Call It What You Want

Well, back to work today after the trip to Tampa. Wasn't able to post during Christmas because the internet connection at the hotel we were staying at was pretty spotty. So here is a quick recap on the trip. For a better description, go to Priyam's blog, she has a better blog by blog.

Needless to say, my grandmother LOVED Priyam, and I think my parents are coming around quite a bit for her as well. So, overall it was a success. It was a nice trip, very warm, but we didn't really do too much. The trip was more about spending time with my grandmother after losing my grandfather just about a year ago. You could tell she was quite sad, but us being there was a huge boost.

Anyway, back to work, trying to figure out something to do for New Years Eve. Going to take off Friday as well because I have one more day to take off. What should I do?

In other news, I REALLY want an IPhone so I can put music on my phone. Android just is too complicated putting free music on it. Plus the apps for the IPhone are pretty awesome as well. We'll see.

Shipping Down to Tampa

Well today Priyam and I head down to Tampa Bay (Bradenton to be precise) to meet up with the rents and my grandma. Wish me luck. I'm not sure whether I'll write on my blog everyday we're there, but I know Chinky will. Just click on the link to the right for her blog.

We'll be taking a red eye flight tonight. I haven't taken one of those in FOREVER. We'll see how it goes. 

Bright Moments ALWAYS come back vivid

Well, the weekend was nice. Friday night and Saturday were hectic with Priyam getting ready for a christmas party which she was very worried about because she wanted it to be perfect, the apartment to not  look like pigs lived there and to have food that everyone enjoyed. Needless to say, it went great and everyone enjoyed it. They watched Love Actually (one of my favorites) but I declined to join because I always get emotional at the end when Colin Firth proposes to that Portuguese chick. Whoever did the musical score for that movie is pretty brilliant too I might add.

On Sunday, It was my day. HAHAHA. Priyam gave me the day because she realized how horrible getting ready for her party was, so I was allowed to go to Sherlock Holmes in the morning along with Hastings and some other places. Quite enjoyable.

Thursday we head to Tampa Bay to see the folks and my grandmother. Its going to be super warm there, and it will be difficult to figure out exactly what to wear.

Life in Marvelous Times

I have another Photoshop work for you. Hope you like it. Click on the picture for the larger image

I wanted do something a little bit more artistic, taking some inspiration from the Endo Period of Japan.

Enjoy

High and Low Notes

I've been listen to a bunch of music via Spotify at work to make the day go faster while designing email blasts, and Foster the People is a band that I've been particularly enjoying. Something about the beat or whatever makes me work better and faster. Who knows. But I thought I would share it on my blog, so enjoy.

Other than that, part 2 of Bag of Bones is tonight, which means we'll miss our How I Met Your Mother and *cough Gossip Girl cough*. Last night was excellent, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought i would for a made for TV movie. The cinematography was a bit strange at times, making it seem like it was a commercial for some medication with Pierce Brosnan running through a field, but overall it was good.

ALSO, as I have noticed I haven't added to to my people I love to hate list in a while, so here it goes:

Today's victim is: Manchester United and its fans

Now I've been meaning to add them for a long time, I just have never gotten around to it. Where do I begin. Well, I must first say that I'm not a huge fan of any of the EPL teams. I really like Liverpool and I enjoy watching Manchester City on TV, but wouldn't call myself a supporter. But the biggest thing is I root for however Manchester Utd is playing and hope they beat them. Why? Because they've won enough in the last few years thank you. Also, they have a team that is overconfident and way too cocky. If they tie or lose to anyone (Premier League or otherwise) the next day you'll see in the papers that Sir Alex Ferguson complained about the ref or Patrice Evra felt players were being racist towards him or Rio Ferdinand saying that the other team only won because they played dirty. Honestly, its because they're overrated. I look at their squad and see 2 or 3 genuine superstars and they scrape by with wins on most occasions. And its come back to haunt them with getting dumped out the of Champions League to the lads of FC Basle (not only did they knock out these idiots but they're Swiss! two thumbs up!) and were beaten in the League Cup to Crystal Palace. 

But really I think the main reason I dislike them this much is there bandwagon fans. People from around the world love Utd. Why? Because they win so much. I guarantee if this team were in the bottom half of the table and were not major players in any competition, most of their fans would jump ship. YET, those very same fans will profess the love for the club and make fun of EVERYONE else who doesn't like the team. Its an absolute disgrace. So, to all of you who consider yourselves Red Devils, you've been listed. 

Aspirations

So today Priyam and I had a nice day staying at home, relaxing.

We're watching Bag of Bones right now, at TV movie based on the Stephen King. The main character, played by excellent actor Pierce Brosnan, is about a famous writer who is haunted by ghosts or something (not really sure yet, only seen an hour or so of the 4 hour thing (over two nights). Its pretty good thus far, we'll see. 

But it makes me want to start writing again. I started writing a story called Alternative Continuum but I stopped for no apparent reason. Even Priyamtopher liked my writing (and wanted to be my editor, for obvious reasons ;-) ) I think instead of sitting for hours not really doing anything when I come home from work, I'm going to write more. 

Plus, I have a ton of books to read now as well. So there is that.

Hmm, guess I'm going to be rather busy....

In other news, we're going to visit my grandmother and my parents in Tampa, FL this year for christmas. I'm excited because Priyam never has met her, and after talking to her on the phone, she really seems excited to meet her too. Its great, she sounds almost ten years younger after finding out about this exciting news (my grandma, not priyam lol) It should be fun, and I'm hoping Priyam and I will get some time to ourselves in Tampa to do some exploring and what not. Should be a fun Christmas. Certainly better than going to frozen St.Joseph this time of year. 

Hang 'Em High

Listening to some Dropkick Murphys today at work, I came to the realization that I really don't listen to enough music. In high school I listening a lot of music, spent my allowance on tons of CDs (of all types too, including classical!), and went to concerts when I could afford it. In fact, some of my best memories from my time in Zurich was going to the Hallenstadion for random bands like the Offspring. Now, I don't even have a working MP3 player that I can call my own.

Sad times indeed.

 I'm a bit unimpressed with some of the apps that have music for my phone. Pandora is like a radio station, which is fine sometimes except when I want a particular song. Spotify is nice for a free music app, but to use it on my phone I would have to pay $9.99 a month for the service (which is too much for a service that doesnt allow you to add songs to you library but into playlists instead). Plus, I haven't figured out how to add songs to my Android Incredible that's easy enough to which I know I would actually use it.

Needless to say, these obstacles (plus my fascination with ESPN Radio with Mike and Mike in the Morning) mean my music tastes are not really expanding with new artists, just sticking to my old favorites (hence Dropkick Murphys)

Oh well, whats a guy to do...

In other news, today I think I'm going to buy a few T-Shirts from this brilliant site called Threadless.com. They have some awesome t-shirt designs. I first noticed the website a while ago, but the shirts were $20 each, which is a joke. I would never get a t-shirt for 20 bleeding dollars. BUT, the last two days they have had a sale that each t-shirt is just $9.99. Now that is something I can take part in. After asking the wife all-cute-types last night, I can look into getting one or two shirts. Pretty stoked about it!

All of the Lights

So I've been interested in soccer player background creation for some time, and I had some time for photoshop play today at work (god, love that) so I decided I would try out some new techniques and so I created this image. Its of exciting Manchester City player David Silva. More to come, but I thought I'd give it a go.  Hope you like it...

I realized after I made it that the actual image that Silva himself is a little blurry, but its because I uploaded in a lower resolution (72 dpi) to make sure that it would fit on here if possible. 

The Scorpion and the Frog

Alas, the end of the weekend comes, and another weekend will soon be gone. Today was rather mellow. The wife and I went out and did a little shopping in the afternoon, and I did some laundry. Nothing fancy.

This evening, before watching The Next Iron Chef, I watched Drive with Ryan Gosling. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was very cool and the cinematography was excellent. Ryan Gosling exudes cool, and this movie was him in spades. The only negative was Carey Mulligan. I first saw her in the Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps and i didn't like her there either. Something about her acting style. She has this very always sad looking face, and has a very minimal acting style. I always have issues with actors who think sitting around and pouting is good acting, and the same applies here. However, the movie was so good that Mulligan's iffy performance could not ruin for me. On Netflix, I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.

As for the Next Iron Chef, its pretty obvious that they want a female iron chef. However, Anne Burrell who I thought they had fast tracked for the job, actually was eliminated tonight. SOOOO we'll see. However, more on that tomorrow...

We Deserve It

I've added my first Photoshop creation. Pretty simple, but it gets the point across

"Jeez": A Reflection

How bad is it that I haven't posted in forever to my blog? At work I see all of these successful blogs where people post all of the time, (including my wife's blog) and it makes me upset. Why do I not have the same urge to post as other people?

Then it hit me, it's because my day to day life is relatively nonblog worthy. Since my last post, I have taken a wonderful vacation with the wife (for details go here:http://say-it-is-so.blogspot.com/) and enjoyed  it very much. Halloween and Thanksgiving came and went, and were also enjoyable. BUT, I need to post not JUST about day to day, but also things that interest me, things that make me angry but I keep to myself in polite conversation, but also things that I'm working on and ideas I have for that work.

As some of you know I work as a Viral Marketing Specialist for a travel company. That means I use social media resources, handle the companies' graphic design needs, create email promos, etc. From now on I will also be posting some of my creations on here as well as some of my graphic design work that I've been playing around with.

The moral of the story is that I don't post on my blog enough, and hopefully with plenty of new things that I'm doing, I'll post quite a bit more. As one can notice on my twitter feed on the side of my blog, I post on that plenty with foursquare etc, so I should really commit to posting more.

As you notice, my blog design has changed (all buttons, headers etc were created by me using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS5) and I plan on adding more soon under the title Photoshop/Illustrator creations, so look out for that coming soon as well. I plan on doing quite a bit of added new material here, so look out for it. Thanks!

Well, thats all for now. I'll be posting on here again soon!

...Exactly

This is my entire point on celebrity deaths and Steve Jobs, written much better than I can write it:

Steve Jobs Was Not God via Gawker.com

Read it and pretend I'm writing it.

The Celebrity Death Effect

So, in the wake of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' passing, I had a very interesting discussions with Priyam in regards to how an average, everyday person reacts to celebrities who pass away. Her initial question was why an average person was so broken up about Jobs' passing. In her mind (and I tend to agree with her here) just because someone owns an IPhone doesn't mean they should be so upset about Steve Jobs. Sure, its very sad and he passed away from cancer too young, and he innovated the way that people look at technology but the way that people are acting its like their grandfather passed away. Which is ridiculous. I explained to her that some people are fans of Apple, so they stay up all night waiting in a line for the next IPhone even though its probably pretty similar to the previous IPhone version, with a few minor updates. That passion for the newest tech may also manifest into love for its CEO.

After realizing that its a fan's outpouring of grief which is fueling the fire, this lead to a larger discussion which needs dissection. What is the deal with ridiculous obsession with celebrities passing away? The fact that a celebrity's life may be cut short by different circumstances or that they were influential  is worth noting, but what is the deal with people going so crazy? Let us take Michael Jackson for a example. I am not denying that the King of Pop made an everlasting mark on culture and music. I really enjoy his songs and what he did for pop culture is extremely impressive. However, when he passed away it was like the world was coming to an end for so many people. Crying and moaning the streets, world leaders of all countries holding candlelight vigils, pure uncontrollable sadness. His legacy deserved celebration and his passing was sad and important because the world had lost an music icon. But here are my thoughts. I will probably sound cynical here, but humor me. The man's amazing career had its ups and downs, but his real fame and ability to shape popular culture ended in the early 90s. His legacy from then until his death was primarily marred by legal scandal. So why were people SO upset? The man's contribution to society had already passed. He had given so much, and (as it seems) be rewarded with so much in return. When legendary actor Paul Newman passed away in 2008, people where upset but he had largely been out of the spotlight for years so it was a week long thing. He passed away, people were sad, they showed his movies on TV, then that was pretty much it. Yes MJ was bigger than Newman was in terms of international intrigue, and more influential, but I'm not sure why I see the big difference between the two. As I see it, Jackson left a mark on a lot of people, but that mark is still there after his passing. The music that people love does not magically disappear after he is gone. Anyone who loved his music can turn on the radio or the MP3 player and hear his amazing voice whenever they want.

Don't get me wrong, I AM NOT saying these deaths are not important and worth noting. Anyone who has such influence on culture and other people deserves respect and praise for what they have achieved. I just question people losing their minds of something that, when you think about it, probably doesn't really change their day to day lives all that much. Michael Jackson wasn't going to walk through the front door of their house to sit down to dinner before, and he obviously won't now. Instead of being so sad about it, how about you try to change the world for the better the way Jackson hoped for world peace? Or in the case of Steve Jobs, try to build the next great technological invention by going to college and studying robotics first?

Maybe its the media's fault for blowing up these stories on slow news days, I'm not sure. If you feel differently, or have a good answer to some of the questions I've raised, feel free to comment...

The Writing on the Sign

Found this website called says-it.com, reallly funny stuff. They find hilarious signs and post them on the web...

If R.Kelly ran a church, I would assume this would be his message...

Seriously?

Seriously, Michelle Bachmann can run for president, I sure as hell can:


Read this article, everyone should before they consider Bachmann anything other than the dumb, pathetic joke that she is:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/michele-bachmann-greatest-hits

I'm listing you on my People I Love to Hate List, and i don't even need to give an explanation after that mess. 

Its All About the Little Things

There are so many little things that I have noticed this week that I find strange, bad, weird, etc. Things that, I would image, happen all the time that people don't really notice or comment on. Frankly, I would fall into that category as well. There are tons of things that I overlook on a day-to-day basis that, upon further inspection, are noteworthy. FOR EXAMPLE:

- People use the internet's forums to comment and chat about everything from politics to sports to movies. BUT,  there are plenty of people who are mean, evil and just plain hurtful on many message boards. Those people have every right to their opinion, but what I find fascinating are those people that express their opinion in odd ways. The new FIFA 12 soccer video game for XBOX 360 is coming out at the end of the month, and the video game's creators are slowly releasing information on changes and updates they've made to the game since last year's release: FIFA 11. The FIFA soccer series has a massive following, almost cult-like, so each release of information is well-conversed. What I don't understand, and its something that I've overlooked in the past, is when people say comments like, "THIS GAME SUCKS SOOOO MUCH". Now, I can understand someone disliking the series, but they are commenting on released information months away from the actual game's reveal. The actual comment I read came from a post in July, when the game is to be released in September. You've never even played the game, let alone seen what it will look like in terms of graphics, gameplay, or style. The stupidity of said people is astounding. If you hate it so much, why are you on a blog writing about all things concerning the new video game? Hoping that it will come out with some news the game isn't getting released this year? AGAIN, its all about the little things. Doesn't make the least bit of sense.

- When people talk to someone in a heated discussion on the phone, plenty of people use hand gestures while talking. Clearly the person on the line with you can't see you use your hand gestures. That is odd, sure, but flipping them the middle finger? I understand clearly, your frustrated at the person on the phone, but using the middle finger at them only pisses off anyone who sees you on the phone. There are plenty of times when I clench my fists or stomp my feet while in an phone argument, because I'm frustrated with the way a phone call might be going (or just don't like the person on the other end of the line), but obscene hand gestures don't make any sense. I would bet that if you spoke to someone who did said hand gesture after the call, most probably wouldn't be able to tell you why they did it or maybe even that they use the gesture at all. Verrry odd.


Anyway, just some observations today that I felt like sharing. 

Reflection

Found this questionnaire online at work, so I thought I would give it a go. 60 questions no less!


The BAW (Bored At Work) Questionnaire


1. What time is it?
Its noon, my lunch break (sort of)

2. What is your sign and your birthday?
My sign is Libra and my birthday is October 11th (its coming up soon!)

3. What type was your first car?2001 silver Honda CRV.

4. Name four jobs you've had in your life?


Account Executive for a now-defunct sports franchise, coordinator of collegiate recreation sports leagues, summer help for a city's parks and forestry department, and a viral marketing coordinator for a travel agency.

5. If you could have any job, what would it be?
That's a tough one. Honestly, I don't have a specific job per se. I go back and forth a lot on this, because part of me wants to have a job working for a big multinational company in a big city, while other part of me wants a small organization that really cares about all their employees. 


Regardless of size, I definitely want to work doing something I enjoy, am good at, and sometimes but not always challenged by. 

6. What are you most afraid of?
Probably serial killers. And a zombie apocalypse. 

7. What is the last movie you saw in a theater?
Bridesmaids. I only paid 2 dollars to see it, so no real loss there.

8. What are four movies you would watch over and over?Probably Collateral, Pulp Fiction,

9. Place of birth?
Los Gatos, California

10. What are four places you have lived?St.Joseph, MI

Ithaca, NYZurich, SwitzerlandAlbuquerque, NM
(not in that order)

11. What are four places you have been on vacation?Jeez, only four? London, EnglandRome, ItalyCape Town, South Africa
Istanbul, Turkey

12. What are four places you would rather be right now?At home, Las Vegas (never been), at a Champions League soccer match (which starts today), and somewhere cold, perhaps Ithaca College.

13. What are the best places you have ever been?
What an odd question. I really want to Las Vegas as I said. I also want to go to South America, like Peru, Brazil or Argentina. Have an adventure.14. What are four websites you visit daily?ESPNSkySports.com (for all my soccer news)heromachine.com (for my superhero fix)
twitter (for work and leisure)

15. What are four of your favorite foods

16. What's your favorite new food?
Well, its not new per se, but the wifey has really gotten me into Indian food. Great stuff and full of flavor. Yum.

17. Which do you prefer, ketchup or mustard?
Definitely mustard

18. Which do you prefer, hamburgers or hotdogs?
Hamburgers

19. Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
I suppose. I try to avoid broccoli if it's by itself

20. Favorite Drink?Nonalcoholic? Sprite
Alcoholic? A cold Sam Adams beer with a wonderful meal

21. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

22. What's your natural hair color?
Red. Or Ginger.

23. Ever been toilet paper rolling?
Nope

24. Ever love someone so much it made you cry?
Yup

25. Favorite CD?
Hmm. One of my favorites is Reel Big Fish's Cheer Up. Because it does cheer me up.

26. Favorite day of the week?
Friday

27. Favorite Restaurant?
At the moment its Lin's Grand Buffet. All you can eat Mongolian BBQ and awesome sushi. 

28. Favorite Flower?
Jeez, I dunno. I guess I like sunflowers.

29. Favorite sport to watch?
Soccer. Definitely.

30. Disney or Warner Brothers?
Warner Brothers. Screw Disney and trying to make money by using one's own children against them to buy a vacation they probably can't afford.31. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Really enjoying Sonic lately.

32. What color is your bedroom carpet?
An awful tan. It picks up EVERYTHING in terms of dirt.

33. From whom did you get your last e-mail?
Groupon.com

34. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Surf the web, play XBOX

35. Bedtime?
Usually about 9:30 or 10 on weekdays.

36. Favorite thing about where you work?
The water cooler. And the company sponsored free meals from salesman we get once in a while.

37. Least favorite thing about where you work?
Not much honestly. Sometimes just the indecision amongst the higher-ups. What email promotion to send out when, that sort of thing.

38. What is one project you're procrastinating about doing at work?

An email newsletter that looks boring and is boring to do.

39. What four still-airing TV shows do you love to watch? It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Hawaii Five O, How I Met Your Mother, Wipeout (amongst others)

40. Favorite TV show of all time?
Scooby Doo

41. What are you currently reading?
The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov

42. What are you listening to right now?
Honestly, most hindi songs and a little bit of Audio Slave.

43. How many tattoos do you have?
One

44. How many pets do you have?
None

45. What would you like to accomplish before you die?
Go to a Champions League soccer match between two great teams.

46. What's on your work mouse pad?
Its a solid color. Black.47. What is your favorite board game?
I used to really love Sorry and Risk.

48. Favorite smell?
Freshly baked cookies.

49. Least favorite smell?
A dirty bathroom50. Favorite colors?
Blue, black, and starting to like kelly green.
51. Least favorite color?
hot pink

52. Future (or first) child's name?
The wifey says Sachin, but the jury is still out.


53. What is most important in life?
Being stable enough to enjoy things.

54. Do you like to drive fast?
Only when I'm late.

55. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Yes. quite a few. And they all have different personalities.

56. What's under your bed?
Not much. Some old receipts that I should probably clean up.

57. If you could meet one person dead or alive who would it be?
The departed Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, and a real life spy himself, would be pretty cool to meet I would imagine.

58. What celebrity do you think would be fun to spend time with on a daily basis?
I think Tom Cruise would be pretty cool, as long as he didn't try to turn me to a scientology. I was gonna say Brad Pitt, but with all those kids, it would get pretty annoying after a while.59. Storms: cool or scary?
Depends on the storm.

60. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I think they came at the same time, which probably started this whole argument in the first place.

Put Me in Coach!

Today, finally, after months and months of complaining about the weather, its started to get cooler in Albuquerque. It was decent earlier in the day, so hopefully the cold comes sooner rather than later. Albuquerque's weather is strange, because just as I say this, it might be 95 degrees outside tomorrow and be hotter than hell. So who knows. Here's to hoping.

In other news, all the best sports are getting underway once again. I've been watching soccer on my computer (English Premier League mainly) which has been awesome. Whenever I tweet about matches on Twitter, I get asked what team to I support. Honestly, I've been following Arsenal quite a bit lately, but I haven't historically had a favorite English team. I just love the drama of it all. Also excited about my first amateur soccer match this weekend. As an update, I joined a soccer team recently who I've been practicing with, and its been really good to go out there and play again competitively after so long. Our team is marginal, with maybe 3 or 4 players (including myself of course) having real talent, but its fun to just get out there. Plus the exercise always helps.

In addition, the NFL starts up again tonight (with college football already underway last weekend). Its amazing how football crazed the USA is. Listening to ESPN on my way to work, it seems like for the past 4 weeks, that is all anyone on the radio has been talking about. I like football, but I prefer soccer (mainly because I play it and watched a lot more of it in high school). I do follow college football quite a bit more because of the University of Michigan. My dad probably would let me hear it if I didn't.

Anyway, the great thing about having a strong and fast laptop is that I can watch a show my wife wants to watch (Project Runway) while using my computer to keep an eye on sports (the NFL game tonight). Its a wonderful way to make sure the wifey is happy without bugging her with sports she gets annoyed by. Win-win.
---
I'll finish this blog post with a great article about a poor Swedish moose. Enjoy:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14842999

...I Wonder What He's Dreaming About...

Another Week...

...and off to work once again.

Its so amazing how when you have a job that you enjoy, the weeks go by that much quicker. I was sort of excited for our pizza and beer night with the wife tonight, but I forgot that we have tons of leftovers (noodles, yum!) to eat, so I'll suppose we'll do that tomorrow.

Best quote of the weekend:
Me: "How about you talk to my grandma?"
Wife: "I will slit your throat."
-after I surprised her by handing her the phone while talking to my parents. I surprised her true, but she did fine. No worries.


Also, apologies for not posting on here sooner, just honestly keep forgetting. For day to day happenings with me, check out my twitter account

PILTH: Vampires, Werewolves, Bad Actors, OH MY!

So, I'm returning with the weekly Monday rituation of PEOPLE I LOVE TO HATE and this week is sort of a cop out because I ranted a bit about her already, but this week I list: Kristen Stewart.

There were other worthy candidates, such as Drew Barrymore (of which the wife and I watched Going the Distance with Barrymore and Justin Long, *que gagging*) and some others, but I realized that I just couldn't go without actually putting her on the list. What happens in 10 years when I look back and say, what were some really bad actors that I hated? WHAT THEN?

I'd like to start off by saying I found the following image online when typing in "i hate kristen stewart" neat huh? Now, I'm not sure whether or not its because girls wish they were her so she is hated or people don't like how she is smug and annoying, but i couldn't care why: JUST AS LONG AS SHE IS HATED.

Here is the reasoning why (not that I need a reason per se): When I first heard about this Twilight series, I was behind the eight ball so to speak. I hadn't read the books (nor did I want to). I didn't even watch the first movie until probably a year after it had come out on DVD. So I only saw the crap surrounding the hype. Little girls going crazy for vampires and werewolves and Kristen Stewart in the middle of it all. Now, if people were going crazy for me, I not only would be super excited and happy, I would be humble. I'm an ACTOR in a MOVIE. I didn't save anyone's life nor did I invent some magical machine to solve all the world's problems. Sure, I may have worked hard to create a work of art, but I'm still an ACTOR. I serve no real purpose in the grand scheme of things. OK, now lets look at Stewart. She never smiles, never seems to be appreciative of the fans of this franchise, never seems to care about anything except her own fame. Lets get something straight: She isn't talented. At all. She acts like herself in movies. Plus, to top it all off, little girls (unless they are lesbians) are not going to see Twilight because of the chick. Its Pattinson and Lautner. Period. So, to recap, there is a non-talent hack acting like she is the biggest star on the planet who mistakenly believes that people are going to see these movies because of her, when in reality everyone knows she can't act but put up with her for more shirtless Taylor Lautner action. Its like when people love to get drunk and have fun but wake up with a hangover the next day. They loved the alcohol the night of, unfortunately wake up feeling like death, but understand that sometimes you just have live with the consequences of partying hard the night before. For tween girls, Stewart is the hangover to Lautner and Pattinson's booze. They sort of put up with it. That's right, I'm comparing Kristen Stewart to a hangover. Both make me want to throw up. 

Now, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of smug actors out there: one of my favoritest even in Brad Pitt. But at least most of those smug bastards have talent; they have reason to be smug. They've won awards and single handledly brought home serious money for their projects.

Kristen Stewart should be elated and be super excited that a bunch of studio execs even let her be in this movie, not walk around like she's god's gift to Hollywood. End of story, you've been listed.

Dark Knight Rises?

So I'm a big Dark Knight (well Batman in general) fan. Always have been, always will be. I mean, I loved Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne and Jim Carrey as the Riddler. It was one of the first movies (then on VHS) that I bought with my own money. I still read the comics and even have Batman: Arkham Asylum for my XBOX 360. So when the teaser trailer came out at the Harry Potter premier, I was pretty excited how Christopher Nolan would whip up some new baddies. Lets face it, after The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger and then another Topher approved fan favorite Inception, he has some big expectations for me. I quite liked the teaser (for what little there was of it)

So, when I saw a much clearer picture of famous Batman villain Bane, I wasn't sure what to think:

He's played by Tom Hardy, who I thought was brilliant in Inception. We'll see, I'm not going to reserve judgement until I see a proper trailer for the movie, rather than some photos taken by someone trying to leak things online. The costume doesn't excite me, but Nolan is quite good about keep things up his sleeve, so we'll see.

In the meantime, I saw Captain America today, which was absolutely great. Two of my favorite types of movies combined: WW2 movie mixed with superhero action. Just right for a Sunday. Very excited about the Avengers movie for next summer as well, which looks like it will be fantastic.

Next summer is looking like it will turn out to be a wonderful movie summer, so cheers to that.

Enchiladas for dinner, which I'm super excited for. Wife is the best. Peace.

Holla, City of Squala

Its Saturday, just got back from Hangover Part II. It was really good, a little too similar to the first one, but I really enjoyed it. Honestly, they could make 20 of these movies and I would probably enjoy each one of them. They played it safe, which it seems like a lot of critics didn't like, but I thought it was funny on its own. Simple and funny. 

Today was nice though, the wife and I went to Sears, she got a few items that she wanted to get before but left, and we went to the movie.

Tomorrow we've planned out another movie (of my choosing, Captain America), Walmart, and some cleaning for Priyam's big Friends party on Monday. She's apparently inviting over some friends from work and they will have a Friends marathon. Unfortunately, I have to work. I hope that some of the wife's wonderful mac and cheese is still available for me to have for dinner afterward.

Wifey is very apprehensive about going to see Captain America tomorrow. I've offered to go alone, but she wants to spend time with me since i have to work during the week, so she's agreed to come with me. Actually, not sure that agreed is the right word, more like resigned: She has resigned herself to going with me. I know I'm going to be leaving the theatre tomorrow pleased with the movie but apologizing to her because she won't like it.

In other news, I've already figured out what I'm getting the Wifey for our anniversary in a few weeks. Good thing she gives me hints. Now I just have to drop a few hints for her to help her out.  She hates buying for me because she never knows what to get me. 

Into the Mouth of the Beast

Oh joy, just got jury duty starting Monday, August 1st. Get to call in every night before, cross my fingers, and hope I don't get selected. Unfortunately, the way this state (NM) is run, pretty sure I'll end up getting jury duty no question. I told the wife yesterday, "I have to be honest because I'm under oath, so I have to tell them that basically anyone on trial I will think is guilty. If you're sitting there, you must have done something wrong." Ah the state of our horrible corrupt and mixed up justice system.

We shall see what happens. I'll keep this blog up to date with my jury duty hell as it happens. 

Meanwhile, last night coming home from errands we come home to find that half of our apartment (pretty much our whole living room)'s electrical outlets are off. This is rather strange, because none of the other lights or anything else in the rest of the apartment isn't working. We call the emergency maintenance guy who can't seem to figure out what it is either. He thought he might have to replace the breakers, so we went without internet, TV, XBOX etc for the evening. HOWEVER, we did watch Twilight:Eclipse on my computer (which has a really high quality graphics engine and a blue ray player) which is nice. More on that movie in a second.

So the wife calls the maintenance guy this morning, who comes by and walks in, immediately turns a light switch near the door on and DING! Everything works once again. Apparently we must have flipped it when we came back from errands and just had no idea. TALK ABOUT DUMB. Oh well, one less thing to worry about. Thank goodness it wasn't something more serious.
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Dear Apartment,


I apologize for swearing at you at every opportunity last night, and I hope you won't hold it against me going forward. I was just upset because of previous electrical issues that apparently were not your fault either, but your cousin Mr.Air Conditioner on the roof. Thanks for your understanding


Signed,


'Topher

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ANYWAY, back to Twilight. Now, where do I begin. Do i throw it on my people I love to hate list? Not the whole movie. I'll start out with the positives. The fight scenes were decent with the wolves chewing on vampires and Dakota Fanning acting pretty bad ass  NOW FOR THE NEGATIVES. I'm not a detractor of vampires and werewolves per se, but this completely different. I will try to be as quick about this huge list as possible, but here it goes:

1) Plot Canyons and Bad Storylines: It doesn't even stick to the idea of what the original conception of the vampire. Vampires eat people, they don't want to fall in love with them. That is almost as bad as me saying, you know what, I'm going to marry a cow. Stop romanticizing a monstrous soulless demon inhabiting a human body. Poor Bram Stoker is rolling around in his grave. NEXT, since when would two strapping good looking guys go for such a boring, dumb, pathetic, annoying, plain, flip-flopping girl in the first place. Not to mention getting their families involved. I could understand if it was some brilliant hot most popular girl in school type of girl, but Kristen Stewart playing Bella? REALLY? If I was one of those werewolves in the wolf pack I would have eaten Bella for breakfast then been like, "Well, solved that mess, no one gets injured or has to do stupid shit for her ANY MORE." The whole movie I'm sitting there hoping the bad guys kill her, but so disappointed because I know its never going to come true.

2) I'm really tired of these marginal (if not horrible) actors getting 'acclaim' for this terrible series of poor acting jobs. Kristen Stewart is probably one of the worst actors I've ever seen, yet she walks around like she's god's gift to Hollywood. I hope you come crashing down to earth you pretentious asshole. Pattinson and Lautner are not much better, but at least you get the sense they want to produce a better performance, its just the bloody script is so bad.

3) Since when is it ok to get married at 17 years old, leave your parents behind and everything is all hunky doory? This is teaching young girls that its ok to fall in love with some mysterious stranger, marry them and leave your family, cus you know what? YOU'LL BE HAPPY. I would love to see the percentage of girls who have done exactly that, and how many have had a happy ending. I'm guessing most are pregnant, unemployed, living in a trailer park with their Aunt Mildred. THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR ACTIONS PEOPLE. If I ever have a daughter, there is no way in hell I'm letting her watch Twilight. NO. WAY. IN. HELL.

*Big Deep Breath* Wow, that felt A LOT better. Needless to say I thought it was a HORRIBLE movie with all of the wrong messages. End of rant.

I appreciate you following me through that. All is well once again in the world. (Que wife watching the trailer for the next movie) *Palm to the Face*

Fire and Water: Surfing with Flares!

So just got back from work and the day dragged on and on. I would think an hour went by and it turned out to be like 10 minutes. I got so bored because I finished most of my projects in the morning and did various little things in the afternoon so I finished EVERYTHING that I had by around 2 pm or so. From there I literally just worked on some spec work (facebook facelift, new version of the e-newsletter, etc) until it was time to go.

I think whenever I get some free time (spending time with the wife, apart from writing more of my book, watching TV, etc.) I think I'll actually spend some time redesigning my blog. Properly, with html/css/etc. Thats what I do almost all day at work (besides social networking etc) and I just get too lazy when I come home to really put in the work to design a new background, layout etc. Hmmm, list of projects....

Also, last night in between watching old X-Men cartoon episodes on Netflix and catching bits and pieces from the Juventus vs Club Amerca soccer match on ESPN, I came across this comic book blog website: www.acomicbookblog.com.

Its pretty neat, has reviews of comics, comic book movies, and even a section for those new to comics of where to start reading if your interested in certain characters etc. Anyway,

With that, I leave you with professional surfers using flares so they can surf at night...actually its not really nighttime, I think they're basically just screwing around. Enjoy!

BRUCE IRONS FLARE SHOOT from STAB on Vimeo.

Long Time, No Post

Its been almost a month since I last posted on my blog, WHAT A SHAME!

Since I last posted, I have a new job, which I really enjoy and the wife is back from India. I've been writing a bit of a short-story/novel sort of thing. Hopefully I'll be able to post an excerpt from it on here soon.

Its strange, at my new job of Viral Marketing Coordinator I spend a lot of time on twitter and facebook, and I realized the other day that it seems other people have a full online rep, tons of followers, and blog/facebook/twitter all wrapped up. I think my role as a Viral Marketing Coordinator, I should at least make an effort to put everything together....

I thought that as I typed this out I would have more to say but I realize that I probably should just take it day by day and post as needed.

I just got at Spotify account as the online music company spread from Europe to the USA. Its pretty cool, but I'm not sure if I would ever pay for the service. I've only had it for about a week or so, so we'll see if that changes the more I use it going forward. First impressions say no.

Anyway, I'll leave it there for now, but I'll post again tomorrow.


For now I've added a new section to my blog. I've taken off the People I Love to Hate on my sidebar and added a page on top for this specific topic. As I keep up with it, you'll find pictures, with links back to the blog post in which I first mentioned the list victims. Hope you enjoy that.

Also, I wanted to change my header to mix it up. Background it different as well.

Till tomorrow!

Arggghhh

"A TV can insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer." -Anonymous

I just downloaded Internet Explorer 9 to update my computer and now everything is crazy slow. Not sure what to do, but this is bloody ridiculous.

So what to do today? No idea.

Oh Mr.Governator...Hilarious

So searching around this morning online, I came across this youtube gem...take a look

Questions Questions Questions

What is your best friend's Mom's name?

I've never really had a best friend so to speak. Depressing I know....

Where is the weirdest place you have a mole?

I'm a ginger. Gingers don't really do moles. I do have one on the inside of my leg in the shape of a star.

Who was the hottest teacher you ever had?

Probably Ms.Tarawnah, my AP English Literature teacher in High School, although I didn't have the hots for her. Most guys in my class did though.

Have you ever made out in a movie theater?
I try not to honestly based on the fact that I PAY FOR THE MOVIE. I want to watch it.

What body part do you wash first?

Under arms usually, but lately my face.

Do you have any piercings?

Thankfully no.

Do you have an innie or an outtie?

Innie. Outties are creepy.

What's your favorite flavored Pringles?

Either Salt-n-Vinegar or Cheddar Cheese.

Have you ever been tied up?

Nope. But I'm guessing that will change sooner rather than later (wink wink)

What was the last thing you ever got grounded for?

Hmmm, i can't really remember.

Do you parallel park or drive around the block?

Definitely drive around the block. I'll wait.

Have you ever had two dates in one night?

Nope.

How many times have you been cussed out?

A bunch. Mostly by drunk people though, so I'm not sure that counts.

Who is the last person you think about before you fall asleep?

The wife. :-)


Which shoe do you put on first?

Right I think, hold on, let me go put on a shoe of mine. Yup, right.

How old are you?

Twenty-four.

Have you ever been to a gay bar?

Yes, once in Zurich by accident, and me and my friends didn't realize until some sketchy old dude started hitting on a friend of mine. We high-tailed it out of there.

Did you French kiss before you were 16?
Nope

Is there one thing all of your ex's have had in common?

Um, they all hate me? Haha, yeah, definitely.

Have you ever been cow-tipping or snipe-hunting?

Nope

Who is the last person you think about before you fall asleep?

Myself. Or if I'm mad, Mr. Sachinky.

Have you ever had a poem or a song written about you?

No, unfortunately not.

Have you ever found anything gross in your parent's bedroom?

I try to stay away just for that very reason.

What was your childhood nickname?

C.J. There were too many Chris named kids in my KG class and my parents didn't want me to have to write Christopher too much.

When is the last time you played the air guitar?

Sometime in the shower.

Have you ever peeked in the opposite sex's locker room?

One time during my internship with the BMets, I walked right into the opposite sex restroom by accident. Thank god no one was in there. Never really peeked on purpose

What's the weirdest thing you have done while driving?

Driven on the beach of Lake Michigan. Almost got a car stuck.

Have you ever bitten your toenails?

Gross.

How do you normally eat your cookies?

Quickly

When working out at the gym, do you wear a belt?

Psh, no.

Name something you do when you're alone?

Sing. And watch embarassingly bad movies.

How many drinks does it take before you get drunk?

Quite a few back in the day. Now? Like 2 or 3.

Have you ever sniffed an animal's butt?

Funny story. My dog once almost sat on my face, so I was close. Thank god no.

How often do you clean out your ears?

According to my wife, not nearly enough.

Do you scrunch or fold your toilet paper?

A combo of both. Have to be thorough.

About how many times a day do you pick a wedgie?

Once, in the morning right when I wake up. It doesnt happen to me during the day. Strange huh?

Do you have any strange phobias?

Um is being afraid of serial killers wearing masks and standing in your lawn in the middle of nowhere a phobia?

Have you ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?
Not that I can remember. Of course, that doesnt mean it hasn't happened.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done at a bar?

Got up on top of a table with some guy friends and belted out Toto as loud as I could.

Have you ever been dared to do something you totally regretted?

Nope

Have you ever called your bf/gf by another girl/guys name?

To much dismay, yes.

Have you ever gotten caught farting while on a date?

I'm a ninja about that sort of thing.

Have you ever played naked twister?

I wish

Have you ever been drunk at work?

Not while actually during working hours.

Have you ever found your gf/bf's sibling more attractive?

Not really.

Do you want to bring sexy back?

Apparently, I'm sexy enough as it is. Wife's words, not mine.

What is your favourite form of travelling: car, bus, train, or plane?

I love planes, probably from living abroad. I also love trains because of how amazing the Swiss are with their trains.

What's on your current wish-list?

I was just thinking about this today. I need to find a hobby. Once I get a hobby, I'll probably be able to put something  on my wishlist.

What social networks do you belong to?

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, my blog.

What's the last film you saw at the theatre?

Limitless and Thor. There are a lot of movies i want to see soon though.

Congratulations Dallas Mavericks!

So as I write this, the Dallas Mavericks have won the NBA Finals and are NBA Champions. I was rooting for the Mavs, as I really had a problem with LeBron's arrogance this whole series. Honestly, most people hate him for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers etc, but I never really did. He left his hometown team for reasons he felt were right. My biggest problem was how annoying and overconfident he was the whole time. Whether it was him making fun of Dirk for being sick or pounding his chest before he even won the game, I felt like he just wasn't ready. His performance in the 4th quarter during the series showed it.

Congrats to one of my favorite players, Jason Kidd, for winning the championship the the New Jersey Nets couldn't give you.

P.S. This NBA Finals was very compelling television.

Team ILuminate: YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS!!!

This is an amazing performance, hands down. Youtube Link of the same performance

It's Been A While...

Wow, it's been almost a month since I last wrote on my blog. Not sure really why I haven't written on it till now. I had plenty of time last week, given everything (psh) but now I'm writing on it again, SO THERE. Priyam went off to India to visit the in-laws so I'm here in ABQ by myself. It's been a little more than a week, and I'm bored out of my mind at this point. Wifey said to me today: You need a hobby. It's funny that she mentions it, because if I think about it, it's been a really long time since I had an honest-to-goodness hobby. I play video games, read comics, and watch movies, but none of that is really a hobby. I'll have to think about a hobby for myself this week. I've been reading Next by Michael Crichton and its probably going to be the first book I've finished in quite sometime. It's pretty good, but it's been pretty slow going, but it's starting to get good now.

This past week, because I was sooo bored (it's amazing how pathetic my life is without Priyam around....no seriously) that I started a LOST marathon, watching every episode from every season). I've been taking some breaks, reading and watching some other things, so I guess you can't really call it a marathon, but you get the idea. I REALLY miss that show. It's funny, because I'm just starting season 3, and seasons 1 and 2 are absolutely outstanding in all aspects (casting, script, plot) and it makes me happy and disappointed at the same time. Happy because of just how good this show was, and upset because of how bad the last season was. I mean, the show went downhill. I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again. When a show is THAT amazing for so many seasons, you have to really deliver with the final season, otherwise no one is going to be happy. Its almost like American Idol. If you belt out a huge performance in your audition and are mediocre thereafter but never live up to that audition, guaranteed you won't win. It's all about expectations.

Regardless, I will continue on my Lost marathon (probably even restart it once Priyam gets back, seasons one and two are that good) and continue watching the mayhem.

With that being said, let's return to:

This week's victim: Kate Austen from LOST (played by Evangeline Lilly)

Now, there are plenty of characters from this show that I can list, because frankly, it's pretty easy, but Kate was, by far, the worst. I'm pretty sure the producers told the writers "Listen, you have a lot of strong characters here, but you need to add a complicated love interest in to this show, because thats the only way we'll get the female audience." The PROBLEM with that is when you have such an amazing cast of well written and well cast main characters around her, SHE LOOKS EVEN WORSE. Now I'm not listing Evangeline Lilly because I haven't personally seen her act in anything else and I'm pretty convinced the producers threw her in and it's the writing of that character that's bad. I never saw the point to her character, end of story. Sorry Ms. Austen, you've been listed.

-----

Well, that's all for today, I'll write again tomorrow. Probably off to bed soon, I'm tired from doing nothing all day. Farewell.

Busy Busy Busy

Work is crazy this morning. Teacher's Meeting, Gathering of Nations. Yikes.

Prince William and Kate Middleton Royal Wedding tomorrow. Wifey loves that stuff, I just think its a burden on the British tax payer for an outdated tradition. It is interesting though to see the pomp and circumstance. Hey, I don't have to pay for their nonsense. I just feel bad for all those ZIS alumni living in the UK. We'll probably watch some of it tomorrow morning. I have an idea of getting some Dunkin' Donuts while Sachinky gets ready for work, then we can sit and watch for a while. We'll see if she's down for that.

In other news, 31 cent scoop day was nice, found my new favorite flavor at Baskin Robbins: Snickers Bar. Its realllly good. Also food related, I still am yerning for a cheeseburger. I haven't had one since we went to McDonalds last week, and I keep seeing all these ads for them. Its strange, Priyam goes out and gets lunch all the time while at work, I'm a lot more reserved about it. Sure, I could go to McDonalds and stuff my face right now, but I feel like it would be a waste. I dunno. Strange.

Enough!

The last week or so, my job has been, to put it mildly, annoying. My boss(es) are an Indian family called the Singhs, and their son Jay acts like he is my boss. I can't stand it. Needless to say, he's not my boss, and the rest of the organization don't like him because the work that he does put in his half-assed and he makes plenty of mistakes when he works at the front desk.

Anyway, so why lovely wife tells me: Stand up for yourself. And so I've decided that I will do exactly that. If I have to work on Saturday, I will take off whole afternoons at the end of the week. I've had absolutely enough of it, and I'm not going to take it anymore SO THERE.

In other, more pleasant news, tonight is a promotion through ice cream company Baskin Robbins where you can get ice cream scoops for 31 cents! The wifey and I are going to take full advantage of said promotion!

I know that all day I'm going to think about what scoops I'm going to get, and we're going to get those awesome waffle cones with the chocolate and I MIGHT EVEN GET TOPPINGS! shhhh, don't tell anyone

The Pains of a Monday

Ever have those days where you just don't want to get up in the morning? I'm not talking about general "i dont want to go to work types" I'm talking, "I want to sleep the rest of this month, screw the world" types.

Yeah, I had one of those today. Woke up at 6 am to wake up the wife, then went back to sleep, woke up a 7 am to "take a shower" and by brain goes, "Who needs to shower". I never work well without showering first thing in the morning. It wakes me up, and gets me ready for the day. So whenever i say, who needs to shower, its never a good sign.

But, despite my body putting up a fight, I showered and shaved and was to work on time. Luckily I can leave a little early today since I worked all day in Santa Fe on Saturday. Naptime for me!

But, after a bit of a break, I formally welcome the return of:

This week's listed victim: Overconfident Youngsters

What exactly do I mean? I'm talking about twofold: Young kids, younger even than high school age, who think they are smarter, cooler, and know more about life than adults. I think because more parents don't smack their kids when they get out of line, they get this overconfident sense of self and think that they can do whatever they want without a problem. Honestly, I really want to punch kids in the face when they act like that.

The second is high school or college age kids who are trying to prove themselves and pretend to be smarter than they are. My boss' son is like that. He has some good ideas sure, sometimes he bosses me around like I'm some peasant slave and he is the kick of the castle. Then when I ask my ACTUAL boss about it, he kinda just shrugs it off like, "eh, I don't listen to him half the time, why do you?" That really pisses me off, because its not like I can do anything about it, it's the bosses son!

-------------------

Feel free to comment if you love to hate that as well!

Drab Weekend

I had to work all Saturday and today have not been feeling well. Part head cold, part heat exhaustion. So, needless to say, it was a drab weekend.

On a lighter note, I took Priyam summer clothes shopping and she is mucho happy. :-)

Wonka!!!!

No, I don't mean Willy Wonka, I'm talking about our poor 'new' car. We just got it back from being fixed, and he looks brand new again (which he technically is, considering he's a 2010 model). It makes me happy, despite the expense to pay for his damage repair. Some things can't be helped though. He needed to get fixed, not to mention the sullen look on the wife's face every time she saw him banged up on his front bumper. I've promised her that I will be very defensive while driving against the worst drivers in the United States. See sidebar.

In the meantime, its very rainy today, which gives wonka a bath, but otherwise means the wifey is running around like the rain will melt her. She's cute that way, what can I say.

Apparently Newspapers Were WAY Stronger in the 50s

(From the government pamphlet “If an A-Bomb Falls”, 1951. Thanks to Jeff @ http://www.heromachine.com/)

Meanwhile, I was browsing online and found a pretty cool artist exhibition about designing new Darth Vader helmets. Meet Vader Van Gogh....

Chak De India, Santa Fe and strange phrases

Wow. Its been a long time since I posted on my blog. APOLOGIES. What has happened since I posted last? What hasn't happened is the real question. My parents came to visit and despite my biggest worries and fears, nothing bad happened. IN FACT, Priyam and my dad have a great relationship which makes me happy. While my parents were here, Priyam and i went to Santa Fe to visit the historic city (second oldest in the US btw) and we decided to try and do a lot more fun stuff during the weekends. And so we have.

But more importantly India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. For a better description of events, by someone much better equiped to discuss such issues, click here.

I have to say, watching my wife's ebbs and flows of emotions can certainly be taxing, but alls well that ends well. When Sachinky saw Sachin get out and Sehwag getting out for 0 runs before him, she was not too pleased (to put it mildly), but they were saved in the end. Alls well that ends well.

Just as an aside, any one where the American phrase " Its aways away" came from? Aways being something like "Its not too far away". I said it to the wifey earlier today, and she looked at me like I started speaking latin. Maybe I did.

India vs. South Africa: The Showdown!

Today at work, I've been really busy and bored at the same time, never a good combination. To make matters worse, my mother called and was her usually annoying self. Its going to be an interesting few days when they come, especially because my mom is so excited to have green and red chili and loves Mexican food, and my wife absolutely HATES it. I personally like it, but I hope Priyam can fake some sort of fondness, cus it might be A LONG COUPLE OF DAYS.

Actually, all day I've been pretty excited about the India vs. South Africa cricket match tonight. The past week or so when I come back home and have about 30 minutes to myself in the morning before I have to leave for work, I've been watching cricket. Not just my wife's team India, but all sorts of different teams, like today's match: England vs. Bangladesh. I must say, I'm really enjoying the sport. I never really knew much about cricket, even living in Europe. But the more I watch these one day matches, the more I'm getting into it. Tonight is India vs. South Africa, two countries with some really good teams, so of course Priyam will be waking up to see it. Uusually I just wake up in the morning to see the end, but I think I might stay up with her this time. Its going to be a really tight game, and I'm not sure if I can afford to miss the action.

COME ON INDIA!

Cookie Monster!

So last night the wife told me that she was tired of looking at my boring cell phone background, so instead I downloaded a cookie monster background! I was a little amused to see it on the list of most popular backgrounds. As a kid, I loved watching Sesame Street and remember laughing to Cookie Monster's silly antics and amazing apetite for cookies, but apparently he's sort of a cult figure amongst adults. Who knew. Although, I do remember the hillarious Family Guy skits with Cookie Monster. I tried to find a quality copy on youtube, but no such luck. Instead, I've got an NPR interview with Cookie Monster.

Eat It Buckeyes

Hello all, first, I would  like to apologize for my absense, I really have no excuse for it. Next, I would like to thank Ohio State University football program for screwing themselves over. As a Michigan Wolverine fan, the past few years have been really upsetting, from Rich Rod's hiring and firing, to the lack of amazing head coaching candidates, and always wondering if Big Blue will be able to regain the success they had while I was growing up. All the while Ohio State (our bitter rival) was laughing all the way to the bank, recruiting the top players, dominating the Big Ten, and going to BCS bowl games year after year. Their success was unmatched, and it made me very angry. Now, with Head Coach Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA, I finally can smile again. THATS WHAT YOU GET YOU EVIL SCHOOL. As an after thought, They'll be my People I Love to Hate this week.

Ohio State University

--------------------------

Anyway, life has been good, got paid today (after noticing New Mexico raised the state taxes, those assholes). Also, I wanted to post a heromachine entry I have made, I call him the Resurrector:

Hope you like it!

Eat.Play.Shoot Me Now

So, its been a decent weekend so far: Yesterday, after a extremely crazy morning (bygones) the wifey and I went to the mall, walked around looking for clothes for her work, (which is an entirely different blog post), and I purchased an awesome game called Batman: Arkham Aslyum for XBOX 360. I've been on a huge batman crazed mission for about a week now, including starting to read Batman comics again (which I forgot that I absolutely loved). We also went out for dinner last night to Lin's Buffet, which was good, but super busy.

Today, after the wife waking up relatively early for the India-Ireland cricket match, we have sort of lazed about and we decided to watch Eat Pray Love which we had on Netflix so we could send the movies out on Monday to get three new ones. Put it this way: Priyam complained at the end that for 2 hours straight I was complaining. Normally I don't have an issue with romantic comedies not suited to the male viewer. I watch them to spend time with the wife and it makes her happy, so of course I am willing to sit through some mindless nonsense. But this offended me on so many levels. I won't get into it, because it might just make me enraged once again, so I will refrain. Hopefully, the day gets better from here. Maybe some Batman video games will cheer me up.