Monday, March 30, 2009
?
"You will have a close encounter of a surprising kind." What the hell kind of fortune is that? I'd much prefer a close encounter of the dull, unsurprising, normal kind. Now I've gotta look out for something that might both surprise me and come close to me. Lousy Chinese and their witchcraft (brujeria).
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sam Asked, I'm Delivering
Wondering where I'd gone, Sam asked why I haven't been writing. Saying I've nothing to write about, I've just been presented with a nuisance to raise some noise about. Skaters and their fisheyes.
Ever watch a skate video? You haven't? Well that's probably a good thing seeing as they're ALL THE SAME! Consisting of quick cuts of one trick after another set to music that's always so God-awful that it most always causes one's ears to bleed, the skate video is so simply done and predictable that you have to wonder if there's not just stock footage somewhere and somehow all the skaters putting home videos together arrange them all in the same sequence. Sort of like rats in a maze all finding the same route to the cheese due to their sense of smell. The major thing for skaters is the fisheye lens.
The fisheye lens is a double-edged sword. While you get some great shots that add a nice effect to a typical photo, overuse causes you to look like you rely too heavily on it for "creativity." The problem is that skaters suck the creativity out of the fisheye. I've sold some. All have been to skaters wanting to use them for their skate videos. The reaction is always the same "aw, that'd be so sick!" They're also the most annoying customers as they seem to make the most fuss (and also the least grateful towards services rendered). The fisheye in a skate video is always used in conjunction with a slow-motion shot. There need to be a minimum of five of these in a one minute video in order for a skate-videographer's piece to be considered "bomb," but I hear the committee is thinking about upping the ante to seven/minute.
Reason I bring this is up is about half an hour ago I had some doofus and his sister coming in barking orders about a fisheye right when I'd gotten back from my break and wanted me to magically pull out the right step-up ring for their video camera when they didn't even know the diameter they needed for it and expected me to have all the necessary equipment for them. Even after telling them that we didn't carry all the parts they needed, they insisted I look for them right after I'd just gone through every single ring size we had and showed them we didn't have one that fit the lens they wanted to buy. Thankfully their dad came in shortly thereafter and told them not to buy it, otherwise I'd still be stuck with those mooks in the store having me dig through all the shit we don't have and refusing to listen to the guy who actually knows what he's doing. To counteract future inconveniences I've just taken the fisheye off the shelf. Take THAT you stupid kids!
Ever watch a skate video? You haven't? Well that's probably a good thing seeing as they're ALL THE SAME! Consisting of quick cuts of one trick after another set to music that's always so God-awful that it most always causes one's ears to bleed, the skate video is so simply done and predictable that you have to wonder if there's not just stock footage somewhere and somehow all the skaters putting home videos together arrange them all in the same sequence. Sort of like rats in a maze all finding the same route to the cheese due to their sense of smell. The major thing for skaters is the fisheye lens.
The fisheye lens is a double-edged sword. While you get some great shots that add a nice effect to a typical photo, overuse causes you to look like you rely too heavily on it for "creativity." The problem is that skaters suck the creativity out of the fisheye. I've sold some. All have been to skaters wanting to use them for their skate videos. The reaction is always the same "aw, that'd be so sick!" They're also the most annoying customers as they seem to make the most fuss (and also the least grateful towards services rendered). The fisheye in a skate video is always used in conjunction with a slow-motion shot. There need to be a minimum of five of these in a one minute video in order for a skate-videographer's piece to be considered "bomb," but I hear the committee is thinking about upping the ante to seven/minute.
Reason I bring this is up is about half an hour ago I had some doofus and his sister coming in barking orders about a fisheye right when I'd gotten back from my break and wanted me to magically pull out the right step-up ring for their video camera when they didn't even know the diameter they needed for it and expected me to have all the necessary equipment for them. Even after telling them that we didn't carry all the parts they needed, they insisted I look for them right after I'd just gone through every single ring size we had and showed them we didn't have one that fit the lens they wanted to buy. Thankfully their dad came in shortly thereafter and told them not to buy it, otherwise I'd still be stuck with those mooks in the store having me dig through all the shit we don't have and refusing to listen to the guy who actually knows what he's doing. To counteract future inconveniences I've just taken the fisheye off the shelf. Take THAT you stupid kids!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Music For 3/24/09
You've got your troubles, I've got mine, but everybody feels better when it's banjo time!
The Two Man Gentlemen Band
The Big Strong Man and Drip Dryin'
The Two Man Gentlemen Band
The Big Strong Man and Drip Dryin'
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sick
Not in the "oh, man, that's sick!" sense. I never say that. Would never say that. Not saying you can't say it. Just saying I don't. Anyways. I'm just regular sick (OF YOUR FACE! - OH! Sorry). Maybe it's all the traveling, lack of healthy eating, 11-12 hour days of school and work (or both combined), rage induced by the juggler at SPV. April 1st. A day that will live in infamy. Maybe the 31st. Haven't decided yet. Delirious. "Working." Ugh. Need vitamins. Juice. Hissssssss.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Idiots
Why would you order just one each of the popular model cameras? Why? We're just going to have to order more in a week. But it'll take you three just to put the order in. Then you'll wonder why we haven't put an order in for more. The reason I picked the cameras you just ordered was because they're very easily sold. They're reliable, light-weight, have viewfinders and they come in colors that people besides you like. You say that people don't like the blue model because only two were sold when four of the silver were sold? WELL THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ONLY ORDERED TWO BLUE ONES AND YOU ORDERED FOUR SILVER! Sigh. No wonder this store isn't holding its own. I need to get out of here. Fast. Two months.
Tomorrow + 11 Days From
Tomorrow is a day that will go down in the history of me. When they write my biography an entire chapter will be dedicated to this event and the day that follows 11 days afterward. After the event I will elaborate. For now I will sit in class dreaming of the greatness to come.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Light Posting
Today and tomorrow. I've got several online quizzes to take by tomorrow. And a midterm tomorrow.
UPDATE:
4 of 8 online quizzes complete.
7:00 pm
UPDATE:
4 of 8 online quizzes complete.
7:00 pm
Monday, March 16, 2009
There & Back Ag-Wait, Wrong Story
I was planning on writing something longer than what you're about to read, but after making it back to SD I began feeling awful sick-like, so I'm not going to try to hard at work or at writing anything right now since I just want to sit back and drink juice.
I left SD this weekend to make a trip out to Utah for my old high school buddy's wedding reception (we couldn't get into the actual wedding due to religious stuff). Andrew and I left around 11am on Saturday and got to our campsite (camping was $25 with an online reservation, hotels were $60+) around 5:30pm mountain time (so 4:30 our time). That included a stop for lunch.
The reception was scheduled to start at 7pm. We showed up about 5 minutes early to see my former government teacher outside on his cell (he happens to be the uncle of the groom). We flagged him down and entered with him. We saw a line formed leading to the bride and groom along with their folks. We stood in that line awaiting our turn to shake the hands of all of the above. For the 1 hour 40 minutes we were there, that's all there was. We ended up spending our entire time with aforementioned Government teacher and his family. We helped each other from awkwardness by being almost the only other people we knew there. Apparently 1200 were invited. I don't know how many actually showed up, but it was ridiculous.
We got back to our campsite and after chewing the fat for a couple hours we slept and awoke around 7am mountain time. That's about it, really. Nothing too exciting. We didn't get to talk to our old friend much since he was shaking hands for a couple hours (we don't know how long it actually went on), but were glad we went since we're pretty sure he appreciated the gesture. Fun trip all-in-all though.
As mentioned earlier, I got back to SD and immediately started feeling ill (not in the 80's/90's street term, either). Maybe that has something to do with just wanting to get the hell out of here already. Or maybe it's just exhaustion and over exertion. Either way, I've gotta read more Toni Morrison crap for an in-class writing assignment tomorrow. Her writing makes me want to vomit uncontrollably. In rage. On kittens. And migrant workers. Oh yeah, and I need to dedicate the music for today to Andrew and his 90's music shenanigans. Hell, I'll just combine it with this post.
Natalie Imbruglia
Torn
This one isn't 90's, but we were talking about the song on the drive, so here it is.
Elvis Costello
Radio, Radio (the performance that got him banned from SNL)
I left SD this weekend to make a trip out to Utah for my old high school buddy's wedding reception (we couldn't get into the actual wedding due to religious stuff). Andrew and I left around 11am on Saturday and got to our campsite (camping was $25 with an online reservation, hotels were $60+) around 5:30pm mountain time (so 4:30 our time). That included a stop for lunch.
The reception was scheduled to start at 7pm. We showed up about 5 minutes early to see my former government teacher outside on his cell (he happens to be the uncle of the groom). We flagged him down and entered with him. We saw a line formed leading to the bride and groom along with their folks. We stood in that line awaiting our turn to shake the hands of all of the above. For the 1 hour 40 minutes we were there, that's all there was. We ended up spending our entire time with aforementioned Government teacher and his family. We helped each other from awkwardness by being almost the only other people we knew there. Apparently 1200 were invited. I don't know how many actually showed up, but it was ridiculous.
We got back to our campsite and after chewing the fat for a couple hours we slept and awoke around 7am mountain time. That's about it, really. Nothing too exciting. We didn't get to talk to our old friend much since he was shaking hands for a couple hours (we don't know how long it actually went on), but were glad we went since we're pretty sure he appreciated the gesture. Fun trip all-in-all though.
As mentioned earlier, I got back to SD and immediately started feeling ill (not in the 80's/90's street term, either). Maybe that has something to do with just wanting to get the hell out of here already. Or maybe it's just exhaustion and over exertion. Either way, I've gotta read more Toni Morrison crap for an in-class writing assignment tomorrow. Her writing makes me want to vomit uncontrollably. In rage. On kittens. And migrant workers. Oh yeah, and I need to dedicate the music for today to Andrew and his 90's music shenanigans. Hell, I'll just combine it with this post.
Natalie Imbruglia
Torn
This one isn't 90's, but we were talking about the song on the drive, so here it is.
Elvis Costello
Radio, Radio (the performance that got him banned from SNL)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Before I Go
Here's the first of 5 segments of a documentary on Super Volcanoes from National Geographic. You'll be able to find the links to the other segments the usual way. If you can find the NOVA documentary I think that one's better. Either way, enjoy that shiz.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I Should Have Been a Geologist
Four years gone by and the most interesting class I've taken so far has been Natural Disasters (in progress). It's incredible to know all the different ways that nature can kill absolutely everyone. Did you know that gamma rays projected from a star that became a super nova millions of years ago, if close enough to our solar system, could dramatically change the planet'sclimate and atmosphere enough to wipe us all out? Sort of gives you a new perspective. Volcanology? Oh yeah, baby. There are several different types of volcanoes. There are some like the volcanoes in Hawaii where there's lava flow that don't really cause any danger to people so long as you're not standing inside of it. But there are some volcanoes classified as Super Volcanoes that can wipe out most of humanity by changing the world's climate and polluting the atmosphere. You ready for this?
Super Volcanoes are volcanoes huge in area where under the Earth's crust huge caverns the size of the area of the volcano fill with magma. After years upon years of build-up, often hundreds of thousands of years, the earth above egins to crumble, pieces of land fall into the magma displacing the already suffocated and trapped magma. Combined with the trapping of gases and the volatility of the volcano, the magma then makes its way to the surface quite violently, erupting for days to weeks. Why would this be bad? Because the eruptions aren't the usual magma that you'd see in a Hawaiian volcano, what you'd see is ash and sulfuric acid being ejected into the atmosphere. When you think of ash, you're probably thinking of wood burning, things heavy in carbon monoxide, but volcano ash is actually quite different. Because of the gases trapped and the eruption combined, the ash is actually a type of glass due to the minerals in the magma shot into the air being super-cooled. What happens with that ash is it gets into the atmosphere along with the sulphuric acid. If the ash gets into your respiratory system then it's like little jagged pieces of glass cutting up your insides. Not only is the scarring and cutting of your insides what can kill you, but the glass, upon entering the body and cutting of the respiratory system, it acts as a cementing agent and seals up your lungs and trachea, suffocating the person who inhales the particles and forcing them to die a horribly painful death. The sulfuric acid that enters the atmosphere also causes harm to the human/animal respiratory system while killing off plant-life. You can see how this could be a problem.
In/around Indonesia near Sumatra there's a place called Lake Toba. Lake Toba is 60 miles long. Those 60 miles are all a Super Volcano. 75,000 years ago Toba erupted. With conclusive evidence of human population, and studies done one aquatic life and other information gathered by scientists, the eruption of the Toba volcano obliterated most of the human population, bringing the entire Earth's population to roughly 10,000 people worldwide. What happened when Toba blew its top, it blanketed most of the globe in sulfuric acid, killing plant and animal life everywhere. This sulfuric acid remained in the atmosphere for roughly 10,000 years. Because the Earth was ina cooling phase, aided by the sulfuric acid and ash in the atmosphere the sun was successfully blocked, causing the temperature of the Earth to drop significantly, but because of the reflective properties of the sulfuric acid, it would appear as though the sky were never brighter. The world essentially plunged into another ice age. The Earth's surface became more reflective, causing the sun's rays to bouce off of the earth more than usual, the temperature continued to cool, taking us further and further into a life that could barely survive. For 10,000 years the oceans were 10 degrees cooler than they normally are and have been for years. Somehow a temperature change in climatte warming came about at the end of that 10,000 years bringing the world back to a state of recovery.
Pretty freakin' trippy, right? Well, we don't have to worry about Toba for about another 300,000 years as that particular Super Volcano's cycle is every 400,000 years. There are a handful of other Super Volcanoes around the world (4-6), two of which are located in North America. One in Long Valley and one in Yellowstone. The one in Yellowstone (which is about half the area of the park itself) runs on a cycle of roughly 600,000 years. When was the last time it blew? About 640,000 years ago! Estimates of what the volcano's damage might produce would be a radius that would obliterate most of North America, almost reaching the East Coast. If something like Toba would occur in this day and age, what would we do? How would the world change? Clearly the climate would change, but what with modern innovations, would agriculture still be able to thrive in man-made contraptions like green-houses? How much of the world's population would die out? What about animal life? How many would go extinct? It's really intriguing. A part of me wants to be around to see it all happen. All I know is I'm buying me a gas mask to prevent the ash from getting into my lungs. Thinking about it, would the world turn into an example of what happens in Cormac McCarthy's book The Road? If you haven't read it, I recommend picking up a copy. It's a real quick read. I know a movie's coming out on it soon with Vigo Mortensen.
Well, I figure I've freaked you all out enough. Time to "study" for my midterm.
Super Volcanoes are volcanoes huge in area where under the Earth's crust huge caverns the size of the area of the volcano fill with magma. After years upon years of build-up, often hundreds of thousands of years, the earth above egins to crumble, pieces of land fall into the magma displacing the already suffocated and trapped magma. Combined with the trapping of gases and the volatility of the volcano, the magma then makes its way to the surface quite violently, erupting for days to weeks. Why would this be bad? Because the eruptions aren't the usual magma that you'd see in a Hawaiian volcano, what you'd see is ash and sulfuric acid being ejected into the atmosphere. When you think of ash, you're probably thinking of wood burning, things heavy in carbon monoxide, but volcano ash is actually quite different. Because of the gases trapped and the eruption combined, the ash is actually a type of glass due to the minerals in the magma shot into the air being super-cooled. What happens with that ash is it gets into the atmosphere along with the sulphuric acid. If the ash gets into your respiratory system then it's like little jagged pieces of glass cutting up your insides. Not only is the scarring and cutting of your insides what can kill you, but the glass, upon entering the body and cutting of the respiratory system, it acts as a cementing agent and seals up your lungs and trachea, suffocating the person who inhales the particles and forcing them to die a horribly painful death. The sulfuric acid that enters the atmosphere also causes harm to the human/animal respiratory system while killing off plant-life. You can see how this could be a problem.
In/around Indonesia near Sumatra there's a place called Lake Toba. Lake Toba is 60 miles long. Those 60 miles are all a Super Volcano. 75,000 years ago Toba erupted. With conclusive evidence of human population, and studies done one aquatic life and other information gathered by scientists, the eruption of the Toba volcano obliterated most of the human population, bringing the entire Earth's population to roughly 10,000 people worldwide. What happened when Toba blew its top, it blanketed most of the globe in sulfuric acid, killing plant and animal life everywhere. This sulfuric acid remained in the atmosphere for roughly 10,000 years. Because the Earth was ina cooling phase, aided by the sulfuric acid and ash in the atmosphere the sun was successfully blocked, causing the temperature of the Earth to drop significantly, but because of the reflective properties of the sulfuric acid, it would appear as though the sky were never brighter. The world essentially plunged into another ice age. The Earth's surface became more reflective, causing the sun's rays to bouce off of the earth more than usual, the temperature continued to cool, taking us further and further into a life that could barely survive. For 10,000 years the oceans were 10 degrees cooler than they normally are and have been for years. Somehow a temperature change in climatte warming came about at the end of that 10,000 years bringing the world back to a state of recovery.
Pretty freakin' trippy, right? Well, we don't have to worry about Toba for about another 300,000 years as that particular Super Volcano's cycle is every 400,000 years. There are a handful of other Super Volcanoes around the world (4-6), two of which are located in North America. One in Long Valley and one in Yellowstone. The one in Yellowstone (which is about half the area of the park itself) runs on a cycle of roughly 600,000 years. When was the last time it blew? About 640,000 years ago! Estimates of what the volcano's damage might produce would be a radius that would obliterate most of North America, almost reaching the East Coast. If something like Toba would occur in this day and age, what would we do? How would the world change? Clearly the climate would change, but what with modern innovations, would agriculture still be able to thrive in man-made contraptions like green-houses? How much of the world's population would die out? What about animal life? How many would go extinct? It's really intriguing. A part of me wants to be around to see it all happen. All I know is I'm buying me a gas mask to prevent the ash from getting into my lungs. Thinking about it, would the world turn into an example of what happens in Cormac McCarthy's book The Road? If you haven't read it, I recommend picking up a copy. It's a real quick read. I know a movie's coming out on it soon with Vigo Mortensen.
Well, I figure I've freaked you all out enough. Time to "study" for my midterm.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
You're All Going to Hate Me
Since Tuesdays and Thursdays I bring my laptop to school with me and I leave straight from school to work, I've decided to relieve myself of boredom by bringing movies along with me. There are two questions you're probably asking yourself: 1) You're clearly on your computer at work all the time, why not just watch one on the work computer? and 2) Why didn't you do this earlier? 1) The disc drive on the work PC doesn't work and won't open. 2) My boss doesn't like it when I'm on my computer when customers are around. Way I see it, there aren't any customers anyways, so if any do come in I can just pause the movie, help the customer then get back to where I was at. There. Problem solved. I effectively cut my boredom and work-load by loafing even more and I'm still getting paid $9/hour to do it. And by work-load I mean the burden placed on my sanity while sitting around with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Time to get back to the show. Today's picture: Singin' in the Rain.
T/Th
The Tuesday/Thursday routine of purchasing a coffee and bagel before my 11 am class has taken a turn for the worst. That turn? I've tried the jalapeno and cheese bagel. I already have enough trouble with my intake of jalapeno burgers from Carl's, Jr. Now I'm just ruining my intestines even more. My health can't possibly be good. I imagine I'll have clogged arteries by age 25. But bagels are healthy, right? Having irregular eating patterns where I can go without eating for long stretches to then consume ample amounts of food at one time or having the only meals of the day be peanut butter straight from the jar and junk food can't be good for me. T/Th doesn't allow for much in the way of eating right. I'm gone for 12 hours without an opportunity to cook for myself. By the time I'm home I don't even feel like putting forth the effort to cook something. Now working 11 hour dayys when I'm not in class makes it even more difficult and tiring to actually try to eat healthy. I haven't gone to the grocery store in quite some time as somehow my folks are replenishing my left-over supply by the time I finish with the previous stock. I'm really just rambling now, not even looking at the screen, just trying to kill time during class.
WWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee!
WWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Save THIS, Daylight!
That title should have me shaking my fist at the sun. I'm not sure how to take this changing of time. I don't know if it feels like forever since I've been at work because of the light or because I've been here nine hours (eight if you subtract the hour lunch break) and want to bash my head into a wall. While I was wrong as to the sales (the sun came out) at the beginning of the day, we had 24 sales from 10-4. Since 4 we've only had 3 sales. So my predictions as to the nothingness of the night were correct as usual, but I guess I didn't think the sun would come out and ruin everything.
Big Decisions
What am I gonna have for lunch? The SD Burger Co. is my typical eatery, but I've had one too many burgers lately. I have several options, but nothing really seems worth my dough. I've narrowed it to two (2) slices of cheese pizza for $3, a hot dog and fries for $3.70 or a bean and cheese burrito with a soda for $3. I know the burrito won't be good. I don't like the pizza place guys and the hot dog and fries aren't really that filling. Oh well, I guess I can have another burger. Yet another hour long break. I imagine I'll nap in my truck again. Sigh. I need to get out of here.
Slow Day
No, not Snow Day. Slow day. Because it's a Monday at SPV. And I'm working for 11 hours the 2nd day in a row. It's also raining a bit. I'll be lucky to get seven customers the entire day. Five is plausible, but even that might not happen. I'll have to get a count at the end of the day. I've made one sale so far, but this place is dead. I'm glad I brought my homework.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Reasons Seaport Sucks
Reason #73:
This guy:
Marugan the Mystic, normally part of some freak show somewhere, but made family-friendly for the SPV atmosphere, which just makes it even worse than it already is.
This guy:
Marugan the Mystic, normally part of some freak show somewhere, but made family-friendly for the SPV atmosphere, which just makes it even worse than it already is.
Shocking
More proof I'm an idiot (in case you needed any):
I just opened a disposable camera for a customer and found that the camera itself had been broken a bit enough to expose the film. In wanting to see what the insides of a disposable camera look like, I pried the plastic shell off exposing the film and circuitry along with the battery, flash, etc. I charged the flash to see what that would be like. Me, stupid as I am handsome, decided to leave my fingers on the metallic parts of the circuits. I've since shocked myself four times. Something tells me that it won't stop there. I'll see how many times I can shock myself out of sheer idiocy before I finally just throw the damned thing away. Expect a tally.
UPDATE:
The battery's out! Why am I still being electrocuted? Disposable: 5 Andy: 0
UPDATE II:
I think that the camera has run out of juice to jolt me with. Take THAT! It may have shocked me 6 times and given me a surprising and blinding flash that I wasn't expecting, but I think I won the war in the end. After all, it's got nothing left. Go Andy.
I just opened a disposable camera for a customer and found that the camera itself had been broken a bit enough to expose the film. In wanting to see what the insides of a disposable camera look like, I pried the plastic shell off exposing the film and circuitry along with the battery, flash, etc. I charged the flash to see what that would be like. Me, stupid as I am handsome, decided to leave my fingers on the metallic parts of the circuits. I've since shocked myself four times. Something tells me that it won't stop there. I'll see how many times I can shock myself out of sheer idiocy before I finally just throw the damned thing away. Expect a tally.
UPDATE:
The battery's out! Why am I still being electrocuted? Disposable: 5 Andy: 0
UPDATE II:
I think that the camera has run out of juice to jolt me with. Take THAT! It may have shocked me 6 times and given me a surprising and blinding flash that I wasn't expecting, but I think I won the war in the end. After all, it's got nothing left. Go Andy.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
I Need Sleep
I rolled into San Diego this morning around 3:30. I guess you'd like to hear about the night. Maybe you don't. But if so, then keep reading.
The drive to LA from home proved to be easy enough, but when it came to parking at LA Live!, the shit hit the fan. Not too badly, but I ended up circling around for about 20 or 30 minutes trying to find a parking location that wouldn't ensure the theft of my vehicle or its contents and one that would accept a credit card. That's my fault for not withdrawing any cash prior to leaving home. Anyways, after some slightly faulty directions from a parking attendant, I was finally directed to a lot that would accept card. Problem being I had to park valet. I hate valet. Especially since Marionette is a bit touchy and the emergency brake handle was broken off. And why pay someone else for something I could do myself? But again, I wasn't really in any position to decline since it was my only option. There went $25 ($28 with the guilt tip, despite the fact that they ruined my E-brake even more after I alerted them to the fragility of the cord).
While waiting for the ever-so-lovely Marina to arrive, I checked out this new-fangled "LA Live!" thing that the venue was located in. It was pretty much a mall of restaurants (most of which were under construction) with a trendy bowling alley (that we didn't go to since the line was too long) and two music venues (both owned by Nokia) right across from Staples Center. Not really worth the $25 parking, but a neat place.
Around 7:30 we met for dinner at a snazzy restaurant called "the Farm" where our waitress didn't introduce herself to us, barely paid attention to us and gave us what seemed to be menacing glares and exasperated eye-rolls in our direction while being friendly and attentive to the diners next to us. Two floors above us awaited Tom Jones.
Roundabout 8:45 we ascended two escalators to meet with greatness. The first course of action was to have our picture taken with their fancy picture machine (a cell phone). If you ever go to Nokia Club, look up the Tom Jones show for March 6th, 2009 and you'll find a photo of the two of us on some jumbo screen. Kinda creepy to see my face on a giant screen, but still fun. Next came two beers (which were outrageously expensive), then came Tom (Tommy!). The man's in his 60's and still going strong. Women all over the place were launching their underpants at the guy! His powers of seduction were so strong that a woman behind us even fainted! He's quite the entertainer, that one. Screeches of "I love you, Tom!" were heard throughout the night. We even initiated in the "Tom Jones High Five," which is just a regular high five but with "Tom Jones High Five" said aloud when doing so.
After the show we went in search of a bar that seemed like a neat place to go, but with all metered parking taken and people around the area still charging outrageous prices for parking in shady areas, we opted to grab some coffee and dessert at Mel's Diner, a 24 hour diner with a 50's/60's motif. So for a good while after the show Marina and I sat talking with apple pie, chocolate cake and a few cups of coffee.
At 1:30 we decided to go our separate ways and said our "see you soon"s. As we drove off I couldn't help but feel an all too familiar burning sensation in my chest. I knew it wasn't the coffee. That just goes straight to my bladder and I'd just used the restroom. The next two hours were spent ruminating on this sensation and trying to keep myself awake until arriving home in San Diego. A "made it home safe" text and five hours of sleep later, I'm here at work writing all this to you. So if you ask how it was, I'll tell you that the night was one of a kind and I had the right person to share it with. And now I just want to get back home to take a nice, long nap.
The drive to LA from home proved to be easy enough, but when it came to parking at LA Live!, the shit hit the fan. Not too badly, but I ended up circling around for about 20 or 30 minutes trying to find a parking location that wouldn't ensure the theft of my vehicle or its contents and one that would accept a credit card. That's my fault for not withdrawing any cash prior to leaving home. Anyways, after some slightly faulty directions from a parking attendant, I was finally directed to a lot that would accept card. Problem being I had to park valet. I hate valet. Especially since Marionette is a bit touchy and the emergency brake handle was broken off. And why pay someone else for something I could do myself? But again, I wasn't really in any position to decline since it was my only option. There went $25 ($28 with the guilt tip, despite the fact that they ruined my E-brake even more after I alerted them to the fragility of the cord).
While waiting for the ever-so-lovely Marina to arrive, I checked out this new-fangled "LA Live!" thing that the venue was located in. It was pretty much a mall of restaurants (most of which were under construction) with a trendy bowling alley (that we didn't go to since the line was too long) and two music venues (both owned by Nokia) right across from Staples Center. Not really worth the $25 parking, but a neat place.
Around 7:30 we met for dinner at a snazzy restaurant called "the Farm" where our waitress didn't introduce herself to us, barely paid attention to us and gave us what seemed to be menacing glares and exasperated eye-rolls in our direction while being friendly and attentive to the diners next to us. Two floors above us awaited Tom Jones.
Roundabout 8:45 we ascended two escalators to meet with greatness. The first course of action was to have our picture taken with their fancy picture machine (a cell phone). If you ever go to Nokia Club, look up the Tom Jones show for March 6th, 2009 and you'll find a photo of the two of us on some jumbo screen. Kinda creepy to see my face on a giant screen, but still fun. Next came two beers (which were outrageously expensive), then came Tom (Tommy!). The man's in his 60's and still going strong. Women all over the place were launching their underpants at the guy! His powers of seduction were so strong that a woman behind us even fainted! He's quite the entertainer, that one. Screeches of "I love you, Tom!" were heard throughout the night. We even initiated in the "Tom Jones High Five," which is just a regular high five but with "Tom Jones High Five" said aloud when doing so.
After the show we went in search of a bar that seemed like a neat place to go, but with all metered parking taken and people around the area still charging outrageous prices for parking in shady areas, we opted to grab some coffee and dessert at Mel's Diner, a 24 hour diner with a 50's/60's motif. So for a good while after the show Marina and I sat talking with apple pie, chocolate cake and a few cups of coffee.
At 1:30 we decided to go our separate ways and said our "see you soon"s. As we drove off I couldn't help but feel an all too familiar burning sensation in my chest. I knew it wasn't the coffee. That just goes straight to my bladder and I'd just used the restroom. The next two hours were spent ruminating on this sensation and trying to keep myself awake until arriving home in San Diego. A "made it home safe" text and five hours of sleep later, I'm here at work writing all this to you. So if you ask how it was, I'll tell you that the night was one of a kind and I had the right person to share it with. And now I just want to get back home to take a nice, long nap.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Dilemma
I have a problem with public restrooms. Namely, I can't use them. Well, that's not true, I can use them, just not when people are around. In the urinals I can't use them unless there's a divider. If there's no divider, there's no relief. As far as the stalls are concerned? No way. Unless there's absolutely no one in the restroom, I'm not using it. In fact, on campus I found the most remote and secluded bathroom possible. If ever there's emergency enough for me to use a public stall while on campus, I'll only use that one. I'll walk clear across campus if I have to because it's like a private facility. Fourth floor. Hardly any classes take place on that floor. It's a privacy issue. I think. I only use the public rooms if absolutely necessary. So today I get in from San Diego to find that 1) my folks have hired a housekeeper and 2) she's there cleaning. Most of the trip home I'd been looking forward to getting home to relieve myself. Not happening. I first poked my head in at around noon. It's now 2:15 and they're still here. When there are strangers around, it's just like being in a public place. Not to mention the fact that I was a janitor at one point in my life. Boy did that suck. I would have just finished cleaning the bathroom (also where my supply closet was located) when something that more resembled a hot air balloon than a man would lumber into the stall and cause the need to douse the place in cinnamon air freshener for the rest of the day while still needing to hold my breath. It was awful. There's no chance in hell am I going to do that to this poor woman. So I've been waiting for her to leave. She hasn't. I'm scheduled to shoot hoops with Sam at 3 and I want to be nimble and agile for the game, not clutching my gut. How long does it take? She was here before I arrived. Our house isn't big. She doesn't clean my room or my brother's. Just let me do what I've gotta do. What's more is I've isolated myself in my room. I don't want to make conversation. I just want my house to be empty so that I can walk around na- I mean, uh, um, walk around naked. Yeah, that's it...wait...
Anyways, Tom Jones tonight. Talk to you soon.
Anyways, Tom Jones tonight. Talk to you soon.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Stupid Job
Ok, this is bothering me more and more. My boss has a tendency to purchase items that are expired. I don't know if he does this purposely then gets even more of a discount on them, or if he's just so oblivious to the fact that this company he orders from continuously screws him over. My guess is the former. We received some disposable cameras the other day that expired in May. May of 2008. We already have a whole set of these cameras exactly the same (which my boss claims we got prior to the date of expiration, which is an outright lie) along with two other styles of disposable that have already expired. One that expired August of '08 and one that expired April of '08. When I brought to the attention the expiration date on the new batch he went into what is to be presumed a fake rage wherein he said everyone in this business was "crook! everybody, they crooks!" (He clearly doesn't admit to himself being one of these crooks). I then alerted him to the others that have already expired and he continued with his tirade of anger towards this company that has screwed him, yadda, yadda. He takes the box with the address of the company of "crooks" says he's going to square it away. He comes back shortly thereafter and tells me that the ones we already have with past expiration dates are still to be sold for the reason mentioned above that we'd had these before they expired, but the new ones would be dealt with. And when selling the ones we "already had," our goal was to ask the customers if they wanted them opened so that detecting the expiration date wouldn't be as obvious. If anyone were to complain about it having an expired date after having purchased it, we were to trade them for one that wasn't expired free of charge. We are not legally allowed to sell expired film/anything unless it is specifically designated as such, and I know that the boss is never going to advertise it as expired, especially with the prices he's charging. It's just so underhanded and sneaky and downright shady. What's more is it's been at least a week since we received the shipment of expired disposable cameras and they're still in the store. They've been placed in our stock shelf, as in they're next in line once the others have sold out. I'm getting more and more disgusted with this place every day. I mean, I know all I do is stand around waiting for customers to come in and help them out quickly, efficiently and with a smile on my face, but that doesn't mean that just because I can go on the internet, read, do homework, etc. that I can overlook the crooked business practices and the highway robbery. Example: our 1 GB SD cards are going for $19.99. At Fry's electronics you can buy them for $5. I understand we're a tourist location, but come on! I know that exorbitant prices are out of my hands, but simply because of the expired film as well as some other unconventional means of doing business I've thought about reporting us to the Better Business Bureau. I know that things like this shouldn't eat at my conscience too much, but think if you're on vacation and you buy a disposable camera or film, thinking you're going to capture some great shots of family, friends, various activities, and you go to get them developed and all you come out with is burned out shit, you're going to be pissed! We're ruining vacations. We're lying and cheating our customers to make a few when all we have to do is complain to the folks who sold us the shit or switch our sellers. Hell, chances are the only reason we buy from these "crooks" is because the boss has some sort of family connection with them or some bullshit like that. What's worse is that rather than saying something to me like "yeah, we do that" or hiding it actually trying to get new cameras, all he fucking does is put them up where the rest of our disposables are and wait for it to blow the fuck over and let me forget about it. What the fuck?! At least be honest, at least try to be sly about it. No, you put it up there in the exact same box that I transferred them to and put them in plain fucking sight and tell me you're going to do something about it and write the company off as criminals trying to dupe you! Man, fuck this shit. Just writing about it gets me steamed. I honestly hope that he's reading this crap on his stalker-system that he uses because he can't trust a single one of his damned employees because I will refuse to sell that crap up there and if he tells me to do it, or if we get another case that's exactly the same as what happened this time, I will report this shitty-ass place to the BBB. I'm sick of feeling like some low-down criminal in his petty schemes and his refusal to man-up and take action on someone who fucks with him or to do the honest thing. Arrgh! I hate this job! Just hurry and hire somebody so I can get the fuck out. Mid-April can't come soon enough.
Friday
Tomorrow. Basketball. Yes. Tom Jones. Definitely. Watchmen. Maybe. Still waking up. Reading in class. Not paying attention. Still here. Not gone. Stupid teacher. The Plague, when read in reference to WWII, and using the line that the plague was enlightening and relating it to the war, yes, it is enlightening. What the hell do you mean it's not enlightening? WWII opened the eyes of millions as to the causes, the devastation, the overall sentiments felt, yes, it was enlightening. Kyle and Edson, how could either of you say that it wasn't enlightening? You fucking idiots. How is it you're allowed to teach? Just get out. Gha. I'm going back to my book.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Coachella
Is it just me, or does the lineup for Coachella get worse and worse each year (hell, the header for the link is a drawing of a bunch of loser hipsters who all look alike, that's when you know it's bad))? I can only count a few bands that I would be interested in seeing for three whole days worth of music. And they're charging $270 for the weekend or $99 for a day? Ridiculous. There was a time when the Coachella music festival was known for having big-name, big-talent bands that were there to show the direction that music would be taking. If this is the direction that music's going, I don't know if I want to join that caravan. There are a few bastions of hope left in the music festival world, though they too are slowly turning into the mass-marketed events meant to promote a trend rather than good music. Two of these are located in Austin, Texas. If I had the money and the time, I'd be attending South by Southwest. Sure, just a music pass is $650, but it's five days of music all over the city of Austin with literally hundreds of bands playing into the wee hours of the morning. SXSW is the place to go if you're a band trying to get noticed by record labels. Birdmonster (if I remember correctly) was one of those bands. But the festival takes music, film, and other forms of art and roll it all into one huge event. Coachella puts on the appearance of an important music event where the biggest of the big names congregate for three days of rock. What the festival actually demonstrates is an event wherein the "biggest of the big" are a handful of overly popular bands with limited amounts of talent outshining the more talented bands that somehow got mixed in and continue to go unrecognized because most at the festival are looking forward to RAtM's "only" reunion show (apologies to any rage fans out there). I'm not sure what Coachella's all about these days, but it used to be a festival I wanted to visit. Nowadays the five to ten bands I'm interested in seeing don't even pique my curiosity enough to shell out $99-$270. Maybe one day I'll get in for free if ever I get to photograph or write about it. Even then I'm not sure I'd be too thrilled. Give me ACL, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Pickathon, Lollapalooza, anything's better than what Coachella's turning into (though ACL is slowly slipping, but they maintain respect because they get lots of both the big names and the good small names).
Stuff Going On
Isn't it sad that I refuse to purchase a point-and-shoot digital camera from my own employers who "take care" of me? Probably because I know that the price they pay for their goods is a lie and they try to pawn it off as them not getting the same deal as other retailers. While using the SLRs and D-SLRs are a blast and I've taken shots that a point-and-shoot can't get equate to quality-wise, the portability of a P&S is much more convenient. I don't know if I'll definitely be shelling over the money for one, but there's a good possibility that I do.
Whatever the case, the weekend (Saturday - Tuesday) has been memorable. I don't typically get days off, but asking for these days off was - needless to say - worthwhile. Sunday saw the coming together of family not seen as frequently as should be. While I won't get into detail as most of the timew as spent simply bonding with family and friends of family, I will say that due to the enjoyment I got from the weekend I ditched class for the day and opted to stay up late back home, sleep in today and make a much safer drive home than a venture to San Diego around midnight. Meaning that this week will be even shorter for me than usual. No work tomorrow, Thursday I'll be celebrating the birthday of friend and regular reader, Sara, after work (unless I'm uninvited), Friday brings yet another day off along with Tom Jones in LA, basketball with Sam and did I mention Tom Jones in LA? Yeah. That'll be fun. Especially since the company is right. Anyways, I've gots me some inventory to do.
Whatever the case, the weekend (Saturday - Tuesday) has been memorable. I don't typically get days off, but asking for these days off was - needless to say - worthwhile. Sunday saw the coming together of family not seen as frequently as should be. While I won't get into detail as most of the timew as spent simply bonding with family and friends of family, I will say that due to the enjoyment I got from the weekend I ditched class for the day and opted to stay up late back home, sleep in today and make a much safer drive home than a venture to San Diego around midnight. Meaning that this week will be even shorter for me than usual. No work tomorrow, Thursday I'll be celebrating the birthday of friend and regular reader, Sara, after work (unless I'm uninvited), Friday brings yet another day off along with Tom Jones in LA, basketball with Sam and did I mention Tom Jones in LA? Yeah. That'll be fun. Especially since the company is right. Anyways, I've gots me some inventory to do.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Read This
As I've mentioned in posts long before this one, there's one person referred to as "The Legend" (must always be capitalized) in the Campagna-Suarez households. Really just to the two of us. If you'd like a bit more information and have forgotten who the legend is, go to Sam's page. Anyways, here's some mention of his greatness. Check it out and marvel at the bad-assery of The Legend.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Festivities
Today my second cousin (who I just refer to as my aunt since she grew up with my ma and they grew up the way Sam and I have where we're just about siblings) happens to be in town from Texas as well as some good folk from the month of January. I truly enjoy the family meetings wherein the close get closer and the jerk-face gets even more alienated. While Sam won't be joining us for the initial fun, he'll be around for the fun after we've ventured back to his place. We wouldn't want to leave him out of anything, especially after the kind words written. I owe ya one, Mr. C. I guess a wine bar is in order. Can't say that I've been to one, but the company is right, so I imagine it'll be good. Until soon, citizens!
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