Leftover Chinese: It's been a Long Month

It's been a blur. Recap:


The day job featured a four week (now concluding) obstacle course of debris, equipment, furniture, contractors, and using the stairs to get a glass of water.


Soaking up the last warm days of summer with thousands of other people.


The month-long (now concluded) celebration of a new release included a classy night featuring the album art.


The daily book report has growing readership. Not sure if that's a good thing.


Shark!


The band routine got exhausting. I'd do it all over again.

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Leftover Chinese Falls Far Short of Dispensing Vigilante Justice

Just as we were about to start another round of Mario Strikers Charged, we heard the usual sound of screeching tires. When this happens (alot) I usually pause for a second and wait for impact...then express half-mocking disappointment that I didn't hear some sort of a crunch.

Unfortunately the situation was different last night as I looked out the front window (which is usually closed) and saw a red, rag-top convertible slam on its brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of it. Using quick reflexes, the driver decided to pull the car to the right and into Ms. B's parked car. As we got off the couch to assess the damage (minor) and collect information from the driver, the red rag-top convertible sped off like a bat out of hell. I recall saying that we should get the tag numbers...but that was damn near impossible. A hero I am not.

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Leftover Chinese Took the Night Off



Plenty of LOL's here. The trailer reveals the entire plot.

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Leftover Chinese's Bluetooth® Experiment



Through the wonders of Woot.com's junk sale, I purchased an inexpensive/surplus inventory Bluetooth® headset. It sure isn't stylish, but it does the job: makes me look like an asshole driving a car or a crazy guy if you to catch the wrong angle (270 degrees). I wanted to see what it was like to have a telephone conversation like those people you see on the street, so I took it out for a test run. I chose a location where: the least amount of people would care; an atmosphere that's comfortable for public Bluetooth® technology use; and a call to Ms. B (with whom I'm capable of telephone conversation (I'm not much of a phone person)). Costco. Yep. They don't look at you funny if you're on the phone at Costco...

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Leftover Chinese's Aquarium Corner

I don't have the picture to prove it, but as I did my (hopefully) routine partial water change the other day, I noticed a 'small fry' luring around the plastic plants. I'VE CREATED LIFE in my 29 gallon shoe box. My success rate with nurturing these lil' guys to full mature adulthood is about 0%. That doesn't bode well for the tiny fish who hovers and waits for his/her shot at the random food flake floating by, but it's doesn't hurt to hope that one day in the next few months, he/she will be the only one left. Heh...yeah, I'm a bad aquarium caretaker.

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Leftover Chinese's Snotty Musical Opinion

With all due respect to the touring bands I've seen and/or shared a bill, I'm not interested in their interpretations of the Arcade Fire sound. That's not to say they're not good at what they do, but why all the continued buzz about a sound that has been critically glorified many times over the past few years? If I wanted to hear disco-drums, violins, and David Byrne-ish vocals doled out in droning three to five minute increments, I'd listen at home. I could at least play a video game or something.

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Leftover Chinese Compares Blog Stats

I may have mentioned my comic strip blog in the past. It's been fun to have something to write about on a daily basis. Rather than focus on the minutiae of my life, I get to make sarcastic comments about somebody else's work. Let's compare readerships according to extreme tracking:

Unique Visitors to Leftoverchinese.com 9/10/07: 16
Unique Visitors to Stuck-Funky.blogspot.com 9/10/07: 83

I guess that means people are more interested in comments about things they too can form an opinion. It seems pointless for a random web surfer to read about that time a few years ago I went to that one party since they don't really benefit or gain from the process. That just might the difference between a "blog" as portrayed in media circles and an elaborate diary.

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Leftover Chinese Doesn't Have Anything Against Soccer



Thirty years down the road, people will be talking about Ronaldinho but few in the states will actually understand the skill behind the name. I was fortunate enough to secure a second row seat behind a goal for the USA/Brazil match (friendly?). The Brazilian team put on a clinic out there and had control of the entire game. When the ball made its way to Ronaldinho, the stadium would hold its collective breath; waiting to see what he would do next. Besides the goal and an assist on a corner kick, he made a no-look entry pass that would have caused a riot if a goal was scored. There are only a few athletes out there who seem to operate on a different plane than everybody else on the field. Ronaldinho is one of them.

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Leftover Chinese Comes back from Iowa



It was a fast twenty-four hour trip to Aames, IA. All I can say is that Iowa is one big cornfield with the occasional city to break up the view. The kids that did show up enjoyed our brand of music, but more important was the fact that this was the first time I've ever set foot in Iowa. Cross another one off the list, folks. Twenty-three states to go.

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Leftover Chinese goes to Iowa

I've never been...

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Legend of Wiiftover Chinese


Legend of Zelda circa 2007


Circa 1986

Ah yes...much like the summer twenty years ago when a Nintendo Entertainment System was purchased on my behalf, recent nights have been spent in front of the TV solving miniature mental puzzles. I could be outside playing with fireworks right now. My interest in video games dropped a bit during the adolescent and college years, but I don't mind having giving it another chance. It's healthy entertainment (sorta).

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Leftover Chinese: Running Man

After spending over four and a half hours in the sweaty confines of the rehearsal space (immediately after work), I got home and had the itch...to run. I figure if I'm going to bust myself back into shape with free time at a premium, I might as well let myself be slightly eccentric about it. If I let my running quota (3 runs over the past seven days) slip a day here and a day there, I'll never get into the habit. Enter: the 11pm post-practice run. It was nice, easy, not too stressful, and I felt like a superhero as I finished my sprint during stalled post-game traffic. There's a strange novelty that goes with running at night: dog walkers and pedestrians alike are friendlier, there's less car pollution, and the mental fatigue that I usually blame on the sun wasn't present. Sure makes that post-run blood pressure of 112/68 mmHg seem like a huge cherry on top. Running at night = not so bad.

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Leftover Chinese Underestimates Feline Intelligence

Much like their human caretakers, cats (I have two - shut up) won't eat from ant-infested food dishes. My first plan was to ignore the brand new ant population until winter since they usually go away when it gets cold. Why wait? I first noticed the ants when I spotted the younger cat intently watching the ants work; much like how I used to study ants when I was a wee lad. Something in the back of my mind interpreted that as a sign the two species had an agreement. They get kibbles on the floor, the cats get the food in the bowl and the ants on the kibbles. Wrong. I guess it was presumptuous of me assume they wouldn't care that they're sharing their food with insects (or eating them). If there's any straw to break the camel's back, it's that this morning I saw one empty food bowl while the other sat teeming (that's an exaggeration) with our six-legged friends. Meanwhile the cats are grumbling as if I should probably feed them something fresh. Hrm. You think?

Next mission: Effectively use Terro Ant killer without poisoning the felines.

. . [~] . 3 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese's Baseball Prediction

Today's Results:
Brewers blow a 3 run lead and lose 9-7
Cubs starter Zambrano has another classic implosion and the Cubs lose 11-3

Ever see that episode of South Park where the kids play little league and the games are determined by who's better at losing?

If the baseball gods have their way, both the Cubs and Brewers will finish 81-81 with a one game playoff to determine the winner of the division. The Cubs will start Carlos Zambrano on three days rest. The Brewers will start Ben Sheets on three days rest. Ben's shoulder will fall apart during the fifth inning of the 0-0 game; spotting the Cubs five runs. With two outs in the top of the next inning, Zambrano will give up a texas league single, a meltdown will ensue, and five Brewers will touch home plate. After the ensuing riot or brawl, the game will be left up to the bullpens and what was a tense 5-5 game will end up 13-9 depending on who wants it less.

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Saturday II at Leftover Chinese

Turkey sausages? Yes! Nintendo Wii? Lots!!

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Leftover Chinese's Paragraph-a-thon

Let's try something new for the readers who wistfully recall the weeks and months they could count on some sort of inane recap of events. For the month of September, I'll try write one paragraph a day about something; anything. Ready to go? Wheeee.

Last night the band folks and I did a photo shoot for Chibakita. Chibakita is an online boutique who just wants a piece of the niche fashion pie. The experience was just another in a long line of unique opportunities that otherwise would not have even been mention as a possibility if I wasn't doing the whole music thing. The result of that and going to see my bandmate's other band celebrate the release of their new album? Today I woke up really hung over.

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