October 2006 Archives

Nissan's new ad campaign for the Sentra involves some dude living out of it for 7 days.
I had a Sentra. It was nice.
I also lived out of a car once...and I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that. Of course, I highly doubt this dude is actually living out of it. And I lived in mine for more than 7 days. Oh, and I wasn't paid for doing it.
Damn.

A while ago, there was a picture going around that had represented a crapload of bands by various images. (It was a contest actually...forget who sponsored it). This is in that same vein, only using horror movies. Find the movies

It's driving me mad cause my brain likes to analyze too much instead of just figuring out the representation. I'm at 22 out of 50 right now, and it's taken me a while for that. (And I freaking love horror movies. Go figure.)

*Update: I finally found all 50 last night...but jeesh. Some of those clues were damn silly.

I came across this entry on Google's official blog: Do You "Google"?
Like so many other readers, I am truly wondering if this is just an big act or if someone really has their panties in a twist about the word "google" making its way in every day conversation. (Hell, William is even telling us to google things these days.)
Bottom line is if someone is using "google" synonymously for "searching on any other website", they most likely aren't the most tech savvy folks in the first place and really not something Google should be worried about. And like other people have stated, it does reflect on their street cred and throws an unflattering typical big business light on them. But hey. Won't stop me from using them. I love the Google.

Not to sound like a crazy-cat person, but I'm quite impressed with the progress Sake and Pez have made in the past few days. For awhile, I was beginning to think we'd have to accept a life of keeping the cats separate. But a few days ago, Pez was hissing noticably less and just seemed interested in Sake. So we left them out in the same room. There was some stare downs and some slight hissing but when Sake got bored and started playing by himself, Pez seemed to realize "Hey...this little shit could be kinda fun to keep around." And they've been hanging out ever since. Sure, Pez has those moments where I question if he's trying to eat Sake, or if they really are just playing. And he was visibly pissed off when Sake used his litterbox for the first time. Other than that, they're cool, which is a huge relief. Coordinating the whereabouts of the two cats at any given moment was getting to be a real pain in the ass.

The other day, I stumbled across a site the other day that highlights the various dramas going on in the "blogosphere". Apparently, there's some major drama going on between some major "mommybloggers" and another site who has a very apparent disdain for such stuff. I have no opinion on the matter really, but sheesh...there is far more drama in the last few days than this season of Laguna Beach (that's not really saying much though...this season is pretty dull).
I don't get the whole mommyblogging thing anyway. Maybe I've just known far too many crazies to be comfortable with my kids' pictures plastered everywhere.

Margaret Mason, who also compiled a list of blog-convo starters and turn it into a book, penned (or typed, rather) an article entitled iPod Etiquette. I find most of the guidelines to be common sense (ex: don't use your iPod at weddings, funerals, and meetings) and some just too Judith Martin for my taste. But this one I found kind of amusing:

Wearing earphones is like hanging a “do not disturb” sign off your nose. Like an engrossing novel, they help you avoid interactions with annoying strangers on airplanes or subways. Unfortunately, they send the same go-away message at work.

Can I just say that some people do not realize earphones can hamper the hearing? Especially rather large headphones? I can't tell you how many times I've had my large headphones on, since a lot of my work is solitary, and someone has decided that I MUST be able to hear them over the music and the large cushiony pads. These are not earbuds. They are visible. And on my ears. Let's factor in someone not being a loud talker by any stretch of the imagination. No way in hell am I going to hear. That's why I love instant messanger programs. It allows one to discuss things without interrupting the music. (And obviously, I'm not talking major project discussions, but more like "I just crapped myself" kind of comments that really don't need any input from me.) Actually, no one's told me that before. I may just take my headphones to hear that one.
So do I use my headphones as a DND sign? No. I work to music. I get in "the zone". I really have no problem talking to people. But it would be fantastic if they didn't just assume I could hear them immediately. Heck, I used to work at one place where we'd throw shit at each other to get the other person to take of their headphones. It was good times. Nerf guns galore.

Working With Idiots Can Kill You

Right on. Unfortunately, it originated from Weekly World News and therefore...made up.
I have worked with some real idiots in the span of my 13 working years. Some have been harmless and just nice-but-not-bright folks.
Then there's the stupid-and-vidictive folks, the lazy-and-stupid folks, and the stupid-and-unable-to-take-responsibility-for-anything folks. Those are the ones that cause excessive drinking or trying to find ways to get the stress out in a non-violent, non-possible-time-in-jail ways. Not harmful to health my ass.

(Yeah, it's an old article. But a jpg has been making the email rounds, making it look like a real article.)

There are two things that annoy the piss out of me.

The first is when person A is talking TO ME and person B decides to answer for me, even though I'm right fucking there and not incapacitated in the least bit.

The second is when I'm talking to person A for a bit and out of nowhere, person B decides to jump in the conversation and answer for person A. But considering person B seems to have issues letting people speak for themselves, this really comes as no surprise.

I really, really, REALLY wish I had the Brick of Silence.

• A wall to gently, yet repeatedly, bang my head into


• A bottle of Shaid


• A few boxes of Pocky


• A video game that involves shooting something


• An appropriate tune to play on repeat. Something catchy.

This is the day of having to redo shit over and over again and, frankly, it's driving me a little insane.

This shit is bananas.

Elevator that killed student overloaded

There were 24 people on the elevator and the article says it was over the weight limit by 1,100 pounds. Jeezis. I don't understand folks and their need to get on a elevator right fucking now. Give me stairs anyday. Unless there's like 10 floors to go up. Then I'll just take an empty elevator.

One of the problems I have with this movie, other than the CGI wolves, or the fact that NYC once again is getting destroyed very prominently in a movie, or that the Americans once again will figure out how to save the world, is the lack of answers it provides.
1. What the hell happened to the Canadians? Were they and Alaskans just wiped the hell out?
2. And the Australians? What happened to them?

This is truly bugging the hell out of me.

Hey, I don't work here anymore. Why are you sending me stuff? :)

A few days ago, I made a decision. Being an indecisive person by nature, it was not an easy decision and I'm still wondering if I made the right one.
You see, a coworker had a "porch cat" accompanied by two kittens. We decided, after much consideration, to take in one of the kittens. We had to think about Pez hating other cats, and the cost for taking in a stray kitten ($131 for that first vet visit, in case you're wondering). But it was a cute little kitten and we felt bad for him, so we brought him into our home. Pez is pissed off about it, as expected, but is surprisingly not taking it out on me. (He held a grudge because I "brought home" another child. I assumed he'd be more irritated about another of his kind.) Anyway, this new kitten (named Sake), is a bit more rambunctious than Pez was, even as a kitten. We keep the two separated for most of the time until they get used to each other (which I read could take as long as 18 months in some cases, and never in other cases). My sleep has been interrupted more than once due to Sake deciding to bite me. Mostly, I just feel bad for Pez. And I never pegged myself as a more than one cat kinda girl. I grew up with dogs and am used to their social structures and behaviors. Cats are completely different. I have no idea what to expect with these two. Luckily, it's not as bad as this :

I stepped into the local pharmacy this evening. My mission was simple - I needed latex gloves. However, the gloves were not located in places that I thought would be logical to put such items: first aid, cleaning supplies, next to the lube & condoms. Since I was unable to locate the gloves myself, I needed to stop at the counter to ask on their whereabouts. It was at this moment...this random moment in time...on any random Monday evening...that I get stuck behind a Pain-in-the-Ass (PITA). As Pita was buying her prescription, the following conversation took place:

Pita: Don't you need my signature?
Pharm: No.
Pita: I don't need to sign for my prescriptions anymore?
Pharm: No, you signed the privacy notice, so you're good.
Pita: How do you know you have the right person?
Pharm: You verified your address.
Pita: But how do you KNOW it's me? I'm not trying to cause any problems, I'm just curious.
Pharm: ...um
Pita: What if it was someone else trying to get my prescription?
Pharm: I don't think anyone else would WANT your prescription. (That made me giggle.)
Pita: Oh..uh..no. Not this prescription. But what if it was a controlled substance?
Pharm: How would they know?
Pita: I don't know. But what if it was?
Pharm: How would they know you were getting a controlled substance? It's not like we advertise that when you get your prescriptions filled.
Pita: Oh, I know. I'm just asking cause in high school, I was learning about pharmacy and we learned about controlled substances. (After hearing this, I began the countdown to kicking her ass.)
Pharm: Right.
Pita: Um. Ok. Well, thanks.

(Pita walks away, and the pharmacist and I have a moment where we both looked ready to strangle that woman.)
Me: Do you have latex gloves?

Seriously, why waste people's fucking time like that. I came very close to just losing it with her and screaming "ARE YOU YOU? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP!" It's not like I had my family waiting in the car or anything. I had plenty of time to spare. /sarcasm Actually, I kinda regret not interrupting her in some manner (not screaming in other words), but I just couldn't look away.

USB Missle Launcher

Oh...the fun I could have. The justice that would be served. It would be awesome.

I was reading AdRants and came across the story featuring a Dove ad. In the ad, a "normal" looking woman is madeup and photoshopped into a model for an ad. I knew there was some tooling around with ads and stuff, but this is incredible to watch it all unfold.
http://www.reginaldpike.com/dove/index.html
While it's a powerful ad, I can't shake the urge to go Photoshop myself and see what happens.

I was logging into my Myspace account 10 secs ago and I saw the ad for this: MySpace Jobs. Is that really necessary?
Seriously, they are becoming the "Amazon" of social networking sites, only with more teens and creepy old people who like teens. Ew. And you can't buy shit there. Yet.

I guess last night was the night of sequel/prequels. Thing is, my husband and I don't get out often to see movies in the theatre, so these late night double features are getting to be our thing. Before I get on about the movie, I would just like to mention the dumbass sitting about 4 seats down from us. People who need to talk about the movie while the movie is on are one problem. People who talk about the movie in terms of the mental lightbulbs going off in their heads (ex: "That was the dude from the first movie!", "That was the chick from earlier!"), should not be allowed to SEE movies in public.Perhaps at all. I didn't feel like leaving the film to have a manager kick out the moron and his woman, so I resorted to other methods. Like whispering "Cocksucker!" and "Dickhead!" every time he started. Surprisingly, the overall frequency and amount of talking diminished. My husband claims that there is something wrong with me, and that I wasn't raised right. Perhaps...

Okay, about The Grudge 2. Again, I liked The Grudge. It is still one of those movies that I cannot watch at night. It is also the reason I decided I couldn't adopt an Asian child because I would piss myself if I woke up in the middle of the night and said child was standing next to the bed. You know, wanting a glass of water or something. Or to screw with my head and meow at me. I also thought The Grudge was Bill Pullman's best role ever aside from Newsies. (I'm really forcing a straight face here, but man it's hard.) What I do regret is that I didn't see Ju-On first, but it did help seeing it before G2. (That's the new hip way to say it. What, you didn't know? Of course not. Cause I just invented it...in my head.)

G2, from the trailer, appears to follow a singular story line- Karen's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) goes to find out what's going down. The movie, however, does not follow this linear path and is done more in the format of Ju-On. If you've seen that and understood it, you'll be accustomed to the jumping from story to story (the second story being that of the school girls who go into the house and get grudged.) For some reason, I wasn't expecting a continuing remake, but a continous of the story established in the first movie. To me, this parallel story line did not translate well in this American version and I wonder how much of the younger audience (it is PG-13 after all) had the attention span to keep up with the flip-flop. That's not an insult, just an acknowledgment of the A.D.D. I did enjoy the little throwbacks to the original, such as the old man who can see Toshio and plays peek-a-boo with him.
I enjoyed this movie, but just not as much as Ju-On, and I would recommend to anyone wanting to see this to see the original first. (But only if you like subtitles.) Two and a half nanas. (Yes, I finally made halves. WOOT!)

Let me start off by saying I enjoyed the remake to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I enjoyed the grittiness and feel of the film. And R. Lee Ermey is just creepy. It didn't capture that disturbing, insane feel of the first, but it held its own. So I figured, I would enjoy this prequel, especially after reading an article in Fangoria about how it was supposed to be gory and brutal, and a bunch of other crap that I can't remember right now.
I didn't enjoy this movie. At least, not to the extent I thought I would. Even though it had a different director than the remake, the look felt consistent. But it dragged on for a movie that was only supposed to be an hour and 24 minutes.
Here were my problems with the film:
1. The tagline states "Witness the Birth of Fear", and birth, yes. However, the rest of Leatherface's childhood is done within a matter of 2 minutes, tops, by means of vague flashes. There was really no explanation of why he was the way he was. They did explain the cannibalism, but that's not really necessary. (When the family is obviously completely insane, does explaining why they eat people lessen the fact that they are still insane? Not really.)
2. I have no freaking idea who Jordana Brewster is prior to this movie, and I'm not sure I care. But one thing is for sure. Watching her run frantically around for an hour trying to save her friends is boring as hell. Wondering how she wears her pants so low and manages to not flash crack, not so boring.
3. Lack of character development. Is it imperative to develop characters that we know, logically, will all get it? (And that's not a spoiler. It's common sense.) Not really. But don't try to play the sympathy card on us when we can't connect to the characters that are getting the shit beat out of them. Near the end, I was just waiting for them all to die so the movie could be over.
4. This movie tried too hard on one hand, and not hard enough on the other. It was as though the filmmakers were setting the audience up to have those "Oooh...so that's why [fill in a tidbit from the TCM remake here]." So we get to see why the old guy doesn't have legs below the knees, but we don't get to see any of the teasing of Leatherface as a kid and why he's so embittered. Okay. Makes sense. Right?
5. Same ol' shit. We've seen this before. Three years ago.

What I did like was that there was gore. This was a movie made for the older crowd, not 15 year olds. The movie may have lacked suspense, but I was cringing to see how the next person was going to get it. Which is, in a sense, suspense after all, just not the kind that I would expect from a horror film.
I give it one nana. On a side note, as the movie ended in the theatre, some guy yelled out "That movie sucked my dick." That may have been the most entertaining element about the experience.

This new format is making me feel mature. I'm hoping I don't end up writing about more mature things. You know, other than the two posts mentioning poop.
I'm still tweaking and getting used to this whole format. Despite being in Italian, formatting the old code was pretty easy. But I felt no control over it. Shit would go wrong and I couldn't debug. And I sure the hell couldn't get technical support. This is a good change. Now if I could figure out how to get the quotes back up, I would be happy. I considered getting my old posts up, but I'd have to figure out the whole Access/mySQL thing, and I really don't want to do that. Maybe just the movie reviews. We'll see.

I didn't want to give the impression that my family enjoys shitting on the carpet or something. Connor has had this nasty bug for about a week now. He's been to the ER and his doc, but they just said to let it run its course. Unfortunately, its course has consisted of random vomittings IN MY CAR and explosive poops.
Today was another explosive poop. It ended up leaking out of the diaper and onto the carpet. Thus the stain. And unfortunately, I was out of rug cleaner.
See how it all comes full circle?

"I'd a done punched her...in her head."

The past few days, I've been in the process of moving hosts for my site. It would have gone smoother if I was able to update my own DNS, but alas...had to make some calls on that one. What this means now is I've made the move to Movable Type. No more code in Italian. No more weird errors I can't fix. (If you've gone to my site in recent times, you would have noticed several tech errors involving database connections, etc. I hadn't changed the code, so I don't know what caused it.) No more messed up calendars. No more backwards dates.
Unfortunately, I am VERY new to this whole MT thing, so I have to get accustomed to it before I figure out how to beat this into some semblance of how I want my site to work.
So please, excuse the mess!