Since I have been home, I haven't really had a spare minute to just sit and relax, much less post something on here. With various errands, chores, Christmas shopping, and working, I've been as busy during this break as I am up at school. Let me catch all of you (and I honestly doubt there are many) up to speed:
- I have been working non-stop at News 12 since I've gotten home. Being the holidays, people were taking vacation days and calling in sick all over the place, and I was there to fill in. This is fantastic, except I still had a fair amount of shopping to do, and it was hard to get done when I would be called in a lot. Fortunately, now that Christmas is over, I really have nothing more to do, so the work will be appreciated. However, I suspect that since the holidays are over, less people will be calling out, and I will be getting fewer hours. Such is life.
- Work was real hectic the first week, simply because of the transit workers strike in New York City. Since breaking news and new info was coming out randomly and at all hours, everyone there was pretty tense; their nerves were shot, and you could feel it in the air. In fact, during one news conference where we had to break in live, I saw people screaming at each other, producers and directors running around at full tilt, and just general hysteria breaking loose. Before the strike was officially announced, nobody was sure when the word might come from the transit union, so they needed to keep the place staffed 24 hours a day, and one night I worked from two in the afternoon to three in the morning. It was all rough, hectic, and stressful, especially considering things are still relatively new to me and I'm not there all the time, but hopefully I made a good impression with the boss and I made some good money.
-I was having trouble thinking of a Christmas gift, and I was coming down to the wire searching for something my parents could get me for the holiday. I told them all I could think of was a big TV, since all the other gadgets and gizmos I have are still in good working order, but that was out of the question, since they're thousands of dollars. One morning, I walked downstairs, and my parents confronted me, saying that if I wanted as a combined Christmas and graduation gift, they would get me a new TV. We searched around all day for one, and finally settled on an LG 37-inch LCD HDTV. I know, I know, I'm spoiled rotten, I'm aware. But I don't really get spoiled by them anymore, and I do feel guilty.
That is until I turn it on. We got an HDTV cable box, so I can get HD programming in various sorts. We bought the set about a week before Christmas, and since it was so big and wouldn't really fit anywhere else, we set it up in my room early, however I was not allowed to watch it until the 25th. I had to sit with my regular TV plugged in in front of it for days.
Looking at the picture gives you a good sense of not only how huge the new TV is, but also how crazy it was making me to have this beautiful piece of technology sitting in front of my face and not being able to partake in its sweet, soothing digital glow. Finally, Christmas day came, and I was free to wallow in my own crapulence.
The TV has been the focal point of my life for the past few days. I only get a handful of channels which take advantage of the HD, so I've been watching shows I have no interest in just to look at the amazing picture quality. I've watched more PBS in the last four days than ever in my life. I'm anticipating the release of the PS3 even more now so I can take full advantage of the new games/Blu-Ray system.
- Despite getting arguably the best Christmas gift I've ever received (Red Ryder BB gun excluded), I still did fairly well on Christmas Day. Kristin got me about ten books, including a cookbook designed for those who want a big variety but have limited cooking appliances/experience. I got a remote control holster thing to hold my now plethora of controllers next to my bed, the obligatory socks/underwear, the seventh season of the Simpsons, a samurai sword set, and other knicknacks making for all in all a very merry Christmas.
Today I have a day off, and it is miserable outside, cold and raining, so today has become a good day to just sit in my room and do absolutely nothing. I might go to the gym later, but that's about it. Our New Year's plans are still up in the air, still might be going into the city, but not in the same nature as previously thought. I also have to work New Year's Day at 12:30, so I can't really go overboard.
Now you're all caught up on my life. Hopefully I'll still be working a lot, and maybe try to sneak some fun in on the side, before I go back to school.
Until then, Happy New Year.
Happy Holidays from Black Mamba!
I saw Jarhead about two months ago, and during the previews the trailer for King Kong was shown. I knew this movie was being produced, but I really didn't have much interest in seeing it; I hadn't seen the original, and it just seemed like a Hollywood get-rich-quick scheme.
And they showed the CGI of Kong, and the '30s setting, which were par for the course in my mind, and didn't really seem too fascinating.
That was until the T-Rex scene.
They show this dinosaur screaming, then King Kong jumps in and starts screaming, it get quiet, the T-Rex charges Kong, he goes nuts, quickly thumps his chest, and put his hands on both sides of the T-Rex's jaws as the screen goes to white. This for me was one of those moments where you know what goes on behind the white flash frame has to be something incredible. With my mouth agape, I turn around to see the five or six people I went to the theater with making the same exact expression as I was. The action looked tempting, and knowing that Peter Jackson had done well with the action scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies, I thought this couldn't be bad, and began to anticipate seeing Kong in a few months.
I was right. After finding out it was premiering the night I was done with finals, and really wanting to see it with Gish, Silva, and the rest of our band of fools because we feed off each other's excitement, making it even more exciting. We showed up early for the midnight showing, anticipating some sort of line. We walked in, and we waiting at the concession stand, when we got an idea of who we would be watching this film with: some slovenly fat guy with a ponytail comes up behind us, and proclaims to the employees, "I hear you have the best nachos in town......I WOULD LIKE TO PARTAKE!"
It was unmistakable: nerds. We would be watching this movie with a theater full of nerds. And we were right. They were everywhere. I guess nerds have a pledge of loyalty to Peter Jackson.
Finally, the movie started. Having watched the original a few weeks ago, I knew the story fairly well, and was able to pick up a lot of parallels included throughout. The first hour of Jackson's was actually kind of slow; the first movie set the story up well in a third of the time. It wasn't like it added anything to the story, and seemed to be so drawn out just to get the movie to the standard 3-hour length for an epic.
But once they get onto Skull Island, ridiculous. That's the only way to put it. What is so great about it is that it doesn't try too hard to be artsy or deep, it's just pure entertainment, something rare these days when going to the movies. I don't get too excited at the movies anymore, but for two hours I was on the edge of my seat, yelling and giggling like a little girl. When the part with the T-Rex came up, me, Gish, and Silva all started saying, "Here it comes, oh boy! Oh boy!" Despite acting a little immature for three twentysomethings, it was a great movie experience. I don't want to ruin any of the parts by saying what goes down, and besides, even if I did, it wouldn't do justice to actually watching it.
If you enjoy being happy and having fun, see King Kong.
Grade: A-
If this doesn't look cool to you, you're probably dead. Or gay.
This will be quick, but I saw this and I had to comment.I was just reading an MSNBC article on a comment Bush made at a speech about Iraq losing 30,000 people since the war began. He then was asked questions from the audience, one being his administration's link of Iraq and Saddam to 9/11. This is what that moron said:'Another questioner challenged the administration's linkage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with the Iraq war. Bush said that Saddam Hussein was a threat and he was widely believed to have weapons of mass destruction, a belief that later proved false.
"I made a tough decision," Bush said. "And knowing what I know today I'd make the decision again. Removing Saddam Hussein makes this world a better place and America a safer country."'
So basically what he's saying is the WMDs really didn't matter in the decision to go to war: he just wanted Saddam out of power. Hey, the dude was a bad guy, and its better he's gone, right?
Well, by that logic, I hope the military is lining up to invade Cuba, Lybia, Iran, Syria, China, North Korea, and others who are bad. All of those countries are well-known to commit human rights violations and do not spread the democracy of justice's freedom, or whatever crap phrases Bush is using these days.
What gives Bush the authority to remove any world leader from power because he perceives them as a threat? Being president doesn't mean you just get to do whatever you want. He probably fell asleep in American Government class.
Watch out, world! If we don't like ya, we're comin' to get ya! Regardless if there is a good reason or or not!
USA! USA! USA!
It's that time of year again: to become so engrossed in a subject that for a few days, you live and breathe it every second of the day.
This year, that subject for me is philosophy. I don't feel like I have as good a grip on the concepts as I did on my first test, so until Tuesday morning, I pretty much have to live philosophy.
I also have to find time for my world literature final as well, but philosophy will require a lot more study time and brain power than lit. But it cannot be tossed aside.
I need to make sure I can focus and get my work done without getting distracted or lazy.
I have both finals on Tuesday, and am leaving for break on Wednesday. I don't know if I'll get a chance to update before then.
For the next three days, I have to do the academic equivalent of Rocky's training in Russia in Rocky IV.
Now if I could just get "Burning Heart" to play in the library, I'd be set.
At this time of the morning, I'm usually struggling to open my eyes, much less sit here and write something, but I woke up this morning and there was a ton of snow outside, and that always has a way of waking me right up; I'm pretty much still eleven years old. Whenever I wake up in the morning and it looks like there's a chance that school or classes will be cancelled, I can't go back to sleep, even though I don't have classes on Friday. Something about there being a good snowfall to wake up makes me all excited.
Silva puked yesterday morning, and I think there's some on the toilet seat.
I am officially done with my regular classes for this semester, but I'm not out of the woods by a long shot. I've got two finals back-to-back on Tuesday: Philosophy and World Lit. Luckily, the harder one, Philosophy, is first, so I can just wake up extra early and get some studying in before the final. That final is going to be tough. So tough in fact, that the professor and TA are holding three review sessions to prepare. One was on Wednesday night, and I actually left a WONY party we were having at a bar downtown to go review. I don't care if I'm a big nerd, grades are more important.
The WONY Festivus party wasn't technically a WONY party, since it was at a bar downtown and we were getting underage kids in, but for all intents and purposes, it was, only DJs and their friends allowed. I had this idea over the summer to have a station party at a bar, since a DJ rented out a bar about two years ago for his birthday, and it was awesome, especially for the kids who were underage at the time. The idea was to have everyone be able to mingle outside of the station, and just bond, and I think it worked out very well, everyone was having fun, and by the time it was over, we had the whole place singing along to the music on the stereo.
I have to call News 12 in a few days, and see if they got me on the schedule for when I get back. I'm hoping I get a lot of hours over break. Getting "in" there is the primary objective of my life at this point, maybe even more so than schoolwork.
I still can't think of anything I want for Christmas. If I don't get on it soon, I'm really going to have a crappy Christmas.
Me, Silva, Matt, and Gish are tentatively planning to go to Times Square for New Years Eve. I figure this would be the perfect time to do this in our lives, and if we don't do it while we're together in college, it probably won't ever happen. I think we would have a great time, like people screaming and confetti and shit. We all get so crazy over stuff like that.
I think I'm going to see Syriana tonight.
Well, my time's about up here. I think I'm going to go down to the Latte Lounge, maybe get something to eat, sit with a hot chocolate, and either read or do homework. I love that place. So relaxing.
Would you believe that nearly three months after the terror that is the Cremaster Cycle entered my consciousness (without any chance of being forgotten,) this horrible creation of Lucifer is still affecting my life? It's true. Silva went to the Hartwick College library a month ago and actually checked out the Cremaster 5 book under his own free will? He hid it in a drawer under my desk, came in and asked me for something out of it, and effectively ruined my day because of it. We both looked through it and got a good chuckle and shiver out of how insane the series truly is.
Owing to Silva's legendary lack of punctuality, the book is still in our apartment. We forgot about it, but recently began looking through it again. Actually, what happened was, I found a particularly disturbing photo in the back of the book, and left the book open to that spot under John's bedsheets. I would scan it to show you show fucked up it really is, but I would honestly feel uneasy about having it on my computer.
Regardless, a few days ago, John had been looking at it, then went to bed. The next day, he woke up saying he had out of control dreams all night long, including one where he was sitting in a room with a bunch of kids doing mushrooms. That day, he was talking to his friend online, and his friend told him he had a strange experience the night before: he had been smoking weed at a party or something in a room full of kids doing mushrooms.
Now, that's not really a big thing, Silva told me about it, and I kind of just dismissed it; I really didn't care. But then things got out of hand.
Saturday night, we had Matt, Gish, and Swan over for our now-usual few hours of poker and relaxing in the apartment before we go out for the night. While we were all sitting around, Matt pulled out the Cremaster book hidden underneath our coffee table and started thumbing through it. We told them it freaked both me and Silva out, and they looked through it a bit longer, then put it away. The next morning when Silva woke up, he told me and Matt about some wild nightmares he had, in particular, he said he had one where he was having sex with some girl when she started to stab him in the chest. We just laughed, not making any connection. Yet.
A day later, I am looking at the local paper online, and I become shocked at what I find.
"Lt. Joseph Redmond of the Oneonta Police Department said Francis J. Ricca, 20, of 63 Miller St. allegedly stabbed Jason Walker, 22, of 2 Meckley Ave., just before midnight Friday during a party at 97 Chestnut St., next to Iannelli's Ristorante."
Not only was there a stabbing the night he dreamt about it, but it was on our street. On our fucking street. Right up the road. At first I didn't make the connection, but when I did.....it was a little weird. Silva launched into an all out mindfuck; I think he was seriously spooked. And, to tell you the truth, it really is kind of freaky when you think about it. What are the odds? And all because he looked at the Cremaster.
We seriously have to get this book out of our apartment. It's causing bad things to happen. I told Silva he'll probably come in my room one morning to tell me not to drive my car that day.
Beware the ides of Silva.
