San Francisco has not been treating me well lately.
Last night Cohen and I go to this place called Club Six . We had both been there before an had an okay time, but the one thing we remembered is that the drinks were tiny and overpriced. Oh well, we were in again and were thirsty.
I go up to the bartender, some grungy looking guy, and order two Jack and Cokes. He takes out too small plastic cups, fills them to the brim with ice and does a simultaneous coke and jack pour. It is at this point we know we are being ripped off more. We are talking 3/4s of a shot of Jack here. What the fuck is that going to do for me .... nothing.
Anyhow, I am not one to not except fate and as he sets the drinks in front of us he says "Fourteen dollars". FOURTEEN DOLLARS. There is more alcohol in my piss at this point from my preparty drinks than there is in those two Jack and Cokes.
I say "Fourteen dollars" and give him a raised eyebrow looking. At the same time I was reaching in my pocket for the cash to pay. At this point I was going to pay anyhow.
So what does "Grungy" do -- he takes the two drinks, throws them in the trash and walks away. Once again (if you read my last entry) I was speechless. I turn to Matt and say "Did you see that?" ... We both shared a confused look and decided that it was time to go downstairs and get drinks there.
The rest of the night we drank 2$ Pabst Blue Ribbons.
-Stein
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Who does that ...
Okay I have a strange story that I have been meaning to tell the world (or just my few friends who read this).
Three weekends ago I was with some buddies at a bar in San Francisco, Eastside West. Its an okay bar, always pretty crowded with a super tiny dance floor, lots of cushy tables and a backroom to go back to when the front room gets too crowded. The mix of people is the normal for the Union, Fillmore, area; lots of twentysomethings running around, boozing up and generally having a good time.
I was having a good time too. At the time (well currently actually) I was still transitioning from being with my girlfriend of two years to not being with her (we decided to split up). I in no way want a relationship and frankly don't even think about hooking up (crazy isn't it -- am I even male -- do i have a penis??).
Which is one of the reasons why when the two girls across the way on the dance floor motioned at my friend and I to come and dance, I waved at them no and continued to sip my Captain Morgan and coke. I like Captain and Coke. The spicy rum and the coke tastes good on my tongue. I don't like being pestered by girls over and over again to dance after I initially say no. This is an important fact for the remainder of the story.
So Sean and I turn away from the dance floor. Matt and Kunal have come back and we are all standing around, I'm sipping my Captain and they are drinking their drinks. It's fun -- I'm having a good time. Being with the boys is always good.
That is when the girl that asked to dance comes around with her little sidekick. She was not a completely unattractive girl. Now I do not know what that translates too, but whatever. She starts kinda slapping my arm saying, "Come on, dance. Why don't you want to dance."
I said, "I really don't want to dance." I sip my rum and coke. It's good. I used to drink them in college like they were well, just cokes.
As I am sipping she says something along the lines of "I am going to rip your short off unless you dance."
No your not. No one does that. Although that is something that maybe in some instances a guy would want to hear, this was not one of them. I thought nothing of it, said "Yeah right" and sipped my drink.
The pyscho, no thats too harsh, even that it fits, grabs the ends of one of my favorite striped shirts and pulls outwards and up. I kid you not she ripped the shirt clean in half up to the second button from the top. Four buttons went flying out into the bar, falling to the floor amongst my friends and me.
I was aghast and speechless. Who does that. My friends are cracking up. The operative thing for me to say would have been "bitch", but for some reason the words evaded me. I don't know how, but she was suddenly gone from sight. I am sure she said something else unintelligent. My friends picked up my buttons for me and then we all laughed (me still in shock of such a crazy event) that my happy trail was now visible for all to see.
For the remainder of the night I walked around with one hand pinning my shirt together at the bottom and the other holding my Captain and Coke. About 20 minutes to a half hour later we saw the girl again.
She walks up and says "You hate me, I'm sorry, you hate me".
No I don't hate you, its cool, I just think you are crazy. I said somehting like that. She is holding a glass of champagne and says, "Will it make it better if I pour my champagne on my head. I'll pour it all over."
"I'll pour it all over" -- something else most men might not mind hearing. However I was indifferent and sipped my Rum and Coke (because it is good). I said "whatever" and kept drinking.
My friend Mr. Cohen however was not indifferent and piped it with one word -- "Yes".
And yes she did. This crazy girl takes her glass of champagne, tilts her head back and dumps it all over her face, forehead and hair. Not just dumped it on her, but relished in it. Matt and I pretty much went hysterical for a few minutes and then we left the bar with everyone -- but not before I finished my Captian and Coke.
Moral of the story -- if a girl asks you to dance, maybe you should dance (actually that is not the moral(-- but if you say no, like I usually do, be prepared to expect the unexpected.
Three weekends ago I was with some buddies at a bar in San Francisco, Eastside West. Its an okay bar, always pretty crowded with a super tiny dance floor, lots of cushy tables and a backroom to go back to when the front room gets too crowded. The mix of people is the normal for the Union, Fillmore, area; lots of twentysomethings running around, boozing up and generally having a good time.
I was having a good time too. At the time (well currently actually) I was still transitioning from being with my girlfriend of two years to not being with her (we decided to split up). I in no way want a relationship and frankly don't even think about hooking up (crazy isn't it -- am I even male -- do i have a penis??).
Which is one of the reasons why when the two girls across the way on the dance floor motioned at my friend and I to come and dance, I waved at them no and continued to sip my Captain Morgan and coke. I like Captain and Coke. The spicy rum and the coke tastes good on my tongue. I don't like being pestered by girls over and over again to dance after I initially say no. This is an important fact for the remainder of the story.
So Sean and I turn away from the dance floor. Matt and Kunal have come back and we are all standing around, I'm sipping my Captain and they are drinking their drinks. It's fun -- I'm having a good time. Being with the boys is always good.
That is when the girl that asked to dance comes around with her little sidekick. She was not a completely unattractive girl. Now I do not know what that translates too, but whatever. She starts kinda slapping my arm saying, "Come on, dance. Why don't you want to dance."
I said, "I really don't want to dance." I sip my rum and coke. It's good. I used to drink them in college like they were well, just cokes.
As I am sipping she says something along the lines of "I am going to rip your short off unless you dance."
No your not. No one does that. Although that is something that maybe in some instances a guy would want to hear, this was not one of them. I thought nothing of it, said "Yeah right" and sipped my drink.
The pyscho, no thats too harsh, even that it fits, grabs the ends of one of my favorite striped shirts and pulls outwards and up. I kid you not she ripped the shirt clean in half up to the second button from the top. Four buttons went flying out into the bar, falling to the floor amongst my friends and me.
I was aghast and speechless. Who does that. My friends are cracking up. The operative thing for me to say would have been "bitch", but for some reason the words evaded me. I don't know how, but she was suddenly gone from sight. I am sure she said something else unintelligent. My friends picked up my buttons for me and then we all laughed (me still in shock of such a crazy event) that my happy trail was now visible for all to see.
For the remainder of the night I walked around with one hand pinning my shirt together at the bottom and the other holding my Captain and Coke. About 20 minutes to a half hour later we saw the girl again.
She walks up and says "You hate me, I'm sorry, you hate me".
No I don't hate you, its cool, I just think you are crazy. I said somehting like that. She is holding a glass of champagne and says, "Will it make it better if I pour my champagne on my head. I'll pour it all over."
"I'll pour it all over" -- something else most men might not mind hearing. However I was indifferent and sipped my Rum and Coke (because it is good). I said "whatever" and kept drinking.
My friend Mr. Cohen however was not indifferent and piped it with one word -- "Yes".
And yes she did. This crazy girl takes her glass of champagne, tilts her head back and dumps it all over her face, forehead and hair. Not just dumped it on her, but relished in it. Matt and I pretty much went hysterical for a few minutes and then we left the bar with everyone -- but not before I finished my Captian and Coke.
Moral of the story -- if a girl asks you to dance, maybe you should dance (actually that is not the moral(-- but if you say no, like I usually do, be prepared to expect the unexpected.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Its not just me about the lids ...
Okay, so i am at oakland international airport with two of my coworkers waiting for our flight to Dallas depart. I was delegated as the bag watcher as the two of them went to the ATM, got coffee, etc. As Joanna is coming back with my coffee I notice that she has drips of coffee I all of her hands.
Ah-ha! I am not crazy. Turns out these coffee cups were worse than Starbucks coffee cups. I had to continually, as I was drinking my brew, take the lid off and wipe down the inner ring of the lid which at this point was a reservoir for my coffee ... Now its off to a meeting in Dallas -- but you all know where I will be heading first.
Ah-ha! I am not crazy. Turns out these coffee cups were worse than Starbucks coffee cups. I had to continually, as I was drinking my brew, take the lid off and wipe down the inner ring of the lid which at this point was a reservoir for my coffee ... Now its off to a meeting in Dallas -- but you all know where I will be heading first.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Starbuck's coffee lids are abysmal
Anyone ever had trouble with the lids on Starbuck's coffee. I do. Everyday. I swear there must be a science to the application of a starbuck's coffee lid. One wrong move and a little bit of coffee to a nice general dripping of coffee will surely find its way out.
The first flaw in the lids is actually a flaw in the Starbuck's coffee cup. See that seam running down one side of the cup. That is you worst enemy. For a Starbuck's coffee cup to not spill whatsoever (and even this does not seem to work) that seam needs to be 180 degrees opposite the opening in the lid. Perhaps this is common sense, but I can assure you that Starbuck's employee's do not always, when making your coffee, place the lid at this orientation.
What does this lead to you may ask ... Well everyday while driving to work I will place my starbucks coffee cup in one of my Accord's cupholders. All is well so far. As my drive commences however is when the spillage begins. Because of the fullness of the coffee cup the stop and go motion of the car inevitably leads to some coffee spilling to the top of the cup. But you have a lid on you say. Yes, very nice. But a small protrusion forms where the seam of the coffee cup meets the lid. Coffee will collect here and when it has formed into large enough drops begin dripping down the side of the cup.
THIS CANNOT ONLY HAPPEN TO ME. Someone out there who shares my grief please post your starbucks coffee cup mishap.
The first flaw in the lids is actually a flaw in the Starbuck's coffee cup. See that seam running down one side of the cup. That is you worst enemy. For a Starbuck's coffee cup to not spill whatsoever (and even this does not seem to work) that seam needs to be 180 degrees opposite the opening in the lid. Perhaps this is common sense, but I can assure you that Starbuck's employee's do not always, when making your coffee, place the lid at this orientation.
What does this lead to you may ask ... Well everyday while driving to work I will place my starbucks coffee cup in one of my Accord's cupholders. All is well so far. As my drive commences however is when the spillage begins. Because of the fullness of the coffee cup the stop and go motion of the car inevitably leads to some coffee spilling to the top of the cup. But you have a lid on you say. Yes, very nice. But a small protrusion forms where the seam of the coffee cup meets the lid. Coffee will collect here and when it has formed into large enough drops begin dripping down the side of the cup.
THIS CANNOT ONLY HAPPEN TO ME. Someone out there who shares my grief please post your starbucks coffee cup mishap.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Spiderman 2 kicks ass
I saw Spiderman 2 on it's opening night, but I wanted to wait to see it again before I posted my "professional" review. Suffice to say the movie kicks ass in so many ways. The action, humor, and performances are top notch. Especially Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker.
Light spoilers follow...
We feel this guy's pain. To live the life of a *superhero* is rough and the rewards are slim. The movie starts with Tobey Maguire delivery pizzas to pay for school and his dwelling which you could hardly call an apartment ... more like half a studio. His landlord is a dick, Mary-Jane is all but out of his life because he has decided that it is too dangerous to pursue her, his best-friend and him have had a falling out due to the fact that he takes Spiderman's photos, and to top it all off he still feels tremendously guilty over his Uncle's death.
This is all dealt to the viewer in numerous scenes interdispersed with a healthy does of web-swingingy and a bit of crime fighting. All in all the introduction to the movie is great, and holds its own against the beginning of the original Spiderman. I personally like the beginning of the original better because we see Peter Parker become Spiderman. Obviously that can only happen once, but Sam Raimi does a good job of reintroducing the character and his dilemma's in the sequel.
Where the movie steals the show from its predecessor is with the main conflict: Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock as JJ Jameson aptly borrows from one of his underlings. (By the way JJ Jameson is spot on in this movie as well). There is a whole "fusion" plot device that seems quite contrived, but it is forgivable (to be honest I do not know if that is how Doc Ock gets his mechanical arms in the comic book). Once the Doc's arms become fused to his spine the fun factor of the movie jumps into a higher great. Especially cool is a scene where the tentacles are about to be surgically removed ...
I do not want to go into too much more detail about the plot; suffice to say the action is incredible and the romantic core of the movie is handled very well. It is not cheesy by any means.
I mentioned humor early. Although the movie takes itself seriously, it knows when to let up and show its lightheartedness. The comedic elements of the movie are sprinkled nicely throughout, sometimes even whole scenes are devoted to the laugh factor.
But each scene, whether comedic or not plays its part in the movie's ultimate message that "With great power there must come great responsibility" ... We are witnessing the growth of a young man who does not exactly want the power that he has been dealt. His life is by no means normal, he has a crappy job, the woman he loves and that loves him he has chosen to push away, his best-friend is Spiderman's biggest hater ... you get the point. By the end we see Peter Parker come to grips with what he has to do and how he must act around the loved ones around him. To give anything else away would spoil the fun for you.
Four of Five stars.
Light spoilers follow...
We feel this guy's pain. To live the life of a *superhero* is rough and the rewards are slim. The movie starts with Tobey Maguire delivery pizzas to pay for school and his dwelling which you could hardly call an apartment ... more like half a studio. His landlord is a dick, Mary-Jane is all but out of his life because he has decided that it is too dangerous to pursue her, his best-friend and him have had a falling out due to the fact that he takes Spiderman's photos, and to top it all off he still feels tremendously guilty over his Uncle's death.
This is all dealt to the viewer in numerous scenes interdispersed with a healthy does of web-swingingy and a bit of crime fighting. All in all the introduction to the movie is great, and holds its own against the beginning of the original Spiderman. I personally like the beginning of the original better because we see Peter Parker become Spiderman. Obviously that can only happen once, but Sam Raimi does a good job of reintroducing the character and his dilemma's in the sequel.
Where the movie steals the show from its predecessor is with the main conflict: Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock as JJ Jameson aptly borrows from one of his underlings. (By the way JJ Jameson is spot on in this movie as well). There is a whole "fusion" plot device that seems quite contrived, but it is forgivable (to be honest I do not know if that is how Doc Ock gets his mechanical arms in the comic book). Once the Doc's arms become fused to his spine the fun factor of the movie jumps into a higher great. Especially cool is a scene where the tentacles are about to be surgically removed ...
I do not want to go into too much more detail about the plot; suffice to say the action is incredible and the romantic core of the movie is handled very well. It is not cheesy by any means.
I mentioned humor early. Although the movie takes itself seriously, it knows when to let up and show its lightheartedness. The comedic elements of the movie are sprinkled nicely throughout, sometimes even whole scenes are devoted to the laugh factor.
But each scene, whether comedic or not plays its part in the movie's ultimate message that "With great power there must come great responsibility" ... We are witnessing the growth of a young man who does not exactly want the power that he has been dealt. His life is by no means normal, he has a crappy job, the woman he loves and that loves him he has chosen to push away, his best-friend is Spiderman's biggest hater ... you get the point. By the end we see Peter Parker come to grips with what he has to do and how he must act around the loved ones around him. To give anything else away would spoil the fun for you.
Four of Five stars.
Friday, June 25, 2004
Gratuitous locker room nudity is not needed
Okay, so let me explain this. I am in my companies gym changing into my gym clothes. There is a row of lockers and a mirror so that you can kind of see the two rows adjacent to you. So I am doing my own thing and changing when out of the corner of my eye, I see flesh, a lot of it, man flesh at that (cause I'm in the men's locker room).
I'm in a locker room right? This is fine. But I am a slow changer and its my first time in the gym so I am getting my keys tucked away, and my wallet ensuring they are locked up. Then I start changing. I go from jeans to workoutpants in about 10 seconds. Then out of the corner of my eye I am still seeing the man flesh. What the fuck? Is this needed. This guy had stripped down to his bare ass with just a shirt on and for the next three minutes is doing all of his organizing (keys, wallet, shoes, etc.).
Does this strike anyone else as odd. Although it is perfectly okay to be nude in a locker room, there is no reason to flaunt/show off your wares. Take off your underwear/boxers, put the next pair on and then do whatever else you have to do. Don't take off your pants, let it hang out and flop around the locker room like its your own living room, wait five minutes and then put your "workout" pair of underwear on.
I'm in a locker room right? This is fine. But I am a slow changer and its my first time in the gym so I am getting my keys tucked away, and my wallet ensuring they are locked up. Then I start changing. I go from jeans to workoutpants in about 10 seconds. Then out of the corner of my eye I am still seeing the man flesh. What the fuck? Is this needed. This guy had stripped down to his bare ass with just a shirt on and for the next three minutes is doing all of his organizing (keys, wallet, shoes, etc.).
Does this strike anyone else as odd. Although it is perfectly okay to be nude in a locker room, there is no reason to flaunt/show off your wares. Take off your underwear/boxers, put the next pair on and then do whatever else you have to do. Don't take off your pants, let it hang out and flop around the locker room like its your own living room, wait five minutes and then put your "workout" pair of underwear on.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Chronicles of Shittick ...
In a nutshell this movie sucks major ass. As eloquent as that may sound, let me elaborate a bit. Pitch Black was a good, suspenseful, horror-action movie. It kept you on your toes a little bit and provided some good scenes and pacing. There was some cheesy dialog and what not, but it knew what genre it was in. Due to its somewhat successful run at the BO and Vin Diesel's *rising* star power, it was inevitable that a sequel would be made.
Enter the Chronicles of Riddick. The basic premise is that Riddick is the lone force that can stop the Necromongers, a people (humans) who worship the underverse. They basically travel around the universe (not to be confused with underverse) subverting or destroying all life. They replenish their lost soldiers and move on to the next planet. For some reason, and I will not give it away, yet, Riddick is the only thing between the head Necromonger and the taking over of "Helion Prime (IV I think, but it doesn't matter).
Firstly, what the fuck, the underverse, Necromongers ... of all the places they could have gone with this material they go for this fanatical religious cult (a large one at that) that eradicates entire planets with these phallic obelisks that wipeout whole continents. And by some tiny plot measure, Riddick, who is a Furian (Furyian?), is the roadblock to their success.
Okay, okay, lets go with the flow here and agree that this premise could possibly have some sort of promise. Classic one man versus everyone else scenario. So we should have so good action scenes. Because really all I wanted to see from this movie was some senseless action.
Instead we have a series of choppy, strobe light effect action sequences. Instead of seeing this movie, this is what you do. Go into a mirrored room with a friend, each with boxing gloves, setup a strobe light, close the door, take some speed, and start beating the shit out of each other. You won't be able to see shit, just pulses of light and a fist or a face here and there. For a more grand effect set up two strobe lights at different intervals. I was honestly appalled (as appalled as one can get from not seeing the action sequences they would like) at the quality here people. I would say go and see for yourself, but that is what I am trying to not get you to do. My friend who went with me summed it up succintly, "Sometimes the action scenes hurt my eyes so I just closed them."
So besides the action scenes of this sci-fi action movie sucking ass, what else was bad. Well the CG of the planetscapes was pretty horrible. The opening fly-in on one of the Helion Prime planets is no better than a videogame. Speaking of the videogame; that is actually supposed to be quite good. The premise of the game, from the title alone, seems to fit the character of Riddick well; a stealthy killer who can use his surroundings to his disposal, whether it be weapons or whatever else he can manage to find. Instead moviegoers are left with Riddick, defender of the universe.
The ending promises us many more, or at least one more installment to this series. I will not give it away, but one could say it is the lone bright part of the movie because it is actually pretty smart compared to the rest of the movie and comes out of nowhere. In retrospect one could figure it out beforehand through some cryptic dialog between the eye-candy of the film and her partner, but really, you will not care: by the time ending comes around you will either be closing your eyes or falling asleep (like me).
1 of 5 stars.
Enter the Chronicles of Riddick. The basic premise is that Riddick is the lone force that can stop the Necromongers, a people (humans) who worship the underverse. They basically travel around the universe (not to be confused with underverse) subverting or destroying all life. They replenish their lost soldiers and move on to the next planet. For some reason, and I will not give it away, yet, Riddick is the only thing between the head Necromonger and the taking over of "Helion Prime (IV I think, but it doesn't matter).
Firstly, what the fuck, the underverse, Necromongers ... of all the places they could have gone with this material they go for this fanatical religious cult (a large one at that) that eradicates entire planets with these phallic obelisks that wipeout whole continents. And by some tiny plot measure, Riddick, who is a Furian (Furyian?), is the roadblock to their success.
Okay, okay, lets go with the flow here and agree that this premise could possibly have some sort of promise. Classic one man versus everyone else scenario. So we should have so good action scenes. Because really all I wanted to see from this movie was some senseless action.
Instead we have a series of choppy, strobe light effect action sequences. Instead of seeing this movie, this is what you do. Go into a mirrored room with a friend, each with boxing gloves, setup a strobe light, close the door, take some speed, and start beating the shit out of each other. You won't be able to see shit, just pulses of light and a fist or a face here and there. For a more grand effect set up two strobe lights at different intervals. I was honestly appalled (as appalled as one can get from not seeing the action sequences they would like) at the quality here people. I would say go and see for yourself, but that is what I am trying to not get you to do. My friend who went with me summed it up succintly, "Sometimes the action scenes hurt my eyes so I just closed them."
So besides the action scenes of this sci-fi action movie sucking ass, what else was bad. Well the CG of the planetscapes was pretty horrible. The opening fly-in on one of the Helion Prime planets is no better than a videogame. Speaking of the videogame; that is actually supposed to be quite good. The premise of the game, from the title alone, seems to fit the character of Riddick well; a stealthy killer who can use his surroundings to his disposal, whether it be weapons or whatever else he can manage to find. Instead moviegoers are left with Riddick, defender of the universe.
The ending promises us many more, or at least one more installment to this series. I will not give it away, but one could say it is the lone bright part of the movie because it is actually pretty smart compared to the rest of the movie and comes out of nowhere. In retrospect one could figure it out beforehand through some cryptic dialog between the eye-candy of the film and her partner, but really, you will not care: by the time ending comes around you will either be closing your eyes or falling asleep (like me).
1 of 5 stars.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Burning drums, ramrods and more ...
Been meaning to write a whole bunch of stuff down. First off a congrats to my brother for graduating high school. Although it was not much fun for him (the school part) he pulled through and is done. Finito. I'll try to get a shot of him in is gown up here so you all have the proof.
Did a lot of drinking this weekend, mainly because that is what happens on the weekend when the number of close friends that are actually living in the town you grew up in almost doubles for a night.
First up was George. He came in to do some airshow in ?San Carlos? Anyhow met up with Isaac and him at Salute. After having a drink there we made the trek over to the Broken Drum. We sit down, order a pitcher of IPA and start bullshitting like we always do. There is a buy your friend a drink board there and someone had bought someone a Keg.
So I am wondering how much a keg costs and I ask the bartender. She rattles off some number off the top of her head and then goes to get me the keg list. She walks over to the register area and comes back exclaiming about how the keg list was burned when there was a fire over a week back. Then she sniffs the air a few times, and says, "Can't you guys smell that, its like burnt rubber." To which my eloquent Naval Aviator George replies, "I live in a shithole, this smells great." ... Now it wasn't quite exactly what he said (although if you were there you would have been crying your eyes out from laughter like me and Isaac), but the way he said it. It was so matter of fact. At first I thought maybe this was how George flirts, but then I realized this was not flirting, it was what it was. I could go on about this, but I will not: suffice to say that the mind will come up with some strange shit after a few drinks.
Fast forward a few days, in-between of which I saw Harry Potter which I will have a full fledged review for (or maybe just a mini one). Very enjoyable movie. Monday night I spent the latter half of the evening at Moylan's drinking a pint or two with Jason, Kristen, Dan, Isaac and my other half, Laura. Don't really know how to transition into saying this but -- "Ramrods" ... who really knows what that means. We had a semi-philosophical discussion about Ramrods and the act of Ramrodding ... yes you can see where this is going. You have been warned.
In the midst of it all Jason decides that Ramrods are "prosthetic boners" ... hmmm hopefully i remember that correctly. If that isn't what he said then that must be what I subconsciously think ramrods are. Anyway, if you and your friends have never gone into an indepth discussion about what ramrodding could possibly be, then I suggest you start one.
At this point the conversation dove-tailed into some RealSex show on HBO where this woman was doing her husband in the ass with a "ramrod" while she had a butt plug in her ass with feathers on it.
On that note, Happy Wednesday...
Did a lot of drinking this weekend, mainly because that is what happens on the weekend when the number of close friends that are actually living in the town you grew up in almost doubles for a night.
First up was George. He came in to do some airshow in ?San Carlos? Anyhow met up with Isaac and him at Salute. After having a drink there we made the trek over to the Broken Drum. We sit down, order a pitcher of IPA and start bullshitting like we always do. There is a buy your friend a drink board there and someone had bought someone a Keg.
So I am wondering how much a keg costs and I ask the bartender. She rattles off some number off the top of her head and then goes to get me the keg list. She walks over to the register area and comes back exclaiming about how the keg list was burned when there was a fire over a week back. Then she sniffs the air a few times, and says, "Can't you guys smell that, its like burnt rubber." To which my eloquent Naval Aviator George replies, "I live in a shithole, this smells great." ... Now it wasn't quite exactly what he said (although if you were there you would have been crying your eyes out from laughter like me and Isaac), but the way he said it. It was so matter of fact. At first I thought maybe this was how George flirts, but then I realized this was not flirting, it was what it was. I could go on about this, but I will not: suffice to say that the mind will come up with some strange shit after a few drinks.
Fast forward a few days, in-between of which I saw Harry Potter which I will have a full fledged review for (or maybe just a mini one). Very enjoyable movie. Monday night I spent the latter half of the evening at Moylan's drinking a pint or two with Jason, Kristen, Dan, Isaac and my other half, Laura. Don't really know how to transition into saying this but -- "Ramrods" ... who really knows what that means. We had a semi-philosophical discussion about Ramrods and the act of Ramrodding ... yes you can see where this is going. You have been warned.
In the midst of it all Jason decides that Ramrods are "prosthetic boners" ... hmmm hopefully i remember that correctly. If that isn't what he said then that must be what I subconsciously think ramrods are. Anyway, if you and your friends have never gone into an indepth discussion about what ramrodding could possibly be, then I suggest you start one.
At this point the conversation dove-tailed into some RealSex show on HBO where this woman was doing her husband in the ass with a "ramrod" while she had a butt plug in her ass with feathers on it.
On that note, Happy Wednesday...
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Shrek 2 Reviewed
That wily johnny over at Random Thoughts has deemed me evil and changed my picture accordingly:
Here is an excerpt from that encounter ...
6/9/2004 11:00:41 AM Matt Stein John search steinsspot on google and you get everything, that is to be expected though
6/9/2004 11:01:02 AM John Matt Stein yes, google, knower of all that is good and....
6/9/2004 11:01:03 AM John Matt Stein evil
6/9/2004 11:01:25 AM Matt Stein John so you are saying I am evil
6/9/2004 11:01:37 AM John Matt Stein I could put up that evil looking picture of you
6/9/2004 11:01:48 AM John Matt Stein you know, the one with your face behind the martini glass
6/9/2004 11:02:01 AM Matt Stein John do it do it
6/9/2004 11:02:01 AM John Matt Stein then what would all the netizens think of you?
Anyhow so Shrek 2. In a nutshell go see it. I found that with both Shrek movies, the beginning of the movie has been better. Before the actual story gets going there are more small, funny tidbits to watch and react to.
So whats good about the movie: the animation, I do not think it is as top notch as Finding Nemo; something about the water in that movie blew me away, but the features and facial expressions on the humans are very nice. Much more liveliness and emotion is being presented. And secondary humans are more lifelike than in the first movie. This is to be expected however with increases in technology ... more of an evolution than a revolution in CG animation ... still good however.
Puss an' Boots and Donkey are hilarious. Especially the former. Well maybe I shouln't say that, as I remember chuckling a lot at things that Donkey said. What is very refreshing in this movie is the level of humor, its very adult and mature. Kids will love this movie because of the characters and the antics, but grown-ups will also and find joy in seeing this because of the subject matter. I cannot think of any off of the top of my head but there were many references to everyday cliche's and current events. (The Prince and his baywatch hair shake just come to mind -- although compared to some of the others that is not nearly as funny).
Strange though, after seeing the movie just the other day I can barely remember any *favorite* scenes or spectaculary funny moments. We will have to wait and see how Incredibles stacks up this fall to really see how good Shrek 2 is and what the ever changing bar for animated films becomes. Still though, go see Shrek 2, laugh at Puss an' Boots and Donkey, snicker at the small satirizations (is that a word) of modern day society, and relax for an hour and half.
.5 of
Here is an excerpt from that encounter ...
6/9/2004 11:00:41 AM Matt Stein John search steinsspot on google and you get everything, that is to be expected though
6/9/2004 11:01:02 AM John Matt Stein yes, google, knower of all that is good and....
6/9/2004 11:01:03 AM John Matt Stein evil
6/9/2004 11:01:25 AM Matt Stein John so you are saying I am evil
6/9/2004 11:01:37 AM John Matt Stein I could put up that evil looking picture of you
6/9/2004 11:01:48 AM John Matt Stein you know, the one with your face behind the martini glass
6/9/2004 11:02:01 AM Matt Stein John do it do it
6/9/2004 11:02:01 AM John Matt Stein then what would all the netizens think of you?
Anyhow so Shrek 2. In a nutshell go see it. I found that with both Shrek movies, the beginning of the movie has been better. Before the actual story gets going there are more small, funny tidbits to watch and react to.
So whats good about the movie: the animation, I do not think it is as top notch as Finding Nemo; something about the water in that movie blew me away, but the features and facial expressions on the humans are very nice. Much more liveliness and emotion is being presented. And secondary humans are more lifelike than in the first movie. This is to be expected however with increases in technology ... more of an evolution than a revolution in CG animation ... still good however.
Puss an' Boots and Donkey are hilarious. Especially the former. Well maybe I shouln't say that, as I remember chuckling a lot at things that Donkey said. What is very refreshing in this movie is the level of humor, its very adult and mature. Kids will love this movie because of the characters and the antics, but grown-ups will also and find joy in seeing this because of the subject matter. I cannot think of any off of the top of my head but there were many references to everyday cliche's and current events. (The Prince and his baywatch hair shake just come to mind -- although compared to some of the others that is not nearly as funny).
Strange though, after seeing the movie just the other day I can barely remember any *favorite* scenes or spectaculary funny moments. We will have to wait and see how Incredibles stacks up this fall to really see how good Shrek 2 is and what the ever changing bar for animated films becomes. Still though, go see Shrek 2, laugh at Puss an' Boots and Donkey, snicker at the small satirizations (is that a word) of modern day society, and relax for an hour and half.
.5 of
Monday, June 07, 2004
Stuff
So last week my friend changed my profile image for this blog. It really gives the impression that I am obsessed with Martini's... just look at my smile and that crazed look in my eye. Well at the time, I probably was. Anyway, you may ask how he could do such a thing. He hosts the images for my blog so he can change them at his will.
Little bastard.
Anyhow ... the weekend was quite relaxing. Tried to see "Harry Potter 3" on Friday night but it was sold out to my dismay. I do have two movie reviews coming up though. "Shrek 2" which I saw before Memorial Day and "Day After Tomorrow", which I 'begged' a friend to come and see with me last night.
I did not really beg, but my girlfriend did not want to go, citing that both Harry Potter and Day After Tomorrow are two movies she does not care to see, which is cool, I'm a movie nut and have to see them all. Anyhow me and Mr. Noh saw Roland Emmerich's latest and all in all is was pretty good. More details on that and Shrek 2 later.
Little bastard.
Anyhow ... the weekend was quite relaxing. Tried to see "Harry Potter 3" on Friday night but it was sold out to my dismay. I do have two movie reviews coming up though. "Shrek 2" which I saw before Memorial Day and "Day After Tomorrow", which I 'begged' a friend to come and see with me last night.
I did not really beg, but my girlfriend did not want to go, citing that both Harry Potter and Day After Tomorrow are two movies she does not care to see, which is cool, I'm a movie nut and have to see them all. Anyhow me and Mr. Noh saw Roland Emmerich's latest and all in all is was pretty good. More details on that and Shrek 2 later.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
RoliRoti - best chicken ever
If you are in the Bay Area check this out: RoliRoti. Its the best damn chicken I have ever had. Every Thursday when the Farmer's Market comes this is where you can find me.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Sick at home
Well I had a strange weekend in Chico that left me sick and tired. I will spare you all the details of the sickness, but it did involve many trips to the porcelain god of love.
Anyhow we went there for Laura's sister's graduation. It was a nice ceremony despite the main speaker was atrocious. You could tell the guy had a thesaurus on him while writing the speech. The BBQ afterwards would have been great if I had been able to imbibe anything. Laura's dad bought a Sierra Nevada Wheat (which up there costs only 70$ ... Down here I think that is like 110$.
But no Matt could not drink any because he had the sh*...- okay I will stop.
So now it is Tuesday and I find myself dialed into work from home taking it easy. Tomorrow I am hoping that I am all better.
Let me talk about Troy briefly. The movie was underwhelming. It was a good movie and entertaining, but did not live up the spectacle that someone could imagine on their own. Few movies do, but I think this one could have if handled differently. You see there are no Gods or Goddesses in the movie. It is just humans; which is fine, but the great thing about Greek Mythology is the relationships between the Gods and the Mortals and everything in between that is a demi-god and what not. It is the Gods meddling that usually holds sway over what happens in the Mortal world.
In Troy we are left with a bitter Achilles' (Brad Pitt) who is so full of pride that he refuses to accept the leadership of King Agamemnon (played by Brian Cox). Throughout the movie they go back and forth. "He won't fight for me" ... "I won't fight for him" .. blah blah blah.
That is the main dissension in the movie until (SPOILER) Hector, who was my favorite character in the movie and strangely as I remember was my favorite character in the Iliad slays Patroculus in battle thinking that it was Achilles.
Well this infuriates Achilles and if you have read the Iliad you more or less know how he reacts. I always thought this part of the Iliad was crap. If Achilles was not such a prideful man his cousin would never had died (at the time he did at least) ... Its achilles own fault that patroculus dies... Anyhow, the poem has been written and I am writing a movie review about the adaption not a book review.
So what was good: The battles are good. The Hector - Achilles duel is very good. Whenever Achilles battle prowess is exemplified the audience is probably thinking, oh that was cool, but these moments are few and far between and last roughly a few seconds each. The first battle and when he throws the spear are examples of this.
As I alluded to above what I wanted to see was the God's influence. For instance there are parts of the Iliad where the God's directly impact the course of the battles. I have a copy of the Iliad right next to me but am too lazy to open it up.
This movie should have been about grandeur and spectacle ... Instead we got a little bit of spectacle and too much humane adaptation of the story with the Gods taken out... The Gods' messages are conveyed through the mortals and for me this just didn't work. I wanted to see strings being pulled. The impact and emotions of each character could have been amplified if there was a supernatural aura about the battles, dialogues, and events.
Should you see it: Yes, but don't go in thinking it will be the greatest thing ever.
of
Anyhow we went there for Laura's sister's graduation. It was a nice ceremony despite the main speaker was atrocious. You could tell the guy had a thesaurus on him while writing the speech. The BBQ afterwards would have been great if I had been able to imbibe anything. Laura's dad bought a Sierra Nevada Wheat (which up there costs only 70$ ... Down here I think that is like 110$.
But no Matt could not drink any because he had the sh*...- okay I will stop.
So now it is Tuesday and I find myself dialed into work from home taking it easy. Tomorrow I am hoping that I am all better.
Let me talk about Troy briefly. The movie was underwhelming. It was a good movie and entertaining, but did not live up the spectacle that someone could imagine on their own. Few movies do, but I think this one could have if handled differently. You see there are no Gods or Goddesses in the movie. It is just humans; which is fine, but the great thing about Greek Mythology is the relationships between the Gods and the Mortals and everything in between that is a demi-god and what not. It is the Gods meddling that usually holds sway over what happens in the Mortal world.
In Troy we are left with a bitter Achilles' (Brad Pitt) who is so full of pride that he refuses to accept the leadership of King Agamemnon (played by Brian Cox). Throughout the movie they go back and forth. "He won't fight for me" ... "I won't fight for him" .. blah blah blah.
That is the main dissension in the movie until (SPOILER) Hector, who was my favorite character in the movie and strangely as I remember was my favorite character in the Iliad slays Patroculus in battle thinking that it was Achilles.
Well this infuriates Achilles and if you have read the Iliad you more or less know how he reacts. I always thought this part of the Iliad was crap. If Achilles was not such a prideful man his cousin would never had died (at the time he did at least) ... Its achilles own fault that patroculus dies... Anyhow, the poem has been written and I am writing a movie review about the adaption not a book review.
So what was good: The battles are good. The Hector - Achilles duel is very good. Whenever Achilles battle prowess is exemplified the audience is probably thinking, oh that was cool, but these moments are few and far between and last roughly a few seconds each. The first battle and when he throws the spear are examples of this.
As I alluded to above what I wanted to see was the God's influence. For instance there are parts of the Iliad where the God's directly impact the course of the battles. I have a copy of the Iliad right next to me but am too lazy to open it up.
This movie should have been about grandeur and spectacle ... Instead we got a little bit of spectacle and too much humane adaptation of the story with the Gods taken out... The Gods' messages are conveyed through the mortals and for me this just didn't work. I wanted to see strings being pulled. The impact and emotions of each character could have been amplified if there was a supernatural aura about the battles, dialogues, and events.
Should you see it: Yes, but don't go in thinking it will be the greatest thing ever.
of
Friday, May 21, 2004
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Tipping
So last night my girlfriend and a friend from college went out to get a drink after watching the Kings lose in yet another game 7. I ordered up a Grey Goose on the rocks and my girlfriend and friend each had Spicy Bloody Mary's ... I tend to be a quick drinker and was done as they were midway through theirs.
Without notice, the bartender had another Grey Goose for me. Now Grey Goose is not exactly cheap so Matt and I are looking at each other thinking the bartender is trying to make some more money off of us then he already would. Whatever though, I would have probably ordered another one anyway.
The bill comes and he only charged us for three drinks -- my second Grey Goose was free. Thinking oh this bartender is cool, I gave him a big tip -- double I guess from what he would have gotten.
I guess I would feel like an asshole if I did not tip him properly since he "hooked" us up, but in the end its just like me paying for my second Gray Goose and giving him a normal tip. Just some thoughts for you to chew on -- nothing is really free, unless of course you are the "asshole".
Without notice, the bartender had another Grey Goose for me. Now Grey Goose is not exactly cheap so Matt and I are looking at each other thinking the bartender is trying to make some more money off of us then he already would. Whatever though, I would have probably ordered another one anyway.
The bill comes and he only charged us for three drinks -- my second Grey Goose was free. Thinking oh this bartender is cool, I gave him a big tip -- double I guess from what he would have gotten.
I guess I would feel like an asshole if I did not tip him properly since he "hooked" us up, but in the end its just like me paying for my second Gray Goose and giving him a normal tip. Just some thoughts for you to chew on -- nothing is really free, unless of course you are the "asshole".
Friday, May 14, 2004
Van Helsing
So last night my girlfriend and I went and saw Van Helsing.
I had been looking forward to this for sometime, but as the release of the movie neared I noticed the big blitz marketing campaign and the increasingly cheesy, over-the-top trailers. I think I knew before I even sat down in the theater that this was not a movie I was going to like very much. At one point in my life, I think these are the movies that I loved to see -- yearned to see -- big budget, no plot, tons of action and sfx. I remember the summer when Independence Day came out. I worked (still do) at Autodesk Inc. and another intern, Armen Askijian, and I were creating a demo CD to showcase some of the really cool stuff that 3d Studio MAX could do. We would talk about the trailer and the movie nearly everyday leading up to the release and even animated our own little movie where this castle blows up the same way the building it ID4 just gets pummeled. Anyhow, that opening day we were both in line first thing and loved every second of flick.
Was Van Helsing entertaining? Yes. Was it a good movie? No. Did I like it as much as I would have if I were 11? No. Perhaps I was not in the mood to watch 2 hours straight of Hugh Jackman battling nearly every monster of our time (no Mummy, but we already saw how that goes). And it sucks too, because I am a big Jackman fan and especially like his role as Wolverine in the X-Men films (and hope he signs on for the third). The SFX were pretty good ... I liked the werewolf transformations. I thought the Brides of Dracula were not done well, as well as their babies. Dracula himself was horribly acted ... his transformation into his more demonic form was cool. If this was the first film someone saw Hugh Jackman in they would consider him attrocious. His ferocity and believability as Wolverine stands out on its own, but now stands out so much more when comparing that performance to Van Helsing. There is no emotion, he pretty much sleepwalks through the role. I thought that the best part of the movie (acting wise) was perhaps seen as the most cheesiest by others (SPOILER) but when he is the werewolf at the end and has killed Kate Beckinsale's character he begins transforming back into a human and crying out in pain because of her loss. He pulled it off pretty well considering it was hard to take anything in the movie serious at that point.
To sum this up, I would say that I am dissappointed that I can no longer fully appreciate the fun, popcorn action flicks. Or perhaps I still can and Van Helsing really does just bite the big one.
I had been looking forward to this for sometime, but as the release of the movie neared I noticed the big blitz marketing campaign and the increasingly cheesy, over-the-top trailers. I think I knew before I even sat down in the theater that this was not a movie I was going to like very much. At one point in my life, I think these are the movies that I loved to see -- yearned to see -- big budget, no plot, tons of action and sfx. I remember the summer when Independence Day came out. I worked (still do) at Autodesk Inc. and another intern, Armen Askijian, and I were creating a demo CD to showcase some of the really cool stuff that 3d Studio MAX could do. We would talk about the trailer and the movie nearly everyday leading up to the release and even animated our own little movie where this castle blows up the same way the building it ID4 just gets pummeled. Anyhow, that opening day we were both in line first thing and loved every second of flick.
Was Van Helsing entertaining? Yes. Was it a good movie? No. Did I like it as much as I would have if I were 11? No. Perhaps I was not in the mood to watch 2 hours straight of Hugh Jackman battling nearly every monster of our time (no Mummy, but we already saw how that goes). And it sucks too, because I am a big Jackman fan and especially like his role as Wolverine in the X-Men films (and hope he signs on for the third). The SFX were pretty good ... I liked the werewolf transformations. I thought the Brides of Dracula were not done well, as well as their babies. Dracula himself was horribly acted ... his transformation into his more demonic form was cool. If this was the first film someone saw Hugh Jackman in they would consider him attrocious. His ferocity and believability as Wolverine stands out on its own, but now stands out so much more when comparing that performance to Van Helsing. There is no emotion, he pretty much sleepwalks through the role. I thought that the best part of the movie (acting wise) was perhaps seen as the most cheesiest by others (SPOILER) but when he is the werewolf at the end and has killed Kate Beckinsale's character he begins transforming back into a human and crying out in pain because of her loss. He pulled it off pretty well considering it was hard to take anything in the movie serious at that point.
To sum this up, I would say that I am dissappointed that I can no longer fully appreciate the fun, popcorn action flicks. Or perhaps I still can and Van Helsing really does just bite the big one.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Troy (2004): Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Wolfgang Petersen
Troy (2004): Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Wolfgang Petersen
The last sentence here: "As Troy grows in stature and intrigue, Achilles gradually withdraws. The warrior couldn’t look more disinterested, and as a result, the audience eventually begins to feel the same way."
seems to me like that is what happens in the Iliad ... Achilles withdraws from the fighting until his honor can be restored ... Hopefully Wolfgang dishes Achilles return in the movie the same way it is served in the epic.
The last sentence here: "As Troy grows in stature and intrigue, Achilles gradually withdraws. The warrior couldn’t look more disinterested, and as a result, the audience eventually begins to feel the same way."
seems to me like that is what happens in the Iliad ... Achilles withdraws from the fighting until his honor can be restored ... Hopefully Wolfgang dishes Achilles return in the movie the same way it is served in the epic.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
The beginning
Well, I just came back from a vacation with one of my buddies in Palm Desert and he mentioned he had a blog. I have been meaning to check out these hybrid sort of diary/get-to-know-other-people/post random thoughts things, so here I am. Although there is not much to say right now; work and sleep need catching up :), I'm sure I will want to shout out some things later.
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