GMW #4: Is It 1984 Yet?

Okay. So this one is not really a movie at all, but it is definitely geeky. I think that, in and of itself, qualifies it to be posted here. Besides, I am the boss of this blog, and I'll do what I want, Snickerdoodle!

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you get a certain song stuck in your head and it won't go away no matter how many times you slam your hand in the car door on purpose. I'm having that sort of crisis here except that it's not a song. It's a super bowl commercial from the year 1984. If you are a true geek then you know exactly where this is going already.

Whenever I close my eyes I see this spectacle played out before my mind's eye. Over, and over, and over again, in the pristine, glorious detail that only my twisted memory can provide. So I am hoping that posting it here will exorcise it from my brain, sort of like that part in The Ring when Naomi Watts saves herself by putting the filthy video back out into the world again. It can not be stopped.



So thanks Ridley Scott. And someone please tell me why this is happening to me.

Christmas Presents!

So this year my christmas was a lot more complicated than it has been in the past. I had to buy and receive more than ever. It was a lot of stress in the preparation, but it was all good times in the end.

For Rachel I got this awesome turntable:

It was not as easy to find as I hoped for. It was quite an ordeal, in fact, but totally worth it because she loves it! I also gave her some Vinyl records to begin her collection including: Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz, and Jack Johnson.

I also got her the Planet Earth dvd, a Gargoyles & Medieval Monsters coloring book, some Play-Doh, some Ed Hardy temporary tatoos, this picture of James Dean)

and then there was a lip piercing jewelry (I'm not sure what you really call those and a mug from BadAss Coffee that says "I Love My Badass Attitude!".

It was a lot of fun trying to find things that she would like and then seeing her open them.

For other people, I had to get a Bruise Wheel:

for Alyssa, as well as a sweater with a scarf.

For my sister Heather I got a cookbook that she wanted. I also got a gift card for my parents, and a dvd of 500 Days of Summer for Trent.

Then there were the awesome presents I received:

Rachel got me a Blue Ray player, which is the best gift I have ever recieved. I feel kind of guilty about it, in fact. She also got me the BlueRay dvds of Up and Star Trek.

I also got the book Annie Liebovitz: At Work

which I have been badly wanting for about 2 years, but avoiding buying because it's an expensive book. She also got me a great thermal, that I am wearing right now, and a totally metal t-shirt that I plan on wearing often. I also got a bottle of Justin Timberlake's signature cologne. I smell pretty good right now, I can't deny.


It's hard to remember all this amazing stuff I got. There is so much of it. Rachel's brother Matthew got me Toxicity, by System of a Down.

My parents got me some frying pans and a spatula. Heather and Lance got me a Toaster. Trent gave me The Dark Knight on BlueRay. Derek gave me Batman Returns on dvd. (Hmm, I just realized I got two Batman movies this year. I need to think about that coincidence.) I also got some Skull Candy headphones, and lots of candy, and stuff. A couple of Barnes and Noble gift cards. (I love gift cards).

I'm surely forgetting a whole bunch of things right now. I do thank all you great gifters out there who showered me in wonderful gifts. I didn't get a single thing that I don't love. And all gifts aside, this really was the best christmas ever, but that is a different, and much longer story. I'll get to that later.

So I hope you all had a merry christmas too, and on now we go to the New Year. Yay for that.

GMW #3: Brick

"I've got five senses and I slept last night, which puts me six up on the lot of you."

Now that Christmas is over, let's get down to business and watch some bad-ass movies once again. Last night Trent was showing me and Rachel 500 Days Summer, which was completely awesome, by the way. But it got me thinking about the little known national treasure we have that is called Joseph Gordon Levitt. He may be perfectly adorable in 500 Days, sure. But you can't know him like I do until you have seen him get punched in the face a few dozen times.

Brick is a hard-boiled detective story like the kind they used to make in the fifties, except that it takes place in a high school. And that's a high-school unlike any I have ever known, even in West Valley. Everyone is filthy to the core, and the man won't stop until he has dragged his face thoroughly through that dirt. It's a soulless and beautiful thing.

GMW #2: A Christmas Movie

I think I'll just keep this geek movie thing going when I have nothing interesting to post. And in light of the yuletide season, I figure I should post a geeky christmas movie. I have been thinking all week trying to pick one. "A Christmas Story" maybe? No. Too geeky. Or perhaps "It's a Wonderful Life"? Not geeky enough. "Nightmare Before Christmas" is too creepy. I thought about "Die Hard" even. But no. "Die Hard" is way too awesome. But then I was talking to Twilight Rob at UPS and he was citing his old favorite line, and it hit me. He was yelling down to the supervisor, and he said, "Keep the change ya filthy animal!" I knew what is hands down the geekiest christmas movie ever made.

"Home Alone". The bittersweet tale of a boy who is left behind by his mother on Christmas, only to enjoy the sort of Christmas that we all secretly wish we had at least once in our life. And besides, it has Joe Pesci in it. So this holiday season, if you need to escape from reality for a while, I highly recommend it.

The scene I wanted to post will not allow embedding. So if you need a good, and proper laugh, please do follow this link to Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKGTBwyVtdk

The Corbomite Maneuver

So there I was, at UPS. I spend all my time there during this festive season, shipping all of your packages around so that Santa Claus can sit on his fat butt and take the year off. Again. He has gotten pretty lazy. I say, make him fire up that old sleigh and deliver this crap himself. But never mind. I was at UPS and a supervisor whom we call 2Thug was explaining to me that I can not work on night shift next week because the double shifting is being cut off. And this after all the times I saved their lives?

Unacceptable.

Then He asked me if I was working for them on the optional Sunday sort. In fact he was begging me since the other pick-offs aren't going to be there, and he will be sorely hurting without all of us. I felt like I was being screwed. I was going to have to work Sunday and get what overtime I can since I'll be dropped like a sack of potatoes on Monday. But then I remembered that there is no such thing as a no win situation. I asked myself, "What would Shatner do?"

So I pulled the Corbomite Maneuver. I told 2Thug that I would only work for him on Sunday if he would get ST. Anger to let me work night shift next Monday-Wednesday. I was bluffing, of course. 2Thug didn't like it very much. He looked like he might cry, and he said somthing like, "You can't do this to me. You can't bribe me like that." I knew then that I had him. He didn't understand the situation at all.

"Yes I can." I said. "And I just did it."

"But it's not even up to me."

"Well then you better talk to St. Anger."

"It's not even up to him."

"Well just tell him that's what I said, and we'll see what he does."

About 2 minutes and 18 seconds later 2Thug came and told me that I could double shift for him next week. I win. Sort of. But now I have to work Sunday. Damn!

FML

Geek Movie of the Week #1

I don't really love Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It's not really about anything as far as I can tell. But sometimes you just need to let that geekiness wash over your soul and make you feel like a kid again






And, on another small note because I'm feeling a little bitter. Why do we allow James Cameron to call himself the King of the World. It has taken him 10 years and something like $750,000,000 dollars to make two movies, one about a sinking ship, and one about people who look like rejects from a pixar movie. Meanwhile, during the same time frame, Clint Eastwood has directed 10 movies for a fraction of the cost of one of King Cameron's movies. And Six of Clint's movies in those years have been nominated and/or won several academy awards.

I think it's time to dethrone someone from their high horse. I'm just saying'.

A Small Photo Success

It would appear that of the 31 photos I submitted to that Capture My Utah photo book, 7 were published. One of those is very, very tiny, but nonetheless it is there. This leads me to believe that regular people can actually like my photos. Now I just need to figure out how to get them to open up their wallets and pay me for it. I do have a general idea of how I need to start, but I have no money to get it done. So until someone pays me, I can't do more to convince people to pay me, and thus the vicious cycle of attempting to sell yourself out during a recession. But never mind. I just had to let that out for a moment.

Anyways. Thanks to all you who voted for me. You know who you are. Also congrats to Walt on also being a published photographer. This is the first time that I can say that I am published in a book that you can actually buy within the United States of America. I am featured in a book that exists in Taiwan, but that's another story.