Wednesday, September 15, 2004

That's the way I roll.

We sucked at Fado trivia night tonight worse than we have ever sucked before. I think we had about 24/51 correct answers.  However....a good time was had by all and I am determined to win that contest someday. For all the times we've gone there and rang up a 150 dollar bar tab, we deserve to finally win 50 dollars off the bill at some point. I mean, even the laws of random chance have got to be on our side by now. One day, we'll go in and they'll have a Kevin Smith category, Star Wars, Weird Al and Simpsons followed by a Video Games bonus round. And that'll be the night I went to a concert instead. :-)


But that's neither here nor there.
Just got home and I'm in the middle of doing a radio show. Why is it I only do a radio show the nights I go out to bars? Is it because I'm buzzed? Is it because the smell of cigarettes is a motivational? Who know? Who cares?


I'm just glad, cause it's been awhile.


By the way, before I begin the game everyone else is playing.....I'd like wrap this portion of the page up by mentioning that this entry goes to all the bitches hangin' on my ding dong.


 


 


Everyone is doing this, so why not me?


INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Copy this whole list into your journal.
2. Bold/underline the things that are true about you.
3. Whatever you don't bold/underline is false.


 


Whoo boy. Gotta love these things.


 


 


 


01. I miss somebody right now
02. I don't watch much TV these days
03. I love olives
04. I love sleeping (I should do it more often, and longer at a time when I do get around to doing it..)
05. I own lots of books (and want more..)
06. I wear glasses or contact lenses
07. I love to play video games
09. I've watched porn
11. I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship
12. I believe honesty is usually the best policy
13. I have acne free skin
14. I like and respect Al Sharpton wtf?
15. I curse frequently
16. I have changed a lot mentally over the last year
17. I have a hobby
19. I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me
20. I'm really, really smart more of a smart problem solver really
21. I've never broken someone's bones
22. I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal
23. I hate the rain
24. I'm paranoid at times
25. I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scars
26. I need money right now!
27. I love Sushi
28. I talk really, really fast
29. I have fresh breath in the morning
30. I have semi-long hair does long count as semi-long?
31. I have lost money in Las Vegas
32. I have at least one brother and/or one sister
33. I was born in a country outside of the U.S.
34. I shave my legs on a regular basis
35. I have a twin
36. I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past
37. I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
38. I like the way I look
39. I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months
40. I know how to do cornrows
41. I am usually pessimistic
42. I have a lot of mood swings
43. I think prostitution should be legalized
44. I think Britney Spears is hot
45. I have cheated on a significant other in the past well. sort of...
46. I have a hidden talent
47. I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have
48. I think that I'm popular
49. I am currently single
50. I have kissed someone of the same sex not with tongue though
51. I enjoy talking on the phone only if its someone I want to talk to
52. I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants
53. I love to shop
54. I would rather shop than eat
55. I would classify myself as ghetto
56. I'm bourgie and have worn a sweater tied around my shoulders
57. I'm obsessed with my Livejournal
58. I don't hate anyone
59. I'm a pretty good dancer
60. I don't think Mike Tyson raped Desiree Washington
61. I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother
62. I have a cell phone
63. I believe in God
64. I watch MTV on a daily basis
65. I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months
67. I have never been in a real relationship before
68. I've rejected someone before
69. I currently have a crush on someone
70. I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life
72. I have changed a diaper before
73. I've called the cops on a friend before
74. I bite my nails
75. I am a member of the Tom Green fan club
76. I'm not allergic to anything that I know of
77. I have a lot to learn (doesn't every one?)
78. I have dated someone at least 10 years older or younger
79. I plan on seeing Ice Cube's newest "Friday" movie
80. I am very shy around the opposite sex
81. I'm online 24/7, even as an away message
82. I have at least 5 away messages saved
83. I have tried alcohol or drugs before
84. I have made a move on a friend's significant other in the past
85. I own the "South Park" movie
86. I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Livejournal
87. When I was a kid I played "doctor" with a neighbor or chum
88. I enjoy some country music (only if you count some of the crossover folk/bluegrass as country)
90. I think that Pizza Hut has the best pizza
91. I watch soap operas whenever I can
92. I'm obsessive, anal retentive, and often a perfectionist
93. I have used my sexuality to advance my career
94. I love Michael Jackson, scandals and all
95. I know all the words to Slick Rick's "Children's Story"
96. Halloween is awesome because you get free candy
97. I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it
98. I have dated a close friend's ex
99. I'm happy as of this moment

Monday, September 13, 2004

One man's treasure

Today, I found a glow in the dark Shrek watch in my Honey Nut Cheerios.






There are apparently 10 different watches to collect but I was lucky enough to find the pink Dragon. As I opened the plastic watch (instantly diminishing it's secondary market value) I imagined what it would be like wearing it while walking down the hallways at work.

"Nice watch!" people would say. Then they'd think to themeslves about what a "Baller" I am, impressed by my "Bling Bling". After all, it's not everyone that can wear a watch like that. It's the kind of thing you usually only see in a movie star's personal collection, on the MTV show "Cribs".

I'd probably get promoted if my boss noticed it.

"That's a real go-getter" he'd think, as he recommended me for a 76% raise.

Little did I know, that these things only come in children's sizes. Apparently, they don't think a 29 year old would want to wear a Shrek watch with a dragon on it. Seeing as how it wasn't meant to be, I wrote "Free Shrek Watch" on a post-it note, and placed my treasure in the kitchen at work.

Within 10 minutes, it was already gone. No doubt, someone else realized the incredible prestige and value of this once free prize.

And they're not the only ones:


Ebay Search

 

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Well, the first baby step of progress was made on the shelves today. We took some measurements and realized that I may be able to use a bunch of the stuff I already have. So that's good news. Now all I need to do is start moving stuff around. Then I'll have to disassemble the shelves I have now, move them into the SW room....and see how much room I have left.If there's a lot, I'll probably hang the ones from the old house on the wall. Net cost should be really low.

I still can't say I like the braces yet. My cheeks are getting all cut up, I still can't eat anything comfortably and flossing takes forever. But they took the bite things out, so at least I can chew a little now. That's one good thing.

Yesterday I got Clerks X at Fry's. They price matched Best Buy which was cool. I also got a raincheck for Burnout 3 for 34 bucks. That's a pretty damn good game. The rest of this weekend I've just spent being lazy and hanging around the house. That's all I felt like doing, and I'm glad that's all I'm doing.

Friday, September 10, 2004

Mumbles

So, I got my braces on yesterday.

No, this isn't some 12 year old's blog....I'm 29. For some reason, I'm just now getting around to it. Oh sure, I could have done this when I was in grade school like my sisters and everyone else did, but I didn't want them back then. The stigma attached to braces in school was the equivalent of having the plague. I was apparently convinced that if I got braces put on, I would immediately become "That kid with the braces" or something equally harmless in hindsight. So, based on my perception of what was "cool" in 1987, I somehow talked my parents out of getting me the braces I needed back then. Damn my parents for being so easily swayed by whatever I said to them.

The first thing I'm going to do when I build my time machine is go back and kick my ass for not getting braces when I should have. Then I'll do the normal "Grey's Sports Alamanac" stuff that everyone else would do with their time machine.

Anyway, back to the future. So, I have my braces on and I hate them. I couldn't eat all the wonderful leftover pizza I had last night because I couldn't chew it. So, one piece was all I had. Even the ice cream Heather bought me was tough because it had little chocolate pieces in it. That's what I get for liking Cherry Garcia.

This morning, during my cereal....I already broke the God damned blue bite things* they put on to keep me from breaking the braces....and now I have to go back to the dentist at 4pm to get some bite things re-installed.

Did I mention that I hate these stupid things?

*"Blue bite things" is a patented technical medical product, all rights reserved.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Clerks X

Yesterday I had hoped to pick up Clerks X on the way home. Best Buy had it for 19.99, and so that's where I went. Unfortunately, they were sold out. For some reason, I hesitated to just go ahead and pay 24.99 at Fred Myer, but if I don't find it in the next day or two....I may have to. :-)

Check this out:


View Askew list



This list is pretty funny if you love the films as I do. Sometimes I can't decide whether I like the Star Wars movies or the Askewniverse movies better. Is that blasphemy?

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

testing 2

Will this work yet?

test post

I've broken something and now my blog doesn't work

testing testing

Testing this post

No shelves for you!

This lovely labor day weekend I had but one goal and one goal alone: I was FINALLY going to get started on my shelves. This spare bedroom in my house is just sitting there begging for something to be done with it.....and I have a plan to fill it with shelves that I can display all my junk on. Once I have shelves, I can take my massive collections out of their boxes and start displaying them like a normal freak does. It's a huge project, but even measuring the room would have been a start. :-)

Well, Saturday came along and instead of working on the shelves I ended up going to see a dumb movie and then stopping by a pajama party later that evening. Then on Sunday instead of building shelves, I spent the day helping Jason look for a new car. On Monday, I went to a BBQ and watched another movie. All were good ways to spend a lazy 3 day weekend, but none of them got me any closer to having my shelves.

So, my new goal is to have them up before the end of the month. I've been saying that each month since I moved in back in March, so hopefully this month I'll stick to it.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

The Omegathon

So, I promised a post about this and I better do it now before the vivid details begin to fade from memory.


On Friday morning, Jason got this bright idea that we'd all wear matching T-shirts the next day. It was an excellent idea, and Jason Brooks started working on designs for a logo. At first we were just looking at different fonts and stuff, but then he came up with an Atari style logo with a Storm Trooper design on it. I loved it. Later that day, he came up with this cool combination of Halo and the Imperial Snowflake. I loved that one even more....so we decided to make both designs, one for each day.


Friday night, I had a Halo party, and everyone came over to help practice up for Saturday. We had some projector problems, so it got started late...but we had a few good Halo matches. They were all pretty close, but I'd say I took a good enough percentage of them that I felt ready. During the course of the games, we had some pizza and drinks. After Halo was over, a few of us played some 5 man Diceland. By then it was about midnight and most people took off. For my future reference, Diceland is a great way to kill a Halo party. The remaining few people played LAN Mario Kart Double Dash until we were all ready for bed.


Saturday morning, we got up at about 8 and headed over to downtown Bellevue. There was a huge line of maybe 1000 people stretching around the block in two directions, but they were letting Omeganauts (as they called us) right in. So I tromped up to the front of the line with Heather and John in tow and we picked up our hand stamps. They directed us to the downstairs arena where the first round would take place: Diceland.


We arrived downstairs to find at least 10 of the other Omeganauts getting a refresher course in Diceland from one of the referee type people who worked for the company that makes it. I joined in the huddle to listen and watch. Jason and Brandon arrived a few minutes later with the shirts. They looked amazing, and we all put them on.


Mine said: OmeganautHeather's was: GroupieJohn's was: Trainer Jason's said: Security
One Omeganaut was missing, and they declared over the loudspeaker that if she didn't show, she would be eliminated. She didn't and so shortly after, the game began and we all shuffled cards to see where we'd sit. 4 lucky folks got a "by" that round, and didn't have to play at all. They played for fun, with no fear of elimination.


The other 3 tables each got passed a box full of mystery dice. My table was populated by 4 different people besides me, and I got one of the better colors. The guy next to me go the best color and took off to an early lead. During the course of the game, I realized that though I was in a pretty strong 2nd place....he was going to stay about 15 points ahead of me due to an early lead. So I started working to help him win by either knocking his enemies into more vulnerable position or avoiding killing him. That strategy worked well enough and I advanced to the next round: Halo. One person at our table wasn't so lucky, as was the case with 2 other people at the other tables.


They told us that the Halo round wouldn't start for quite awhile and all the lines for panels were too long, so we decided to go eat. We all went to lunch at the Cheesecake factory. Then we walked around the mall a bit and went back to PAX. The Halo round hadn't started yet, so Jason and Brandon decided to take off while John and I entered a Soul Calibur tourney. Heather hung out in the sunshine with Jay's finacee Eve, and they apparently talked about weddings. I beat a few opponents, but not enough to get very far....so I went back to walking around the con a little until it was time for Halo.


Finally, it was 4:30 and time for Halo. I sat down and created a profile. Several people filled in the remaining seats, including Kevin, the guy from Diceland who sat right next to me. We had a pretty big crowd by the time the match started, and it was very crowded in there. The guy to the left of me (Sean) ended up taking first by 15 kills, Kevin took 2nd, and I took 3rd with 3 kills less than him. Everyone else filed in somewhere below that and 4 more people were summarily eliminated.


The next round (Mario Kart) started immediately. They decided that who we were sitting next to was who we'd be partnered with, so I ended up with Kevin. He admitted that he wasn't great at the game, and that he should be the gunner. I taught him how to do the blue sparks, which he learned very quickly....and we were on the road for a practice match. We took 5th....which if it had been the real match would have killed us. Luckily, by the time the real one rolled around, we had the bugs worked out of our partnership and we ended up taking 2nd place to Sean and his partner.


At that point, I was assured a spot in DDR, on day 2. I took off to go upstairs and check out the competition on the arcade machines. It was insane and I was fairly convinced there was no way I'd ever get to round 5.


My Dad showed up with Robert and Marilyn and we all walked around the convention a bit so I could show them what it was all about. Then we headed to the parking garage to head home. I had a damn ticket on my car even though I had paid the fee. I called to dispute it, but all I got is a machine.


I was mad, but we left and went home to have some dinner. After that, we played some video games at home. They were all flying out the next morning, and so they wanted to get some sleep. I practiced DDR and realized that I was going to need to practice on the actual arcade machine. At midnight or so, I felt like I needed more practice and my nephew really wanted to come....so we all went back to the con to try and do that...but the line for it was longer than it was during the day. John, Robert and I went to Lanwerx next door and paid to use the DDR machine there.


After 30 minutes or so of playing for quarters....I realized two things:
1. DDR is expensive.2. My feet are too big for those stupid arcade dance pads.
So, I decided that the next morning I would be bringing along shoes that are too small for me, which might help.


I only got a few hours of sleep before I got up to start practicing my DDR. After my Dad left with Robert and Marilyn for the airport.....I went back to practicing and got another hour or so in. I figured at that point, I was as ready as I could get....and we went to the con.


We got there just in time for me to have one practice match before the real deal. I danced with an Omeganaut named Svetlana and discovered that we were very closely matched. We decided that it would be cool if we could dance together instead of against one of the crazy good people that were still left in the competition. Jason showed up a bit later with the Sunday (Halo) shirts, and we all got into them. They were really cool looking.


The DDR round started, and Mike and Jerry had decided that the best people were going to dance against each other first. That was a huge relief. They went and they were all REALLY amazing at that game. There were some good matches, but most of them weren't that close. Then my match came and I was indeed paired up with Svetlana. Our game came down to a difference of 5 steps, but I won it. It was so close, and a really good match. After that, we all decided to go to lunch, and she came along...with a group of about 8 other people.


We had lunch at the Rock Bottom, and it was a lot of fun. Everyone we met was really nice and we just sat around talking about random stuff until it was time to go back for the Doom round. It seemed like I was having lunch with the best group of gamers I'd met in a long time. Everyone had been up all night playing one game or another....and they were all still really friendly to be around.


We all waited until everyone had gotten their bills settled (there were a lot of separate checks) and then walked back to the convention together. The Doom round was about to start, and I hustled upstairs to get my seat. By the time I got there the room was just PACKED....and we filled it up even more with most of our lunch group plus the 4 of us in our matching shirts. They decided we'd get a practice match first.


I sat next to Tina, a girl that had done really well at DDR. She unfortunately wasn't too great at Doom, and she and I brought up the rear for most of the match. Kevin and Sean were sitting at the other side of the long table...and seemed to be dominating the practice round. The real match started....and for a long time, they were scoring kill after unanswered kill.


I finally got a few good weapons and went after them. It was 0 to 0 to 7 to 9 for awhile, but suddenly I was scoring a kill here and there. Before long, I had tied it up 10-10-12. Then Kevin and I went back and forth chasing Sean until it was 13-13-15-1 (Or whatever Tina had).
We then had the most controversial moment of the match. I had just killed Tina for my 14th when instead of calling "Time" they decided to shut down the server. My 14th kill didn't register, and so Kevin and I were tied for 2nd. They sent us to a tiebreaker.


Kevin got to the rockets first and started rocket camping. He killed me every time I went into the rocket arena, and I hadn't figured out that he was camping there. People were yelling it at me, but it just wasn't registering. Finally....after 3 frags...it dawned on me. He was camping and I had to stop it. So....I shot at him from the window, then got him to chase me down a hall until he killed himself. Then I took his camping spot from him. The next 2 kills were mine...and suddenly it was 2 to 3. They called out an announcement that they were lowering the frag count from 10 to 5, because our match was taking forever.


I couldn't stay in there and camp...so I ran out to fight him again. I got one more kill...but then he killed me and it was 4 to 3. He got back into his camping spot, and that was all she wrote. I was eliminated and took 3rd place overall while Kevin and Sean went on to the final round.
Kevin told me it was a good game, I got lots of sympathy pats on the back for it from my crew. I was mad that he won it by camping at first, then regretted that I hadn't spoken up about my 14th kill when I'd had the chance. Then it all started to sink in and I realized that I had gotten to the 2nd day, past DDR (my worst game) and taken 3rd place overall. I was still really bummed that I wasn't going to get to do my grand entry into the final round, but I knew that the two guys in there probably deserved to be as much as I did.


We all kind of walked around together for awhile, then Heather went home and John and I tried to enter a Mario Kart tourney before the final round of the Omegathon. Unfortunately, they had technical problems...and although we got some practice games in, we never got to compete for real.


We went down and lined up with the other Omeganauts to get into the theater for the final round. Kevin was all smiles at this point and was very gracious about his wins. I talked to his mom, who was very happy for him....and I started to feel like it was OK that he was in there instead of me. Not great, but OK. The doors opened....we went in...and the final mystery game was PONG.


Sean beat Kevin pretty badly and the Omegathon was over. It was a great time though, and afterwards I hung out to congratulate them both for beating me and getting as far as they did.
By the end of the evening I had completely lost my voice, I was exhausted and ready for bed. I went home.....watched a little TV, then hit the sack. All I could think about for the next two days when I wasn't sleeping was the Omegathon.
Next year, if by some miracle I can get back in there......it's going to be ROTJ time.
Revenge of Team JoshEEE


Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Don't call it a comeback...

Ok, so I haven't made an entry in awhile. This entire weekend was devoted to the Omegathon. I'd like to sum up the whole thing in a post right now, but I'm way too tired for that. I'll talk about the Omegathon tomorrow, but right now I just wanted to update this thing with a little post for fun.I just did the first radio show in a couple of weeks. That was a lot of fun. I had a ton of requests sitting in the email box, so I was only able to play about 10 of them or so.

Heather's Dad's birthday was today, but I had plans to go to Fado with Jason, so that's where I ended up going. John was supposed to come to, but he had to go to a play so that bastard skipped it. He sucks. :-) Jerry and Julie came along and we gave it a go on our own, but only ended up coming in 2nd or third. Maybe next week we will dominate. I think we need to get Heather down there, plus Beth and John and maybe we'll have the full team of brains that we need in addition to the regulars to put one in the "W" column.

It was a really nice evening nonetheless.

Tomorrow....I have a racquetball game after work, but other than that no plans. It's supposed to be nice and get REALLY nice for the holiday weekend. I'm sure looking forward to that.

In other news.....we're VERY close to booking the Vegas trip for my birthday! I plan to wrap that up this week. Maybe even tomorrow.

Ciao