Year-end meme, revisited

We're bringing this back, though not much has changed. Why the heck not?

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Attended a Greek Orthodox funeral.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t really make them. This year, though, I will work out more.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My wife's friend Mary.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandfather in Greece.

5. What places did you visit?
Greece, Boston, Philly (twice), Atlantic City.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
More money, more time to play golf, more couch time with Erica.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Election Day.

8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
I don’t really think in those terms. I just do things.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I’ll just keep those private, thanks.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
No major purchases for me. Erica is digging her new smartphone though, that I got her for Christmas.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Erica still cranking away at her second Masters.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Republicans.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, life/disability insurance, gas.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I’m a little too mellow for three reallys, but I did take my first vacation in 16 months at the new place, and went to Greece for the first time in 5 years.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Fort Hood.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? even
b) thinner or fatter? a little fatter
c) richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Play golf, photography.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Talk about money.

20. How did you spend Christmas last year?
In Greece, just dinner with family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Always.

22. How many one-night stands?
None.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
30 Rock.

24. What did you do for your birthday in 2008?
The usual. Dinner, etc. That’s always around the time of my party at the Saratoga Racetrack, so I usually have friends up.

25. What was the best book you read?
I'm drawing a blank here. Not a good year for books for me.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Rise Against were new to me.

27. What did you want and get?
A new PC.

28. What did you want and not get?
Xbox 360.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I don't think I've seen anything released in 2008, but the best movies I saw were Life is Beautiful and Walk on Water.

30. Did you make some new friends this year?
No.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Meh.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Basic. Jeans, polo shirts at home. Slacks and collared shirts at work.

33. What kept you sane?
I’m not sane.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one comes to mind.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election.

36. Who did you miss?
I sucks that my Dad lives in Greece.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
No one comes to mind.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
None, really.

Movie meme

This one has been going around, so what the heck.

Sure enough, my number is lower than most. Only 71. I'm just not that into movies, especially not the stuff on this list.

Like Toast, I'll also indicate what I want to or plan to see (it may even be in my queueue), and what I have LESS THAN ZERO interest in seeing. Green for the former, red for the latter. Everything else probably won't ever be seen, but not because of any aversion, mostly just apathy.


(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG [all versions, including King Kong Vs. Godzilla]
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving -MAS
( ) Flubber (orignal only)
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
(X) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled (original only)
(X) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
( ) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
(X) X2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday (original only)
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
( ) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street (never all at once)
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Kippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old-virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
(X) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
( ) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
(X) Dawn of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
(X) Animatrix
(X) Evil Dead
(X) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal
( ) Battle Royale
( ) Battle Royale 2
(X) Brazil
(X) Contact
( ) Cube
(X) Dr. Strangelove
( ) Enlightenment Guaranteed
( ) Four Rooms
( ) Memento
(X) Pi
( ) Requiem for a Dream
(X) Pulp Fiction
( ) Reservoir Dogs
( ) Run Lola Run
( ) Russian Ark
( ) Serenity
( ) Sin City
(X) Snatch
( ) Spider
(X) The Sixth Sense
( ) The Village
( ) Waking Life
( ) Zatoichi
( ) Ikiru
(X) The Seven Samurai
( ) Brick
(X) Akira

See Fridge, Toast, Fridge's brother, Mr Furious.

The Name Game - Erica Edition

1. Witness Protection Program Name (mother’s & father’s middle names): "Greta Augustin"

2. NASCAR Name (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad): "Herman Fernando" (That's a winner)
   

3. Star Wars Name (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name): "Tzeric"

4. Detective Name (favorite color, favorite animal): "Red Persian"
   

5. Soap Opera Name (middle name, city where you live): "Ilse Wilton"

6. Superhero Name (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add "THE" to the beginning): "The Pink Swizzle"

7. Fly (?) Name (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name): "Eris"
   

8. Gangsta Name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): "Mint Chocolate Chip Chocolate Chip"

9. Rock Star Name (current pet’s name, current street name): "Shatzi Joseph"
   

10. Porn Name (1st pet, street you grew up on): "Fifi Spur"

Fifi and Fudgy. Awesome.

Erica thinks "Fly Name" means your fly-boy name, like your pilot handle. Think Top Gun. That's sounds like a good explanation.

The Name Game

1. Witness Protection Program Name (mother’s & father’s middle names): "Alexy Angelos"

2. NASCAR Name (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad): "Richard (Dick) Angelos"

3. Star Wars Name (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name): "Tzange"

4. Detective Name (favorite color, favorite animal): "Purple Leonburger"
   

5. Soap Opera Name (middle name, city where you live): "George Wilton"

6. Superhero Name (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add "THE" to the beginning): "The Blue Mojito"

7. Fly (?) Name (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name): "Anis" Shut up.
   

8. Gangsta Name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): "Rocky Road Chocolate Chip"

9. Rock Star Name (current pet’s name, current street name): "Jake Joseph" (Jake is dead now, so we're petless)
   

10. Porn Name (1st pet, street you grew up on): "Duke Locust"

I have to add, my friend Dave's porn name is Fudgy Warren, which still gets me giggling every time I think of it. I just want to know if he's a top or a bottom. That's probably my all-time favorite. Then again, I have two female friends, Jane and Randee, that have classic porn names as is. I won't write their last names here, but just trust me.

If you haven't already done this, you're tagged.

Also see Toast, Tart, Kona, Phydeaux, Wilde, Tracy.

By the way, since everyone's asking, my guess is that "fly name" should mean the abbreviated 1st initial/1st syllable thing, like A-Rod. In which case, the instructions are wrong. Just my two cents.

A-Tze sucks, but I can see Tracy being a T-San. Tart only has a one-syllable last name, so she's fucked. J-San is kinda lame for Toast, E-Wil is OK, but I'd cheat a bit and make it E-Wild.

Are you a good omnivore?

I found this at Bill's place. Great meme.

From Very Good Taste:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

UPDATE: the Toasts added two more "rules":
4. Asterisks on what you must try before you die.
5. A question mark after what you had to look up.



(note: if you don't know what something is, go to the VGT post, they have wiki links)

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea ?
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses ?
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda ?
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi ?
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi ?
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost ?
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong ?
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. ***
85. Kobe beef ***
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate ***
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I now have a purpose in life...

Music Meme!

Stolen from Kona and modified. Basically, snip the first lines of lyrics from a shuffle.

Name that song!

1) Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You (Kona)
I've never known a girl like you before
Now just like in a song from days of yore
Here you come a knockin', knockin' at my door
And I've never met a girl like you before

2) Rush - Working Man (Toast)
I get up at seven, yeah
And I go to work at nine
I got no time for livin'
Yes, I'm workin' all the time

3) Van Halen - Atomic Punk (Toast)
I am a victim of the science age, uh
A child of the storm, whoa yes
I cant remember when I was your age
For me, it says no more, no more

4) ????? - Personal Jesus (Bill)
Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
i'll make you a believer

5) Elvis - Return to Sender (Chemist)
I gave a letter to the postman,
He put it his sack.
Bright in early next morning,
He brought my letter back.

6) AC/DC - Let Me Put My Love Into You (Toast)
Flying on a free flight
Driving all night with my machinery
Cause I
I got the power any hour

7) Blues Brothers - Hey Bartender (Bill)
I went balling the other night
I started drinking and got real tight
I blew each and all my friends
I felt so good I had to blow it again

8)
She painted a bull's eye on my mind.
No matter how I moved her aim was never high.
I guess that was what I needed at the time.

9) White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (Bill)
I was watching
With one eye on the other side
I had fifteen people telling me to move
I got moving on my mind

10) M.I.A. - Bamboo Banga (no one)
Road runner, road runner
Going hundred mile per hour
With your radio on
With your radio on


Some are easy, some are ridiculous.

I tag all y'all.

I laminated this meme

Tracy busts out the Top 5 Free Pass question!

I haven't thought about this in a while...

First, the ground rules:
1) Looks are great and all, but really, there will be 15,000 women on a beach in California tomorrow that I would find physically "hotter" than anyone on this list. But that doesn't matter for this list. Not that the women below are unattractive or anything, but I need to have read an interview, or seen her on a talk show, something that lets me know that there's a brain behind the the looks, and an actual talent beyond reading lines in a script (for example).

I've seen too many flavor-of-the-minute actors and actresses on Letterman that can't carry a conversation past the amusing anecdote (covered in the pre-interview, of course) they've tried to memorize.

"So, {actress}, what have you been doing during your show's hiatus? Did you go anywhere?"
"Why, funny you mention that, Dave. I just spent 2 weeks in Scotland, and boy did this funny thing happen to me..."

You can see Letterman fidgeting with his blue card wondering when the damned commercial break is coming.

2) I've always been drawn to older women. Intelligent, experienced, a knowing twinkle in the eye. I dated 2-3 years older than me way more often than I dated 2-3 years younger. I married that way too.

Anyway, here goes.


Shakira - OK, of course I go and violate rule 2 right away, but this in the only one on this list younger than me. Intelligent, talented, funny, ass and legs from the gods. And Ojos Así is one of the greatest songs of all time.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (Arabic: شاكِرة ايسابل مبرك ريبول ) (born: February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s. She is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English, Portuguese, Italian, and some Arabic. ... According to the United World Chart, Shakira is as of 2008 the 4th most successful artist so far for the last decade, in terms of single sales. She is also the only artist to have two songs in the top ten of the most successful singles since 1999

Seriously. How do you top that?












Tina Fey - First woman head writer for SNL. Wickedly brutal humor which really shone through when she started doing Weekend Update, instead of just writing behind the scenes. The mysterious scar. The horribly bad Greek middle name. The nerd chic thing she rocks. Oh yeah.



Jodie Foster - Intelligent, talented, strong. And OMFG that jaw and those eyes. It's ridiculous how beautiful she is.



Maura Tierny - The sad eyes just suck me in. The protector instinct kicks in, I think. She was a fucking riot in News Radio. Lisa Miller was one of the greatest sitcom characters ever, and that show was chock full of them. I've crushed on her ever since. She's probably the most private of all these people, but every interview with her I've read has been interesting. Also, TJ's wife used to play Barbies with her when they were kids in Boston. I don't know what that has to do with anything. Maybe they played doctor too...



Holly Hunter - Great smile, great voice, great actress, funny. What did David Strathairn say in The Firm? "I love your crooked little mouth." Yeah.


Honorable mentions: Sarah Silverman, Gwyneth, Uma, Sandra Bullock, Amanda Peet, Kelly Ripa


Here are more: Toast, Mike, Chris, Maurinsky, Tart

Freeance and Peance Meme

From Toast.

Are you "proud to be an American"?
No. I don’t go for patriotism very much. Ten years of living elsewhere will do that.

Favorite Founding Father?
Ben Franklin.

Favorite president?
Lincoln. He should have just let the South go rot in hell though.

Biggest "Patriotic Moment"?
Lake Placid, I guess.

Favorite patriotic song?
“America, Fuck Yeah!”

But really, there are no good American patriotic songs. The list of Greek ones is endless. I'm not sure why this is, but I believe it's the American tendency to mistake cheesy for earnest.

Favorite American cuisine?
Soul & Creole

Happiest political moment of your life?
November 1992. Watched the election results at Toast’s place in Troy.

A close second would be November 2006, when NY20 got rid of a ginormohuge GOP scumbag. Long time coming. His downfall was total and complete too. Caught with a mistress, the subsequent split with the wife, a DWI, still under investigation for other doings, even possible connections to DC scandals, including Jack Abramoff. Massive implosion. I fucking love schadenfreude.

Best fireworks display you've ever seen?
Can’t remember if any one in particular stood out. So I guess none did. I've seen some great ones, though.

America's gift to the world?
The idea of America.

Favorite Bill of Rights right?
Numero uno.

Favorite American Holiday?
Thanksgiving.

Favorite D.C. monument?
The Washington Monument and the Pool.

Your dream for America's future?
No Republican presidents ever again.

I, too, am aware...

Very "inside baseball" but very very funny.

Start here. Then go here. Then here. There are other links throughout the comment threads there.

Shakesville's contributors have joined in: Chet, Jeff, Melissa.

UPDATE: Game. Over.

Another winner.

Meme!

Well, that's one way to end the drought. Tag me with an alcohol meme.

1. Beer, wine, liquor, mixed drinks. Rank 'em.

   1. Beer
   2. Wine
   3. Rum
   4. Bourbon
   5. Tequila

2. How often do you drink?

   Pretty much every day.
   

3. Favorite Scotch?

   Laphroaig and Lagavulin.

4. Favorite Bourbon?

   Maker's Mark

5. Favorite tequila?

   None that I can think of. As long as it's 100%, and aged well, I'll try it.

6. Favorite Gin?

   Bombay Sapphire

7. Favorite Vodka?

   Whatever.

8. Favorite Rum?

   Gosling's Bermuda Black

9. Drunkest you've ever been?

   Probably when I funneled screwdrivers freshman year at RPI. 1 liter vodka, 1 quart OJ, less than an hour.
   

10. Red or White?

    Red, but we enjoy busting out some good whites on the deck in the summer.
    

11. Best wine you've ever tasted?

    No such thing.

12. Favorite type of wine?

    I love so many varietals, I'm not going to try to pick a true favorite. Lately I've been gravitating to "non-standard" wines, like Malbec, Carménère, etc.. Always looking for new stuff.
    

13. Favorite every-day red?

    Yellow Tail Shiraz Reserve. Really, spend that extra dollar. The difference between the generic one that took the country by storm a couple years ago and the Reserve is tremendous.

14. Favorite every-day white?

    KJ Chardonnay is a little too expensive for every day, even at BJs, but it's real good.
    

15. Best value wine?

    Too many to mention. Most of our drinking is "cheap" wine, from BJs. There's a ton of good stuff at $6 to $9.

16. Do you drink box?

    There are too few good ones. It's a great concept, but I hate spending $20 (even if it's for 4 bottles of wine) and then feeling like I have to choke it down.
    

17. Fastest you've ever gotten drunk?

    See: most drunk above.
    

18. Longest you've ever stayed drunk?

    There were a few 4-5 day stretches in college.
    

19. Ever do anything you really regret while drunk?

    Yeah, of course. A drove a lot in college, even if it was only 2 miles up the hill. Punched a window and wound up with a few stitches. A couple dickish things. You know the deal.
    

20. Favorite lager?

    Grolsch.

21. Favorite IPA?

    Dogfish Head 60-minute.

22. Favorite brown ale?

    Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale

23. Favorite doppelbock?

    Samichlaus.
    

24. Favorite Belgian?

    Ommegang from the US, and Duvel's Tripel. (UPDATE: Chimay Blue, too.)
    

25. Favorite stout?

    Péché Mortel and Dogfish World Wide Stout. I ain't pickin' just one. You can't make me.

26. Favorite Winter Ale?

    Don't like most of them. Too much spice, instead of just a hint. If I have to pick one, I'll go Corsendonk.

27. Favorite Scotch Ale?

    McEwan's. Nothing else comes close in this category.

28. Favorite Other? (Because I realize this is getting abusive to non-beer-nerds.)

    Lots of barleywines are competing for this slot.
    

29. Favorite Brewery?

    Dogfish Head

30. Favorite mixed drink?

    Rum Swizzle. Cuba Libre. Manhattan. Mint Julep (made my way).
    

31. Favorite morning libation?

    Bloody Mary.

32. Do you suffer memory loss when you drink heavily?

    What?

33. Favorite place to drink?

    Hmmm. I don't think I've been to a truly memorable bar. I've had great memories at many places, but to think of any of them as a destination... nope.

34. Favorite sports bar?

    None. Never been to a chain, and the sports bar in downtown Saratoga sucks moosecock.

35. Ever consider AA?

    No. I hate meetings.

I tag Bill. TJ, put yours in comments.

Meme!

Stolen from Mike, who only posts once every couple months it seems. Fucker. Arm-wrestling, bookshelf-destroying fucker.

1) Ten years ago I was...
Moving from Troy to Saratoga, to live in my parents' house with my brother, who was attending Skidmore. For my parents, trustworthy tenants. For me, cheap rent. For my brother, no $7000 worth of Room & Board tacked on to already-ridiculous tuition loans. Wins all around. Dating Mary. Self-employed, successfully.

2) Five things on today's to-do list:
Not die from this strange stomach pain.
Chug some Pepto.
Get a lot of work done at the office. Fucking Bengali fonts can suck my ass.
Chill with Erica.
Make some phone calls for house-hold projects. Carpets, a couple yards of stone, garage doors, etc.

3) Things I'd do if I were a billionaire:
Buy a baseball team.
Visit many tropical islands.
Have a media room to embarrass even the best movie theaters.

UPDATE: I was so caught up in my newfound wealth, I forgot the things I'd do after my 2 personal needs were taken care of (the islands are for both of us).
Use the money, and the power that comes with it, to make more money for causes. I have 2 or 3 favorites, Erica does too. But rather than just cut $100,000,000 checks to six organizations, I'd want to build something that would make them that much in interest alone. Na-mean? That would be my "job." Building something real, chillin' with Sachs (I'd call him J Sack, 'cuz we'd be tight) and Bono, doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well.

4) Three bad habits:
No such thing.

5) Five places I've lived:
Cherry Valley, NY
Athens, Greece
Troy, New York
Saratoga Springs, NY

I don't remember any towns before Cherry Valley.

6) Six jobs I've had in my life:
Telemarketing
Pizza Delivery
Copy shop (x2)
Translation and typesetting

Fuck, I'm boring.


If you see this, you're tagged.

I shall call this... mini meme

1. What is your name? Angelos

2. A four-letter word: arts

3. A vehicle: Alfa Romeo

4. A city: Athens

5. A boy's name: Andrew

6. A girl's name: Adrienne

7. Alcoholic drink: absinthe
   

8. An occupation: architect

9. Something you wear: ascot

10. A celebrity: Angelina Jolie

11. A food: Ahi

12. Something found in a bathroom: aloe
    

13. Reason for being late: Accident

14. Something you shout: Aaaaargh!

15. An animal: Aardvark

16. A body part: Ankle

Well, that was stupid.

Meme!

The 4x4.

4 jobs I've had: telemarketer, pizza delivery/management, copy jockey, foreign language typesetter
4 TV shows I watch: Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Modern Marvels, South Park
4 places I have been: Amsterdam, Cairo, Ephesus, Jerusalem
4 foods I like: pizza, steak, pulled pork, kokkinisto

Meme!

From Chemist and Fridge:

Nice and easy, no "rules," so to speak. Just list a bunch of stuff you've done that's interesting, unique, or maybe even outside the norm a little bit. At least in terms of my (your) readers.

1. Attended school overseas (from 3rd through 12th, came back for college).
2. Traveled through Europe for a month with a Eurorail pass.
3. Had an ACL reconstruction, and watched it. I didn't let them put me under, so I just had an epidural and a couple Valium. Nothing stranger than feeling bone saws and drills vibrate through your whole body.
4. Owned a company for 13 years.
5. Finished second in a spelling bee. I was in 2nd grade, and lost to a 6th grader. Fucking rhythm. Or, "rythm."
6. Built the foundation and walls of a huge stone patio. We left the surface to a professional flagstone guy.
7. Killed a deer at full run. The deer was running, that is...
8. Had photography exhibited in a real gallery. Also had a picture published in a book - one of my brother's metal sculptures for a book of metal-smithing and woodworking art.
9. Completed Century Club, Lock 'n Load, Drink the Alphabet, and Turtle.
10. Won one team and two individual golf tournaments in the same year.
11. Bowled an average of 250+ over a 3-round league night.
12. Played for a spot in the Little League World Series. Rome beat us (Athens) in the final, and got to go to Williamsburg.
13. Took acid for the first time ever on Friday the 13th (11/13/87), and went to an Alice Cooper concert. What are the fucking odds of those three events matching up?
14. At one point, I had an 11-year winning streak betting on the Travers. From Easy Goer in 1989 to Lemon Drop Kid in 1999. Didn't have Unshaded in 2000.

Well, that's all I can come up with for now. Tag: Toast, Tart, Bill.

Meme!

Seems to be the trend lately.

DONE!!! Thanks to Incertus and Minstrel Boy for coming over from Shakesville to pick off the last three. We'll need to do this one again soon. That was fun and mindless. And I got to imdb a lot of movies here and everywhere else (after I had guessed what I knew, of course).

Instructions: Look up 15 of your favorite films on IMDb and take a quote from each. List them below. When someone guesses the quote correctly, cross it off the list. Leave a comment with your answers. And NO CHEATING.

1. Her husband works a night shift or something, and he comes home and catches me on the floor with my cock in his wife's ass. (manuel)

2. A flute without holes, is not a flute. A donut without a hole, is a Danish. (Fridge)

3. Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible cunt... me. (Chemist)

4. I know him. He's too nervous to kill himself. Wears his seat belt in a drive-in movie. (minstrel. The toughest one by far. One of my favorite movies, which I'm sure most people have seen at least once, but I used to be obsessed with it.)

5. You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me? (Toast)

6. Your doorbell. I have fixed it from the ringing. There is no charge. (John T.)

7. Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere! (Incertus)

8. I once farted on the set of Blue Lagoon. (Incertus)

9. Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam. (Mr. Furious. YAY! This was a college staple. One of the most quotable movies of all time. Criminally underappreciated for its sublime silliness.)

10. Hermaphroditic porn. Starlets with both organs. You should see the box. Beautiful chicks with dicks that put mine to shame. (Dark Matter)

11. I want to buy a car with pussy magnet. (Chemist)

12. This is a $4,000 sofa, upholstered in Italian silk. It is not just a couch. (Jonathan)

13. Yes! We're all individuals! (Dark Matter. Alrighty then! I still can't believe that one took so long.)

14. What? That's like slapping God across the face for giving you a beautiful gift. (Jane)

15. That's it... we're breaking up! (Jane. And it's about fucking time too!)

Question of the moment

Name, in order, your favorite live albums/DVDs. And why. Something I've been mulling over since a comment thread over at Toast's place last week. No minimum or maximum.

Only one rule: it has to be a single, contiguous, concert recording. The rule hurts me as much as it hurts you, because it eliminates a couple of my all-time favorite CDs: Ani DiFranco's Living in Clip, and Pearl Jam's Touring Band 2000. But I want one magical night, not a best of 3 or 30 dates.

OK, here are mine:

Bruce Springsteen - Hammersmith Odeon '75 (DVD)
Did I say magical? I meant unbelievable. Possibly the most cohesive band you'll ever see. And a setlist that would put most bands to shame. 33 years ago!!! I am glued to the TV when this is on.

U2 - Live at Slane Castle (DVD)
Ridiculous band, ridiculous crowd, and Bono is in perfect voice. Great setlist.

Lyle Lovett - Live in Texas (CD & DVD)
My man. This is everything music should be.

Pearl Jam - Live at the Garden (DVD)
My favorite band, playing a strong setlist, fantastic crowd participation, and Mike McReady and Stone Gossard put any and all guitar duos right in their fucking place. Every other lead/rhythm combo is fighting for second place.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at the El Mocambo (DVD)
No. No. No. Stevie is God. Clapton may be a prophet. But Stevie is God.

David Byrne - Between the Teeth (VHS)
This is one of only two reasons I still have a VCR attached to my system. The other is Erica's appearance on Wheel of Fortune. In which she KICKED ASS, of course. Davd Byrne is an American treasure. And a freak. A freaky fucking genius. There is more frenetic energy in this tape than in a bus-load of ADD kids.

Nirvana - Unplugged (CD & DVD)
I cannot believe it took them 15 years to release this thing on DVD. What a night. I made Erica watch it with me a couple months ago. I don't know what she thought of Cobain/Nirvana before, but her closing remark was this - "I wish I could give him a hug." Tortured genius doesn't even begin to describe it.

BB King - Live at the Regal (CD)
The consummate showman. Classic setlist, one of the best working bands to ever exist, and fantastic interaction with the crowd. A true classic, and critically acclaimed for good reason.

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (DVD)
The Big Suit! Well, that's what everyone remembers, anyway. I love the way this was planned out. Not just a recording of a concert, but planning in advance to make a movie out of a concert. David Byrne, walking out with a boom box and a guitar, pressing play, and performing a crazy-ass version of Psycho Killer. Roll out the next Head. Play a song. Roll out the next Head. By the time everyone is onstage, the four Heads proper and all the great supporting musicians, you are sucked the fuck in. Another thing that just occurred to me: how many bands can say that one particular live recording of any of their songs is the definitive version? Seriously, Life During Wartime from this concert is about 5000 times better than the album version, and everybody knows it. Slippery People? Forget about it. Unfuckingbelievable. Of its time, and timeless. A work of art.

Mike Doughty - Smofe and Smang (CD)
One brilliant man, one guitar, one perfect crowd. Astounding.

Iron Maiden - Rock in Rio (CD & DVD)
Mixing metal bands live is never easy. It usually comes out like mud. This one is perfect. A crazy multi-octave vocalist, phenomenal rhythm section, and three guitarists with styles so distinct that a true Maiden fan can pick them out. Melody and harmony aren't usually associated with the public's perception of "heavy metal," but that's where Maiden made their bones. Smith and Murray are my second-favorite guitar tandem; they play off each other like only people who have played together for 28 years can. It's like that couple that finish each other's sentences. Jannick Gers, a later addition to the band when Smith took a hiatus (but kept on when Smith returned), fits in very well, and is a fantastic player. Still, Smith/Murray is where it's at.

Morphine - Bootleg Detroit (CD)
{weeps}

Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East (CD)
Back when Halford could BRING IT. Notes no man should hit without performance enhancing drugs. Or repeated kicks to the balls. The closing verse of Green Manalishi. My favorite version of Joan Baez's Diamonds and Rust. Still a juxtaposition that makes me giggle. Priest, doing Baez.

Jerry Garcia Band - 1990 (CD)
This was supposed to be a Grateful Dead gig, but keyboardist Brent Mydland died. Jerry called his buddies/frequent collaborators, and it became a JGB show. Evangeline, Dear Prudence, some Dylan. Beautiful.

OK, if you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. If not, put it in the comments, bitchez!

Meme!

OK, I've been avoiding this for a week, but The Disgruntled Chemist tagged me with a meme that's more like homework than any one I've done before. Seriously, I've answered 50+ question memes that took less time than this.

The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. List 7 random/weird things about your favorite historical figure.
3. Tag seven more people at the end of your blog and link to theirs.
4. Let the person know they have been tagged by leaving a note on their blog.

First, I had to decide who my favorite historical figure was, because I've never though about it in that way before. To answer this question, I went to my bookshelf. A-ha! That was easier than I thought. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci it is. Now I'm annoyed I didn't come up with that immediately.

Now, the hard part. What do I know about him right off the bat, before I have to cheat and do some internet research? It's been a while since since I've read any of my tomes about him and his work. So, here's how this went. First, I sketched out what I remembered without help. Then I went to the DaVinci wiki for images and links. Then, I bounced around the wiki some more for further information that I didn't remember, or didn't even know. Those instances are pointed out where appropriate.

1) As famous as he his for his paintings, very few actually survive; it's in the mid-teens. He frequently used substandard materials that just didn't stand the test of time. The main reason for this was his obsessive need to experiment. Check out the list; it's amazing how little we have from him that was 100% his and we know this with 100% certainty.

2) Legend has it that the first master he apprenticed under, Verrocchio, never painted again after they collaborated on The Baptism of Christ and Leonardo's work far outclassed the master's. Most likely exaggeration. (wiki update: it is thought that perhaps Boticelli worked on this painting too.)

3) He was considered a very good looking man, likely the model for Verrocchio's David. His sexuality has been much speculated about, and he was even tried for (and acquitted of) sodomy with three other young artists of the time. The consensus is that he was gay, because so few women figure prominently in the thin historical record of his life. Or, was he more of a libertine, an equal opportunity lech? Who knows?

4) I don't know if this is "random" or "weird," but when you think about it, has anyone had his work more parodied than DaVinci? Between the Last Supper, the Mona Lisa, and the Vitruvian Man, the number of parodies/homages has to number in the thousands. The only other one that comes close is the Creation of Adam portion of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, by Michelangelo.

5) As good as his paintings were, his sketchbooks and journals show the true nature of his genius. Thousands of pages of, well, everything. His study of the flow of water led to advancements in knowledge of bridge building and erosion. He described "planetshine" (though with some erroneous assumptions) well before its existence was proven (wiki update: 100 years later, by Kepler). His theories to explain why fossils could be found in mountains came 100s of years before plate tectonics were but a gleam in science's eyes. And that's just in the Codex Leicester! Half a percent of his estimated page output! Anatomy, biology, flight, bridges, botany, engineering, 100s of inventions... just fucking everything. OK, now I'm depressed.

6) Yes, he did write in mirror script, as portrayed in The DaVinci Code. There is no "accepted" explanation for this. Was it an attempt at code? Or, as a lefty, did he find it easier to write from right to left? The code one really is the least likely. Come on, how difficult would that be for someone to figure out? That's a pretty fascinating link, actually. Check it out.

7) Bridge ideas that he sketched 500 years ago are quite viable. In the planning stages is a 720-foot bridge that will span the Golden Horn. He designed it in 1502, for Sultan Bayezid II. The plan was announced in 2006. I am so going to Turkey when that puppy opens. Here's a smaller replica of the same bridge, built as a footbridge in Norway. (wiki update: this whole item. I was tapped out after 6.)

OK, Chemist, you owe me three hours of my life back. I'll tag Bill, Mike (though he's somehow neglected to put me on his blogroll), Melissa, Fridge, litbrit, Mr. Furious (though he's somehow neglected to put me on his blogroll), and that's pretty much all I've got that Chemist didn't already cover.

Aside - here are the works I've seen in person:

Meme!

Toast has another one, that Bill actually had up a few weeks ago, but I forgot to propagate.

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

At work:
¡Fantástico! Me gustaría tomarme un minuto para contarle sobre la Promoción Póquer de Productos. (Explique la promoción). ¿Le gustaría agregar algún artículo adicional para poder aprovechar la oferta?

From the Spanish version of Business Fundamentals for Salon & Spa Professionals (Teacher's Guide).


At Home:
Weishaupt's "illumination" & Voltaire's "enlightenment": from the Latin "lux" meaning light.
Christianity all in 3s (Trinity, etc.), Buddhism in 4s. Illuminatism in 5s.

From The Illuminatus Trilogy.

Meme!

Toast has a new meme: what does your computer's desktop look like?

Mine is clean. I hate icons all over the place. My work screen shots would look exactly the same, except it would be two monitors.



Click to embiggen.

My dock is hidden normally, I just figured I'd throw it in there.

Yeah, I use a lot of apps regularly, mostly graphics oriented.

Meme!

What's your album cover? Here's mine.


I had to do another, this is too much fun.


(I cheated a little here, doing some Photoshoppery on the pic)

Directions here.