Behind The Times

06.25.2007

There are times when phenomena sweeps the interweb and everyone gets caught up in it. The Star Wars Kid, All Your Base Are Belong To Us, and my perennial favorite Badger Badger Badger are just a few of those phenomena.

But how often do you get to be at the start of a phenomena? To be one of the staff bearers for what will be talked about, searched for, and passed from person to person the world over? For me, today is that day. Today is the day the Angela's Asses rules the world! Need proof?

• Proof.
• Proof
• PROOF!
• Prooooof!

Does it matter that I don't know Angela? Does it make a difference that I have no idea what her face looks like? No. No, I say. I'm at the forefront of a phenemenom!

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Reading IS Fun

06.18.2007

I've been sorting through things at home trying to get a little better organized (one of my favorite hobbies) and came across a stack of books I've yet to read. Thanks to an incident from the early 90's that I won't go into detail about, I've gotten into a habit that if I see a book that looks interesting enough to one day read, I'll go ahead and get it so that I won't forget the author or title or some other tidbit that will make it impossible to find at a later date.

I've got books that I've started to read, yet quickly found myself not in the mood for that particular story so I put the book back for another chance later. I've got books I've never picked up that first time. I've got books that I've started but know I will never finish.

Most of my books are science fiction, although I've found that I also like biographies, especially business biographies. Although I like science fiction, I dislike fantasy. I admit, it's odd. I hate fantasy stories that suddenly make up a Shroud of Umpulumpa to get our of a predicament, bet I seem to be fine if a Monofilament Technobauble will do the same thing.

Working with the kids I do these days, I started to wonder if any of them still read a good book every now and again. With that in mind, I now present my favorite science fiction books. Two of them have been turned into movies that either sucked or had little to do with the book.

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. I think this book was first published in 1958. It's about patriotism at its core, but the story and presentation is what wrapped me up in the book. This is one of the few (if not only) books I've ever read in a day.

Forever War by Joe Haldeman. This one came out in the 70's, and the concept of the story that soldiers travel in suspended animation between battles while society changes is just a plain fun read. I often find that if I read Starship Troopers again, I tend to read this one soon after.

Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L Ron Hubbard. Hubbard has lots of politics that go along with his stories, but I was ignorant enough when I first read this book that I ignored anything there that might be present and just enjoyed the story. It's one of the few books I remember getting caught up in and wondering what was going to happen next. Being a notoriously slow reader, this is also the only 1000+ page book I've read more than once.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Although I found the story a little slow, it's well written with characters that stay with you. The ending was also one that snuck up on me, but was totally beleivable, especially considering the sequels that followed.

Killerbowl by Gary K Wolf. It feels like football meets Rollerball. The pacing of the story along with the imagery created is what makes this one stand out. After checking it out repeatedly from the library back in high school, I found a copy at the Books a Million hard-to-find books section one day... that came from a library in California.

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Kennedy McMahon Coo Coo or Crazy

06.13.2007

Monday night on Raw, wrestlers past and present were giving their derogatory views on Vincent Kennedy McMahon. My favorite was a vignet by Superfly Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Shiek, neither of which is known for their exceptional speaking ability.

Here's a transcript of what I was able to figure out:

Superfly:
Vince McMahon, there's only one thing the Superfly like to tell you bruddah. I appreciate all those years witchu and you're father, but dere's one thing I want to understand that when I watch that TV I notice that something is not right bruddah. I don't know if, ah, the coo-coo bird is, ah, is wiping away there I just want to know why are you, you know, different? I don't understand, bruddah.

Iron Shiek:
What? Superfraw, I don't blame Kennedy McMahon van coo-coo or crazy. Because I watch the match and between him I said Donald Trump the richest man and all of a sudden come attacked Mr McMahon from behind. And and take him down. And cut him, double cross him, cut his hair. Dat's because he went coo-coo. I don't blame him, but still Kennedy McMahon, you play racquetball with me, your son wrestling with me. And still you are great athlete. You're Allah. You're Mohammad.

I never claimed the transcript would make sense. That's just what I heard.

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Lynch Bwaa Haaa Hardee Harhar

06.12.2007

I've been on a comedian kick of late. I saw John Pinette late one night on Comedy Central and remembered a bit he used to do (I swear) back when MTV had the ½ hour comedy hour. Still funny, just doesn't update his material very often.

On my iPod, which I enjoy listening to at work, I have a collection of Stephen Lynch's comedic stylings. If you've never heard him he's rude. He's crude. But he has a way with words that make me smile. In reading his bio, I saw this:

Lynch has a younger brother, Drew Lynch, who also writes comedic songs, and they occasionally tour together. Their parents are a former priest and a former nun...

Finding out his parents used to be a priest and a nun (is that even legal?) I suddenly have a new appreciation for where his comedy is coming from. I still wouldn't listen to him around my mom, though.

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O13

06.11.2007

Went to the actual, physical movie theater with Gina over the weekend. This time we went to see Oceans 13. Gina, being the George Clooney fan she is, is often pleased when I take her to the feature films, especially when they feature the salt and pepper haired Clooney. As an added bonus, I thoroughly enjoyed Oceans 13. It was much better than Oceans 12, although I'm not sure how I would rate it against Oceans 11 since it's been a while since I saw it, and I remember liking it.

So, if you have a lady friend who enjoys the occasional George Clooney while you yourself are apt to watch a fairly good heist movie, it's worth the $12.50 for 2 matinée tickets. The extra $12.00 for popcorn and 2 drinks I'm not so sure about.

Later in the week: other things that happened over the weekend!

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