My Stars’ chances are slipping away

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Steve

The Stars’ losing skid has been happening for so many games, I’ve lost track…four I think? Either way, last night was another disappointing loss to the Charlotte Checkers and two more points they can’t regain. I haven’t lost all confidence in them yet. Over 20 games remain which can make all the difference for who gets to be the number eight or 11th seed come April.

Their defeat wasn’t all bad. Newly acquired Angelo Esposito scored a goal (not sure if he’s related to the more famous Phil and Tony brothers).  Tousi had a comical recovery: I think he was trying to check someone, missed, spilled over the board into his team’s bench, hopped right back up, exited through the gate and continued to skate the remainder of his shift. It was so incredibly fluid. I suspect Tousi has been practicing since juniors. Finally, I saw my first live 5-3 short-handed goal courtesy of veteran Stars forward Travis Morin (he also leads the team on assists and all-time in points due to Greg Rallo leaving for the Rampage/Panthers). It was awesome but not enough to force the game into OT.

This season being pretty weak better pay off for Dallas.

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Belated reflection about Austin Arrival

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Steve

Matters at work and elsewhere were rather busy for me, I made a little Day One entry about the occasion, left it at that. Somara’s recent illness has distracted me a tad plus we went out for dinner before going home. This was followed by turning off my brain via Netflix; almost done with the core run of American Dad, aka Family Guy 2.0.

The biggest, most uplifting matter was having a meeting with the hiring manager for the job I didn’t land. It was nice to know the decision was tight because the group will be adding at least two more positions, ergo, I could cinch it next time. Emphasis on could. Yet it’s a decent feeling along with the encouragement I received on auditioning to join a parallel engineering team nicknamed Response (it’s another layer of support dedicated to the phone people, less customer interaction).

Meanwhile, last year was the horrendous snow storm in Austin, something we experience once or twice a decade. The bigger crisis was our lack of water for three days. Thankfully our pipes didn’t burst but boy did I reek until we spent the night in a hotel. I skipped taking a shower for 48 hours…tops. I wasn’t undertaking any strenuous exercise to keep the sweating down. How I wish the frozen lizard I stumbled upon thawed out and got revived. Poor creature, it got killed pretty suddenly during the night, probably looking for bugs to eat.

It’s hard to believe how quickly 18 years have zipped by too. All those “kids” I met while working at University Towers when I arrived are now 36. Many probably have their own families with children in grade school. Too frightening to think about at great length, namely the spoiled assholes who I figure are working on various GOP campaigns to bring back the Gilded Age.

Things are looking up! Work has one silver lining remaining. Good shows are coming to Austin outside of the annoying SXSW (Thomas Dolby is playing, damn it!). Our GWD team will giving the regular Wednesday night game at Mr. Tramp’s a try, yet I must bow out for the Seinfeld or Whedon rounds. I don’t mind the former, despise the latter but am ignorant of both. How I would like another Futurama attempt to redeem myself.

Now I remembered the thing nagging me at the back of my mind…we lucked out on getting tickets to the Princess Bride feast and quote-along. It’s not on Valentine’s Day but the day after which is close enough for me. Alamo Drafthouse better do some non-feast screenings too, I would like to geek out sans the $48 meal.

More-focused posts will follow. I promise.

Posted in Austintatious, General News, History | Leave a comment

Happy Groundhog Day

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Steve

The recruiter saw her shadow so that means I have to re-apply for the Support Engineer gig again in six weeks. It’s a pisser but not really a surprise after all my years of service with Apple, I’ve often been passed over especially when a less qualified or experienced person is in the running.

However, the competition was pretty tight this go round and I wasn’t fretting it too much. The group is also looking to expand so I will give this a third time before my self-imposed deadline arrives in 170-some days. Deadline? Yeah, I think 13 years as an Apple employee is long enough and I need a new challenge…besides getting a comparable salary. One thing I really want to strive for is a position in which I get to use the computer a tool for the job, not the other way around.

2525

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Bitchin’ free App for my iPad, Band of the Day

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Steve

A must-have app for my fellow music aficionados who have iPads or at least an iPhone. Not sure if they make this for other platforms, wisely, I think they should for Android and Kindle Fire.

What about those who don’t share my passion? It remains a useful tool since all too often I hear them say there’s no means to find new and/or good new stuff, ergo, it’s why they remain stuck in the past…*cough!* The Eighties! Well Band of the Day is also free so there’s no excuse. I scoped through past entries in case I hear objections, namely it featuring obscure bands. These are a matter of opinion but I did find plugs for If By Yes (features Petra Haden and Cibo Matto) and Papercuts. Besides, what’s there to lose? All the crap on the local FM stations will always be present.

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Geek Bowl VI

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Steve

I’ll cut to the chase…we lost and weren’t even close to being in the running for the $7000 in prizes up for grabs. Then again, this was a gathering of 106-plus teams from around the US filled with people who probably share my problem…they get asked questions by co-workers about totally worthless crap regarding movies, music, etc. So last night, the Austin Music Hall reeked of Hipsters, Obesity and Irony…well, stronger amounts than it often does at the concerts it hosts unless it’s Sonic Youth, then it’s a tie. It was like GenCon with more women and thankfully no horrible body odors.

OK, I’ll stop being pissy but you have to admit, some of the digs were funny.

I must give some major credit to the organizers. The opening ceremony was very amusing and enthusiastic. It was this parade incorporating the numerous quizmasters from the Geeks Who Drink franchises. They held up banners representing their cities. Colorado Springs had the best, “Welcome from Colorado Springs, the little Racist Village” which had various homophobic/racist religious figures who live there on their banner.

The questions were a nightmare from round one and they made me feel like a complete fifth wheel. I think I only got three completely right. I couldn’t make a strong enough argument on the third-most winning Grammy artist, but I was correct (Alison Krauss), some vindication there. Where we actually placed has yet to be posted. I’m not sure I want to check. It won’t upset me like losing the Futurama round did (and I’m over that) because we’re definitely in the bottom quarter.

What about having fun? This was rather difficult since the experience felt more reminiscent of some exams I totally failed in college. Let’s face it, nobody enjoys feeling ignorant and/or stupid too, including Teabaggers and Rednecks (despite the bliss they seem to enjoy). Definitely need to discuss this with Dr. Custer. However, I am more inspired to give the local stuff a stronger go once our team can agree on a consistent evening, Wednesday is out due to D&D for Jeremy.

Who won? It had to go to sudden death between two teams. This ad hoc round consisted of five questions, the last one involved a story problem I will never forget:

Take the number of years Bernie Madoff was sentenced to, multiply it by the number of nations in the UN whose name begins with the letter Z and subtract how many times Michael Jordan won the NBA’s MVP award. It’s 295 to save you time. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years, there are two nations beginning with Z (Zimbabwe and Zambia) and Jordan won five times.

At least the winner had a great name, Independence Hall & Oates due to their Philly origin. This drew numerous boos. I’m not sure what the various locations have against Philadelphia. In my quick research it could originate over the GWD organization lacking a franchise in Pennsylvania. It can’t be Cowboys fans, the Eagles were terrible and no threat for the Super Bowl, Dallas was its own worst enemy this season.

Will I do it again? Depends. GWD is based out of Denver. They brought it to Austin because their usual venue was unavailable. If it’s here, sure, I could be talked into it but I need to get off my duff, attend some regular competitions, figure out the vibe and build tolerance to the local quizmaster’s voice (nails on a chalkboard are less painful). Should Geek Bowl VII be elsewhere? No. I prefer to lose in Las Vegas, that city will at least give you a nice meal for your trouble/ego.

Meanwhile, GWD is planning a third Seinfeld competition (pass, I know very little) so I need to convince Mark B to take my spot, I recall he loves this show like I do Futurama. There’s also a Whedonverse round, double pass, I can’t get into his uninteresting crap and I know I’m probably in for a mugging by his fanatics, right after the Sonic Youth people leave me in a dark alley. Where was I going anyway…The Venture Brothers, yes, when the people in charge get home (I give ‘em a week), I am going to keep badgering my proposal to write this. I don’t want to be the quizmaster though and I have no problem getting assistance for material.

I do hope our score is posted soon. I think it will have a silver lining. My credibility is damaged enough to get people to leave me alone and get of their collective butts to just search imdb.com!

Posted in Austintatious, Diversions | Leave a comment

Dana Gould 2

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Steve

Comedian Dana Gould returned to Austin this weekend to bring his madcap stories, observations and general hilarity. Seeing him was my Christmas present from Jeremy too. You may recognize Dana’s name, he was a writer on The Simpsons for a few seasons, something the club emphasized. However, his resume is much longer than that. He has been a regular comedian in scores of Comedy Central snippets for 20 years, was a writer for The Ben Stiller Show, appeared in numerous roles/cameos on TV shows/films (Mystery Men, Family Guy and Sabrina the Teenage Witch), a videogame voice and inspiration for Patton Oswalt.

Dana had plenty of new material which he weaved in with great classics I love. Jeremy and I loved his setup joke involving LA’s famous Black Dahlia murder, probably not for all audiences. His story about working with Bob Hope was great, I envy him there. Working in little pokes at Jeff Dunham were clever. Dana’s an awesome comedian since he covers a large gamut of material, he’s not a limited/schtick guy like (the not funny) Larry the Cable Guy or Andrew Dice Clay.

After the show, I got to speak to him. He recalled our meeting a few years ago somewhat, I’m not hurt. Dana gladly autographed the booklet in my Simpsons 13th season DVD, right on the section for his episode, “Homer the Moe.”  I told him I had listened to the commentary for it (I listen to them all), loved the anecdote about how serious Michael Stipe was and thought it was funny how he brought his brother in. Dana chuckled, saying the decision to bring his older brother in was a whim. I had to ask if the postmodern joke was his. He said, yes, it was based upon a friend of his named Postmodern Dave who was often calling things he saw “postmodern.” Then I had to know if there was a way to get a copy of the Star Trek bit he was in, he played Dr. McCoy. Dana said he wished he had it too but the routine was something whipped together for Paramount. He did enjoy getting the opportunity to work with Jason Alexander (as Kirk) and Jay Johnston (as Spock). Personally, Dana would be the perfect comedic McCoy, especially when he gets worked up, ergo, I need to hunt it down. Afterwards, maybe I can give Dana a copy.

We wrapped up about Dana’s upcoming podcast (starts in February). He said it will be worth the money and is going to be pretty general with various guests. I asked if it would be along the lines of Marc Maron’s, no, more like Paul F Thompkins. The opening voice will have Tom Kenny, I laughed, “Spongebob!” Then Dana added this little nugget, Clancy Brown is his next door neighbor. Somara and I giggled some more as I replied, “The Kurgan? You live near the Kurgan!” Must be pretty cool!

So fellow Austinites, if you missed Dana you will get another opportunity in several months. He told me he is returning for our upcoming Moontower Comedy Festival near the end of April! I guarantee it’s going to be awesome. Not only will Dana be there but also Maria Bamford, The Amazing Jonathan and Steven Wright for starters. Tickets are supposed to be on sale Wednesday, I’m seriously considering it. This year is an election year and I could use a lot more laughter in my life.

Posted in Brushes with Greatness | Leave a comment

Thank you artwork from Chicago

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Steve

My bitchin’ vacation to Chicago has been over for almost a month and I haven’t finished writing about it along with the side trek to Houston or Hoser visit. I promise, I will whip them out soon. My life is full of distraction and fatigue. Tonight is also the Geek Bowl (number six by their reckoning).

Meanwhile, Nelson sent these drawings from the three oldest kids as thank-you cards because we (Somara and I) put off their presents until I arrived. Enjoy.

This is not signed so I'm assuming it is Nicolas' handiwork.

A very festive drawing from Ariana.

Now if I could only be as thin as Lucas perceives me. The word Texas represents my Stetson hat.

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I have aged into a C-student in Science

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Steve

With a little studying, scratch paper and less haste, I probably could’ve scored a more solid B. Here’s the 50-question test from The Christian Science Monitor. There were a couple I think were present to bait the biblical literalists…people who rarely read such a publication.

Now how I long for the days when I was in high school and had greater familiarity with the stuff I got wrong! I can do without the other crap.

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Kneel before the worn-out meme!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Steve

Regardless of how you feel about the current president, this tribute-parody-poke-whatever is pretty funny, clever and well-done. Terrence Stamp will always be the best Superman-movie villain for my money too.

Kneel is also my first new shirt from a UK site which specializes in film-based material called Last Exit to Nowhere. Most designs are uber-geek and obscure because they focus on the references. For example, a shirt from the Winchester Tavern (Shaun of the Dead) or the Tyrell Corporation (Blade Runner). I scored another but I’m saving it for later and it will go in the less-populate Cool designation since Aliens isn’t funny.

Posted in Funny Ones, Shirts | Leave a comment

This product isn’t even trying to be discreet

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Steve

I couldn’t drum up the courage to pick it up to read the label on the back, see what exactly this stuff “cures.” The name made me giggle a la Beavis & Butt-head.

The marketing department for this should’ve tried to be more creative with the name. Since I’m sure Boneral™ is already taken, I would like to pitch Satyrienne. See if anyone else catches the references and why.

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