Reading Orson Scott Card
I’ve been reading a lot lately. Re-reading a lot of stuff, mostly, because I can no longer afford to buy books, and I don’t want to pay my library fines. Did you know Colorado sics a collection agency on your ass if you don’t pay up? Crazy.
Anyway, so I’ve read Chris Buckley’s latest, No Way to Treat a First Lady, which was great. Right up there with Thank You for Smoking (which is one of my favorite books ever. At least one of my favorite comic fiction books). Also re-read Zodiac, one of Neal Stephenson’s good ones, and a book that reminds me a lot of Zodiac, Dot.con by Ken Layne. I’ll review the Buckley book at some later date.
Now I’m finally reading a new book. I just finished re-reading all the Ender Wiggin books, except Speaker for the Dead, as I couldn’t find my copy. When I was ordering that one on Amazon I noticed that there was a new Shadow book out in paperback. I started reading Speaker, got bored (and also didn’t feel like watching that poor woman Novinah’s life fall apart as all the men in her life get vivisected by porcine aliens. I love that word, vivisected. I love you too, porcine, don’t pout), and decided to read the latest in the series, Shadow of the Hegemon. I liked the first entry in the Shadow series, Ender’s Shadow, even though I thought Bean was one of the most annoying characters in Ender’s Game. This seems to be a very good book, at least through the half-way point.
I’ll post a full review once I’m done…
Popularity: 11% [?]
“Ender’s Game” is one of my favourite books of all time. Of the other Ender books, I’ve only read “Speaker for the Dead” and “Ender’s Shadow”. Neither of them, for me, is anywhere near as good as “Ender’s Game”.
I remember how I discovered Orson Scott Card when I was 14 or something – found a collection of short stories in a $2 bargain book at a bookstore (woo! unintentional alliteration!). The blurb it described Card as “one of the master of SF”. I thought to myself “WTF? I’ve never head of the guy”. Two dollars seemed a reasonable investment – and I was blown away. Started looking for anything written by the guy, and found “Ender’s Game” in a used bookshop. Read the book in one sitting, cover to cover, it was that good. Took my head off. Still does.
Must..fight…urge..to..make…Yukon…Jack…refereference…urghhhhh…
Talking about the rooster fucking front (and, let’s be honest, who isn’t?), one of the local Rugby League teams is called the Sydney City Roosters. So rooster fucking conjures up a whole bunch of disturbing images. Not to mention that I dislike Rugby League – stupid game (Rugby Union, however, is a great game).
Now, where was I?
Hmm, think it might be time to leave work and go home…
Card is good. I haven’t read Zodiac, but Snow Crash and The Diamond Age were amazing. I’ve got Cryptonomicon laying around here somewhere. I keep meaning to read that.
You guys read Dan Simmons? He’s got a new science fiction book coming out in July. He’s been doing crime and historical fiction for the last few years, so it’ll be interesting to see how this compares with his Hyperion books.
Oh yeah, and have you guys read the Card’s Alvin Maker books? Sort of Lord of the Rings meets Huck Finn?
Yea, at one point in high school I tried to read everything Card wrote, and I got through most of the Alvin Maker stuff. Seventh son of the seventh son and all that.
Actually, Speaker is my favorite of the Ender books. Xenocide is really good, too. Children of the Mind kinda sucks.
I’ve never heard of Dan Simmons; I’ll check him out.
Errr….
Oh, a little tip on Monster – screw keyword searching. I found that, for whatever reason, it would eliminate a ton of viable jobs and I would never have known they existed. Just have it give you all of the jobs for the last few days in the Metro area – much better, and you scan all the headers in 10 minutes.
Shit dude… I think I had your copy of Speaker. You lent it to me a long time ago–I read it and never gave it back. I’ll have to buy you a new one.
Email me your address and I’ll have Amazon send it to you.
I’ve been carrying around that guilt for years! *sniffle*
Let’s try equal parts of Yukon, Southern, and Crown topped with a splash of cranberry, chilled, strained, and shot.
Hell, it would probably suck, but I’ll try one tonight.
I thought Ender’s Shadow was almost as good as Ender’s Game. Not quite, but close. A great way to revisit a story for an author, though.
I still owe DPL almost 50 bucks. The collectors call once a month. I ignore them once a month.
Yukon Jack, Wild Turkey, and a splash of grenedine.
Or would that be fuck the turkey?
If it were only a state, I’d be in the car right now… It’s that whole two time-zone thing that gets in the way.
Wish I could be there. Next time.
1 part Fighting Cock whiskey (the rooster part)
2 parts Yukon Jack
Enough Apple Pucker to make it drinkable to your taste (which understandably may be gallons, but 3 parts works great for me)
Done right, it will taste caramel apple-like.
Oh, we may have found a winnner. Thanks, Seth, I’ll try that tonight, and keep the entries coming, folks.
Look, bitch, the motherfucking Rooster doesn’t need anything mixed with his Yukon Jack. Motherfucker. Get those motherfucking bunions worked on.
I think everyone probably over-consumed a bit. Ah well, you live, you learn, just so you can screw it up again the next time.
Thinking about a My Bro’s Bar get-together in a couple weeks perhaps. Planning to coordinate with you, Matt, and Stephen if you’re game.
Hell yea, I’m game. It’s not as if I have a job to worry about!
No Yukon Jack drinking? Damnit! Actually, I’ve come up with a theory to cure my Yukon Jack addiction – actually finding some and drinking it. Hopefully it’s terrible, and it turns me off thoughts of Screaming Blue Vikings and Stock Market Crashes.
Of course, if I actually like the stuff all hell could break loose.
And Matt – I’m sure you’ll be proud and pleased to learn that your site is ranked number 5 on Google for “Yukon Jack recipes”. Rockin’!
I’m convinced there isn’t a decent job on Monster, at least around here. Hopefully you can prove me wrong on that one, but it seems like everytime I post a resume up there I get nothing but calls from companies seeing if I want to become a certified financial planner. Fuck, I can’t even keep my checkbook balanced.
You know, if I wanted to sell real estate or life insurance, I wouldn’t bother with the whole resume thing!
So, essentially you’re going for the revolving banner look. That’s cool. I dig it.
Good luck. I hope your interview goes well.
May I recommend Hiveware’s PHP Image Rotator?
Naww, I don’t have one scheduled yet. But I’m supposed to hear back about a resume today.
Tease.
Hey, how do you think I feel about this recruiter? Here it is, three o’clock, and no word yet. I even shaved, and I’m going to get my hair cut.
How will I recognize you without your hair? This is sacrilege, damnit!
I had to weigh the consequences carefully. On the one hand, I’d never, ever get a job. On the other, Zomby might have to search a bit harder to find me in a bar.
Obviously it was a close call.
Good luck!
Being new to OS X, I’ve been using Safari almost exclusively. I tried IE 5.2 for OS X and found that it had a lot of problems rendering CSS, got annoyed with it and abandoned it.
Safari hasn’t caused me any problems whatsoever. It’s pretty damned fast and light. I like it.
I’ll check out Camino and tell you what I think, though.
Don’t bother me with details. I’m a big picture kind of guy.
You’ll like it. You’ll like it or I will kill you!
Doncha love how pushy techno-evangelists are?
Huh?
Aw, man, don’t make me feel like a heel (geddit? Heel? Shoes? I kill me. Ahem.) Want something else instead?
Nope, the thong will be fine.
Yeah, that does suck (I’ve had that happen before). Once I can build up the motiviation, I plan to add iTunes integration to my PodWorks software to take care of exactly that problem!
My value shot up a few days ago when I wasn’ t looking. I think it was because Walter and some other guy came along and scooped up all the shares that were available. I fully expect to be relatively worthless again soon.
The Corner is great. I bet you’d like it if you read it more often. Andrew is a hell of a writer and he gets all nice and bitchy sometimes. Fun for the whole family.
His jihad against circumcision, though, is disturbing.
Technology at the point of a gun. I like it.
You’re worth a little bit more now.
Yea, it says thirty-two cents a share now, but still 791.55 bucks total valuation. Weird.
Blogshares thinks I’m worthless, which is pretty realistic.
Andrew Sullivan is pretty disturbing no matter what his jihad of the moment. Sure, the boy can write up a storm, but why does everything come out as a screech?
I read the corner on occasion, just to watch Derbyshire overreact. I also like Jonah Goldberg quite a bit.
I have huge issues with the links. I don’t think it scrapes links well at all. Oh well.
Short Matt: I tried to buy some shares of your site, but you’re shares are all taken. Sell off a few hundred shares and it will probably raise your value quite a bit.
Jonah is cool (and his little dog, too), K-Lo is pretty fun, Derb makes me shake my head, Dreher is always good to read, and Kurtz is long-winded (intelligent, but dry). I like the Corner, even if they did lose me a ton of money on Blogshares.
everyone’s having the same problems… now that he’s moved servers, he’s going to work on some of the spidering issues…. supposedly.
it’s still beta or so that story goes, so we’ll see if the issues improve when he goes live with it.
Mine keeps picking up the links from dave’s site, since I’m a subdomain of his and mixing them up with my actual links. Of course, it doesn’t pick up ALL of either my links or his…. it just randomly mixes both in…. VERY strange.
It’s a cool experiment, and I’m sure it will evolve into something pretty fun.
I do wish they’d let me short-sell stocks, though.
I was doing great – valuation of $3500 and share price of $1.25 or so, and then he merged me the wrong way into the temporary domain name of the site (http://athena.something.something/...) and it fucked everything up.
Given that I asked him to fix it, and he hasn’t, I’ve removed the link until such time as it works. No reason to send people there so they can be underwhelmed by my incorrect value!
Methinks he put this out for beta a bit soon.
It’s the uncharacteristic lack of irony that’s throwing them, probably.
I’m enjoying the new White Stripes, myself.
Yea, shit, I meant to mention that. They probably thought all the rest of his slow sad stuff was an ironic hipster in-joke. Hell, it probably was.
My blog is split on Blogshares, showing up twice, as walterindenver and Walter in Denver. Most of my incoming links aren’t showing up and the values on those that do are wildly skewed. For instance, a link from The Light of Reason, probably my most valuable one, is worth only $1.75, because none of the links going into that site are showing up.
On the plus side, I’m a tycoon. I think I should get posting rights on all the sites I’ve gained majority ownership.
Anyway, I think he’s going to reset all the values and start over in a couple of weeks.
Walter owns my blog. In fact, Walter just made a butt load of fake money by buying up when that other person sold off all their shares.
Hmmm.
Amen, my brother! Can I get a witness?
The book I’m re-reading at the moment is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. One of my favourite books of all time – and one which every time I read it am reminded of all the details, exchanges and dialogue which makes it such an awesome book.
Oh and for any of my fans (that’s you Mum – and Happy Birthday by the way!), I’ve been pretty quiet on the commenting front due to my being Technical Lead on an extremely trying project.
The rest of you are no doubt ecstatic – and don’t think I’ve forgotten about Yukon Jack…
Looks like he’s branching out:
pucestopallusa.blogspot.com
I was wondering where that Garth was. Thanks for checking in.
Your site make me to happy smile like littel chidlren. Much joy it bring to hart and wishes for goodness cheer.
How did I do?
Very nice, Andy. Your sentence structure could still use a little more deconstruction, though.
Looks like he found Michele too:
http://www.asmallvictory.net/archives/003282.html#003282
Congratulations, I hope it goes well.
The good news is that data people have a much easier time learning the voice side than the voice folks do learning data. That’s just my experience dealing with the Avaya folks a few years ago.
PBX/Voice are easy. Really easy.
Good luck, man. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
That’s pretty good, Andy, but I’ve never heard Puce be so positive.
You eat of the boogger king makes think you say I that!
Dozens? What, are we talking in epochs rather than years?
Ha!
That hurt, Andy.
That’s what I was thinking. How fucking complicated can voice be? It’s been around for, what, a hundred years?
dang.
Oooo, Andy, that was mean.
Dang we missed the contest, or dang that’s a lot of traffic?
While every PBX you’ll see is different, one book I found useful was Voice and Data Communications Handbook, 4th Edition. If you need it, it’s probably in there. The book also doubles as a handy bludgeon, perfect for recalcitrant users.
Yeah, so post a picture already!
Urgh. Every time I get reminded of all the network nittygritty, I remember that there is this whole world in IT I don’t know very well at all.
After all the comments suggesting that I should get my own blog (ha ha! just kidding), I may have to get around to doing something about it. Of course that hinges on two things occurring: 1) my work workload subsiding enough to get my arse around to doing it, and 2) I cease being lazy.
Free OS, a cheap Dell, living in Colorado and more than 100,000 hits.
I hate your assface.
(ED’S NOTE: Written affectionately. Don’t flame me. I’m fragile, dang it!)
No flames here, Page. I know that I’m lucky.
Good god, man. It’s easy. Just punch up blogger.com and go to work.
Yo, I’ll put up a picture when I’m ready. I don’t even know you!
Of course, this is coming from someone unemployed (and drunk), so take that as you will.
You fucking lush.
I’m stone cold sober.
And my hangover will suck tomorrrow.
Haha! That’s what’s great about being unemployed. My tolerance is incredible!
Hell, man. Don’t blame you. I take it from what you said that you don’t think this bloke was part of the reason you got fired… Yeah? If so, you could just say “Yo, man, you’re not the reason, so chill.”
And if he is? Well, fuck him then. If you need to keep in the good graces with this guy (for future work reasons, or whatever), talk to him on the phone or something when you know what you want to say.
BTW if you’re wondering about the street language, I just finished watching Training Day. Might watch it again with the Director’s commentary on – after the footy is finished of course.
Naww, I don’t think he really had much to do with my firing. He whined up a storm that I wasn’t doing my job the last week I was there, and he’s near my manager’s office, so that’s probably what he’s thinking. Plus, he’s the reason I had this job in the first place, so if you take the long, convoluted view, then he was responsible.
It just would have been uncomfortable. He hadn’t called me since I got fired, and we were pretty good friends. Even roomed together for a couple months.
Yup, uncomfortable. I’d rather just run into him sometime at a bar. At the rate we both go to bars, it’ll happen.
I have to admit, it annoys me, too. It happened to me when I was downloading some Eminem stuff–made me mildly cranky at first. Now, though, I kind of like it. I mean, as a method of combating piracy, it’s probably more effective than filing lawsuits against individuals. So, instead of going after the distribution channels (which is ineffective) go after demand (which can be effective).
It annoys me, but I like it. Know what I mean?
Well, it’s kinda going after the distribution channels. If they fill up Kazaa with worthless songs it’ll pretty much destroy music trading as we know it.
It’s not like I’m not going to buy these albums. Usually when I download a whole album it’s either someone new that I don’t know yet, or I’m clicking submit in Amazon at the same time.
Yeah, I’m the same way. I’ll download a single song from a group that I don’t like that much or a group that I’m curious about. But if I’m willing to spend the time to find and download all the songs from an album, I’m also willing to buy the damned thing.
I have a pretty decent CD collection to prove my good will. The record companies still haven’t acknowledged their real problem: the music they are trying to sell us sucks. People are willing to buy their overpriced CDs, we just want something good in return for our money.
I’m hoping that music trading stays alive, but you might be right…
It’s a fucking amazingly smart way to co-opt the P2P scene. Just fuck it up royally.
I disagree about the music sucking, though. There is a lot of good music out there, but it’s not worth $17.99 for twelve songs. And the music that is pushed on us by the big six (five? four?) is universally bad, because it has to be the lowest common demoninator to get the mass market those guys look for.
I think “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” is an excellent question for anyone who actually goes to the trouble to listen to a Madonna song.
You know I was disappointed when I went looking for her scolding message and instead downloaded the actual single.
I managed to find “Fell in Love with a Girl”, so now all I need is “This Protector”.
OK gang, be afraid. I spent a little bit of time, and I’ve now got an extremely lame blog up and running. *gasp* For an example of crap content produced for low, low prices, check out: Dazed and Contused. Caveat Emptor. You have been warned.
Hey, cool! I’ll figure out who to delete on the blogroll (my rule is it can’t be more than one screen on my mac).
Oh, and I found out I had the correct version of “This Protector”. He didn’t seem to put any bass on it at all, just added some vocals.
Amen–potentially the most overrated musician of all time.
Can the rest of the cast vote someone off the island?
You already did vote! I just killed the link with the least clicks.
I thought they were overrated when they were just the most popular band for frat parties at NC State (they’re from Virginia, I think. Bands that lived right next door to North Carolina (Hootie) had to spend a couple of years playing the lawn party circuit before they got any undeserved fame).
BTW, Colby has declined his own invitation to host the rally. Boo.
Although, I gotta admit, that lead singer of Hootie has a good voice. Unlike that whiney, nasal Matthews character.
And I helped!
Dude, I’m updating now with a “Via Jim Treacher” link!
AHWOSG was outstanding for the first half of the book, and then dragged in the second half, but that’s simply my opinion.
Me Talk Pretty One Day was a great listen (I got it from audible.com)
I somewhat agree on AHWOSG. The second half does drag, when he tries to sustain the story with the injuries to his friend.
It’s like Bill Hicks sang: Chicks Dig Jerks.
Matt, I’m sorry he just had a way with words….
his passion in passing disinformation made my knees weak. Hey, he wouldn’t be the first liar I dated, and surely not the last
xoxo
So, not only are you a thief, but one with appalling taste in music. Go pillage Saddam’s art collection, why doncha?
Jackass. I already own both the albums I talk about downloading. Therefore I’m not a thief, I’m covered under fair use. I’m only downloading the MP3s, rather than ripping, cause one is on vinyl, the other in the mail.
Appalling? Dude, I understand people have different taste and all, but if you find Lucinda Williams and the White Stripes “appalling” then I’m afraid your CD collection would probably make my internal organs liquify.
Hey, Jim, but I’m a jerk, too. Just not on the scale of that guy.
Mox, I hafta admit that I dug the guy, too. Not dug as in “want to date”, but he was pretty cool.
Booo
Your hair looks like Kramer’s! Somehow it worked for him though… George once said something like “He never works, has lots of women and falls ass backwards in piles of money…”
If that wacky mop on your head can get you the same results then I’ll do the same!
Heheh. Do you disagree with the math involved? Answer carefully, the pundits are watching…
Boo to you, silly DMB fan.
I can see it now:
I did not just prematurely ejaculate. In fact, I am making love to you all night. I am like a stallion. I will last for hours. I am not limp. No, I am big and strong and firm. You are having many orgasms – the best ones of your life.
If you hang out with people who fancy themselves literati, you will soon discover that Dave Eggers is the author that everyone most loves to hate. I suspect it’s equal parts envy at his outrageous success in writing a memoir and the fact that he’s a complete ass in person (I’ve heard). Apparently, even though everyone has read Heartbreaking Work, and everyone has enjoyed it, admitting that is akin to saying that your favorite musical artist is Christina Aguilera.
No, you didn’t catch me in bed with another woman. She isn’t in the room, she isn’t within 100 miles of the room. She most definitely is not twins.
It’s even better, because I only make like 5-10 comments a day.
David Eggers is a brilliant writer, but his story never really seems to get anywhere. When he gets to the fictional second interview with the woman at MTV, the one where he explains quite a bit about his life and his family, I started to lose interest. It was an interesting method for explaining himself, but it dragged on way too long.
The best I can say for AHWOSG is that it attempted a lot, succeeded occasionally, and that David Eggers is still worth reading. Even when he fails, he’s at least pushing boundaries.
A book review of his “novel” You Shall Know Our Velocity kind of sums it up for me: “A heartbreaking tale of unfulfilled promise.”
I believe it depends on your priorities. Do you want a heavily trafficed blog, or a cool one? Myself, I prefer cool, so I prefer Treach.
“Lying is forbidden in the bedroom. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes, hearts and sex organs”
Wa hey! Chalk up another Sir Lancelot! Man I’m glad I didn’t get Brave Sir Robin. That would have sucked.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – what else is there to say? Just awesome. This movie and The Matrix had the best believable non-realistc fighting ever – if that makes sense. These days as a result you can’t have Jet Li be a normal martial arts guru and just kick people’s asses – he has to do mad quadruple flips, halting several times in mid-air before severing someone’s head with an eyebrow. Which just doesn’t work – I mean, he’s meant to be a normal bad ass, not a superhero.
In defense of the “My… name… is… NEO!” scene – I mean, cheesey dialogue was created for Keanu Reeves.
Maybe instead Neo could have just smirked and said “I just loved you in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”.
Oh, fuck, the Priscilla thing was supposed to be number four! I totally forgot.
Also, yes, the stupid line can be forgiven because it was Keanu’s job to handle it. But I still think we can come up with something better.
Ah, Eggers. My parents gave me this book – allegedly they heard a review of Staggering Genius, and thought to themselves “Hmm, sounds like the Garthmeister.”
Did I enjoy it? Yes, in parts. I think the thing I like most about it is the way he has the balls to do all that post-post-modern crap, and yet manages to pull it off. Much respect. The little diagrams (like Dave and Toph’s sliding lanes in their house) are cool as well.
Not to mention the picture of the stapler.
Yes, the picture of the stapler was cool.
Oh yea, J2, email me your address, I need to send you a copy of Ocean’s Eleven. I seem to have lost yours.
Ah, see, I don’t think Keanu “handles it” – it’s just really funny when he says cheesy lines. Mind you it’s also funny when he tries to deliver serious lines.
Serious lines like, “Whoa!”?
BTW, I’m glad to see you comment here before you post on you own blog.
Yeah, I find it easier to comment to your blog than to post to mine – I’ll probably post later in the day (over here, that is).
Wow – I knew Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce emerged out of Australia, but wasn’t sure if they were born here. Pearce was born in the UK, moving here when we was 3. Weaving moved here when he was 16 – he was born in… Nigeria? Weird.
Just to top it off, Russell Crowe was born in New Zealand, but moved to Oz when he was a young ‘un. What does this mean?
Nothing.
Wasn’t Mel Gibson born in Australia but moved to the US as a child? Does that also mean nothing?
Oh, the other way around. His dad moved them to Oz when he was twelve so his sons wouldn’t get drafted.
I only needed 5.2 worlds if everyone was like me.
You big old foot printed polluter, you.
Oh, you’re angling for a link! Why didn’t you just say so? One link comin’ right up.
I love Eggers and I thought AHWOSG was fascinating. Yet everyone I passed the book onto asked me if I was taking drugs when I read it.
Hey, neato, thanks! Not what I was aiming for, but cool anyway.
There’s a better homage to Vertigo in 12 Monkeys. Check it out.
Yeah but at least like two of those visits were me. Sorry to burst your bubble, dude.
Two visits from the Goose just makes it an even better day!
That book needed no drugs.
Hmm, I will check that out. Right now, in fact!
Let me know what you think of it.
Damnit.
I have had a crush on her for quite some time.
I agree with your assessment of the movie–good, not great, worth seeing but not worth rushing out for.
I couldn’t decide whether The Matrix: Reloaded got me as excited as X2. All I know is I can’t wait for the summer action movie fest.
X2 ahead of The Matrix?! Sacrilege! Stone the infidel!
How annoying. By the way, I updated that link and then noticed that Treacher had you linked from his site. You’re cool.
Not only are Rogue and Storm just hot as hell, but Wolverine rocks.
Heheheh. I’m shoring up my geek street cred right now.
Buddy! Not trying to out anybody. Just following the big fat clues left for us. Look at the top posts currently on Treacher, Puce and Pucewatch! Notice anything?
Update: There ya go!
Yeah, it definitely seems like an open and shut case.
Huh. To think that I thought it was a.beam, too. Shows what I know.
The simple answer is that she can’t play. One review called it “pancake-handed drumming,” which I thought was about right.
Plus, Jack White was wearing black in public. Is that a first?
WHAT?!?!? It’s another neocon plot!
yeah, meg’s drumming is criticized a lot. i’m not a drumming expert, but i can listen to the album and play along with her, so it’s obvously not very complicated. that doesn’t mean it’s not good – ‘elephant’ kicks ass.
Oh, definitely. I’ve played it about 50 times over the last week. But without Jack…
Damn neocons!
Jebus, just what we need. Another damn Matt.
Yea, it was Pitchfork that made the pancake remark.
Sure, without Jack the album would be a long drum solo. A very long, very boring drum solo, with singing on two songs.
…would another band have her?
I’d have her. She’s cute.
Darn, I missed it. If it’s the “Jolene” I’m thinking of, it’s an old country song. Dolly Parton had a hit with it — maybe Emmy Lou Harris too, but I’m not sure.
You haven’t missed it yet. Just watch tomorrow on Comedy Central at 11!
Neocons, I tell you!
I just remembered an interview I read of The White Stripes where Meg admitted that she couldn’t do even one push-up. I’d never thought of it, but drummers are evidently renowned for their upper-body strength.
Conan isn’t funny
Screw you!
Or Swimming with Sharks, one of his more realistic asshole roles.
I’d be happy with “There’s No Home for You Here”, also. Or anything else they want to play beyond the goddamn two minute mark. Would it kill them to play two songs?
Hell, I’d be happy to hear “I Want to be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart”, or even anything else, other than “In the Cold Cold Night” or “It’s True That We Love One Another”. Those two suck.
Is it weird to comment twice in a row on my own blog? So FUCKING WHAT? It’s my GODDAMN blog!
I DON’T CARE IF IT’S THREE TIMES WITH THE KEVIN SPACEY POST!
Shut the FUCK UP!
Is that what you did to Rick? Why deny someone else their opinions?
Greetings from Montreal.
I read you daily, so here’s a comment. COMMENT.
Did you say you might have a job interview on Monday? Good luck with that!
Okay, Moxie I mean Matt. (Just kidding!)
I want to see that too. It looks hilarious. I saw the trailer for it when I was hanging out with my ex-wife. Fun.
Yeah, I figured I would do that with a few different stocks since one person can make such a drastic change to low-priced stocks with a single purchase. It’s worked so far, and I’ve only really been working it this last week. I don’t know if I’ll keep playing unless the rules of the game get distinctly more complex.
American Beauty sucked.
Just sayin’…
Oh, so now I’m not good enough for you.
Bitch.
I meant that in the nicest possible way, you know.
You’re my hero.
Conan’s resume’ includes SNL and the Simpsons – the Simpsons! The Mono-Rail was one of his creations! He is a funny man.
As much as I like to disagree with MattMoore, as he is my arch nemesis, I unfortunately have to agree with him on this.
What, is the Moxster famous for whining for comments?
ZB, you are so wrong sometimes.
Jivha, I ain’t denying you your opinion. I just don’t like it. Plus, I was really drunk, please forgive me.
Have you heard the story about what Conan did when he got the job? He walked into a script meeting and said, “Sorry, guys, you’ll have to do the Homer joke without me. I gotta take over for Letterman.” I think he specialized in Homer jokes.
Is there going to be a My Bro’s Bar evening tonight or not? If so, when? Email me.
Dick.
Yeah, OK. The cars suck. They suck ass and then there’s this: http://www.snazzykat.com/archives/003601.php
Crap. I’m sucked into another f*cking blogging game and you’re it, Mr. Moore. Sorry, ’bout this. But Instapundit’s such a dorkass that he doesn’t have comments for me to spam.
On to the next victim.
This is SUCH a dumbass way to spend a drunken Friday night.
Famous? I don’t know about THAT. I just tease her and Dawn about that. Quality, not quantity!
Man, tonight’s was the craziest of the whole week. I’m glad they played one of their older songs, and I have to say, Meg was looking really good.
Plus, the Gondry-built Conan head should become a permanent part of the set.
I think I managed 13 posts in one day once, shortly before I packed it in. That took some doing.
http://haardvark.blogspot.com/2003_02_01_haardvark_archive.html#89861831
Ted Barlow wrote in to say he couldn’t post 13 times in one day if he was trapped in a well. But then, unlike either of us, he prolly has a jorb.
ahoy-hoy,
Do I have to wear pants?
Buying it all up and then selling is cheating? Well crap.
What’d they play?
I presume that by “Jeff” you mean Mr. Protein Wisdom himself. A legend amongst bloggers … so, when’s he getting back at it?
Yup, that’s him. I don’t think he knows yet… he’s going to do a movie blog at some point, right now he’s just sitting around watching movies to prepare.
MMmmmm. Tequila. And goldshlager. And jaegermeister. And lemondrops (okay, I just did that one alone). And beer. And…
I think you get the idea.
Yumm.
I had no hangover. I just moved sort of slow for most of the day.
Must be a different Rick.
Right?
Dude, come on. Right?
Rick, have you ever said anything so stupid to me? No, you haven’t.
Yes, a different Rick.
I’m not understanding this at all.
Oh, now I remember why I was so drunk. Never let me drink anything with an umlaut again, ‘k?
I believe the man in question is Lance Armstrong! Woo woo, what do I win? And please don’t say a slap upside the head, I only fall for that once. OK, twice – but it won’t happen again.
Well, Garth, even though I like you, it wasn’t a contest, so you win… nothing. Also, I realized his name five seconds after posting, but the post was better this way, anyway.
I liked About a Boy and I absolutely loved Amelie. It helps that I really really really have a huge crush on the woman who played Amelie, but I think I would’ve liked it a lot anyway.
Would you have liked it even if she’d been played by… Andie McDowell?!
Yes, I’m evil.
No there would have been no liking Amelie if the character was played by Andie McDowell. There may have even been mass-destruction of movie theaters.
I can’t see the usual suspects rioting about a movie over Andie McDowell, but I get your point. Let us speak of the evil one no more.
Dammit!
I so hate being an early adopter. Dammit! See above and click here. [Thanks to Matt Moore for the heartache.]
I so hate your assface for letting me know about this! ARRRRRGGGGHHH!
FWIW, you’re not the first straight cool guy to say he loved Amelie. Seriously.
Well, I’m glad that someone thinks I’m cool. I know I’m straight, but cool is good to know.
Hey, wait, I’m straight and cool, damnit!
Sure, try to ride my coatails with Page.
And preference of X2 over the Matrix does not equal cool. In fact, in equals “shot down by waitress”. Ha!
No, really, she wanted you. I could see it in her eyes. As I was kissing her slowly. Ha!
Oooo. That hurt. Ouch.
I feel strangely compelled to comment.
That sounds like great fun.
Story of my life.
A few movie comments: First off, glad to find someone who is as hooked on movies as I am.
- The Ring: fantastic. Watched it twice.
- Andie McDowell: Couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag. Rates down there with Madonna (never seen a Madonna movie, don’t need to.)
- See Frailty.
- On a lighter note, see Shallow Hal for the fun of it.
I could go on and on, but I won’t…
Welcoming another member of the Naomi Watts fan club. . .
“Let’s Build a Home.” Toward the end, he ran over to Conan’s desk, threw the guitar down on it, and played some slide shit. He’s also a little chunky, never noticed that before.
Yea, he could use a few weeks on a treadmill. He looked pretty fat in one of the White Blood Cells photos. I’m surprised I didn’t know that song, I’ve listened to De Stijl a few times.
I’ve been meaning to check out Fraility, just put it on my NetFlix list.
Shallow Hal is on cable all the time, and Jack Black is a funny man, so I’ll watch it soon.
Yes, we are all agreed that Andie McDowell is the worst.
I’ve been a fan since Mulholland Drive, you? She’s kinda a Nicole Kidman without all the baggage. Now I just want to see her in a role with that Aussie accent, that would be hot.
Naomi Watts was in Tank Girl?! Well, there you go. That was quite a few years back as well, I just kinda thought she sprang fully formed from Mulholland Drive. Into the movies that is – I think she did Aussie soap operas before that.
I thought that the character in Mulholland Drive was her. You know, girl moves from the mid-west (in this case, the very-mid-west) with dreams of making it in Hollywood because she’s got a great singing voice. Then she ends up a jaded crack-whore. At least that’s how I interpreted the movie, this one is very much every-man-for-himself.
I just realized… the guy from Oz didn’t know a Naomi Watts’ movie! Don’t they teach you this stuff in school or something?
Don’t knock Tank Girl! That’s how I discovered Naomi in the first place. She was great as a brunette.
Perhaps I should see it before I make fun of it?
Nawww…
Holy crap! Zombyboy is a fertile little bugger, isn’t he! I’m planning on waiting until I’ve travelled a little bit, maybe seen a few other blogs, before I decide to settle down and produce blogchildren.
Dude, it took me a year to spawn. I don’t know what that guy’s got, but I want some.
Oh yea, no I don’t.
I have the power of charming asshole-ness, according to my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend.
I’m thinking that’s a good thing. Sorta.
Tank Girl sucked.
Of course, with my track record on movie suggestions, you might just want to rush right out and rent it.
Trust me dude, you are fully capable of knocking the movie without seeing it.
And yes, I face being mocked in the street for my lack of Aussie actor knowledge, but I used to skip that class all the time at school.
Well, I dunno, this guy liked Treasure Planet. Maybe it is good…
I don’t know – does it count when ex-girlfriends and ex-wives say it?
At very least, the asshole part still counts.
A nice dark grey. Accent with a strong, but not garish, blue.
Useful in many situations, attractive without being overbearing.
Good luck. I’m glad the interview went well.
I was going to say a bright purple zoot suit, but on reflection, Zombyboy’s suggestions is probably better. I tend toward the black or nayy blue myself – but hey! I don’t wear suits!
Well, if I went with the zootsuit they’d always remember me. They wouldn’t hire me, but they’d never forget.
Good luck, Matty! Make sure to cut that crazy hair so they aren’t scared of you. I don’t have any suit suggestions, isn’t that overkill for a network guy?
Hmmm, now my sister is leaving comments. I already got the haircut, sis, don’t you worry. The suit is a bit of overkill, I should really just wear a tie and my nice wool pants, but I feel like shopping. So tomorrow, a suit, with a new shirt, tie, and shoes, and then a pair of Tevas.
Hey, you’re local, Zomby, where would you shop for one? I’m just gonna hit one of the chains if no one knows a good local place.
No idea. I used to spend all my money at Saks and Neiman’s, but now I’m poor. You could always check out Foley’s, too.
My partner used to suggest that I go somewhere for good, inexpensive suits, but damned if I can remember where he said. If I can get in touch with him tomorrow before you leave, I’ll let you know.
Dark blue suit with red or yellow power tie.
There’s a Men’s Warehouse at Flatiron Crossing next to Nordstrom Rack. Expect to drop $200 on the suit and $50 to $100 on accessories (new shirt, tie, tie pin/clip)
A yellow tie? No way, dude.
Another vote for the charcoal gray suit, with a white or blue shirt (really depends on where you’re interviewing) and a good coordinated tie. Black shoes and belt – or braces in place of the belt. Brush your teeth and wash behind your ears.
Also, I’ll agree that if you need a decent suit in a hurry, Men’s Wearhouse is a good place to go, and the price quoted sounds about right. Go soon though as it can take a while to get alterations done (although the one I used in DC rushed mine through for me).
Yeah, just how freakin’ stupid must they feel right now?
My God, how did they even make a mistake that big?
I’ll take that link! I’m a fellow unemployed Denver blogger so perhaps your readers will be similarly interested in my postings even if they are not quite as prolific or regular as yours.
A suit! “Our boy is all grows up and he’s all grows up!”
It was a bit insane, but it all worked out in the end. Got a truly original photo, though.
hah, i know the feeling. All the days start to blend together and you don’t know if you did such and such today, or the day before. And after a while, you don’t even know what day it is. Now that I am unemployed, I have completed fucked my sleeping schedule, where I get up at like 12pm and go to sleep anywhere between 3am and 4am. Hence the time of this comment, right now it’s 3am EST.
See, that’s what I expected going in, too. That I’d stay up all night every night, cause I’m a late night kinda guy. At least I was. But staying up to 4 AM seems to have lost its allure when I don’t have to be at work the next day. Go figure.
About the interview. Your stock answer for that question should not be arrogance. No employer wants to hear that you’re arrogant. There is truly only ONE answer that works for this question and they should stop asking it because anyone with the sense not be be honest (lazy, late, could give a fuck about the job, etc.) should say ” Negative things my co-workers would say about me would be the fact that sometimes I take on too much, more than I should. Sometimes I have trouble saying no to people and I take on more than I can chew”. Something to that effect. It shows that you’re eager for work and can’t get enough of it.
Don’t you hate interviews? It’s like why the helll is this human resources shmuck asking me all these standard textbook questions? When I get the job, depending on how hot she is, I’ll have her bent over the desk, skirt hiked above her heard with my application shoved so far down her throat she won’t know what hit her.
Uhh… have a nice day.
Well, Heather, that’s a nice way to treat someone who helped get you hired!
You’re the second person to say that arrogance was a bad answer, but I don’t trust the first person because he’s always too negative, and I don’t trust you because you’re clearly a violent psycho.
Saw it. Loved it. Thought it was better than the first one.
God, I love Stamos. I mean, oh, goodness. Wolverine is a fool–evil lovin’ is good lovin’.
Or, something like that…
Dude, can you imagine fucking a shape-shifter? That would be so rad!
Oh yea, and this one was way better than the first. There is barely any comparison.
I like that each movie seems to concentrate on one character. Most ensemble films try to show too many viewpoints, and lose focus, and most franchises either do that each movie or try too hard to follow one character for movie after movie. This one seems to be going on the path of one movie for each mutant. Rogue in the first, Wolverine in this one, and, hopefully, Jean Grey in the next one. Please, please, let the franchise die before they focus on Storm. I hate her.
I’ve replied on my site, but need to add that a $200,000 credit line is really not relevant. It just feels like it from our tax bracket. And the Michael Jordan comparison still flies since I think this stems not from any real wrongdoing, but from the fact that Americans really like tearing down the sanctimonious. I do think Bennet is a preachy windbag, but so what?
The one and only thing that I can agree with you on wholeheartedly is that he picks an anti-social game. He should be hanging with me at the craps table, damnit.
The only thing I would say against him is that he should’ve been smart enough to see this coming. I still don’t think it was wrong, just short-sighted.
Overall, I like the look of the new WRX more than the old. The new headlights make a huge difference to me, even though, I agree, the overall front end looks just a little too generic.
I haven’t lusted after a Mustang since I was in high school, but I have to admit, the pictures that I’ve seen of the next-gen Mustang grabbed my attention.
What I really want right now, though, is a new RX-8. Mmmm, tasty.
No, he should be near me, at the blackjack table. But I think his table would be a little too rich for my blood.
Yea, I agree that the headlights are nice. But the rest of the front (besides the scoop) is gross.
Yes, the RX8 is just about perfect. Rear-wheel drive, four (well, two and a half and a half) doors, and that wacky wing. Is that standard, do you know, or just for the X-Men?
I think that was just for X-Men. I bet they’d sell a hell of a lot of them if they had it as an option, though.
I’m not so sure. I hope you’re wrong.
I definitely prefer the blackjack table – I don’t really know craps. Of course, I would really love to get into some Texas Hold’em, but I’ve never played that game in a casino.
Man, poker scares me. Too many cards. That’s why I like blackjack. Memorize a table and you’re gonna be about even with the house.
“to be frank”. As if I’m ever anything else here!
Craps is kind of like my life: filled with the potential for big wins, a little blurry, and loud. My kind of game.
Craps scares me.
I had to (yes HAD to) say, THANK YOU SO FUCKING MUCH FOR NOT SAYING “FRANKLY”. Yeah, I’m anal.
And thanks for sinking your hard earned BlogShares dough into my joint.
Huh?
What did you do man? Get drunk and fall over?
Hey Matt,
Hope the interview goes great. I just started reading your blog, and it is something I look forward to every morning.
When I get back into town (hopefully end of this month) we have to go out and have some beers.
Kimo
Blogfather,
Update the damned blog, already, I’m getting impatient.
Regards,
Zombyboy
Nearly, Garth, nearly.
Good Luck.. Hopefully everything will be done tomorrow, and they will offer you the job on the spot.
I kinda doubt that. I’ve never received an offer the day of the interview.
Hmmm, I had two days of interviews that resulted in a non-offer with a certain corporation whose symbol looks remarkably like a target. And no, it wasn’t in a retail position. Since I asked the hiring manager, at the end of day two, “Do you see any reason I can’t do the job?” and he said, “No.” I can only assume it was my salary demand that put me out of the running.
Oh well.
Anyway, I have no point with this story. Now I must go change diapers (Fiona’s, not mine).
Good luck. I’m sure you’ll do well.
Good luck, in that way that says, “I hope this job doesn’t suck.” Seriously, give ‘em hell.
And remember, no matter what happens, you’re still the BIG WINNER! MATT’S STILL THE BIG WINNER!
Thanks, Page… I do love Swingers.
sigh
So I write this 6 days ago, and sent the VodkaMeister an e-mail. Guess it didn’t go through. Oh, well….
I can’t wait to find out. I’m sure you made a good impression, though.
Do you think when she asked, “What types of co-workers do you have trouble working with?”, and I said, “Oh, I can’t think of any really. Oh yea, women. Can’t stand women. Oh, shit, I totally forgot: black people” that that might have left a bad impression?
I’m especially excited about the ESPN part, I don’t watch much Showtime or many movies, but being able to pick up the odd NC State b-ball game in widescreen will be cool.
If you’re interested about the questions I missed: I forgot you need a BGP neighbor statement in your router BGP [AS #] section of the config, and the difference between frame point-to-point and multi-point is that you need a frame-relay map statement for multi-point. The neighbor thing was obviously just an oversight, and I’ve never had to deal with frame multi-point, at least not since my co-op days.
Not to mention the NBA playoffs on at the moment! Go anyone playing the Lakers! Beat those LA bastards!
(I also weep for the cutting down in the prime of my beloved Suns, but at least we now have a future).
I just realised that I contributed none of that useful information, unless you count pointing out stupid Yukon Jack recipes.
Yay! Yukon Jack!
Yes, Garth, you’re useless except for terrible drinks. But sometimes you need a terrible drink.
I’ll also get the NBA playoffs channel. Too bad I hate the game of the NBA, way too dependent on one-on-one and fast breaks for my taste. College is real basketball.
The more I think about it, the more little clues there were throughout the movie. As opposed to X2, which I haven’t really thought about at all, other than to bemoan the infrequency of the shots of Mystique’s ass.
YouTube is world’s leading video sharing website, no one can defeat it. Every one upload video lessons at YouTube then take embed code and post anyplace.
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