Last update: 11 Dec 02, 14:44,
MST
This is Jason’s site, and whoop-de-doo, I’m updating every damn day.
So I really need to do an update on the ol’ website here,
but as soon as I got to town (
Go to the80srewind.net Check the80srewind.net webmail Go to the regular first page
These are the vital stats I have for you:
100 Johnstone Hall Room 4415
Oh, this is the university’s web address: www.montana.edu
This is the number you can dial to reach me by phone:
(406) 994-4992
Since the only times I have to be somewhere else are 6 hours of class and 8 hours of work every week, I’m online fairly often. Here are your IM options:
AO-Hell: Kenobi 5 19
Yahoo!: tonyshangrila
MSN: tonyshangrila@hotmail.com
Of course, you can always e-mail me as well, and the e-mail address is: Jason@the80srewind.net
12/11
This... is... Comedy.
Ok, so I thought I’d
pop in to say that the first paper and subsequent presentation was just
swell. I don’t have to turn that mother
in until I leave on Monday, so still ample time to revise and whatnot. The second paper has actually begun to be
written yet, but a list of “things I’m going to say” has been formed and is
currently being ruminated upon. It’s
rough-drafting will occur this afternoon/evening/tomorrow, with its
less-substantial-than-the-other-paper-just-by-its-nature revisions to occur in
the ensuing three days.
So I was “browsing” a
bit this morning, and I happened to visit a very nice site that I used to visit
more often, but now I only stop by with the
randomness of a pair of axe-wielding breasts in a comic strip. I was looking for the copy from a sketch
Steve Martin did on Saturday Night Live once, and foolish me, I shoulda
known Colin would have it. Mucho
gracias.
If
I had one wish that I could wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children
to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. If I had
two wishes I could make this holiday season, the first would be for all the
children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and
peace. And the second would be for 30 million dollars a month to be given to
me, tax-free in a Swiss bank account. You know, if I had three wishes I could
make this holiday season, the first, of course, would be for all the children
of the world to get together and sing, the second would be for the 30 million
dollars every month to me, and the third would be for encompassing power over
every living being in the entire universe. And if I had four wishes that I
could make this holiday season, the first would be the crap about the kids
definitely, the second would be for the 30 million, the third would be for all
the power, and the fourth would be to set aside one month each year to have an
extended 31-day orgasm, to be brought out slowly by Rosanna Arquette and that
model Paulina-somebody, I can't think of her name. Of course my lovely wife can
come too and she's behind me one hundred percent here, I guarantee it. Wait a
minute, maybe the sex thing should be the first wish, so if I made that the
first wish, because it could all go boom tomorrow, then what do you got,
y'know? No, no, the kids, the kids singing would be great, that would be nice.
But wait a minute, who am I kidding? They're not going to be able to get all
those kids together. I mean, the logistics of the thing is impossible, more
trouble than it's worth! So -- we reorganize! Here we go. First, the sex thing.
We go with that. Second, the money. No, we got with the power second, then the
money. And then the kids. Oh wait, oh jeez, I forgot about revenge against my
enemies! Okay, I need revenge against all my enemies, they should die like pigs
in hell! That would be my fourth wish. And, of course, my fifth wish would be
for all the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit
of harmony and peace. Thank you everybody and Merry Christmas.
**A Post Script: Thanks to
Dave, here’s an
mp3 of that very sketch.**
12/09
Aftermath, Part III
Well I did say I would
do this, so here we are again, the way I think the NFL Playoffs will now break
down. Devastating to my predictions
over the past week were Pittsburgh’s loss at the hands of lowly Houston, San
Fran’s last-second victory in Dallas, and Tennessee’s romp over Indy. Later, eh?
12/04
Happy Holidays
Well, this will be it for a while. I've
got a lot of work to get done over the next two weeks or so, so I will bid
farewell until about December 18. May all your holiday preparations proceed
without incident. Since all my decorating is already done, mine will include:
watching White Christmas. That's it. Take care, hope to see you all
soon, but if I don't before the 25th, have a Merry Christmas.
12/02
Aftermath, Part II
Per last week’s
message about the rest of the NFL season, here is my re-vamped playoff
tree. Biggest difference is in the fate
of the Eagles, who won twice sans McNabb since I wrote on this topic
last. Still, I see Tampa and Oakland in
the Super Bowl, with Oakland coming out on top.
11/28
Transit
So here I at MSP
Intern'tl Airport. The flight out of
Bzn was delayed about half an hour cuz of fog.
Then the plane arrived at gate G-40, which is at precisely the opposite
end of this gigantic airport from my departure gate, A-14. All that did was to keep me from having both
a beer and a meal. There was only time
for a beer (6.00) and a king-size Snickers (1.25) from the vending
machine. This leads me to an
observation about candy bar sales -- there is far less frequently an option to
even get a regular-sized bar (this machine being an example of that) so why even
call the 'king-size' such? The way I see
it, the candy bars were a hell of a lot bigger when I was a kid anyway, so
let's just cut the crap, y'know what I'm sayin?
Whew. A 24-oz, 6-dollar Sam Adams will make you go
off about stuff. It will also make this
little pda keyboard look fuzzy, so I'll wrap this up.
The only other comment
I really needed to make was about women.
There were at least a half-dozen GORGEOUS ones on the flight from Bzn
this morning, all accompanied by their husbands/boyfriends. I think the odds of meeting a normal, single
one go down a little every day.
Oh, that, and I met a
bloke at the bar coming from Colorado Springs on his way to Dayton and then to
Japan on Sunday. Apparently, this
eastbound detour (to his hometown) saved him 200 dollars on the fare. Sometimes the planets are just aligned, I
guess. More from ER.
Oh a PS after I got on this plane: I am glad I had a drink first. I will be impressed if this thing leaves the ground.
11/27
Super speed
Wow. Quickest update EVER. I am ultra-late gettin outta here, so I’ll just say here’s the last video of the semester, bye!
(ps – more to say over the weekend)
11/27
Less than Sane
It’s Wednesday, the 27th of November, 2002. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. This is a college campus I’m living on. At least fifty percent of the student population has vacated the for the weekend already, bound for their parents’ or friends’ homes, their favorite ski destinations, or some other secluded refuge from the bustle of academia.
A PRIME TIME, one would think, to do some last-minute laundry before leaving on an extended weekend away, so that the load when one gets back is a bit lighter. Ought to be able to go down the stairs, one would think, and find a silent, vacant laundry room, the majority of the kiddies already out the door, and dragging with them the bag of dirty clothes they’ll probably manage to convince Mom to wash for them when they get home.
NOT THE BLOODY CASE. Nonono, at 9:30 AM on this day, the place is BOOKED SOLID. ‘Nary a washer to be had!! Even at 4 on a Saturday afternoon (roughly two hours after your average student will rise) in the heart of the fall, when no one has good reason to be anywhere but SHACKED UP IN THE DORM have I encountered such a high laundry demand.
I am perturbed. More to come later on, things to do, then the previously-promised “last video.”
11/26
Creativity, by God.
Glad to know that it hasn’t left me completely. I have sat down numerous times in the past couple weeks trying to start a new story about a radio DJ in a small Midwestern town (writin what I know, Jen) and I didn’t really know anything except that that guy would be in it. I would sit and lament that all the academic drivel I’ve had to produce this semester crippled me somehow and stole my ability to think outside that strict and stiff discourse. But ah, not the case!
I got something started today, and it felt really nice. Y’know, I’m finding that it is so much damned easier to write about someplace you’ve been, something you’ve done, some situation you’re familiar with. There’s a lot less about the environment you have to imagine to life, leaving you only concerned with the lives of the characters and their relations. It’s nice.
Well, time for me to watch 24 and Smallville now, so that’s where I’m at on that... tomorrow is going to be the Final Video Address of the Semester, so look for that, eh?
If you’re going to be in ER this weekend, see you there!
11/25
Aftermath
Following a long NFL conversation with Josh Schneider this morning, I see good reason to prognosticate on the remaining NFL season as it stands this Monday morning. Me thinks I smell a feature for Mondays the rest of the year....
Josh contends that there is a “conspiracy” in the NFL, not only to have the NFC playoffs all travel through Green Bay, but also for Brett Favre and the Pack to hoist a Lombardi Trophy in San Diego in January as a “farewell” to Favre, who will announce his retirement shortly thereafter. I believe Josh to be full of shit, and I’ve told him as much. Here is how the playoffs will shape up:
As you can see, yesterday’s game will wind up costing the Packers a first-round playoff bye and what would’ve been a home game in Rd 2. In the AFC, Jay Fiedler back in the lineup and the overall parity in the conference will get the Dolphins a home game in the Divisional Round, but they will choke as usual, and San Diego’s youth will be exposed when the Senior NFL Tour drops by from upstate. The only thing I’m changing my mind about already is that it will, in fact, end up being OAKLAND that wins the Super Bowl, not Tampa. The savvy Raiders will find a way to score more than 23 points in that game, putting it out of reach for the O-less Bucs.
So yeah, Super Bowl matchup: Tampa Bay vs. Oakland, Raiders win.
Greatest travesty in the playoffs: Philly’s loss of Donovan McNabb. With him under center, they had a legitimate shot at winning out for the year, and later winning the conference, but with Koy Detmer @ QB, they will win 3, lose 3, and quickly and silently bow out in the Wild Card round.
11/22
Lazy Bastard
Hey, since I wanted to give the “Newsletter” more substance today, my info here is limited to the declaration that there IS a new video online for your consumption. Enjoy.
11/20
Revelation
I went out on a short shoppin trip to day for a few misc items:
· New backpack (zipped broke on the 6-yr vet)
· Drain-O (drains been slow all year, and I totally wasn’t thinkin about how bad it would be to wash all that hair down the drain when I shaved my beard)
· Toothbrush (I like to keep two around all the time: one for my travel bag, so I don’t forget, and one for regular daily use. I’ve been down to one for a while.)
· Tums (Runnin low again, and you can never have too many. I wonder when they’re gonna come out with the 10,000 tablet container?)
So I drove to Target for these items, because, as has been well-documented, I don’t like Wal-Mart and you really can’t count on the K-Mart. So I get out there, and I was walkin past the cards, and I thought to myself, “Todd Lucas gets married next week, I should buy him a card so it actually gets there on time.” Me and buyin cards usually doesn’t work out that well, but now all I have to remember to do is put a stamp on this mother and drop it in the mail. I hope that works... Anyway, if you feel like sending Todd a beer for his birthday (he’ll probably need it) you can click this link, and just remember his e-mail addy is BigToddStud@aol.com.
I was looking at ink for printers and stuff too when I was there, just for fun, and it made me decide to get a lot more conservative with my printing. To replace both cartridges in this mother would be a COOL SIXTY BUCKS!!! Holy crap.
I did buy a DVD lens cleaning disc, though, and like an idiot, thought it would work in my DVD-ROM drive. I am a great big steaming heap of stupid.
I did the math of that armful of purchases (which this “no sales tax” thing makes sooooo easy) and realized that that would already put me over quota for spending this week. That’s cuz I dumbly bought a used copy of Mallrats on a whim from Amazon last night.
On my way home I saw something interesting: there was this 8-point muley buck randomly walking across 19th Ave, a 4-lane city street. Never seen that before, even here in MT. What the hell, eh?
Gonna wait til tomorrow to do a video, just because it’s so close to Sunday night when I did the last one. Yep.
Oh, and it turns out that, much like Canada, Mexico also has its very own government.
11/19
Zany Canucks
You know about Canadians, right? Our northern neighbors? To quote Dave Foley, “... like an American, but without a gun.”? Well for some reason, I came across some Canadian website while I was looking for info on Charles Lindbergh earlier today, and it got me to thinking how cute and funny Canadians (and Canada in general) are. Here are some of the things I’ve found out about Canada that are particularly humorous.
First, the flag: Look at that! It’s red and white! Y’know, like an American flag except those silly Canadians missed a color! Hee-hee!
Next, Parliament: In Canada they call Congress “Parliament,” just like they do in England. It does the same kind of stuff as Congress does, too: they make “laws,” and they have “commitees,” and “bills,” and they even meet in the same building all the time, just like the Congress does in America.
If you go to Canada’s Parliament’s website, there is a section titled “How Canadians Govern Themselves.” Can you believe it?? They have their very own “government”! And they do it without any help from America, I guess...
Languages: In America, most people speak English or some derivative of it. In some places, like Florida, Texas, and California, a bunch of people living in America speak Spanish instead. For this reason, if you buy stuff that has “directions for use,” here in America, a lot of times the directions will be written in Spanish as well as English. In Canada, people don’t really speak Spanish, but in certain parts, called “Quebec,” Canadians speak French, the language of France. This is because when the British Empire pushed all the French settlers out of places like New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts in the late 1600’s, the obstinate and moody French people went north instead of south, but they were happy, cuz Canada turned out to be cleaner anyway. The French people in Canada are almost as big of assholes as the real French. So much so, they have tried a few times in the past to split Quebec off into its own country. So anyway, if you buy stuff with directions on it and some of them are translated into French, that’s a tell-tale sign that people in Quebec are buying the same stuff.
Speaking of language, even when the Canadians do speak English, they sure have a wacky way of doing it! One of the best known, and let’s face it, cutest thing that Canadians say is “aboot.” Used in context, one Canadian might say to another one, “Hey, what is that book you’re reading aboot? Can you pass me a Molsen Ice, eh?” Translated to American English, this phrase would read, “Hey dufus, what’s your book about? Can you grab me a Bud?”
Another curious linguistic tic the Canadians have is to refer to the graded progressions in primary schools backwards. In America, as we all know, after Kindergarten comes “first grade,” followed by “second grade,” “third grade,” and so on. Up in Canada, though, after Kindergarten, the kids go to “grade one,” then “grade two,” “grade three,” etc. On a related topic, Bruce McCulloch did all his acid in grade eight.
Concluding my study of Canada, I discovered that “Quebec” was not just a funny name for a region of the country (like Midwest, New England, or Pacific Northwest here in America) but actually a “province” of Canada. Canada has a bunch of these “provinces,” which could be compared to the American “states.” The Canadians must’ve gotten bored thinking of crazy names, though, cuz there’s nowhere near 50. The provinces are: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon Territories, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Greenland, and Vancouver. Which is your favorite? I’m partial to “Manitoba” myself. Try saying that a few times in a funny voice: “Man-i-to-BA,” “Man-i-toba!”
So anyway, next time you’re looking at a map of North America and saying to yourself, “what is all this space north of America and east of Alaska?” think about our jolly, gun-free, zany Canadian neighbors.
Er, sorry, think “aboot” them.
11/17
Anniversary Issue
I knew it, I just knew it, that if I predicted a Packers victory today, we would seem them fall. Ah well, plenty of the season yet to go.
I’m working quickly here, what with the Simpsons starting in 10 minutes...
This week’s video is #10. I know, I know, several days later than usual. Explanation for that contained therein.
Beard continues to fill in, I’m happy about that.
Make sure you’re getting plenty of iron, more tomorrow, as today was fairly point-free.
11/16
I’d Like to Thank the Academy
So I was just updating my “Bockbuster” spreadsheet, a phrase first coined by JR Bock @ Marquette University in the mid-90’s. This is a list of all the movies that I own, and I haven’t made additions to it in... more than a year now, and since I don’t have all my movies with me, there are certainly a number of titles I added between October 2001 and September 2002 that I just forgot about and couldn’t put in. Suffice it to say, my list now stands at “over” 160 titles.
I have the movies cataloged according to four categories: Title, Director, Year, Format (VHS or DVD). I’m sure it wouldn’t interest you at all to hear some of the stats I’ve compiled about that list, so let’s proceed, shall we?
Most Pervasive Director
... and the award goes to: Robert Zemeckis. Surprised me at first, but I guess it really shouldn’t have. I own six of his movies, three of them are Back to the Future’s. Ironically, I have none of them here with me in MT.
Most Movies in a Series
... and the award goes to: Star Trek. Yes, nine of them, a victory ruled by my geekitude and the sheer volume of films produced. The next one looks cool, though.
Most Common Unique First Letter of Last Name of Director
... and the award goes to: “S.” Unique in this case means individual directors with a common first-letter last name (the L’s only get George Lucas once). So “s” wins, with Joel Schumacher, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, William Shatner, M Night Shyamalan, Bryan Singer, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Barry Sonnenfeld, Steven Spielberg (and I happen to think it’s creepy that MS Word is so well acquainted with Spielberg’s name, it doesn’t suspect that it’s a misspell), Roger Spottiswoode, Oliver Stone, and Mel Stuart.
Oldest Movie
... and the award goes to: Reefer
Madness, 1938.
If you’re unfamiliar with the film, I quote from a summary written on IMDB by one Rick Gregory: “Propaganda film that
relates the story, as told by high school principal Dr. Carroll to parents at a
PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana.”
Two words: Hi. Larious.
Most Movies in a Release Year
... and the award goes to: 1999, with 13, beating out 1989 by 1. The 13 from 99 are: Bringing Out the Dead, Fight Club, Frequency, The Green Mile, The Hurricane, Magnolia, Man on the Moon, The Matrix, Pushing Tin, The Sixth Sense, Star Wars: Episode I, and Three Kings. I have five of these here with me, same number as I have present from 89.
Most Common Format
... and the award goes to: DVD, with 81, which has just recently eeked past VHS, standin still or goin down at 79.
It’s a Trap!
... take evasion action.
So that’s that. Oh, and “where the hell’s my video?” is a great question which I don’t know the answer to; maybe one will show up tomorrow??
Football predictions as well, just 12 hours before kickoff now....
PACK – 24 QUEENS – 22. A last second field goal will save the G&G a major embarassment.
BEARS – 17 RAMS – 38. Marc Bulger breaks his own record for the Rams?
11/14
Meesa Gettin Very Very Scared
I saw the following Montana state license plate in the parking lot yesterday evening (not making this up):
“JR JR BNKS”
I was temped to wait by the car and punch the guy in the kidney.
11/12
Capitalism
I think “11” is the channel for the WB everywhere. They start a new WB affiliate somewhere, they ask the Frog, “Well, uh, wha-what spot y’want on the cable?” and the Frog goes, “What’ll it take to get 11?”
So I don’t know if told you this or not, but I was really excited when I saw the following ad in the Sunday paper this week:
A similar ad in the Wal-Mart circular quoted the price at like 19.97 or something, so I didn’t think much of it, I was just like, “Hey, I’m goin to K-Mart on Tuesday for Episode II.”
So right after I get home from class today I go ahead and call my ma and pa, cuz Dad wanted to talk to me about maybe flyin home for T-giving (which I am gonna do; kinda neat) and right following that I was dashin out the door to visit K-Mart and pick up that DVD.
Well I get to K-mart, and uh, I’m, y’know, lookin’ around for the movie, and uh, I’m not findin’ it, and so I’m like, “heywhatisthisbullshit?” I flag down senor la electronic K-Mart boy, and he’s all, “Can I help you find something?” and I say, “Well! I hope so! Where’s the Episode II? The Star Wars? Where is it?”
“On DVD?” he asks.
“Well of course.”
“Yeah, we don’t have it.”
* Jason gapes at him, confused. *
“We only got like, four copies of it.”
Again, befuddled, I ask, “WHY?”
* Young man shrugs. *
“It’s K-Mart.”
Fair enough, my young friend. Fair enough.
So I drove next door to Wal-Mart where they had approximately 90 million copies and, conveniently, they were on sale for the low-low price of 14.77. Rock. And. Roll.
Speaking of which, I had a damn fine drive out of that parking lot, cuz I had Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” on the tapedeck and I was doing the Night at the Roxbury head-dance thing.
Have a good evening.
11/11
Mousey
I can’t really recall any time in the past when I just ate cheese. Cheese: by itself, nothing to augment it; not placed on a cracker, or a sandwich, or melted over tortilla chips, not with wine, not with beer, not with coffee, just cheese, alone and sad in all its solemn cheesiness. Yet yesterday and today I found myself cutting up a block of cheddar that came with my package from Usinger’s and just poppin straight cheese into my mouth. I don’t know which of the following this sudden change can be attributed to:
· new proximity to Wisconsin
· desire to try new things
· simply nothing to put it on
Well, anyway, I’m busy with some writing and research, not too intensely, though; I’m also watchin TNG. Oh, look: there’s a commercial for South Park. We don’t get South Park in Bozeman because our city has a morality council that decided it shouldn’t be on the cable. Creepy, eh?
My beard continues to progress, and I think it should definitely be back in good shape by Christmas.
right before I shaved (well a few days) earlier today (9 days growth)
11/09
Res (for)Lifers
I had to work early this morning. I agreed to work for some hoser kid who couldn’t make it or whatever. Didn’t bother me. He gave me plenty of notice, called like last week Saturday or Sunday. So I went to bed a little early, although not as early as usual on those working days. I was in the sack at 9:45, had to get up at 3:30. And since I didn’t get out of bed that morning until 9 AM, this was a pretty early time to put myself down. Took me til about 10:30 to finally fall asleep.
Right round 10 past 11, I am stirred from my slumber by a ringing, a noise which I assume, of course, is my alarm clock (aw shit, time to get up…) and no, that wasn’t what it was. My phone was ringing. Bear in mind I don’t have friends around here, and definitely not friends that would be calling me at 11 PM unless it was on my cell phone to meet me at a bar and two more issues: 1) I don’t have a cell phone anymore, 2) I don’t go to bars around here. Whoever could it be calling me at this hour?
Well, at first I thought maybe it was Christy, which wouldn’t bother me terribly much, she’s a college kid and keeps really strange hours, and she’s called me at that time before. But nonono, it was NOT Christy; she is in LaX this weekend visiting Grandma & Grandpa.
It was one DANA MURPHY, a man (well, technically a man; I mean, hardware-wise) who lives in my hall and works at the desk. He is also the “president” of the hall or some such bullshit, whatever, y’know? But this moron is callin me up after 11 to see if I’m working at 4 the next morning. Well, chumpy, I reckon if I were, I’d probably be in bed right now, eh? Yeah, he was just wondering if I wanted him to work it for me. Well, once again, S-fer-B, if I wanted you to work for me, I probably woulda called, eh? Ok, so I can call him back in his room or on his cell phone if I want him to work! Yippy frickin skippy.
I don’t know, this is another of those situations where I dunno if it’s exclusively Midwesterners that have manners or something, but can honestly say I’ve never called someone I don’t know at 11 o’clock in the evening unless their child was bleeding to death, and since I’ve never had to call anyone about a bleeding child, that talley remains at ZERO for me. Who the hell calls when humans are sleeping? Dammitall.
Anyway, I called his machine back and reamed it right the hell out, cuz I just found the late-night calling really rude. Plus, I never liked the kid from the word “go.” He’s a Res (for)Lifer, and worse than the RA/CA-division of that breed, he’s on the “hall government” side, and those people are far more fake, fruity, and stupid. I’ve met this chump like five times, and he introduces himself like we’ve never met every single time, but we’re still best buds right away, y’know? He’s a politician, and man those people (the politicians that don’t actually hold a public office) really piss me off. So I guess in a way, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to nail this kid to the wall.
Yeah, the Res (for)Lifers… it’s uncanny how they’re the same wherever you go.
11/08
81,204
That’s the number of characters in this document before I started writing today. Yeah, had a busy week, so didn’t have much time for the ol’ site here. Big things were that I finished The Two Towers, so now I can just concentrate exclusively on reading stuff for class for the rest of the semester, I kept my room nice and tidy so that I didn’t need to “clean” it on Friday (today) and I printed a couple more pictures out, put em in frames and hung them on the wall. It’s starting to look like a grown-up lives here.
Yeah, and then I called the theater about 10 this morning to see what they got in new this week (hopin for Truth About Charlie) and low and behold, in a town out here in po-dunk MONTANA, Eminem’s new feature, 8 Mile can be seen on opening weekend, still no TAC. Oh – but in case you missed it in the first 90 weeks it ran, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is STILLLLLL THERE!!!!!
Congrats to Jim Doyle for winning the governor’s race in WI, now let’s just hope he gives Schrubbe a job.
I need to brush my teeth right now.
So what’s the deal with toothpaste splatter? It’s all over the mirror, but usually my mouth is closed while I brush. How does that happen? (Shut up, Jerry.)
It’s a good thing I write stuff down in my notebook, cuz then we’d have things like this that I thought about and wanted to say about three days ago but just didn’t have a chance to, and I woulda forgot, and no one would benefit from the wisdom of my experience.
I get two stations (usually) on the radio here in Boze-ville. Sometimes only one comes in, and that’s the oldies station. The call letters are “KOBB,” and their little station slogan is “Fun Lovin’ Bob!”
…..
….
So, what I wanna know is, in what the hell state does “OBB” spell “Bob?” I’ve thought of a better slogan for the station, and I think I’ll call the GM with it on Monday: “KOBB – Crap-playin’ Kob!” Trust me. Far more truthful.
On that trip around town (musta been Tuesday or Wednesday) I bought a tape at K-Mart for those occasions when I forget to bring the CD magazine along, cuz I’m done with the radio in this market. Just awful, awful, awful. But that tape quest was kind of a trip, too, cuz I found out Target doesn’t actually sell audio cassettes anymore, at Wal-Mart they’re in some mysterious way more expensive than CD’s, so yeah, K-Mart, last resort as usual, but they still had the discount rack. 4.99 and I got Billboard’s Top 10 from 1983. Ask Jen what they are.
Oh back on Monday Christy told me that Storyhill is playing two shows this fall: one in Minneapolis the day before Thanksgiving, one here in Bozeman on Dec 6. I’m gonna go to the one here, but I don’t think I’ll make it to the other one.
I got an exciting package FedEx-ed to me yesterday, but more on that in this week’s video address, full of phat flav-uh.
And it’s getting close to 7 now, when a show comes on that I like watching, so real quick, here are your football predictions:
Lions coming to Lambeau to face the 7-1 and suddenly nationally renowned Packers. This is typically where the Pack shudders under the pressure. Detroit CANNOT win in Green Bay, though, no matter how lightly any of the Green & Gold boys may take them. It will be startlingly close, though: PACK – 26 LIONS – 20.
Oh, and the Bears are still playing, too, I guess… don’t know why, but it’s probably some fine you can get from the NFL or something if you don’t finish the season. Not only do they face the revived defending champs in IL, but they’ve got Chris Chandler back under center. Ouch. BEARS – 12 (all field goals) PATS – 31.
11/04
Elections
Thank the LORD that election day is tomorrow and that means the end of the commercials. I have definitely had enough. Anyway, if you live in WI, make sure you go, you gotta vote for a governor, and if we haven’t talked about it already, let me take this opportunity to officially endorse Tomah mayor and Libertarian candidate ED THOMPSON. Why not Ed? Look at all the BS that the other mainstream candidates have gotten involved in over the years, and then look at Ed. He’s just a businessman who wants to run the state in a sensible way. Why not Ed?
I had two things happen to me today for the first time in the history of doing laundry:
- The machine stopped running in the midst of one of my loads (specifically, during the spin cycle) with the error UNBALANCE displayed on the little digital readout. I had to run the machine again cuz there was zero spinnage.
- Having already wasted 75 cents on a load that only needed to be spun, I was scanning my card for an extension on the dryer and accidentally punched the button for the washer I’d been using. This was after I had completed the “wash” phase. So I hope the bastard kid that washed for free appreciated it.
Let’s see, let’s see… report on the weekend? Movie was good on Friday; wound up running into English (dept) people there, so we were there “together,” I guess. Then Saturday night was good as well. Driving to Three Forks from Boze-town is about the same as going from the south side out to Waukesha, so, y’know, whatever.
Ok, well I’m digging in for the game tonight… make sure you watch the Fish get filleted.
Oh, one last thing: I just found out the other day that I have to pay extra to stay in the dorm over the turkey holiday. What a buncha crap.
Don’t forget to vote for Ed tomorrow. Dave will thank you, too.
11/01
Catharsis
Yeah, how bout that? I feel better, by the way. Better than I did last week around this time or so. I think it was around this time. But more on that in the new video.
Mom and Dad sent me cookies. They sent me a prescription for my glasses, too, so I went right out and got some new frames right away. That was fun. I went to a one-hour joint in the mall, so it was quick, painless, and expensive. I dropped almost 3 bills on 2 pair of glasses (bought the first, 2nd one free) but the insurance covers it I guess, so, no harm, no foul.
Speaking of foul: Yes, that is a foul odor you detect coming from Champaign, IL, and what a segue into football predictions for this week!
The Bears are just awful. As I knew they would be. I don’t think there was ever any doubt in a Packer fan’s mind that last year was the longest sting of luck in the history of pro football. Welcome back to Earth, ye Midway Midgets. EAGLES – 41 BEARS – 20.
The Packers, meanwhile, have amazed me to this point. After a weak first couple games, they’ve come to the mid-point in the season with little doubt of a division title. That’s if Brett stays healthy. And that is a very small if. The Fish, on the other hand, God-laugh-at-em, don’t have the greatest first string quarterback, so their second stringer, well… it’s not good. They signed an ex-player off the staff of HBO’s Inside the NFL last week, but they picked the wrong one.
That being the case, it’s really no contest on Monday Night,
FISH – 9 PACK – 27
Finally get to see Punch Drunk Love tonight at the Rialto, and tomorrow I’m going to a party with other English grads. Should be fun. Well, I’m watchin TV right now, so I’ll catch up tomorrow most likely.
10/31
Sorry Forgot One
- My Big Fat Greek damn Wedding has been playing at the Campus Square theater nearby my residence roughly as long as Cats played in New York. For God’s sake, I hope they have another movie there this week…
10/31
Peeves
Boo. Halloween.
So I have a couple general complaints to put forth at this point.
- My damned computer. Disaster was averted yesterday, when symptoms identical to those when the motherboard fried back in early September turned out to be indicative of merely a spent power supply. However, since that meltdown, problems have continued to surface at the least ideal times, and I have come close to tossing the tower out the window on a couple occasions. The screen stopped me. I reasoned yesterday that all these things are probably fallout from the damage caused by the meltdown, and I pray it wasn’t a lie.
- The bathroom on my floor smells like a septic tank. Or worse; y’know that smell of the “bathroom” at a public beach or a park, or an old wayside or what have you? That rotten odor of ancient fecal decomposition? That smell that makes it difficult to breathe? Yes, the bathroom on my floor smells like that. It’s gotten progressively worse throughout the week, so that now, I can’t stand to be in there long enough to even take a leak. I have to go down the stairs to the second floor for all of my bathroomin’ activities. These conditions may be acceptable if rather than Bozeman this were Beruit, but c’mon, we live in AMERICA.
- The thermostat in my room is a useless wall decoration. The current temperature in Boze-town is 12 degrees Fahrenheit. My thermostat is set at 55. My window is open. The temperature in my room is a balmy 71. And there are now posters hanging on the walls in the hall warning residents, “Don’t try to regulate the temperature in your room with your window; you’ll break pipes.” Well, I would ask, then, how we should regulate the temperature. I guess once the winter REALLY gets here, I’ll have to bring buckets of snow in from outdoors and spread their contents on the floor.
- Use of the clothes dryer is not intended as a contest with one’s self to see if you can, in fact, pack more garments in it than you did the last time. Several residents of my building seem to be hellbent on answering that age-old question, “Can my entire wardrobe fit in ONE DRYER???” Yes, you simpleton, you probably can squeeze all of them in there. And at that capacity, they will probably only take 8-12 hours to dry.
Computer problem is explanation for my lack of a new video yesterday, but it’s on the way, most likely tomorrow.
10/28
Hyperactivity
Had a bunch to get done today, and a bunch to say as well, but my brain was going too fast to keep them all in order so I had to quickly jot down a list.
· Turns out I had too much confidence in the Chicago Bears this weekend. Trust that I will remember that in the future.
· Congrats to the Anaheim Angels, who beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series in seven games, just like Lorch and I predicted.
· I decided to go outside yesterday round football time and I shot a roll of film around campus. I tried to do some things with point-of-view that I haven’t tried in the past, so I’m eager to get those back and let you all look at them.
· I’m hummin through The Two Towers now, and I want to make sure I finish before the flick comes out mid-December. The only thing is, I should probably be reading something else. Eh, if I finish this one right away, then I won’t have to worry about it anymore, right?
· I went out this morning to drop off that film I took yesterday, and I bought some whiskey and 2 DVD’s, since they were used and on sale for 7.50 apiece. Well, first, with regard to the whiskey: it’s waaaaaaaay more cost-effective to buy a 1.75 liter bottle and pour its contents into your glass bottle with pour top. However, to accomplish this, you’ll require some means of keeping the whiskey from spilling all over the sink during this transfer, e.g, a funnel. Which I don’t have. Which means I gotta go get one of those. Second, with regard to the DVD’s: the two I picked up are A Beautiful Mind and Gosford Park (which Jen and I saw together, and, funny story, I thought we both thought it was pretty good, and she thought we both thought it pretty much sucked. Huh). I didn’t notice until I got home though that the copy of ABM that I grabbed was formatted, not widescreen, and we all know that widescreen is better. So now I have to take this mother back and exchange it.
· I saw this kid in my hall earlier today that was some sort of mutant cross between me and Wordy: he was fat like me, and dumb lookin’ like Wordell. It was really creepy.
This is also creepy:
and this is even more creepy if you ask me:
That’s all for now; need to do something productive today.
10/27
Brainiac
Yesterday, I had to consult my website to remember what my phone number is, cuz I never call it and rarely have to give it out.
10/27
Late Night
No David Letterman on this program, folks, but if you haven’t watched Dave lately, holy crap, you really should cuz he’s been letting this Dr. Phil guy just have it on the show all the time and it’s hilarious.
Oh, and I should probably mention Conan too, cuz he’s on NBC’s Late Night now, and his show is also funny. But no one beats Dave. That much is certain.
There’s a new video hap’nin right now, and it’s a shortie, so even if your attention wanes easily while watching me yap on in a chair in my room, you may have the patience for it… who knows? In any case, this leads me to yet another revision of the policy on the weekly videos: due to considerations of disk space conservation, the CURRENT video and the FIRST PREVIOUS video will be the only two available online at any one time. So I hope you’re either keeping up or don’t care. And what the hell, I’ll take this opportunity to say once again, just in case you maybe are new or haven’t scrolled down or whatever the reason, videos are in Windows Media format, if you’re on Internet Explorer and you just click the link, it’ll play in your browser, if you are on Netscape or would prefer to download, right-click and Save. That is all on that.
BUMMER FOR ALL HARRY POTTER FANS: This guy just died.
Let’s see, let’s see… Halloween coming up this week. I was over at Ewan & Meredith’s earlier tonight for dinner and a flick, and they were telling me that Kyle & Robin went to a murder mystery shindig @ the Mahoney’s house (I don’t even know if I spelled that right) and that sounded like fun. I remember we always had a good time at the Halloween parties in Mad-town… well, two of ‘em anyway. The last one we did after most people were done with school and I went as “radioactive” was fairly lame. That time, it was just nice to be with friends and all that.
the men at the Madison Halloween gig in 99, before Lorch showed up. I think he was working.
I’m listening to Dave Matthews Live @ Red Rocks, a move motivated by the signature of Jen’s e-mail. It’s a good record.
Quickquickquick, before the games kick off for this week, a quick prediction on the Bears game: given that I just picked up Daunte Culpepper to be my backup QB in my fantasy league, and given that the Bears will go into the Twinkie Dome without their (can’t help but chuckle a little here) star quarterback Jim Miller, signs point to another branch to run into on the Chicago freefall. No doubt, that “let’s play 16 road games” decision that the Bears’ brass made for this year is biting them in the ass a little. I say Minnesota – 27, Chicago – 16. BUT, Culpepper will still throw 3 INTs, and Randy Moss will not be that effective, which will piss off the Bears fans that much more. Yep. Oh and the Fish won’t lose, cuz luckily, they have a bye.
10/25
Positive
Living in a single 15’ x 12’ room, if nothing else, makes it pretty easy to find your keys.
10/24
Things I Love
Personal identity has always been both very important to me and very troublesome for me to grasp hold of. The questions of “who am I?” and “what will I be?” have perplexed me for more time that I can remember. My inability to find an answer to these questions is one of the things that drove me to where I am today. A few “truths” that I can pull out of my struggle are the following:
· Other people don’t have the same problem answering these questions. I surmise this from the observation of people going about their lives in a very certain (as in unconfused) way, and proceeding from one point to another with confidence and success. If other people in fact do have the same problem, they hide it or ignore it far more deftly than I.
· The answers to these questions cannot be found by reading any amount of philosophy, religion, psychology, or biography. Each of us is unique, and our struggles with these questions are part of what defines us as individuals.
· Like so many things, the answers don’t make themselves more apparent and don’t become clearer the harder you look.
I came west to go to graduate school, yes, but why did I choose to go to grad school? I came here to “find myself,” to invoke a common phrase. I came to the end of 23 years and the end of college within 15 days of each other, and I had no answer to the questions, “what am I?” “Who am I?” “What will I be?” I’ve ruminated on these things textually in the past, and for academic purposes or for reasons of social commentary, I’ve angrily pointed to my culture and blamed it for shaping me. I’ve said that is it was you, Western World, Capitalism, America, all you giant, evil, faceless, soulless entities, you forced me into a box; you make me pick a title and an explanation for myself. You won’t just let me be.
But what is that argument, really? It’s only an adversarial stance that empowers me; it lets me play the part of the martyr, the shapeless man who gallantly fought off the ridgedness of society. And why did the man do that? He was bigger? He was better than that? Perhaps. That may be true, and there are applicable instances of this Man vs. World dynamic in all our lives, but still: all that is won is a few more steps in a race away from what is designed as a more esoteric, personal question: “Who am I?” “What will I be?” It’s not Culture or Capitalism that drives my mind to address these questions. It is a fact of human nature. We ask these questions because we are reasonable, rational beings desirous of form and order. After all this time, why do I have no response?
Perhaps my life (and subsequently I) is far simpler than I wish it to be. My ego then would be the obstacle to an answer.
Many of the things in our world are defined by what they are not. Down is not up, under is not over, start is not finish, etc. To a great extent, we must define ourselves the same way. I came here because the places I’d been gave me no answer. I was not a man who would find contentment living in the pot where I was planted, so I left my mom and dad. I didn’t see enough on my second stop to make me think I would be happy, so I left my friends in college. I sank as low as I could get and thought I would lose my mind at my third stop, and as quickly as I could, I came here. The logic was simple: this isn’t working, so try something else. I said I needed to be alone. I blamed the things around me and the things that had come to be about me for my befuddled complacency, and I reasoned that if I could just get away, be alone, and think about it, an answer would come. But it hasn’t. It doesn’t seem to be on the horizon, either.
I fooled myself into thinking there was something better to be found far away, and that I would reach some new heightened state of self-awareness through the simple metamorphosis caused by living in this new space. But there’s been no metamorphosis and if anything, I’m all the more confused. I fled the security of the things I knew, and now I’m here: facing the stark and ice-cold reality alone, without the answers.
When I decided to come here, I said I wanted to learn. But I didn’t say what. Perhaps all I’m really trying to learn are the answers to the questions: “What am I?” “Who am I?” “What will I be?” There’s no course in that here, so maybe I chased a phantom across the country. Maybe I’m kidding myself and there really is nothing left to discover. Perhaps all I see in the mirror is all there is to see. “What am I?” Right now you’re really… nothing substantial. “Who am I?” You’re just “Jason” and that’s it. “What will I be?” Looks pretty bleak at this point.
But of course, I’ve said all these things and been in this place before. I don’t know; maybe that’s the point.
10/23
Got Guinness?
10/22
Restoration
Wow, what happened to the weekend??
Honestly, after such an exciting Friday, I simply didn’t feel all that inclined to update the site over the weekend. I did do something fun on Friday night, though; I scanned a ton of photos that I have in my store here, and that was the first time I did that since early last spring, and of course, I wouldn’t have needed to scan anything at all if my computer didn’t hate me, but that’s another topic all together.
That was also one of my longer run-on sentences ever.
Anyway, here’s a couple of the photos:
That’s Dad on the road while we were driving through Badlands National Park on our way to Bozeman. On a related topic, I bet you didn’t know that today is my dad’s birthday. He’s 49 years old. Just 365 more days ‘til the big 5-0. I remember when Dad turned 40; we shot the spud gun out in the garage. If you want to send my dad a beer for his birthday (which would be nice, wouldn’t it?) click this link. His e-mail address is “donnybock@hotmail.com”
That’s me with Mark Knuetson and Nick Petters at Eric & Christine’s wedding back on the 1st of June.
Speaking of weddings, here’s one that I liked from Sarah & Dan’s.
Yeah, my computer hates me, though, and that’s why I didn’t update yesterday; I was reinstalling Windows AGAIN. I’ve grown quite tired of putting up with this machine since I’ve been here in MT, and in order to vent yesterday, I snapped a stack of 3 CD’s in half (don’t worry, they had errors, they were coasters anyway). One of them poked my finger and made me bleed for a few minutes, but I was really really angry.
Ok, time for me to do some writing now.
10/18
Puttin Out Fires
Today is Friday, and usually on a Friday, I’ll have some things on a list somewhere that should be taken care of, and since I don’t have to go to class the next day or anything, I put homework aside and go do those things. Such was the case today and I decided that trip would also be the subject of this week’s video. It’s on the longer time side (8:41) and consequently the file size side (14.6 mb) but heavy in content, people, so take a look.
Last night I went to see The Bourne Identity for a second time. It was only a buck, so that was nice. I still enjoyed the movie even though I’d seen it before. Schneider’s keeping me on my toes as far as predicting football games goes, and where he had the audacity to predict scores in the Bears, Packers, Vikings, and Dolphins games, I will only be predicting the PACK and the Losers (I mean Bears).
GB’s at home this week to take on the Washington Redskins, a team now coached by former Florida offensive guru Steve Spurrier. On paper, the PACK should dominate. The ‘Skins just don’t have the personnel. However, recent history of the Packers will show that in games they should win, they tend to play down to their competition, sometimes to the point where they’ll drop a sure “W.” Case(s) in point:
· Dec 16 2001: Coming in with a 3-game win streak, and having the opportunity to seize control of the NFC Central, the Packers travel to Tennessee and lose to a 5-7 Titans team that disappointed from the season’s opening kickoff.
· Nov 18 2001: The loss that came right before that 3-game win streak, and right after two BIG division wins over Tampa Bay and Chicago, Packers lose to the Atlanta Falcons at home. The defense got shredded by Atlanta’s FULLBACK, Bob Christian. Also wound up being LeRoy Butler’s last game.
· Nov 27 2000: The Pack was pretty pathetic this year (finished 9-7) but one of the only more pathetic teams in the NFC was the Carolina Panthers, who wrapped up at 7-9 but shalacked the Packers on the Monday Night stage, due in large part to Green Bay’s five turnovers.
I think this week will be another one of those times. So, my prediction is: Washington – 31 GB – 24. Now, I will qualify this prediction by saying, if the Packers do pull it out on Sunday, I won’t have any choice but to bank on victory every week from here on out, because to me, it will mean the team is taking every game seriously.
The Bears, meanwhile, still hurting after the bye week, will continue their freefall back to earth with a surprising loss at the hands of young Lions quarterback Joey Harrington. Bears – 19 Lions – 26.
I think I’m gonna start doing some other things on my list now, so peace out.
10/17
Caffeinated
I should be writing a paper right now but
I’m too wired on JOE.
I wanted to wear some non-jeans pants
today, but all my non-jeans require ironing, and I’m too lazy to do it. I just noticed that the jeans I put on smell
bad, so that means I have to do something else with my pants choice today (I
mean, I’m not going out with smelly pants).
My only alternatives are the wear the pants I wore on Tuesday, which
everyone else in class already saw this week, or go wrinkled. Wrinkled probably could be interpreted to
mean I was just too busy with all my work to iron my pants. Wearing the same pants as earlier in the
week could potentially say the same thing.
Dammit what to do?? DECISONSDECISIONSDECISIONS!
Ummmmm… elsewhere, all the previous videos
are now back online. I got more space
from my hosting folks today. So you can
even get the big one from the 28th of September if you haven’t seen
it yet.
“But what about a new video??”
Good question. Valid. Perfectly reasonable. That video to come most likely after class today.
Ok gotta write.
10/16
Mark Your Calendars
I figure to be back in WI again on Monday, the 16th of December. I’m tentatively planning New Year’s in Oshkosh. I think this is a reasonable compromise since I’d like to be in Eagle River, Oshkosh, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis all at the same time for that holiday. Let’s all go to Oshkosh! We can paint the town… a variety of colors.
Oh the other thing you can mark on your calendars is May 8, 2004. That’s a Saturday. I’ll be graduating from college round two that day. I don’t expect a bunch of you to show up, but if you wanna send a card or something, y’know, it’s never too early to get that shopping done.
I was looking up an address on mapquest earlier today, and there was the option to see an aerial photo of the spot I was looking at, which I thought was neat, so I said, “Hey, I could download an aerial photo of my building and put it on the site!” Wouldn’t that be neat? I thought so. But they didn’t have one for Bozeman so I put up one of Grandma’s house in Milwaukee instead.
Oh and here’s one of Nelson Hall, where Christy lives.
But that’s black and white, that sucks.
Here, check it out: this is Schrubbe’s building, but of course, he’s living with Kyle and Robin right now, so… whatever.
I’ve got some things to do around the “house” today as well, so I may not have time for a video. I’ll try real hard though.
10/14
Coup
Much like last Thursday’s “Pressure,” the Coup is two-fold.
First, and looking back, I now realized that I failed to predict a score for the weekend’s Packer game, but way to go GB, pulling the upset in New England. In all honesty, I’m not ashamed to admit that while I was ruminating about a final score last Friday, I hadn’t come up with anything specific, but I definitely was banking on a Packer loss. This will balance out the loss they’ll have at the hands of the Lions