Brian
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Brian" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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07:06 pm
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Writer's Block: The X-Files Birthday
-The "Cher"/Freak black&white episode always gets me. It's quirky, funny, got "awwwww" moments.
-Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space” - the one where they investigate an abduction from a bunch of viewpoints, and it has the Body/Guv in it!
There's two!
Tags: writer's block
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09:50 pm
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Got a new job
Magenic.com
Pretty laid-back place, good culture, good pay, good job responsibilities, good location, OK benefits, cool boss, interesting stuff to work on. I've been after this job since Feb. and it finally happened, it all went down fast too. An interview last Thursday, then a 2nd one on Tuesday, then the offer today.
It's been ~7.5 years at Imaginet/digital@JWT/connect@jwt/RMG Connect, and this time, there's no doubt I'm outta there for good. No take-backs.
I'm scared, anxious and happy all at the same time. Can't wait to start it though (June 16th) and just start doing something new for a change.
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01:16 am
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Serious question time
There comes a time in a man's life when he has to ask himself:
Am I ready for muttonchops?
I asked myself this question tonight.
I may know the answer.
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08:20 pm
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Wow, never seen that before
Busy last couple weeks! Been to 3 concerts: Gogol Bordello (YES!!!!!), Dethklok (YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!) and Atmosphere/Mac Lethal (YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
But saw an interesting thing today.
As most of you know, we live RIGHT by the Crystal Airport, a small-plane airport only. Lotsa traffic, planes, helicopters, blimps. Good times.
Well today, N. had just gotten home and was mentioning a bunch of police cars and firetrucks and sirens outside. Well, we look at the front window, the aiport is just to the right looking at that window, and we see a firetruck and a camera crew! What the heck? So N. just starts to go outside and I see all the firemen look up and start pointing to the front/left of our window. It's the common landing pattern path. We're used to it.
So I see a small single-engine plane starting to come in and upon closer inspection, and I was thinking this was the reason for the sirens, the landing gear isn't down! I _RUN_ outside in my socks and out to the end of our driveway, looking east past the one neighbor's house between ours and the airport, we look down the runway, and sure enough, there goes the landing-gear-less plane, landing on it's belly on the runway. I didn't really see any sparks, but I did hear a horrendous grinding, even though it was a half-mile away at this point.
So yeah, don't see that every day. That's really the first "problem" flight at the airport that I've been able to see happen since we've been livin' here for just over 4 years now.
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10:41 pm
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I really like Brother Ali. He's a great lyricist:
Nothing can save you, you question the rain
You get rushed in and chained up
fists raised but I must be insane
Cause I cant figure a single goddamn way to change it
Welcome to the united snakes
Land of the thief, home of the slave
Grant imperial guard where the dollar is sacred
And power is god
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It's this line "Cause I cant figure a single goddamn way to change it" that I've been thinkin' about a lot lately, 'cause well, here's a surprise, but the US is all fucked up right now. Had a lengthy email convo with Stu today about this, and it's like, what CAN you do? Tried voting, how's that working out? So I dunno what to do. It's buggin' me though, without a doubt.
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And then there's the song of his too, Forest Whittaker:
My wardrobe is jeans and faded shirts
A mixture of what I like, and what I wear to work
I'm not mean and got a neck full of razor bumps
I'm not the classic profile of what the ladies want
You might think I'm depressed as can be
But when I look in the mirror I see sexy-ass me
And if that's somethin' that you cant respect then that's peace
My life's better without you actually
To everyone out there, who's just a little different
I say damn a magazine, these are gods fingerprints
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And this one just makes me smile. I LOVE this song right now.
Ok I have to go to bed now, N and I are going camping tomorrow.
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10:01 am
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Bob Dylan
Been readin' a lot about the Bush admin lately...
( Masters of War )
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09:40 pm
[Link] | Nadine is the best damned girlfriend ever.
Today's my bday, and I got me some loot from her.
I'm now the ecstatic owner of an 80gig, black, video iPod.
It's loading up on tunes right now.
Still not sure what I think of the earbuds, but I'll give 'em a try.
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10:21 pm
[Link] | I've talked to many of you about this masterpiece of cinema before, but now, if you haven't seen it, here's a clip from it:
http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/videos/kungfu.aspx?film=3
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12:30 am
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And all the stars were crashing 'round
Another month, another music post.
Two concerts in the last month, and they couldn't have been more different. Went to both with Stu.
Concert the first:
Joanna Newsom and Smog @ The 400 Bar, Friday Dec. 8th -- Never been there before. Yup, it's a small bar, where bands play. Hadn't been to a small venue like that since I lived in Ames. It was an ODD(!) show. First off -- HIPPIES. And the patchoulli. Oh god the patchoulli. But Smog and Joanna are not "electric" acts, they're lo-fi. Which means hushed audience. I even heard people "shhh-ing" other people during the show. I had to whisper to Stu to talk to him during the show, instead of shouting at him like at a "normal" show. (woah I just saw a breakdancing Santa on TV). Smog was interesting, I may be picking up some of his music from emusic sometime in the future, but it just didn't make for good concert music. Joanna was awesome. They played the whole Ys album to close out the show. Seeing someone just jam out on a harp was pretty freakin' cool. And her voice was just as amazing as it is on her albums.
Concert numero dos:
Gogol Bordello (with Valient Thorr) @ First Ave, Thursday Dec. 14th -- THIS was the show I needed! I'd gone to a couple "mellow" shows in a row, and was lamenting the lack of broken eardrums and non-sweaty shows lately. That all changed at this show. Stu and I got there right when Valient Thorr was opening. Think... 70s Thin Lizzy... Or something. All decked out in sleeveless denim jackets, metal-god hair flowing everywhere. And the lead singer reminded me of old, fat Jim Morrison before he up and died. Beergut, giant beard, shirtless even. But the man ROCKED. And he told you his conspiracy theory stories between songs. It was GREAT. And they're from Venus, and they got stuck here in 1957 when Walt Disney stole their time machine. TRUE STORY. And you must know that statement to know the awesomeness that was Valient Thorr.
And then Gogol Bordello. Oh. My. God. The first time I saw Flogging Molly, I was blown away by the sheer intensity and vibrance of their live show. Gogol Bordello... blew them away. Ukranian Gypsy punk is this year's new black. Hyper hyper hyper is the only way to describe the show. And they played music from a new album apparently coming out sometime in the nebulous future, which kicks ass. And I saw a woman ride a bass drum across the uplifted arms of the floor crowd. TRUE STORY. I dunno if it's just that I'm getting older and more damaged or what, but my ears were ringing for DAYS after this show. But god I'd go again in a heartbeat. I had a shitton of fun at the show. It was exactly what I'd needed.
And now, the Xmas shopping is done. Stuff still needs to be wrapped, but I'm done "early" this year at least. Head home to Iowa to visit the family Saturday through Monday. Barring a massive snowstorm. Oh, and I'm in the middle of a 2.5 week break from work. And it's AWESOME. And I'm AWESOME. Thanks for asking.
Oh and most recent favorite albums:
Decemberists - Crane Wife
Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks
Current Mood:  bouncy
Current Music: Decemberists - Crane Wife
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10:16 pm
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Always coming back home to you
I promised a musical brain dump, here it is, in it's complete non-ordered ramblings.
Over the years, music has become more and more and more important to me. Frankly, I'm obsessed now with finding that new band that'll drive me insane wanting to hear more of their catalog. Just over a year ago, I discovered <a href =http://www.rhymesayers.com/aDetail.php?aId=3&cT=Bio>Atmosphere</a>, and ultimately underground/indie hip-hop, which is my latest musical love affair.
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12:38 pm
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That SUV was all up in the air and what-not
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mr_bad_example and I were walking back from lunch when we had THAT screech. The one where everyone knows what's about to happen.
And then we heard the body panels buckle and crunch.
And turned our heads in time to see the SUV all up-ended and rolling onto it's side.
And that's the story of how I saw my first ever rollover accident.
S'what they get for running the red light.
(Also, later, I plan on posting a massive brain-dump post about music. Stay tuned!)
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10:09 pm
[Link] | Stolen from justaqt
A. Pick 16 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes in your journal.
D. Have those on your friends list try to guess what the movie is.
E. Strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified and place the guesser’s username directly after the quote.
1. "Where do these stairs go?" "They go up."
- Ghostbusters, derspatchel
2. "Eet's a sweater!"
- Three Amigos, mr_bad_example
3. "The Almighty tells me he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure you're fucked."
- Braveheart, justaqt
4. "I know Kung Fu." "Show me."
- The Matrix, justaqt
5. "Asps. Very dangerous. You go first."
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, orin2
6. "Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
7. "After that my guess is that you will never hear from him again. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone."
- Usual Suspects, karyn
8. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."
-Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, kat_chan
9. "Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessle's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever had."
- Fight Club, orin2
10. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." "Fuckin' A!"
- Aliens, orin2
11. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
- Blade Runner, cacophony_grey
12. "Shut the fuck up, Donny."
-The Big Lebowski kat_chan
13. "'PC Load Letter'? What the fuck does that mean?"
- Office Space kat_chan
14. "Hey, you hear that? Sounds like a giraffe's dying over there!"
- South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut kat_chan
15. "This is your receipt for your husband... and this is my receipt for your receipt."
- Brazil, derspatchel
16. "I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it."
- The Jerk, derspatchel
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05:34 pm
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"Hey! I like your monkey!"
wherein lies the observations and brain-dump of a twincities bus-rider.
cool and raining, brought my umbrella. i like this weather.
"yes, virginia..." by the dresden dolls is the soundtrack to my rainy walk home tonight.
it fits well.
two blocks from work, an old man drops his cane.
four people bend down, myself included, and almost crack noggins together trying to get his cane for him.
minnesotans are nice when they're not behind the wheel of a car.
one more block, to the bus stop. standing on the curb, in the rain.
an older woman approaches, smiling.
"hey! i like your monkey!"
"thanks" i say. it is a nice monkey.
on the bus, an older one with the crappy seats.
out comes the book. _strange wine_ by harlan ellison.
i start reading a new story, and it starts out with an old man, rambling, much like i am right now.
fitting.
i can't read until we're out of downtown. i people watch instead, just like i do every other day.
people miss so much when they're driving. i like taking the bus.
two more blocks.
a man on a bike flips off a cement truck.
one more block.
an older woman standing in the rain, bends over and picks up a dq blizzard cup and puts it in the trash.
minnesotans are nice when they're not behind the wheel of a car.
i tend to pick up bigger pieces of trash at the bus stop in the morning, "in the hood."
why is it always dirty? there's a trash can right there. use it, people. i do.
another block goes by.
a black woman in bright pink 'scrubs' or whatever they're called, beaming a smile.
is she happy 'cause she's off work finally? about to go home to her family?
i have no idea. she gets on the bus.
two more blocks and turn west.
ride by the cancer survivors park, which is a three-tiered lawn in front of a corporate building.
some park.
next stop, all aboard. it's getting to be a full bus tonight.
that old guy that looks like he could be a professor, only missing the tweed jacket, sits down next to me.
last week he did so, and he pulled out his 365-day men's baptist bible-reader or some such.
southern baptists. aren't those the asshole men that think it's ok to beat their wives?
i don't care much for him.
to the i-94 ramp.
looks like another ball bounced over the fence from the playground.
back to reading.
i like harlan ellison. a lot. that i haven't gone out and gotten his complete works is just proof of my utter laziness.
the rambling man story is pretty good. most harlan ellison stories are pretty good.
a z28. people still drive those?
a minivan whose driver has put her left foot up in the window, sans shoe.
i can't imagine that's considered safe driving.
the park and ride. most of the bus gets off.
i read the foreward to the next harlan ellison story.
i think that's why i like his books. he always has those prefaces to each story that is the story behind the story. or about the story. or about whatever was pissing him off that day.
he's a cranky old man.
three-quarters of the mile. it's my stop now, zane and 63rd.
back off the bus into the light rain.
fifty feet out. on the ground
[GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL YOUR PROBLEMS]
so what, we're supposed to quit bitching and just worship?
that god feller sure has an ego.
three-quarter mile walk.
"life is no cabaret
we don't care what you say
we're inviting you anyway
you motherfuckers you'll sing someday..."
i really like dresden dolls.
i regret not giving them a listen earlier.
home again, home again, dee-dee-dee-dee.
the lovely nadine bought us chinese food.
happy day.
Current Music: "yes, virginia..." // the dresden dolls
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08:40 am
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It never ends...
http://www.sjgames.com/munchkin/munchkinimpossible/
Must. Have.
I LOVE the Munchkin games. They're so much fun.
Even if they are spittin' new versions out every few months... I'll still get 'em.
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10:33 am
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I love this show.
 | You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and don�t enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.
Serenity (Firefly) | | 88% | Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) | | 81% | Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) | | 75% | FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) | | 75% | Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) | | 69% | Moya (Farscape) | | 63% | SG-1 (Stargate) | | 56% | Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) | | 56% | Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) | | 50% | Enterprise D (Star Trek) | | 50% | Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) | | 44% | Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) | | 44% | </td>
Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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08:38 am
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Everyone else is doing it...
http://kevan.org/johari?name=kleric42
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02:41 pm
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Top 2005 Albums
1) Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Local hip-hop act apparently gaining some attention. I happened to hear a live act on The Current (89.3 FM) a couple weeks before the album came out and I just loved it. I've since picked up all the back catalog, but this current album is my favorite by far.
2) Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
I fell into this southern rockin' group early in the year and couldn't stop listening to them. Even got to see them live (with Secret Machines) back in March I think it was. Anxiously awaiting their next album.
3) White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
I'd avoided White Stripes, somehow, up until this release. After hearing this album though, I couldn't avoid 'em any longer. Love love love this CD.
4) Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now
An alt-country CD, the first 4 tracks on this CD are just amazing and set an intense mood.
5) Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust
Another hip-hop act/CD, my favorite track is at the end of the album and is about Johnny Cash.
6) Lemon Jelly - '64-'95
A fun techno album with all kinds of different styles on each track.
7) Black Rebel Motorcyle Club - Howl
Third CD from this group, and one that is completely different from the previous two. More folksy that the previous two, which is a good thing.
8) Dangerdoom - The Mouse & The Mask
The third hip-hop CD in my list, this one snuck up on me from out of nowhere. It's a collaboration with Adult Swim from Cartoon Network.
9) Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Hadn't really been payin' attention to Fiona for awhile, but a co-worker made me listen and by gum, it's pretty good.
10) The Chemical Brothers - Push The Button
Mostly just a couple good tracks on this one, just made the top 10.
Absent, a lot of big names that had disappointing albums in 2005:
Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age.
I love all those bands/groups/acts, but their 2005 albums really disappointed me.
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: Lewis Black - The End of The Universe
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08:39 am
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What'd I listen to last week?
A wide variety of stuff.
I've been into comedy albums lately. Funny that, I like laughing.
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: Seven's Travels - Atmosphere
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02:58 pm
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Flogging Molly
I just pre-ordered 4 tix for a 21+ show of Flogging Molly at First Ave for Feb. 5th.
This'll be my 4th time seeing them live and I'm looking forward to it already, as much as any other time I've seen 'em.
I hope they have new opening bands again, I've always enjoyed their opening acts.
Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having - Atmosphere
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02:15 pm
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Kleric E. Coyote: Musical GENNNNIUUUSSSS
Interesting addition to last.fm, what I listened to last week.
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