mikeandtim

is it just me...

or does this statue look controversial???

posted by mikeandtim @ 2:38:00 PM 1 comments

shall we dansu?

my wife and i have blockbooster online so we have been watching a lot of movies recently. of course every so often i get goated into watching a few estrogen-friendly movies. every so often one will surprise me, like The Notebook, i thought that was a good movie. however, we saw one last night that made the cup of suck runneth over. while my wife and i were watching Shall We Dance, the movie was so familiar i thought i had actually seen it before. i bet half a dozen times i asked her "are you sure we havent seen this already??" i felt like i was taking crazy pills. this is a terrible movie by the way. if you can distinguish the difference between good movies and bad movies, dont waste your time with this one. if you are entertained by 2 hours of ballroom dancing and bad acting, you might like it.

about an hour into the movie i was thinking about where i could have possibly seen it before, as it hasnt been on video for long, and came up with nothing. then it hit me. i think i saw this movie in japanese once, but with all japanese actors and in the japanese language. but, i remember the dude that wore a wig and sequines and had it ripped off him at some point. i couldnt figure it out. my plan was to wait till the end and check the credits to see if it was based on a story or something. sure enough, it was based on a story by a japanese writer. i was so relieved, i had seen it before, and the japanese version was so much better. i took 3 years of japanese language in high school and 4 years in college, and in class one day we watched the movie. the japanese version (Shall We Dansu?) won best picture in 1996 in japan, and i will say was a million times better than watching richard gere prance around like a fairy through the forest of gay.

oh, and today is "Pi Day". i figure i should tell andTim since he knows pi to about 25 decimal places. i use Wikipedia as my default internet home page and there was a link on it this morning to Pi Day. here it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_day

beware, if you read this entry on Pi Day you will increase your dork quotient by at least 30%.

--mike

song of the day: havana daydreamin [j. buffett]

posted by mikeandtim @ 6:22:00 AM 0 comments

traffic

well, i got rear-ended today on my way to work. no bueno. not much damage though, although i will have the car thoroughly checked out just in case. there is a lot of traffic on I-35, and i was stopped on the freeway, as was Fransesco in the ford ranger behind me, but the woman behind him in her land rover just looked down and ended up hitting Fransesco, who then hit me. a little bumper car action, it happens. everyone was ok, so thats good. i was talking to the cop that wrote up the report and he said it happens every day because people look over at the cops sitting there patrolling the HOV lane. or at least he said that is the most common reason for these wrecks.

went to a minor league baseball game last night. good stuff. i still aspire to work on my game for two years and go play single A baseball. i think i could do it. of course i think i could write a book, teach a college class on philosophy, travel to all seven continents, and join the buy.com golf tour, but i have come to terms that most of those will never happen. a wise man once said, "if you chase two rabbits, one will escape." knock something off your aspirations list today, it is actual kind of liberating. something that isnt realistic at all. like mastering impressionistic art. not gonna happen bud, scratch it off the list.

--mike

song of the day: thats me trying [william shatner]
song is a little weird, but so weirdly honest it is interesting and good

posted by mikeandtim @ 7:34:00 AM 0 comments

Grand Theft Auto/Personal Responsibility

On the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, there is apparently a way to download a hack into the programming of the game to allow players to access a sexually-explicit visit to a "girlfriend's" house. Hilary Clinton and others have jumped on the bandwagon to change the games' rating from Mature to Adult, however there is one big issue at hand here that is not being discussed: personal choice and responsibility. The main worry is that kids will download the hack and be able to have access to the hidden aspect of the game. Here are some simple solutions to the problem: 1) Parents- don't buy your kids the game. Or don't allow them access to the internet sites that allow downloading of the hack. If you catch your kid doing one or the other take the game or the entire XBox/Playstation away from them. This is not difficult. 2) See number 1. We don't need the government to mandate these protections, we need people to take responsibility for their own kids. If you can't do this as a parent, DON'T HAVE CHILDREN.

posted by mikeandtim @ 7:33:00 AM 0 comments

The Weekend

So this weekend was my Grandma's 80th birthday. Good times everywhere, as we were in New Braunfels which lends itself to general good times. The only annoying aspect of being around family is that you are not a recognized adult. Most of the time being seen as a kid is not a big deal to me, except around family where my maximum recognized age might be 15. (People are sometimes fearful to have me move their car, etc.) I am 26. I have been driving for 10 years. I have graduated from college. I have lived overseas. I live on my own and support myself. How am I still 15 to these people? Do I have to get married and start cranking out chillins for me to gain adult status? What if I buy a house? Ridiculous. Otherwise, there are few things more fun than spending a day throwing frisbees, playing cards, eating fajitas, and wakeboarding. Great day Saturday. 80... seems like a long ways off. I am only 1/3 of the way there. That is crazy. Methusaleh... 969 when he died. I wonder if he treated his 340 year old great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren as if they were a mere 220? Things to ask God.....

posted by mikeandtim @ 7:45:00 AM 0 comments

my ten favourite albums?

in no particular order...

1. third eye blind - third eye blind
2. pearl jam - vs
3. u2 - rattle & hum
4. damien rice - O
5. radiohead - the bends
6. frank sinatra - duets
7. counting crows - august and everything after
8. metallica - metallica
9. dave matthews & tim reynolds - live at luther college
10. red hot chili peppers - blood sugar sex magik
11. eric clapton - unplugged
12. jimmy buffett - ballads
13. bob marley - legend
14. guns n roses - use your illusion
15. moby - play

sorry. cant leave any of those out, had to be 15. so tough to do because i left out some really good ones.

--mike

posted by mikeandtim @ 2:00:00 PM 0 comments

One More Honorable Mention....

Third Eye Blind- Blue

posted by mikeandtim @ 10:26:00 AM 0 comments

My Top 10 Favorite Albums

I don't know why I felt compelled to post this, but in the midst of strange week and stressful work it is fun to reflect on these things for me. In no particular order:

1) Guster- Lost And Gone Forever
2) Bob Marley- Legend
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers- BloodSugarSexMagik
4) Doves- Last Broadcast
5) Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon
6) Radiohead- The Bends
7) Rage Against The Machine- Rage Against The Machine
8) Dave Matthews Band- Before These Crowded Streets
9) Weezer- Blue Album
10) U2- The Joshua Tree

Honorable Mentions:

Jane's Addiction- Ritual de lo Habitual
REM- Out of Time
REM- New Adventures in Hi-Fi
REM- Automatic for the People
Any U2
Coldplay- A Rush of Blood to the Head
Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Linkin Park- Meteora

posted by mikeandtim @ 10:13:00 AM 0 comments

gas stations

this morning circa 715am i rolled into the gas station to pump some petrol. usually i imagine the gas being liquid dollars flowing into my car for me to burn up, literally. today however, i was reminded of a pita* that i had almost forgotten. i get out of my car and open the gas tank, check out my payment options and decide that i would like to get a juice of some kind and maybe a breakfast bar to eat on my 45min drive to work. a little splurge if you will. so, why bother paying with a credit card out here when i can get the whole transaction with one swipe inside? i review my payment options on the gas pump etch a sketch and they are the following:

pay outside with credit
pay outside with debit
pay inside

i push the button for "pay inside", proceed to lift the gas handle and select my lowest possible octane fuel, then put the gas spout thing in my tank and try to start fueling. now, there is no one else at this gas station anywhere pumping gas. i understand that most of the time you have to give a look back to the dude behind the counter and maybe a p/w**, so he has some form of assurance that you are not going to pump your gas and run without paying, so i do just that. i see him through the automatic sliding double glass doors standing there at the counter watching me, so i start trying to pump that gas thinking that he will permit me to do so. NOT THE CASE. the dude just stands there and looks at me. i know it is beeping like mad in there, sounding off like a damn casino slot room with the beeping from me trying to pump gas and him not letting me, but he does not start the pump. i hate this. i almost left right then, but then i wondered if he would have thought he did the right thing and i left because i didnt have money and was going to pump-and-run. so, without looking away, i hang up the gas spout, take out my wallet, swipe my card, then pump my gas. i did only pump enough to make it to work though and will buy cheaper, more courteous gas from the walmart across the highway from my office. i will probably never go back to that no-pump-authorizing gas station again if i can help it.

another thing about the gas station...why are 90% of gas station attendants from Fujairah? i just dont really get it. i hate to stereotype but when things are that common, you cant help but notice. no really, why are they all from the middle east...i really would like to know. many of them have trouble with the english language, which i assume means they probably have not lived in the states long. i have no issue with these people, i would just like to understand the logic of why this is so common.

--mike

* pita stands for Pain In The Ass
** p/w = point and/or wave, also acceptable is the peace sign but never the thumbs up

posted by mikeandtim @ 6:41:00 AM 0 comments

hello kitty + skull of death = ?

anyone who can answer this i will give one proverbial dollar. what does the equation in the subject equal? this morning i saw a car that had the following two items hanging from the rearviewmirror: 1. hello kitty in pink overalls and 2. a silverish/blackish skull of death with red fake jewel eyes. i do not know what this means and have no comment except that those two things do not mix.

if i havent said it before, i will now. i work in possibly the most unusual office work environment ever. it has undeniable sitcom potential. all i need to do is pay attention and write some stuff down and i could have solid gold material in which to make a show and/or movie. we are about to get a quality phone spike/handset compaction into phone cradle from the guy on the other side of my cubicle. we have joked about buying him a Nerf phone. well, i was wrong with the phone spike, it was full power fist pound on desk. enough that it made my desk quake enough so my turtle with bobble head from mexico was swingin around like a tail of a black lab who just ate an entire bag of unpopped popcorn kernels. that actually happened once, to my sister in laws dog...it was so sick and you could actually feel/see the kernels in its belly. but thats another story...

--mike

posted by mikeandtim @ 12:40:00 PM 0 comments

cruise, the ocean, and jd salinger

i went on a cruise over the 4th of july and went to mexico. it was a little odd not to be in the US for the 4th, not sure i will do that again. although very fun, i had a minor episode of nausea due to anxiousness/confined to small shoebox of a room. it is rare that i have such issues, but it does happen, and i do not like it. there is no control over such things. needless to say i wasnt sick, but i didnt eat dinner and basically went to bed at 830pm. when i woke up the next day, i felt fine.

the ocean is large. it is vast. and it is big. it was very cool to be on a boat in the middle of the gulf of mexico and not being able to see anything but water in all directions. it was really cool at night too, with the lights from the boat and moon shining on the whitecaps. the sunset was the best though.

i figure, heck, lets read a book on said cruise. i havent ever read The Catcher in the Rye by jd salinger so i went for it. great book. i feel as though Holden Caulfield is not the only person of his kind. i am glad i read it, lets leave it at that.

the air conditioning went out at my house yesterday. sucks. hopefully they are fixing it right now, at least enough to make it comfortable until the home warranty service duders come out.

song of the day: talk [coldplay]

--mike

posted by mikeandtim @ 12:41:00 PM 0 comments

Ultimate Frisbee and Girl Counseling

Even though it has been sometime since my last blog, this one will be brief.

I played Ultimate Frisbee yesterday as I do on every Sunday. It is a great sport. Lots of running, diving, high-risk throws, etc. Unfortunately, while jumping up for a triumphant frisbee snag, I was hit from behind, and fell directly on someone's knee. Chest hitting knee. Ouch. Bruised sternum sucks. Of course, I also have some serious tenderfoot so I am blistered as well. But what fun...

I have been quite the girl counselor as of late. Just this week 4, count 'em 4, girls broke into crying while talking to me. I have never had this happen before. I'm also not dating any of them. Nor did I anticipate having any remotely deep conversation with 3 of them. I have come through though. I don't think that I am in much of a position to counsel anyone on anything other than CD purchases, but God uses us in strange ways I guess.

posted by mikeandtim @ 8:16:00 AM 0 comments