Tidal

As I sit here watching a favorite movie of mine, I am unable to lose myself in the experience as I once did. Instead, thoughts of you wash over me like tidal waves. Pushing me along and crushing me at the same time.

I am changing.

Something in me is different now.

Dear Alex,

You were the greatest pet anyone could ever ask for. You were there to comfort my parents when I moved away for the first time long ago. In a sense, you might even say we were like brothers. That's why it has been so devastating to our family that you're gone now. You are missed terribly, and we only hope that you are finally at peace wherever you are.

You were always my buddy. Thank you for sharing your life with me.

The Gig Of Destiny

Last night I went with Ross to see Tenacious D in concert. Here's a brief recap of my Saturday night...

I drove us downtown and we made it into the parking garage in perfect time. After parking, we both took a huge swig from the bottle of Black Velvet I brought. Earlier in the day, after finally getting a haircut by the way, I picked up six mini-bottles of booze (4 Yukon Jack / 2 Southern Comfort). My plan was to sneak these into the venue to "spice up" the typically watered-down and over-priced drinks inside. But as we approached the entrance with tickets in hand, I noticed the venue workers frisking every one. We decided to hang around outside for a few more minutes to drink the mini-bottles so I wouldn't end up getting caught with them. I gave Ross the two SoCo bottles, and downed the 4 Yukons myself. In fact, after the third I almost started gagging. So I ended up barely drinking half of the fourth before leaving it on a window ledge with the possibility it might still be there after the concert... which of course, it wasn't. Honestly, I didn't care anyway. We're talking about fifty cents worth here. Not an issue. Ross ended up getting more drinks inside the venue, but I held off. I was already feeling great by that point.

Anyway, the show itself was very entertaining. "The D" played pretty much every song of theirs you can think of, although there were a number of them I was not familiar with (I have yet to pick up the newest album). After the opening acoustic set they brought out the rest of their band... Charlie Chaplin on bass, Colonel Sanders on drums, and a guy resembling Jesus on lead guitar. It was quite interesting to say the least. Towards the end of the set they even broke into the beginning of my favorite song by The Who, "Pinball Wizard"... the very same song I just happened to be playing on my own guitar a few hours before! I love the little coincidences in life that make you feel that somehow everything is connected. They ended the night with "Tribute", one of my favorites. Fun show! Good times. (Oh and by the way, there were camera crews everywhere so they may have been shooting some footage for an upcoming DVD! I'll keep my eyes out for that...)

After the show, we decided to hit a bar near our place that we had been to only once before but had seemed like an interesting place to hang. It wasn't long after we began playing some darts that Ross got to talking to some chick at the next table over. I felt bad for repeatedly interrupting to let him know it was his turn, so I played my everlasting role as the wingman and continued throwing the darts for him... essentially playing against myself (and still losing). Although it didn't upset me at all for playing that part, it did make me analyze my place on the "random Top Gun psychoanalysis" chart. My conclusion?...

I am the Goose to everyone else's Maverick. It's not that I have a problem with being Goose (in fact I think he's a pretty cool guy), it's just that I'll probably die before ever getting to experience the really good action for myself. And that sucks to think about.

Invention #1

While sitting at my workdesk today, an idea for an invention ran through my head...

The dating world. It can be incredibly harsh and devestating at times. Look at her, she's really attractive! I would love to get to know her better, but she's probably married. Then again, maybe she's not. I wonder if I actually have a shot with her or if she even knows I exist. If only there was a way to know if she felt the same towards me before I humiliate myself in front of her.

Perhaps now there is a way to do just that. Here's my idea...

You buy a tiny thumb-sized item resembling a laser pointer or remote of some sort. Just big enough to hold, just small enough to fit on a keychain. This laser pointer is your own personal tool for finding potential love interests and friends. It gives you a unique identification and is coded with your own password to prevent anyone else from having access to it. It will not work without entering this password to activate it.

It's a simple concept really. Whenever you see someone who peaks your interest, whether from a distance or close by, you "tag" them with your laser tool. Now since this laser is invisible to the human eye, the "tagged" subject will not be aware of this. This tagging means that you are interested in getting to know this person (for whichever reason you chose). This will be your primary effort in using this device. All unique IDs of those you have tagged will be secretly recorded in your unit's memory.

Now let's say you have tagged someone who intrigues you... What should happen if they have tagged you as well? A match is proclaimed. The other person's basic information: first name, phone number and email address for instance, will be available for you to review. They will also be given your information. The bottom line: You will both be aware of your mutual interest and you will have the neccessary contact information to begin corresponding at your leisure, without much of the initial anxiety, awkwardness and embarrassment that many have had to experience. The rest will be up to the two of you to explore the new possibilities...

___________________________________

Other Miscellaneous details:

• Information you wish to be made available to future matches will be up to you, but you must provide certain basic information when opening your account.
• Upon purchasing your unit, you will be provided with access to the entire system network, much like an internet of every other user in the world.
• Your information will be provided to others ONLY if they have resulted in a mutual match with you.
• There are two separate modes to tag others with: "friends" and "romance".

Sounds Like A Lame Blog, Doughnut?

The other day I got into an argument with my co-workers concerning doughnut holes. It wasn't so much of an argument I suppose... more like friendly banter.

As we all know, stereotypical doughnuts come in a round shape with a hole in the middle. Now supposedly, someone decided to turn the doughnut industry upside-down one day with the idea of taking all these extra pieces of doughnut - which had been cut out of the original doughnuts to give them their famous holes - and making them into their own product, therefore preventing any further waste of perfectly good doughnutty yumness. The result of this idea now comes in the form of little bite-sized doughnut balls, which taste every bit as good as the original doughnuts themselves. These were christened, "doughnut holes". Score one for pastries everywhere.

Although I rarely indulge in these early-day delights myself, I thoroughly enjoy them when I do. And my issue is not with the holes themselves. Only with their name...

So I found myself arguing the illogical labeling of these doughnut balls as "holes". Somehow this does not seem correct to me. If they are in fact holes, why can't we see through them? In my eyes, "doughnut holes" still come with the original doughnuts (hence the holes in them). How can there now be two different holes for each doughnut made? I fail to see the logic in this. It is apparent to me that these doughnut balls are NOT holes, but in fact balls. Therefore, I suggest we immediately begin referring to them as "doughnut balls". Who's with me?

Naturally, the majority of my co-workers thought I was crazy for refusing to call these damn balls "holes". I even tried bringing up the possibility that the holes themselves were more likely to be a litter of little baby doughnuts. And that we should be ashamed of ourselves for eating little premature baby doughnuts before they have a chance to grow into more experienced adult doughnuts. You never know. Who here has seen what happens when two grown doughnuts get together and have doughnut sex all night? Raise your hands......... My point exactly. How do we know? Besides, that might certainly explain why some of the other doughnuts are cream-filled.

I guess my point is... never trust doughnuts. They're full of holes.

CD Mix #25

Superbowl Sunday... *shrugs* Eh.

I have a complete lack of interest in [American] football and everything associated with it (with the noted exception of oldschool video games like 'Tecmo Bowl', 'Great Football' and 'Madden '93'). Still, I plan to have a great Superbowl Sunday for myself. It's just that instead of revolving the day around a football game, I will dedicate it to getting around to some things I've been meaning to do. I've already cleaned up around the apartment a bit, though I still need to finish vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen. In a few minutes, I think I'm going to sit down and watch a DVD my buddy (and roommate) Ross recently gave to me because he didn't want it. It's The Eagles' "Farewell Tour: Live From Melbourne". Upon checking out the set list on the back cover, it seems this time around they included some of their popular solo hits as well. I'm stoked about checking it all out... For years I've been telling myself to pick up the "Hell Freezes Over" DVD but have still yet to. ("HFO" by the way is a FANTASTIC concert experience! Whether or not you're an Eagles fan, check it out!)

In the meantime, I just finished burning my overdue CD Mix #25. I've continued to be slammed with a lot of great music lately, much of which is new to me. So without blabbing on anymore about random crap, here's the new mix:

• "English Tea" - Paul McCartney
• "One Too Many Mornings" - The Chemical Brothers
• "Seven Days In Sunny June" - Jamiroquai
• "I Wanna Fuck You" - Akon & Snoop Dogg
• "We're The Pet Shop Boys" - Robbie Williams & The Pet Shop Boys
• "2 Steps Back" - Craig David
• "Venus As A Boy" - Bjork
• "Mantra (Single Version)" - Anggun
• "Waiting In Vain" - Bob Marley & The Wailers
• "Phenomenon" - LL Cool J
• "Lovelight" - Robbie Williams
• "My Love" - Justin Timberlake & T.I. & Timbaland
• "Everybody's Changing" - Keane
• "N Dey Say" - Nelly
• "Never Touch That Switch" - Robbie Williams
• "Hey Lover" - LL Cool J & Boyz II Men
• "Jappa Road" - Ween
• "The End Of The Tour" - They Might Be Giants