I have not actively blogged in about three weeks or so- though I'm not sure there's a method of passive blogging (I revised the title of this after writing the preceding passage)- Between a stretch of non-work-inspired boredom, a trip to New Jersey, a return to working all the time and other internet pursuits- I haven't been on either Blogger or MySpace much recently
It's not that I haven't had anything happen to me or any ideas- Just haven't had either the time, concentration or gumption to put up anything recently- to wit: my recent jotted-down ideas-
-Whatever guitar/loud music detente I seemed to reach with my upstairs neighbor a month ago seems to have receded in recent days- first noticed his loud music last Friday which backslid into full-guitar blasting before I went to work this past Sunday (10 May) while the aforementioned blasted his joint's AC on what was at most a 65-degree day- I know it gets warm in upstairs units- but when its breezy and in the low 60's- an open window usually does the trick- though I shouldn't give a fuck about someone else's electric bill
-Speaking of music- was driving around one Sunday night after work- during a two-weeks straight stretch- and caught part of the Providence, RI rock station's (94.1 WHJY) local music station- I've had many laughs at the expense of both that that and the New Hampshire local show ("Rock 101") versus even the worst of the 3 Boston ones I can think of- the Providence one always seems to feature unusually bad heavy metal bands that seem to start from the point of being awful Misfits cover bands- and work backwards from there- cannot describe in writing better than that and still does not do full justice to actually hearing how bad they are
-Speaking of driving- finally had court date from 1 December 2008 ticket 2 weeks ago (30 April 2009)- Had to go to Framingham court house- located off Guadalcanal Ave- a block between- no shit- Anzio Street and Pearl Harbor Avenue- and also a street removed from what seems to be Framingham's public housing- waiting to see where they put "September 11th Boulevard" or "USS Cole Parkway" in that town- particularly gives a great impression as all you're trying to do is fight a speeding ticket
Anyhow- got to court- first visit in about 9 years or so- last one was at the relatively genteel Newton courthouse- the hearing room for the traffic court magistrate was directly next to 2 criminal court ones- so you have the regular folks of traffic court- including one guy sporting his Best Buy uniform and one particular douchebag who paced back and forth talking both loudly and self-importantly on his cell phone- I felt like I must have looked like a professional male model for wearing the casual version (no jacket or tie and shirt out) of my work suit- Not to sound like a haughty asshole- but I realized could have never been a lawyer- which would have been in spite of my lack of aptitude for academic pursuits- but because of the thorough contempt for the most of those at the courthouse- aside from my self-contempt- with which I viewed my momentary visit that day
Get called in- the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and their various police agencies have figured out the way to beat drivers who used to be able to roll dice that the cop who wrote their ticket may not show for hearing- like when I beat a red-light/ blocking-the-intersection ducat in Boston proper 13 years ago- by having a state cop who sits stoically through your hearing- and creating system where you have to pay to appeal ticket with cop who wrote it and judge- for an off-the-top fee
I was there just to get a few miles knocked off the 88-in-a-65 I was given the Monday after Thanksgiving on the Massachusetts Turnpike- asked the magistrate how my ticket could be based on both an "estimate" and the light-imaging (LADAR) system cited on my ticket- got answer I didn't fully buy- but wasn't going to the mat over
Then moved onto my plea- which was basically "I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't speeding- but I wasn't going 23 over"- magistrate asked me what I thought I was doing- I said "maybe high 70's"- he took the 10 miles off and I was happily gone- though I had a momentary flash I should have gone for broke and tried to knock down the whole thing- but came to my senses and savored my incremental victory against The Man
-Speaking of encountering scumbags or jabbronis- Had to drive past Boston's Museum of Science to work downtown a couple days- Nothing funnier to me than the sight of some white, suburban 13-year-old kid on a field trip lined up outside with other white, suburban kids at 8:45 AM in head-to-toe Avirex-level street wear- could not stop laughing to myself when I saw that
-Seems like Domino's has really raised the ante on Pizza Hut's awful-looking pasta dishes- by serving them in bowls made out of what looks like to being the latest use devised for day-old pizza dough ("Chocolate Dipping Sticks", anyone?)- unbelievably bad-lloking concotion
Should be back sooner with more- eventually
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Back on the grid- for another swing
Don't think I was tempting fate a few weeks back when I thumbed my nose at the "confickr" virus (1 April)- but whatever maladies were slowing down the operations of my computer the past few months finally caught all the way up to it last week and took me off the information superhighway for a few days last week
Hence, at least one of the reasons why I've been so lax in updating this blog lately- I've had other pursuits/ time-consumers on the internet- when my computer's been working- the instant-message function with certain members of of the other social site has been a particular focus lately- I've also been leading kind of an all-or-nothing work schedule- where I'll work about 40-50 hours in 4 days' time- then not work for about 5 days at a time has led to stretches where I literally do nothing but work and sleep or sit around and sleep- not much grist for interesting writing
Anyhow- I'll try to get in a quick entry before I return to New Jersey for a visit the next few days - before things pick up and I'm back to working something of a normal schedule for the remainder of the spring- and I'll have more of my regular out-and-about encounters to write about (or not)
-To return to one of the oldest themes of this blog- The Dunkin Donuts across the street from my usual work spot in Waltham- apparently had some sort of management change during one of the recent fallow periods for me there- The woman who'd been the manager there finally got a store closer to her residence in New Hampshire- so there's new management there for the first time in a couple years or so
Learned this the hard way one morning last week- when the new go-getter assistant manager (I assume) came out from behind the counter and addressed me as "Boss" with a business card in hand- asking me what the business levels were at the hotel I (usually) work at were- I told him it was very early (about 6:50 AM or so) to be asking me that and I'd been away for awhile- He wanted me to go back and sell hotel-function customers on the coffee there for a discount- I didn't have the energy, patience, wherewithall, whatever- to tell this guy that overpriced coffee is one of the ways the place makes money on groups- and just nodded and took the card- which I tossed pretty quickly once outside the store and forgot about it- for 2 hours or so
Until I went back for another coffee- and recieved the same treatment- same guy coming out from behind the counter with the "Boss..." opening line- until I pointed at him and said "You already asked me today"- He stopped and stammered "Well, I thought..."- "You already asked me" was my second response- Like I should have gone back to where I work and undercut the salespeople there for 10% or whatever on my coffee
-Speaking earlier of the other social site (for the MySpace readers) or Facebook- as its known- for the 2 or so Blogger readers I have - I like to think the random public listings for some groups has become kind of like the modern-day version of the 1970's game show "The Joker's Wild"- particularly if you end up joining any school/ alumni-type group and may end up next to people you'd least likely want to be associated with after a number of years- the closest I've seen for myself was when I had it happen on my public listing where both "Magnum P.I." groups I was in turned up as my public listing there
Hence, at least one of the reasons why I've been so lax in updating this blog lately- I've had other pursuits/ time-consumers on the internet- when my computer's been working- the instant-message function with certain members of of the other social site has been a particular focus lately- I've also been leading kind of an all-or-nothing work schedule- where I'll work about 40-50 hours in 4 days' time- then not work for about 5 days at a time has led to stretches where I literally do nothing but work and sleep or sit around and sleep- not much grist for interesting writing
Anyhow- I'll try to get in a quick entry before I return to New Jersey for a visit the next few days - before things pick up and I'm back to working something of a normal schedule for the remainder of the spring- and I'll have more of my regular out-and-about encounters to write about (or not)
-To return to one of the oldest themes of this blog- The Dunkin Donuts across the street from my usual work spot in Waltham- apparently had some sort of management change during one of the recent fallow periods for me there- The woman who'd been the manager there finally got a store closer to her residence in New Hampshire- so there's new management there for the first time in a couple years or so
Learned this the hard way one morning last week- when the new go-getter assistant manager (I assume) came out from behind the counter and addressed me as "Boss" with a business card in hand- asking me what the business levels were at the hotel I (usually) work at were- I told him it was very early (about 6:50 AM or so) to be asking me that and I'd been away for awhile- He wanted me to go back and sell hotel-function customers on the coffee there for a discount- I didn't have the energy, patience, wherewithall, whatever- to tell this guy that overpriced coffee is one of the ways the place makes money on groups- and just nodded and took the card- which I tossed pretty quickly once outside the store and forgot about it- for 2 hours or so
Until I went back for another coffee- and recieved the same treatment- same guy coming out from behind the counter with the "Boss..." opening line- until I pointed at him and said "You already asked me today"- He stopped and stammered "Well, I thought..."- "You already asked me" was my second response- Like I should have gone back to where I work and undercut the salespeople there for 10% or whatever on my coffee
-Speaking earlier of the other social site (for the MySpace readers) or Facebook- as its known- for the 2 or so Blogger readers I have - I like to think the random public listings for some groups has become kind of like the modern-day version of the 1970's game show "The Joker's Wild"- particularly if you end up joining any school/ alumni-type group and may end up next to people you'd least likely want to be associated with after a number of years- the closest I've seen for myself was when I had it happen on my public listing where both "Magnum P.I." groups I was in turned up as my public listing there
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Country Time and chopper pads
Not sure I should be writing about this- but not many read this stuff anyhow- in either of its venues- so, I figure I'm relatively safe in this admission: Tonight, I actually bought a hair re-growth product for the first time
I never thought it would come to this- years of making fun of the prematurely bald- particularly the kid in high school that drew the nickname "Country Time" for going bald at about 16 and looking like the old man from the old Country Time lemonade ads of the late 1970's- years of now-dumb-looking mullets for me and no real cares about losing my hair- until a couple years ago when someone at work was looking to make fun of me and claimed a mere lapse in getting my hair cut/ semi-consciously growing it out a bit was an attempt at a comb-over
Since then- I've been kind of self-conscious about my retreating front and burgeoning chopper pad on top- I didn't really care all that much when I started to show signs I was going gray years ago- my mother regaled me with tales of her discovering bits of gray as early as when she was 16- and I really didn't begin to show any of that until I was at least 30 or so- until parts of my beard went all-gray/ white awhile after
I had not really noticed any diminishing returns up top until about 3 years ago or so- particularly when my hair was wet or it was windy out or something- But, in recent months- I've actually become somewhat obsessed with whatever's been going on up on top at pretty much all times- to the point I'd thought about obtaining some type of product to counter that
Tonight- was at the still-remodeling Target store in Watertown- looks done from outside- but not nearly done inside- went to makeshift 'Hair Care' aisle- like I usually do on most visits- of course time I look for Rogaine or whatever- there's 2 workers and 2 other customers in aisle- pretty much like first time I ever bought underage booze, condoms or pornography- want as few people to see me when I actually scope out and buy that shit for first time- I'm sure the next adult frontier for me will be if I ever need adult incontinence products when I'm really old- or something similarly embarrassing- there will be at least 5 people around that aisle/ area when I go looking for it
Anyhow- looked at the name-branded Rogaine stuff- none of it under $50- see the Target store brand 1990-era knockoff of it for under $20- decide I'd rather piss away under $20 if I abandon the course of treatment rather than the $50- of course the store brand will probably turn my scalp red, burn off the rest of my hair or get in my eyes and make my blind or something like that- But I guess I'll have to take those odds for now- We shall see
-Wrote of the usual Red Sox media lovefest last week- was watching the rain-delayed-to-Tuesday Opening Day for the Olde Towne Team- Thought it was incredibly dumb they had the players come out of the stands to make their entrances on Opening Day- Always thought that was kind a cheesy populism ever since the "Larry Sanders" episode where the network talked him into running through the crowd at the end of his how (like Jimmy Fallon does now)
Saw most players high-fiving crowd on way down- with exception of Dustin Pedroia- but was waiting for likes of either injury-prone J.D. Drew or David Ortiz to slip on beer-soaked steps and injure selves- Did not come to pass- but still thought was dumb
-Cannot believe Tuesday was one-year anniversary of Kathie Lee Gifford on the ancillary 4th hour of the "Today" show- saw they even brought Frank back out for the occasion- I'll never compliment a woman's breasts to her again without thinking he shouldn't get a royalty for his talk to one-time stewardess Suzanne Johnson many years ago
-All the preceding makes the pairing of classic college basketball coaches in their underwear for the "Guitar Hero" ads with what's left of Metallica's credibility almost fathomable- can't see Bob Knight or Coach K getting down to even the post-"..and Justice for All" catalog
I never thought it would come to this- years of making fun of the prematurely bald- particularly the kid in high school that drew the nickname "Country Time" for going bald at about 16 and looking like the old man from the old Country Time lemonade ads of the late 1970's- years of now-dumb-looking mullets for me and no real cares about losing my hair- until a couple years ago when someone at work was looking to make fun of me and claimed a mere lapse in getting my hair cut/ semi-consciously growing it out a bit was an attempt at a comb-over
Since then- I've been kind of self-conscious about my retreating front and burgeoning chopper pad on top- I didn't really care all that much when I started to show signs I was going gray years ago- my mother regaled me with tales of her discovering bits of gray as early as when she was 16- and I really didn't begin to show any of that until I was at least 30 or so- until parts of my beard went all-gray/ white awhile after
I had not really noticed any diminishing returns up top until about 3 years ago or so- particularly when my hair was wet or it was windy out or something- But, in recent months- I've actually become somewhat obsessed with whatever's been going on up on top at pretty much all times- to the point I'd thought about obtaining some type of product to counter that
Tonight- was at the still-remodeling Target store in Watertown- looks done from outside- but not nearly done inside- went to makeshift 'Hair Care' aisle- like I usually do on most visits- of course time I look for Rogaine or whatever- there's 2 workers and 2 other customers in aisle- pretty much like first time I ever bought underage booze, condoms or pornography- want as few people to see me when I actually scope out and buy that shit for first time- I'm sure the next adult frontier for me will be if I ever need adult incontinence products when I'm really old- or something similarly embarrassing- there will be at least 5 people around that aisle/ area when I go looking for it
Anyhow- looked at the name-branded Rogaine stuff- none of it under $50- see the Target store brand 1990-era knockoff of it for under $20- decide I'd rather piss away under $20 if I abandon the course of treatment rather than the $50- of course the store brand will probably turn my scalp red, burn off the rest of my hair or get in my eyes and make my blind or something like that- But I guess I'll have to take those odds for now- We shall see
-Wrote of the usual Red Sox media lovefest last week- was watching the rain-delayed-to-Tuesday Opening Day for the Olde Towne Team- Thought it was incredibly dumb they had the players come out of the stands to make their entrances on Opening Day- Always thought that was kind a cheesy populism ever since the "Larry Sanders" episode where the network talked him into running through the crowd at the end of his how (like Jimmy Fallon does now)
Saw most players high-fiving crowd on way down- with exception of Dustin Pedroia- but was waiting for likes of either injury-prone J.D. Drew or David Ortiz to slip on beer-soaked steps and injure selves- Did not come to pass- but still thought was dumb
-Cannot believe Tuesday was one-year anniversary of Kathie Lee Gifford on the ancillary 4th hour of the "Today" show- saw they even brought Frank back out for the occasion- I'll never compliment a woman's breasts to her again without thinking he shouldn't get a royalty for his talk to one-time stewardess Suzanne Johnson many years ago
-All the preceding makes the pairing of classic college basketball coaches in their underwear for the "Guitar Hero" ads with what's left of Metallica's credibility almost fathomable- can't see Bob Knight or Coach K getting down to even the post-"..and Justice for All" catalog
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Les contretemps du blog
I don't know if my French is correct- but I figured I'd get in a few thoughts before the internet as we know it is taken down tomorrow (1 April)- at least for us Windows users
I've been writing this blog- in one form or another- for a little less than the past three years- There have been some conventions and a relative set of mores I've tried to adhere to for that time- One of which has been to never attribute anything I write directly to people I know or their identities here on the internet- lest I be accused of unfairly characterizing someone or an event they were involved in- or writing anything that could be taken as cheap shots or unfair slagging
Anyhow- there have been a number of occasions where I've written about stuff that I then opted to characterize to anonymous friends and associates of mine- or I've flat-out passed on writing about certain events here to avoid any amount of possible misrepresentation of either myself or those involved- Its common sense to a certain degree- I'm not going to turn my mundane existence into a homeless man's version of TV favorites like "Gossip Girl", "Sex in the City" or some other crap like that
With that said- I unwittingly found myself embroiled in a situation like that a week or so back- A female acquaintance of mine had a sort-of worst-case scenario-level story that happened to her- one I will not recount here- and shared it with a few people over various means of communication- including the instant messaging feature of a popular social network
One of those she did that with took it upon themselves to take screen captures of their conversation- featuring this girl's name and photo- and post them to their blog- with minor edits
-which then led some of the people who commented to address their feelings on it to the person in the story
The whole point of the screen capture and ID of this person was more for the writer to show off a witty quip they delivered in the IM exchange that was a play on something else on this person's social profile- than to express any kind of either empathy or disdain for the person telling the story- which in a weird way, to me, is even worse than doing it out of disdain or disapproval- It was sort of using her as the platform or butt, so to speak, for the one-man Algonquin Round Table to show off the funny they made- sort of at their expense
Anyhow- the subject of this told me about it and sent me a link to the aforementioned blog- which I read, then anonymously posted a comment telling the writer I thought it was rather uncool of them to post someone's private IM's without their consent and to use their name and image as an accompaniment- I did it more out of a feeling that this was somewhat unfair to my friend and did such the same I would do any friend
A day or so later- the blog writer responded- in their comment section- by telling me- in short order- that they knew my last name started with a 'G'- inferring they'd looked up my IP address, that I was only doing that to impress this girl in some form and he wasn't trying to be cool anyway- so "uncool" didn't register as an insult
I thought about respondeing- but decided not to bother- I figured out the person didn't have the goods on my internet presence and decided I didn't want to get into what would be no better than an internet pissing contest with someone who seemed to be courting the attention- when all I merely meant to do was state my case that their actions weren't really kosher- not trying to declare myself Arbiter of the Internet or try to engage someone who's deluded themselves into fancying themselves as some type possessor of a rapier wit
-I still cannot get over the media free ride the local sports teams here in New England get- particulalry the Red Sox- who last week announced they were freezing their 2009 concession prices at 2008 levels and were treated by the local media as though it was going to be free food and nickel beer down at the old ballyard this summer- My response to this can be summed up by the classic quote from the former New Jersey Nets star Derrick Coleman -"Whoop-de-damn-doo"
-Speaking of the news media- I've been wound into this confickr frenzy and feel like I'm chancing fate by merely being on the internet here at 12:15AM ET on 1 April- If the interwebs manage to survive- then I'll see you on the other side
I've been writing this blog- in one form or another- for a little less than the past three years- There have been some conventions and a relative set of mores I've tried to adhere to for that time- One of which has been to never attribute anything I write directly to people I know or their identities here on the internet- lest I be accused of unfairly characterizing someone or an event they were involved in- or writing anything that could be taken as cheap shots or unfair slagging
Anyhow- there have been a number of occasions where I've written about stuff that I then opted to characterize to anonymous friends and associates of mine- or I've flat-out passed on writing about certain events here to avoid any amount of possible misrepresentation of either myself or those involved- Its common sense to a certain degree- I'm not going to turn my mundane existence into a homeless man's version of TV favorites like "Gossip Girl", "Sex in the City" or some other crap like that
With that said- I unwittingly found myself embroiled in a situation like that a week or so back- A female acquaintance of mine had a sort-of worst-case scenario-level story that happened to her- one I will not recount here- and shared it with a few people over various means of communication- including the instant messaging feature of a popular social network
One of those she did that with took it upon themselves to take screen captures of their conversation- featuring this girl's name and photo- and post them to their blog- with minor edits
-which then led some of the people who commented to address their feelings on it to the person in the story
The whole point of the screen capture and ID of this person was more for the writer to show off a witty quip they delivered in the IM exchange that was a play on something else on this person's social profile- than to express any kind of either empathy or disdain for the person telling the story- which in a weird way, to me, is even worse than doing it out of disdain or disapproval- It was sort of using her as the platform or butt, so to speak, for the one-man Algonquin Round Table to show off the funny they made- sort of at their expense
Anyhow- the subject of this told me about it and sent me a link to the aforementioned blog- which I read, then anonymously posted a comment telling the writer I thought it was rather uncool of them to post someone's private IM's without their consent and to use their name and image as an accompaniment- I did it more out of a feeling that this was somewhat unfair to my friend and did such the same I would do any friend
A day or so later- the blog writer responded- in their comment section- by telling me- in short order- that they knew my last name started with a 'G'- inferring they'd looked up my IP address, that I was only doing that to impress this girl in some form and he wasn't trying to be cool anyway- so "uncool" didn't register as an insult
I thought about respondeing- but decided not to bother- I figured out the person didn't have the goods on my internet presence and decided I didn't want to get into what would be no better than an internet pissing contest with someone who seemed to be courting the attention- when all I merely meant to do was state my case that their actions weren't really kosher- not trying to declare myself Arbiter of the Internet or try to engage someone who's deluded themselves into fancying themselves as some type possessor of a rapier wit
-I still cannot get over the media free ride the local sports teams here in New England get- particulalry the Red Sox- who last week announced they were freezing their 2009 concession prices at 2008 levels and were treated by the local media as though it was going to be free food and nickel beer down at the old ballyard this summer- My response to this can be summed up by the classic quote from the former New Jersey Nets star Derrick Coleman -"Whoop-de-damn-doo"
-Speaking of the news media- I've been wound into this confickr frenzy and feel like I'm chancing fate by merely being on the internet here at 12:15AM ET on 1 April- If the interwebs manage to survive- then I'll see you on the other side
Friday, March 13, 2009
Idea Clearingouse- Now- In 3D!
Been kind of a lag in posting lately- between work and other internet endeavors that kept me busy last week- will try to pick up on blog I started last Friday- before the other internet activities and frosty beverages intervened- now St. Patrick's Day and a few more frosty beverages have intervened in freeing my writer's block
Upon checking my mail last Friday- got a letter and tickets for one of those phony "Television Preview" events next Friday night in Danvers- Found it kind of odd to receive considering fact I work in the meeting presentation business (for lack of a better euphemism for hotel Audio-Visual) and have dealt with this group- and others like it- directly over the years- would be the equivalent of handing a leaflet to or sticking a clipboard in front of an anti-cult activist- It's not nearly as malicious as some other scams- basically the shows they're supposedly screening for future airing are actually a cover for the ads that are truly the focus of the audience testing- though the audience members I generally see at these look like and act like they're happy to be in a large, shiny building- and it's a true evening out for them- Don't want to be the one that ruins the fantasy on this
The funniest part of the invite to me though- was the rendition of my name as "JOSEPH GILLESPIE 3D"- Instead of the Roman numeral that generally goes after any one of the formal iterations of my full name- I just thought the way it read to me- that I was in 3D- was rather amusing to me- I guess if I were in 2D I wouldn't be enough of an active jabbroni to be getting invited to gala events like that at suburban hotels
-St. Patrick's Day reminds me that we're in the season of Lent for Catholics out there- lapsed, like myself or otherwise- Had a converstion with someone at work last week about how he was giving up booze for the 40 days while another family member of his was giving up "being difficult"- I don't think its much of a sacrifice to try and not be an asshole- especially since I like to think I try the other 325 days a year as well- except for when called for- always recall when in Catholic school- we were told we couldn't make an abstract sacrifice for Lent- had to be something tangible we had to announce to the class every year- like candy or TV viewing
-"Oh my God- the U2 show"- never something I thought I'd hear myself say during a commute home from work- anywhere- since I have never lived/ owned a car close enough to any venue they'd have played to me the last 22 years since I became a licensed driver- but I had to think that when they played that "secret" show at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square last Wednesday- I live about a mile and a half or so from there- but usually go through the outskirts of the Davis area to drive home- thought of it and avoided area
Which reminds me of the old New England adage of "You can't get there from here"- I sometimes think the most direct and quickest way to get somewhere here is the least direct or quickest
-Was at supermarket last week- saw the new line of "Late Night" line of Doritos- which included a "Late Night Taco" flavored selection- usually, I'd resist this line of marketing to hipsters/ stoners/ young people/ whatever- but I've loved Taco-flavored Doritos since I was a kid and they merely had the brown packaging versus the pre-fucked-with Nacho Cheese-flavored ones of the late 70's/ early 80's- and have bought the occasional returns to the "Taco-flavored" name since
Anyhow- at supermarket- and put my shit on the conveyor- since there was a line behind me and an aggressive bagger at end- aside from5 my usual desire to get the hell out of there- My "Late Night Taco" Doritos were next to the 2.5-gallon container of water on top of my case of pint bottles- cashier jerks the belt- bottle falls off and crushes the "Late Night" Doritos- she asks me if I would like to take them broken or get another- I say "Forget it"- not taking time from people behind me to play a smaller version of "Supermarket Sweep" for "Late Night Taco" Doritos or taking the fucked-up bag that will likely just open up over whatever's next to it or the back of my car
-Local News Items- two items that piqued my interest- One was the 13-year-old girl from Winchester who ran away to Boston and went to a bookstore - before she was found and returned- Isn't there a larger way to rebel than to disappear downtown to read?
And the recent rash of stories where people are taking pictures/ videos of neighborhood calamities with cell-phone cameras- particulalrly the recent outbreak of gas explosions around New England on the news- where folks seemed to be doing so- as opposed to calling 911 with them or helping these folks directly?
Upon checking my mail last Friday- got a letter and tickets for one of those phony "Television Preview" events next Friday night in Danvers- Found it kind of odd to receive considering fact I work in the meeting presentation business (for lack of a better euphemism for hotel Audio-Visual) and have dealt with this group- and others like it- directly over the years- would be the equivalent of handing a leaflet to or sticking a clipboard in front of an anti-cult activist- It's not nearly as malicious as some other scams- basically the shows they're supposedly screening for future airing are actually a cover for the ads that are truly the focus of the audience testing- though the audience members I generally see at these look like and act like they're happy to be in a large, shiny building- and it's a true evening out for them- Don't want to be the one that ruins the fantasy on this
The funniest part of the invite to me though- was the rendition of my name as "JOSEPH GILLESPIE 3D"- Instead of the Roman numeral that generally goes after any one of the formal iterations of my full name- I just thought the way it read to me- that I was in 3D- was rather amusing to me- I guess if I were in 2D I wouldn't be enough of an active jabbroni to be getting invited to gala events like that at suburban hotels
-St. Patrick's Day reminds me that we're in the season of Lent for Catholics out there- lapsed, like myself or otherwise- Had a converstion with someone at work last week about how he was giving up booze for the 40 days while another family member of his was giving up "being difficult"- I don't think its much of a sacrifice to try and not be an asshole- especially since I like to think I try the other 325 days a year as well- except for when called for- always recall when in Catholic school- we were told we couldn't make an abstract sacrifice for Lent- had to be something tangible we had to announce to the class every year- like candy or TV viewing
-"Oh my God- the U2 show"- never something I thought I'd hear myself say during a commute home from work- anywhere- since I have never lived/ owned a car close enough to any venue they'd have played to me the last 22 years since I became a licensed driver- but I had to think that when they played that "secret" show at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square last Wednesday- I live about a mile and a half or so from there- but usually go through the outskirts of the Davis area to drive home- thought of it and avoided area
Which reminds me of the old New England adage of "You can't get there from here"- I sometimes think the most direct and quickest way to get somewhere here is the least direct or quickest
-Was at supermarket last week- saw the new line of "Late Night" line of Doritos- which included a "Late Night Taco" flavored selection- usually, I'd resist this line of marketing to hipsters/ stoners/ young people/ whatever- but I've loved Taco-flavored Doritos since I was a kid and they merely had the brown packaging versus the pre-fucked-with Nacho Cheese-flavored ones of the late 70's/ early 80's- and have bought the occasional returns to the "Taco-flavored" name since
Anyhow- at supermarket- and put my shit on the conveyor- since there was a line behind me and an aggressive bagger at end- aside from5 my usual desire to get the hell out of there- My "Late Night Taco" Doritos were next to the 2.5-gallon container of water on top of my case of pint bottles- cashier jerks the belt- bottle falls off and crushes the "Late Night" Doritos- she asks me if I would like to take them broken or get another- I say "Forget it"- not taking time from people behind me to play a smaller version of "Supermarket Sweep" for "Late Night Taco" Doritos or taking the fucked-up bag that will likely just open up over whatever's next to it or the back of my car
-Local News Items- two items that piqued my interest- One was the 13-year-old girl from Winchester who ran away to Boston and went to a bookstore - before she was found and returned- Isn't there a larger way to rebel than to disappear downtown to read?
And the recent rash of stories where people are taking pictures/ videos of neighborhood calamities with cell-phone cameras- particulalrly the recent outbreak of gas explosions around New England on the news- where folks seemed to be doing so- as opposed to calling 911 with them or helping these folks directly?
Friday, March 6, 2009
El Emparedado de Muerte '09
Just figured that "The Sandwich of Death" sounded a little cooler or better-embellished in Spanish or any other language than it does in plain, old English
The other day- I had another March brush with death during a sandwich I was consuming at work- last year it was a pre-St. Patrick's Day corned beef sandwich- as documented on my MySpace blog ("Fat is not to be had without labour" 15 March 2008)- This year it would have been a tad more ironic, as I spent part of my Wednesday afternoon (4 March) recounting the story of last March's choking incident - where I was trying to eat corned-beef that was about as tender, succulent or digestable as a dry-rotted baseball mitt and almost choked on it while taking a huge bite out of it- to the guy I work with
An hour or so later- we decide to get dinner- Both of us having Turkey Club sandwiches- While I was in the midst of a more-than-likely pointless anecdote about something else that previously occurred at my job- I also took a bite of my sandwich- which proceeded to go down the wrong pipe- was gasping for a minute or so- but was able to regain my breath after a second- just had momentary trouble talking for a few minutes after
Was really more embarrassed than anything else- especially due to the irony of me discussing a previous similar incident shortly beforehand- as I've stated previously, I'd hate to go out in some sort of ironic manner that would provide me with a moment or two to think how stupid I was as the coda of my worldly thoughts- At the very least- this will serve as reminder to steer clear of the corned beef at next weekend's renewal of the washer and dryer show at work
-I've also written about my various grievances with neighbors- at past and present abodes- All I have to say about my current upstairs neighbor- is the fact they don't appear to be drug dealers or meth makers with regular 3:30 AM visitors who take my parking spot or box my car into it- is pretty much all that's separating them from vaulting to "Worst Ever"-level or being some sort of hybrid of the worst of my decade-ago Los Angeles neighbors- sans contretemps over snow removal or me regularly taking drug tests for them
The last couple weeks- I've reached my breaking point with the loud electric guitar-playing neighbor upstairs from me after 6 months of them feeling free to treat this residence as a home studio, rehearsal space college dorm room at most hours of the day- I've alluded to this issue before here- person seems to feel them playing jazz or blues guitar music loudly and directly above me- doesn't make it egregious as say, rock, rap or Nordic black metal- Yet to me- not being hear the TV from 8 feet away without turning it up to triple the usual volume- makes it pretty much all the same to me
I've taken to the passive/ aggressive act of pounding on the ceiling- Was on the receiving end of it years ago in Watertown from a sensitive neighbor that expected me to levitate around my place after sundown- would pound and go press buzzer for apartment if I merely got off couch to take a leak- have resorted to that because the level of rage the loud music engenders in me makes a door-knocking face-to-face complaint inadvisable- since when I'm annoyed by it or merely "mildly angry" its not enough to make me go up there- and when I'm truly annoyed- the ceiling is probably the least worst thing I could be delivering a clenched fist or some F-bombs at- Oh well, another neighbor here who's going to classify me as an asshole (as happened a few months into my run here)- Good thing I didn't move here to make friends
Tonight- I practically punched a hole in the ceiling when I got back from work- the guy stopped his guitar noodling after 3 songs- but I'm not sure how it progresses from here- and I have the spring and summer to look forward to- when the windows will all be open around here and this individual will no doubt lack the self-awareness / consideration of others that would lead them to be any quieter at that point than they are now- Another reason to view the end of winter and warmer weather as little more than a tradeoff of one set of problems for another
-Speaking of being irked within the confines of my abode- got my March cable/ internet bill the other day- was kind of shocked to see it about $90 more from one month to the other- turns out only $30 of that was for March itself- the other $60 or so was to cover them supposedly undercharging me in January and February for services- this from a utility (at least I view cable and internet that way) company that forces customers to pay in advance for services not yet rendered
Turns out- the one-year promotional period for my DVR, HBO's and HD channels (even though I still have an SD set) ended in January- the cable company raised my bill- but not as accordingly as they deemed (or as I initially suspected they would) and I was retroactively socked this month for it- Always pisses me off that a company that wouldn't think twice about cutting my service or at least threatening to do so- if I paid my for my proactively-billed services in even a relatively retroactive manner- is rather nonchalant about aggressively trying to bill me in a retroactive manner
Has me thinking about dumping the HBO's- the new "Eastbound and Down" show hasn't caught my fancy, never got into "Flight of the Conchords" and my next by-rote viewing of new "Entourage" episodes wouldn't be happening until July- though I do enjoy boxing, 11AM unedited weekday airings of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "The Blues Brothers" and watching old "Sopranos", "Wire" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episodes on-demand and will probably wait until the supposed April resolution of NFL Network carriage on Comcast before I make any moves on my TV packages
-Speaking of TV- Have seen 3 of the 4 episodes (to this point) of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"- Wednesday night's DVR of it was ruined by an in-show Emergency Broadcast System transmission from the aforementioned cable company and no audio when show returned- so I missed the highlight of Fallon dancing around with Cameron Diaz
Fallon was remarkably nervous on his debut night Monday (2 March)- even compared to a novice Conan O'Brien during his 1993 debut in the same slot- and especially for someone who spent 6 years being on "Saturday Night Live"- the opening show seemed rather rushed, had a predictably dull Robert DeNiro as opening guest and an interview with Justin Timberlake that plumbed Chevy Chase-like depths in the opening-night "Remember when?" session with a showbiz chum
I also think the blatant "Price is Right"-level product placement in the show- Sharp Electronics in particular- will undercut whatever edge there is to the comedic chops of the show and reduces it to about the level of the 1986 flop entertainment/ home-shopping "VTV" show- without Richard Simmons and a washed-up soap actress (Constance Towers)
I guess I'll give the Fallon show time- O'Brien was rather brutal in the early going- but early shows had a glimmer of what was to be for his franchise- viewers can only hope that Fallon's nervousness and The Roots as his house band aren't the only calling cards of this version of "Late Night"
The other day- I had another March brush with death during a sandwich I was consuming at work- last year it was a pre-St. Patrick's Day corned beef sandwich- as documented on my MySpace blog ("Fat is not to be had without labour" 15 March 2008)- This year it would have been a tad more ironic, as I spent part of my Wednesday afternoon (4 March) recounting the story of last March's choking incident - where I was trying to eat corned-beef that was about as tender, succulent or digestable as a dry-rotted baseball mitt and almost choked on it while taking a huge bite out of it- to the guy I work with
An hour or so later- we decide to get dinner- Both of us having Turkey Club sandwiches- While I was in the midst of a more-than-likely pointless anecdote about something else that previously occurred at my job- I also took a bite of my sandwich- which proceeded to go down the wrong pipe- was gasping for a minute or so- but was able to regain my breath after a second- just had momentary trouble talking for a few minutes after
Was really more embarrassed than anything else- especially due to the irony of me discussing a previous similar incident shortly beforehand- as I've stated previously, I'd hate to go out in some sort of ironic manner that would provide me with a moment or two to think how stupid I was as the coda of my worldly thoughts- At the very least- this will serve as reminder to steer clear of the corned beef at next weekend's renewal of the washer and dryer show at work
-I've also written about my various grievances with neighbors- at past and present abodes- All I have to say about my current upstairs neighbor- is the fact they don't appear to be drug dealers or meth makers with regular 3:30 AM visitors who take my parking spot or box my car into it- is pretty much all that's separating them from vaulting to "Worst Ever"-level or being some sort of hybrid of the worst of my decade-ago Los Angeles neighbors- sans contretemps over snow removal or me regularly taking drug tests for them
The last couple weeks- I've reached my breaking point with the loud electric guitar-playing neighbor upstairs from me after 6 months of them feeling free to treat this residence as a home studio, rehearsal space college dorm room at most hours of the day- I've alluded to this issue before here- person seems to feel them playing jazz or blues guitar music loudly and directly above me- doesn't make it egregious as say, rock, rap or Nordic black metal- Yet to me- not being hear the TV from 8 feet away without turning it up to triple the usual volume- makes it pretty much all the same to me
I've taken to the passive/ aggressive act of pounding on the ceiling- Was on the receiving end of it years ago in Watertown from a sensitive neighbor that expected me to levitate around my place after sundown- would pound and go press buzzer for apartment if I merely got off couch to take a leak- have resorted to that because the level of rage the loud music engenders in me makes a door-knocking face-to-face complaint inadvisable- since when I'm annoyed by it or merely "mildly angry" its not enough to make me go up there- and when I'm truly annoyed- the ceiling is probably the least worst thing I could be delivering a clenched fist or some F-bombs at- Oh well, another neighbor here who's going to classify me as an asshole (as happened a few months into my run here)- Good thing I didn't move here to make friends
Tonight- I practically punched a hole in the ceiling when I got back from work- the guy stopped his guitar noodling after 3 songs- but I'm not sure how it progresses from here- and I have the spring and summer to look forward to- when the windows will all be open around here and this individual will no doubt lack the self-awareness / consideration of others that would lead them to be any quieter at that point than they are now- Another reason to view the end of winter and warmer weather as little more than a tradeoff of one set of problems for another
-Speaking of being irked within the confines of my abode- got my March cable/ internet bill the other day- was kind of shocked to see it about $90 more from one month to the other- turns out only $30 of that was for March itself- the other $60 or so was to cover them supposedly undercharging me in January and February for services- this from a utility (at least I view cable and internet that way) company that forces customers to pay in advance for services not yet rendered
Turns out- the one-year promotional period for my DVR, HBO's and HD channels (even though I still have an SD set) ended in January- the cable company raised my bill- but not as accordingly as they deemed (or as I initially suspected they would) and I was retroactively socked this month for it- Always pisses me off that a company that wouldn't think twice about cutting my service or at least threatening to do so- if I paid my for my proactively-billed services in even a relatively retroactive manner- is rather nonchalant about aggressively trying to bill me in a retroactive manner
Has me thinking about dumping the HBO's- the new "Eastbound and Down" show hasn't caught my fancy, never got into "Flight of the Conchords" and my next by-rote viewing of new "Entourage" episodes wouldn't be happening until July- though I do enjoy boxing, 11AM unedited weekday airings of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "The Blues Brothers" and watching old "Sopranos", "Wire" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episodes on-demand and will probably wait until the supposed April resolution of NFL Network carriage on Comcast before I make any moves on my TV packages
-Speaking of TV- Have seen 3 of the 4 episodes (to this point) of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"- Wednesday night's DVR of it was ruined by an in-show Emergency Broadcast System transmission from the aforementioned cable company and no audio when show returned- so I missed the highlight of Fallon dancing around with Cameron Diaz
Fallon was remarkably nervous on his debut night Monday (2 March)- even compared to a novice Conan O'Brien during his 1993 debut in the same slot- and especially for someone who spent 6 years being on "Saturday Night Live"- the opening show seemed rather rushed, had a predictably dull Robert DeNiro as opening guest and an interview with Justin Timberlake that plumbed Chevy Chase-like depths in the opening-night "Remember when?" session with a showbiz chum
I also think the blatant "Price is Right"-level product placement in the show- Sharp Electronics in particular- will undercut whatever edge there is to the comedic chops of the show and reduces it to about the level of the 1986 flop entertainment/ home-shopping "VTV" show- without Richard Simmons and a washed-up soap actress (Constance Towers)
I guess I'll give the Fallon show time- O'Brien was rather brutal in the early going- but early shows had a glimmer of what was to be for his franchise- viewers can only hope that Fallon's nervousness and The Roots as his house band aren't the only calling cards of this version of "Late Night"
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Thank God I moved and changed schools a lot as a kid...
I've previously referenced being on both social-networking sites here- I only post the blog on MySpace- because- while part of me would like to increase whatever fluctuating readership is out there for my shit- There are too many people from my distant past on Facebook and for whatever reason- maybe still being hung up on certain moments from the past- like much of high school or the many girls that have given me the Heisman pose (the old stiff-arm or arm's distance- for anyone not familiar with the term) over the years- that I really don't feel like sharing whatever I'm thinking or up to or whatever
Anyhow- I've noticed a recent phase on Facebook- People who are seemingly emptying out their mom's old photo albums into a scanner to post class photos from the earliest years of school- for people my age that would be Bicentennial-era school pictures from Kindergarten to about 2nd grade- Hence the title here- I moved a couple times and changed schools 5 times from K-12th grade (counting the extra few months it took me to finish up high school) at pretty much every denomination from public, parochial (Catholic- at perhaps the worst time 6th- 8th grades) and private (H.S.) and went to 3 different colleges (and enrolled at a 4th)
I have a few friends on each side of this divide- those that are posting and reminiscing about the ancient school photos- like such minutiae as asking if Teacher X was as much of a hardass in 1976-77 as they were in 1979-80- and those caught in the dragnet of dressing like a "Zoom" kid or huge 7-year-old "Star Wars" fan on School Picture Day 1977- and I feel for my friends who've been caught up in that- my only school picture moment so far was from the 1986 H.S. baseball team where I look like I've tried to grow out some sort of starter mullet- and I was the narc that named the rest of the unidentified to my friend that posted it
I will not soon be among those emptying out my mother's photo album anytime soon for the scanner- and I'm sure I'm a mystery man among some people in certain Connecticut, Michigan or New Jersey environs- who's trying to tag class photos from the 1970's- let alone the dopey photos of me wearing some sort of bow tie shorts suit on Easter 1975 or plaid pants at the 1978 Little League parade when everyone else was wearing jeans- just typing these descriptions pains me enough
Academy Awards Recap
Pretty much the worst Academy Awards I can recall in the last 25 years or so of me watching even part of- Actually watched more of what turned out to be Tom Renney's farewell appearance as coach of the New York Rangers (via the NHL package free preview) vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs than the movie show- which I was DVR'ing- They even fucked up the "dead roll" of those who passed in the last year- with the mannish and ubiquitous Queen Latifah singing over it- and the piss-poor idea of showing the deceased as a background image- the one moment I've counted on whichever producer was trying to re-invent the awards-show wheel not fucking up- was fucked up
Other ideas
- How many bad-looking movies has Hugh Hefner been a part of ("House Bunny", "Miss March") in the recent past ?- If he makes a few more- Samuel L. Jackson's record for such would seem to be in some sort of jeopardy
-Saw a bit online where the school newspaper of my collegiate alma mater (Emerson's Berkeley Beacon) was comparing the efforts of a Boston city councillor (Michael Ross) to make the Boston Rental Authority enforce housing code rules on the number of legal residents in city apartment rentals to that of Hitler and "Nazi Germany"- quotes for their analogous usage - Nothing too drastic about that- I'm sure if the MBTA ever starts running their trains under the current ("new" to me as a 15-year-plus alum) campus- they will be breaking out the Mussolini similes?
-As an aside- had 3 different occasions today at work- where people accused me of unnecessarily using "big words"- one of which was followed by someone telling me I didn't seem as educated as I am- which is all relative, I guess- the last because I used two different derivations of "fuck" in the same sentence (as noun and adjective) and was talking about early 1980's pro wrestling- Its not like I told the guy I thought the wrestling shit was real at any point
-Speaking of pro wrestling and the world of film- here's a random thought- Who thought the individual members of the rap group NWA two decades ago and stars of the "Attitude"-era of pro wrestling a decade or so ago would appear in such great family entertainment at the multiplex (Ice Cube's recent crap and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson appearing in a new "Witch Mountain" film)
-At grocery store the other night- Have recently eaten canned chili without any of the predictable GI issues- so I bought some more- of the turkey variety- cashier asks me "Are you going to add hamburger to this when you eat it?"
Anyhow- I've noticed a recent phase on Facebook- People who are seemingly emptying out their mom's old photo albums into a scanner to post class photos from the earliest years of school- for people my age that would be Bicentennial-era school pictures from Kindergarten to about 2nd grade- Hence the title here- I moved a couple times and changed schools 5 times from K-12th grade (counting the extra few months it took me to finish up high school) at pretty much every denomination from public, parochial (Catholic- at perhaps the worst time 6th- 8th grades) and private (H.S.) and went to 3 different colleges (and enrolled at a 4th)
I have a few friends on each side of this divide- those that are posting and reminiscing about the ancient school photos- like such minutiae as asking if Teacher X was as much of a hardass in 1976-77 as they were in 1979-80- and those caught in the dragnet of dressing like a "Zoom" kid or huge 7-year-old "Star Wars" fan on School Picture Day 1977- and I feel for my friends who've been caught up in that- my only school picture moment so far was from the 1986 H.S. baseball team where I look like I've tried to grow out some sort of starter mullet- and I was the narc that named the rest of the unidentified to my friend that posted it
I will not soon be among those emptying out my mother's photo album anytime soon for the scanner- and I'm sure I'm a mystery man among some people in certain Connecticut, Michigan or New Jersey environs- who's trying to tag class photos from the 1970's- let alone the dopey photos of me wearing some sort of bow tie shorts suit on Easter 1975 or plaid pants at the 1978 Little League parade when everyone else was wearing jeans- just typing these descriptions pains me enough
Academy Awards Recap
Pretty much the worst Academy Awards I can recall in the last 25 years or so of me watching even part of- Actually watched more of what turned out to be Tom Renney's farewell appearance as coach of the New York Rangers (via the NHL package free preview) vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs than the movie show- which I was DVR'ing- They even fucked up the "dead roll" of those who passed in the last year- with the mannish and ubiquitous Queen Latifah singing over it- and the piss-poor idea of showing the deceased as a background image- the one moment I've counted on whichever producer was trying to re-invent the awards-show wheel not fucking up- was fucked up
Other ideas
- How many bad-looking movies has Hugh Hefner been a part of ("House Bunny", "Miss March") in the recent past ?- If he makes a few more- Samuel L. Jackson's record for such would seem to be in some sort of jeopardy
-Saw a bit online where the school newspaper of my collegiate alma mater (Emerson's Berkeley Beacon) was comparing the efforts of a Boston city councillor (Michael Ross) to make the Boston Rental Authority enforce housing code rules on the number of legal residents in city apartment rentals to that of Hitler and "Nazi Germany"- quotes for their analogous usage - Nothing too drastic about that- I'm sure if the MBTA ever starts running their trains under the current ("new" to me as a 15-year-plus alum) campus- they will be breaking out the Mussolini similes?
-As an aside- had 3 different occasions today at work- where people accused me of unnecessarily using "big words"- one of which was followed by someone telling me I didn't seem as educated as I am- which is all relative, I guess- the last because I used two different derivations of "fuck" in the same sentence (as noun and adjective) and was talking about early 1980's pro wrestling- Its not like I told the guy I thought the wrestling shit was real at any point
-Speaking of pro wrestling and the world of film- here's a random thought- Who thought the individual members of the rap group NWA two decades ago and stars of the "Attitude"-era of pro wrestling a decade or so ago would appear in such great family entertainment at the multiplex (Ice Cube's recent crap and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson appearing in a new "Witch Mountain" film)
-At grocery store the other night- Have recently eaten canned chili without any of the predictable GI issues- so I bought some more- of the turkey variety- cashier asks me "Are you going to add hamburger to this when you eat it?"
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