Comfortably Numb

Not sure how I've managed to not mention this yet, but I might as well before it's too late.

This weekend marks the return of one Bob Geldof to the Massive Concert for Chairty scene with the Live 8 shows. Since one show was too puny, I guess, Sir Bob plans on having eight shows (simultaneously, I think) around the world. Very cool, I think. U2 is going to be doing a set in London before heading to Vienna for their own show that night. Apparently, the ban will be coming out with Paul "Safe Superbowl" McCartney, dressed in the Sgt. Pepper outfits, and playing said song. Kinda silly, I think, but then again, this is the same band that spent over a year doing shows with a 40 ft. lemon/mirrorball, so who am I to argue?

But even cooler, I think, is that somehow, someway, Saint Bob mam=naged to get Roger Waters back with Pink Floyd to do a set later that day. I don't know what he did. or how he did it, but I'm glad he did. For anyone not in the know on all things Floyd, Waters left the band in 1984, and it wasn't a pleasant split. Much name-calling and general unpleasantness ensued. So I'm glad all differences have been put aside, for a day, at least, and we can hear The Floyd* together, if only for a little while.

There. Now I've posted and can make all of you stop scrolling down past that huge gap just to read the comments on that last post.


Dave









*Yep, it's so cool, I'm giving the band their "the" back, which they hadn't used since like, 1969 or something, I think.

Life's Been Good

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

Fantastic news arrived in my e-mail this afternoon, announcing that "Band Scramble Returns." I shall henceforth refer to it as "Son of Band Scramble," unless I forget and call it something else. But that's as may be. I've been itching to to get back on stage since the last Scramble. Time hasn't really let me pursue the open mic night approach, so this is good. Here's hoping my band does slightly better than last time out. And by that I mean "not last out of last." I sat down to watch the DVD of the last performance to get an idea of the drums for one of our songs I was trying to re-record. As I was watching, I was struck with how much our lead singer, um, wasn't really good. Or, to better state it, very unprepared. It wasn't the lyrics on paper that was it; at least two other singers had the lyrics scrawled down for ease of use. No, it was more of a sense that the lyrics were jotted down about 45 minutes before we started. Since the lyrics were iffy at best, he decided to make up for it by gadding about like Bono circa 1992. That worked for Zoo TV, but not quite in our setting. Sorta like Liberace singing with the three tenors, maybe. Or something. You get the idea.

I should mention I saw an SUV with the license plate "ZOO TV" last week on the way to bowling. It was far more exciting than my performance that night.

Back on task: Frederick's Music Lounge, August 27 will be the Son of Band Scramble. Woot. Assuming you're of the > 21 crowd, bring yourself, friends, enemies, and grandmothers for some kinda music.

I would also like to have a moment of silence for Kelly's car.







Yeah, that was a good moment.


I'm not feeling too inspired to write anything at the moment, so....I think I have to go...place.



Dave

Illinois Nazis. I hate Illinois Nazis.

Today, friends, is the 25th anniversary of The Blues Brothers. Wear a suit with a thin tie, wear your sunglasses in the dark, or maybe drive like a madman through a mall.

And just for today, everyone can be 106 miles from Chicago.


Oh, we got both kinds: country and western.
Dave "Guitar" Murphy

In Your Honor

I'm only a day late in my less-than-official-but-more-or-less-the-norm-now weekly post, but it feels like it's been two weeks since I posted last. Taking a week off from work will do that, I guess. I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday, but I'm so out of my normal routine, that if someone told me it was Friday, I probably wouldn't put up much of a fight. I only know it's Wednesday because I had bowling tonight. The less said about that, the better.

I don't really have a topic, though, since I've been all over everywhere the past few days, so I guess I'll fall back on an "update of events" post. Since we last met...

Saturday--Wedding for Steve Edler, better known in certain circles as "The Ass-Kicker," and in a smaller circle, "the guy who should be drumming for The Fifth Statement, but decided to do something else instead, like teach." I think he's afraid of the awesome repsonsiblity of being in a band with Tom, but what do I know? Um, yes. Wedding. It was a nice, if short, wedding, and it was good to see the friends again. Seeing as how I have a wedding to shoot Saturday, it was a good time to study the photographer Edler used. I think I mentally yelled at them more than anything because they didn't do things like I thought they should. Anywho, congrats to Steve and Beth, and maybe when they finish the honeymoon he can start drum lessons.

Sunday/Monday--Time for the second annual "Torture the Cats Weekend with a Trip to the Vet." Much less yelling, bleeding, and screaming than last year (on my part, at least). I can't say either cat enjoyed being locked in a kitty karrier for a 2+ hour car ride, but they survived. Shots were administered, and everyone seems fine, or as fine as my cats can be. Sandwiched around the trip to the vet's was a nice time with the Walls, in which lots of nasty made-from-scratch food was forced onto us. It was all Janice and I could do to hold out until Monday afternoon when we could hit McD's for some real food.

Tuesday--Spent $254 on gear for Saturday's wedding shoot. Thank God for being paid a portion of my fee up front. New Foo Fighters album was released, to much joy on the part of me (and the guy in front of me at Target, who got the album as well). I had a hunch it was going to be good, based on the first single, and I'm pleased to report it's very, very good. Like, Go Buy it Now kinda good. Finally, the Guitar God Trifecta (Satch, Vai, and EJ) concert series was completed with a show at Mississippi Nights by Eric Johnson. A good, solid show, although it didn't do it for me like Joe or Steve. I decided it would be fun to hand out some awards for the three shows, so let's see what I can remember.

Best Show: Joe
Best Guitar: Joe
Best Cover: Joe, for "Sleepwalk"
Best Hair: Steve
Best Drummer: Joe/EJ
Best Bassist: Matt Bissonette, with Joe
Best Rhythm Guitar: Dave Weiner, with Steve
Best Off-the-Cuff Remark: EJ's "Beefthra" bit.
Best Singing Voice: EJ
Best Opener: Kaki King, with EJ
Best Move: the EJ "up on the toes"
Best Encore: Joes, with "Always With Me" and "Satch Boogie"
Best Dressed: Steve
Best Outfit: Steve's "cyber-man" look complete with light-up guitar

More were awarded, but I forget the rest. Looks as though Joe is the winner overall, but that doesn't take anything away from the other two guys, of course.

Today--Photo shoot with Kelly Lynn at Forest Park. Odd being on the other side of the lens for a change, but it was fun. Apparently Janice and I are good in front of a camera. We'll be selling autographed 8x10 glossies soon, so get your orders in ASAP before they're gone. Many thanks to Kelly for putting up with a couple goofballs. Follow that up with some crappy bowling, and you're more or less caught up with everything.

For the rest of the week: VI Flags tomorrow and a night at mum's, yard work or bowling practice Friday, and a wedding to shoot on Saturday. Sunday closes with dinner at dad's. Whew. I may need a week off from my week off. Not much is happening at work, apparently, so I see no reason to go back just yet. Maybe in August or something for a few days. We'll see.

No topic came to me in the course of writing, so I guess I'll call it quits.


What's mine is yours and yours is mine. There is no divide.
Dave

Shove it, brother, just keep walking

I have just discovered that iTunes, the service, is pretty cool. As an audio player, I'm not as keen on it as Windows Media Player. There are a few little details the one does better than the other. Also, my version at work doesn't like CDs too much. They play fine, but if I leave a disc in too long without ejecting it, or keep pause on too long, the disc starts skipping for no good reason and I have to restart my computer. But the music downloading part, on the other hand, is pretty cool. It's very handy for a case of "well, I like that song, but I don't want the whole album."

My list so far:

"Ooh La La"--the Ditty Bops
"Decent Days and Nights"--the Futureheads
"Just Keep Walking"--INXS
"Mansized Rooster"--Supergrass
"Lady With the Spinning Head"--U2

So I have a blugrass combo, two British bands, an Irish band, and an Australian group. Nice and diverse, I think.

I must exercise caution, since it's so easy to download a song. Point, click, hey! Only $1! Gotta keep an eye out though, or those dollars could add up in a hurry. Good thing I'm off work next week.

Thanks to Janice "Eagle Eyes" Koziatek I now have my own copy of Godzilla: Save the Earth for the PS2. I can go about being even nerdier than usual now.

Have I mentioned I can identify any critter from a Godzilla movie based solely on the noise it makes?



Let's talk kids for a moment. I think they're quite fine. Cute, even. I wouldn't mind having some one of these days. But in my line of work, they can be a bit of a drag. Shooting for the Nor Co Journal, they just eat that stuff up. want to get something published? Just send them a picture of a cute kid and you're in. Annual Report here at Ye Olde Library? Let's get as many cute kids as possible! It'll appeal to the suits! (Note: I highly doubt anyone, save for our auditors, really do anything with the AR. And they skip right to the hard data) I think all of the stuff I shoot at work falls into two categories; author visits and cute kids.

Aside: I have just been told I'll be shooting an 80-year old volunteer for a poster we're going to be doing. He speaks like 5 languages and translates materials for our Special Collections department.

Kids: it's kinda easy then to fall back and just go with what the people want. The trick then, is to keep myself sharp and try to shoot something that isn't cute, precocious kids, especially with the Journal. What good is my portfolio if I have a majority of kid pictures? My new rule is to only shoot kids if the opportunity is too good to pass up. With the library, it's hard to avoid, since we have so many kids' programs. I just have to deal with it. And, as my boss pointed out, "for someone who generally eschews shooting kids, you've got a knack for it." So it'd be silly not to play to a strength. I just can't let myself get lazy. Look for fresh angles and new ideas.

It doesn't come up much round here, but the Cardinals are really good. If I were better at writing about sports I might discuss it more often, but I can't get into it much. I did attend my first game of the season last night, a 7-1 triumph over the BoSox. Complete game by MattyMo, excellent defense by Grudz, a suicide squeeze, and some timely hitting from the bottom of the order. Most amusing moment: the scoreboard showed a news item that "Prior to the game, the Cardinals disabled Roger Cedeno." I know he's been a bit off (read: pretty awful) this year, but man, did the team have to go to such extremes? Did they hire a hit-man to come and break Rog's kneecaps? I give Cedeno a lot of crap for sucking, but I'm more than willing to eat some grilled crow if he comes back and starts performing.

It was interesting, at one point, watching David "I'm Such a Jett" Eckstein slide into third with a two-run triple. In the Grand Scheme of Things, what happens on that field doesn't matter. A bunch of guys get paid $many to play a kids' game, and for some reason, we like to watch. Maybe it's some sort of "community" thing. Or not. I don't know, really. And yet, I realized I don't care. I do know, though, that I was happy to be there watching the Home Team win.



Rooster!
Dave

Into the Heart

Back in the day, some readers may recall a feature they used to do on the Point (KPNT) called, aptly enough, 'What's the Point?'. I think that was the title. Anyways, someone would send in a list of seemingly random songs, but upon closer inspection, sharp listeners could detect a way all the songs were related. I was never too good at it, but I did start in on a list of my own:

1.) Pretty Noose--Soundgarden
2.) Revolver--Rage Against the Machine
3.) Monkey Wrench--Foo Fighters

10 points to anyone who can get the theme and another 10 points to someone who can add another asong or two.

A few things I've always liked about Soundgarden:

1.) Matt Cameron--drummer extraordinaire
2.) Kim Thayill--good guitarist, creepy looking dude
3.) Spoonman--come on! a spoon solo, for crying out loud
4.) Chris Cornell--specifically, his vocal chords

Cowboy Mouth was Sunday. A good time was had my all, including our first-timers who were apparently going as nuts as any veteran of nearly 15 shows. Not that I know anyone like that...I'm too lazy for a show recap, but I can say this: the new material is as good as anything they've done in a loooong time. It's nice to see that the band as a whole seems to be contributing new material. Fred introduced 'Disconnected' with a little "uno, dos, tres, catorce." Fred rocks. As do Paul, Griff, and Sonia.

I can't decide if Tom Morrello's weird approach to guitar soloing is really cool or God-awful annoying. It varies on my mood, I guess.

One annoying thing about the guitar is how I can go from thinking I sound great to not being able to play a single note I like. I think I tend to hit ruts, and everything I play sounds (to me) pretty crappy. Or at least too similar to what I always play. The trick is to learn enough new songs to keep the idea well from going dry. I'm the first to admit I don't do that enough, so I think I'm going to take some time to learn a few new songs. I worked on some Collective Soul songs to much success last night, so we'll see what the week brings. Lessons were good for that, so I'm actually going to have to do it on my own this time. Jeez...

Does anyone know anything about the Futureheads? I heard a song of theirs yesterday and thought it was pretty good stuff.

'Half-Blood Prince' has been reserved. Should be good times ahead. Personally, I think it's Snape...



Oh, I don't know. Make something up.
Dave

Collision Course

Hold on to your butts.

Well, at least we got a nice Scott Joplin tune out of the whole ordeal. What's scary, though, is that I'd probably be more than willing to pony up a few bucks for something like this, minus the injuries, of course.

What's also amazing is that 40,000 people showed up for the first one. In 1896! That's like...well, it'd be a heck of a lot more today.



Buckle up for safety,
Dave

25 years of service, and what do I get? A clock?!?!

I don't give much of a hoot about 'American Idol.' Less than a hoot, really. Maybe an "ot," but even that is pushing it. I can't really use just one letter, as it wouldn't make much sense. So "ot" it is. But I have happened across one bit of news concerning said show that is so...perfect, I must report it to you, my readers. I get periodic e-mails from my friends at Ticketmaster ("A Lifetime of 'Convenience' Charges or Your Soul: Your Choice") telling me about shows I shouldn't miss. Usually (always) nonsense, because I either don't care about the bands, or I've already got tickets. I'm pretty sure the e-mail about U2 came out a few days after tickets went on sale, which, in that case, meant almost all were gone. But I digress. Last week, I got an e-mail about the upcoming 'American Idol' tour, with all the poor souls who didn't make it to the end. I don't pretend to know who they are, save for Ozzie Smith's son. Anywho, said "tour" is sponsored by....



PopTarts.


Moving on.


I was trying to remember when I first saw 'Star Wars.' I couldn't remember, but I do know that the original three (the first will always be 'Star Wars' to me. Not Episode IV, not 'A New Hope.') are quite enjoyable. I saw Episode I when it came out, and haven't seen it since. I don't recall being too enthralled by it, although I do have a Darth Maul action figure in my room. He was cool. I never bothered with Episode II until Sunday, when it was on TV and I caught the last half or so of it. I think I was just as well skipping it. I didn't catch much of the much bally-hooed awful dialogue, but the effects were oddly not all that hot, considering ILM is supposed to be so high-end. Considering how well the effects were in, say, Fellowship of the Ring, it's sorta weird. Plus, I never really cared about what was happening to anyone on screen. When Jango Fett got his head lopped off (what is it with Lucas and dismemberment?), right in front of his son, the scene got no more emotional impact then when some big alien critters got killed. Consdering Boba Fett is a reasonably big player later on, wouldn't it make more sense to give the scene, which presumably fuels his drive later on, more screen time?

So now I have to figure out if I want to see Episode III. I might, eventually, but I'm in no hurry. I've got my fill of it from the God-awful commercials lately. That Burger King spot with Darth vader staring down that hideous statue of a king is funny once, then sort of creepy every time after. All these dumb commercials seem to cut down on the movie's integrity. For me, at least. I will admit to almost buying a Darth Vader action figure, though.

I really want to talk about the Cardinals a bit, but I can't think of enough to say, other than "I really like the Cardinals," or "the Cardinals are doing really well this year." And, since I said that, I guess I don't have to go any further. Maybe after I've been to a game I can say more.

I've come up with the greatetst song name EVER. I can't tell you yet, because I haven't written it, and I don't want someone else to beat me to it. So give me some time and I'll let you know.


Not for the feint of butt
Dave

On the road again, again.

As much as I often will complain about radio around here, specifically KSHE, I will admit that every so often, they do something really cool. Last month, not too long aftet Easter, maybe, KSHE did one of its very cool no-repeat weeks. Two wonderful bonuses from this: 1.) it cuts down on the amout of crap like Nickelback and Creed I have to here, and 2.) I might actually get to listen to some cool new song I might only get to hear at obscure times or special programming on when I'm at work or asleep (i.e. the Sunday morning Classics show). Such was the case on the way home from bowling one evening when I heard a song with a nice funky/'70s rock feel to it. The riff was not unlike "Play that Funky Music White Boy." And, of course, because I really wanted to know who wrote it, they didn't tell me who it was by. Natch. So I had made myself remember a lyrical bit just in case that happened. Otherwise, I would have had to call in and ask what song they played at X:00, just after "Plush" and hope they knew.

My effort to remember paid off, and I was able to track down the song, "Remember the Good Times," and the band, Paice Ashton Lord (PAL), a side-project for Ian Paice and John Lord of Deep Purple fame, and...someone Ashton (Tony, maybe), of some other fame. I was also lucky to nab a copy of the CD last weekend at a used CD place. A very good album, although it was the only album they released. So, 10 points to KSHE for that.

But how did Janice and Steve know the song from somewhere or other when I'd never heard it before? Some classic rock fan I turned out to be. Sheesh.

The Point also has a nice feature every Wednesday when they play some early/mid-nineties stuff for a few hours in the evening. A lot of "I remember that song kinda stuff. Not without its share of clunkers, though. This week I had the misfortune of hearing "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore" by Everclear. Mmm. Wonderful title, that. And even if the lyrics weren't lame, the song features what may be one of the worst solo-type things I've heard in a rock song (and I'm counting my songs). It seemed out of sync with the rest of the song and even a little out of key. Bleah. One thing about Everclear I don't like is that all their songs more or less sound the same. They just sound like and Everclear song, and to me, 'tis not a good thing.

On the music horizon:

-Cowboy Mouth concert
-Eric Johnson concert
-new Foo Fighters
-new Audioslave
-new Nickel Creek
-only 7 months til U2

Things are lookin' up.



This is your most ambitious album to date!
Dave

Malice in Wonderland

Why can I only seem to get any posting done when I'm at work? Makes no sense, really. I honsetly can't remember the last post I made at home. I almost did last week, since I was falling behind, but I opted not to and probably wound up playing Diablo II for an hour or so.

Oh yes. Diablo II. Point-and-click-till-your-fingers-are-numb game of the century, but oh so addictive. You can keep your crck, thank you very much. Just give me a mouse and a room full of demons and I'll be fine.

See? It's even taking over this post. Although, that's just as well, since I hadn't settled on a topic yet anyways. Still haven't.

Dooty-doot-doot, whistle whistle.

I probably watch more QVC/infomercials than anyone really ought to. One of the current trends is the cordless sweeper sort of thing that may or may not be a replacement for big vaccuums. I'm sure they work fine, but I still want a vaccuum if I realyl want to get my house clean. Anywho, yesterday morning, whilst watching the usual Sunday morning infomercial fare, I happened across Singer's (the sewing machine people) take on the cordless sweeper called, and I swear I am not making this up, the Singer Lazer Sweepa.

Yes, it's the ghetto version or something. And it was absolutely hilarious listening to the voive-over guy saying "sweepa" over and over. What's scary is that this was being played dead-serious. Do you think anyone who buys it actually goes around saying they got a new Lazer Sweepa? I couldn't bring myself to say that. Maybe I could go overboard and call it my new "Laa-zaah Sweepah!!!" Maybe.

Chicken battle is OV-AAHH!!!

I bought Weezer's new album last week. Good stuff, I must say. One thing I like about the band is that they're, well, kinda nerdy, which is right up my alley. They still maage to rock pretty hard, though, so it's all good.

Okay. Pointless update is OV-AAHH!!! Better post to come when I can find something to talk about besides my nerdy computer game addictions.


You have quite a treasure there in that Horadric Cube
Dave

A man among men

Finally getting to the third point I meant to get to at some point last week.

I imagine most of you have seen some of the silly new Hardees commercials with the poor schmucks who seem to have trouble doing the simplest of tasks to prepare breakfast.

Por ejemplo:

--Guy A destroys a piece of toast whilst trying to butter it.

--Guy B spend somewhere near 3 weeks trying to utwist the twisty tie on a loaf of bread.

Follow this up with some line about "without us, some guys would starve," or some nonsense like that, then show off some God-awful, artery clogging mess for breakfast, containing no less than 3 lbs of eggs, 1/2 lb of bacon, and about a 1/2 lb each of cheese and sausage.

The thinking being, I guess, that most guys are too stupid to fend for themselves, meaning they have to eat out. Plus, guys must enjoy eating artery clogging dishes such as the one described above.

This is all pure bollocks. If Guy A had simply set his butter out to soften for a minute or two, and maybe got dressed while waiting, he'd have no trouble buttering his toast. Plus, if the toast was warm enough, it should have been melting the butter anyways.

I will admit that twisty ties can be annoying at times. But Guy B spends waaaay too long fiddling with it. Almost any other person with half a brain stem would have stopped and looked to see which way they needed to turn it, or gotten fed up with the damn thing and reached for some scissors, stale bread be damned.

And why are guys only eating toast for breakfast? Is the idea that these men are so stupid they can only muster the effort to work the toaster and manage to fail at that?

As a card-carrying member of the male species, I must take a little offense at the portrayal of my gender. I will admit to having done some dumb things before. Just last night, I burned my hand on an iron when I wasn't even ironing. But these commercials are a bit much. I mean, come on. Are we that mindless? Do we just sit around all the time drinking beer, eating high calory foods, and looking at girls' butts?

If so, I'm obviously doing something wrong here. Thank God Hardees* is here to show me the error of my ways.



Maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but you get the idea. I'd say I'm boycotting Hardees, but I never ate there anyways, so it's really not all that different. But I can still complain, right?


You wouldn't get much for that thing anyways. It's not even a real cow.
Dave









*Actually, as I thought about it, a lot of sit-coms portray us guys along those lines, too. I'm sorry, did we do something wrong?

Point and Shoot

So I have to shoot two weddings this summer. Not something I can say I've done before. I'm not worried, per se, but I do want to be sure I don't mess things up. It's not like I can go and reshoot if need be. Well, maybe I could, but there would be an enormous hassle for all parties involved.

To that end, I've been looking at books on wedding photography for ideas on what I think looks good and what I think looks exceptionally lame. Or tacky. Or both. Really, it's just for the after-ceremony posed shots with the bride, groom, parents, cousins, ushers, and the little old lady who plays the organ so nicely. She really did do a nice job, didn't she? The choices were well-thought out, and added a nice element to the proceed...

Wait.

Um. Posed pictures. Yes. I hate...well, strongly dislike posing people. A nice portrait is fine, but I'm no good at the set-up, hence the books. The rest should be fine, since it's essentially one big event, and events are what I do all the time.

In the course of finding books, I'm aamazed at the number of "How To" books in the photo section at the library. How to Shoot Your Kids*, How to Shoot Babies, How to Photograph Your Pets, Photographing Landscapes/Cityscapes, How to Photogrpah Nature, Photographing That Stain on the Wall that May or May Not Resemble Aunt Ruth, and so on. Quite silly, I think. A nice book on the Photo Fundamentals is all fine and dandy. I say the best way to find out what works and what doesn't (once you know what you're doing) is just to get out there and start shooting. "Film is cheap" was the mantra at Webster**. Digital makes it even easier to get out and practice, but I say start with film and then move up. But then still shoot film. Or even better, slides. Really. Go try. Digital may be quick, but there's a certain something film brings to the table digital doesn't match for me. Especially in low-lit areas. Underexpose with film, and you might see some grain, which can sometimes look nice. Underexpose with digital and you wind up with digital noise, which, to me, is just plain ugly.

This is merely my take on things, of course. Oh: and if any of you have shot a wedding or three and have any ideas, advice, etc, please let me know.



Smile!
Dave




*Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking.

**This is only because all other camera gear is so damn expensive. Good film can be a bit pricey, although it's worth every penny.

Benny and the (Red) Jets

First, some bad news.

It seems the Catholic Church is in trouble now.

With the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope, we're now being led by a German Shepherd.


Thank you! I'll be here all day!

One more?

Okay: the official Breakfast of the Vatican?

Eggs Benedict!

Thank you, thank you. You're too kind. No, really, please. Sit down, sit down.


Um, anyways. I was going to go one direction with this, then decided to start with something else, then wound up going with option 3, the jokes. So now I don't know where to go. I think I'll go with option 2. Right before I started typing, I noticed the empty Mountain Dew can on my desk, telling me to visit their website. I had to ask myself what I could possibly find there that would be of any use to someone like myself. So.....let's find out!

We have...

+MDTV
+Gaming
+Sports
+Promos
+Brands
+Downloads
+Join Dew


Let's try the last one, eh?

"You're on the path to be one of the few – the proud – the green."--Sounds like a good deal to me. I just hope it's not green with food poisoning. Hmm...asking for my birthday, fine, although having the option to enter my birth year as 1900 seems odd. How many 105 year olds are going to be bothering with this?


"Approximately how many 8oz. servings of carbonated soft drinks do you consume each week?" I doubt "too much" is an option, so I'll have to guess. My favorite drink? Caffeine-free, diet Coke. Yummy.

Okay, so I joined. The only perk appears to be the ability to enter contests. That's it? No coupons, free sodas, extra...stuff? What a waste! Let's try one more section of the site before my break is over.

MDTV? Eh, just 30-second TV spots. Gaming? Eh, no better. I don't see anything worth my time. And...now I've lost interest in the site, so I'm going to stop wasting my time. I don't plan on buying any 'Dew Gear,' so it's time to move on.

The lesson to be learned from all this? Soda brands have no business running websites. Well, not when they're annoyingly laid out and utterly dull. So, now my break is over and I've gotta start working again. I guess this was a mostly wasted post, so I'm sorry to have made you sit through it. At least you got some fresh jokes.



That's--that's me: Boyfriend Dan.
Dave

Looks like we're gonna have to jump!

I know this is one of those things that probably gets bandied about quite often, but that's as may be. I'm gonna talk about it anyway.

So there.

I am, by society's (and genetic's) definition: a Guy. This automatically makes me unable to understand a lot of stuff. For example: what's the big deal about going to the bathroom in large groups? Is there something in Women's rooms that I'm missing? Cable? High-speed internet? Pizza rolls? I mean, as a guy, I go in, take care of business, and get out, all on my own. But to see girls go hit the can solo is quite rare.*

But!

That's beside my point. I'm here to talk about the "romantic comedy," or "rom-com" to those "in the know," by which I mean the guy across the street. For example, we'll be using the J-Lo vehicle The Wedding Planner. I watched a portion of it on Sunday, although not by my choosing. Maybe it was a step up from HSN, but still. Is watching the Braves and Phillies that bad?

Anyways.

After watching an hour or so of said film, I cannot, for the life of me, get the appeal of such films. I mean, the entire movie hinges on the fact that Ms. Lo gets her shoe caught in a manhole cover and won't bend down and take the shoe off, even though a dumpster is careening right towards her. God forbid she put her cell phone down for a second and take her shoe off. Nonono. If she did that, she wouldn't get rescued by a hunky guy and we wouldn't have a movie. I won't even discuss the silliness of the rest, because the pivotal point of the film is so preposterous to begin with.

So what's the appeal? Things like that don't happen in real life, and if they do, I pray most people exercise a bit more common sense. It's just a shoe!

That said, there are two of the "rom-coms" I do like: Amelié and Love, Actually. Both are quite amusing, and while featuring situations that probably would never actually happen, they do it well enough to where I don't mind. One os British, which helps a lot, and the other is French, which may not make the film any better, but I thought I'd mention it.

I'm not condemning anyone who does enjoy such films, mind you, I'm just trying to figure out why they do so well when they're almost all the same, and really leave little drama as to what will happen at the end (Will they get together???). Maybe it's just a bit of escapism or something. I'm sure most of my beefs could be reworded and thrown back at me about Godzilla movies, except the first one, of course.

And, well, I think that's about it. Imagine that: a long post on one topic only. Weirdness.


Let's... trace! Let's trace some drawings!
Dave



*Of course, the bathroom in my house is out, since I can only accomodate one person. I bet if I had two stalls, or what-not, I'd have extra persons in there.

I caught you this delicious bass.

This is probably the coolest thing I've seen in awhile. I especially enjoy the last "whereas" clause.

Lucky!
Dave