Light 26 Candles for The Squish

Yeah, I'll be twentyfreakingsix Friday. I don't really think it bothers me, and I'm not going to pretend it does. Well, I'll milk it a bit for sympathetic eyes and free drinks or whatever, but I promise not to overdo it.

Birthday plans include post-work drinks at Ye Olde Towne Tap(e) here in the 'burbs, greasy pizza from next door, a group outing to The Invention of Lying, followed by... well, more drinking I imagine.

The movie was written by and stars Ricky Gervais, of the UK's The Office... "Or as we call it in the UK, The Office (Ricky on Conan)." I've also just recently completely lost my shit over his array of brilliant podcasts, starring himself, his often-times cowriter and gangly looking weirdo Stephen Merchant, and... Karl Pilkington - "A man with no education, no qualifications, and a head like a fahkin orange!" I'll put it like this: if you're unfamiliar with "Monkey News" your life up to this point has been an utter waste.

Saturday's night-cap will be held at The Metro for my most anticipated show since, jesus, Tom Waits? Jesus... Tom Waits. Jesus: Tom Waits. Jesus = Tom Waits. Jesus (is less than) Tom Waits. Okay I'll stop.

Yes, Fever Ray brings its dark, cavernous brand of haunting dancetronica to Chicago for the first time EVAR and I get to be there. Fever Ray is the solo project of this girl, Karin... something or other. She's 1/2 of Swedish electronic bro/sis group The Knife. Well, I think they're Swedish. I'm not going to research it for you. That's what google is for when I'm too "busy" at work to back up my claims. Incidentally, the reason the group split was so the brother could either spread or cure swine flu.

Here's a music video. I guess some people still make them. Actually, I'm just going to put a cool fan-made vid here. But there are interesting live and official ones floating about if you're really interested.

Procrastination Station

I'm supposed to be writing a technical specification for my boss. He told me I needed to have it in draft form by Monday. He told me this last Friday. I have spent a grand total of five minutes staring at the file over the last week. The rest of the time, I've been listening to the Japandroids.

Except for yesterday. Yesterday I wasted on crunk and The Hype Machine. I think this is possibly my new favorite website. I guess it logs all new tracks (originals, mashups, remixes, etc.) posted on blogs around the interweb, and sort of has them listed by popularity and genre and how many times they've been tweeted and whatever the hell else. It's how I went from Florence and the Machine's "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (P.E.S.T. Remix)" to "Jay-Z vs. Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Problems (TimG Mash)" in just three moves.

It's also where I found Daft Punk's "Tron Legacy Theme," which reminded me of three things: 1. Daft Punk fucking rules 2. Tr2n is currently in production 3. Daft Punk is doing the soundtrack and will possibly tour behind it.

I am the fool that missed Daft Punk's Lollapalooza performance a few years back on the Alive tour and has never forgiven himself. Daft Punk tracks/shows just feel like Tron. But it'll be hard to top the pyramid...

Okay, So I'm Working and Blogging Again...

...but this is too frustrating.

So, the United States ranks 19th among countries worldwide in average broadband speed. Here's a fun fact: as of August 2008, the average broadband download speed in the US was 2.3 Mb/s (up 17% from the previous year); Japan's average? 63.6 Mb/s.

No wonder the Japs kick the crap out of us in video games. They don't even know what lag is!

I blame the US telecomm companies, as do most people who give more than half a shit. We get charged among the highest broadband fees in the world for the 19th fastest service, right behind the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Hey, at least we beat Mexico.

We pay, because we have no choice, and, because we pay, ATT and Comcast have no interest in actually making their services better. You know how 3G networks became the kitty cat's PJs here about a year ago? Again, we were years behind the curve. The iPhone is actually selling like poo in a can in most places other than the US, because it's slower and more expensive than widely available alternatives.

Actually, at the rate our services are growing, it'll be about a century before we catch up to the top dogs. Buuuuuuuut at least I can take comfort in the fact that I'm able to play Wolfenstein 3D on my iPhone... for about 45 minutes... before my battery dies.

Kinzie Street Gaggle Crossing

So I was walking back to my place from the River North Sports Authority when I came across a strange traffic jam. The Kinzie St. bridge was backed up in both directions. Upon closer inspection, I observed a couple of dudes standing in the middle of the road coaxing two geese and their ridiculous amount of chicks out of harms way.

These brave men were unsuccessful for a solid minute or two, but the retarded birds did eventually decide to head for the water.

I didn't have my camera, unfortunately, and the above image is an approximation of what the chicks would have looked like if half of them were hanging out in a sunny pond area somewhere. I'm blogging about this crap because this was the first traffic jam in the city I've ever witnessed that did not feature a single honked horn.

Traffic backs up because of pedestrians in the crosswalk? *HOOOOOOOOOONK!!!!1!*

Traffic backs up because of cute little goose chiclets? "Aww...."

The Death of a Blog...

It happens every day. I fear it's happening here. Buuuuuuuuut I'm just going to chalk up my recent lack of blogging to traveling and being busier at work and having my brother visit this weekened and blah blah blah.

I'm going to Europe on Friday for 16 days. Upon my return, this blog will experience a deluge of activity... and will most likely die properly shortly thereafter.

Oh, additionally, I'm considering putting together a mix CD for my travel crew. You know, sort of traveling music or something. So far I'm thinking...

Iggy Pop - The Passenger
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Radiohead - Airbag or The Tourist
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
MxPx - Southbound (oh yes, I went there)
Tom Waits - Downtown Train maybe? I don't know
Bob Dylan - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Anyway, that's basically just of the top of me ole noggin. Suggestions are quite welcome. Until next time...

Nordaggio's on a Friday Morning

I'm back in Tulsa for a few days. My new boss told me if I worked on Friday I shouldn't take a vacation day. So, here I am, at a yuppie coffee shop, drinking the last of the African Storm blend from the now empty pot, listening to the Go-Go's, and, yes, blogging.

And what should I be doing? Calculating storage tank bottom corrosion rates, reviewing robotic in-service ultrasonic inspection validation papers, closing a plethora of completed facility integrity projects, finishing up a hydrotest procedure, and moving forward with some other crap involving the Texas Rail Road Commission.

If I had any intention of making actual progress on ANY of the aforementioned, I probably shouldn't have gone drinking with my recently 21'd little brother and some old friends from the university last night.

Blogging on the Weekend

I never blog weekends. Here's a picture I took with my new camera.

Here you see Paul and my bikes and helmets in front of my living room window. I just noticed this morning that the helmets appear to be locking horns, like if cyclists went head-to-head in the Monday Night Football intro video.

Here's a pic I took with my old camera of my new watch.

I got it from TokyoFlash.com. I oftentimes enjoy scrolling through the new watches and play a little game wherein I attempt to figure out how to tell the time without looking through the user manuals.

It's the hardest game ever.

These watches are really more conversation pieces than time pieces. I've had this thing for more than a month, and I think I've accessed it for the purpose of telling time approximately thrice. I just like the fact that between 6pm and 1am the whole face lights up in a spiral pattern every two minutes. Kind of annoying in a movie theater, but pretty cool at parties.

Oh, I just beat Braid this weekend.

It's a short little downloadable arcade game on XBL. It's like Super Mario Bros. meets Donkey Kong meets Prince of Persia: Sands of Time meets assorted hallucinogenic substances. It's not often I finish a game and feel the need to read a plot analysis in an attempt to come to terms with what the hell just happened.

Luckily for non-Xbox types there's a PC version coming out soon for $15. It's incredibly worth it. Braid is the most rewarding and enjoyable puzzle game / platformer I've played since Portal.