back to the roots, or, "how i got my roots groove back to square one."

let's see how long i can write before i get bored and ends this update immediately...

"the kids in the hall," show went splendidly. all new material, hysterical, I GOT TO MEET THEM ALL INCLUDING MY HERO BRUCIO MCCULLOCH!, and ran into heidi... it's was an amazing evening, filled with laughter, and geeking out. pics to follow at a later date.

i can see why, "indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull," was panned by many... the cgi was a bit bad, and there wasn't as much action as the other films, and... aliens... however, i did find myself enjoying the film immensely.

i still feel that, "temple of doom," was the weak link in the series, and this new film really is just a fun, dramatic, adventure. it's an older indy. it's set in '57. the man can only go on so many adventures before the arthritis sets in...

i really went into it not expecting much because honestly, the trailer made it looks pretty weak, but i was really surprised... maybe as i get older, i just go into movies wanting to be entertained, and not have my life change significantly... and if that's the case, kudos to you spielbergo and luca... kudos.

the new david fincher film, "the curious life of benjamin button," looks brilliant.

been burning through my stimulus check like i said i wouldn't. and on frivolous things like my addiction... dvd's.

i got: the orphanage, lord of illusions, halloween '07, strange brew, cloverfield, raising arizona, and the big lebowski.

next payday, i've decided it's time i get the seinfeld series boxset. i'm a moron.

another dvd set i really want is...



such an underrated show, that i just loved dearly. i'm a closet jon lovitz fan. even if he's good friends with douchey dane cook...

found a torrent site that is dedicated to the preservation of all the best show, live and animated alike, from the 90's and below. since discovering it, i've begun downloading the following to burn to dvd:

-the vacant lot. [sister show to kids in the hall. feature mark mckinney's brother nick, as well as the rest of the cast being frequent character on KITH.]

-exit 57. [a great sketch show that features a wide cast which included amy sedaris and stephen colbart.]

-the head. [the complete first and second seasons of the great mtv oddities animated series.]

-liquid television. [the entire three season run!]

-doug. [the first season of my nickelodeon namesake.]

-kids in the hall present brain candy. [the never before released alternate version with a different subplot and ending.]

and many more...

i've been geeking out lately and all of my indulgences and in this geek-a-thon... i have forgotten about vaginas... huh...

"there's fifty-two ways to murder anyone..."

i really haven't had much to say, and i wasn't going to update until i beat GTA IV, but fuck it. here's a brief up on the haps...

the trailer for the new, "x-files," movie, "the x-files: i want to believe," is up over at x-files dot com, and it looks fucking amazing.

anyone who knows me, knows how fanatical i can be about the show when i want to. i have all nine season, the film, the comics, and somewhere around this house, most of the toys that came out back when mcfarlane started farting toys out his company backdoor.

i believe the show ranks in the high listings of david lynch's, "twin peaks." it's that good.

x-files homosexuality aside, i'm going to see the, "kids in the hall," reunion show in two weeks up in tampa.

i'm pretty excited about that because i've been a fan of them for a while, and want to meet my comedy hero, bruce mcculloch.

more to come. i'm too rushed.

may 4th, 2008.

things have been good for the past few days. bland, and good.

i did something i'm still unsure about having gone through the recent fraud thing, but, it's a once in a lifetime kinda thing i did.

see, as long as i can think back, i've been into comedy. most people dig music, me... i really dig comedy.

the kids in the hall was one of those rare moments in time for me that just made sense. being able to creatively get a couple of friends together and write just brilliant comedy and perform it.

well, since the show ended in '95, they reunited twice. once for a lengthy tour in 2000 or 2001, i can recall, and last year at the montreal comedy fest.

they're on tour again, with nothing but new material, and i decided, you know what, the fifty bucks is worth it to say i saw the kids in the hall perform live.

friday the 23rd, i drive to tampa to see them at ruth eckard hall. i'm pretty excited about that. i need to pick up a camera as i'm told they do come out afterwards and hang around, and i will be there with my copy of, "dog park," for my hero, bruce mcculloch to sign. pretty gay huh?

in other news, "no country for old men," is a film i highly recommend everyone see. it's outstanding.

grand theft auto IV is so-so for me right now. it's a solid story, but it suffers from terrible controls. i don't know. more time maybe?

april 27th, 2008.

most days for me start out early. around three in the morning. if i'm lucky, i get to sleep in once in a while until five-twenty. on this sunday, i make it until six-thirty.

do the dog pissin/shitting thing, come in, feed the sweet faced bulldog, rub my eyes a bit, pour a glass of grape soda, and watch, "hitman."

i end up enjoying the film for the most part, i've seen worse videogame flicks by far, but didn't find too much to really nitpick about. it was what it was. timothy olyphant owns.

jump onto, "halo 3," and do up some double experience points weekend team swat, and within two matches advance to gunnery sergeant. i get happy only to find out i have to earn 150 more XP's to get to gunnery sergeant grade 1. dreams are shattered for the day.

spend the rest of the mid to late morning fighting with myself to take a nap while having season five x-files as background noise to help. it never pans out.

bryan, bridget, and atty show up a little later and we make an attempt at getting them caught up on, "the office," and make it through disc three of season two, and at the end of it, i'm reminded why i love the show so much. it's hilarious approach to basic situations with people we've all met at one point in time, in one form or another.

now, i can't be sure, but i think when i was getting atty a popsicle, bryan pulled the ol' wang chungers out and waved it about. i'm not fully sure though.

they leave after a bit, and i retire to more, "halo 3."

i end up going into my room, sifting through more season five x-files, and finally, end up passing out at some point to be awoken by my alarm clock telling me it's time to get ready for work. i curse at it, eat some m & m's, drink some milk, piss, shit, shave, brush my teeth, and head into what will be my day.

april 25th, 2008.

i wake up groggy, and swallow all my meds with one fierce swoop of water.

i let the dog out, walk around out in the dark for a beat, enjoying the cool breeze that's very rare these days. the dog drops magnums and wants to go inside immediately. i conquer, and follow suit.

feed the ol' girl, brush my teeth, trim my sideburns, swab on some deodorant, put on my clothes for the day, and with an hour to spare, i get onto some halo 3 ranked matches.

finish up with fifteen minutes to get to work, and go in.

work goes by, and i piss off two co-workers, but to my benefit, i have no morals whatsoever, and let it in one ear and out the other.

i get home, let the pooch out, and check my machine to find my credit union fraud prevention services wanting to know about some charges made on my debit card. i call and find out someone got my info and wiped me out dry.

broke, sad, upset, and hyper, i freak out, and then calm down after talking to the credit union peeps who inform me it'll be okay, but it's gonna take a few weeks to get my money back. with mortgage and bills due next week, and no debit card [i had it canceled,] i begin to try and reason with how i'm gonna make it through all of this.

against what i tell myself, i let my mom know what's going on. my dad, who i've always feared, loved, and respected, makes it clear he's gonna help me out, despite my protests. i tell him when i get this straightened out, the money is coming back to him. he says he knows it is, and that this kind of thing happens, and that's what parents do for their kids. i have to remember this for when it comes time to put him in a home. it'll be a nice one. *i needed some humor to break the tension of how my nerves are...*

dante and i play, "gears of war," co-op for the second time around, so i can get the dom achievements. he's a real bro that way.

joe from work comes over and gets the work out machine the roommates left behind.

when i'm helping his friend load it in his truck, he goes into my house, and leaves forty five bucks on my keyboard.

after joe leaves, i find the money, and get a little tearful. this is a guy who i couldn't stand when he started, who now found out last week he will be let go because of budget cuts, and is worse off financially than me with a wife and kid, and finds that he feels the need to help me out anyway... we as a society take small acts of kindness for granted. he is a king among men.

dante and play some more and then he has to go for a clan match, so i catch up on my thursday night show line-up from the night before:

my name is earl, assy mcgee, scrubs, smallville, lost, and the office.

they all own except for, "my name is earl," which is starting to bore me.

i play some halo 3 before deciding to retire to my room for some season five x-files episodes where i fall asleep midway through, "the great mutato," episode, thus resulting in a dream that has a soundtrack of nothing but cher.

there is no sunlight where i'm going.

the doctor's visit went well. i have a trifecta of infection's beginning in my right ear canal, going into my nasal passage, and ending in my throat. it's so severe, he put me on this high-class potent antibiotic that he told me was so good it's ridiculously expensive. luckily, my insurance covered it and i didn't have to fork over a dime.

waking up the past few mornings with this has been the worse. dry/raw throat. puss/blood coated phlem. barely being able to swallow... this just sucks.

i'm sure i'll get shit on monday from work, but... i can't help it i have shitty immunities... and bad luck.

i had no clue that, "death cab for cutie," had a new album in the works, and i somehow managed to nab a copy of it in advance, and to be honest... it's incredible.

i've never been a big fan of death cab... i liked, "the photo album," and, "transatlantacism," but everything else always left me kinda dry. especially their last release.

when it comes to ben gibbard, i've always been a sucker for his solo/postal service work, but this new death cab is really something to be heard. it's melodic, dark, depressive, optimistic, and experimental... i would dare to say beautiful as well...

i traded in, "bully: scholarship edition," and here's why:

i beat the game on ps2, and with this, on the 360. i unlocked every achievement with the exception of two. dual nebula, and perfectionist. while one is worth 125 gamer points, the other is at 25, and they're mundane in what you have to do to get them, so i said to hell with it, and swapped it out for a game i never had a desire to play until it's fourth installment wowed me...

call of duty 2.

the game's hard as hell. no way getting around it. of course, i'm playing it on veteran seeing as how that's the only way to unlock achievements.

please don't assume i'm an achievement points whore, because i'm really not. i just figure, if the game has them, and i'm gonna play it anyway, why not throw in the challenge of playing it on a harder level and be rewarded.

and i've only unlocked one so far on COD2. it's ridiculously hard on veteran. but, i guess after beating most of the games i've played lately on hard or more, anything seems possible.

still, as far as games go, COD2 is okay, but not nearly as compelling as, "call of duty 4: modern warfare." that game is a glass of brillance in and of itself.

there's not much else going on in the way of life. i want out of florida, and even though my house has been on the market for a little over a month, i have yet to have one bite on it. this country has gone to hell in the way of economy. congrats bush supporters. you wanted him, and now he's wreaked havoc like the fires in mordor.

"now he's idling, and time is dwindling, in his mind he's figuring out life's about the little things..."

i've got the chest cold in full effect. i went to work the past two days with it, and today was enough for me to call in, take nyquil, orange juice/sprite/splash of brandy, and vicks rub on my neck and chest... i thought when i quit smoking, this shit would end.

i wish i wasn't broke. i would totally get the necessities to make a hot toddy. i could definetly go for one of those pain-go-bye-bye juices'.

saw the new, "rambo." eh. nothing spectacular.

'cause this is grand theft auto...

i realized that at four thirty-five in the morning, i haven't done much writing since i decided to jump back online.

it's thursday and thankfully one more day to go until the much coveted weekend.

saturday evening i have a, "gears of war," co-op with dante on insane mode that will probably last all the way into the wee hours of sunday if i can keep my head up.

i've been staying away from media stuff on the net, like previews of movies and games, because i realized, in the past, for myself, i've virtually ruined games and films with pre-disposed opinions based on footage shown online.

because of this stance, i've stayed away from GTA IV related stuff with the exception of the first two trailers, but today, decided to read 1up.com's review for the online modes and how awesome rockstar made the online chunk of the game. that review can be found here.

after reading about it, let's just say i'm glad i took off the 29th, and am stoked that it's a midnight release.

"the office," and, "scrubs," start back up tonight, and that, excites me.

i hate florida, and my job. that is all.

"it was liking sitting in the snowy woods, having a nice morning poo, and talking with god at the same time..."

so, yeah. i'm twenty eight now. i know this is corny to say, but time really does fly by. next year will be my ten year reunion, which, godwilling, i won't be going to because i'll be were i belong, up north.

i truly live for the weekends as of late. broke as sin, but happy. though that six hundred bucks ol' bush is sending will help.

did have enough to get a few groceries and my comics for the week. good stuff this week. although, i'm pretty pissed off at kirkman for killing off an essential character in, "the walking dead." not pissed off on the level of, "annie," from king's, "misery," but pissed off nonetheless.

i got my hands on advance dvd copies of, "run fatboy run," and, "cloverfield." both great films.

also nabbed, "transformers," "hellraiser: bloodline," and, "shallow hal."

started playing, "gears of war," again on hardcore which... is pretty hardcore as it turns out. friendly fire is consistent it seems.

i've been eating nothing but homemade cheeseburgers for the past two days and it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat... but it's AWESOME!

i have to leave the computer now, because my loving dog just beefed on my leg, and the room smells what i envision a field of corpses to smell like.

also, "apocalypto," was actually a good movie. seacrest out.

do you know the perils that go into setting up a static i.p.? no?... it should be easy, but then, you lose your username and info for your online router status page, so you spend an hour on tech support hold, in tears, shaving the left side of you face free of hair, dribbling scotch on your shorts, and feeling utterly useless... yep...

i beat, "bully: scholarship edition," this morning, and began work on, "condemned 2: bloodshot."

i'm not entirely sure i'm as into the second condemned game as i should be... it's gorgeous to look at in every aspect, and the controls and story are solid, i'm just not... there i guess.

maybe i need a break before jumping from one game to another.

RECANT

i've since given, "condemned 2," a second shot and... woah momma... amazing. review when beat...

and to think, i've got, "grand theft auto 4," coming the end of this month. that'll be a monster in itself, and i'm feeling indifferent about that game as well.

i've purposely stayed away from trailers, aside from the first two, and video footage of the game, because i want to go into fresh, but there's a part of me that's concerned. excited sure, but concerned it won't live up to the previous installments. pre-rockstar jitters i suppose...

i've re-discovered another mel gibson directed film i loved and long forgot until recently. "man without a face." sheer brilliance. pure and true. plain and simple.

i've nothing much else to write. i'll be twenty-eight this wednesday. i'd like to get laid???

terminator 3, bully, and other pop-culture crap.

the past few days have been nice. well, not so much the days, work, but the evenings.

now, before i'm chastised by any of you, i want to state beforehand, i bought it because it was a dollar, and having said that, i have to say, if you strip it of it's actors, and simply published it as a book, "terminator 3: rise of the machines," wouldn't have been as much a trainwreck as everyone thought it to be.

i didn't hate the film, storywise, though the plotholes here and there were more than a little concerning, but did hate everything else as stated.

nick stahl is a good actor, but, just not the way i envision a more adult john conner to be.

claire danes... well... fuck her. i've never liked the bitch.

and arnold. not so good as a character he's doing for the third go around. i think i am just more in likened to the passive, and gentle terminator that judgement day gave me as a 12 year old kid.

bully: scholarship edition on the 360 continues to consume my life immensely... it's so much more, dare i say, breathtaking, the second go around on a more polished system like the 360, rather than the ps2 that i beat it on a year ago.

and for some reason, this go around, is going much quicker, considering there;s eight more missions, and all the classes and side craps they've packed onto the disc. i'm breezing through it, and loving it.

i also have decided that, "turok," is a game i want to experience on the 360. the more i read about it, and the more video footage i see, i salivate. i have to pick that up on payday i think.

started reading, "my boring ass-life," kevin smith's diary. funny stuff, and boring. go figure.

i am so ready for friday... and i really have an inkling to see, "the last temptation of christ," again.

...oh, and i've had frank sinatra's, "mack the knife," stuck in my head all day. every where i went, i was crooning the frigging thing...

drawing maps.

i miss hanging out with skyler. i do... and when i listen to all my drawing maps demos, i get sad with reminiscence.

the re-doing of, "day of the dead," was terrible. and i know that with that statement, people would state it as the obvious with most remakes, but to be honest, i don't have a problem with re-doing a film, just don't call it a remake. call it a new take or re-imagining. i liked the updated versions of, texas chainsaw, and dawn, but this... wow.

the original, "day of the dead," has always ranked as my favorite of the romero dead series. and it indicated the plot with the title. day. this, "remake," takes place at night. huh?

nick cannon plays the token black know-it-all. mena suvari dims with all her gigantic forehead glory, as a headstrong g.i. jane type.

the make-up effects looked ridiculous, and when did zombies start running as fast as cars and walking on ceilings? they're dead, and physically they couldn't move at that speed if their flesh was rotting and rigamortis was setting in.

how hard is it to make a decent zombie film? in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties we had many gems. what happened...?

speaking of the resurrected, happy easter. my day will be spent eating mac and cheese and a tuna melt. whoopie.

what grinds my gears is how, i'm playing the shit out of, "bully: scholarship edition," on 360, and enjoying it quite a bit to be honest, but then, have to go through the new classes that weren't in the previous ps2 version that i beat a year ago.

classes like: music, biology, math, and geography. basically, classes i fucking hated when i was in school myself... they really detract from the fun of the story because they're hard in the sense that they're time restricted with very little time, and i forgot most of the shit i learned ten years ago, so i have to retreat to the internet for help on some thing's. geography especially... you never fully understand how dumb you are until a videogame slaps you in the face with what should be common knowledge.

i watched the alternate cut of, "i am legend," and honestly, i enjoyed it more than the theatrical version. really it's the same film with a different ending, and the ending makes all the difference for me as opposed to the theatrical.

i got a copy of the, "day of the dead," remake. i'll write about that when i watch it.

watching, "hot fuzz," again, and i honestly feel the next dvd's i buy, are going to be the 3 disc version of that, and the sergio leone anthology boxset that includes 2 disc extended cuts of, "duck you sucker," "a fistful of dollars," "for a few dollars more," and, "the good, the bad, and the ugly." all amazing films that i could watch endlessly.

ghosts I-IV.

my back feels like it was used in a bruise war. it aches and creaks, and the only thing keeping it tamed is the muscle relaxers, and the soothing heat pad i got from the doctor.

i did grab the new nine inch nails albums, "ghosts I-IV."

all instrumental, all very well done. i've said it before, reznor's strength is in his music. his earlier lyrics and vocals, pre-with teeth era were great, but after that, it all went downward for me, but musically, he's flawless. this is some of the most beautiful piano work i've heard since the fragile days.

finished season eight of, "married with children," and am ready to embark on the alternate cut of, "i am legend."

eyeboogers sticking together in harmony.

it's around two in the morning, and i've got wicked heartburn that woke me up. i skip one day on accident of taking my nexium, and i pay for it with this painful acid reflux offshoot...

i guess now's as good a time as any to write...

the new, "panic at the disco," is different. not bad, just needs a few more listens to... never thought i'd be a panic at the disco sorta guy...

in the short day i've been back online, i've managed to catch up on lewis black's show, "root of all evil," i finally got the alternate cut of, "i am legend," as well as, "justice league: the new frontier." i missed the net.

games i'm currently playing back to back:

-the godfather. [good, not great.]
-condemned 2: bloodshot. [better than the first in every way, and i really had my doubts towards this one.]
-bully: scholarship edition. [now that they put the glitches fix patch online, it's great. more polished than the original, and new missions and classes. though i'm not a fan of the biology class. not enough time to dissect.]

game i want badly to play:

-LOST: via domus.
-dark sector.
-army of two.

it's been almost a week since i've been alone in the house. just me and the dog, and i'd be lying if i said i missed having roomates. i love this feeling of being alone. i love no noise in the house except mine.

getting to sleep is easier now.

the kids in the hall are coming to orlando in may and there's a part of me that hopes the house doesn't sell by then, because i want desperatley to not only see them, but meet bruce mcculloch as well.

there and back again... i last three months.

three months is how long it took before i tied an ethernet cable around my arm to spike some veins for the heroin cable.

nothing grand has happened really.

i fucked up my back, and have been off work the past week.

my house is on the market, waiting to be sold so i can leave florida.

the trailer for, "the lost boys 2: the tribe," actually looks kinda decent.

condemned 2 is an amazing game.

LOST season four owns.

the new gnarls barkley is amazing...

now, i go lay down.

the bass and the blindness of men.

i am coming to you from the library. it's the only source i have to the internet, and since i've been coming once a week, i have re-found the love i had for it so long ago.

being without the internet has also left me without the time consumption of the 360, so i began playing older games i never beat on the old xbox, ps2, and n64... it's been fun.

"manhunt 2," i did finally get, and while i don't think it's as bad as the reviews have chortled on about, i don't think it's nearly as good a story as the first. the controls also suffer severly as well as the camera angles.

i began watching the extended, "lord of the rings," trilogy again, finding myself getting choked up as gandolf sacrifices himself to the balrog/balrok???

i'm already bored. it's amazing how use to not having the internet becomes. kinda like when i dropped the cellphone. the only thing i wish i could do is watch the new episodes of, "lost," but the library computers don't have the streaming software.

other than that, not much else. i've been pretty withdrawn and look forward to living alone again.

work has been hectic this past week. i worked overtime the last three days very late into the evening.

i tried to read sean astin's autobiography, "there and back again: an actor's tale," but he's so pompous and arrogant, i could only make it into thirty pages before i brought it back.

"i overheard that you were unhappy too, misleading trust into a relationship that makes no sense, over and out connecticut..."

this will be the last post i write until i'm settled in up north in wisconsin. i'm cutting the cable modem to help save seventy bucks a month that could be better used to put into savings...

since i'm trying to ween myself off of the internet and games like a junkie kicking smack, i've ventured into a field i had long since missed from my childhood. something i loved immensely, and looked forward to doing at any time of the day... reading.

since december 21st of '07, up until now, i have read through four books, and i couldn't have been prouder of myself.

the past four days i've come home from work, i go to letting my dog out, checking the mail, showering, fixing and eating a bologna sandwich with a handful of frito corn chips, and flopping onto my springy mattress to read joe pantoliano's, "who's sorry now?"

i finished it moments ago, and did two things throughout the book. laughed out loud, something i very rarely do when reading, and cried. the book is funny and sad, and even though i didn't grow up as an italian-american in hoboken, i still found similarities to my muddy irish-german, mixed heritage upbringing in the upper peninsula.

reading has also become my escape from my normal life which wasn't normal in it's own right.

work has been very rough this past week, with certain people leaning on me, and certain people just getting on my nerves. i have been zero social with anyone in the household, and it's not that i'm trying to be a prick, i think, i just feel the urge to be by myself, and get lost through words in a book, until it's time for me to go home to my mom and dad.

this will be the last you hear from me until i'm back at home, freezing my beanbag off.

on borrowed time.

i've come to have this comfort in my mind, even though my life feels very accelerated; and i've also learned that some of the best things in life, are from the late seventies.

above said being a man by the name of terry reid, a musician who i learned of oddly enough from rob zombie's, "devil's rejects," soundtrack.

he had two or three tracks on the album that were just insane, and when i went to search him out, i had found that the man was made underrated by most of my peers, and only had three known albums in his resume. two being from the late seventies and one from the mid-nineties.

"seed of memory," is the one of the three i'd recommend the most to anyone who wants to hear an album that's part groove, part classic rock, and part background ambiance for a sam kieth comic. it's nothing short of spectacular.

the realtor came by and we talked about the house, getting it on the market as soon as we could, and comics. the man brought his hardcover, "elektra: assassin," autographed by frank miller himself! that was pretty cool.

i saw two movies worth seeing this weekend.

"juno," which was humorous, and, "the orphanage," which was magnificent.

i only went to see, "the orphanage," because guillermo del toro presented it, and lately, aside from, "blade 2," i've been a pretty big fan of his, and as i said, i'm glad i went, because it was magnificent. all spanish with english subtitles, but worth a viewing. i think i may own that one.

started futzing with, "saint's row," again. i need a new game to conquer. i want, "the godfather."

and finally, the last bit of self-involved news comes in the form of me being glad i didn't use my christmas gift card to target, because, "family guy presents blue harvest," the star wars special, is coming out on dvd this tuesday in a giant collector's edition with cards, poster, shirt, 3-D glasses and more. bonus!

i can't wait to get to wisconsin.

man i can't wait to see this...

the trailer for the new george romero zombie flick, "diary of the dead."

Diary of the Dead - Exclusive Trailer

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