saw him in concert was the last time he was in the United States -- back last year. Then he went to Europe on a small two months tour that ended up being several small tours over a span of almost 8 months. And now he's coming back...too bad I can't buy tickets! He's playing at IOTA and you can only buy tickets for a show there at the door. I'm definetly going to be in line like two hours before the show...I just can't afford to miss out on JV.

Well, I don't really have much else to say...sorry I didn't have anything to post! I'll try to do better next time...PEACE!

monday night is pizza night!

I know. It's Tuesday...or in cases Wednesday (Mar) but anyway I time traveled and I'm blogging about yesturday. Monday was just like any other Monday except it went by really quickly. I spent lots of time working on my schedules for next week and therefore I was on the computer for most of the time. This definetly made the day go by faster as I had several periods of time where I dozed off and woke up in spaces of 10-20 minutes. Then I had lunch and did about an hour of actual "work".

Anywho after work I decided to stop by the Jerry's Subs & Pizza by my work to fill my desire for some kind of sub. I got in and while waiting in line attempting to decide what I actually wanted to eat I heard this woman come up behind me in line with her two playful kids. Conversation follows:

young girl 1: "mommy, i want a cheesestake!"
young girl 2: "me too! and a cake too!"
mom: "come now girls you know what we came here for...the monday night special..."

To this my ears perked up as I had yet to decide what I actually wanted...and as if to appease my strained ears she finished...

mom: "...one large pizza for $4.99."


Those are real quotes guys, not air ones. I couldn't believe that the camera filming this obvious commercial didn't appear out of nowhere and the director yell "cut!" but anyway that made my decision...I got the large pizza and made that the meal for my sister and I.

And now I leave!

every cloud has a silver lining...

erica made my day.

epilogue: and the ron stands alone...

So my day in NYC wasn’t as good as it was billed in the previews. It was supposed to be “an edge-of-your-seat thriller” and “funny yet poignant” and also everyone was supposed to give it two thumbs up.

Things that happened in New York City before that didn't happen this time:

• Didn't meet the Rockettes in NYC (5 years ago)
• Didn't get a backstage tour of Saturday Night Live (4 years ago)
• Didn't go up the Empire State building AGAIN (3 years ago)
• Didn't get a chance to see Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon at TRL (2 years ago)
• Didn't get a chance to go to Radio City Music Hall AGAIN (last year)
• Didn't stay up all night in the city and bump into random bums at Penn Station (3 weeks ago)

Instead after having a couple of hours of sleep Sunday morning Matt woke me up and we starting driving. Unfortunately (this was what I was afraid of) the original group that was supposed to take this road trip pretty much dropped out and it was just Matt, his friend [Girl] and me. I didn’t want to be a third wheel and that’s exactly what happened. We got there pretty early (10:00) and we had a bite to eat in Times Square. Then since we really had no planning whatsoever for this journey besides go to the box office two hours before the show and possible win the $20 ticket raffle [to see Rent…normally these tickets are $95+]. When it was time we put our names in the raffle and then we waited. The guy running the operation got up and began announcing the lottery winners. The second name he announced was mine. I was really happy about this because I thought it would be quite thrilling to see the show from the first two rows. But also there were three of us so we would need Matt or Girl to win another pair. 33 winners later Matt and Girl were still standing on the other side of the winner’s line. So basically I won two front row tickets and we had to buy one ticket that was NOT in the first couple of rows. Guess who ends up being the odd one out [as per usual] ?

My consolation prize for giving up my tickets was a gloriously far far far stage left seat about 4 rows back. I had an excellent view of the speakers and two lights but the stage…well I could maybe see about ¼ of it. Generally speaking it’s quite hard to enjoy a theatrical production on Broadway [or anywhere] without being able to see the entire stage. I was really upset and I contemplated leaving the theatre but I decided to stick it out. The actors were decent for the exception of a couple who I just didn’t think they did a good job as their character. I’m not going to name names but overall I’d give it a B- [maybe would’ve been better if I would actually see it…I dunno].

Anyway I'm back home now (got back an hour ago) and even though I lost plenty of money by not working today [and by using it for food/parking/$40 tickets] and I didn’t get to see the show that I wasted an entire day to go see everything’s ok. I could’ve worked and made $200+ or gone to see Some Like It Hot at AFI with special guest George Stevens Jr. [founding director of the American Film Institute] and then wrapped up the day with finishing laundry but it’s ok. Life is all about moving forward and since there is nothing that I can do about what has already happened I’m not going to dwell on it. That’s it for now…I’m going to need more than two hours of sleep tonight…

the city that never takes a weekend off...[pt.2]

So I'm going to New York City today. And I'm coming back today. Sweet. Matt made a drunken promise to take a few people to New York a week and a half ago and I've decided to forgo the $200+ that I make every Sunday of work so I can travel for a total of 8 hours in one day and see the sights and sounds that I saw about two weeks ago. Nice. But on the flipside we're going to see Rent (on Broadway, not that over-hyped monstrocity of a bad movie. I always like taking days off as long as hilarious adventures are brought about by that decision and this seems like one of them.

[fin]

so i was going to blog but...

I gotta go. Yeah, it is Friday night and today is my first day off [work] in 9 days...whew. Also earlier today I was at Best Buy purchasing the new Harry Potter DVD and the Fiona Apple CD and the Neko Case CD. I was going to pickup a few more [Arctic Monkeys, The Elected, The Decemberists] but I think I'll just order them online...it's cheaper that way.

Also I dropped "un kilo" or a "piano" [grand one that is] to my car dealer today. It always feels kinda wierd to kinda give up a thousand dollars in one day...a little deflating. Oh wait! I was telling a story and I completely stopped...earlier today I was at Best Buy and I ran into a friend I hadn't hung out with in about 4 years so I'm going to see a movie with him and his crazy cool sisters tonight..actually right NOW [which is why I can't really blog at the moment].

Oh yeah, and I slept in really late today because I could [and also because I went to bed at 5am]. If you ever wake up a couple hours after your went to bed for no apparent reason and it's daylight it's really weird. When my body randomly decided it was time to gasp for reality for a second I was a little shocked and confused. It was 7am and I was like 'whaa...where the hell am I...oh birds singing...what? morning? oh wait...i'm in my room...wait...am i drunk?...no me sleep now'.

Oh well, I guess once you blog the fun don't stop. Or something. Later!

56 days 14 hours 32 minutes later...

she's makin' history working for victory...
Time to donate! Now that my 56 days are up I'm going out shortly to donate blood. It's too bad that I have to wait almost 2 months before I can give blood...I know my red blood cells regenerate fast and I could probably give in just a month. Oh well. So anyway everyone should donate every time they can as long as they are 110 lbs and at least 17 years old. It's worthwhile and you can save up to 3 people with your donation [End Public Service Announcement].

I'm currently watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and I almost forgot what a great movie it is. I have yet to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the incredibly versitile Mr. Depp. I've heard that the movie is pretty good but I'm always a fan of orginals instead of re-makes. There are a few that have been good but for the most part re-makes suck. I knew I should not have started this movie...all I want is chocolate now! All I need to do is find that golden ticket...

taken for an 'ambien'-t ride...

this dog is going to wake up behind the wheel of his '77 chevy at the grocery store and realize he probably should've had all that liquor before taking those Ambien pills.

So apparently this stuff Ambien is amazing. You take one to help you sleep and instead of sleep walking you sleep drive! "Ambien is regularly popping up as a factor in traffic arrests, sometimes involving drivers who don't even remember getting behind the wheel, according to a report in The New York Times Wednesday. " [MSNBC]. This stuff was actually showing up in the top 10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers in many many states. In Washington state some drivers say they took the sleeping pill behind the wheel so it would kick in by bedtime. Now that right there comfirms my belief that the American nation is actually as dumb as everyone says we are. I mean it's really as if the people doing this have no common sense. And also several cases involved drivers using alcohol with Ambien. Wow. Clearly as we were all taught in elementary school -- running with scissors = bad, mixing alcohol with Rx drugs = good! The majority of the drivers (obviously) do not actually remember the incidents when being questioned by police...so basically if your gonna drink and drive make sure to take some Ambien so when you get caught and they try to give you a ticket you flash the Anbien in a Mentoas-like manner and beam a pearly white smile. You're off the hook at that point since the Ambien is to blame and you can't control the side effects. Keep dreaming [literally].