October 2007

On the Web

• Behind the Scenes of Layer Tennis: Chris Glass details his side of the Layer Tennis match he played with Naz Hamid.
• The Pothole: My first guest contribution to The Superest!
• The Superest: A wonderful new site from Kevin Cornell and Matt Sutter, determined to determine who is the superest of them all.
• Radio Orphan Annie’s Secret Decoder Badges: A brief history of the decoder pins used by Radio Orphan Annie’s Secret Society… See more →

using Wikipedia to finally investigate the unspecified origins of all the tracks the Misfits box set compiles from singles and EPs.

thoroughly amused by the Rob Weychert costume across the room from me.

working out an alternate melody and arrangement for the Misfits' "Horror Business" that could make a pretty cool cover version of the song.

listening to the neighbors' dog hhoowwwllll.

wishing there was a consensus on the official release date for the Mac/PC version of Guitar Hero 3.

trying to figure out why Apple doesn't offer a podcast (or even RSS feeds) of the movie trailers it hosts both on its site and in iTunes.

having a heated imaginary conversation with the person who thought Philadelphia needed Ginkgo trees.

catching up on fortsleepover.com.

After 24 solid hours of quick zooms, day-for-night shots, 30-year-old teenagers, and maggots-a-million, I emerge victorious. Time for bed.

Movie 14: Gates of Hell. Status: Itchy. Tasty.

Movie 13: Alligator. Full of Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Booberry, and Mountain Dew. One film left!

Movie 12: Demons. Status: Gave up on body count. In the home stretch now!

Movie 11: Dracula Vs. Frankenstein. Body Count: ? Status: Not amused.

Movie 10: Teenage Mother. Body Count: 0. Status: Never giving birth.

Movie 9: Burial Ground. Body Count: 10. Status: May as well have just watched paint dry.

Movie 8: Blacula. Body Count: ? Status: Surprised by how straight-faced Blacula was. Juice is already wearing off.

Movie 7: An American Werewolf in London. Body Count: 16? Status: Jenny Agutter is stunning. Halfway through and getting tired. Taurine time.

Movie 6: Pieces. Body Count: 8. Status: The drunk loudmouth jackasses in front of us seem to be running out of steam. This is good.

Movie 5: Phantasm. Body Count: 4. Status: Havin' fun.

Movie 4: Hellraiser. Body Count: 7. Status: Getting some food during trailer hour.

Movie 3: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Body Count: 2. Status: First stinker of the day, but spirits remain high.

Movie 2: Godzilla Vs. The Cosmic Monster (aka MechaGodzilla). Body Count: n/a. Status: Less soggy, not quite comfortable.

Movie 1: Halloween. Body Count: 7. Status: Soggy.

take a cab and be late, or ride in the rain and be soaked? Opted for the latter because I am a genius. Not off to a good start.

embarking on an insane theatrical adventure: 24 straight hours of horror films. Watch this space for film-by-film updates.

reveling in the publication of my first contribution to The Superest: thesuperest.com/archives/2007/10/…

lamenting the atrophy of my neglected drawing skills.

devising vanquishment for my dipshit landlord.

devising vanquishment for the Detoxitron: thesuperest.com/archives/2007/10/…

Call me biased, but so far, @jasonsantamaria is thwomping Brian Taylor in today's Layer Tennis match.

feeling kind of sorry for my coworkers who have to put up with me today.

cursing the gnomes that infiltrated my copy of Photoshop last night. I envision the scene looking like the campfire sequences in Golden Axe.

completely fucking sick of Photoshop color profile bullshit.

re-watched the Hell House documentary and realized (somehow for the first time) the strategical origin of Bush's fear-mongering tactics.

More revisions! More changes! Soon I'll be the queen of endlessly iterative design! Uh, I mean king! King!

Happy birthday @iamjolly!

How the hell do I have a hangover from one beer?!

Stupid shrieking girls have no place at any show that would entice me to buy a ticket. DMB ain’t on the bill tonight, ladies. Please go home.

waiting for Stars to take the stage.

The approximate ratio of gas to solid inside the Samhain box set is 39:11.

Box set ID3 tags: Disc 3 is tracks 13-24 of 100, or Disc 3 is tracks 1-12 of 12? I've been doing the former but might switch to the latter.

wondering if there's actually any chai in this overpriced cup of steamed milk.

The only way to find friends on last.fm is by importing contacts from an online address book? Genius.

Don't ask me why, but the Art Brut vocalist reminds me of a cross between @lloydi and @adactio. Guitarists: Gareth Keenan and Bob Dylan.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn is like an unlikely, overjoyed hybrid of @joshualane and my friend Ashley. Best fucking show I've seen all year

heading out to see the Hold Steady, expecting to be rained upon in the process.

maintaining a Brain Age of 20.

somehow got "Bridge Over Troubled Water" stuck in my head. You're welcome. :)

thinking the iTunes "shuffle" needs to lay off the They Might Be Giants for a little while.

wary of lifting these eyelids without a spotter.

wishing anti-theft packaging didn't equate to anti-consumer packaging.

glad to be speaking at another SXSWi!

just fronted a wedding band for a very poor rendition of Dio's "Holy Diver."

overheard: "Congratulations! Still got some lead left in the ol' pencil, huh?"

watching my ex get married.

collapsing into bed with two shows' worth of ringing ears.

slightly inebriated and ready to rock.

looking for a good vendor for custom wax seals. Any suggestions?

hoping Drawn will fix the broken image links that are making its otherwise awesome RSS feed useless.

finding Jesu to be the perfect soundtrack for a long, gray walk to work, and looking forward to seeing them tonight.

noticing that those mosquito bites are probably actually poison ivy.

declaring Monday, October 22nd to be "Humility Day," when I will post on my site about the dumbest thing I ever did. Who's with me?

"spillliinngg bllooooodd of the manatee!"

recalling how fun it is to substitute "the manatee" for "humanity" in Slayer lyrics.

in a meeting, praying for death.

looking forward to making everything taste like bacon: baconsalt.com

wishing Evite didn't suck so much.

decking out the iPhone with some badass Crimson Ghost wallpaper.

marveling at how much can change in five years.

just discovered someone else with my name--same spelling and everything. This is a first. AND he goes to school nearby. Crazy.

failing to understand what prevents certain roller bladers from having the common sense to stay off the fucking road (at night, no less).

just finished bringing down the hammer of punishment on my Mario Kart DS opponents.

trying out Facebook. Apparently this "social web" thing is all the rage.

Won the Samhain box set in my first eBay transaction in years. On target for a happy Halloween.

wondering if these everlasting, out-of-season mosquito bites are of some misplaced, exotic jungle variety.

not surprised that Andy Rutledge won't be the one to get me into podcasts.

enjoying wireframing with OmniGraffle about as much as I ever have, which is to say I am not enjoying it at all.

A fowl Monday morning mood will not be cured by Elliott Smith.

Problem fixed! Turned Hold on and then off again. Thank you Google!

Anybody ever salvaged a fourth-generation iPod with a busted scroll wheel? Clicking works, scrolling doesn't. :(

making a birthday card for my would-be grandmother-in-law. Saturday night doesn't get much more exciting than this.

How have the Misfits been one of my all-time favorite bands for years and years, and yet I STILL own no Samhain? No more!

Damn, The Departed was effing good.

Just shy of her 28th birthday, my lady has finally been introduced to the Star Wars universe.

annoying @jasonsantamaria by singing Michael Jackson's "Black or White" in an ode to our Macbooks' diversity.

Ben & Jerry's employee: "We're out of vanilla ice cream."

off to catch a train to Baltimore.

So who wants to join me for a leg of my cross-country USA road trip next year?

in need of some new headphones for home and office. Any suggestions?

seeing if this SMS nonsense works.

As a little bird once said to me, "Tweet tweet."

many a person’s
life-changing bouleversement
was caused by Six Flags