Saturday, August 1, 2009

To Your Left There is a Window. Open it. Use the Scaffold to get to the Roof.


Saturday has ended. Talk about a natural depressant; nothing quite takes the edge off of a nice mood like the cold realization that Saturday has ended. Although, on a hot Summer's evening, a cold realization is pretty refreshing... often better than a nice glass of ice water.

Well, at least today was productive. Got some things done for Piranha and for the rug shop, and also went to RebJo's party, which was very pleasant. Good conversation, good food, good clean fun for the whole family. No drunken brawls, no violent arguments, no police streaming through the front door with tazer guns drawn... that will be two weeks from now, at my party...

I considered having a birthday party for my birthday (coincidentally enough) this year, but ultimately rejected it, since my anti-social bent got the better of my desire for gifts and adulation. The idea of a party is more appealing than the actual event, for me. So after considering the idea of a party, I calmly and quietly rejected it. But tonight, wifey had a terrific suggestion. Call it a birthday Scrabble tournament, and invite people over to play Scrabble! We'll get maybe 4 boards and set up some spots where people can pair up and play some Scrabble, then rotate winners, etc., and give out prizes, etc. That way the focus is taken off of me and sort of spread around a bit more. I thought that was a killer idea, so I said, "Rack 'em up! Let's go for it!"

A friend of mine from church has apparently been practicing a lot of Scrabble the past few weeks with the intent of handing me a thorough beating. Well, I'll definitely invite her, and we can have a Scrabble Throw-Down. I guess the problem will be figuring out who to invite... on the one hand, it would make sense to invite just people that want to play Scrabble. On the other hand, you can't invite one person without inviting the whole family... and on a third hand (if we were using a mutant in this discussion), how do I find out who among my acquaintances enjoys Scrabble, so I know the best people to invite? I don't mean "best" like they play better than others, I mean "best" as in people who actually enjoy playing as opposed to people that just want to come because it's a party and don't want to be left out. And on a fourth hand...

Very hot, very hot! This night... this night is happening!

Elsewhere in the world, innumerable people have nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, trying to survive another night... and I'm agonizing over the details of a Scrabble party... who to invite, what to serve to eat, who I should let beat me... ah, there's nothing like a little self-absorption to blind oneself to the harsh realities of life... I'm leaning towards sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play... now, where's that golden calf...

I watched the first half of Apocalypse Now on Thursday night. I honestly think I may have never even seen it before... absolutely nothing is even remotely familiar to me - and that's 90 minutes into the movie, with over 90 more to go... I thought for sure I saw it when I was younger, but it doesn't even ring a bell... don't get me wrong, it's a strong, well-made film (not for the squeamish or easily-offended), I just thought I'd at least be going "oh, right, I remember this part".

Random Cool Video: Tornado vs Train



Gnarly. Like my impression of Sean Connery, which is also gnarly. "You call this archeology?" See? That's a pretty gnarly impression, isn't it? "When we're done with you, you'll be able to slaughter your enemies like civilized men." Not bad, eh? Yeah, I've been working on it for years now to get it just right like that... "The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time." True dat.

Todayve in History: August 2
-----------------------------------
- August 2, 1790: The first US Census is conducted. (Took them a long time... they were still using Roman numerals back then...)

- August 2, 1870: The world's first subway opens in London.

- August 2, 1934: Hitler becomes the Fuhrer of Germany. (I demand a recount!)

- August 2, 1937: Marijuana and all it's byproducts officially becomes illegal in the US. (High Definition: What you find when you look up 'marijuana' in the dictionary.)

And in the Extreme Reach of the Day, in honor of Alexander Graham Bell's death on August 2, 1922, I give you the subway fight scene from The Matrix.



You see, the way the characters traveled into and out of the Matrix was through the phone lines, see... and Bell invented the phone, see...

Anyway, that's that. I have a pretty full day tomorrow, so I'm going to bail now. Still have to read before bedtime, so I'm out. Until tomorrow, remember, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?

11 comments:

Krista said...

I know you just sent my invitation out, right? LOL!

Good Luck with that Party, and I hope you enjoy yourself! Happy Birthday!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh Boy!!..alphabet soup and jumbleya...and birthday kake..[did I spell that right?]..I'm there...

Dave-O a.k.a. Chimpo said...

SIR, i bow in your great mercy for the leave of absence, this time not caused by the military but own personal life. Please forgive me I throw thy self at your pitty (no, not your pits) Great stuff as usual hopefully i can get out of this rut and work on my blog some but if I did it right not it would be filled with so much hate and discontent I probely wouldn't even want to re-read it LOL. ANywho keep'em comeing sir. Look forward to you many other blogs,

Dave-O a.k.a. Chimpo said...

Oh forgot, Apocalypse now deff not for the squeamish but the book wasn't wrote way before the Vietnam conflict but it was the perfect war to base it on, interesting huh?

Sodi said...

ok this picture at the top wins. Omg, it looks like a winter wonderland. Or perhaps a witch's castle, or a place where they hide the princess. I love that picture. It's pron not even a snowy place though huh? Its just black and white. Anyway, I would totally go there. Perhaps you should invite people that enjoy scrabble and those whom want to celebrate you. Because technically those are the two things the party is about. But still, would be hard to decipher who to invite.

Abbie said...

a scrabble party sounds like the bomb!! but what about boggle too?? don't you really that game as well?
we missed you guys today! oh, and I have maggies glasses and katies ipod sleeve...

David Wagner said...

Krista, thx, I assume it will be a hoot. I may make it an annual thing...

As always, Dave-O, you are THE MAN. I hope life improves for you.

Shannon: I loved that pic when I first saw it too, even though I later found out it was an infra-red photo, which I normally roll my eyes over. Still, I liked it enough to keep it... it has a great feel to it, infrared notwithstanding...

Abbie, true, I am the Boggle King... whereas with Scrabble, I am good but not awesome... so it should be a pretty even playing field, which will be more fun for everyone, myself included (I hope)... I trust you'll be there!

Anonymous, tell me who you are, so I can invite you! Provided you live in SoCal...

havah said...

That's an awesome birthday party idea, Dave! Can I steal it for next year? Please? :)

Very cool train clip. Makes me wonder why I would bother hiding in a windowless room during a tornado. Anyway...my question is: The camera was out there on the roof, why?

You know, I don't remember much about The Matrix except that I enjoyed it and it had cool visual effects. So now I have a question...if the laws of physics don't apply, why do they get hurt when they fight? :-/

Abbie said...

To Your Left There is a Window. Open it. Use the Scaffold to get to the Roof. = the matrix... of course lol :D

and of course, i'd love to be at your party :D

David Wagner said...

5 points for Abbie.

Courtney M. said...

Matrix...too easy