Ow, dude. That was my heat sink. Now where the fuck am I gonna sink my heat?
Busy, busy. Work eats my head (with new office politics! o help, I am no good at office politics), two of my friends are getting deployed next week, and the economy is doing its best ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES impression. So, I'll save all the depressing, serious stuff for another day and just be shallow right now.
I held myself back against getting invested in Supernatural for a long time, because I thought it was a lot like SGA-- great stuff produced in fandom, actual show itself kind of bad. But it bangs so many of my buttons that I couldn't help but get into it, and I'm looking forward to how this next season will go.
I do wonder what the cut-off age on being a "Boy King" is. I suppose it's in terms of demon age or something, where you're not allowed to sit at the adult table until you're, like, seven hundred years old.
Both Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are still ridiculously good looking, even when Jensen is clawing his way out of shallow graves and Jared has limp and greasy Hair O'Grief. I don't have a good read on the new Ruby yet, but I'm willing to be open.
Bobby remains pretty awesome, and the only one using his head most of the time.
I really like the utterly alien sense of Castiel. They even managed to give him good wings! The actor does a great job of making it seem like there really is this almost incomprehensible being wearing a human uncomfortably, like a cheap suit. I'm so glad they're moving into the other side of the light vs. dark battle, and making the heavenly/angelic aspects of it just as freaky and scary as the demon side of it. It reminds me of a quote from a short story I like--
Old Goatfoot laughed scornfully and knocked back another third of the bottle. "You worried about a little thing like that?" He leaned his head out the window, closed one nostril with a finger, and shot a stream of snot into the night. "Shiftfire, boy, I've seen Archangels flying over us."
Now I was genuinely frightened. Because I had no doubt that whatever the powers that be were looking for, it was somewhere on our train. And this last meant all of Heaven and Hell were arrayed against us. Now you might think that Hell was worry enough for anybody, but consider this-- they lost. Forget what folks say. The other side are mean mothers, and don't let nobody tell you different.
-North of Diddy-Wah-Diddy by Michael Swanwick.
It's a good story, about riding the train to hell. I recommend it. You can check it out here.
***
twigcollins: I love Bode Miller. I love Bode Miller refusing to care in a commercially marketable manner. I will always love Bode Miller. Especially because Bode Miller probably hates me.
thorne_scratch: Oh man, if there's one athlete out there who really needs a reality show, it's totally Bode Miller. We'll get a grant from Miller Beer to fund it, and call the show "Miller Time." It will mostly consist of Bode swearing at the camera, with occasional guest appearances from the guys from Jackass.
twigcollins: I would like, buy the extra-special footage DVD of "Miller Time." Half of it would be Miller deciding to take all his clothes off and chase a moose or something; the other half would be him flinging full beer cans at passerby.
thorne_scratch: Exactly! For people he really likes, he throws the import.
It should be done. One million dollars.
***
Last Sunday was the last day our local community swimming pool was open, so I hied myself there to squeeze out the last vestiges of summer, and also to point and laugh at the lifeguards having to clean the place up because I no longer have to do it.
Part of me misses that end of summer ritual-- the camaraderie of flinging undiluted buckets of chlorine at each other, the dismantling of the diving board where someone's fingers inevitably got mashed, inhaling Pine Quat fumes, the end of the year dice-throwing for stuff left in the Lost and Found. The other part of me remembers how much goddamn work it was, and is content to let someone else fix the vending machine and replace the toilet paper.
I also saw Fred, the homicidal ice-cream man, who really deserves his own tag. (Fred's notable achievements include extreme violence against other frozen treat vendors, and once catering a small party where he encountered Alan Greenspan rooting through his freezer. Fred says he was looking for a Premium Ice Cream bar.)
Fred and I had a grand time talking about economics and how it's hard out there for an ice-cream man, and Fred made-- okay, like with all Fred conversations, it's easier to just quote him.
Thorne: Five thousand dollars in an hour?
Fred: Yes. Those were the good days. And then, two new CEOs come, they take over the Good Humor business, and they take away my big parties. All of us smaller ones, we cannot sell as much as before. We don't make enough money, while they get paid millions of dollars. They see what money we have and they want it. It used to be I worked four hours a day, four months a year. Now I have five trucks and I must work sixteen hours a day, eight months a year.
Thorne: That’s--
Fred: *hanging out of his truck window, passionately gesticulating* A man cannot support his wife, his family, and then he takes a gun and goes to work and blows everyone away! And they are surprised by this!
Thorne: *thinking* Wait, did he just basically tell me he's going to go on a killing spree? Should I… say something?
Fred: What do you think?
Thorne: It's tough times, man.
You made it through! Have some music.
I think I said last time I was going to do all Guitar Hero songs, or at least a whole bunch of video game songs, but I got lazy. All mp3s are for testing purposes only, delete after 24 hours, rock out with your cock out, etc. etc.
Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock. The last time I saw them play live, I was a junior in high school. Oh man, all the lyrics to their songs that I doodled on my notebook margins. This is one of their earlier ones, but I'm glad they chose it for Guitar Hero 3. It's fun.
Freak out
And give in
Doesn't matter what you believe in
Stay cool
And be somebody's fool this year
The String Quartet - Between the Bars. Two Elliot Smith instrumental song covers by The String Quartet, who cover pretty much every band out there. I like this one. It's smooth. It's less sad than the original, in a way?
The String Quartet - Needle in the Hay. This one's up here because I think it's really hard to cover the melody of Needle in the Hay and not have the words, and I thought they did a good job, all things considering. There's something off about the intensity of the climax in the third verse, but I actually think that works in the cover's favor. It gives it the jittery discord you would normally get with the lyrics.
The Barenaked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars. So I may or may not have had this song on repeat for the last week while trying to write something, but that aside, it's just a lot of fun.
If I had a million dollars
(If I had a million dollars)
Well, I'd buy you a monkey
(Haven't you always wanted a monkey?)
Blink 182 - What's My Age Again?. Man. It's really kind of a Ryan Lochte song, now that I think of it. But I just like it because sometimes I'm in a loud, immature mood, and Blink182 was as loud and immature as they come.
And that's about the time that she walked away from me
Nobody likes you when you're 23
And are still more amused by TV shows
What the hell is ADD?
My friends say I should act my age
What's my age again?
The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid. One of the Offspring singles off their latest album, and I find it mad catchy. The Offspring do that thing where they pretty much yell angrily into the microphone, and sometimes the rhythm or lyrics can be hit or miss, but I like this one a lot.
With a thousand lies
And a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Radiohead - All I Need. This is my favorite track from "In Rainbows", and I think it's because it was the first song they played at the Nissan Pavilion concert this past May. Which I never recounted, huh. It poured, and I spent about four hours standing in a torrential downfall, wearing four layers of clothes, all of which got soaked through, and trying to see over the umbrellas. The roads flooded, and it took another four hours to get out of the parking lot and drive home. Still totally worth it, because how often do I get to see Radiohead play live?
I am a moth
Who just wants to share your light
I’m just an insect
Trying to get out of the night
Radiohead - Wish You Were Here. Radiohead, covering Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." Sad and wistful. Very much an autumn song.
How I wish
How I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing. Juno was quirky! That's all I got. I liked this song from the soundtrack. It's the rhythm, I think.
'cause I like to be gone most of the time
And you like to be home most of the time
If I stay in one place I lose my mind
I'm a pretty impossible lady to be with
VAST - Pretty When You Cry. True Fact: Just as a fandom is not truly a fandom until someone writes a vampire AU for it, it is also not a fandom until someone writes a songfic for it using V.A.S.T's "Pretty When You Cry." (For double points, one can combine the two into a vampire AU songfic featuring said song.)
I swear, I have encountered this song in every single fandom I have ever perused, and every time, the user is convinced that the song was written exclusively for whatever couple is being featured. I think it is a little akin to the Gin and Tonic phenomenon described in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. (For the record, I'll vote that the song belongs to Beecher and Keller from Oz, but that's because they're the most likely of all the Dysfunctional Abusive Couples I enjoy to actually use the endearment "baby".)
I didn't want to hurt you baby
I didn't want to hurt you
I didn't want to hurt you
But you're pretty when you cry
Valeria - Girl I Told Ya. So, you know, I hate that Katy Perry song, and this is the only lipstick lesbian song for me. The first time Twig showed me the music video for this, I think I watched it about twenty times in a row. I am helpless when it comes to lesbians in period clothing, cavorting about Versailles-like palaces, and their hot Utena-esque girlfriends in waistcoats.
Girl, I'm telling you that you should wait
Wait for me to climb inside your gate
When the coast is clear, now don't be late
You can watch me move as I infiltrate
Cracker - Low. A good song to end summer on. Nice and lazy.
Sometimes I go and walk the street
Behind the green sheet of glass.
A million miles below their feet
A million miles, a million miles
My God, but Michael Phelps owns some of the ugliest Speedos I've ever seen in my life. I think it might actually call for an ugly Speedos picture post. I was trying to do at least one post without swimming dominating it, but this would be for the good of the world, much like when Ian Thorpe was experimenting with mullets and had to be called out on his tomfoolery.
I held myself back against getting invested in Supernatural for a long time, because I thought it was a lot like SGA-- great stuff produced in fandom, actual show itself kind of bad. But it bangs so many of my buttons that I couldn't help but get into it, and I'm looking forward to how this next season will go.
I do wonder what the cut-off age on being a "Boy King" is. I suppose it's in terms of demon age or something, where you're not allowed to sit at the adult table until you're, like, seven hundred years old.
Both Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are still ridiculously good looking, even when Jensen is clawing his way out of shallow graves and Jared has limp and greasy Hair O'Grief. I don't have a good read on the new Ruby yet, but I'm willing to be open.
Bobby remains pretty awesome, and the only one using his head most of the time.
I really like the utterly alien sense of Castiel. They even managed to give him good wings! The actor does a great job of making it seem like there really is this almost incomprehensible being wearing a human uncomfortably, like a cheap suit. I'm so glad they're moving into the other side of the light vs. dark battle, and making the heavenly/angelic aspects of it just as freaky and scary as the demon side of it. It reminds me of a quote from a short story I like--
Old Goatfoot laughed scornfully and knocked back another third of the bottle. "You worried about a little thing like that?" He leaned his head out the window, closed one nostril with a finger, and shot a stream of snot into the night. "Shiftfire, boy, I've seen Archangels flying over us."
Now I was genuinely frightened. Because I had no doubt that whatever the powers that be were looking for, it was somewhere on our train. And this last meant all of Heaven and Hell were arrayed against us. Now you might think that Hell was worry enough for anybody, but consider this-- they lost. Forget what folks say. The other side are mean mothers, and don't let nobody tell you different.
-North of Diddy-Wah-Diddy by Michael Swanwick.
It's a good story, about riding the train to hell. I recommend it. You can check it out here.
***
twigcollins: I love Bode Miller. I love Bode Miller refusing to care in a commercially marketable manner. I will always love Bode Miller. Especially because Bode Miller probably hates me.
thorne_scratch: Oh man, if there's one athlete out there who really needs a reality show, it's totally Bode Miller. We'll get a grant from Miller Beer to fund it, and call the show "Miller Time." It will mostly consist of Bode swearing at the camera, with occasional guest appearances from the guys from Jackass.
twigcollins: I would like, buy the extra-special footage DVD of "Miller Time." Half of it would be Miller deciding to take all his clothes off and chase a moose or something; the other half would be him flinging full beer cans at passerby.
thorne_scratch: Exactly! For people he really likes, he throws the import.
It should be done. One million dollars.
***
Last Sunday was the last day our local community swimming pool was open, so I hied myself there to squeeze out the last vestiges of summer, and also to point and laugh at the lifeguards having to clean the place up because I no longer have to do it.
Part of me misses that end of summer ritual-- the camaraderie of flinging undiluted buckets of chlorine at each other, the dismantling of the diving board where someone's fingers inevitably got mashed, inhaling Pine Quat fumes, the end of the year dice-throwing for stuff left in the Lost and Found. The other part of me remembers how much goddamn work it was, and is content to let someone else fix the vending machine and replace the toilet paper.
I also saw Fred, the homicidal ice-cream man, who really deserves his own tag. (Fred's notable achievements include extreme violence against other frozen treat vendors, and once catering a small party where he encountered Alan Greenspan rooting through his freezer. Fred says he was looking for a Premium Ice Cream bar.)
Fred and I had a grand time talking about economics and how it's hard out there for an ice-cream man, and Fred made-- okay, like with all Fred conversations, it's easier to just quote him.
Thorne: Five thousand dollars in an hour?
Fred: Yes. Those were the good days. And then, two new CEOs come, they take over the Good Humor business, and they take away my big parties. All of us smaller ones, we cannot sell as much as before. We don't make enough money, while they get paid millions of dollars. They see what money we have and they want it. It used to be I worked four hours a day, four months a year. Now I have five trucks and I must work sixteen hours a day, eight months a year.
Thorne: That’s--
Fred: *hanging out of his truck window, passionately gesticulating* A man cannot support his wife, his family, and then he takes a gun and goes to work and blows everyone away! And they are surprised by this!
Thorne: *thinking* Wait, did he just basically tell me he's going to go on a killing spree? Should I… say something?
Fred: What do you think?
Thorne: It's tough times, man.
You made it through! Have some music.
I think I said last time I was going to do all Guitar Hero songs, or at least a whole bunch of video game songs, but I got lazy. All mp3s are for testing purposes only, delete after 24 hours, rock out with your cock out, etc. etc.
Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock. The last time I saw them play live, I was a junior in high school. Oh man, all the lyrics to their songs that I doodled on my notebook margins. This is one of their earlier ones, but I'm glad they chose it for Guitar Hero 3. It's fun.
Freak out
And give in
Doesn't matter what you believe in
Stay cool
And be somebody's fool this year
The String Quartet - Between the Bars. Two Elliot Smith instrumental song covers by The String Quartet, who cover pretty much every band out there. I like this one. It's smooth. It's less sad than the original, in a way?
The String Quartet - Needle in the Hay. This one's up here because I think it's really hard to cover the melody of Needle in the Hay and not have the words, and I thought they did a good job, all things considering. There's something off about the intensity of the climax in the third verse, but I actually think that works in the cover's favor. It gives it the jittery discord you would normally get with the lyrics.
The Barenaked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars. So I may or may not have had this song on repeat for the last week while trying to write something, but that aside, it's just a lot of fun.
If I had a million dollars
(If I had a million dollars)
Well, I'd buy you a monkey
(Haven't you always wanted a monkey?)
Blink 182 - What's My Age Again?. Man. It's really kind of a Ryan Lochte song, now that I think of it. But I just like it because sometimes I'm in a loud, immature mood, and Blink182 was as loud and immature as they come.
And that's about the time that she walked away from me
Nobody likes you when you're 23
And are still more amused by TV shows
What the hell is ADD?
My friends say I should act my age
What's my age again?
The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid. One of the Offspring singles off their latest album, and I find it mad catchy. The Offspring do that thing where they pretty much yell angrily into the microphone, and sometimes the rhythm or lyrics can be hit or miss, but I like this one a lot.
With a thousand lies
And a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Radiohead - All I Need. This is my favorite track from "In Rainbows", and I think it's because it was the first song they played at the Nissan Pavilion concert this past May. Which I never recounted, huh. It poured, and I spent about four hours standing in a torrential downfall, wearing four layers of clothes, all of which got soaked through, and trying to see over the umbrellas. The roads flooded, and it took another four hours to get out of the parking lot and drive home. Still totally worth it, because how often do I get to see Radiohead play live?
I am a moth
Who just wants to share your light
I’m just an insect
Trying to get out of the night
Radiohead - Wish You Were Here. Radiohead, covering Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." Sad and wistful. Very much an autumn song.
How I wish
How I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing. Juno was quirky! That's all I got. I liked this song from the soundtrack. It's the rhythm, I think.
'cause I like to be gone most of the time
And you like to be home most of the time
If I stay in one place I lose my mind
I'm a pretty impossible lady to be with
VAST - Pretty When You Cry. True Fact: Just as a fandom is not truly a fandom until someone writes a vampire AU for it, it is also not a fandom until someone writes a songfic for it using V.A.S.T's "Pretty When You Cry." (For double points, one can combine the two into a vampire AU songfic featuring said song.)
I swear, I have encountered this song in every single fandom I have ever perused, and every time, the user is convinced that the song was written exclusively for whatever couple is being featured. I think it is a little akin to the Gin and Tonic phenomenon described in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. (For the record, I'll vote that the song belongs to Beecher and Keller from Oz, but that's because they're the most likely of all the Dysfunctional Abusive Couples I enjoy to actually use the endearment "baby".)
I didn't want to hurt you baby
I didn't want to hurt you
I didn't want to hurt you
But you're pretty when you cry
Valeria - Girl I Told Ya. So, you know, I hate that Katy Perry song, and this is the only lipstick lesbian song for me. The first time Twig showed me the music video for this, I think I watched it about twenty times in a row. I am helpless when it comes to lesbians in period clothing, cavorting about Versailles-like palaces, and their hot Utena-esque girlfriends in waistcoats.
Girl, I'm telling you that you should wait
Wait for me to climb inside your gate
When the coast is clear, now don't be late
You can watch me move as I infiltrate
Cracker - Low. A good song to end summer on. Nice and lazy.
Sometimes I go and walk the street
Behind the green sheet of glass.
A million miles below their feet
A million miles, a million miles
My God, but Michael Phelps owns some of the ugliest Speedos I've ever seen in my life. I think it might actually call for an ugly Speedos picture post. I was trying to do at least one post without swimming dominating it, but this would be for the good of the world, much like when Ian Thorpe was experimenting with mullets and had to be called out on his tomfoolery.