Living Vicariously

Christmas 2009

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:56:36 GMT

Hope everyone had a passable-to-great Christmas! As always, my family and I did. Plenty of presents, lots of good food (cheesy hash browns, pasta salad, a salty ham!), and handful of laughs.

Here's what I made out with:

Oh god yes.

Dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion on vinyl. My first reviewed album on Discography!

UNO - Christmas edition, a Best Buy gift card, and a total surprise of a Noodles & Company giftcard! Man, I love that place.

Here's the gatefold of the Dredg LP. The sleeves the actual vinyl is held in do NOT fit properly inside, sadly. But...

All is forgiven -it is marbled vinyl!

My studio condenser mic! This will be great for any podcasts I do or anything requiring voice overs. My main reason for targeting this particular mic will be coming up shortly.

A present for Bry! It was Pikmin for Wii. Spoilers.

Dead Space: Extraction on Wii. This one is multiplayer! I <3 the original Dead Space.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for PS3. Yeah, this game is amazing.

Engineers - s/t. Haven't got the chance to listen to this one yet but I loved 2009's "Three Fact Fader".

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories soundtrack!

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Wii. It's a re-imagining of 1999's cult PS1 favorite.

FINALLY someone got me Donkey Kong Jenga! Haha, I didn't even ask for it and I got it.

My mic! It's USB-enabled. Haven't tried it out yet.

Anglagard - "Hybris". I've been after this one for YEARS. It's been out of print for quite some time, reaching stupid prices on eBay. Now it's a reissued import.

What is this?

My beautiful new acoustic guitar. One of my resolutions for the new year is to truly learn how to play this thing. It sounds so good.

Mr. Kelly likes it.

That's the model.

'sup?

My cuddly little Christmas kitty!

Here's the main thing I got my parents - it's a photobook containing our two vacations this year.

First section is Florida 2009, second is Las Vegas 2009. Red Rock had so many quality photos to use. It was truly a joy to put this together - Snapfish.com is where it's at, people.

My uncle Adam posing on the rock.

And on the back I put an image of The Missing Link that walked by me poolside in Vegas.

32gig iPod Touch! Totally did NOT see this coming. Nor did I know how to feel about it until...

I started fiddling around with it. I've never really cared much for handheld devices outside of Nintendo Gameboy/GBA/DS. But I can watch YouTube videos on this? I can surf the web, browse Facebook, update my Twitter with inane things at 4AM? Wait a minute...

PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION!? ON MY iPod? Sold. Sold x30.

I am on Living Vi-by god-cariously on my iPod! It loaded everything but the Blip.Tv stuff. And the internet's interface is so smooth. Zooming in is easy and for web forums it auto-zooms in the forum sections. It's smart!

Facebook! I've never bought into the hype of the brand name iPod, but a quality device is a quality device. I really like it.

It even has a decent adaption of Silent Hill with horrible controls! The Metal Gear Touch game is pretty fun, even if it's just like an HD flash game. Konami has theirs on sale for .99 each so I took advantage.

Shhh.

Oh yeah, it also plays music LOL. I definitely prefer Zune's way of doing it but this screen is much bigger and the whole touch gimmick actually works well most of the time.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene is such a perfect use of touch screen gaming. This game is totally stylish without bastardizing what makes Space Invaders so much fun. Between this one and Space Invaders Extreme, I am a happy retro gamer right now. Mega Man 10 in 2010 FTW.

Bry got this for me! Now I have all 3 volumes! This one has his review of the Intellivision (<3 Intellivision), Mario 3, Bible Games 2, a three-part series on the CD-i, Virtual Boy, and a bunch more. 3 discs of boner inducing action.

So yeah, as you can see lots of good stuff. I got my mic, my guitar, my new camera, my new laptop, turntable, and my HD camcorder this year. Check this out: http://livingvicarious.livejournal.com/44925.html Nearly one year TO THE DAY and I achieved my goal. I bought the laptop and camera myself, helped out on the HD camcorder, and received the turntable and guitar as gifts. I'm truly grateful to have these things and will make good use out of all of them in the coming years. Couple that with a new car I got over the late Summer and I made out like a bandit this year. Everything is ready for the next step: 2010.

January 1st marks the first day in my new life. I will be making an honest effort to get a decent job, I will make weight loss mandatory, and everything will hopefully come to fruition by the summer.

Currently in que for Living Vicariously: 2 articles by years end, new video project in January, random small updates, and perhaps a 2009 overview soon? We'll see.

New Years update in a few days. Hope everyone had a nice holiday.

-Kyle

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:16:23 GMT

Men are manipulative pigs.

"House of Mirrors"

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:07:47 GMT

"House of Mirrors"
Written on December 19th, 2009
K.J

When push came to shove I met the wall
and bounced right back; stationary.
Rigid in my ways I met her gaze, sighed
but could not make a noise.
Only by kissing ground was anguish made obvious,
I digest the floor with a murmur.
Tonal chasms part both ears.
(In)secured inside a house of mirrors
where sounds resonate, reflecting omissions.
Nowhere to run.
What have I done?
When push came to shove I met myself.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:11:57 GMT

"Dichotomy"
Written on December 18th, 2009
K.J

Salvager, salvage and collect
Every shimmer and shine and all you have left
Unattainable beams shatter the skyline at whim
carriers of false grandeur so narrow and thin.
And yet we wait. Idle tired hands. We wait.

My fingers gently sifted the mist of aurora
Defusing invisible fibers of callous euphoria
The floor in which I stand has risen above
Gravitational pull, unobtainable love
Fragments rain. Ceilings crash. Causing strain. Whiplash.

But the glass falls for thee. Not me.

I wake from my slumber only to find
that all that is living has left me behind.

Florida Vacation: 2009

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:26:04 GMT

The internet access in our room was designated only to the master bedroom for some reason.
No wireless? That's so 2003. So in other words, I couldn't do my usual post-by-night
deal. No biggie since we tried to cram a full week into 5 nights, and the amount of time free
was nil and exhaustion was an understatement. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge again.
This time it was a smaller branch of the resort with a view of the parking lot opposed to
that of, say, giraffes and zebras. The room kind of made up for it, though: 3 bathrooms, 2
bedrooms, a full kitchen & living room, complimented with a walk-out balcony connecting
all the rooms. It was NICE. I took a bunch of pictures and shot like 40-50 gigs of video
so I'll have my hands full for the next month. Got all the pics edited, thankfully.

And here they are! All of 'em in one convenient post. I bought a camera a few months back.
It's nothing fancy (in fact it ran me only $100 after coupons, sales, etc) but it's a huge
improvement over my old Kodak.

This is our room. It's lit to create mood so it was fairly dim and that made it
a challenge to get a good picture. Seen here is part of the kitchen and dining area aka
laptop station.

Waiting in line for Toy Story Mania. This was our last day (and by last day I literally mean
we had to rush back to pack our stuff and catch the plane). My mom's back has been acting up
so she was able to get a pass that let us get ahead in line. The wait was still a good 10-15
minutes.

Nothing wakes you up at 7AM like jerking around (OH LAWD!) in the Toy Story Mania ride. You
get to wear these TUBULAR and RADICAL 3D glasses while you shoot balls/hoops on this crazy
interactive ride. It's so much fun.

This is right before you get on the ride. If you've seen my coverage last year you might
remember all the neat old school toys they have laid out while you wait in line. It's
quite impressive how it's all done.

I barely remember this game.

This was my high score for the trip (we rode it twice). The leaderboards are displayed as
you exit the ride. There's some impossibly high score already at 7AM that I came shy 100,000
some odd points of. I'm guessing someone used a Game Genie.

This is outside in Pixar land. You'll see all kinds of this creative stuff while here.

This dreary scene made up our last day and a half of the vacation.

An alleged "African breakfast buffet" with mostly common breakfast foods and fruits. Quite
delicious! That place has the tastiest fruit juice.

The arcade down the hall in our hotel fell victim to the blue screen of death!

Ahhhh memories.

Me sucking balls at Donkey Kong Jr. I'm a bit rusty.

Joust! A bit atypical nowadays.

LOL

That air hockey table has a revolution feature. What is it? Is it 3 pucks at once? Lighted
effects? Lasers? Nope, it has guards on the doo-hickies so you don't bang up your hand.

My cat sleeping, post-vacation.

Our hotel has cartoons playing in the lobby. All the kids sitting down to watch some old
Disney toons gave me a 1960s family vibe.

A heated pool we didn't go in. This picture doesn't capture the steam well enough.

Stairway to Sanctuary - night time edition. I took this pic in the light last time.

We finally have an updated caricature! Our other one was from 1998 at Sea World.

These are just in-progress shots. He colored it and we framed it.

Rice Crispy Mickie! Soooooo good.

My uncle and I's bedroom. I'm farthest from the window. I took any advantage I had to
catch a few Zs.

It's a Small World!

It's a boat!

It's a shame the ride broke down and we were stranded for 20 minutes!

This bottle is misleadingly delicious.

Hot wing pizza! I think I prefer the Red Baron variation more actually, but still - yum.

This thing was HUGE. Tinker toys are all over the place in Disney.

Goofy's Candy Factory may cause cavities just by entering. It's that good. Don't believe me?

Err wait. Forgot about that one.

Dipped bananas or something.

Jelly bean madness! The price for a full pound was something crazy like $12. But you had
lots of variety.

I should've bought some anyhow.

YUM. You can get things custom made, too.

Fudge and brownies! I bought the orange dreamsicle flavor and haven't looked back since.

*drools*

My uncle and I stumbled upon a $10 and under store. Inside was a hilariously inappropriate
collection of plastic knives. Who uses this, Donald Duck?

OH SNAP!

I made sure to represent the hood at Disney World with my sunflower hat.

EATS.

This stuff was chilled greatness.

I watch you while you sleep.

My dad on the teacups. Me, Matt and him rode it and hardly fit in the damn cup!

Enjoying that nice Floridian weather with ponchos and umbrellas AMIRITE?

Dumbo goes airborne in a rainstorm. It got BAD out by the time we saddled up.

The Mushroom Kingdom of Magic.

It's a Small World...uhh, again! Yeah, I uploaded these all over the place. I love this shot.

This one, too.

This one, too! We ate at this nice Italian place. Prior to dinner you get a sample of various
breads and a cup of olives. I guess that's customary? Quite good.

My bloody cheesecake.

One cool thing about my new camera is that it can shoot in pitch dark and get shots like
this.

This particular fire pit was in the middle of the animals!

My Uncle Matt turned sea captain?

Protip: Wait for your rocking chair to stock a-rockin' before taking a picture at night.

A mysterious van pulled up to these animals and gave them food to eat.

I would kill to own a machine like this one day! All top caliber classics.

Now this game was COOL. You get a physical red ball. You take the ball, throw it underhand
like a real bowling ball and as it travels down the actual lane, it goes down a virtual
lane in real time. My hat's off to whomever made this machine - it's fun!

Yes, there is an arcade adaption of Guitar Hero. Fun fact: the whole Guitar Hero concept
was ripped straight out of the arcades. I played some Mastodon and learned how awful I am
at music games.

This machine sucked. I hate those 2-claws.

My uncle put a cigarette in this man's mouth.

All of us at the bar in our resort. Cool little place.

The Earth tour! I love this "ride" as it's quite informative and interesting.

They house the fish and alligator tanks in this red room.

Various harvest.

These were titled "world's hottest peppers."

9 pound lemons, and that's not a sexual innuendo.

Even the folks at the green house celebrate Christmas!

Cacti.

Ever wonder what is inside the big Epcot golf ball? Well...it's this. It's a ride that takes
you through human advancements. VERY COOL ride, except for the 3 times it broke down. I
actually got stuck in the physical internet. I tried to log-off but failed. They must be
using IE.

On our way to dinner.

These things are on our ceiling in the lobby.

Pluto!

Fire!

I shoot Christmas cards, apparently.

Another part of our resort. This was a quiet rest area.

That fireplace came in handy on rainy nights.

Even Ms. Pacman was present at the Animal Kingdom!

My uncle playing the bowling game.

Morning, on our way to hopefully breakfast/lunch.

My uncle was actually one of the few people wearing those ears!

Ah, there's that lunch I was talking about. That sandwich was most excellent but...

FULL MOON COMBO, BITCH!

It even came with wasabi and ginger. Man, do I love sushi.

I SED DIS

It's the light show!

Truly amazing.

The lights dance around to music.

The fake wall in Hollywood Studios.

Peace On Earth: a totally green message.

More fakeness! Very cool.

Planet Hollywood. Meh.

It has Arnie, though!

A horrible shot of a delicious banana split.

It was storming outside.

Earlier in the day I saw some poor giraffes hiding under a palm tree.

I can't believe I was able to get these shots. It was so dark.

This squirrel was finding a place to bury his walnut.

Rock candy - as unhealthy as it sounds!

Uncle & mom.

Me waiting for the bus.

Oh man, this mini-golf course was a blast. I'm so glad we got to do it before it stormed
the following day.

These little lizards were everywhere. They kept crawling on different platforms.

You even get a free golf ball and for some reason a keychain sharpie just for finishing
the 18 holes! It's themed for winter and the last 3 holes were specifically crafted for
Christmas (one had Santa falling down a chimney that could knock your ball off).

Bwhahaha!

It's a golf ball!

Santa left his sleigh unattended.

Nothing like golfing on a snowy golf course in 70-80 degree weather.

I got to visit the Japanese store right next to Teppan Edo. I guess in Japan for the
noodles they drain all the water. I refused to do this and promptly DIED after consumption.

I found a butterfly moth guy!

Donald Duck in cross-dressing gear.

This ride is pretty tame up until the end. It turns into a friggin' open road race course.
You so fast but it ends so shortly. I chose to take a picture of our picture.

Mom at the Italian place.

Dad at the Italian place.

Matt at the Italian place.

My caeser salad! Not used to the lettuce being in tact like that. Pretty good stuff. My dad
got this breaded pork chop that ruled my face off.

I AM A COKEHEAD! Christ, I hate Coke products now. I like Sprite and enjoy a Coca-cola now
and again but every. single. place. had the same 5 drinks. I drunk enough Diet Coke
to last a lifetime.

A bird perched on a merchandise stand. I saw one of these things cross the road, stealthily
approach a lizard and proceed to snap it up.

D.K. hangs to the left.

There's Expedition Everest. I hate the big sudden drops. Good ride, though.

Key Lime! I had a pulled pork sandwich beforehand that this fellow wanted to eat...

They bothered us last time but never before actually pecked at us. My dad was getting
livid for some reason. Must've needed a smoke break.

Coke bottle from Coke store! I love soda in bottles. Tastes so much better.

Attack of the Pikachus at the Japan store.

We never got to go to this part of the restaurant. If you've ever been to House of Kobe,
that's of the same frame we had.

"LOOK HOW LOUD I HAVE TO YELL!"

Day One: dead. If I only knew...

Waiting for the bus at the resort.

Love this candid of my mom and dad.

This same place had a parade. More on that later...

Just a little further.

It changes colors.

Here's that parade. Darkness + moving objects + hundreds of little light bulbs = the worst
possible scenario for photography. All my night shots look like bukkake.

We met Pooh!

We met Eeyore!

We met Tigger!

Tigger posed just for me! What a great guy.

Phew! That does it for pictures.

I have mixed feelings about this trip, actually. My uncle has never been to Disney so my mom
wanted to do EVERYTHING we could in 5 days. The result was a tedious lack of subtlety. What I
mean by that is that we couldn't really explore anywhere like last year. There was one point
where we took the the bus, walked all around Epcot to get to the Italian place, ate food,
walked all the way back around, took the bus, and left for the next place. Epcot is such
an unbelievably cool place with all of the world cultures. We got to experience, I dunno, maybe
15% of it. Any time I wanted to stop and look at something or take pictures I was rushed along.
It extracted the magic that is Disney World in all honesty. And my parents being kind of dare
I say "uncultured" made for a rough time. We more or less planned the trip around the Disney
Dining plan instead of our...well, my own curiosity. It was much different than last time,
unfortunately. The notable closing of Virgin Megastore was salt in the wounds.

There was another time where I stood in the exact same place (literally, since every inch had
people surrounding me) for a parade. The parade took well over a hour to start and 20-30
minutes to finish. The crowd afterward took another 20-30 minutes, and then the bus
took at least 30 minutes to even get on. It was a total nightmare of a night. We were all
run down and pissy by the time we got back, haha.

It did have many fun moments, all that said. Toy Story Mania is always fun. The Animal Kingdom
safari ride never fails to impress. Most of the food was very tasty. So I enjoyed myself. We
are talking about maybe doing a cruise next year instead. The only way I'll go back to Disney
is if we stay a full 7 days and take it slow. I'm not even kidding - we'd spend many hours
walking all around the parks, come back to the room for 20 minutes to "freshen up" and then
repeat the same. It was nuts.

One reallllllly relaxing thing we did was check out the hot tub. It was, of course, deserted
at night. Getting into that thing after a long day was rejuvenating. You can't appreciate a
hot tub properly unless you're worn out and sore.

Our pool also had a big half-pipe slide. You'd go to the top and wait for the green light, then
off you go. Lots of fun. I'd love to visit the water park next time. I haven't been to one in
gosh, YEARS. Noah's Ark was the last real water park I went to, and that's all the way in
Wisconsin Dells.

In the Epcot ball it asks you to sit still for a picture. You take the picture in your cart
and move along. Later on in the ride it asks you some questions on the type of person you
are. (One question asked what do you worry about more while away, your pet or your belongings
or something like that). Somebody, at the end of the ride, cuts your head out of the picture and puts it on this cartoon future world that is created based on your answers. My uncle
made glasses with his fingers and I made this weird ass face. It was so funny.

The Japan store is still the coolest store I've ever been to. You don't even have to be a
Japanophile or anime fan to enjoy it - I'm neither, and love just browsing around the clothes
and figurines. I bought some super tasty Japanese hard candy. To this day I cannot find
the starfruit flavored ones you get from Fuji. I looked all around. Oh man, they had every
single type of Pokemon you could imagine. I don't play the games but I recognize a ton of
them. They also had that behind the glass display for various toys and figures.

Our room could have fit probably double the people. The master bedroom has one huge bed.
Our second room had two separate beds sized smaller, but they could easily fit a couple
should the need arise. The living room couch and love seat fold out into a bed. So that's
a potential 8 people! That would bring the cost down for sure. It was nice to have a fridge
for leftovers and our drinks. I did a room tour to remember it so hopefully you'll see that
sometime soon.

Alright, I'm tired of typing now. Thanks for checking this out! Site update this weekend.

Living Vicariously 2

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:14:00 GMT

It's back and way bigger than before!
http://www.living-vicariously.net

I have to go to Florida in a few hours, but I made it a goal to get this site launched by
the end of November. I'm very satisfied with it so far. Please check it out and comment
if you'd like!

I might do the picture post thing here, I might not. I'm exhausted right now and can't
think straight. Lost an additional 2-3 pounds on Wii Fit. I'm making a then-and-now
video to help keep me motivated.

But yeah, Florida for the week. I'm sorry I'm going to miss your birthday, Bry! I got your
stuff already so we'll have to hang out soon. <3

Follow me on Twitter. @livingvicarious

Adios, see you in Florida!

Christmas list 2009

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:54:48 GMT

Aw ****, son!

Leaving for Florida early on Monday. Returning late on Saturday. Be sure to refresh my journal every 3 seconds (please don't waste my bandwidth, I'm only kidding) on Sunday, November 29th.

Wii Fit: Week 1

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:17:52 GMT

Lost 2 pounds. Not eating past midnight anymore. Snacking less. Drinking more water. Finding
it easier to breathe. Typing like that robot from OK Computer.

11.15 - "Echo"

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:06:38 GMT

"Echo"
Written on November 15h, 2009
K.J

In hindsight a dim light illuminated
the grim and foreshadowing hymn
Deja vu in shades of blue
etched in what's now the nub of a crayon

Wrote the antidote in volumes
stored in shelves stowed in twelve
A dozen articles inside the dungeon
and yet not a lesson learned

These extracts are intact subsisting
in the form of a specter deprived of warmth
It still lingers within the home until
a glimpse of reflection puts it at peace.

Misunderstood context withstood in vain
A disjunction of concord and dysfunction
routinely light embers annually in November
...the end result is always the same.

Wii Fit

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:12:15 GMT

Whoops!

I currently weigh 215 pounds. I plan to use Wii Fit 5-7 times a week for 30-45 minutes a day.
By Summer 2010 (June) my goal is to be back down to 180. From there ideally I'd get down to 160
to be in good shape again, but that's not my focus. You can lose around 7-8 pounds a month to
have a healthy weight loss that (theoretically) won't come back to haunt you as long as you
keep up with a more balanced diet and exercise. The period of time between December and June is
7 months. 7x7 = 49. Round that up to 50 pounds to lose. 215-50 = 165. That gives me about 15
pound leeway to reach my goal, which realistically won't always be 7 pounds a month. I'm sure
it'll be more like 5, but even then I'd reach my goal.

It's time for a change.

Things of Note

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:45:07 GMT

1) After spending one day a week all October on Silent Hill (the original PS1 version), and 3
days in a row this past week, I beat it! Game still creeps me out. The pixelated and muddy PS1
textures actually add to the atmosphere.You haven't heard the last of it from me.

2) I got my Visa card today, finally. Wahoo!

3) Speaking of 'wahoo', New Super Mario Bros Wii leaked all over the internets earlier today.
It comes out November 15th. Hmmmm...

4) I leave for Florida in about 3 weeks.

5) Have a PS3? Download Fat Princess. The online mode is well worth the $15 price tag.

6) I want an acoustic guitar and a middle-to-higher-end microphone for Christmas.

7) Living Vicariously is returning this month. Like, for real. For real real.

That's about it. I've been keeping myself creatively busy during all my time off thus far.

3 Years.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:45:49 GMT

Wings for Judith

I <3 Mattel

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:08:45 GMT

As most of my friends know, I've been collecting wrestling action figures for the past
12 years of my life. It's been a very fun hobby to keep up. I started out in May of 1997.
Once I got in high school I stopped playing with them and moved on to collecting/displaying
them. Jakks Pacific has been the company that has made these things for the past 13 years.
Starting on Janurary 1st, 2010, Mattel are taking over as the licensee of the WWE brand.

This entire year, Jakks has been incredibly unprofessional with the loss of the WWE license.
They've canceled sets, they've re-released the same exact figures multiple times to save on
costs, they've cheaped out in deco - sometimes going as far as to not even paint details on
these $10+ products, and have more or less destroyed the collector based line, Classic Superstars.
CS is a series that is aimed specifically at collectors like me. It's a nostalgic series of
superstars and personalities from the vivid history of professional wrestling, crossing over to
old school ECW, WCW, NWA, and old WWF. In the end, Jakks didn't want to spend the money to make
the people we were told they were going to make - the result is an incredibly uneventful and lame ending to a landmark series. It's really a shame.

Bring on Mattel. And bring on the first wave of 2-packs:

Effort - Mattel has it. Individual body sculpts? Details? Proper scaling? It's like
the exact opposite of Jakks. I can't wait to begin my Mattel collection next year!

Oh yeah, in the new Smackdown game you can record video footage and edit the camera
angles. In the PS3 version you can upload them to YouTube right from the PS3.

Here is a funny one that I made called "Cody's Bad Luck":

Balloon Boy Hoax

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:37:25 GMT

A concise list of why the Balloon Boy "incident" is a distasteful hoax:

1) The alleged basket/box. On YouTube there is a video of the Heene Family launching
the balloon. As it floats away there is no basket/box in sight, despite the father's
concern about Falcon (the little boy) being in a basket and the basket possibly falling
off. They launched the damn thing without the basket and released the footage of this to
the media. That's enough proof as it is.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmUoLEH9WGY )

2) The Larry King interview. Wolf Blitzer asks the family about the incident. He asks the
father to ask Falcon why he hid in the attic. Falcon said, "You guys said that we did this for the show." The father and mother seem to have premeditated crying points.

...as I write this CNN just broke news "they expect to file criminal charges in the near future in this case."

Wow. Just wow. this is awesome.

Virgin Megastore = dead

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:33:38 GMT

I just found out that several months ago Virgin Megastore went under. My Florida vacation is
coming up in late November. When I was in Disney last year, I went to Virgin Megastore like
5 times. I absolutely fell in love with the place. They housed all my favorite band's albums,
most of which are fairly obscure. They had all kinds of cool clothing and a huge video game
section. There was an upstairs area with books and videos and world music. It was an absolute
pleasure to be in that place. I stared at all the different vinyls, and to a certain degree
it sparked my interest in collecting vinyl records.

I did half my Christmas shopping there, too. I really, really, really enjoyed being there. Even
if the prices were a little high for certain items, so what? They had the goods. I was already
getting a list together of a bunch of music I wanted to check out and buy at that store for my
upcoming trip.

I remember the first time I went to one. It was in Chicago back in I believe the summer of 2005?
It may have even been 2004, it's been so long. Anyway, I was floored with the amount of stuff
they had. Getting my first Porcupine Tree album (In Absentia) there is a sentimental thing for
me. Everything changed after that.

So now what? Well, in Florida there's a place called Park Ave CDs. It's widely known around as
a nice independent record store. "We Lost the Skyline", an acoustic performance by PT, was
performed there, even. It's in Orlando...but it's a 40 minute drive - renting a car just
for that isn't gonna happen. Shit.

This sucks.

Secret Girlfriend

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:42:54 GMT

Here's my review of the new Comedy Central tv show, Secret Girlfriend:

It sucks.

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:43:16 GMT

Today I overestimated the spirit of mankind for the last time.

Out of work

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:22:25 GMT

Movie Gallery (next to Town & Country) closed down today. I am out of a job as of Monday,
September 28th. I have worked at Movie Gallery since early November of 2007, so nearly 2 years.
I go into tomorrow (today) at 9AM until about 5-6PM to finish up the store. The following day
I help get boxes on a truck and after that happens it's all over.

I first got the news around 3-4PM. Bry was working and she texted me that the store was closing.
Then she called me in 2 hours early to come help. By the time I got there the doors were locked,
a notice was on the door, and things were already being counted up. We spent all of today taking
care of concession items and booking movies in preparation for Saturday morning.

After work we went out with Amber, her boyfriend Tony, and Erick. I've never had a problem
resisting vices but tonight probably would've been nice to break 'edge' for once. I opted
for a chocolate chip sundae instead.

My manager is at her son's wedding this week. What a fabulous time to break the news that the
store she's been working at for like 15 years is closing. It seems every time Sharon needs to
relax and not worry about work something comes up. I feel so bad for her. She was a great boss
to have and really left my nervousness of the big first job at ease. Now she's out of work
and from what I know doesn't have a place to go.

Even though I wanted out of that place to pursue something better, like I'm sure we all
did, there's a stark difference between leaving on your own terms and basically being forced
out against your will. It completely came out of nowhere. It's no secret that video stores
are hurting right now. We knew that all along, but right before our boom time (the holidays)
was very unexpected. It sucks, in layman's terms.

We haven't been told exactly why we closed. Obviously it has to do with low revenue. And I'm
sure the Red Box conveniently placed outside T&C wasn't helping matters. You know, this is the
kind of stuff that scares me. I went to Meijer recently and they now have electronic cashier
units. I'm talking a moving conveyor belt and everything. As technology becomes cheaper and
easier to mass produce, we're going to be seeing it put more and more people out of work.
Even if it's just menial work, it's still work, it's still a paycheck, it's still somebody's
income. But I digress. As Bill Hicks once said many moons ago, "this is your world, isn't it?"

I was offered a position out in Hobart. I decided to take a week off to clear my mind and
decide what I want to do with myself. It's time to move on, but more importantly than that
I have to earn a paycheck, no matter what it is. So that's the crossroads I'm at.

As much as I hate thinking about my income being cut dry, there's something else that
really bugs me about all this, and that's losing the sort of bond we all had (minus 1).
Bry and I were already friends going into this job. I met Amber after that who I really,
really like. And Sharon as I already mentioned was a great boss. Now I know Sharon and I
aren't going to hang out anytime soon but it would be really nice to see her once in
awhile. At least keep in contact. Bry and I are already friends so no worries there, it just
sucks that we won't be working together anymore. I'm worried about Amber and all of us,
though. I hope we can all hang out more often. Even if it's just going out to eat and
maybe catching a movie or just chilling, you know? Life is too short and I'm getting too
old to lose even more people I've liked in my life. That's pretty much the M.O. for my
relationships with people. Partially it's my fault for being an introvert, partially
it's just due to the rapid speed time goes in and all the changes that happen in your
early 20s as we begin the adventure into adulthood.

I've been listening to The Incident all day today; got my vinyl in the mail. It's an
album with the motif of car crashes/accidents, but with many other related themes. One
of them is, as Steven put it, "after this things will never be the same again." That
could be applied to anything in life, as it does on the record. From childhood to lost
relationships to insane accidents, it all fits with that theme. And I feel that in losing
my first job and no longer working with a few really great people that helped me get over
a lot of my fears. Also, breaking the news to some of our loyal customers we got to know
over the year(s) was hard. A few of those came in tonight, and I thanked them for all their
business and told them the news.

I feel very bad for the others there. Amber busted her butt for 6 years and put up with
a lot of B.S. Sharon as I said worked since the mid-90s when it was called Box Office.
I used to go in there all the time as a kid - in my account history I have PS1 games
and WWF Summerslam '94 and stuff like that. It's just a nostalgic and sad feeling.

This could very well just be the kick in the ass I need, though. Time will tell.

I'll post more in a few days. Concert review coming before September ends.

Upcoming!

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:21:29 GMT

Last night I saw Porcupine Tree in concert for the 2nd time.

I manged to get 3 songs on video - listenable quality, so that's better than last time.
I'm compiling the video into one big project and obscuring the name, changing the pitch
shift, and doing some other stuff so JewTube doesn't pull it. Big stuff coming, this is
just the start.

We waited in line for about 2 hours, got a fantastic place in the audience (no more than 3
feet from the band) and ultimately got home at 2AM. I'm sore but wouldn't have it any other
way. Concert review coming shortly.

Setlist:

-The Incident (full track, 55-minutes)

///Ten minute break (with a bomb-like timer on stage)

-The Start of Something Beautiful
-Russia on Ice (first half)
-Anesthetize (mid-section)
-Remember Me Lover (LIVE DEBUT! I'm a part of history.)
-Strip the Soul (first half)
-.3
-Way Out of Here

///Encore

-The Sound of Muzak
-Trains

9.XX.09

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:42:43 GMT

Pitbull Pandemonium

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:41:34 GMT

Our neighbors next door have been perfectly fine people since moving here in 2003. We even
had them watch the cat while on vacation a few years back. Things the past few months,
however, haven't been so wonderful.

Over the summer the daughter (I believe) moved back in with them. With her she brought a
pitbull. Now, I'm fully aware of the media's often of times unfair portrayal of the pitbull.
But there's on fact that remains: they can be vicious dogs. Deadly even, depending on
numerous things such as their upbringing and carelessness of owners. This dog has broken
free of its owner (the daughter) twice within the past month. My dad was cutting the grass
the first time and it broke the leash and charged at him. My mom thought someone was shooting
a gun because my dad was screaming at her to get inside the house. He told off my neighbors
(in a polite way for my dad's standards) and they agreed to get a better leash with more
constraints such as a muzzle. Since then I've seen them use it once or twice. Didn't take
long and now it's back to a regular leash.

This morning (8-9AM) I was woken up again with with the sounds of someone yelling and slamming
a door. At first I thought I left a sock on the floor, but nevertheless it was yet another
instance of the pitbull charging at my dad while outside. This time it didn't even have a
leash - it just escaped from what I was told. My mom called the police and animal control
this time. They eventually show up and the daughter starts walking towards the cop, even though
he told her to stay put. He let her have it for doing that. I couldn't make out all the
conversation but from my understanding animal control took a look at the dog in question
and questioned the owner. Apparently nothing can be done because the dog didn't attack
anyone and doesn't have a history of being violent.

...

So we have to wait until a little girl is mauled for riding her bike before anything is done
about this? I had no problem with a pitbull living next store because, again, I'm fully aware
of the sensationalistic media skewing our views on life. I know a pitbull itself can be a
sweet, harmless dog. But I also know a pitbull breaking free twice in one month as it barks
and lunges for you is nothing to take likely. All of my neighbor's dogs seem a bit out of
control. I can't tell you how many times I've took out the trash only to hear dogs running
my direction. Those smaller ones never got close enough to scare me. But they also never
chased me like the pitbull has for my dad.

If animal control doesn't want to mandate some changes in security such as fence, which my
neighbors don't even have, then we'll be more than ready to take matters into our own hands.
We're going to buy 9mm for that "just in case" scenario. I'll have no problem being the one
behind the trigger should the need arise. A dog isn't going to run our lives and it sure
as heck isn't going to ruin the life of another. Sometimes you have to be vigilant. We
are throwing a party tomorrow with two dozen people being outside. Being responsible
enough to use precaution, such as securing a leash before opening the door, is mandatory.

VEGAS 2009 - day 6

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:36:47 GMT

Last post!

At this point I was glad to be leaving. My sunburn was (and as of this post still is) beyond
the level of annoyance and closer to the lines of "it's a pain to be living." My dad and I
caught a cab to go to the Pinball Hall of Fame. The driver was really cool. We usually wind
up with one really memorable cab driver every year and this was no exception. The actual place
was a dream for me. Every pinball machine I grew up with, all the big time classic arcade games,
the whole feel of the place...it was there. Free admission, machines ranging from 25 cents to 75,
crane games, soda machines - the works. I'll keep a lot of under wraps for the video I made
but I did take some pictures. Such a cool place. Anyway, we took pics outside our hotel after
that, ate some delicious food in the deli, and after that went to the airport. I lost probably
$60 (not including winnings) the whole trip. Our flight was delayed. I had a $20. My Uncle Matt
and I went to Wheel of Fortune slot machine game. I put the $20 in. Got low, came back to around
$17. Then I hit the Spin image. The Spin allows you to spin the wheel up on top of the slot
machine. You get however many times your quarters - it went up to 1,000. I hit 120 or something
like that. Walked away with $60.25!

There were 3 long rows of pinball/arcade games in this place. It was hot.

That is Mario Bros. and the rare Super Mario Bros arcade game. It's the NES SMB! I couldn't
believe they had this one. I did pretty good all things considered (joystick).

Paddle Battle - pong.

I know all you 90s kids remember this one. God, I loved this wack-a-gator game. It was out
of order, unfortunately.

I miss these.

I was floored with these two - the original Punch Out and the Super NES Punch Out. The
original Punch Out was out of order (this game came out before Mike Tyson's).

I used to play this in Discovery Zone.

Yes, that is a Super NES cartridge in a crane machine.

Me with one of the oldest pinball games.

Luxor from the cab.

Waterfall outside Mandalay.

Another.

Airport.

Volcano Nachos!

And nothing of value was lost.

Welp, that's about it for my 2009 trip to Las Vegas. Fun at times, painful at others, it was
pretty much like every year. We didn't see nearly as many shows (only 1 for me) and I wasn't
nearly as lucky as I was last year, unfortunately. Red Rock Canyon rules. Thank you very
much, catch you again for the Vacation Journal this December when I head back to Florida!

VEGAS 2009 - day 5

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:51:10 GMT

Day 5 - continuing the suckitude.

I don't know why our trips always end like this. Today began with me being woken up and
rushed to get ready within 15 minutes. Not gonna happen. We go and get the breakfast buffet
in our hotel. The food was good but I had a massive headache without a pill. Our waiter
sucked, and I never even got one single refill, so there goes dessert (and tip). That's
how my morning began. We got back to the room and I made the wise decision to catch some
rays, to get some sun, to rub some yams, etc. I usually just skip the pool but I figured
why not? Wanna know why not? Because I am red. If you have any sort of sick desire to see me partially naked, do be sure to click the picture post.

It was nice to relax out there and check out the wave pool, though. The repercussions will
haunt me for days to come. Other than that we just aimlessly walked around different hotels.
Today was so uneventful and pointless. My HD camcorder doesn't take well to motion, and I'm
not even sure if it's recording in true HD or not. So many levels of frustration are brewing
within. Walking around ALL FRIGGIN' NIGHT to nowhere; being refused pain meds and when
I finally get them, they do absolutely nothing. Why. does. vicodin. not. affect. me?

Red Rock Canyon was the highlight of this trip. That was an experience I'll not soon forget.
I'd say more but I was just informed that it's my bedtime. Gee, any clue as to why I'm an
undiagnosed nutcase?

Breakfast.

Pool area. We got front row seats!

Sasquatch sighting!

I forgot to mention one of the few good things that happened today - the shark exhibit.
Featuring an alligator I guess.

Dashing fish.

We talked through one of those dome things. Very cool.

See?

SHARK!

I tried to get a shot of Batman and Joker but one of those annoying Illegals got in the
way.

I <3 blur

Gondola boats inside the mall with the fake sky at Venitian.

I wish I could have appreciated this place better but by this time I wanted to beat up
a hooker.

Best game on Price is Right!

Tacos!

This machine didn't understand.

Mom & Uncle Matt

Okay, here is the picture of my sunburn. It's a little risque but this was the least risque
one I took (AOL IM OMG). I just wanted to emphasize the redness I am feeling. Yes, I am feeling a color. Anyway, proceed with caution. Keep in mind I am/was extremely pale.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/QKoRn/Vegas%202009/IMG_1159.jpg

Eep! My legs and even my hands are bad, too. WTF was I thinking?

Thanks, goodnight. See you back in Indiana.

VEGAS 2009 - day 4

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:05:24 GMT

I'd rather not go into Day 4.

It started out okay. My dad and I went to the fashion outlet mall like we do every year.
I got a few shirts and a new vinyl (which will be pictured). We got back to the room
and shortly after found ourselves in a taxi moving towards a casino museum store. Spent
way too much time in there. We had to walk probably a full mile in 100+ degree weather to
get to the downtown area. I hate the downtown area, there's nothing really all that great
there aside from the light show at night. We were starving so we got this gigantic hotdog.
Then I lost a good $30 in roulette. Got back to the hotel, lost more. Played rapid
roulette, lost more! I had no luck whatsoever today and my vicodin did nothing but make
me a tad woozy. I'm immune to it, which sucks when you're in pain. Luckily I'm holding out
better than ever before this year. I just said 'screw it' and now I'm back in my room while
everyone else gambles the night away. Tomorrow (well today now) should be much better. I'm
going to the shark reef, doing a breakfast buffet, visiting the Pinball Museum (gonna be like
a kid in a candy store with this one), and hopefully I'll have more luck with slots/roulette.
My last day is Friday. We have until 5 and by the time I get home it'll be around midnight.
Then I have work immediately after on Saturday. AWESOME! I'm way too depressed right now so
we'll just cut this short.

This mall is so big that the bowling alley is only a small part of it.

I practice this art.

Taco Maker!

I had 4 random strangers come up to me to tell me how awesome my shirt is.

Old school for life.

ISIS - Wavering Radiant on vinyl. Torrented the album before I left since I had intentions
on picking this up out here. It's pretty good.

Inside.

Forgot to mention the 15 minutes I got to spend in Gameworks. First time playing Mario Kart
I got the stupid busted one with the broken camera and messed up wheel. Second one was a bit
better. I'm rusty as hell, though.

They stocked these freakishly long-legged Sega characters today. Beats the Hello Kitty
and random Micky ...Mice.

Weird.

Outside the museum store.

A deliciously messy hotdog.

AWW! It's a white Mr. Kelly.

Bets on sports/horse racing.

Taxi line of doom.

Thanks. Tomorrow's pics will be more exciting.

VEGAS 2009 - day 3

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:49:39 GMT

Day 3 rocked. Literally! (LOLIGANS)

Red Rock Canyon is the theme of today's post. The day began with registering a rental car
and getting lost in the parking garage. We eventually hit the road and explored Las Vegas/
Nevada for the first time on our own (no taxi/tram). Red Rock is an area in the Mojave Desert
that used to reside deep at the bottom of an old ocean. The rocks are often of times red or
orange, hence the name. It was simply breathtaking. Not to mention it was a refreshing break
away from all the phony aesthetics of the grandiose Las Vegas. Straight nature.

We spent a few hours going from stop to stop. The first stop we made involved us climbing
a number of rocks. I chilled out in a cave due to not wanting to screw up my knee/foot like
usual. There were signs all over the place warning people that others have died climbing
the rocks and falling off. Eep! It was a ton of fun. We hit up a gas station on the way back
so I stocked up on various forms of Mountain Dew, raspberry tea, and an array of Flamin' Hot
products. We decided to go back to the Planet Hollywood cafe for lunch. Sushi FTW.

While walking through Paris we found $5 roulette. My uncle walked away with $100. I lost
a lot but yet again hit right on and walked out +$8 in the end. It's always fun when you
last a long time (ZING!), get served free 7up, and ultimately make a comeback.

The drive there is amazing.

Uncle Adam posing like a champion

OH NOES!

All of us aside from Matt, who decided not to go.

Reading the map.

Dad's camera.

My mom is nuts for going on that rock.

A cactus?

The parents and I.

A desert tree.

Hellllooooo-ooooo-oooo!

Look at that view. This place was massive.

The rocks are red due to chemical reaction caused by minerals.

If I have to correct the plural way to say "cactus" one more time...

Look at this!

Truefax.

I mean look at this!

An elderly couple came all the way out here in the 100+ degree weather.

YO.

Don't be such a prickly pear!

Mirror Zone Act 1.

A pork fritter with some sushi!

Losing at this point.

Winning at this point.

Uncle Matt's epic haul.

That sky is beautiful.

Probably the most majestic picture I've ever taken.

Thank you all. Now I'm all up to date! Day 4 = Wednesday. See you then.

P.S. NEW PORCUPINE TREE SINGLE!
http://porcupinetree.bandcamp.com/track/time-flies-edit