the relentless search for frances the mute

Another official announcement. I'm now a Mars Volta junkie.

Just this day, I've bought there very first EP on iTunes. I own both albums. I think I've talked about the new album Frances the Mute somewhere in this blog. And no, I still haven't figured out the whole story. Anyway I bought the EP, bid on a rare live EP on eBay (27$!! for 5 songs!!) and just now dropped 10$ bucks on a 2 song import CD. One of the songs is the radio edit of The Widow (minus the ambient sounds at the end) and the other is the "decoder" (term used by posters on message boards trying to figure out the story) song. It's called Frances the Mute. It wasn't added on the album because apparently if you go past a certain number of minutes on an album it has to be split into a double disc. Well, I don't know about you but I've never heard of a 6 song double disc. Sprawling over 12 minutes long, Frances the Mute ties up some loose ends from the album story and should give more insight to the story of Cygnus. I must have spent hours looking for that disc. Apparently, they sold the single here in the states only in vinyl. CD's weren't released here; only in the UK and Japan.

Long story short, I found it, ordered it and am giddy with excitement! Almost as giddy as finding out they're playing Berkley on June 3! Yippeee!!

Foot Drop Part 1

It's official. I've got a disk bulge.

Today I went to see the Neurologist who gave me the official word on my problem. I even saw the MRI results. It's weird seeing that part of your body in front of you. You always feel it's there but never see it. Now I have a very, very, very, very, very,very, very small idea how pregnant women feel when they see the ultrasound.

Anyway, after a few tests the doctor told me the bad news. Are you ready for this? Surgery. That's right. A simple foot drop and some back pains and I need surgery. I mean, un-freakin'-believeable! The procedure is to remove the disk in between the L4 and L5 bone on my spine. She refered me to another doctor. I think it's the surgeon. I got a call from them a couple of minutes after I left the clinic. But forgive me if I'm not in the mood to see another doctor. Need some time to think about this.

Fanity Redux

This should have been a wonderful analysis of Fast Food Nation since I've already finished the book. But, the demands of an abnormal and stressful Friday workday give me no time to properly dissect it. You're going to have to wait. In the meantime, a small announcement to get you ready for the weekend.

Fanity is up on fictionpress.com. Little tweaking here and there but the essence is still captured. Thanks to wickedsis for checking it for me. Much appreciated. Anyway, if you haven't read it yet, check it out. Here's the primer I wrote on it way back.

Have a great weekend!

Macho Man

I was going to let this day slide without a post but felt a responsibility to my readers (all 5 of you) to report on my adventurous morning.

The day started off just like any other work day. Not a hitch. My movements were like clockwork and by 7 i was out of the house. On the road, the first stoplight appears and I debated whether to grab a doughnut or not. I just had one on monday so I decided to skip it. Right next to it was a gas station so I checked my smokes and I still had half a pack. The light turned green and I was off. On workdays across America, morning commutes always consisted of two kinds of headaches. The highway headache and the before-the-highway headache. Tens of cars line up to enter the highway from a single entry point with two lanes available going north; one of them is a carpool lane. Bottleneck doesn’t begin to describe it. Watching it from afar, it resembles a score of sperm cells dashing to that single egg cell trying to be that one lucky bastard. Did I mention that the architects created 3 entrances to the highway going south? So there I was, waiting my turn, when I notice an unusual light in on the dashboard. It was orange. My freakin’ gas was running low! I had completely forgotten to get gas the night before, and I completely forgot to get gas before I got in line. Now, anybody who knows stereotypical male drivers knows that our one bad habit is thinking that the gas tank never runs out. Much like the “woman are terrible drivers” stereotype, this isn’t always the case. True to form, I felt confident that I was going to make it to work 15 miles away on a tank of gas with the light on. As soon as I got on the highway, there are numerous ways to save gas while still running. The only thing that could possibly go wrong was a stop and go situation.

Remember the highway headache?

So there I was in the middle of rush hour traffic with an almost empty gas and a good 12 miles away. Every shift of the gear and step on the gas felt like my last. The line would inch oh so lower with every meter I traveled' and I wasn't going far. The only option I had was to get gas. D'uh. Cursing myself for not filling up before, I read the sign that says the next exit was a 1/4 mile away. Blast it, I wasn't even sure I would make it that far. The gas line had already fallen an inch or two below the red line. I was sweating humongous bullets and taking long drags. I positioned the car at the far left lane, halfway between the shoulder and road. Just in case the car gave up. Miraculously, I made it to the exit, traveled a mile and found my gas station.

This is probably the closest I've ever come to total male humiliation by running out of gas. Flat tires are attributed to dumb luck. We men know our gas tanks like the back of our hands. I've come close before, but nothing that made me nervous like this one. So, I think I learned a valuable lesson here. When in doubt, grab a doughnut.

Monday Quickie

I figured this type of article didn't deserve to go on the backburner. According to the article, our songs on our digital library reflect us as persons. To which I say...

D'UH!!!!!

Friday Ramblings

Just stopped by a big chain bookstore (Borders) to pick up a book and a manga comic that I just love. It’s “Win It for…” and “Rurouni Kenshin vol. 13". I’ll talk about the book later. That’s not what I want to talk about right now. Right now, what I want to know is, if I told you a live band was playing at a bookstore, you’d think I was nuts right? I mean c’mon, a band belting out Nirvana and Green Day songs in a bookstore is the last thing you’ll see at a bookstore. Right…?

Well you might as well call me pea right now.

So there I was, barely controlling my laughter as these 16 or 17 year old kids, killed the classic songs “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Basket Case” and “Come As You Are” I mean, the singer’s lungs were pleading him to stop as he screamed out “A Denial!”, along with every person over the age of 30. Me, I just couldn’t wipe the stupid grin of my face while walking around the store looking for my book. The look on people’s faces around the store was priceless. I wish I had my camera with me. I’ll give them props though for their song selection. You can’t go wrong with 90’s Alternative songs with me. You just can’t. The band looked like they were just in their diapers when Kurt Cobain smashed his first guitar. That’s good taste my friends. They were doing it for a good school cause though so, all things considered, it wasn’t that bad. Although someone forgot to tell the old people in the store that. Every one of them looked like they wanted to strangle the next store worker they saw. How much would you have paid to be in the room when the manager said yes to a band playing in a bookstore? In the coffee shop no less! 50$ and I’ll bring my camcorder.

So anyway, the book. Anybody who read my old blog saw the post about the Boston Red Sox and their improbable Hell Freezes Over, World-Upside-Down , 86 years in the making, World Series win back in November. I made mention of a thread on a popular Red Sox message board called Sons Of Sam Horn. It was called “Win It For…” Understand, NO ONE has come back down 3-0 in a seven game series. In any sport. Much less the bad luck Boston Red Sox. Yet somehow, they found a way to tie it up. Tied 3-3, the thread was started as a plea. To win this one game for the people that made these people who they are, devoted Sox and Baseball fans. A sort of “Chicken Soup for the Cursed Red Sox Fan”. I posted the ones that touched me the most back in the old blog and I’ll give you a taste now. And oh, the majority of the proceeds for the book go to the Dan Farber Cancer Institute and Curt Schilling’s Pitch for ALS.

“Win it for…

my Grandmother, Dottie who lives in Worcester, and has been rooting for the Sox for 70+ years. Her husband is sick and so she cannot attend many games, but has never missed a game on TV or the radio.” Ben Rubin (IU Sox Fan5) Swampscott, MA

“Win it for…

my sister Patty

Twenty-nine years ago a tragic car accident in college left 3 others dead and Patty in a coma for almost a year. Talk about courage, this lady has it in globs.

Mom and Dad were told to pull the plug, but they refused.

Patty came out of the coma, her mind intact, but body and voice broken.

Mom, Dad, and Patty follow the Red Sox everywhere.

Patty was just diagnosed with Cancer 2 days ago.

Win it for Patty.

PS: Patty underwent successful cancer surgery in December and is expected to fully recover.”

Micahel B. Hogan Cranston, RI

Last one. “Win it for…

Grandpa Lee, who wrote lovingly of the Sox in his diary on the troop ship going over to France in 1918, and who took me to my first game at Fenway in Teddy Ballgame’s last season. Win it for Dad, who’s waited 81 years and will never give up. And win it for Jonathan and Andrew, because my happiest memories in the last five years have been sitting with them in Fenway during our annual July pilgrimage.” Jeff Lee.

This afternoon, I had the MRI. What a surreal, creepy experience that was. The machine used looked like one of those things they use to take the oxygen out of your body. It had a hole in the middle with a bed. The guy talking to me as we entered the room looked conspicuously like Balki, from "Perfect Strangers". He told me to lie down and get comfortable. “Remember, you have to lie down real still. Don’t move while inside”. So I lie down and he pushes a button. The bed starts to hum and move towards the inside of the hole. Balki keeps telling me to lie still as I watched from above my forehead. Suddenly, it looked like the roof collapsed on me. My eye was literally an inch away from the top of the hole. I was freaking out at the sight. “Stay calm and lie still”. On and on he drones in his Russian accent (ok that was a lie) until the bed stops to a halt. I now have felt what a claustrophobe feels every time they’re in an elevator. I closed my to calm me down and it worked somewhat. I was startled as I heard a familiar Russian voice come through what sounded like speaker. (ok, ok I’ll stop). “Lie still. We’re going to start in a few minutes. Earlier, he gave me ear plugs and instruction on what the machine sounds like .He said it was like someone knocking on a door. He was wrong. Remember the buried alive scene in Kill Bill 2? It was exactly like that. Rhythmic monotonous sounds of dirt being dumped on you. It was freaky. Then the machine started to hum real loud, like big drills opening a new asshole on my back. Not fun. Somehow, I was able to doze off, awaken by the bed moving back to the real world, and Balkyi. I’ll let you in on the results when they come in on Monday.

Finally, a loose end from the last post. Apparently, Michael Zulli’s eBay auction for “The Last Sandman” didn’t come up until yesterday. So here it is and no, I still didn’t bid.

PS: Hello still sucks

Hello Useless

Well, I think the title says it all. I'm going to dump Hello and figure out another way to get pictures on my blog. I couldn't get a stinking 111kb picture to load on the office network( which runs at a standard 100MB). It worked before and I don't understand what happened. Finding help is pointless too. I just spent half an hour trying to search Picasa's site for anything about this problem. Whatever. Hey google, might want to make sure your app works and get some better FAQ pages, for God's Sake. Whatever.

Dumb, Sour Things

I was ripping songs to my laptop so I can transfer them to the iPod. I was hungry so I picked up everything (laptop, iPod, charger, headphones) and took them to the kitchen table so I can eat while waiting. So I was minding my own business when my aunt comes strolling in from work. She tells me "Don't use that there. You might burn the plastic." Set aside fact that the hot air the computer was blowing can't heat my coffee. Have you ever heard anything dumber? Me, neither.

Anyway, on to better things. Michael Zulli's "The Last Morpheus" painting was done a few days ago. I missed it and I missed the online auction. Not that I was going to bid on it. He put the starting price in the 4 digit range. I love his work and I love The Sandman, but I'm not paying anything over a hundred bucks, I'm sorry. Would have looked real good over my bed, though. The Dream King, watching over me. That would have been awesome. But it was not to be. So I did the next best thing and just copied the final painting from his website into .jpg format. Here's the link again to his online blog/art class. Scroll all the way to the bottom to see the finished product.

This is a cool little thing that I have barely scratched. Apparently, it takes a feed of the songs you listen to on your computer and makes a list on your profile. It tracks the play count and determines your taste. You can even hook up with other people with similar tastes. Pretty impressive. A sonic blog. Haven't had the time to mess around with but I'll definitely jot my full impression of the site here when I've spent more time on it.

For this, I'll keep it short and invite you to click it. Please. You won't even have to go farther than the first page. You'll thank me later.

Yesterday, upon good advice from my friend, I took the light rail to work. Gas prices aren't getting any cheaper these days and I needed the break from driving the whole time. It's good to once in awhile look out the window and marvel at the world without crashing the car. And, I used the time to come up with ideas for "Sons Of Man". I got some stuff down, but for the most part I just enjoyed the ride. Because, it was a long ass ride. Lot's of stops. Especially in downtown, where it seems like it stops every quarter mile. But, as I said, really enjoyable. I might do it again if the gas price hits the 3 dollar mark.

I was going to end with a great picture that was sent to me but Hello was not cooperating. I detailed the crappy Hello program somewhere in this blog but I can't remember. Anyway, it might be because I'm on a dial up BUT, uploading a 111kb picture surely would not need an hour to download. So I started on a sour note and end on another sour note. There's a joke here somewhere. Whatever, I'm tired. Good night, Good night!

Hearing Aide

It’s another boring Monday. So to spice things up, I’m going to do a little stunt. “Will my ears explode after listening to music for 8 straight hours?” Don’t even ask me where I came up with this one. I sometimes think I’ve completely gone insane and just think everyone around me is trying there best to understand.

So here are the rules. I start the clock at 9 in the morning and will not take them off until 5 pm. If, for multiple reasons, I have to take them off, I’ll add the time that they were off and make up for it after 5. So, if I’m disturbed by a 5-minute phone call from a stupid engineer trying to get documents out, then I’ll just have to stay around for 5 minutes after 5. I do work, you know but I’m not sure for how long after this. Also, there won’t be any stops while selecting songs. I’m keeping it settled on a shuffled play list. There’s probably a one second delay in between songs but that’s not going to give me any time to breathe. And finally, if some one stops by my office to talk, I’m taking off both earphones because it’s rude to talk to someone who has an earphone on one ear. That’s the ground rules.

Basically, the phones will be on for as long as I can stand. Or for as long as I’m employed. And I’m keeping a running diary of the day so I can look back and tell my kids someday: “Be careful with your new portable music player, Johnny. Try not play it for longer than 5 hours straight.” Then he’ll lovingly say “Ok Daddy.”

And I’ll lovingly reply back: “What was that?!”

As with all running diaries here, all times pacific and accurate to the best of my knowledge or your money back. This column is free, get it? Never mind.

9:00 AM: And we’re coming to you LIVE! From dreary San Jose, CA. Just got some breakfast to prepare for the long day. Eggs benedict with hash browns. Yuuuuummyyy!! Ok we’ll start this off with a play list called “90’s Alternative”.

9:19: 20 minutes into this and already the first big test comes; going out to get some coffee. This would have been a lot easier if I had everything in my cubicle. A smoking area, a fridge, a microwave, a coffee maker, a personal chef, a masseuse, and a fortuneteller. Just ‘cause.

9:34: After a few minutes of stalling (or productivity, as managers like to call it) I’m getting up for my coffee. Hope no ones walking around the halls. Might as well head for a cigarette break so I’ll be right back. And, yes, I still have the earphones on. You’re gonna have to trust that I have this thing on for the whole day.

9:51: I try and walk the halls as fast as I can, like the Flash. You never know when one of the enemies (Upper Management) is lurking around.

9:54: By the way, I’ve sufficiently prepared for this day. I just spent hours over the weekend transferring songs from my CD’s. And I’m barely even halfway. I think I’m up to 1000 songs now. Not that I’d get to listen all of them, but still.

10:09: First official interruption of the day. My office mate came by to talk about gas. Of all the nerve. No time for chit chat. Not when I’m doing something for… I don’t know what. Entertainment? I need help.

10:26: Around this time, on any other day, I would be surfing the usual websites to read all the new articles up. ESPN.com, for example, doesn’t update their site of new columns until now. East Coast bias. Well, today is hardly any day. So I’m trying real hard to fight back the urge to just surf the net until lunchtime. Either that, or not hear someone already behind me, like my boss. Listening to music while surfing the net on company time doesn’t win you awards. You actually lose a lot. 2 guesses on what that is.

10:37: Listening to Hungry Young Poets’ Drowning. Too bad they broke up. Funny story about Barbie. Back in college during my freshman year, my friend actually knows Barbie from their HS days. I begged and pleaded with her to introduce me to her. Finally, she gave in and told me that she was going to meet her after school at the University Mall across the street. So I went with her and, of course, she stood us up. Which led to this exchange:

Me: She’s not showing up is she?

Friend: Yeah I guess not. Don’t worry about it she’s gay anyway.

Me: (Speechless)

10:45: You ever hear something weird while wearing earphones, then take it off and find nothing? I get that all the time. And every time, I instinctively assume it as someone walking. So I snap my head back to check if theirs someone behind me. I think I’ve done this a hundred times since 9:00. Soon I’ll be like Linda Blair in The Exorcist.

11:00: Two hour mark! 6 more hours and change to go. This calls for a celebration. More coffee and cigarettes!

11:06: Time for a play list change. Let’s go with “’00 Alternative”. Have to keep the music fresh so I don’t lose interest. It’s a marathon not a sprint.

11:21: Quick status update on the ears: Still in one piece. Although, the left is starting to get itchy. I get that a lot. I don’t know if it’s the ear phones or my ear. Yes, I do clean my ear.

11:25: I realize that this will all be for naught if the battery gives out. I did charge it full overnight but I don’t know how long the battery will last during continuous playback.

11:26: Problem solved. Apple says it’s 12 hours.

11:41: It’s getting real close to lunchtime. This morning, I thought about how to handle this. Should I take it off for the entire hour? I didn’t know where I was going to eat yet. Even Lance Armstrong stops riding during the night.

11:56: I decide on leaving it off while I get my food and put it back on once I’m in my seat. And I decide on cafeteria food. See, these are the things that I think about.

12:30 PM: I bring a book to keep my mind occupied and not think about hitting the 3 and a half hour mark. I finally get around to reading Fast Food Nation.

1:38: I’ll be writing about this book after I finish it. I read the introduction and half of the first chapter and… it just saddens me that so many things in our life has been “corporatized” Simple things like the clothes we wear, food we eat and things around the house are taken for granted, and yet we don’t stop to ask where these clothes are made, or what’s in the food we eat. While 10 billion people around the world munch on a Big Mac, kids are working as meat packers, in one of the most dangerous activities on a farm, to save Mcdonalds some money. All the highly skilled meatpackers have been rendered extinct by corporations who want lower costs. I’ll talk about this more some other time. It’s too depressing.

1:57: Quick status update: My ears are feeling strangely fine after 5 hours. The batteries on the iPod show it still has half left. Plenty of time.

210: Working, working, working….

2:20: Found this nifty little program for scriptwriters of all types.

2:43: Going on 6 hours. I stopped by the rest room to do my thing (Which reminds me, I saved you all the bathroom jokes. Suffice it to say that, yes I didn’t take them off there.) and I stop to wash my hands. In the mirror, I notice the earphone on my ear. I realize that I’ve had this thing on my ear for almost 6 hours straight. The little voice in my head says, “What the hell are you doing? Get it off now!” It takes everything I have to block all that off. See what I have to do to get some good blog entries??!

2:53: Time for another change in play list. I’ll let The Mars Volta take me home.

3:13: For the first time, I have this incredible urge to take the earphones off. Every nerve in my ear feels on fire. If I my focus too much on it, my head would feel real heavy.

3:14: I play The Widow to take my mind of it.

3:30: I’m telling anyone that will listen. These guys are out of this world. I’ve never heard any of the chords, drum lines or words on any other album. You know that you’re hooked when you search online to figure out what “Vade Mecum” or “Tarantism” means. Frances The Mute is classic rock for the modern age. The album is basically 5 songs spread across an hour and a half of wicked drums, guitar playing reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, and lyrics so surreal I still haven’t figured it out. None of the online message boards has figured out what the story is. Ok, I’ve done my best salesman impersonation.

4:10: 7 hours done. 1 more to go!

4:17: I’m freakin’ ready to take these of now.

4:30: I’m really really REALLY ready to take these off now.

4:59: My head’s starting to throb. Can’t think straight. Almost over now…

5:01: 20 more minutes….

5:15: Of all the luck! Suddenly I’ve got lots that need to get done and I’m not in the proper state. 5 more minutes. I’d count down but I just want to get these off!!!

5:19: Almost there. This is the longest minute of my life.

5:20: (Quickly take it off)

(Sigh…)

Epilogue: After 8 grueling hours, I made it to the end. No, My ears didn’t explode. I don’t know if I should be disappointed or relieved. On the other hand, I was a social retard for an entire day and lessened the life span of my hearing ability. And right now, air is finally coming in to my ear and I feel every sensation. The lesson learned from all this?

Don’t try this at home.

iPod and Back Scare

I got a real scare this afternoon. I've noticed since I got the iPod that my iTunes library has 2 songs more than my iPod. This after doing the automatic update. Coming from a guy who insists on having all my songs have album covers, this irritated me. So I cleaned out all the songs on the iPod and decided to manually add the songs 30 by 30. Eventually I found it (some Fiona Apple "Extraordinary Machine" songs have two occurences of the same song). So I went back and tried to do an auto update to make it quicker. Once I unplugged it from my PC to start listening, all my songs, playlists, albums, composers, genres, groupie pictures were empty. All of it gone. I plugged it back in and it seemed to work fine on screen but on the iPod itself, it was like I just bought it. Everything was gone. Dammit. A quick read through the apple site and I found the diamond in the rough. Restart. And now my ears are bleeding from having these earphones plugged in for 8-9 hours a day.

Before that, I went to see the doctor to get a quick check on my left foot. I "hurt" it ( I use hurt but it's not really painful. Just can't lift it as high as my right.) playing golf because of my messed up swing. It's been like this for a month and after the tenth time that I almost tripped and fell while walking, I gave up and went to see a doctor. He told me that there could be some nerve irritation because it's not painful but it's terribly weak. I mention that my back on the left side would sting if I tried to lift something. He said he'd consult with a Neurologist (!) to see what was wrong. So I'm driving back to the office and I get a call from him. The Neurologist called back. She said it might either be a nerve irritation on my back or a herniated disk (!). Either way, they want to do an MRI (!!!) to get a good idea of what was wrong. Which lead to this exchange:

Doc: In the meantime, no golf for you.
Me: Not even putting?
Doc: No golf. I'll call you soon. CLICK
Me: God Dammit God Dammit God Dammit!!

In other news, Operation: Big Apple has begun with a resounding thud. I've sent a couple of resumes out but the odds of a non-robot reply are as good as a threesome with me, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz. Not freakin' likely. I've read my old posts to remind what I have to do. Haven't talked to my cousin there, or my aunts there. Haven't gone to the UPS store to ask about the address. I've told you about the job search. Well, this is coming along nicely. (God dammit God Dammit God Dammit!!!)

Did I mention I bought an iPod? Great little piece of gadgetry it's so easy to use and.....

Closer Look

Right now I'm on another pointless meeting scheduled at the end of the day so I figured I'd catch up on some things.

"Sons of Man" is coming along poorly. I'm stuck in a rut because I keep changing things. I think I said somewhere in this space sometime back that the first story was easy. The lesson learned through all this is I'm an idiot. It will surface. Someday. So consider this the last time I mention any of this nonsense until it's done.

I'm making changes to the links at the side. There's a separate space for the bloggers I read, mostly friends and Neil Gaiman's, which is an excellent place to find helpful sites. Neil's the writer of The Sandman and lots of other novels. Take a look see, if not to see some real far off sites. Like this one. It's a webstrip and I spent an inordinate amount of time going through it. Entertaining stuff. Check it out.

Last week I worked on my swing pretty much everyday. It's still shitty. No that's not true. It's bad. But I'm working on it. I needed a break though, if not to just step away and let the weather turn warmer so I don't blow my back anymore than I already have. It's been cold the past few nights here so hitting that ball feels like hitting a rock.

Don't forget The Office, later tonight at 9:30!

Yesterday, got a call from Jen and she asked for my opinion on which color to choose: pink, blue or silver. Turns out that she got a brand spankin' new iPod Mini! (I told her she's a silver). She mentions that Best Buy offers an 18 month no interest payment plan and mp3 players qualify. After 3 hours and a ton of money, I am now(finally) the proud owner of my own iPod. Before, I thought I'd never use it since I listen to music on my car all the time and besides, all my files are in my laptop so I never really see any use for it. Well, turns out they have a car adapter. That got the iPod back on my radar. Then with the whole Big Apple move, I figured it would be perfect there. I'm probably gonna end up selling my car too when I move so the iPod would be handy. The 18 month no interest plan just clinched it. Now if I can just figure out how to get rid of my old players...

Jus watched Closer over the weekend. Good movie. Not great but very real except for one stupid scene which I'll get to in a minute. I liked how the story moved and scenes felt like they didn't occur over the course of successive days. Very character driven which I liked a lot. I feel somewhat ashamed that the only reason I picked it up was because of Natalie Portman's stripper scenes. Well, no not really. That was the only reason I picked it up. And let me tell you something, it did not disappoint. This should've been a must watch every day movie for me except for a few things. There was a ridiculous scene where Jude Laws' character first comes in contact with Clive Owens' character online in a sex chat room. He pretends to be a girl while Owen's character seems like a newbie, being real honest. Jude mentions that he (or she) wants to meet. He gives the name "Anna", tells him he(or she) is blonde and to meet him at the aquarium. "Anna" is Julia Roberts character and she happens to be at the aquarium as well. Owens' starts hitting on her because he thinks she's the person he was chatting with. Then Julia says that you were fooled, "by a guy named Daniel". Excuse me? How the hell did she know that it was Jude Law chatting? To make matters worse, that whole scene was the first domino in the series of events for the whole movie. Maybe I don't chat as much anymore but that whole premise seems ludicrous and unbelievable. Or, to put it bluntly, that shit doesn't happen. I think it brought the whole movie down. Thank god for Natalie Portman, for her great acting and awesome thon...stripper scene. I also don't like the casting of Clive Owen as the neanderthal man. Could've done better. They should have gotten someone truly insane to play that role, like Tom Sizemore or Dennis Rodman. Good movie. Could've been an all-timer.

I don't know about you, but I've yet to come across a more bigger time waster than looking-for-album-covers-for-my-mp3-files. And believe me, I've wasted plenty. Not even a "Newlyweds" marathon can match it. Naturally, I spent an inordinate amount of my time today doing just that and I loved every minute of it. The only reason I got the iPod photo was to have the album cover show while I play my songs. Picky, I know. But I'm giving up buying CD's and will get everything either on iTunes or...somewhere. So I still want to hold on to some part of the CD buying experience. This was the site were I took all the album covers. They have a lot of them. I was impressed when I found obscure 90's album covers that I need here. Not a bad site overall. Go check it out.

Right I think that's about it. The drones are still talking over the teleconference but I'm signing off now. Here and there.