My first nephew arrived yesterday, a bit late but healthy and complete. Hurray for the proud parents and grandparents- I look forward to meeting the little fellow soon. He shares a birthday with both my bandmate Mike L. and my mother. What a lovely day!
Today is Leah's birthday- happy birthday sweetheart! I get to visit her tomorrow and treat her to Massive Attack. I hope to stop by Tokyo Rebel while I'm in town, it will be my first trip to the store.
Lucie and I watched Whip It again together last night. I'm so in love with that silly movie.
The new Dead Weather album, Sea of Cowards, is out today and I can't get enough.
Is it bedtime yet? Not quite. What a shame.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Mem'ries
This article in the Daily Press has made me sentimental.
Video Update was my very first place of employment. They opened a store right near my house when I was about 17 years old and I couldn't have been happier. I must have spent two hours walking around that place on the day they opened. I immediately applied for a job but was unable to be hired until I turned 18 thanks to their "back room" movies.
Within a week of my 18th birthday I went to apply for a job at Video Update. The staff knew me pretty well by then thanks to my movie habit. I was hired quickly and was given a red polo shirt with the Video Update logo.
Although it could be boring, Video Update was an outstanding part time job. I really loved that place. My supervisors, Penny & Vera, were cool ladies. I got along with almost every person I worked with and we generally had a good time. We got free movie rentals so the minimum wage paycheck didn't seem too shabby to me.
The worst part of the job was a duty called "moving the wall". This little joy of a chore was when you had to make room for new cassettes (yup, this was still the day of VHS cassette tapes, DVDs were just arriving for rental when I left the job) on the new release wall. I would have to scoot tapes over and make room for new videos. Sounds easy but it's a huge pain in the ass to space tapes out evenly. Usually this required moving several hundred VHS tapes over by just one or two spaces. It was a ridiculously tedious chore and my friends would stop in and make fun of me whenever they knew that I was having to move the wall.
The BEST part of the job was the "back room" movie stocking. We wouldn't receive particular titles or special requests, we would simply receive a large brown box full of random unsorted VHS tapes. Several employees would have to go through the tapes and label them and stock them. The titles were incredible (I remember such gems as "Canadian Beaver Hunt", "Ass Ventura, Crack Detective" and "Doin' the Butthole Boogie"). No, I didn't make up those names, those were 100% real movie titles. I would spend hours just crying with laughter and writing down titles to share with friends. We got to scope out all of the people renting dirty movies, including some upstanding citizens from local governments and church who were checking out interesting and questionable films.
This back room was an endless source of entertainment. Also, it's where I found "The Opening of Misty Beethoven", my favorite adult film (and one of my favorite films, period) that ended up really changing my life and the way I saw adult cinema. But that's another story.
So reading the article that the last of the Video Updates (which would later become Movie Scene) is closing its doors forever brought a little tear to my eye and made me feel sentimental. The store where I once worked shut its doors last year and that was a sad day for me. At least I have happy memories, but I'm sad knowing that my fallback job is no longer secure and that I'll be really screwed if I leave my current job as I have no video shop to return to.
Video Update was my very first place of employment. They opened a store right near my house when I was about 17 years old and I couldn't have been happier. I must have spent two hours walking around that place on the day they opened. I immediately applied for a job but was unable to be hired until I turned 18 thanks to their "back room" movies.
Within a week of my 18th birthday I went to apply for a job at Video Update. The staff knew me pretty well by then thanks to my movie habit. I was hired quickly and was given a red polo shirt with the Video Update logo.
Although it could be boring, Video Update was an outstanding part time job. I really loved that place. My supervisors, Penny & Vera, were cool ladies. I got along with almost every person I worked with and we generally had a good time. We got free movie rentals so the minimum wage paycheck didn't seem too shabby to me.
The worst part of the job was a duty called "moving the wall". This little joy of a chore was when you had to make room for new cassettes (yup, this was still the day of VHS cassette tapes, DVDs were just arriving for rental when I left the job) on the new release wall. I would have to scoot tapes over and make room for new videos. Sounds easy but it's a huge pain in the ass to space tapes out evenly. Usually this required moving several hundred VHS tapes over by just one or two spaces. It was a ridiculously tedious chore and my friends would stop in and make fun of me whenever they knew that I was having to move the wall.
The BEST part of the job was the "back room" movie stocking. We wouldn't receive particular titles or special requests, we would simply receive a large brown box full of random unsorted VHS tapes. Several employees would have to go through the tapes and label them and stock them. The titles were incredible (I remember such gems as "Canadian Beaver Hunt", "Ass Ventura, Crack Detective" and "Doin' the Butthole Boogie"). No, I didn't make up those names, those were 100% real movie titles. I would spend hours just crying with laughter and writing down titles to share with friends. We got to scope out all of the people renting dirty movies, including some upstanding citizens from local governments and church who were checking out interesting and questionable films.
This back room was an endless source of entertainment. Also, it's where I found "The Opening of Misty Beethoven", my favorite adult film (and one of my favorite films, period) that ended up really changing my life and the way I saw adult cinema. But that's another story.
So reading the article that the last of the Video Updates (which would later become Movie Scene) is closing its doors forever brought a little tear to my eye and made me feel sentimental. The store where I once worked shut its doors last year and that was a sad day for me. At least I have happy memories, but I'm sad knowing that my fallback job is no longer secure and that I'll be really screwed if I leave my current job as I have no video shop to return to.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Awww dangit all
I'm trying to get my obsessions under control, but then I just saw this and I think my problems are just beginning.
This is outstanding.
This is outstanding.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
idle chatter
Every time Malcolm McDowell comes up in conversation, I get a little wistful, a little fluttered and all blushed up. Sigh.
Excited
Girl in a Coma is less than one week away and I'm getting excited...
Here's the mini site for their new cover song EPs. I recommend listening to their version of Bowie's "As The World Falls Down", they really nail it.
Here's the mini site for their new cover song EPs. I recommend listening to their version of Bowie's "As The World Falls Down", they really nail it.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
po
I want to go hear Phoenix tonight but I spent up all my money on Massive Attack, The Buzzcocks and Girl in a Coma. Ah well, I did what I had to do.
Word on the web is that the baby above is packed and maybe on its way from Gallery 1988 CA to my doorstep right now. That'll be my prized baby now. I'll have to find a special place for her. Oh, and she's probably the main reason I'm strapped, but she'll be worth it, I'm sure.
After that, I was trying so hard to behave but then I saw this guy and I couldn't resist.
These babies'll be the end of me. And what a fun it will be! That reminds me, I need to post a pic of my happy new office, too...
Word on the web is that the baby above is packed and maybe on its way from Gallery 1988 CA to my doorstep right now. That'll be my prized baby now. I'll have to find a special place for her. Oh, and she's probably the main reason I'm strapped, but she'll be worth it, I'm sure.
After that, I was trying so hard to behave but then I saw this guy and I couldn't resist.
These babies'll be the end of me. And what a fun it will be! That reminds me, I need to post a pic of my happy new office, too...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
random stories and musings
Those who know me are aware that I love stories, especially true ones. There's nothing quite like the unbelievable truth. Here are some brief random bits and pieces that I've picked up over the past few weeks that are all true.
I nearly set our kitchen on fire when I left tortilla chips in the oven for too long. I did this because I got sidetracked when I discovered that I would have to report for jury duty on my final assigned day. I had to make several phone calls in order to get someone to work for me. Meanwhile, the tortilla chips became little flaming black lumps of coal. My husband grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. The fire extinguisher emits a powdery chemical that in turn coated every surface in three rooms. We spent hours cleaning up chemical powder. All the food was ruined and we ended up having to go out for dinner.
I had to report for jury duty. The case was somewhat farcical - it centered around a marijuana dealer who had been arrested nearly 2 years ago. Three hours were spent selecting the jury. I decided to go in with a positive attitude and treat it as "life experience". As it turns out, this day was quite revelatory as I discovered that I have prejudices that prevent me from serving on a jury. It's not at all what you might think (I was not even aware myself). Turns out I don't trust police officers. Don't trust 'em, don't like 'em. The judge actually brought me in for questioning by himself and the attorneys after the courtroom was cleared of all jurors and police officers. The prosecuting attorney questioned me and I answered with sincere honesty. I was quickly struck from the jury list, though the defense attorney and his team thought I was perfect.
My husband has a coworker who is in the process of buying a townhouse. She narrowed it down to three townhouses. Each townhouse was very similar and all were within $1000 of the same price. She eventually selected one. I would think that she might consider parking, might meet the neighbors, etc, when making a final decision. She chose a unit based on the staircase. Each townhouse had two stories and each had a staircase between the floors. The unit she chose has a small landing in the middle of the staircase. She figured that if she falls down the stairs, she would have a shorter distance to fall. This was the main factor in the decision to buy her townhouse.
My guitar instructor plays in a covers band (I have never heard them). He was telling me that they were going to play a show but that it was indefinitely postponed. The reason for this is because the bass player shot his own finger off. The guy was on his lunch break and decided to use the opportunity to clean his gun. He got in his pickup truck and started the cleaning process when he got distracted and made a mistake. The gun went off and blew off the majority of his finger, then the bullet ricocheted off the sideview mirror and shot out into the busy boulevard nearby. Fortunately no one was injured except Mr. Clean My Gun In My Truck. The man now might be able to play again in 8 months or so. Meanwhile, the doctors are apparently taping the gnarled up remainder of his finger to the adjacent finger with the the idea that the damaged finger will fuse and start growing tissue again. My guitar teacher kept referring to the muscle and tissue as "meat". He was on and on about how the guy blew all the meat off of his finger and how they are trying to get the finger to grow more meat. I laughed throughout the entire story though it was not told to me for comic effect. I just kept apologizing for laughing but he didn't seem to mind that I found this to be hilarious.
That's all for now. I'll post more little stories sometime soon.
I nearly set our kitchen on fire when I left tortilla chips in the oven for too long. I did this because I got sidetracked when I discovered that I would have to report for jury duty on my final assigned day. I had to make several phone calls in order to get someone to work for me. Meanwhile, the tortilla chips became little flaming black lumps of coal. My husband grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. The fire extinguisher emits a powdery chemical that in turn coated every surface in three rooms. We spent hours cleaning up chemical powder. All the food was ruined and we ended up having to go out for dinner.
I had to report for jury duty. The case was somewhat farcical - it centered around a marijuana dealer who had been arrested nearly 2 years ago. Three hours were spent selecting the jury. I decided to go in with a positive attitude and treat it as "life experience". As it turns out, this day was quite revelatory as I discovered that I have prejudices that prevent me from serving on a jury. It's not at all what you might think (I was not even aware myself). Turns out I don't trust police officers. Don't trust 'em, don't like 'em. The judge actually brought me in for questioning by himself and the attorneys after the courtroom was cleared of all jurors and police officers. The prosecuting attorney questioned me and I answered with sincere honesty. I was quickly struck from the jury list, though the defense attorney and his team thought I was perfect.
My husband has a coworker who is in the process of buying a townhouse. She narrowed it down to three townhouses. Each townhouse was very similar and all were within $1000 of the same price. She eventually selected one. I would think that she might consider parking, might meet the neighbors, etc, when making a final decision. She chose a unit based on the staircase. Each townhouse had two stories and each had a staircase between the floors. The unit she chose has a small landing in the middle of the staircase. She figured that if she falls down the stairs, she would have a shorter distance to fall. This was the main factor in the decision to buy her townhouse.
My guitar instructor plays in a covers band (I have never heard them). He was telling me that they were going to play a show but that it was indefinitely postponed. The reason for this is because the bass player shot his own finger off. The guy was on his lunch break and decided to use the opportunity to clean his gun. He got in his pickup truck and started the cleaning process when he got distracted and made a mistake. The gun went off and blew off the majority of his finger, then the bullet ricocheted off the sideview mirror and shot out into the busy boulevard nearby. Fortunately no one was injured except Mr. Clean My Gun In My Truck. The man now might be able to play again in 8 months or so. Meanwhile, the doctors are apparently taping the gnarled up remainder of his finger to the adjacent finger with the the idea that the damaged finger will fuse and start growing tissue again. My guitar teacher kept referring to the muscle and tissue as "meat". He was on and on about how the guy blew all the meat off of his finger and how they are trying to get the finger to grow more meat. I laughed throughout the entire story though it was not told to me for comic effect. I just kept apologizing for laughing but he didn't seem to mind that I found this to be hilarious.
That's all for now. I'll post more little stories sometime soon.
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