Storm's up

On an otherwise gloomy day, a busy person toiling away at his desk turned around and noticed that it was really dark outside. Then it got fairly bright outside. He got home and it got foggy to the point where he was his pocket in the sky. On the telephone his friend said it was pretty clear and warmer outside. It was a bizzare, evening weatherwise...but now he sees rain.

Enough of the third person shit. Its finally raining and after yesterday's relative soak...the soil may finally hold some of it in. Hoo-ray for the farmers...they really, really need the rain this summer. However, I don't need the whistle tip effect my windows are giving me. The rain is pelting and the wind is going directly into my place *whoo-whoooo*.

Tomorrow is my Friday, I've needed this day off for a while. However, I'll constantly have something to do this time around.

Time to learn verses...time to pay the rent.

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Five Days to go

Five days until the show(s). I'm not sure which one I'm more excited for and which one I'm more nervous for. Both will be an experience to remember. Rumour had it that I was going to smash a bass and set it on fire on stage, but I'd rather not. I've never done it before, I'd hate to get hurt for the second show, and in the past, the combination of Mifflin Street and Fire has had some interesting results...

West Side Story's 1961 Movie adaptation is on. Amazing. I consider this to be one of the few successful adaptations from stage to screen. The cinematography is great. When you're in the theatre, you only get one visual perspective on the play. When its shot on film, the film maker forces the perspective on you, thus taking away some of the stage effect. This adaptation uses enough creative lighting and proper framing to give you the impression that you're watching it on stage. The score is great, and having been shot during the era of blatant racial ignorance...its not that bad.

Today featured a busy, busy day....but at least Spring is here for now.

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Weekend with The Girl

Its been three weeks but after the strangeness of actually being in the same room, it was a good time. Quite good, in fact, that it was hard to say farewell at the end of the visit...this time around, though...I don't feel drained and in need of a lot of sleep.

The Brewers destroyed the Braves on Friday night, but lost the next two. One step forward, two steps back. Not bad...with that team, I'm used to one step forward, eight steps back.

The Sucks won their game to even the series at 2-2...it was in typical fashion: build a big-ass lead, give it up...eke out a victory. Just another day at the office for the sucks.

We went to the Art Institue on Saturday. Saturday afternoons are usually the worse times to go to museums because of the crowds, but this time was pretty good. A funny thing happened there. An 'artsy type' looking woman looked at a statue and walked away from it with an expression that she was quite moved by the statue. It was a simple artifact. I could only imagine the twenty-five cent words she used in her mind to describe the experience. Then again, The Girl theorized that she had this reaction to show others that she 'gets it' even though she may not. I wondered about that...how many of the 'artsy types' at museums actually understand the art, and how many, 'artsy types' are outward about being 'moved' by things to give the impression that they do, when they really don't? Why be pretentious about something like that in the first place? I don't mean to say that I 'get art', but I think that 80% of what people theorize when they see a painting or sculpture is complete bullshit.

Interpret that.

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Shameless self promotion

I'm involved in a musical project. It started out as a fun thing to do one drunken afternoon and blew up into a legend. Experience the legend by clicking on the link advertising this new album. I won't tell you much about it. You'll have to experience it yourself.

A friend and I split Arby's 5 for 6 deal. I haven't felt the same since. It tasted damn good and it felt great afterwards. The afternoon was spent feeling progressively worse and worse. Not that I'm complaining, but that tasted so damn good, I'd do it all over again if given the chance....in a few months.

The Girl is en route to town tonight. We have not seen each other in a few weeks. I hope to not spend this much time apart from here on. The three weeks were pretty long. Speaking of long...uh....yeah.

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Blinded by the Light

Although more than two weeks later...here's next...I can't seem to see in the afternoon...and yes, I did take this at 6:50 so as to account for Daylight Savings Time.

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The Sucks are finally playing well tonight. I remains to be seen if they win, but they're definitely not laying another egg. In 1998, me and Jon watched a playoff game between the Pacers and Bucks. At halftime Gary Paton suggested that the Pacers: "were going 55 miles an hour in a Volkswagen bug...they gotta get in the Benz." Damn...the Buck's gotta git in the benz.

Waiting for the bus, I saw a guy who kept playing with his sideburnz/lamb chops like a new toy. He either subconsciously wanted everybody to notice his flashy chops, or he consciously wanted everybody to notice his flashy chops.

An October bachelor party in Chicago for a childhood friend? You don't say...I wonder where this could wind up....

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Slow motion weekend

I spent this past weekend at the folks house. TV and food eatin'. Just like the way I planned. Baby Emma came to visit and was pretty much carried around the house for 5 hours. Attention is good, eh?

The Sucks were destroyed by the Nets on Saturday. Nothing seemed to go right for them. I guess when your best player has to face Canadian Authorities right after the game, his mind could be on other things that day. I expect them to win a few games in this series, but damn...they laid a gigantic egg.

On the other hand, the Brewers are coming up big and actually winning games for once. They haven't been this close to .500 this late in the season (yes, its only april) for a while. They've won 8 games this month and there's about 10 games to go...they won 8 games in April last season. I feel like they're a winner already...but that's because I'm used to them never winning. Why do I care so much?

Family Guy DVD finally arrived. I have most of the episodes on VCR tape, but this DVD of a masterpiece of a show will replace them. I'm not sure why they shelved the show. I distinctly remember the last week it was shown last summer. They replaced it with American Idol. I blame the shallow and cheap success of that show for the demise of a quality show like the Family Guy...and yes, I mean that.

Tax Retun = debt retired. Yay!

I'm told that there has not been enough comical content on my web log lately. I haven't had a matter-of-fact story with a cynical punchline for you...so these are for you, Nick:

This man is walking along the beach, when he spots this woman crying. She has no arms and no legs, but otherwise has a gorgeous body and a beautiful face.

He stops and asks her why she is crying.
She answers, "I just want someone to hug me."
So he leans over, picks her up, gives her a warm, tender hug, then sets her down again.
She thanks him, and he continues on his way.
Later that afternoon, he is walking back along the beach, he spots the woman again, who's still crying.
He asks her what's wrong now. She answers, "I just want someone to kiss me"
So he leans over, picks her up, gives her a long, passionate kiss, then sets her down again.
She thanks him, and he continues on his way.
Later that evening, he's finishing off yet another walk along the beach, and once again, he sees the woman, still crying.
He asks her what's wrong this time, and she answers, "I just want someone to fuck me."
So he leans over, picks her up, carries her down to the pier, walks down to the end of it, throws her off the edge, and shouts down to her, "Now you're fucked!"

...not funny enough for you?

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. he threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want."
The first engineer nodded approvingly. "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

That was probably too nerdy for you. Try this one:

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets.

Nah, lets get back to the down and dirty classic: the blonde joke.

A guy and a blonde are going at it in the back of a van.
The blonde says "put a finger in me"
So he does.
Then she says "put another finger in me" and he does.
"Put another finger in me" and again he does.
"Put your whole hand in me," and he does...
"Put your other hand in me" and again he obeys.
"Now clap"
At this point he replies "I can't!"

"Tight huh?"

Well...Since nothing anecdotally funny happened to me today...this is what you get. Good Day.

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Holiday!

Enjoy the Holidays...even if you don't celebrate it. Perhaps the easter bunny in the sky will have hidden karma around your neighborhood for you. Let the hunt begin.

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OverSlept

I awoke at 8:50 this morning and something wasn't right. I wasn't sure what it was until I realized I should probably be at work. No worries...no one tripped about it...but I was all out of sorts for the rest of the day.

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J5 Show

The night ended well...but lets begin at 5:00.

I left work, limped to the bus stop (see below) and waited 10 minutes for a bus. That's kind of annoying...especially when you gotta be somewhere to take a nap. Got on the bus and something didn't seem right. I cruised up a few blocks when I realized I forgot my Keys. Walked out...hopped on the train...back to the office where I just left. So I got home and my ride to my buddy's place showed up right away.

Kicked it for a bit and watched some Iron Monkey...then we went to the Jurassic Five show. It was good. There was a lot of positive energy. Tunafish was at his homecoming, so the show had extra oommph. It was good to see.

7th seed? Kidd vs. Payton...Old school Oak-Town versus new age Oak-Town....this series will be legendary.

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I can't walk

It was 39 cent hamburger (49 cent cheeseburger) day at the McDonalds restaurants around the loop. Damn cheap for down there if you ask me. Waiting in line was something else. It was worse than waiting for a ride at Disney World. Hungry and testy people trying to find their way to the front. If you were standing in one place, people would think you were in line and form a line behind you...all this whoo-haw for cheap and shitty burgers.

I knew that I would be sore today, and felt it right away. I say my bus reach the stop and I was within running distance to catch it. Those 20 yards really smarted. I managed to walk all day like I had a stick up my ass. What sucks is that I'm busy tomorrow and won't get a chance to run before the muscles think it won't be worked out like that again.

While watching the Sox game, I noticed that nothing was going on and the camera's were showing the players and crowd watching something else. When idiots run onto the field, cameras turn away. That way people won't be thinking they'll get on TV for pulling stunts like that. Coincidentally, they're playing the Royals. It was during a royals/sox game last year when those yahoos stormed the field and beat up the first base coach. What is it with these two teams?!

Jurrassic 5 is coming to town tomorrow. Should be a damn good show, if you ask me.

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The Ice Cream Man Cometh

Yes, yes its a summer-like night in the middle of April. Just over a week ago it snowed a few inches. Such is the wacky wacky world of midwestern weather. As I type this, I'm trying not to melt my ice cream and its 76 degrees....damn.

I went running today for the first time since the summer of 1998...that was a very angry summer and I had a lot of frustration to run off...but I made the conversion to the bike that summer. While, I'm not as angry this time around, I wanted to get running again as a way to bust myself into shape. It wasn't a cardiovascular struggle, but I had to take it easy because the combination of re-inventing my stride and new orthotics changed the way my legs absorbed the shock. The impact was different for the muscles and my legs tired out quite quickly. I'll alternate with the bike so as to save the stress.

I awoke this morning at 2:30 am...and something didn't seem right. It was way too quiet. It turns out the power was out in the building. I pondered eating my ice cream, but the golden rule is: don't open the freezer...so I started worrying about the possiblity of something bad happening in the building. The power went back on around 3 am. So with the interupted sleep I awoke all tired...what greeted me on this glorious morning was 16 flights of stairs...both elevators were out of order...curses!!

The Rock and Roll reunion is set...all we need is no rain on the day of. I won't mention which date it is so as not to jinx it. Whether it rains or not doesn't matter, because that night will feature the drop of the hott 446 album.

The Sucks made the playoffs, and the Brewers beat the aces in Arizona. What a nice weekend to come off of...not that I base my happiness on sports like a packer fan, but still...

This past weekend was the first weekend since mid February I didn't see the girl...the fact that I started running today is just a coincidence...or is it?

Download Video Game Music Remixes!! - This is a pretty fun site if you have nothing to do and have a hankering for cheezy nintendo music. Thanks, Jason.

Question: Where are your tax forms?

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Getaway day

Cruisin' to my old haunt for a quick visit and rehersal with the band. Hooray for Rock and roll covers...Speaking of which, we went to rock and roll karoke last night. Their female guitarist was damn good. I dig a girl who can shred with the axe.

Steve is in town from Seattle. Everyone got pretty hammered last night. I wasn't feeling the sauce until I sat down in the cab on my way home last night. This tranformation into being a social drinker has been pretty interesting. I think I'll take 'er sleazy tonight and hang out with the brothers.

I've been busy as shit this week and the weekend will be just as busy. Time to take a nap.

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I'm sick of starin' at you

There's chaos in Iraq right now...and we supposed to celebrate a victory?

Interesting quote from the book i'm reading regarding America in the late 1950's: "Americans were convinced that their imperial system did not victimize foreign peoples." Network television news keeps this attitude alive.

I spent 11 hours at work today. Most of it in front of a monitor. I'm sick of starin' at you! Get out of my face.

...and yes, I do know I'm sitting in front of a monitor while I type this.

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Doin' Stuff

I've been busy between the hours 9 and 17. Good for me. The days actually seem faster now. Lets hope this carries through to the summer.

I went to a show last night. Bang! Bang! played a pretty good sounding set. I'm a fan of reverse beats, synchopation, and drum and bass interplay. Les Savy Fav headlined. Their singer is nuts...it was great.

The Sucks will win again and be closer to getting into the playoffs. Lets hope the NBA doesn't conspire to get the Wizards into the playoffs in hopes of higher ratings. Rumor has it the NBA conspired against the Bucks in 2001 when they almost made it to the finals. In terms of market size, Milwaukee is the worst city the NBA would want to see in the playoffs...it sucks that it has to be that way...but all you have to do is rub your thumb against your index and middle fingertips and pretend that something paperlike is supposed to be there.

The Brewers finally won a game...they're totally on pace to finish 23 and 139...go brewers!!

During the late afternoon, the sun camps outside my window now. It can get pretty bright in there when the sun shows it face.

So nothing has really annoyed me lately...I'm not sure why that is.

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American Heavy Metal!!

It's a rare movie. It's not in print. Its on IFC right now. I've heard about this movie...but wondered what it was about (or how cool it is). It's The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years!!! Its on again at 3:15 in the morning...I'm set to tape this so I can see it in its entirety soon.

Back then, the 'up-and-comers' were Faster Pussycat, Poison, and London. Damn...a documentary about life in the heavy metal scene during the age of Hair Metal!!! A winner is me.

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Relaxed

Finally, a relaxing weekend where I stayed within the city limits for the first time in a while. I'm closing out the weekend the same way I opened it up: relaxed, slow, in front of the TV.

Hmmm...what the hell happened this weekend?

- Check this song: Geto Boys - "Fuck a war." On a drunken tip from Jacob, I have this to offer. It was made about the first Gulf War, yet fittingly, it's still relevant to this current conflict.
- I have sucessfully avoided watching network coverage of the war more than 20 minutes at a time. I'm staying off the war scripts and Madison Avenue imagery. Most of my information still comes from written internet print.
- On that note, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman is a damn good book about how, simply put, television rots minds. I may or may not have talked about this book earlier.
- If you forgot to set your clocks ahead by the time you read this...you need help.
- Marquette was blown out of the tourney...the Sucks blew a 19 point lead to the Bulls...the Brewers still have not won a game...Sports! Sports! Sports! Sports!!!!
- The Girl came to town, kicked my ass at Mancala, cooked me dinner, and it was all good.
- She also lent me A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. This baby won the Pulitzer and I'm going to read it.
- The Girl is a pretty good influence on me.
- Winter Storm Warning? On April 6th? A hell of a lot of snow is expected in the next two days. I thought we 'sprung ahead' because it's supposed to be Spring...what is this caper?


TOP 5 WWB Posts of the Week:
! Two Story Beer Bong
@ Med Man's anti-anti war story.
# SLV parodied by Dr. Amazing Asia
$ Tony's Near-near Death Experience
% Jason's Blog Picks

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Stuff

Yesterday, I hung out with an old college roomate. We were pretty tight during the early years of college. I didn't expect the guy to change much...but he has changed a little bit...he seems a lot happier with his world. One such standard that hasn't changed is his defining characteristic. Its been a while since I've been exposed to the Milwaukee-centric perspective...and it was good to see again. At least some things in this play will stay somewhat steady.

The Girl is getting pro-war propaganda e-mailed to her at work. I find that a completely unneccessary thing for people to do. She never sent anti-war messages to strangers...they shouldn't do that to her. Everyone is allowed to hold their own views...but it would be really nice if less people went out of their way to push their views on other people.

I'm surprised at how long eight hours can take. Days seemed to move pretty fast back in college. I didn't realize how much actual 'time' exists in a day. I'm prompted to ask myself...what did I do with myself when I didn't have a 9-5 job during those seemingly quick 8 hours?

Friends of mine are traveling up to the Twin Cities this weekend as sort of a mini-getaway from the Chicago. My spirit is willing, but I need to stay housed. I've spent only one complete weekend in Chicago since February 7th. I need a slight break this weekend. The next two weekends are going to be pretty damn busy. Perhaps thats the way it will be for now...

My clothes came out of the dryer dry for a change.

The Sucks may make the playoffs, after all...but Brewers aren't going to do much else.

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Crisis Averted

I thought I had run out of checks on my old bank account. Its not worth ordering new checks if I can transfer my direct deposit deal to my new bank account. However, I needed to pay rent this week and I didn't want to pay in cash. Shit. Luckily I picked through all my junk and found a new pad of checks. I'm a lucky guy.

I spent a few hours this evening doing my taxes. I had to file three forms with various state and federal offices. In Wisconsin I was due back $18 and I spent the most amount of time on it. It was almost worth the money.

Upon looking at my residential lease, I realized that I'm at this place until July 31st. That gives me most of the summer by the lake if I don't move out. Now...let's not get laid off in June. I'm not quite ready to begin the next step on this trip.

It looks warm outside...but it really isn't. It wants to be spring...but it can't.

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