I’m sure those of you who live in my general region already know that everyone’s favorite transit monkeys went on strike today.
I can’t even begin to tell you of the fits of rage that SEPTA has caused me over the last four years, but this really takes the cake.
Philebrity says it better than I ever could…
Just because you have a digital camera and the pictures are “free,” it doesn’t mean that you have carte blanche to take pictures of your girlfriend* whenever you want. And if you do it anyway, and she tells you “Delete that, I look like shit,” THEN DO IT.
And if you ignore this request, definitely DO NOT take the picture files to your parents’ house and then leave them on their computer. Especially if your parents are in the process of digitally archiving all of their pictures for posterity.
Because one day, in preparation for a visit from YOUR mother, your girlfriend will be lovingly going through a CD of your family photos so you can display some of them alongside the pictures of her family.
And in between the pictures of your dad’s birthday and your cousins playing in the pool, she will find one of herself. In a bikini top, eating a tunafish sandwich, with ZIT CREAM on her face.
And believe me, you WILL regret it.
*or wife, boyfriend, husband, etc.
You may recall that I was having a bit of trouble coming up with a Halloween costume.
I finally decided to go with Melissa’s idea (thanks, Meli!!) and be a social butterfly.
Edo went as my opposite: a wallflower.
We were a hit. :-)
And yes, I made the wings from scratch. Nothing like that to remind you why people actually spend money on costumes….
You guys see this yet?
(view a larger pdf version here)
Of course, we’re already up to 2001….
Originally appeared on the artist’s blog: Mike Luckovich. [Via Atrios]
I’d like to retract my earlier comment:
I’m not sure if assless pants are right for me… definitely not for Edo!!
Edo objected to this statement, pointing out that he always looks would look fabulous in assless pants.
My bad.
I couldn’t have said this better myself:
Little Steven Van Zandt, host of the syndicated Sunday night “Underground Garage,” told a Radio & Records convention this summer that radio has shortchanged rock for decades.
“In a real sense, the last big [rock] band through the door was U2, 25 years ago,” Van Zandt said. “When our generation stops touring, it’s over. Rock ‘n’ roll is a living, breathing animal that needs to be fed. With new blood.” (more…)
I have less than a week to come up with Halloween costumes for Edo and myself. I’m not really excited about dressing up, but my aunt is having a Halloween party on Saturday and it means a lot to her. And I know that once I put on the costume, I’ll probably have fun.
But I have no clue what to do. Maybe you guys can help?
Here are some stipulations:
–Easy: We don’t have a car and don’t plan on renting one before this weekend, so all of the items have to be easy to obtain.
–Cost: The cheaper the better. New apartment + new computer + 5 concerts in one month = Kate is broke.
–No masks: we want to be able to see/talk/eat without any hindrance.
–Nothing too risqué or off color: my parents will see it.
The more original and creative the better, but I suppose we can’t be too picky at this point.
Any ideas?
As of this this weekend, I have a brand new computer. This is my first official post from it. Woohoo!
This Week’s Leg Bloggers
–Larakin
Since Halloween is looming, I thought I’d make this month’s survey a little morose. Answer truthfully or lie your ass off, whichever you prefer.
1) Name three things that scare you.
2) How about three things that really gross you out?
3) What’s your favorite Halloween costume from when you were growing up?
4) Ever toilet paper something or otherwise cause general mischief?
5) Freddy or Jason?
6) When was your first close hand experience with death?
7) What’s the worst possible death you can imagine for yourself?
8) Are you an organ donor? If not, why?
9) Cremation or burial?
10) Do you believe in things that go bump in the night?
Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, mudslides….
Can’t Mother Nature just leave us alone already?
Emergency Declared in Fla. As Wilma Slows [ABC News]
For what it’s worth, I’m sending my thoughts of love and luck to everyone in Florida, especially my good friend’s family in the Keys (they know who they are).
Freaking hurricanes.
For the next installment of the radio blog, Edo requested that I put up the Zutons. We saw them open for Keane back in March (I think… I need to start keeping track of this stuff).
Anyway, they were quite good, and well worth a listen. This is their debut album.
See Also:
Pitchfork Media
U2 on Sunday were freaking incredible. We were in the second row of people, right in front of the center of the ellipse. All four members of the band were directly in front of me at least once during different points in the night.
The performance was outstanding, as it usually is. I won’t go into any more detail than that, since I know most of you don’t care.
After it ended, several of our friends were trying to convince us to go to the second show the following (Monday) night. They actually had me feeling sort of guilty.
We toyed with the idea, especially since we had given up New York last week, but ultimately decided that we were too tired and just didn’t have enough time to devote another whole day to this.
Boy was that a mistake. You know what I missed?
BRUCE FUCKING SPRINGSTEEN!!
He joined them on stage during the encore.
Unbelievable.
I’m trying not to dwell on it (and mostly I am succeeding), but goddamnit!!
Anyway, if you are at all interested, there are a few more pictures after the jump. (more…)
Edo and I went to see Serenity on Saturday. To prepare, we watched the all the TV episodes in order last week, so we were really excited to see the movie.
We both ended up being a bit disappointed. Now don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of awesome moments and we did enjoy ourselves.
It started out well enough, with a good opening scene (though I didn’t entirely understand how they got themselves into the situation in the first place). The first shots of the ship were also great.
The dialogue was witty and snappy throughout the movie, and there were many hilarious moments. But it just seemed like the story got away from itself toward the end.
I don’t know, maybe I would feel different (or think I did) if I was more than just a passive fan.
I welcome you to disagree, as long as you explain yourself. :-) Spoilers are fine, just post a warning.
Well it’s a little late, but here’s my leg blogging entry for the week. Sorry, I was away from the computer yesterday.
This Week’s Leg Bloggers:
–Larakin
So, Friday night I went to see Franz Ferdinand. The concert was a lot of fun, but it didn’t seem like the boys gave their best performance. Alex flubbed the lyrics in about two thirds of the songs, and the crowd wasn’t as into it as they should have been. (The crowd factor may have been due to the venue having seats, which sort of kept people spread out.)
I must say, though, the encore was awesome. It was like they switched into hyperdrive. That sort of redeemed things a bit. Too bad the whole show wasn’t like that. It was very early in their tour, so I’d like to catch them again later when they’ve gotten a little practice. I’m also looking forward to hearing a few more of the new songs that didn’t make it into the setlist this time.
Anyway, even though it wasn’t one of the best concerts I’ve seen, we still had a great time, and I will definitely be going to see them again.
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Tomorrow: Serenity
Sunday: U2
Oh yeah, it’s going to be a good weekend.
Required reading: Part I, Part II, and Part III.
And now, the conclusion…
Do the limbo rock.
At the end of Part III, my bathroom ceiling began leaking, right after Edo left the country. Usually I let him deal with this sort of crap, but this time it was my turn.
I called the management office and asked for Eleanor, who was none too pleased to be hearing from me since the last time we spoke I was, well, a bitch. So I said in the sweetest voice I could muster, “Oh Eleanor, our ceiling is leaking and I’d hate to see it ruin all that hard work that Theodore just did.”
Anyway, she sent someone over to deal with it. It stopped temporarily. Then it started again. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. You get the picture. By the end of September, we had a nice hole going for us in the ceiling above the shower. In case you’re keeping track, that was only two months after they repaired the wall.
About three weeks ago, Theodore and the plumber (call him Alvin) finally decided to open up the hole further, so they could see where the leak originated.
You can view their handywork here on the left. They found the leak and fixed it, but there’s no guarantee that another one won’t form.
The only real solution is to replace the bathroom above us, which Theodore wants to do, but surprise, surprise… he’s been having trouble getting the authorization. Since they won’t fix our ceiling until they replace the upstairs bathroom, we are in limbo. (more…)
You’ll want to catch up on Part I and Part II before reading any further into Part III.
Paint: The Cure for Everything.
When we last left my story, I had just discovered that the hardwood floor of my new apartment had been painted.
What did I do? Why, I called the management office and bitched them out, of course. Bear in mind that we discovered this after arriving home from red eye flight (with a stopover) after a long and tiring trip.
So now the secretary (I’ll call her Eleanor) hates me. She put Theodore on the phone and he told me the floor was too damaged, and the company wouldn’t authorize the cost to fix it, which they estimated at $1500.
Bull. Freaking. Shit. They caused half of the damage! Paint all over the place, and the gouge, which they didn’t bother to fill in before painting (see image above).
It seems to them, paint was an acceptable substitute for having to clean up the floor. I actually found a rubber band painted into the floor of my closet.
They didn’t bother painting the other closet floors (like this one on the right), probably because they couldn’t get the doors open, but that’s another story. (more…)
Editor’s note: For those of you who found my earlier version of this post on the test blog, this one is a little different.
If you haven’t read Part I, you might want to do that first. Now where was I? Oh right. Having nowhere else to go, we decided to move next door. Soon after that, the handyman/pseudo-super (I’ll call him Theodore, though that isn’t really his name) set about fixing up our new apartment.
When you move, you’re also supposed to move your stuff.
Let me set the scene for you. The previous tenants left behind about 20 pieces of furniture–a decrepit loveseat, a big filing cabinet that was clearly used as a dresser, a metal utility cabinet with graffiti on the back, as well as various other pieces. It was obvious that they had all been salvaged from elsewhere.
And everything—the floors, the walls, the countertop and cabinets—was filthy. Our former neighbors had also left about 300 nails in the wall, and maybe 100 more holes. I’m not even sure that I’m exaggerating there.
He didn’t paint so much as… splatter.
So first, Theodore had a painter (let’s call him Simon) come in and do the walls and ceiling. And I use the word “painter” loosely. The guy didn’t even cover the floor, let alone tape around the woodwork or remove switch plates, etc. He also didn’t bother removing a single nail. And Edo had actually gone over there ahead of time to remove as many of them as he could, to help make sure things were done properly (ha!).
Even with that, Simon couldn’t be bothered to spackle in one single nail hole, or even the several larger holes in the wall and cracks in the ceiling. He just painted right over them. And he dripped paint everywhere! All over the hard wood floor, on the kitchen tiles, on the crappy abandoned furniture, and he even left paint fingerprints on the cabinets!! (more…)
…U2 are NOT collaborating with Rick Santorum for a fund raiser.
I wasn’t even going to dignify this article with a mention, but then I noticed that one of the searched phrases hitting my blog was “wachovia center santorum bono.” I’m actually the second hit on Google for that.
So I feel a responsibility to inform my readers that, although the slimebucket senator is throwing himself an affair at the upcoming Sunday show in Philly, U2 is in no way involved in raising money for Rick Santorum. (more…)
You get what you pay for.
I’m sure some of you recall the rants about my old apartment. Recently I noticed that I haven’t blogged much about our new place—just that we were moving and it was never ending, plus a few angry posts about my bitchy and tone deaf neighbors.
I guess I never told this story for a couple reasons. First, we were really busy when it was all happening, what with the move and the trip and all. Second, I didn’t want to come across as seeking pity (I’m not). And third, sometimes it’s a bit embarrassing that I can’t live in a better place.
Regarding that last part, I should explain that it’s not really that I can’t live in a better place. It all has to do with choices. We stay here because the rent is cheap for the location, and the location is very convenient. We could move away from the central part of the city and easily find a place twice the size for the same rent. But I want to stay close to work, close to the downtown area, and close to all modes of transportation (I kind of hate busses).
Alternately, we could find a place downtown that’s the same size and twice our current rent, but we’d have to cut back dramatically on other things we enjoy, like dining out, new shoes (okay, that’s just me), going to concerts, purchasing cool electronic gizmos, and traveling. You know, fun.
Buying isn’t really an option for the same reasons—I can’t afford to buy anywhere that I actually want to live. Maybe three years ago, but not these days—the housing market in Philly has gotten ridiculously inflated. We’re the next big thing, or haven’t you heard? The sixth borough and all that bullshit.
So now you are probably thinking “If she chooses to live there, then where does she get off complaining?” Well, let me enlighten you. (more…)
