| |
 h let's see... where were we.
I finished up Alex's training and put him off the truck last Thursday before going home for the weekend. I have a new student named Don. He's 40 and from Flint, Michigan. He's a bit of a talker, so hopefully he doesn't take my generally quiet nature personally. So far he's doing okay; really rough on the shifting, but we'll iron that out in a couple of days. Otherwise, decent lane control and he's reasonably bright so I don't anticipate the Qualcomm or maps/directions/routing being any big deal for him. Hopefully I can get him up to speed in a week or so and begin putting down some miles again. Between Thomas, Alex and myself, the three weeks I was out prior to my home time, Sally saw 16,200 miles. I need some more of that.
Sally has been running great for the past couple of months. Her turbo is leaking oil, I get some compression in the cooling system, and she has some creature-comfort annoyances, but she takes everything I give her. She recently ticked past the 900,000 mile mark. Only 32 more weekly payments and she's all mine. Hopefully, if I can keep Sally stocked with quality students and roll like I have been, I can get her paid for sooner. I'll be so glad when I'm done with the lease. Maybe by this time next year I'll be able to give her a much deserved engine overhaul. Maybe by the first quarter of 2009 I can have an additional truck on the road and someone working for me.
My home time was relaxing and enjoyable. Of course, it's hard for it not to be when I have such good company as ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) welfy. In addition to puttering about the house in a manner that an old codger like me is supposed to, we went to a folk dancing class on Friday night and had my parents over for Sunday dinner. Also, I'm beginning to think I'll never get past "Freya" on Expert.
A dear friend of mine who I regrettably don't make enough effort keeping in touch with since she moved to the far-off land of Pennsylvania, has begun a LiveJournal. So now I have no excuse as long as she keeps writing. She's also good friends with aloneinky who I pimped on these pages a while back. The journal name is slhorsfield, and I'm sure she would appreciate having a few starter friends to get her in the swing of the social aspect of LJ. Take a peek and see if it's for you if you're in the market for a new friend.
While we're on the subject of livejournal.friends: tequilaprophet ... wtf? I hate to see the good ones give it up.
And now... some quick movie reviews:
 Cinderella Man (2005)
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
A biopic about the astonishing, if brief, championship boxing career of James J. Braddock. Great story, an okay script and fantastic set/costumes (Depression era New York City, the estimated budget for the film is nearly $90 million), but, unfortunately the acting is stiff and contrived, even from Giamatti who has been known to steal the show with his character work (Private Parts, anyone?). How he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for this role is beyond me. The real problem with this movie is the pacing, though. Howard has such a great set and props to work with that he lingers too much to show how pretty it is and many of the boxing scenes are too long, repetitive, and tedious.
 Dark Star (1974)
Director: John Carpenter
Writers: John Carpenter, Dan O'Bannon
A collaboration by two men who would make a considerable mark in the sci-fi/horror hybrid genre just a few years later. It's laughably low-budget (there's even a beach ball masquerading as an alien) and the acting is horrible. It is more of a comedy than a dramatic film and has its moments, but won't be of interest as anything more than a historical curiosity in their early careers. Starting in 1978, Carpenter would direct Halloween, Escape From New York, Christine, Starman and The Thing in a four year period and O'Bannon would write the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien in 1979.
 Unknown (2006)
Cast: Jesus Christ Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Barry Pepper, Peter Stormare, Chris Mulkey
First-time director Simon Brand and first-time screenplay writer Matthew Waynee get everything right and attract a small ensemble cast of quality character actors for a no-frills thriller worthy of being called Hitchcockian. The film has a unique premise: five men wake-up in an abandoned factory and can't remember who they are or how they got there. There are obvious signs of a previous power struggle: two of them have been restrained and one has been shot. The factory is locked-down by security doors and they can't get out. Over the next 98 minutes, the characters gradually regain pieces of their memory, while trying to escape. There is nothing spectacular about the script, but it is tight as is the editing. Little is wasted and it is compelling through the very last frame.
 Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, John Houseman
This often over-looked film yields some great performances and on-location filming in New York City. Without giving too much away, Redford is a bookworm for the CIA, code-named The Condor. When he unwittingly stumbles into a conspiracy within the agency, he has 72 hours to unravel it and try to stay alive. A film like this could easily sprawl and become a mess, but it stays tight and gripping (it was nominated for an Academy award in the Best Editing category). Redford is his usual charming, somewhat-fumbling self and Dunaway gives a decent turn as the obligatory eye candy. Houseman is on-screen far too little for my tastes, but von Sydow's supporting role is top notch. Probably not worth going out of your way, but if you're a fan of solid, gritty 70s-era cinema, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Not in the same league as All The President's Men or a weird, gem like Dog Day Afternoon but better than, say, Marathon Man.
( Other stuff I've been watching.... ) | |
|
 just got back on the road after being off for nearly a week, hanging out with welfy in Western PA. I had a great time and took hundreds of photos. It occurred to me that I haven't posted a photo mix since March. So without further ado, here's a random assortment for your amusement, in reverse chronological order. As always, feel free to ask about anything which strikes your fancy.
( +17 More... it's insane!!!! ) | |
|
 he report of my death is an exaggeration.
 I've been inconsolable for a week because no one had LJ-nudged me. You can thank navygreen for giving me my first ever nudge. As a result of my phishing expedition a couple of years ago I had grand plans for your fuckers. Anyone know where I can unload several pounds of thermite and magnesium powder in a hurry?
For those of you not following LARM's journal, he's going to stay with me an extra week since my company is short on equipment at the moment. They're going to pay him extra as compensation, of course, I get the luxury of having a good, and cool, student on board for a while longer. Last week, we were afforded the opportunity to drive by the Oregon Shoetree, which was the first I had ever encountered. I had never been back to it in all these years and my only photos of it were taken with the really awful camera I had at the time. It's nice to finally have some quality photos of it.
This past weekend was spent at home, spending time with welfy and socializing with friends and family.  On Saturday, Welf, LARM, and I went to Cincinnati to meetup with Patty and her beau to see Doug Stanhope perform. After the show he was gracious enough to pose for a quick photo with us in the foyer of the club. Patty sent me a text message the next day to let me know that Doug was in a car wreck later that night and apparently is in pretty bad shape. I haven't been able to find any news about it anywhere but hopefully he'll be okay. With the possible exception of Lewis Black, I can't think of another comic working the American club circuit right now that matters as much as Stanhope does.
On Monday, while I was spending time with my kids, Welf visited with janietrain. When I was done with the wee-Soops, I joined them only to discover that brianjedi had joined the festivities at some point and a game of Karaoke Revolution had begun. Somewhere, there exists a really embarassing video of me doing "Respect" that will likely grace Welf's journal in the very near future.
I may have been mistaken in assuming that the new Modest Mouse album would be the album of the year if my current last.fm charts are any indication.
 Now I gotta find time to read your journals. What's been goin' on? | |
|
haven't been writing daily logs or taking daily photos. I've just been enjoying the company of family and friends all week. I'd like to do a recap, however, for my own record. I've cut it because, honestly, most of you probably won't care. Think of it as, several daily logs condensed into one big, fat entry. The last log I wrote was Friday, so we'll pick-up from there.
( Christmas 2006 ) | |
|
A CHRISTMAS PRESENT• Homage Roasting On An Open Fire... • THE PUG OF WAR PACED THE ROOM, a fresh Jamba Juice ® smoothie in his hand. His brow was furrowed with concern. The Soop of Geek sat in front of a computer monitor nearby, typing frantically. "It doesn't make any sense," Ef said and sipped from his smoothie. "Why would you and I be together in the same entry?" Without looking away from the screen, El said, "Like you don't regularly have guest appearances in your journal from people you've never met?" Ef considered this. Ef considered his smoothie. "Touché. But this is your journal. Why are you calling yourself 'El'? And what's with this Soop of Geek business? That's just stupid." "It's an experiment," El said. "And a tribute." The sound of sucking air came from Ef's straw as he drained the last of his smoothie. "I just don't think people are going to get it. Let's forget the fact that we only have a handful of mutual friends who would appreciate the parody. It's too surreal on top of that. Watching a LiveJournal entry being written by the people in the LiveJournal entry? And I would never say Touché. That's not how I roll, playa." [I think some of you will get it. - ed.]Ef looked wildly around. "Who are you talking to?" "Nobody," El said and kept typing.
LATER, EF ENJOYED A HOT POCKET® on the couch while Parker Posey scratched his ears. Eva Longoria sat on the other side of him, fanning him with a palm leaf. "Ok, now you're just being ridiculous," Ef said. "And I'd never have Eva Longoria in one of my entries." Eva Longoria rolled her eyes. "Fine!" El said and petulantly tapped the backspace key one letter at a time. He paused and pondered a moment, then typed some more. Kate Beckinsale wiped some Hot Pocket ® sauce from Ef's chin. "Hey, that's pretty sweet," Ef said. "Can I try it?" "Sure," El said getting up from the desk. Ef trotted to the computer and El sat down on the couch. "But Michelle Rodriguez instead of Parker Posey?" " SHYEAH, LIKE THAT WOULD HAPPEN," The Pug of War muttered.
13:47 EST - Soopageek's Fevered ImaginationI'm sitting on the couch while Michelle Rodriguez scratches my ears. pugofwar is here, too, playing around on the computer. Pug sure is awesome. He's a swell guy. When I grow up, I wanna be just.like.him. "Very funny," I said to Pug. "C'mon, surely you're capable of something more than high school humor?" Pug looked at me and said, "Oh, like yours wasn't?" Pug typed some more on the computer and I sucked down a tasty Gold Peak tea, thought about how much I missed welfy, then pleasured myself while rolling around in a bunch of shoetree pictures. I said, "And you thought I was being ridiculous?" Pug sighed, "Ok."
  ichelle Rodriguez was giving me a hickey when a horde of pirates burst into the room. They tore her away from the love bruise forming on my neck and proceeded to plunder.
"Arrr, y'scurvy dawg. Stay where ye arrrrre," the biggest, burliest of them said to me. The sword in my face was blood-stained, but sharp.
Just then, pugofwar crashed through the window; a knife was between his teeth and a 9mm was in his hand, held sideways like a true gangsta. "Lmmf th huhthey," he started. He spat the knife on to the floor and tried again. "Let the honey go before somebody gets smoked, yo." He cocked the slide on the gun for dramatic effect and snarled through his gleaming platinum grill.
"Tarnation!" I exclaimed. "You better do what he says before he opens a ding-danged can o' whoopass on you!"
"I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE THE SOUTHERN CHARM TO THE NATIVE," The Soop of Geek said with a chuckle. "Really. Tarnation? Ding danged?" The Pug of War looked confused. "How did... what.. I wasn't done!" he stammered. "You weren't really doing anything to begin with. This isn't your journal," El said. "I can't believe I fell for that," Ef said. The Devil walked past the open door. He curled his yellowed nails around the edge of the door jamb as he leaned his head into the room. He spoke in a raspy voice, as dark and cold as his charcoal soul. " I FELL ONCE."
| |
|
 s the year draws to a close, it's natural to reflect on one's achievements and failures through the year, while looking toward self-improvement for the coming year and do some sort of LJ meme. Luckily for you, this isn't one of those entries. I know, it was a close one.
No, the point of this entry is to revisit the previous year in a manner that will hopefully provide you some lulz. On occasion, I've been known to make off-the-cuff (and usually pretty bad) Photoshop/MS Paint jokes for a comment in other people's journals. Over the course of the past year, I've been hosting these in LJ Scrapbook and tagging them so that I can keep track of them. Since they occurred in other people's journals by-and-large, I thought it'd be fun to post them all in my journal. Most of these appeared in the comments of welfy's journal, but there are a few from others.
As an introduction for the one's I have done in Welf's journal, I should point-out that there's a running joke within the jokes. There's a photo of Welf trying on a dress in a thrift shop which has come to be dubbed "The Church Lady". I find the photo so funny that almost anytime I do a photo-joke at Welf's expense, I use this photo. As a point of reference, here's the original, untouched picture.
Welf Gets Medeival On Your Ass
Welf Is For a Kid's Big Thirst
( +22 More ) | |
|
've known yourtourniquet as a livejournal.friend for over two years now, and I count her journal among my very favorites, in fact I've gushed about it in the past somewhat publicly. This past weekend, I was afforded the chance to meet her for the first time and meet the woman behind the words of her journal and the lens of her camera. When I began the SHOW US YOUR GAMS challenge, she was one of the earliest submissions; but I've been holding onto it for last. While I've loved each and every photo I've received, this just has... everything. It has a pretty girl with nice legs; it must be nice when you can be your own model! The subject is stylishly presented in a manner which is evocative and suggestive, just bordering on erotic, without being trashy or tasteless. She made great use of less than ideal lighting in a unique location and nailed the composition. I could enumerate the reasons I love this photo all day long, but I'll reduce my blathering and get to the photo save one more thing.
I'd like to point out something in the photograph you might miss with just a cursory glance. A thread through much of Patty's photographs of people, whether it be of herself or other people is that they are almost always doing something interesting with their hands. Consider 4 of her 6 LiveJournal user pics:
   
The following photo continues in this tradition. I'm going to put it behind a cut due to it's (very mildly) erotic nature. There is no nudity outside of what you would see at the pool or beach, but given the strength of this photo, it would definitely turn some heads in the workplace that you might not want turned. I also wanted to kinda have it REVEALED after you read the introduction. This has been a lot of fun, and no doubt will become an annual summer event 'round here. I posted a total of 38 photos over the course of the summer thanks to you. If you'd like a one-stop place to see them all again, you can just follow this handy-dandy link to my LiveJournal Scrapbook. My thanks to everyone who participated.
( Forget about snakes on a plane, I've got a girl... in a barn. ) | |
|
  ong time, no type LiveJournalers! I haven't had much to report and have been working my butt off the past two weeks. When do I ever go more than a week without posting? And no one NUDGED ME! I.. I'm just beside myself with heartache and contempt.
I had to break the silence though because I'm excited about a new feature the good folks at LJ are implementing, one I've been wanting for a while. It's currently being tested by Permanent Member accounts, but will be a basic feature to everyone in a few weeks. You will be able to track the comments to an entry, or even a particular thread, in your friends journals and communities, by way of e-mail notification. That way you are alerted when anyone jumps into the conversation anywhere in the post/thread, and not just when they reply to you. It's about time.
Another LJ curiosity I'd like to report is a milestone for my journal. I had planned to make a big deal over the first person who commented on this entry, as it would've been my 10,000th comment, but then I got an anonymous comment to an old photo entry from back in the spring and that kinda ruined it. But whoever comments first I guess will be the 10,001st. so... yay!
 he butt working-off has come in the form of lots and lots of miles, to the tune of over 9,000 in the past 10 days. I should get home tonight or tomorrow morning and return to my dear Welf. Her pal and our mutual livejournal.friend erebrandir is going to be coming in from Alabama to spend a few days with us. The three of us have plans to meet-up with yourtourniquet in Newport on Saturday night to see Emo Phillips perform. I got to see him a few years ago in Lexington and look forward to seeing him again. While you certainly can appreciate his humor on a TV screen, there's no substitute for his stage presence. For one, the dude is HUGE. At least, he's a lot bigger than you expect. And then there's the heavy mouth breathing and the spastic body language coupled with the sing-song delivery. For my money, Emo is probably one of the top ten stand-up comedians EVER.period. It should be awesome, and I'll finally have an opportunity to buy yourtourniquet that shot of whiskey I promised her so long ago.
 finally saw Casablanca for the first time. I had seen scenes from it countless times or seen/heard it referenced and parodied even more than that. Despite this, after watching it entirely and investing in the story and the characters, I still teared up just a little bit during the final scene at the airport with Bogart and Bergman. I guess this makes me a pussy or something. Peter Lorre was deliciously weird as usual, but I wish he had had some more screen time. I also have been continuing with my Hitchcock immersion, and by chance, I recently watched Notorious, also with Ingrid Bergman just before Casablanca. I've become rather smitten with her. Anyone know of any other good Ingrid Bergman films I should check out?
 es, yes, I know, you skimmed all that useless stuff above and came straight to the gams. These dandies belong to insignificantxx.
| |
|
Location: Concordia, MO Some of you who have been reading here for a while may recall an entry I did earlier this year about the Oregon Shoe Tree. As it turns out, Nevada has one, too! I'll tell you my secret, I've known about it for a little while and have been dying to tell everyone, but the pictures I took of it when I discovered it were all blurry. And I didn't see any point in sharing it if I couldn't back it up with the pictorial proof. Last weekend as Roger and I were making our way to California we stopped. It turned out to be a wonderful day to take pictures.With the recent snow and ice storms, the shoe laces were creating long thin icycles  ( More pictures of the Nevada Shoe Tree )As mentioned previously, I spent an evening with the lovely psycat90 and her hubby democritus. On the trip out of Oakland up to Santa Rosa, I was playing with the camera while Roger drove. There was a light rain and the California freeway traffic was... typical. It made for some interesting photos, though.  ( See the rest of 'em )
I did end up getting a new trainee.  His name is Mike. And this isn't a very good picture because of the back light, but maybe I'll get some better ones later. Mike's a young guy... 21 to be precise. He's the kinda guy who wears his ball-cap backwards and keeps a scraggly beard and mustache. When I picked him up in Indianapolis yesterday I got to meet his wife of 3 months. Awwwww...newlyweds. He says the plan is for her to ride with him after he gets out of training and they're going to travel the country while they're young and unencumbered by children. Sounds like fun. Oh yeah... Mike's wife... is very, very hot.
After some IM conversations with atthestarz and hockeyfag I think I'm going to try and plan a trip to Minneapolis the weekend of January 15th. If I can acquire the tickets, I'm hoping to catch the live broadcast of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion program in St. Paul on that Satruday. I must be insane for purposefully planning to go to freakin' Minnesota in January, but it should be fun. | |
|
|
