Peeking In

Since last we met...The party was a success, I think. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were filled with shopping and work. We went to our father's for Christmas and were there from Christmas Eve to yesterday morning, snowed in. It was quite nice and relaxing. I strained a muscle in my back on Christmas Day, so I've been nursing that. I was supposed to have yesterday off, but I got home to a message asking me to cover another assistant manager's shift (her father died on Christmas day, poor thing). So, no Two Towers for me; instead, I took a muscle relaxant and slept the afternoon away. The back is still hurting me, but I have to work from 4-12 tonight. Blecch.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I'll be back soon with regular posts.

Friday Fly-by

I seem to have no free time lately. I suppose that's to be expected this time of year. I've picked up more hours at the store, too. Oh! Guess who was chosen as Employee of the Month for our store? M-o-i. I got a pin and everything. Even better: Names of all EOMs from all of the stores are put into a hat at the main corporate office and there is a raffle for a prize worth $100 (last month it was $100 in AmEx traveler's checks), and I won! I'm hoping to get my prize today. We're having a party on Saturday night and I could use some extra money for the booze and food.

So, between work, holiday shopping, party preparation, gift wrapping and the psycho neighbors, I've hardly had the time to devote myself properly to these pages. I will still post something here and there over the next week, though, and I promise I will liven things up a bit around here after the 1st of the year.

Hey, has anyone seen The Two Towers yet? I've got my free ticket (from the FOTR extended DVD set) and I'm planning on going the day after Christmas.

Have a good day!

Swingers club keeps the neighbors awake. I can sympathize: Our downstairs neighbors started fighting at about 1:30 this morning. Screaming, slamming, throwing things. That lasted about an hour. The yelling stopped but the slamming continued for at least another half hour. They've only been living downstairs for about a month but that's the second screaming match we've been privy to; and the screaming is all his. "You do nothing around here!!" "I pay the bills!!" "I won't have that in my house!!" Except every other word is f*ck. I swear to God, last night he screamed "F*ckin' motherf*ckin' f*ckin bitch!" at her. He's a total dick and I can't stand to look at him.

Like Yoda, I Am

You are wise beyond your years — a sage for the ages, the master's master. That's why your Star Wars type is Yoda. Sure, you might not look too much like the little green Jedi Master, but you have a quiet contemplative way about you that commands respect.

People trust you, especially your friends who are constantly coming to you for advice and sometimes predictions. While you may not be able to tell them who's going to win the big game, you do possess the rare ability to see the big picture. You never lose sight of the fact that we're all part of a greater whole. It keeps you grounded and balanced, and it's the perfect cover for a mischievous sense of humor that always catches others off-guard. This mix of wisdom and impish delight promises to bring you long life...another thousand years or so anyway.

Which Star Wars character are you?

Good for her!

"Hold on to your stockings...those bawdy, naughty, wise-cracking elves are back for their wackiest adventure yet!"

Play Elf Bowling 3 now.

How about another nice story?

Where's Queequeg when you need him?

Somebody beat up Moby! Come on now, that's just not playing fair. I could beat up Moby.

I'm probably the last person to know this, but now I understand why it's "Moby" - with a name like Richard (Dick?) Melville (Herman?), what choice did he have?

Carmela's Mad as Hell and She's Not Gonna Take It Anymore

"I know you better than anyone. That's why you hate me."

The Sopranos season finale will be airing again tonight at 11, tomorrow at 9, I think, and maybe even Friday night as well (check HBO for times). If you don't have HBO, try and get hold of a tape. The show was a bit flawed, yes (I could give 2 hoots about that asshole lawyer Sapinsly), but overall it was very powerful and contained some of the best acting I have ever seen, anywhere. Finally, the seemingly tangential Zellman/Irena/Svetlana story paid off, in a big way.

A nice story for you.

I was shocked to read the other day that Glenn Quinn had died. He played Becky's dopey husband Mark on Rosanne and the half-demon Doyle on the first season of Angel. I stopped watching Angel when they killed Doyle off; none of the other actors could keep my interest. Quinn was only 32 years old. There was initially no cause of death given, but police are now saying they think he died from a drug overdose. What a f*ckin' waste.

And speaking of f*ckin' wastes, how about that Whitney Houston?? She's looking more like a crack ho every day.

Bumbletown

This is going to be one hell of a snowy winter, I think. It's only December 8 and we've already exceeded last year's total snowfall. I took these pictures on Friday after Thursday's snowstorm dumped about 8 inches on us.

German woman's suicide mistaken for performance art.

And drag queens everywhere are inspired. LOL

Sopranos Finale

Don't forget - tonight is the 75-minute season finale of The Sopranos, at 9:00 P.M. on HBO!

New Day, New Look

Good morning. Like the new look? It was time for a change, and I think this design is ultimately closer to what I really want (and is actually close to some of my earlier incarnations of this site).

That done, it's time to get dressed...

(PS Please let me know if the site loads incorrectly for you, or if you think something looks funky)

I'm watching Taken again, and the X-Files parallels are driving me to distraction. There's a piece of metal from a space ship that has hieroglyphics carved on it that appear to be Native American in origin. One of tonight's locations is Britannia Beach and the British Columbia Museum of Mining. The woman who owns the local General Store is played by the woman who played Karen in "Schyzogeny". And there are at least 3 more familiar faces scattered throughout tonight's episode that I know I've seen in The X-Files but just can't place. Actually, one of the old guys played the motel clerk in "Colony/End Game". I'm too busy trying to recognize locations and faces to follow any story, for cripe's sake!

"We Like Spike." Doesn't everyone?

(thank, slayage.com)

My God, what were people thinking, taking knives like these onto planes? I mean, these aren't nail clippers, folks. Are there really that many people walking around armed with a lethal weapon? Life gets scarier by the day, I swear.

Italian man, thought to have left for America 44 years ago, has has been found dead inside a wall of his former home.

I missed the premiere of SciFi's Taken, but I have last night's episode on the TV now. Have any of you been watching? It's been pretty good so far, although I won't be watching it since I work most nights and it's just too much for me to try to keep up with on tape. What I wanted to mentioned was how weirdly familiar it all is; yes, the story's themes of UFO abduction are familiar to me as a fan of The X-Files, but it's more than that. What with the Vancouver location shoots and local Canadian actors who have appeared in X-files episodes (so far I've recognized Philip Padgett, the guy from The List with no arms or legs, the guy from The Goldberg Variation), Taken is like The X-Files after Dorothy's tornado. I keep expecting to see the Cigarette Smoking Man standing in the corner of some smoky, high-level conference room dressed like the Scarecrow.

Babies, start your engines!

Oprah's feeling generous again. How incredibly cool.