Dignity and Shame

Ha...it's really about an album by Crooked Fingers. I've been a silent Crooked Fingers fan since my brother turned me onto them several years ago. The good thing about this band (which is pretty much Eric Bachmann from Archers of Loaf) is that every album is that much better than the last. According to the story I've been told this is record of love songs was pretty much written as a dare or challenge. And yet Bachmann succeeded in writing an album full of touchingly melancholy love songs that are full of pain and passion. Not only that but he carries on the tradition of song titled after women not just once but twice. "Valerie" is one of them that has a bit of a twangy sound and his desire to swear off peep show girls makes a bit of a declaration of faithfulness (however faulty it may be). Anyway if you have never listened to Crooked Fingers this is as good as any other album to start with, although the others are really good as well.

Not tonight

tableone
Originally uploaded by surly monkey.

This good be the sign of a good night or a not so good night. The one thing it is, it is not tonight. I'm still on an avoiding bars kick at least until the weekend.

The thing is I had asked a girl out tonight but I got the old "can I take a raincheck" line. She gets one more shot and if it happens again out of my contact list she goes. It does kind of suck that the first time in a long time that I actually put forth the effort I get stood up. Oh well.

Oh yeah and don't miss Paradox's awesomely hilarious post on Vehicular Pet Peeves, I almost fell out of my chair. And it's not just for those of you in the Bay Area. Make sure you read the whole thing.

War Against Science

Really, I try to stay away from politics and especially the clash of religion and politics but it is beginning to get a little much in this little country of mine. First we have the whole Kansas School Board desiring to insert creationism in the state science curriculum. Which they did in 1999, and got reversed until this year. Now there is the Tulsa Zoo adding a creationism display (use bugmenot.com to get around registration). I realize that Tulsa is kind of a buckle of the Bible Belt but it just seems strange to me. Maybe just because I never bought the straight creation story, like all mythology I always thought of it in more metaphorical terms. Between these and other stories floating around, I'm seriously wondering if there is an active campaign against science happening in this country right now.

Ah music

I know that I briefly mentioned Bloc Party's album Silent Alarm a while back but I think I need to talk it up a bit more. Paradox had recommended it to me in the comments and I'm glad he did. Anyway, this album has been my driving theme since I picked it up and tonight is the first night I've brought it inside. I finally dumped it in to iTunes tonight so I could use it in mixes and what not. It really is an amazing album. Lots of great guitar hooks that are admittedly borrowed from those that came before and yet appear fresh. Unfortunately they are not going to be touring the States anytime soon, I'd really like to see them as I don't hear too much that can't be reproduced on stage. I have this feeling that they may have listened to every rock and roll band (ok, maybe not Rocket From the Crypt) that has formed since 1979 and that is really what make them so good.

Insomnia is not fun

Some say that one sign of an alcoholic is drinking so they can go to sleep. If that is true than I may be an alcoholic. But the one thing I know is that I had insomnia way before I started drinking. It started in my late teens, back then staying up until midnight was late but now I'm lucky if I go to bed before 2 am. Which is fine as long as you don't have to work before ten or so.

Last night though, kicked my ass. I don't know if it was penance for the night previous but if it was I sure suffered. I needed to be up by 8 am and I fell asleep at maybe 6. Curses, not only that but I was in bed before one. Laying there in the dark for five hours with possible moments of drifting off interrupted by my brain saying "NO!! You will not sleep!" was just ridiculous. The strange thing is that Paradox told me he experienced the same thing last night. Thankfully, the women at work took pity on me when I came in and sent me upstairs for the first hours to do a copying project so I didn't have to deal with the public in the state I was in.

So tonight, since I don't have any form of herbal or pharmaceutical medication I am going to get just buzzed enough so I can sleep. I so hope this doesn't make me an alcoholic.

Update: After a quick Google search, apparently drinking so one can fall asleep is not a common trait of an alcoholic. Whew, I really didn't want to go to AA.

TIme to stop

After last night I don't think I should drink like that for a while (if ever again). It's past 1 a.m. and I still feel kind of crappy.

So it's been almost a month since I got back from Indiana and I am still considering moving back there. Of course then I see a weather report that it was 90 degrees and I can just imagine the humidity. Even still I'm feeling the tug more than I ever have before. Maybe it has something to do with being here ten years and feeling like I haven't really done anything with myself. Missing being nearer to my family is part of it as is a desire to live in the city again. Plus the dating pool is definitly a little deeper there. I do know that even if I do go back I have to stick it out here for just a little bit longer, if for no other reason just to save enough money to go.

The Game

Last night there was a bit of rant here but I've deleted it. I don't think it really belongs here and I was acting rather juvenile. When I wrote that I was drunk and upset. I don't know if I had any right to be upset. Anyway sorry for those of you that had do see that. Thanks for reading.

Oblivious

There is an arrow in the FedEx logo that I never noticed until several days ago. I'm slightly surprised because I'm usually good at spotting that kind of stuff. I usually blame it on the acid but this time it didn't work. Not only that but at some point I was led to this link that gives the history of the Starbucks logo as well. As much as it irritates me to see Starbucks on every street corner, I've always been curious about that logo. My earlier guesses were close as I did think it was some kind of mermaid. Just not one with two tails. Plus they reference Futurama which is quite possibly the second best cartoon series ever. The first being The Simpsons.

Playlist

My local celebrity status seems to be rising again (if you were looking at my as I type this you would see that I am laughing at myself). A certain local journalist wants me to provide a playlist for a regular section of the weekly entertainment section. All these years of listening to music and now I have to make a list of a few songs. That's actually a challenge as there is so much damn music I like and would want to share. Of course I'm tempted to pick the most obscure bands I have in my collection just to see what kind of reaction there would be. Although in my defense, a lot of the music I listen to is obscure for this town.

Even though I don't listen to it to often I grew up listening to band out of the DC punk scene, and I still feel that Fugazi is one of the greatest bands of all time. Hell, if they were to go on tour again I would seriously think about dropping everything and following them (and recording every show).

The biggest problem is which bands not to list. There have been so many that have had some kind of influence on me and I don't even listen to them anymore. Dang this is going to be hard.

A Burning Issue

How freaking often does this happen in Washington DC? It seems like every few years there is a push to ban flag burning. The Supreme Court ruled against a flag burning law when I was fifteen, working my first job. I'm sorry but America is not the flag. Of course those that are so opposed to burning the flag may prefer this one. And that sort of scares me.

Reading or lack thereof

Lately I've had to rely on the Internet more for my news as I haven't had time or inclination to pick up a newspaper. I'm not sure if this is a good thing as I have a tendency to filter out a lot more when I read online. With a newspaper I'll at least read a headline and the first paragraph of a story I don't actually read. Whereas online I'll just look at the headline and skip it. Maybe I'll eventually get into a routine where I read the paper again. Plus I miss all of my favorite comics.

Actually it goes deeper than newspapers. I haven't finished a book in along time, it could be because my attention span is getting shorter but I'm not sure. Maybe I just haven't picked up any good books lately. Or I just need to make the time (and just how does one make time?).

I'm just wondering if reading on the Internet actually counts as reading?

Hollywood, the genre killer

It's come to the point that I can't watch modern horror movies. Not because they're scary, quite the opposite. They suck. Totally contrived and not scary or suspenseful. Tonight we watched Cursed, it started off as a serious horror flick with potential. Halfway through it seemed as though the makers couldn't make up their mind if they were going to go cheesy or not. I noticed this when there was a conversation about werewolves and the characters were standing in front of a mockup of Teenwolf or I Was A Teenage Werewolf (I can't tell which one). Ok, a little reference but then they started to fluctuate between gags and trying to stay serious. Grrrr. Pick a path and stick with it.

The last good horror movie I've seen was Dawn of the Dead. And that was good but it was a George Romero remake. And I think I've seen a preview for a new Romero zombie flick.

Dang!

I just spilled burrito all over my keyboard, thankfully it was mostly rice. The local burrito place is more and more disappointing everytime I go in there, maybe it's just because they have all of these new kids working there that don't know how to roll a burrito properly. Like I can talk, I can't roll one. That is why I pay someone else to do it for me.

Some good news today, I've been added to the blogroll at the Denver Post Bloghouse. Sweet, I've joined the ranks of blogs I've read and had no idea were from Colorado. Anyway, anyone stopping by from there, howdy.

Time for a beer, I can't wait to get paid so I can buy some good beer.

Don't forget

Just remember that one of the best blogs on the Internet updates every Sunday. That's right PostSecret once again. I've said it many times but there is some powerful stuff there. If you haven't seen it yet make sure you check out all of it. And if you're on dial-up it's still worth the wait.

Father's Day

Well I hope all of you that still have fathers remembered to call him if you weren't already there with him. If my dad read this I'd say happy Father's Day but he doesn't know how to navigate the Internet so never mind. Anyway, I have no kids of my own so after I talked to my dad I went out and got drunk. It's been a long time since I've been drunk during daylight hours and that was interesting and yet at twenty till midnight I am still drinking.

I don't really know what to say about my relationship with my father. I guess you could say it is a cordial one. We get along, and at some points in our respective philosophies we agree. I would say that both of us agree that this nation is rich enough to help care for those who are less fortunate and need some help. Also we acknowledge that the health care system in this country is a mess. Actually he and my mother are going through small health care crisis of their own that many other Americans are going through as well.

The last time I was home was one few times that we had actual conversation. Apparently he has been researching the genealogy of our family (my mother's is already well laid out). I did discover that I have a fifth or fourth generation grandfather off the boat from Ireland. Before this I never even thought I had any Irish in me. But strangely enough that side of the family has been in Indiana for a very long time. I guess that just makes me a straight up American.

Help Save Public Broadcasting!!!

I know this was just covered recently but one of the few things I feel strongly about is Public Broadcasting. And I would hope that enough voices would remind our so called Representatives that Public Broadcasting is an important piece of our lives. Don't forget that Moveon.org has a petition to sign and you can add comments as Paradox did. In fact here are his:

Public broacasting hosts some of the only valuable programming left on television and radio. Commercial radio has become formattted, unoriginal, and frankly, un-listenable. Network and cable television programming is not far behind becoming more and more saturated with mindless drivel; while PBS and other public broadcasters continue to provide programs that enlighten, educate, and truly entertain. The American people would be losing one of their most important cultural outlets and resources that exists today if we were to lose these organizations.
-Paradox

Please sign the petition and contact your local House Representative. Especially if you're living in a Red State. That means you, you Hoosiers.

This soon!

Damn, my fourth day of work and I was an hour late! The truth is I just read my schedule wrong and went in an hour early yesterday. But still that doesn't look so good. Thank god next week there is only a half hour of difference on my schedule.

Beyond that, this job is more interesting and demanding than the gas station. I do realize that I am nothing more than a glorified copyboy at this point and I can barely even use the color copier. Of course every time I try to learn it a customer comes in to use it and I have to do something else. The weird thing is, I don't have to be a smart ass there. I can actually interact with the customers and help them, plus I haven't has to get directions to Walmart yet.

For once it's true

So I got this forward email today from my sister entitled "The end of NPR and PBS". Usually I am skeptical of email forwards, many times they turn out to be hoaxes or really off from the original story. When I get the urge I'll check them out at Snopes.com and today I did. Well it turns out this email is true and there is a decent article about it in the Washington Post from Friday the 10th (this site requires registration but you can get around it by going to bugmenot.com and getting a fake username). There really is activity in the House that would completely cut funding for public broadcasting within a few years. Moveon.org would like you to sign their petition. This is all fine and dandy but at the same time if people actually want to get heard they should also contact their local House Representative. And encourage others in the same district to make contact as well.

Oops

Apparently I posted a link last night that would lock up some Windows machines (unless you did End Task). Sorry about that, on my Mac and in Firefox I had no problems and there isn't a single Windows machine in the house to test that kind of thing. Yeah I'm in Mac heaven. Now if someone would give me a compatible router I'd be all set.

Speaking of oops or to be precise "oopsing", I've been curious about this in respect to pregnancy. Most of us have had the stories of a girlfriend or wife sabotaging or stopping birth control to have a child without the knowledge of the man. There is an old article on Salon that I found provocative, written from a female perspective. Of course there is the possibility of a genuine male contraceptive but according The Stranger it's possible but not likely that men will use it. At this point in my life none of this is really a concern to me as I haven't involved myself in carnal pleasures in what seems (and could be) years. I guess if I were to go out and meet people instead of looking at this screen my chances would be better but then what the hell would you people do at work? Hang out on myspace all day?

The end

Well, after finally giving up and searching for the end of the Internet I have found that there are multiple ends of the Internet. I have no idea what this means with respect to the space-time continuum but it does sort of remind me of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books from when I was a kid. Now if I could just find the first page of the Internet. Nah, there's got to be more than one.

The search is over...

The one thing I did do today is find employment. Which is really cool because it was the first job I applied for and it is not a gas station. Thank God. It is a day job so I'll have to learn how to go to bed early again but I think that is possible. I'm stoked. Apparently, I'll eventually end up in the design department. Cool, I never saw that in my future but I think I can handle it.

Completely unrelated, last night I mention a lawn gnome party. In hindsight I realize I've never explained it here (a few here in town have heard it). To be honest, it might work better in another city as I haven't seen to many lawn gnomes here. Anyway my idea of a lawn gnome party is this (and it takes some planning): on one night get a group together to scout all of the locations of lawn gnomes in town, on another night steal all the gnomes (make sure you leave invitations to the party) and set them up at a central location (preferable a park or the like) like their having a party. In my head it sounds great and just the visual imagery of a bunch of lawn gnome in a park cracks me up.

Pranks

One thing that Steamboat hasn't had in a long time was a good prank. In fact, I can't even remember any in the last few years. There was the poka dotting of the dinosaur at the Sinclair but that's been a really long time ago.

There is an improv group in NYC called Improv Everywhere that does some improv type pranks or missions as they refer to them. Including the Best Gig Ever and Ted's Birthday, both missions were featured on an episodeThis American Life. Improv Everywhere also sort of reminds me of flash mobs, which are groups that seemingly appear out of nowhere at one spot and do something odd. Like twenty minute pillow fights in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Things like this are rather elaborate for Steamboat I realize but we really need a new, big prank. Although I still think a lawn gnome garden party could be cool.

Congrats

p&c1
Originally uploaded by surly monkey.

Well Paulie and Courtney got hitched today and I say Congratulations!

It was a wonderful wedding with good people and good weather. Their ceremony was probably one of the coolest wedding services I've ever seen. Instead of a judge, minister or friend performing the ceremony they had some form of priestess. I've never heard the four cardinal directions invoked and it quite moving and interesting. The vows that Courtney and Paulie wrote for each other were powerful testaments of their love for each other.

I wish them much happiness in their future together.

And tomorrow/today is going to be nuts.

Gone missing

Kevin Drum has an interesting post over at Political Animal about the new television news phenomena of the missing white girl (usually blond). Personally I don't even watch television news, I don't really get anything out of it. To me print, radio (NPR) and the Internet provides me with the more indepth coverage that I prefer. This whole damsel in distress has been bothering me for a while though. One never hears about missing minority women or even men of any race. And I know that people other than white women go missing. The other thing is adult (and child for that matter) abduction really doesn't happen that much. Not to say that it never happens but it is much more rare than the broadcasters would have us believe. But broadcast media is in the business of stirring up fear and this is just another case of them doing it again.

So it begins...

Well there are some leads on this job hunt and there is even a chance that I already have one. But we'll just see about that. Eggs, chickens and baskets or something like that.

It's kind of strange that I haven't really seen that many people since I've been back in town. Of course, I haven't stepped foot in any of the local watering holes yet either so that may have something to do with it. Personally, I'd feel better once I know I have a job and there is money either coming or soon coming in.

I did take a silly personal add out in the Local today. Something about an unemployed blog writer is looking for female companionship/sponsorship...well you get the picture. I'll be curious to see what if any response I get.

I've been scouring Google trying to come up with some interesting links but there is a lot of stuff to wade through out there and I also just don't know what to look for. There is wheresgeorge.com and I could show my hit map but that would just prove what kind of geek I really am. Oops I slipped. I'm seriously at a loss. Maybe some of you regular readers (I know there's a few of you) should leave me a note in comments and point me to some things. It'd be nice to here from ya'll.

You owe money

Did you know that "Happy Birthday" is still protected under copyright? Now don't worry, royalties only have to be paid if is sung in a commercial setting. So singing it at home is fine, but if the staff at the restaurant sings it, they owe.

Who does own the publishing rights to "Happy Birthday to You"?

They were acquired by a New York accountant named John F. Sengstack when he bought the Clayton F. Summy Company in the 1930s; Sengstack eventually relocated the company to New Jersey and renamed it Birch Tree Ltd. in the 1970s. Warner Chappell (a Warner Communications division), the largest music publisher in the world, purchased Birch Tree Ltd. in late 1998 for a reported sale price of $25 million; the company then became Summy-Birchard Music, now a part of the giant AOL Time Warner media conglomerate.
Snopes.com

This all makes me wonder what other common cultural items are actually owned by some entity or another. Is "He's a Jolly Good Fellow" protected? "Amazing Grace"?

A few updates

In the spirit of not really having anything to say, let me just remind you that PostSecrets updates every Sunday. If you haven't checked out yet please do, there is some powerful pieces there.

I still want to try my own version of Camera Mail, so when I start getting a paycheck again, check your mail Paradox. Speaking of Paradox make sure to check the comments on previous posts, he leaves some awesome music recommendations.

As for shameless self-promotion, there are some newish photos up on my Flickr page. Hopefully I'll be taking some more here soon and have more to show.

Haunted High School

Apparently the high school I went to (Decatur Central) is haunted. At least according to several site on this here Internet. Suspiciously, all of the entries look exactly alike:

Indianapolis - Decatur Central High School -In the 1970's, a girl named Anjie and her friends were recklessly riding around the school parking lot. They crashed and Anjie was thrown from the car and killed. Strangely enough, the school's electricity would not work for several weeks after and the entire school smelled like burnt rubber. Every year, around the time of her death, the electricity still goes out and burnt rubber is smelt. Some people have even reported seeing a young female ghost walking up and down the stairs crying.
-Shadowlands Haunted Places

The thing is, I never heard that story, ever. One would think that would be something the seniors at least would tell the freshmen to freak them out. To be honest, I can't remember the smell of burning rubber, the power would go out once and awhile but I would alway just think it was the weather or something.

Now I just might have to find some others and ask them what they remember.

Wasting more time

I'm beginning to think myspace is starting to become a bit of an obsession for me. Way too much of my time is wasted there. Looking for people I may know, looking at random people and just plain looking around. Since my cover was blown by the Pilot anyway, ya'll can see my page. I really need to get a new photo up there of myself but that's neither here or there.

Not that long ago I would just waste time at cruel.com or memepool, which both provide some interesting links. I would put more up myself but I don't even know where to begin.

That's ok though because Monday begins the hunt. I did see the Liquor Store is hiring when I went there tonight.

Time to breath

It is done. Pulled into Steamboat at 8 pm after leaving about 1 pm yesterday. Don't ask me to figure out the time it took because I'm not going to. I can tell you this much, Kansas has some crazy thunderstorms. There was one I went through today that was very intense, so much so I couldn't see more than ten feet in front of me. Talk about white knuckle driving. And I've delivered pizza in blizzards up here.

The next step is to start looking for a job. There may be the possiblity of some guest shifts at the gas station for survival money. But there will be no permanent return. The search starts on Monday. Those of you living in Steamboat, if you hear anything let me know.

Off to wind down.

On the road again

Sometime tomorrow I will be heading back west to Colorado and for those of you who know, there will be no side trips to either Texas or Oklahoma. As to when I actually get home is a wild guess. It took almost 24 hours to get here and I bet the same going back. Although after watching The Lords of Dogtown tonight I may have to stop and skate once or twice.

The movie was good, it was a dramatization of Dogtown and Z Boys which was Stacy Peralta's film about skating in Venice (and Southern California) in the mid 70's. If you haven't seen Dogtown and Z Boys I highly recommend it. Obviously Lords of Dogtown is the Hollywood version and highly compresses the history but it still is entertaining and worth checking out.

There be some new (and old but new to me) tunes rockin' in the Surly Mayfly on the way back. Including yet another Paradox recommendation Quasimodo: The Further Adventures of Lord Quas. So far it's really good the few times I've listened to it. More on that later.

The road awaits.