Laziness Springs/Summers Eternal In The Winter

As I was finally shovelling the snow in front of my house today, two people commented on it.  (SIDENOTE: I probably would not have cleared the walkways if it was not 54° outside somehow,as opposed to, say, -8°.)

The first was a neighborhood kid from across the street that always beats the ever-living shit out of my door and doorbell when he wants to shovel the snow or cut my grass.  This is a routine we share because if I do answer, I tell him, “no, I’m gonna do it” (and usually don’t), or I don’t answer at all due to hangover/overall laziness.  I had dreams of making perpetual use of his services a few years back.  It was a world where I never had to pull out the mower or shovel ever again, but he blew it by not doing that great of a job.  (Two caveats: I did pay him $10 before I left, and it was the second snowfall on top of ice, but still…) 

Today, he started with, “Need help?”

“No, I’m gonna do it.”

Then he followed with, “Don’t you think it’s a little late to shovel now?”

To which I snapped back, “At least it’s getting done.”  If I had faith the temperature would have melted it all, I wouldn’t have put forth the effort, but it is Michigan.

The second encounter I had was with the mail carrier, and it was because of her I was doing this at all.

“A little late, aren’t you?” she started.  It has been over a week since the snow fell twice and turned to ice.  “You get my letter?”  Every year, the mail carrier and I also share a dance – I wait for the snow to melt; the mail carrier gives me form letters telling me to shovel my snow before it melts.

“It always melts after the snowfall.  This one just took a little longer to happen.”

She gave me a look as she gave me the mail.

“It’s a weird day.  I could be shovelling snow in shorts.”

“I’ll take this weather anytime.”

I wished her a Happy New Year’s and we made peace.  At least ’til the next snow fall. 

P.S. …I think I’m going to start having deliveries come to my office in the new year.

Through sleet, through snow, through rain, through Tattooine...

Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor Jedi...

Get Those Dummies Out Of Their Boxes For Boxing Day!

Jeff Dunham = douchebag

Terry Fator = genius

Bob and Chuck = still hilarious

Jeff Dunham has some of the ugliest puppets and lip disguises I’ve ever seen.  How this guy gets TV specials amazes me.

Terry Fator won “America’s Got Talent” and he should be taking Dunham’s place in no time.

Bob and Luke Skywalker Chuck were one of the best things on “Soap” and this is one of his best bits.

Happy Boxing Day!

JusWondering… What’s The Most Impersonal Seasons Greetings Possible?

Merry Mass Texting!

Merry Mass Texting!

So far this year, I’ve received four Christmas cards.  You should know that I don’t send any out, but it hasn’t stopped people from sending them to me in the past.  And it’s not that I’m hoping for them, or judging anyone for sending or not sending me one.  I’m only bringing this up because I received more text messages this Christmas than other years (only ten so far… and maybe counting).

I wonder if the economy has anything to do with it.  Or simply it’s a reflection of my Yulitude.  But they’ve all been pretty much the same old…

Merry Christmas!

…which is no doubt a mass texting.  Again, I’m not knocking the fact that people are thinking about me when they’re going through their phone list (or address book in regard to the carders), it’s just that my sentimentality begins and ends with “It’s a Wonderful Life!”

At least with text messaging vs. cards, I can appear thoughtful with the forwarded response…

Same to u!

…but again, it feels lacking and tacky.  Maybe next year, I’ll try to be the one wishing all a Merry Christmas first, and see how many responses I get.  (I’ll have to make sure my phone plan allows for that many responses.)  I’m already thinking about the shorthand text I could send.  Perhaps…

Merry xmas!

…or…

Mry xms!

…or simply…

Mx!

…can do the trick. 

Man, now I can’t wait for next x!

InASense, Lost… It’s Not Always A Wonderful Life! (Bummer…)

I wish I had a million dollars! No, I really mean it...

I wish I had a million dollars! No, I really mean it...

My favorite film of all time is “It’s a Wonderful Life!”

Call me maudlin, call me a tool, call me a sap (which would render me a sentimental tree tap?)  Okay you can add “lame” to that list, but if you do not agree, you may need to give the flick another look.

The story of a man unknowingly fulfilling his destiny is a classic unparalleled.  There are some moments so honest in the film that I wish cloning existed to give us another Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.

The reason I bring it up today (besides the obvious Christmas ties) is to tie it to another one of two other subjects:

  1. The modern housing market crisis
  2. The belly flop of a film, “Delgo”

    Yum yum for my tum... is that peanut butter mixed with mango?

    Yum yum for my tum... is that peanut butter mixed with mango?

For those of you unfamiliar with the independent cut-scenes from a video game film, here’s the preview:

The ties between films are as follows:

  • Both were considered flops upon their initial release.

Okay, there’s not much of a connection between them, and if I ever see “Delgo,” I may be hard pressed to expand that list.  The biggest purpose for bringing the creepy CGI film up is because the production breaks my heart.  On it’s opening weekend, the movie averaged two viewers per showing.  Two.

From Yahoo:

…the making of “Delgo” has the makings of a great Hollywood underdog story. 36-year-old entrepreneur Marc Adler decided he wanted to direct and produce a $40 million computer animated kids’ flick completely independent of Tinseltown behemoths like Disney and Dreamworks.

…And when Adler couldn’t get a Hollywood studio interested in his movie, he raised eyebrows by releasing it himself through distributor-for-hire Freestyle Releasing. It was a huge risk; one that ultimately didn’t pay off. There wasn’t the sort of marketing budget needed to make a film stand out in the already crowded holiday movie season.

Okay, it doesn’t help the movie received horrible reviews, and its main stars were Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt, but–

Wait!  There’s another correlation between the films:

  • Sometimes the bad guys with all the money win.

Cover Your Ears! Merry Xmas From Henrietta And Merna!

I’m beginning to suspect that this cable access feature from the 90’s might have come from the archive of Michael Bay’s earlier works.  Notice the quick editing and flashy zooming jump cuts.  The action and the mystery never takes a break.

I’m fairly certain this inspired “Bad Boys.”  Compare the clips and see for yourself.

(Henrietta’s gloriously unexpected solo courtesy of Videogum)

The Secret To Having A “Mary” Christmas

Here’s a tip for all you last minute shoppers:
 
If you want to get some help at the store, don’t get angry with the sales people and call them an asshole, asshat (my new favorite epithet by the way), fuck face, piece of shit, heartless bastard fuck, fuckup, fucking loser, or ne’er-do-well cocksucker.
 
Get angry and call the sales associate this: Scroogeman.  Apparently it works.  (My aunt was the mastermind behind this – it made the worker do a 180.)
 
My theory on why this is effective is because people get called derogatory terms all year ’round.  Saying Scroogeman drudges up a coded history of bah-humbuggery and it implies that you are seeking out being a bastard.  It may not be full-proof because some people go out of their way to be jerks, but most people working in retail probably have a weak-spot for the Dickens’ classic.
 
So try it… or not.  See if I care.  Merry Christmas, asshats!
You are a Scroogeman!

Itsnotta Scroogeman!

Drunken Recollection… Monday Night Nerdfest

Monday Night Football Trivia was in full effect last night, and I learned that there were more U.S. soldiers in the Korean War vs. the Vietnam War, Turkey was not only a part of the Ottoman Empire and Iran was not only Persia (they were both a part of Mesopotamia), and prior to “Titanic,” the highest grossing Best Picture winner was “Forrest Gump.”

While the competition occurred (we were in third place before the last question, but we wagered all of our points on “Gone With the Wind” on guess-which-question), these were some of the topics of discussion:

  • I have had a song stuck in my head for a few days.  I had the melody and this lyric: And somebody picked on me.  It turns out that the lyric is actually: And somebody snitched on me.  The song was “I’m Getting Nothing for Christmas.”  (Thanks to Kelly for playing Scooby Doo on that one.)
  • Talk about holiday parties began, and about how cool it would be to hire a waiter or waitress for New Year’s Eve.  I thought it’d be funny to hire one for any day.  Have a couple of friends over… the waiter/waitress can change the channel, get us beers and snacks… you know, stuff like that.  When nothing was going on, the waiter/waitress could play video games with us, or watch the season finale of “Lost” with us.  We wouldn’t be dicks about it.  It would be for the sake of uncomfortable awkwardness and a good story to tell.
  • Speaking of dicks – this store’s name brought us grown infants a heaping amount of joy:
    I originally saved this file as dicks, but changed it to avoid confusion.
    I originally saved this file as ‘dicks,’ but changed it for obvious reasons.

    We talked about how their midnight madness sales could be called “nocturnal emissions” and that the idea for the event “came to them at night.”  This was the least crass example – trust me.

  • The night ended not at the bar, but playing “Call of Duty 4” once again.  As we were leaving, paintball was brought up, and one friend stated he would wait in a tree outside my other friend’s house in order to ambush him.  Due to the cold weather we’re experiencing, it was also brought up how he would freeze to death waiting.  Since this particular friend is leaving the state for a new job, everyone would think he left early, and no one would notice he was missing until the spring.  But since my friend didn’t clean all the leaves that are awaiting under two feet of snow, his body would get lost in the leaves… yada yada… I’ll stop there.  This is what video games are doing to adult minds – imagine what they do to the kids.

In My Brain While Sleeping… Watchmen Anxiety

In case you’ve been living under a rock or in a coma (which in the cases of you really being a hermit or a recently awakened patient, then I’m sorry about the sarcasm), next March may or may not be the month that “Watchmen” gets marched out (see what I did there with the, um, doubling months thing).

There’s still a lawsuit pending between Fox and Warner Bros. over the rights to the story, but little did I know how much this affected me.  All night I dreamt about this movie.  My brain tried to convince me it was going to be crappy, too.  I saw images of the film being projected on screen as though it were still a comic book graphic novel.

It was comparable to this:

(from DarthsandDroids.com)

(from DarthsandDroids.com)

Or even worse, the first “Hulk” flick

What follows at the bottom of the post is the most recent preview for “Watchmen.”  It can’t be bad, can it?  Like “Sin City 2” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 2” “The Spirit” level bad?

All I’m saying is Fox better not fuck this up for me… I don’t know if I can take more nights of tossing and turning and seeing the Comedian so sad (he’s the guy with the moustache at the start of the preview).  The kicker is Fox doesn’t even want shared profits – they don’t want it released!  Fox owes me for cancelling many-a-splendid shows, such as “Arrested Development,” “Firefly,” “Futurama,” “The Tick,” and “Profit.”

They sure as hell better not cancel “Watchmen.”

JusWondering… The Road Less Sneezed Upon

As I arrived at the office today, I realized something.  Well, just now I realized I’m either borderline British or pretentious because I was thisclose to typing realised, both times.  But the main thing I realised is that I have a real aversion to these bad boys:
Knock knock... Whos there? Germs... Germs ach-who!
Knock-knock… Who’s there?… Germs… Germs ach-who!

There’s two ways to get to my office, and I choose the way that has three doors to open vs. two.  You would think I’d choose the lesser of two infectious evils, but the path to more doors (must resist “Lord of the Rings” reference here… too late) consists of these precious humdingers:

I can open you with one finger... resisting other off-colour remarks... another Brit/pretentious retort!
I can open you with one finger… resisting other off-colour remarks… another Brit/pretentious retort!

If you think about how many disgusting hands that have touched these things… it gives me the gee-willikers (now I’m prohibition era comic strip talking).  I’d still rather use one finger to open the second doorknob, than use my entire hand on the first.

Now you know, and knowing is half the fracas (so pretentious it is.)

Musical Musings… Shooting Guns, Shampoo, Skilled Apes, And Sparks On Tongues

Last night while playing “Call of Duty 4,” I was leaning over the ventilation, um, vent at my friend’s house.  My hair was blowing , but I was so into the game, I didn’t notice it until my friends started singing the Isley Brothers’ “Who’s That Lady” like in that old shampoo commercial.

This is not the shampoo commercial, but it does beg the song’s titular question:

While driving home, I passed the local hookah spot and saw a truck with no headlights on.  I wanted to flash my headlights to let them know, but I wondered if that old urban legend was still in effect.  You know the one: gangbangers drive around with their lights off, targeting anyone who flashes them.  This made me think of that crappy movie “Urban Legend,” and how it opened with Natasha Gregson Wagner singing Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”  Except I think her legend was about the guy hiding in the backseat.

Here’s not a clip from that movie, but something much better (viva la apes!):

I also heard this song by Matt Nathanson, and it made me wonder if his lyrics at the 2:04 mark are in reference to this post: