:: quick facts for monday, october 27

today has been a long one, but not without a good portion of fun. after everyone got back from work, becca, michael, james and i went to wal-mart and found a huge pumpkin. this thing took up almost the entire shopping cart. we're bringing it to a pumpkin carving party on wednesday, and it is sure to get some attention. it's a good thing that both james and i have trucks, because i don't think that thing is fitting in a car. of course, having a truck does have it's disadvantages, most notably being confused as a receptacle for used beer cans.

let's get to the quick facts ::

days left in 2008 :: 65

days until the election :: almost 7

current location :: the usual.

current atmospheric conditions :: 37°F

currently watching :: the colbert report

recently viewed :: baby mama (tina fey and amy poehler are hilarious)

recently listened to :: snowbeast by luke temple

currently thinking :: "man, i need to go to sleep. i'm always tired" and it's true.

also, currently wondering :: "where the heck is my absentee ballot? mccain better not be screwing me." 

also, currently thinking "dang, i've got to start reading more if i'm going to finish the book list i've set out for."

today in history :: 

• philadelphia, pennsylvania is founded in 1682. 326 years later, the philadelphia phillies are one game away from winning the world series and becoming the first thing philly could be proud of since will smith.
• the first underground new york city subway line opens in 1904. primarily designed for transportation of humans, the subway lines have now been converted for the transportation of city rodents.
• stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown. in america, the dow jones industrial average plummets 554.26 points. today, this is a regular occurrence...

born today in history ::

• theodore roosevelt
• emily post
• leif erickson
• dylan thomas
• roy lichtenstein
• john cleese
• kelly osbourne
• brady quinn
• andrew bynum

video of the day ::

more to come...

:: now that is scary

i like movies with a good story. i've said it a ton of times. explosions are great; cgi can be cool; but you've got to have a good story to get my attention. i've come to admire movies by a good crop of directors, like michel gondry, wes anderson, noah baumbach, the coen brothers, spike jonze, david fincher, and m. night shyamalan, because i think they hold the same view. it was while watching what is now one of my all-time favorite movies, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (which was directed by gondry) that i was introduced to screenwriter charlie kaufman. kaufman is a brilliant writer. he goes about the concept of writing and story in a totally different way. i posted an interview that kaufman did with charlie rose a while ago, i might post it again, because it just shows you the mind of this masterful writer. he doesn't just drop characters into a situation and follow conventional, and all too predictable wa thinking. since watching eternal sunshine, i watched other great movies that he had written. movies like being john malkovich and adaptation (into which he writes himself in as the main character in both a very real characterization of himself and a very fictions one as well) and really enjoyed those as well. 

so, when i heard that kaufman was both writing and directing a movie, entitled synecdoche, new york, and had cast phillip seymour hoffman as the lead, i was more than intrigued. then i read this article, and was even more intrigued. in it, rotten tomatoes talks to kaufman about the concept of the movie. kaufman reveals ::

spike jonze and i were approached by sony to do a horro movie. we talked about things that were really scary in the world, as opposed to horror movie conventions. we talked about things like mortality and illness and time passing and loneliness and regret. we kinda went in with that, and we got assigned to go off and write it, and i spent a couple years trying to explore those notions, and that's what the movie is.

in another interview i heard, kaufman said that this movie was scary in that it dealt with a fear that we're "hurling towards death" and that it's something we all know is coming and are powerless to do anything about.

see what i mean. who would take the order to write a horror movie and turn it into something so complex and nothing like what i'm sure the studio intended, and yet make it exactly what the studio intended. that is a really scary thought. we're all going to die. time will pass no matter what we do to attempt the contrary. we will get sick. the people around us will get sick. chances are that they will die and we will be left alone. just picturing that future for myself is more frightening than any trailer for saw v.  

here is a trailer for synecdoche, new york ::

things essentially come down to this. i'm going to beg you. if you're going to go see a scary movie this holloween season, go see this one. don't go see another mindless scare-fest. this movie will have both a great, well written story and a great, and truly frightening premise. it will be the only "horror" movie i'll be seeing this fall (this is assuming that they'll show it here in starkville or in slidell). 

what do you think about charlie kaufman and/or his movies? what do you think about the concept behind the movie synecdoche, new york? what do you think about the importance of story? what are some of your favorite movies/directors/stories? 

the above in not a list of rhetorical questions...

more to come...

:: artist of the week :: u2 (pt. 1)

they are arguably one of the most recognizable bands of the past 30 years. their frontman is not only know by his vocals but also by his work with politicians around the world in the fight against aids and injustice. some people think bono is the greatest humanitarian since mother theresa, working with groups like the one campaign and founding the organization data. others think he is the biggest turd ever. while i suspect i will make a lot of references will be made of bono, but it's important to note that this band is made up of some great musicians, and all of them deserve credit for forming the direction of this band. love them or hate them, you have to respect a career that spans 32 years and has garnered such awards as :: 22 grammys (best band 7 times, best song, album and rock album each twice, among others), 7 brit awards, 14 meteor awards, 6 vma's, and 12 q awards.

the first song on their first album, boy, is titled i will follow. the last song on their latest release, how to dismantle the atomic bomb, is titled yahweh. in between are 11 studio albums and 126 songs filled with lyrics that seem, at least to this observer, to eerily correspond to the combination of those two song titles :: i will follow, yahweh.

or at least they resemble the heart of a guy trying to search for the best way to do that. bono has made no bones about the fact that he's not perfect, but a look at the lyrics reveals a wanderer and a searcher. his lyrics have led some to label the band a "christian" band early on. with songs like 40, where the streets have no names, and tomorrow it's easy to see things that way.

they are ::

larry mullen, jr. :: drums

adam clayton :: bass

the edge :: guitar

bono :: vocals

let's take a look at the albums they have released thus far ::

1. boy

released in 1980, the debut album from u2 showed signs of promise and a glimpse of what was to come. this album deals with themes of the frustration and apprehension of adolescence, something that we all deal with, also a period of time that was especially difficult for bono, as he lost his mother at the age of 14. u2 was young and enthusiastic, and people started to take notice of them across the globe.

songs i liked :: i will follow, an cat dubh, out of control, the electric co.

2. october

u2's sophomore release is generally one of the less popular records in their collection, but after listening to this one over, i'd put it among one of my favorites. the band boldly made religion the focus of their second album. songs like gloria, with a shout (jerusalem), and tomorrow and lyrics like ::

"open up, open up / to the lamb of god / to the love of he who made / the light to see you / he's coming back / i believe it / jesus is coming." (from tomorrow)

(and tons of other, more subtle references) it's easy to see how the record got mixed reactions. some fans hated the overtly religious tones to the record. others loved the direction and saw the album as a breakthrough in christian music, so much so that it was later ranked the #41 on ccm's greatest christian albums of all time. i like the album for the sound they had on this album, and it's good to see any artist attempt to articulate their faith through their art. 

songs i liked :: gloria, i threw a brick through a window, rejoice, tomorrow, stranger in a strange world.

3. war

the band's third album starts out with bang, the song sunday bloody sunday. one of the first "political" songs by the band, sunday bloody sunday speaks out against the injustices perpetrated in 1972's bloody sunday massacre in northern ireland. even in the midst of protest, bono interjects faith into the mix. in the same song, lyrics like ::

"broken bottles under children's feet / bodies strewn across the dead end street / but i won't head the battle call / it puts my back up / puts my back up against the wall."

comes lyrics about the resurrection of jesus ::

the real battle's just begun / to claim the victory that jesus won / on sunday, bloody sunday."

war is known as one of u2's more political albums. bono said of the album and it's title "war seemed to be a motif for 1982... everywhere you looked, from the falklands to the middle east and south africa, there was war. by calling the album war we're giving people a slap in the face and at the same time getting away from the cosy image a lot of people have of u2."

the album ends with another one of u2's most popular and blatantly christian songs, 40. adapted from psalm 40, the song echoes the pre-chorus from sunday bloody sunday and the main theme of the psalm ::

how long to sing this song?

the song is both a perfect ending to a great album, but another sign of bono's yearning for completion and for answers. 

songs i liked :: sunday bloody sunday, new year's day, drowning man, surrender, 40

4. the unforgettable fire

following up war, the unforgettable fire was a turning point for the band. war built the band's popularity to a high, and they were faced with the decision to either continue making the same brand of music and become a one trick pony or to experiment and evolve as a band. the band chose the later, marking a change in their sound for the rest of their career. the unforgettable fire introduced a more atmospheric, orchestrated sound.

this album features a notable tribute to martin luther king, jr. in the song pride (in the name of love). the song compares mlk and jesus, two figures that had an impact on the world and on bono especially. it's a touching, memorable song that manages to again mix bono's faith with his view of the world and politics.

songs i liked :: pride (in the name of love), wire, 4th of july, indian summer sky.

5. the joshua tree

this is probably my hands down favorite u2 album. sales would indicate that about 22 million other people agree with me. this album is loaded with hits. the first four tracks are perfect. the joshua tree earned u2 a grammy for best album of the year in 1987 and best rock performance. it's also been named #3 in rolling stone's greatest albums of the 80s and #26 in their greatest albums of all time. ccm named the album the #6 greatest "christian" album of all times (although, if you take a look at that list, i think you can just go ahead and say it's the greatest "christian" album of all time).  it sold more than 10 million copies in the united states alone, making the record certified diamond (i didn't even know they had that certification...).

the song where the streets have no name has always fascinated me. bono has stated that the song is about belfast, north ireland and how you can tell what religion a person follows and how much money they were making based off of the street they lived on. i've always found the song to be a great picture and dichotomy between heaven and earth. bono writes ::

i want to run / i want to hide / i want to tear down the walls / that hold me inside / i want to reach out / and touch the flame / where the streets have no name.

i want to feel sunlight on my face / i see the dust cloud disappear / without a trace / i want to take shelter from the poison rain / where the streets have no name.

this is another great example of bono yearning for answers and completion and security, and his yearning has a focus, he seems to know that everything will be made right in heaven (where the streets have no names). the third verse paints a pretty accurate picture of the world we live in today ::

the city's aflood / and our love turns to rust / we're beaten and blown by the wind / trampled in dust / i'll show you a place / high on a desert plain / where the streets have no name.

i could go down the track list and find lyrics like this, the album is packed with them. great, descriptive and honest lyrics. lyrics that unmask the despair we live in and the rescue that is awaiting. it's just a great album. if you haven't given u2 a listen, or you've been on the fence about them as a band, i have to recommend that you listen to this album all the way through. i think it'll give you a great perspective on the band and a much greater appreciation for them.

well, it looks like we're gonna have to split this one up into two parts. tomorrow, we'll look at rattle and hum and the shift into the 90s and beyond.

more to come...

:: quick facts for thursday, october 23

well, this one might go through after the final bell rings on this thursday. it's been the usual packed thursday here in starkvegas. i woke up at 9:30 and my day rapidly progressed until i found myself sitting here, in front of my keyboard, typing this. i honestly don't remember all that happened. i'll try to recap, quickly, so as not to bore. you can probably just skip over this...

• 12:00 :: quickly eat left-overs. pasta jambalaya. yum.
• 12:15 :: run out the door, trying to get to social psych. on time.
• 12:30 :: sitting in traffic, not in class on time.
• 12:40 :: arriving to hilbun, slip quietly into class.
• 1:30 :: emerging from class, hanging out with devin and sarah in the union. coveting devin's macbook.
• 2:00 :: heading to becca's apartment to hang out and print notes off for my behavior mod class.
• 2:50 :: realizing i'm probably going to be late for my behavior mod class.
• 3:01 :: late for my behavior mod class.
• 3:10 :: arrive at allen, slip into my conspicuous front row seat...
• 5:35 :: leave class, return to the apartment.
• 6:00 :: leave the apartment, head to the hump for a rick's rowdies meeting.
• 7:00 :: arrive back home. play some no more heroes.
• 8:00 :: flip over to cbs to watch csi.
• 9:00 :: play more no more heroes.
• 10:00 :: tune in to comedy central to watch the daily show and the colbert report.
• 11:15 :: head to the gym, run for a while.
• now :: blog. after a long day.

sorry about that.

i think that actually helped me remember that today did actually occur. hope your day was both more interesting and less hectic than mine was. 

let's get to the quick facts ::

the current price of a gallon of gas in starkville :: $3.55 outside my window.

currently listening to :: r.e.m.'s debut album murmur. you might remember that i went on a journey through the library of u2 recently. i've decided to do this with r.e.m. as well. i've also decided to blog about the u2 journey tomorrow and create a new weekly blog feature. every week, i'm going to declare an artist of the week (although, some weeks, i might have two. it depends) and that week i'm going to listen to that artist's entire sonic library and do some reporting to you. this will help me get to better know and appreciate the artists in my music compilation library and give you something better to read than the above, a boring summary of my day. if you've got an artist you think i'd like or would like to get my analysis on, let me know in the comments section.

current location :: a very quite, but warmly lit apartment.

currently reverberating off of the expanses of my brain :: "tgif" 

also currently wondering :: "when is my absentee ballot gonna get here? who will i vote for when it gets here?"

today in history ::

• abraham lincoln suspends habeas corpus in washington, d.c., for all military related cases in 1861. 147 years later, our current president asks "what's that? i guess we don't need it."
• 25-33,000 women march down fifth avenue in new york city to advocate their right to vote in 1915. thankfully, they are allowed to vote now, and some women can now march down fifth avenue to advocate their right to buy the most expensive clothes they can find.
• after a steady decline in stock market prices, the new york stock exchange begins to show signs of panic in 1929. now, things are great...
• the first miniature golf tournament was completed in chattanooga, tennessee in 1930. aparently, people were so panicked from the previous year's stock market crash that they had to resort to "not quite golf" in "not quite nashville". one can only imagine what fun games will emerge from our current economic situation. "i spy" with depressed or inebriated stock brokers?
• apple releases the ipod in 2001. millions of people either buy either the ipod or white headphones to try to fit in. others, like me, wait until 2006 to win one from their university.

born today in history ::

• john heisman
• gummo marx (poor gummo, never as popular as his brothers...)
• ang lee
• nancy grace (or, the devil woman)
• weird al yankovic
• doug flutie

fact :: today is mole day. no, not the furry little animals. no, we're talking avagadro's constant, 6.022×10^23.. in an incredibly nerdy turn of events, it's held between 6:02 am and 6:02 pm on the 23rd day of the 10th month, making the official holiday : 6:02 10/23.

no video of the day today, didn't watch many videos. i can say though, that the first segment of the daily show from tonight is can't miss. he gets onto everyone, and it's hilarious.

more to come, including your artist of the week look at u2.

:: quick facts for tuesday, october 21

not much going on today. i've been sitting around the apartment playing no more heroes on the wii. it's an interesting game. it's super-gory in that quentin tarantino style. you essentially travel around doing odd jobs to earn money, spend that money on new clothes and videos, and enter into fights with assassins, trying to work your way up the list of top assassins, slaying everyone in your way using a combination of lightsaber slashes and mexican lucha librador wrestling moves. yeah, it's interesting. and addicting. 

apart from that, i had a "wow, i'm dumb" moments. i only had one class to go to today. social psychology. i'm usually a few minutes late to this class, but i left at a time that i thought we actually get me to class a few minutes early. i hustled over to hilbun hall and opened the door, only to find the classroom empty. i thought that was odd. until i looked at my phone, noticed what time it was, thought about what was going on a bit, and came to the realization that the class i was trying to attend actually started at 12:30, not 1:30, which was the time at which i was currently living in. i'm dumb. but at least i didn't have to go to that class....

let's get to the quick facts ::

current time :: 5:30 pm

current atmospheric conditions :: 75°F

currently listening to :: the neue podcast, which is a pretty cool interview with rob bell. you should also check out the new brett dennen and of montreal albums.

the current price of a gallon of gas in starkville :: hovering around $2.70.

fact :: my team won again this week, pushing my record to 5-2, tied for first place.

current work load :: i've got some more articles to summarize and a citation page to re-do. i've been procrastinating again.

what to watch :: house and fringe on tonight. you can also catch the worship/social justice documentary with hearts as one over at the brand new relevant.tv (now in hd) from now till friday.

today in history ::

• ferdinand magellan discovers a strait and names it after himself. his crew get tired of him and his attitude and mutinied.
• thomas edison tests the first practical incandescent light bulb in 1879. it apparently takes quite a few ole miss fans to replace a light bulb.
• the solomon r. guggenheim museum, designed by frank lloyd wright, opens in new york city in 1959.
• fred dryer becomes the first player in nfl history to score two safeties in a single game in 1973. if only my bulldogs could have scored another safety against auburn, we might have won that game... oh well.

historic births ::

• alfred nobel
• keith green
• rich mullins
• carrie fisher
• ken watanabe
• josh ritter
• kim kardashian

historic obits ::

• jack kerouac 
• elliott smith

video of the day ::

heck, you should just watch that whole episode, plus all of yesterday's colbert report as well...





more to come...

:: quick facts, monday, october 20 pt. 2

sorry about that. i'm back from wal-mart, and now my pantry has some food in it. it's good to know that at least you'll be able to eat for a little while. of course, the problem was i was hungry while i was shopping. that always means i'll end up buying more food than i'll need or food that looks good at the time, but in actuality will not look good when i want to eat later and have to cook it. this week, my stomach talked me into buying that super huge bag of generic brand golden crisps that everyone wants to buy, but never does. yeah, i bought that one. and i will enjoy eating it. but i probably didn't need it. oh well.

on to the rest of the quick facts ::

what to watch :: mnf. i need one more tackle from boss bailey or marquand manuel to push me ahead of the number one team in my fantasy football league. 

today in history ::

• the united states ratifies the louisiana purchase in 1803. people everywhere flock to live on swap land that is constantly eroding.
• return of the king, the final book in the lord of the rings trilogy, is published in 1955.
• a video of an alleged bigfoot is filmed by roger patterson and robert gimlin in 1967. ten years later, chewbacca is introduced as a character in star wars. coincidence?
• a plane carrying the members of lynyrd skynyrd crashes in mississippi. lead signer ronnie van zant and guitarist stevie gaines are among those killed. 31 years later, people still think playing sweet home alabama makes them cool.

born today in history ::

• arthur rimbaud
• john dewey
• arlene francis
• jerry orbach
• tom petty
• viggo mortensen
• snoop dogg

video of the day ::

more to come...

:: quick facts, monday, october 20 pt. 1

it's been a long day here in starkville. mostly because it didn't have a definite break from sunday. i stayed up through the night trying to finish those summaries for my behavior science writing class. surprisingly, i felt about as tired with no sleep at all as i do when i get 6 hours of sleep. strange. anyway, i did take a nap this afternoon, a practice i think everyone should try. seriously, the world would be a better, more peaceful place we we all just took a nap. we don't ever get enough sleep and so we get too grumpy sometimes, which naturally leads us to make decisions like invading foreign countries. that's right, the taco isn't the only thing we can take from the inhabitants of mexico. i'm calling for an american siesta.

let's get to quick facts ::

current time :: 5:11 pm.

current location :: the apartment couch.

currently watching :: cnn on mute and my roommate michael balancing in a gaming chair.

currently listening too :: i'm still on my quest through the career of u2. i'm about half-way through rattle and hum.

currently reverberating in the expanses of my brain :: "huuuuuuuummmmmmmm." it tends to do that when i don't get any sleep.

today in history, born today in history, and the video of the day will be posted in pt. 2, as this blogging session has been preempted by a much needed trip to wal-mart.

more to come.

:: quick facts, thursday, october 16

i'm back in slidell, under both the saddest and the happiest of circumstances. first, becca's cousin, julie, died after being in a car accident over the weekend. we drove down here yesterday to attend the wake last night, and then went to the funeral this morning. she left behind lots of people that loved her and are hurting now that she's gone, most especially her three young children. if you happen to remember them, please keep them in your prayers. 

now, tomorrow starts the happy part of the weekend. my good friends chris and chirstie are getting married on saturday! i'm so happy for them. they really are a great couple, and really good friends of mine and becca's. they asked me to be an usher in the wedding and invited me to the rehearsal dinner too. which is cool. so i figured i'd return the favor and get a haircut and at least look presentable for the wedding.

that's what's going on, let's get to the quick facts ::

current time :: 7:30

current location :: my parents room, with the super fast internet. (seriously, it was so good that i was able to watch fringe on hulu in hd with no hiccups at all)

currently watching :: goosebumps with my brother. it's the famous one with the ventriloquist dummy. creepy.

current price of a gallon of gas in slidell :: i saw somewhere that was selling gas for $2.79. it's getting less expensive (notice, it's still not cheap.)

what to watch tonight :: csi: the real one

current atmospheric conditions :: 76°F

fact :: though the blog tends to be view best when using mozilla firefox (the embed videos don't show up right in other browsers some times), i'm blogging right now from safari. i really like it a lot. i'm testing it out.

today in history ::

• marie antoinette is put to death by guillotine in 1793.
•  john brown leads a raid on harper's ferry. around this time, his baby contracted a cold upon it's chest.
• the walt disney company is founded by brothers walt and roy disney in 1923.
• desmond tutu is awarded the nobel peace prize in 1984.

born today in history ::

• oscar wilde
• nico
• flea

your video of the day ::

unfortunately, it looks like they might be right about my cubbies...

more to come...

:: quick facts :: wednesday, october 15

some people hate monday because it is the first day of the week, and the outlook for the rest of the week is bleak. what's different about wednesday? i'd say not much. you've been through two long days, you're now stuck in the middle of the week and you've still got two more long days to go. if that's where you're at this week, you're not alone...

let's get to the quick facts ::

current time :: 9:34

current location :: (switching it up a bit) the apartment chair.

currently consuming :: an oatmeal raisin cliff bar. yum.

currently watching :: the colbert report.

current outside temp. :: 66°F

currently listening to :: radiohead's in rainbows

currently reading :: chuck klosterman iv (started it yesterday. i'll post some thoughts on rob bell's sex god later)

today in history ::

• i love lucy premieres in 1951
• krazy george henderson leads what is thought to be the first fan "wave". normal fans everywhere are forced to stand and lift thier hands everywhere.
• wayne gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the nhl.
  
• mikhail gorbachev is awarded the nobel peace prize in 1990.

born today in history ::

• friedrich nietzsche
• p. g. wodehouse
• tanya roberts
• emeril lagasse

your video of the day ::

more to come...

:: quick facts :: tuesday, october 14

well, i've been a rather inconsistent blogger this past week. that will change as i'm now back into the swing of the regular school week, which affords me plenty of time to procrastinate and write stuff here. i've started importing posts from the blog onto facebook, so i've you're reading this there, please visit the blog. you'll get more out of it (especially as this post will most likely end soon if you're reading on facebook, but will continue here on the blog). let's get back on track with some quick facts.


the current time :: 5:08

my current location :: the apartment couch

currently playing on the tv :: cash cab

fact :: i am once again victorious in my fantasy football league, moving me to 4-2 and in second place overall.

currently meandering the expanses of my mind :: "wow, that caption under the shaherazad's camel's picture is seriously epic. maybe too epic for the situation." (see it here)

what to watch tonight :: i'm going with the back to back duo of house and fringe on fox. both really good shows. check them out.

notable music releases :: keane's perfect symmetry and ray lamontagne's guilt in the grain (keane can be found on my semi-recently posted guide "the british invasion :: thirteen british band you should be listening to..."

today in history ::

• george washinton proclaims the first thanksgiving day in 1789.
• the chicago cubs win the 1908 world series. sadly, my cubbies haven't won since...
• theodore roosevelt is shot by a salloon keeper while campaigning in milwaukee, wisconsin. he delivers his scheduled speech despite the flesh wound and the bullet still being lodged in his body.
• the first winnie-the-pooh book, written by a. a. milne, is first published in 1926.
• the cuban missile crisis begins when a u-2 flight over cuba uncovers soviet nuclear weapons being installed, in 1958.
• joan baez is arrested in a blockade of the military induction center in oakland, california.
• ronald reagan proclaims a war on drugs. i think we're losing that one.
  

born today in history ::

• william penn
• dwight d. eisenhower
• e. e. cummings
• john wooden
• sir roger moore
• thomas dolby (who was blinded with science in that song i can't ever get out of my head)
• jim rome
• p. j. brown
• usher

more to come...

:: quick facts :: saturday, october 11

it's been a crazy week. sure, it was short, with the whole break from school. but sometimes that just means things are accordianed together into hectic chaos. that was this week. i think my tendancy to procrastinate contributed to the events transpiring as they did. first off, i've got a class in which the sole purpose to to learn how to write a lit. review in apa format for psychology journals and such. this week, i was supposed to finish summarizing 25 mind-numbingly boring articles on ptsd and turn in a rough outline from which i'm supposed to write a 10 page paper. the fact that a task this large intimidates me to the point where i just put it off combined with the fact that i never write with an outline (because i procrastinate and make it all up last minute) caused a serious motivation problem, which led to me doing it all this weekend. on top of that, i agreed to set up a screening for invisible children (see "good places to spend good money" to the left), and so this week has also been stressful trying to set that up too. but it payed off. i got to see a good friend from high school who is now touring with invisible children and we got to hang out and reminisce of the olde days. and the screening went well. not many people showed up, but the few that did were really interested in setting up more screenings for them down the road. i also got to meet two other cool folks, nick and jenni, and it's always cool to meet cool people. and they really are super cool. tomorrow brings a football game and more shenanigans, so we'll make it brief.

to the quick facts ::

the current time :: 1:37 am

fact :: 78.9% of the people in the apartment complex i live in could be drunk or high at this moment.

fact :: three6 mafia preformed in the hump last night. i had no desire to go.

fact :: i invited 65 people to come to the ic screening, only 3 other people (besides me, becca, and the roadies) showed up, and prior to the event i'd never met them.

current location :: the bedroom desk. yep, i cleaned things up a bit.

currently listening to :: coast to coast am radio.

current outside temp. :: 66°F

today in history ::

• daugters of the american revolution was founded in 1890

• the first manned apollo mission (apollo 7) is launched in 1968. the astronauts aboard were wally schirra, donn eisele, and walter cunningham.

• the first episode of saturday night live airs in 1975. it was hosted by george carlin and the musical guests were janis ian and billy preston.

• kathryn sullivan becomes the first american woman to perform a space walk during the challenger mission in 1984.

born today in history ::

• henry heinz

• joan cusack

video of the day :: will come later. it's now almost 2, and i need to sleep.

more to come...

:: quick facts :: tuesday, october 7

today was a long day. driving from slidell to starkville sure takes a lot out of you, both energy-wise and economically. in total, i spent $108 on gas over the week. but it was worth it. i got to see my family and spend time with them and some friends. still, it seems like every time i go home there are more people to see and less time to see them in.

let's get to the quick facts, because i'm ready for bed ::

current time :: 11:27 pm

current location :: the apartment couch, starkville, ms.

the current price of a gallon of gasoline in starkville :: $3.44

fact :: martin grammatica is the saddest person in new orleans right now. coincientally, he's also one of the most despised men in new orleans as well. kickers.

fact :: there really isn't anything good on right now. there is the daily show/colbert report in half an hour, but who knows if i'll be able to stay awake.

current outside temp. :: a soggy 73°F

fact :: i ended up winning my fantasy football game this week. i'm currently tied for 3rd place. but i'm on the up and up.

fact :: instead of using a 9 volt battery, my casio keyboard requires 6 aa batteries or the 9 volt adapter that i can't find at the moment. and i was all ready to play around with reason's synths.

today in history ::

• geogia tech defeats cumberland 222-0 (two hundred and twenty two points to no points) in one of the most lopsided college football games in american history in 1916. to think, they probably still didn't have the "forward pass".

• cats opens on broadway in 1982.

• the us starts the invasion of afghanistan in 2001

born today in history ::

• john mellencamp. john cougar. john cougar mellencamp.

• vladimir putin

• yo-yo ma

• michael w. smith

• simon cowell

• thom yorke, 40 years old, still rocking

• priest holmes

• damian kulash (ok go)

• rachel mcadams

died today in history ::

• edgar allan poe

• oliver wendell holmes

your video of the day ::

:: quick facts, monday, october 6

the blog is back after a weekend of relaxing in the woods. i've been a nice camping trip over the fall break and got back into the reaches of wireless internet yesterday. i really enjoy camping. just something about being in a different environment where things are slower, less hectic, less noisy, more s'more-y. i got to enjoy spending some time with my family, becca and her family, and a few other families from church. all in all, a great fall break.

lets get to the quick facts for today ::

my current location :: the house (slidell)

the current time :: 11:26 am

the tv is currently playing :: "notorious" (a crime show on bio about ma barker)

current outside temp. :: 81°F

current price for a gallon of gas in slidell :: $3.56

what to watch tonight :: duh! monday night football! saints-vikings!

fact :: i'm winning this week in fantasy football by 50 points.

meandering thoughts :: "man, vanilla wafers are good stuff"

today in history ::

• thomas edison shows his first motion picture in 1889

• lsd is declared illegal in the us in 1966. the beatles are devastated.

born today in history ::

• fannie lou hamer

• tony dungy

• ioan gruffudd

today's video of the day ::

more to come...

:: who knew diagramming sentences could be this fun?

my least favorite part of english class, in all my years in school, has to be diagramming sentences. i hated it. i never really understood why you had to do it. i still don't understand why it was so important. i guess it was supposed to show me how to better construct sentences, but it really just irritated me.

something else that irritates me :: sarah palin.

i just can't stand her. i don't know why, but when she starts talking every fiber of my being starts to cringe. some people just love her to death, but since the first time i heard her speak, the morning after the dnc, when she was nominated, i disliked her. maybe it's because she came right out of the gate and lied about so many things (she said "thanks but no thanks" to the bridge to nowhere? really?). maybe her attitude gets under my skin. maybe it's the fact that she just re-treads every speech and every joke and just runs it into the ground. maybe it's the fact that whenever she gives an interview she just strings key words together into some poor semblance of a sentence that makes no sense whatsoever, and people dismiss her answer as the result of a "trap question". maybe because i see her whole candidacy as a ploy by the republican base to make mccain seem interesting and to grab those women who feel disenfranchised by the democratic party since the end of hillary clinton's campaign for the presidency. maybe it's all of those reasons. she just irritates me.

but when i found this article, i had to chuckle. it's the combination sarah palin and diagramming sentences. someone actually took some sentences from sarah palin's interviews with katie couric and charlie gibson and attempted to diagram them. you can read the full article at that link, but here is the jist.

here is a quote from sarah palin ::

It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where—where do they go?

and here is the diagram of that "sentence" ::


here is another quote from sarah palin ::

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

and here is that diagram ::


wow. she can seriously make absolutely no sense sometimes. i'm glad that the sentences i had to diagram in high school were nowhere near this bad. i'd have to kill myself. did she just spit these words out as they came to her? did she even think about the sentence that she was constructing?

to be sure, barack obama and joe biden have made there share of verbal gaffes. obama misstated the number of years he'd been married, saying 15 instead of 16. he also misstated that he'd visited 57 states instead of 47. biden recently said that theodore roosevelt wouldn't have gotten on the television during the depression, which is correct, essentially. mostly because roosevelt wasn't the president during the depression, and the television hadn't been invented yet. blast away at those guys for those mistakes. but it seems like every week, every chance sarah palin gets, she says something stupid. i think that's why i'm so anxious to see the debate tonight. it's like a little game :: "follow sarah palin's meandering sentence construction". i hope you'll be playing along with me.

more to come...

:: a search engine blast from the past

here's something cool that i discovered. to celebrate google's tenth birthday, they have provided users the opportunity to take a quick search into the popular search engine's bank- exactly as it was in january 2001. you'll get all the results you would have gotten then. try searching for something recent. try sarah palin or 9/11. if you did this now you'd be bombarded with results. in 2001, i don't think you'd get a single link to the vice presidential candidate sarah palin, and in january 2001 the events of 9/11 had even occurred yet. it's strange to imagine what has changed in just a short amount of time. (ok, it's been 7, almost 8, years since that point in time. but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long, to me at least).

give it a try. i thought it was pretty interesting.

:: quick facts :: thursday, october 2

thursdays are always the longest day of the week for me. this one has been no different. there's lab at 11, social psych. at 12:30, and the whopper- my 3 hour behavior modification class. but i like that last class, so it's not so bad. plus, thursday is now my friday. from this point forward, i don't have any classes on fridays. this means more time to sit around and do nothing. it's great. but that's enough of that.

here are your quick facts ::

current time :: 5:55 pm

current location :: the apartment couch

current inside temp. :: 71°F

current outside temp. : a glorious 77°F

currently watching :: cnn news, debate prep.

fact :: i got my b-mod test back today. i scored a 93. ace!

what to watch :: i don't think you have much of a choice tonight. every channel, including abc, cbs, nbc, fox, cnn, fox news, msnbc, c-span, the discovery channel, the weather channel, mtv, bet, the nasa channel, comedy central and qvc will be showing the vice-presidential debate. this could be as good as the snl sketch!

what's rambling around in my head :: "jesus is a friend of mine". i can't get it out of my head. sorry you got addicted, corey...

number of days till 2009 :: 90

today in history ::

• charles schulz' peanuts comic is first published in 1950

born today in history ::

• groucho marx

• bud abbott

• george mcfarland (spanky, our gang/the little rascals)

• graham greene

• don mclean

• sting

• efren ramirez (pedro, napoleon dynamite)

your video of the day ::

more to come...

:: when comic meets comic

readers of the blog will know that i'm a fan of the news comedy duo of jon stewart and stephen colbert. i'm also a fan of comics, mainly superhero comics. corey, a frequent visitor and good friend, had a nice foray into the world of comic books while here in starkville (do you still keep that up? i thought it was cool.) and i made a trip down to the local comic book shop here in starkville with him once(admittedly, i went for the grand opening because there was free pizza and i was broke and could not fund a trip to taco bell). he's more of a green lantern fan, i'd probably be a bigger fan of batman/superman.

all that to say this :: i might soon own a copy of an upcoming spiderman comic. though not my favorite, i think i might have to make an exception in this case. why, you ask? because apparently stephen colbert will be teaming up the the webbed wonder in the next issue. you heard me right. stephen t. colbert and peter parker's arachnid-enhanced alter-ego will grace the same pages in comic book form. they even have pictures...




the story (which you can read here doesn't give too much information, but it doesn't need too. all it needs is that picture and i'm in. i don't know if this will be awesome or corny, but i'm intrigued to find out.

what do you think? love it or loathe it? think spiderman sucks? think colbert is awesome? let me know.

more to come...

:: the new rick roll

roll over, rick astley! there's a new sheriff in town, and this video has a great jesus message too! that's right, i'm talking about the next internet phenomena entitled "jesus is a friend of mine" by the band sonseed. wow. this song will get stuck in your head, i promise. it's got everything the original rick roll had ::

• a strange musician

• a strange song

• the power of hypnosis over its viewers, causing an inability to turn away

plus, it adds

• ska

• pink backgrounds

• a strange guitarist

• the line "he is like a mounty / he always gets his man / and he'll zap you anyway he can / zap!

• the gospel

you'll just have to watch it...

ok, snap out of it! come back to me! stay with me! avert your eyes!

what did you think? all i'm saying is, the link for that video is :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8&NR=1. next time you're chatting with someone on aim or msn, just insert that link...

it should be noted that david crowder recently covered this song in one of the services at ubc in waco...

and i have to say, i don't hate it...

more to come... hopefully no more of that.

:: quick facts :: wednesday, october 1

today i've been running on little sleep, so things have all kinda run together. i've been sitting on the couch listening to podcasts and playing tiger woods golf 07, and looking through a stack of quantitative articles for my behavior science writing class. i did get a chance to watch gilmore girls, full house, and without a trace this morning. that was good.

lets get to quick facts ::

the time is currently :: 4:21 pm

the tv is currently displaying :: around the horn (my back-up 4 o'clock show, still morning the loss of seinfeld in this block)

the price of a gallon of gas in starkville :: holding steady at $3.56

the current outside temp. is :: a balmy 75°F

today in the news ::

• the first steamboat to sail the mississippi river arrives in new orleans, louisiana in 1811

• thomas edison opens the first electric lamp factory in 1880

• the los angeles times building is bombed in 1910

• mensa is founded in the uk in 1946

• mao zedong decleared the president of the people's republic of china in 1949

• "in god we trust" first appears on american paper currency in 1957

• nasa is created to replace naca in 1958

• walt disney world opens near orlando, florida in 1971

• muhammad ali defeats joe frazier in "the thrilla in manila" in 1975

• the epcot center opens at walt disney world in 1982

• sony lanuches the first consumer compact disc player in 1982

born today in history ::

• william boeing

• walter matthau

• jimmy carter

• william rehnquist

• tom bosley

• julie andrews

• stephen collins

• mark mcgwire

your video of the day :: yeah, i know, another daily show video. if jon stewart would just stop being so consistently right and funny, i could post other videos...

more to come...