| There IS such thing as a free lunch... |
[Feb. 13th, 2007|02:15 pm] |
... in fact, I was paid 20 cents to be a patron at this fine establishment today. Here's how it worked. I used the drive-through of a large corporate fast food restaurant, and my order came to a total of $4.80. I decided to pay with a $10 and 5 pennies, asking the nice lady who helped me to give me a quarter back. What I expected was $5.25. What I got in change was my very own $10 back in addition to a quarter.
I did what any self respecting American citizen would have done. I pocketed the money and kept going through the drive through to get my meal at the next window down. I was thinking that perhaps the woman had realized her mistake and maybe told the next window down to get the money back that I owed the establishment. No dice. I got my food and drink and left.
Do I feel guilty? A little bit. Will the woman get in trouble for coming up with a short till at the end of the day? Perhaps. Is it my fault that she's not good at remedial math? No. Am I that hard up for cash that I'd take advantage of an establishment such as this? Evidently, yes. I suppose it might have been different at a small "ma and pa" type of cafe... or maybe if I hadn't been in as much of a rush or had as much on my mind. At any rate, I suppose that I should feel a small shred of guilt, and I do. Perhaps my karma will come back to me one day and I'll get food poisoning from the same establishment (at which, if I want to stay in shape, I really shouldn't be eating at anyway).
The point is, I was paid 20 cents to eat there today. Maybe I'll recommend them to a friend or write about it in my journal as a form of trade... a bit of promotion for them if you will. Perhaps that's fair.
Or maybe I'm just using this experience as a lame excuse to do my semi-annual posting in this stupid LJ. |
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| Nexus 6 |
[Aug. 30th, 2006|06:11 pm] |
I know that movie scripts online are no new thing, but I had to link to my favorite movie of all time:
http://www.trussel.com/bladerun.htm
For some reason, it looks a little short to me, but I guess it's all there... |
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| Grammar Nazism Alert |
[Jun. 15th, 2006|03:33 pm] |
I weep for this country's education system.
Too many times have I seen plurals taking apostrophes in the written language. For the love of God, make it stop! Please! Just because there's more than one of it, does not suddenly make it possessive.
Oh, and please watch the subject/verb agreement and dangling modifiers (i.e. "where are you at?") So very incorrect.
One more thing, please use your turnsignal. There's nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind you when you suddenly decide to stop in the left lane and THEN throw on that signal without first giving me the option of getting out from behind you and continuing on my merry way. I have enough frustration and angst in my life. Please don't make me have to take even more Xanax on my spare time.
Danke |
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| World of Warcrack |
[May. 2nd, 2006|01:32 pm] |
Well on your way!
You are 58% Addicted! |
You play a lot, and you're starting to get hooked. Keep it up and soon
you too will be part of the ever-growing group that is totally
addicted. Or, see the warning signs now and get out while you still
can! |  |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 14% on addiction level |
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Surprisingly, I'm only 58% addicted. I say surprisingly, because I spend 2 to 3 hours a DAY on this game, have 4 characters on the same realm (3 of whom are level 60), and am thinking about starting up another one soon here. What does it take to be a total addict? Shunning real world responsibility... calling in sick to work... forgetting to take bathroom breaks while sitting around in your own filth and subsisting on Cheetos and Moutain Dew? If I didn't have any sort of "real world" responsibilities, I'd probably be there by now... |
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| Yes, It's Been Awhile... |
[Mar. 27th, 2006|03:18 pm] |
In a nutshell:
Lasik surgery happened for me on Monday, March 15th. Normally, I'm super freaky/protective about what happens with my eyes. I've never been able to wear contacts, and my vision has been a pretty consistant 20/50 or so since I was about 23 or 24. No real pain to speak of, just a little discomfort, and "itchy feeling" eyes with a strict regimen of different drops to take the first week. Now I just take Visine every few hours and that does the trick. Oh, and my vision is now somewhere between 20/15 and 20/10. Yeah, that's better than 20/20. I don't think that the human eye was intended to see this well... at least, I don't remember mine ever seeing this well. Needless to say, I'm thrilled.
Save for one cigarette on Fat Tuesday, I haven't smoked since Valentine's Day. A friend of mine confided in me awhile ago that he might have Emphysema. A day or two after that, I ran out of cigarettes. I didn't bothre to buy more. Being the Libra that I am, I'm not using a patch or gum or anything to help me with this, other than sheer will, and others denying me a cigarette should I happen to request one after I've had one or 6 Rum and Cokes while out at a bar.
Sunday and I went to Sisters of Mercy the other night at the Crystal Ballroom... a show that featured a grand total of 6 never-ending fog machines. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face... even right next to the stage, but I did catch a few glances of Andrew now and again. He's shorter than I remember. Oh, and I didn't smoke. I went to Sisters of Mercy and didn't smoke. I am SO Un-Goth. Sure, we drove to the show in a black car, but it had a baby seat in the back of it! It was great to see the number of mid to late 30ish people at the show... the aging "old guard" who probably have mortgages and babysitters now just like we do. At least, I really hope they do... |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 27th, 2006|02:54 pm] |
| #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### | Your personality type is SCOAI | You are social, calm, organized, accommodating, and moderately intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.
| | The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Tucson, Phoenix, Memphis, W. Palm Beach, Portland/Salem, Louisville, Cincinnati, San Diego, Los Angeles and these international countries/regions Slovenia, Luxembourg, India, Croatia, Romania, Taiwan, Middle East, China, Caribbean, Iceland, South Africa, Czech Republic, South Korea, Hong Kong | What Places In The World Match Your Personality?City Reviews at CityCulture.org |
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| I Swore I'd Never Do One Of These... |
[Dec. 12th, 2005|02:19 pm] |
... but oh well...
1) Was 2005 a good year for you?
For the most part, yes.
2) What was your favorite moment of the year?
Taking my son "trick or treating" for the first time.
3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Having the nanny call me at work to inform me that one of our Dobermans had just expired on the couch in the family room.
4) Where were you when 2005 began?
In bed watching Dick Clark. 5 minutes later, I was back to playing "World of Warcraft"...
5) Who were you with?
Sunday and Torsten
6) Where will you be when 2005 ends?
Probably in bed watching Dick Clark. Oh wait... he's in the hospital. No wait! Is he dead? Crap.
7) Who will you be with when 2005 ends?
Sunday and Torsten
8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2005?
Haha. No.
9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2006?
Same ones, once again.
10) Did you fall in love in 2005?
Already was, does that count?
11) If yes, with who?
Wife and son
12) If yes, do they know?
Well, I know Sunday does... and I'm pretty sure Torsten does, too.
13) Are you still in love with them?
Yes
14) Do you regret it?
No
15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2005?
No
16) Did you make any new friends in 2005?
Sort of
17) Who are your favorite new friends?
They're not so much "new" friends as people whom I feel I have gotten to know a bit better and feel closer to, namely Joe, Alex, Kevyn, Damon, Sarah, Motz, Aristai. Instead of being mere acquaintances, we talk more about real life things, and that's good.
18) What was your favorite month of 2005?
March. That was when we moved in to our new house.
19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2005?
No
20) How many different states did you travel to in 2005?
Just Oregon and Washington, sadly.
21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2005?
Yes, in early November.
22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Yes
23) What was your favorite Movie that you saw in 2005?
Immortal
24) What was your favorite song from 2005?
VNV Nation "Homeward"
25) What was your favorite record(s) from 2005?
Depeche Mode "Playing the Angel", New Order "Waiting For the Siren's Call", VNV Nation "Matter & Form", Coldplay "X & Y"
26) How many concerts did you see in 2005?
Haha, seriously...? Well, not as many as previous years, but still a lot.
27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2005?
VNV Nation at the Aladdin Theater
28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2005?
Not really.
29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2005?
Only the governmentally approved ones.
30) How many people did you sleep with in 2005?
Seeing as how I'm married, if I were to answer anything other than "one" to this, you'd probably raise the proverbial eyebrow, now wouldn't you? At least, I hope you would.
31) Did you do anything you regretted of this year?
Yes
33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2005?
If anyone has lied to me, they haven't told me yet...
34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2005?
Most likely, even though I didn't mean to.
35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2005?
Again, I don't think so, but this is me we're talking about here...
36) How much money did you spend in 2005?
More than I should have.
37) What was your proudest moment of 2005?
Realizing that I had lost over 35 pounds in 6 months.
38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2005?
Standing stark naked in the locker room at the gym and having some guy next to me say "Hey, how's it going? I listen to you all the time..."
39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2005 and change something, what would it be?
Spring. I would have adopted a better financial strategy for the upcoming year (moving, bill consolidation, wife's business, etc...) instead of doing everything at the last minute.
40) What are your plans for 2006?
To do the best I can at my job, stay in the gym, lose another 5 to 10 pounds, get out a bit more often with Sunday, and read a bit more often with Torsten. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 8th, 2005|03:25 pm] |
 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
Last Sunday ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) triggur and I robbed a bank (-50 points). Last Saturday I helped triggur hide a body (-173 points). In February I broke triggur's X-Box (-12 points). In April I helped triggur see the light (8 points). In January I had a shoot-out with rival gang lords on the 5 near LA (-76 points).
Overall, I've been naughty (-303 points). For Christmas I deserve a lump of coal!
Sincerely,
dj_gustav |
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| Happy John Peel Day |
[Oct. 13th, 2005|01:24 pm] |
A year ago today was his last radio broadcast on Radio 4 in the UK. He passed away due to a heart attack while on vacation in Peru on October 26, 2004.
While there are many events happening on this day over in the UK, I'm not sure how much is being done here stateside. Suffice to say that each hour of my radio show today, I'll be sure to spotlight a John Peel related band or artist.
For those who aren't familiar with John Peel, he had a 40 year career in radio broadcasting over in the UK, and was highly respected, genuinely loved by many, and solely responsible for helping launch the careers of numerous acts such as New Order, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Buzzcocks, T Rex, Chameleons UK, Adam and The Ants and many others.
I can only hope that the love that he had for breaking new artists on the radio, as well as his genuine, down to Earth and heartfelt approach to his radio shows should serve as an inspiration to media broadcasters, musicians and music fans alike for many years to come. |
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| ThirtyFive |
[Oct. 12th, 2005|05:36 pm] |
Small party this year, which was sort of a relief in many ways. Not that there's anything wrong with a live band, 100 people I don't know that well and some dancers at Devil's Point (ahem... last year...), but now and then what you need is a good dinner with friends with whom you can share a nice drink and share laughs with. It was a swell get-together and many thanx goes to those who attended. Sunday did a fabulous job of cooking, decorating, setting the mood, etc...
... and now for the shocking part. For some reason I've decided to stop smoking. Why on Earth would I want to do something like that? And why just quit cold without a patch or gum, or loads of Xanax or anything like that? WTF am I thinking? Why is it that after 24 hours or so you want to gnaw your own arm off? I just have to keep telling myself that it's for the better, and that I'll look younger (what... vain and uber self conscious... me?) and feel better about myself, but the real reason is that when you have a child and that child sees you smoking, or is unhappy that you're going outside for a cigarette and not spending time with them, that will make you quit right quick.
Wish me luck. Please send methodone. Or something. |
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| Weekend Recovery |
[Sep. 26th, 2005|05:24 pm] |
Friday night... Madness at the Crystal Ballroom. Suggs, Woodie and the rest were all in top form. Opened with "One Step Beyond" of all things! It's amazing how the skanking ska moves of the mid '80s come back to you once you've had a few libations. Downstairs in Lola's Room, DJ Kittyrox was working the twin DVD players to spin videos from A-ha, New Order, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Blondie. There was a bevy of people there dressed from head to toe in '80s fashion... they even had the dance moves down. We asked one girl her age. "23" was her reply, followed by "My mom taught me about this stuff and how to dance." Maybe it's the fact that I'm 35 in a couple of weeks... but I suddenly felt positively Jurassic.
Saturday night... Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stoneage, Autolux at the Rose Garden. What can I say? Amazing. Trent Reznor is a super down to earth, gracious and approachable person. He's changed a lot in the 15 years since I last got the chance to chat with him face to face, but he did an oustanding job of putting up with my Tech Geek talk with him. Just seeing him relaxing casually in his dressing room, Kraftwerk on quietly in the background on the stereo, made me realize that there truly is a "calm before the storm" with that man. He complimented my wife's dress, and was genuinely interested in hearing what Mo (the radio contest winner) had done with his remix of "Only." Our collective moment of zen was when I quipped about how guys who had been in High School marching band in the '80s seemed most likely to go on to create electronic angst ridden music. In raising my hand, Trent and Mo both did the same. For a brief moment, we were simply three people talking about our love for the music and the technology that creates it... and then we (the radio contest people) shuffled off in quiet reverence to shortly thereafter have our ears blown away.
After hours at Noir. It had been some time since we had been "out and about" with those in the scene, and it felt good. Despite all of that, all the cigarettes and liquor were starting to catch up with us, so for the second night in a row, it was home by 2:00 am. The comfort of a Spanish Omelette and lots of coffee, followed by lots of water and a few Tylenol made the next day bearable... but soon, it was back to the grind. If I can even rightfully call it that... |
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| Walken in '08 |
[Aug. 19th, 2005|05:29 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Vangelis | ] |
I just found out that the whole "Christopher Walken for President" thing was a hoax. Yeah... I kinda figured it was, but the website was really well done, and even on his official site, he didn't confirm nor DENY that he was going to run for President in 2008. I guess that I was holding on to a shred of hope that we'd one day hear a story on CNN prefaced by "The Walken administration concluded today that..." I mean... President Walken! It even sounds good. The guy looks great in a suit, can dance up a storm, has somewhat odd hair, but hey... who'd mess with us?
It's all a hoax. Shoot Darn Heck.
On a different note... 2008! Sweet FA. Shouldn't we have flying cars by then? If we don't have flying cars by 2019, I'm going to be sorely disappointed, because that will mean that "Blade Runner" won't have been a prophetic movie after all, and I might just weep. |
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| Muzik |
[Aug. 10th, 2005|06:31 pm] |
Forgive me, but I just have to gush about my job here...
Today alone, here are some of the bands that I've played:
Depeche Mode (twice no less)
Gary Numan (and not friggin' "Cars" but "Are Friends Electric?")
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Pop Will Eat Itself
Rammstein
The Prodigy
New Order ("Subculture")
The Cure ("Jumping Someone Else's Train"!)
Empty Room (local band doing a pretty bang up job of channeling Joy Division)
Lush
Nine Inch Nails
This is a "commercial" alternative station? This is a job I get paid for? Some days, I just need to try to forget about what it is that might be bugging me (no matter how insignificant) and be thankful for the fact that I'm lucky enough to be doing this, moreover STILL doing it after all this time. No clueless 17 year old college Freshman GothTech Geek of a guy who first got infected by the radio bug years ago could have imagined this today, and for that, I'm eternally thankful. Life may have its occasional challenges, but the people who I don't know and who most likely I will never meet who send me kind IMs or emails, or call with a simple question and a compliment about something are the real reason that I am doing this. If people listen and identify, or get exposed to some new up and coming band, or even one that's been around for 20 years or more, and are excited about it, then my job is done.
The world is not a perfect place. We've got such things to look forward to like a changing environment, war, death, famine and this whole "peak oil" scare that those in the know are talking about. But if we take the time to examine what we're lucky to have, such as family, close friends, getting older physically (but not mentally) and bands that still have angst and a drum machine, then all is well and good in the world still.
By the way, to those of you who voted for KNRK in the Willamette Week "Best Of Portland" issue, my thanx to you. We won. Virtual drinks are on me. |
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| Yes... Finally... |
[Aug. 8th, 2005|05:51 pm] |
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So, I've been told by more than just one person on occasion that I
really really REALLY need to put something in my LJ so that it's not
just a blank page. A friend of mine IMed me today and she said that I'm
on her friend list, but that my LJ page is just a big blank and that
it's "boring" and that I should put something on there, so I guess that
was the catalyst for this.
Sort of a case of the Monday "blahs" if anything for me, so you'll have
to forgive me if I'm not too inspired. Peter Jennings passed away this
past weekend, my favorite character (and perhaps the one with whom I
identified the most) died recently on "Six Feet Under", and to top it
off there have been more shootings downtown. What's going on? Am I just
looking for circumstances to support the doldrums?
On a more upbeat happy note, off to some libations after work, and an
old college friend that I used to do radio with just got in touch with
me out of the middle of nowhere. I guess it's the little things that
can cheer one up. Either that, or I just haven't had enough coffee
today. Probably the latter.
I am still addicted to World of Warcraft. Sure, I could be outside
trying to get some sun... or doing yardwork or something productive,
but no...! I have to stay inside and try to level a Paladin. Pathetic?
Maybe. Could I have worse addictions? Definitely. Hey, you may forget
to eat or sleep with this game, but it's not like it's going to cause
you to pick at your skin or lose teeth. Or, if it does, then you better
switch games. |
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