timesuck

so i have been wasting time all over the interwebs (int0rwabs? teh? the gore? i just don't know anymore), pretty much everywhere but here. this has, however, led to some maintenance (can never spell that one right; i swear i tried it that way already) of the links section. so here is your shocking update: the comic linked under 'funny' has been removed because it has not really been funny at all recently. boo to that, so i dealt the site the crushing blow of removing it from my links. it has been replaced with another one, though, of course. this other one is somewhat reminiscent of dinosaur comics (which should really be moved to funniest) but there are some differences. the artistic concepts (although this one changes every time) and humor are along the same lines. also added a link to my sister's new blog that she is writing from the land of thai chili crisps, a.k.a. england. she is a super good writer and this is a great chance for you to learn everything you wanted to know about libraries in london (and some other stuff) but were afraid to ask. check it out.
in addition to tons and tons of stuff i have learned about that no one else would care to hear about, i recently turned up one item that is probably of fairly pervasive interest: npr's website will stream the new dylan album for the week leading up to its release, starting september 30th. i'm sure plenty of people knew that already, but either way, i think it is pretty cool. this is a perfect thing to have streamed because it is something that has the opportunity to be really good or er, not, and plenty of people are going to purchase it anyway.
as i mentioned earlier, my sister has departed to a place across the ocean with confusing signage. before she left, there was a send-off soiree at her place where i had a good time. while many people show up to these sorts of things with somewhat convoluted connections, i always seem to be a little out of place despite the gene pool thing. in any event, this party was also talk like a pirate day, so i made grog. i thought grog was just rum and hot water, but there is other stuff in it like sugar, citrus juice, cinnamon and cloves. in fact that is all the other stuff that is in it. it comes out kind of like mulled wine. kept it warm with a rice cooker which did the trick splendidly. however, there were an awful lot of bevarages present and not all of it got consumed during the party. it sat around at my place for a couple days until a few of us were up late drinking and ran out of beer. this led to the invention of quite a delicious drink combining about equal parts grog and a iced tea/lemonade mix. pretty diluted at that point, but also entirely delicious. i do not know if letting things sit about for a day or two has any effect though, and we decided we should probably make it again and find out.
the next night brought a crab feast, which was pretty frigging awesome. the whole idea got started because we took on an additional roommate for a couple months, a friend of a current roommate who wanted to get out of baltimore. so this guy is coming up from maryland, and the idea is to have him bring up a bushel of live large blue crabs. we will wait here for him and drink beers and get things going in the afternoon. well he was late out of the gate, and upon attempted purchase of crabs discovered that prices had skyrocketed and the desired type of crab was not even available. fuck that, we said. what wound up happening was many phone calls resulting in a lengthy expedition into the northern part of the city and a savings of roughly eighty dollars. the girl who drove actually left before we even got the crabs cooked though! i felt bad. fortunately, we had copious amounts of boulder brewing's 'hazed and infused' which is a quality beer that is ideal for protracted good times such as a crab feast. somewhere between a pale and an ipa in terms of bitterness, with a svelte body that makes for smooth and easy drinkability, especially combined with the overall refreshing floral character. a good time was had by all.
speaking of baltimore, i found myself there again the other weekend. i was in exactly the same part of town that i had been to before for the kinetic sculpture race. at first i was surprised, but when i thought about i realized that the sorts of things that would draw me to go down there would probably be in the same general vicinity. checked out the american visionary arts museum, which was very intruiging but kind of small. it looked like there would be more from the outside. the outside is almost as good as some of the stuff in there though. to be fair, one of the floors in the main building was closed for the instillation of an upcoming exhibit, and we got discount admission. still, the permenant collection just wasn't as expansive as i assumed it might be. size aside, that stuff was really really cool. the artist bios are also a lot more interesting than the typical fare. the idea with the museum is that everything it has comes from entirely formally untrained artists. so there were some pretty crazy people who had stuff in there, and it was pretty nifty. the set-up of the museum is also a refreshing change of pace, three different buildings with different layouts and purposes. i think i would have been a lot more blown away by it had i not seen so much of the cool stuff outside when i was there before, but it was still worth exploring fully.
the real reason to go to baltimore was for a concert, though. we had a bit of a tough time finding the venue, which turned out to be a little embarrasing. it was at this place called the pier six pavillion, right, but all the stuff around had signs for what was on pier five or four or whatever. we had no problem finding those piers. but we were trying to hard to follow directions instead of common sense that says pier six is probably not too far away from pier five. oh well, we found it with time to spare.
i was unaware that the first band was even going to be on the bill. they were called [someone's name, justin something?] and the driving rain. pretty innocuous and a little bland, but very adherent to solid americana rock and roll. mid-tempo country rock with a lot of organ. the guy played whatever he had through a leslie, and that sounded pretty damn good. frontman could sing. just nothing i could get all up in arms about. kind of reminded me of the wallflowers.
i was not there to see a band of that description. rather, i was there to see the avett brothers, who i have been raving about and constantly listening to ever since i got talked into riding along to a free show of theirs in pittsburgh a few months back. they did not disappoint. i don't think they could if they wanted to; it is just not in them. it was a much different experience to be intimately familiar with the catalog this time around. spent more time being pumped about what was being played than looking around and enjoying myself but a little of unsure about how incredibly excited everyone around me was. great show, could tell the guys were a little tired but giving it every once of energy they had, and the crowd was just wild the whole time, couldn't get enough and couldn't calm down, although people were impressively respectful during quieter numbers. seems like this band is always on tour, and i cannot stress enough how worthwhile it would be to get into this band through a live show or any sort of recording. let me know if you need something, seriously.
despite the unbridled enthusiasm of the crowd for the avetts, they were not the headliner at this show. that would be the drive-by truckers. i feel like most people who should be into this band already are, but if you've enver heard them you probably should. some serious southern-fried guitar orgy balls to the wall rock. it was really good live and loud as fuck. they played their asses off too. one of the three guitar players spent a decent chunk of time on the pedal steel, and i can never get enough of that. their backdrop had some things on either side that looked like demonic swans. i am not sure what was up with that, but whatever. let there be rock, indeed. all together, it was a great show at a chill venue in a beautiful setting; an ideal combination. saw some wire-status parts of the city on the meaner out, just to keep things interesting. and then there was the ride. i like rides. that was a good day.
i know today is supposed to be friday night or whatever, but i'm totally just going to sit around and watch the debate. i don't know why; i usually don't bother. kind of curious, and it is one of those things it feels nice to have one's own interpretation and understanding of. i'm sure plenty of people i know here are going to go out and watch it. to me, going to a bar seems like the worst possible idea. no good can come of that.
in fact, as i was writing about this, one of my roommates said goodbye. i asked where she was going. to the bar to watch the debate, of course. but apparently she is watching it in a semi-private room with some organized group of obama supporters. as long as your someplace where you can avoid a fight, you're alright. i don't feel like that is real likely a lot of places i would go to. freedom, terra, etc.

hat

i am currently wearing a hat. this is not a normal thing for me. figured i would give it a shot. it is kind of weird to see it in reflections. i have tucked all of my hair under it in an effort to simulate to some degree my appearance without all of that hair. kind of livable. but i think i would need to keep the hat. maybe i can get used to this. it is not an ordinary style of hat. sort of like engineer style. the main issue is that it is maroon and sort of clashes with a lot of what i own. oh well. it is only a hat.
in addition to acquiring said hat, the last few days have not been lacking in activity and amusement, due in large part to a visit from my mother, her mother, and a family friend. although the visit was on short notice and consequently of some stress, a good time was had by most if not all.
i got to go to a play. i like plays and i rarely see them because i have not made it enough of a priority. unfortunate as that may be, it made it that much nicer to see one again. it was about joe hill, who was an early folk singer and iww union organizer. sounds like a pretty solid guy. it was a one man show, which was impressive because it was well-executed. the guy sang very well and played the banjo and accordion adequately. overall i thought it was a strange show for my family to select but i rather enjoyed it. some pretty cool theater trickery, excellent use of a minimal set, and a thought-out design of the set in the first place made it a solid experience.
the next night we were supposed to go see a baseball game, but it got rained out. instead, we went and ate a bunch of delicious food. it was sort of tapas-style, and highlights included a barbeque chicken quesedilla, calamari, cheese steak eggroll, and a thoroughly decent shiraz. this also marked the first time i have visibly prayed in a restaurant in as long as i can remember. afterwords we got gelato. if you enjoy ice cream and have not had gelato, do not eat gelato. it is exponentially superior and you may find it difficult to settle for inferior frozen dairy desserts after experiencing the rich, savory wonders of gelato.
i also went to a small-scale neighborhood music festival sort of a thing the other night. it was supposed to start at like four or something and i knew roughly five people wou were sure they were going to be there. well, of course nobody else went when i did, for various reasons. that was acceptable. kicked around the park it was at for a while. nice little place, as much a garden as a park, really. it was up in a neighborhood that has been hip for some time, and as a result the only people other than me at the park toward the beginning were parents with children who were not older than three or so. there were several of these units and then me, and also the few people who had something to do with the festival. i am always open to hearing new music, especially live, especially free, but admittedly the strongest draw of the even came from the alleged offer of free beer with purchase of ten dollar cup. and not shitty free beer either; i thought it was going to be yard's but it turned out to be pbc. those guys are pretty good too. the thing was, as the event got rolling with the speed and grace of a two-toed sloth, no beer was being poured. there was a setup for it, brought by a large truck covered in the brewery's regalia. there were people to serve it. but something wasn't right. i didn't want to be the one person hassling the people who were there to serve beer and not serving it, as there had to be some sort of a real problem to keep absolutely everybody on the scene from not even having a beer. and yes, there was a problem: the regulator for the co2 tank was broken and they had to wait for another to be delivered. it was kind of a long wait. i felt bad for the first band because there was almost no one around and even fewer people listening and no one at all with a little fermented lubrication to incite a little dancing. but they were troopers and pretty enjoyable. they are called blivit. anyway, by the time they were totally done, there was beer. and it was good beer. so i had as much of this beer as i wanted and the time began to slide past a little quicker. before i knew it, dusk was settling and some of the people who said they were going to be there at four-ish showed up at maybe eight-ish. these weren't even people i really wanted to see there, but they were indeed people i knew, and they were indeed there. i got shuffled off to one of their houses, which was right around the corner. it was not a place i anticipated ever finding myself in life, knowing the homeowner. no matter. i had enough beer in me to not navigate social situations in the manner i am accustomed to, and thus wound up at this house for quite a while. a lot of people wound up showing up and it was kind of a party, although the beer was markedly inferior to what i had been enjoying. some of the peopel who showed up were pretty cool though and actually live by me in a different part of town. i was surprised i didn't already know them, really. so that was enjoyable, but i'm not sure why they were there at all. after more arrivals and ensuing shenanigans and confusion, i wasn't entirely sure what to do. i wound up back at the festival, which was still going but wrapping up. last band was pretty good too, but my own quality was in decline after a rather lengthy afternoon. i walked my sorry ass a few blocks to the el, got on, and went as far as they would take me, which was about where i needed to be. however, it was actually even closer to the grocery store, and i decided that this would be a good time to do a little shopping. honestly, it could have gone much worse. i think i will probably eat most of what i purchased. good thing i was already totally full when i went or i probably would have purchased a lot of things i was not going to eat ever or at least before they were no longer worth eating.
i am currently killing the last few minutes i have before my night class. mondays are kind of brutal, and not because of class, but more because of sheer time spent in this god forsaken building. just being in this space is taxing for me. it shouldn't be, but it is. also, if i hear one more person talk about tonights upcoming eagles game, i may have to punch them.
speaking of eagles, i had a rough night... no. i just read a funny case where don henley was the plaintiff. he successfully sued these folks in texas who made a pun-based ad for their henley shirts. i do not know if i was aware that he shared a name with a garment. but i like cases with things i know about, like don henley.
and finally, RIP richard wright. if i didn't have class i would be trying to sort out and play each contribution he made to the floyd cataglogue. maybe i'll just stay up late. in my hat.

kwame kilpatrick was forced to leave due to lack of respect

ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of detroit. i know i'm a little late on this one, but hey, i've been busy. kind of. at any rate, it is more difficult to blog when not home and alone most of the week. the point is, it took kwame an even more unreasonable amount of time to remove himself from office. beyond that, i strongly desire to acquire a "free kwame" t-shirt. preliminary internet searches have proven fruitless. lots of stupid puns on "text" and so forth. but the streets of the d have to hold a trove of kwame-related merchandise. i would like to think so, anyway. so someone closer than me should probably go to shitty parts of detroit and get me some kwame swag. these will be collector's items, people. he was, after all, the first hip-hop mayor. just ask him.
i'm even later in reporting this: my favorite sentence of all time that i have read on wikipedia is no longer there. i mean, i guess they didn't have a citation, but i feel like someone in the know was just sharing the truth. through a series of events (you know how wikipedia goes) i wound up at the entry for the kottonmouth (this is not marked. something is wrong.) kings. background info: their first album prominently featured a rapper who left the group not long after the release of said album. he has not appeared with them since, and there has been no explaination for this course of events. someone who helps the world's knowledge through wikipedia knew though: saint dog was forced to leave due to lack of respect. i promise this is absolutely hilarious if you are familiar with the kottonmouth kings and wikipedia. it's still pretty funny anyway. forced to leave. there was no choice. lack of respect. who was not respecting whom? it is unclear. what was the nature of this lack of respect? also unclear. we just can't be certain. all we know is that saint dog was forced to leave due to lack of respect. if the world was a perfect place, "[noun] was forced to leave due to lack of respect" would be the next major internet meme. i feel like i could make it happen with the right picture, just spamming the hell out of 4chan until people agree that it is funny. i was actually directed to something worthwhile recently from 4chan: metallicats?
other than those important things, there has been some other stuff. i moved. it went alright, dude's everything got a little dinged up. it is over though. i like the new place and having people around again. jack is probably the happiest cat in town and straw is coming along fine as well. my shit is still in total disarray, but whatever. it really doesn't make all that much of a difference to me just yet, although there will be some improvements. but really, my bedroom was pretty much a mess the whole time i lived alone; i took more care of the areas i actually hung out in. there are plenty of places to hang out here, and they're not even all my responsibility. we added an additional room in a way a couple days after i moved in. we cleared out the basement, which had clearly not happened for some time. it was mostly just full of crap that should have been thrown away, and so that is what we did with most of it. but now we have like an additional living room down there, got a drum set, my buddy has his turntables and all his records, couple guitars, couch, tables, shit. i wish i could say i have a car and everything (fuck yeah!) but it will be a while before that happens. for now it is prefereable to have a sweet space to hang out in.
there have been plenty of misadventures and minor bitching points over the last couple weeks, but i'll spare you all but one. on saturday, i went to the red bull soapbox derby thing. figured it would be alright, maybe see some cool rides, maybe some carnage, at least a new part of town. well, that new part of town was manayunk. manayunk is fucking terrible and i will never go back there. but i'm getting ahead of myself. so saturday here was a monsoon, ass end of hurricane who fucking knows what, one of those seven that went through the other week. just pouring buckets. and we figured we'd go, maybe there would be less of a crowd. well, we got there, and it did not apper to lack a crowd. at first i thought the place was just kind of stupid, lots of stupid shops with stupid punny names and such. and there was no parking, but i wasn't sure if that was just normal, like most of the city. so we're trying to find parking for a long time, which is always kind of a drag. and then we were like fuck it, we'll pay, and we went to the lot. they wanted twenty bucks, so it was back to the search because this was not something we were about to sink money into. eventually we found a space a ways a way and took a rather long walk in the rain, arriving at the course near the start of the festivities. but the walk there made me wary: we suspended the 'teams' game due to an overabundance of douchebags. it was a good thing we suspended it early, because the roving bands of drunken jersey types couldn't have prepared me for the scene at the actual event. it was not a place where i felt like i fit in so well. there was almost no room to maneuver and everywhere one moved there was a constant press of drunken morons trying to shove their way against the flow of the crowd. just a load of crap. it took us about twenty minutes of mostly standing around and listening to the obnoxious morning-show style announcing before we decided to get the hell out of there. on the walk back to the car, one of the few middle-aged residents of the area called out to us to ask if the race was already over. not over, i replied. just stupid. now that i write it all down it doesn't really sound that bad, but i promise i was pretty unhappy about it at the time. i guess it wasn't that great of a story. oh well, i already typed it.
school has continued to progress as well of course. it is still mostly pretty stupid. i like evidence a lot more than i thought i would, and international law a lot less. probaly because i've been reading a ton of stupid fucking statutes for it. that shit just doesn't read, you know. globalization and the constitution is godawful. just absolute bollocks, people running their damn mouths. it gets worse every time. unfair competition is kind of intense, the prof talks a mile a minute. but i can pay attention the best in that class because everything communicated is worthwhile and substantive. it is quite engaging. jurisprudence is also kind of intense. i like it because i get to go back and read a bunch of philosophy stuff. the bad news is that we are spending the entire class on natural law. i feel kind of screwed, because that isn't really the way the class was described at all. not the end of the world, but still kind of lame. also, the prof is blind. and intense. he reminds me of an old-school football coach or a state trooper, all with his reflective aviators and serious demeanor. he also gets real close to people. he says he speaks softly and that is why, but i hear him just fine wherever. he has one of those delightful accents that tags r onto the end of somewords, especially "lawr". that one comes up kind of a lot. he also drops h from the front of words. we talk a lot about uman (okay, not marked, spell check is just broken i guess) beings in this class, what with the natural law focus.
normally, this would be the part where i start complaining about football season being up in my shit and how awesome tea leaf green is playing right now and how a worldwide poll about the desirable outcome of the american election is asinine, but i'm not going to do that. this is because i don't have a good place to sit and type and my shoulder is giving out and also i would like to go drink a beer downstairs with my roommates. i don't think you're missing much. what really matters is the propogation of the phrase "forced to leave due to lack of respect".