9-23-05, 2:05 PM

Well I must say that whacking, whatever it is, sounds most disagreeable.

Music: Manic Street Preachers - Suicide is Painless

So I haven't posted in a while and haven't really felt like doing so, but with a whole day off today I figure I might as well.

Two weeks ago I ended my first incursion into the working world because I could no longer stand working in the warehouse. It was the tedious repetition of it all, going through the exact same non-stop motions everyday, and never really communicating with anybody. I didn't hate any of my co-workers, yet, but I never really got along with them. On average, I would only have one conversation with one of them per week, and that would usually only last for about twenty seconds. To give you some example, here's a real conversation I had with a guy called Shooby:

Shooby: (Gesturing at my iPod) So what do you listen to on that thing?
Me: Oh... Ben Folds, David Bowie, The Strokes... Mostly audiobooks, really.
Shooby: (Picks up one of his CDs) Do you like Lou Reed? Would you like a little Lou Reed for later?
Me: Eh, I'm not that into Lou Reed.

That was the entire conversation. It was also our first and last.

So the Thursday of that week I spoke with my boss, Chuck, telling him I wouldn't be returning the following Monday. I lied to him, telling him I had gotten a data job at ExpressScripts (Which I did apply for and would've gotten if my schedule had been more flexible for them, so at least it's plausible) and that they needed me to start right away, which is why I was sorry I couldn't have given him more of an advanced notice. I told him this because I didn't want to tell him the truth; that everyday I started hated coming in more and more, that I hated sweating all the time because there's no real air conditioning, that I hated that they just took away our break room to have it remodeled so there wasn't anywhere to sit when we got our break, that I was starting to hate the people I work with because they don't pay attention to what's going on around them.
So on Friday Chuck expressed a little regret that I was leaving, offered himself as a future reference and promised that if need be I would still have a job there. As I left I began to feel a little remorse myself, I didn't enjoy deceiving him, I felt pretty shitty about it, really. This was exacerbated by the fact that, I assume, Chuck told everybody before I came in on my last day and people kept asking me questions about the new job I wasn't really leaving for and wishing me good luck. But I also thought it wouldn't be long before I snapped if I had stayed on.

I didn't leave without some idea of where I was going next, though. Lacey, who got to hear me bitch about my job almost every day, got ahold of a friend of hers that manages the Spencer's in Crestwood Mall, and I was virtually guaranteed a job there, so big thanks to her.
Blake tried to tell me I was making a mistake by leaving the warehouse for this, that it was a step backward and wouldn't look good on my résumé. I wanted to tell him just to shut his face, but I simply got up and left the room without saying anything, because Blake is the last person anyone should take career advice from, or any sort of advice. I don't see it has a step backward, I'm making less, but I don't hate it there and I work with cool people I can hold conversations with. It's more of a step sideways, I guess

At the very least, it's different. I get to see all kinds of people while I'm there, and while some of them might be drooling idiots (Those wearing ICP t-shirts) or shoplifters (Those wearing ICP t-shirts), at least it's not the same eight faces I saw every single day.

To give you another example of what sets it so far apart from the warehouse, on my first day at Spencer's I came to the realization, as I arranged a display of miniature glow-in-the-dark vibrators, that my life was finally complete.

-K.

a man named rainbo
 

See where your hand is? That's a felony.

Music: David Bowie - The Dreamers

Updated the What to Think section.

Thought I'd pop on here really quick before I go back to sleep. Around the same time last year was when I started to give Holiday Holocaust 2K4 some serious thought, mostly in the way of how to promote it in hilarious ways, and it ended up not being what it should have been. I know Theron's suggested somewhat of a format change, so I want to pass some ideas by you, the hopeful attendees.

It seems the main event could go down two routes:

1) Scrap the idea of having PCs altogether, get ourselves a couple of XBoxen and link them together to a couple of fairly large televisions.

2) Come to a consensus on some older titles that require less horsepower than the current generation of games (Or last gen, or the generation before last).

Also, for the role-playing aspect of the event, I'm thinking I'll be finishing Savage Half-Life 2 and creating a Savage Tale for it. I'd like to have an idea before I tackle writing it which setting you'd prefer to have it in, because I don't think I could attempt to have it pass through all different areas of the setting and not make the plot extremely thin or take days to play. So here's the basic three I'd like to have your votes on:

City 17 - A tale in this setting would most likely have an emphasis on large firefights both indoors and outdoors and the use of squad tactics. Aiding to the resistance's fight against the Combine would have you going up against large groups of soldiers, snipers, flying gunships and Striders.

Ravenholm - More of a slant towards survival horror, where you'll find yourselves assaulted by groups of zombies and headcrabs, navigating deadly traps, and discovering light is hard to come by.

The Coast - Traveling along the coastal highway outside of City 17, you'll spend more time exploring abandoned houses, fending off aerial attacks, staying off the sand to keep the antlions at bay, and it is likely that auto-combat may occur.

I also have started my new series of promos for the event. I've decided to take a minimalist approach.

-K.

i salute our benefactors
 

9-12-05, 4:26 AM

There were no utensils in medieval times, hence there are no utensils at Medieval Times... Would you like a refill on that Pepsi?

Music: Groovie Ghoulies - Bye Bye Brain

Not much of an update this morning, I just wanted to give you guys the heads-up on a console game clearance sale that's going to start today at Best Buy. I will now use my limitless power to provide you with a link about said sale.

Granted, there aren't that many stellar titles on the list, mostly because this sale is to get rid of Best Buy's stock of games whose sales haven't been knocking any socks off either. Myself, I'll probably be picking up Paper Mario 2 and Metal Gear: The Twin Snakes, possibly Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. If there are any of you who might have just acquired an XBox from someone named Chris and your name starts with P, ends with R, and has Ete in the middle, I'd recommend picking up Ghost Recon: Island Thunder and Rainbow Six 3, especially if you ever plan on signing up for Live.

The multiplayer demo for Vietcong 2 was released a couple days ago and I've been enjoying it very much, but I seem to be in a minority compared to the rest of the internet, as there were a lot of people who were also underwhelmed with the original. Give it a shot, though, it's got tons of weapons, one fairly large map, and it doesn't look all that bad. Please be careful what you shoot at, though, teamkilling is my only major issue with the game, because people can't tell the difference between dark green and light green. I can't tell you how many times I've been mowed down by a teammate I was staring directly at for several seconds without shooting back. But I still rock.

Also, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes out on DVD tomorrow. Just keeping everybody informed.

-K.

your dogma's in my peanut butter

I find it interesting that you call The Weekly World News "the paper." A paper contains facts.

Music: The Clash - London Calling

I had intended to update my site a day or two ago, but I completely forgot what I wanted to talk about since on Friday night I ended up getting into an argument with my father on the ride home from the baseball game. We were listening to the news, it came to the hurricane coverage and I guess something pissed him off about hearing Clinton make a very light comment against Bush's handling of the disaster, which itself is a disaster. I think the comment was, to Bush's time in responding, "Faster is better than slower." Holy shit, the gall! Can you feel the sting?!
I'm guessing my dad didn't like that, because it was only a minute or two later when he started prodding and antagonizing me, coming out of nowhere with these strange "facts" that pretty much implied the hurricane itself was created by the Democrats, because New Orleans is a "Democratic utopia" (What the hell does that mean?) since it has a Democratic mayor and governor. The thing I noticed about the words coming out of his mouth was that they didn't sound like things he'd say, so I ventured a guess.
"What, is this the latest you've got from the Rush Limbaugh News Network?"
There was a slight pause, and then "That doesn't make it any less true."
"Oh it sure does, do you know how much he lies and distorts on a daily basis? It's essentially the format of the show!"
"Oh, of course, he must be lying, TYPICAL LEFTIST RESPONSE!"
"Dad, Rush Limbaugh is a partisan hack, he's not after the truth, he's there to make Bush look good. Everything you've been talking about is a load of crap."
"Oh, and where do you get your news?"
"CNN, The Guardian, real news sources."
"Oh, right, sure."
"I'd rather trust a reputable company run by several hundred people for a few decades than one single man with a very obvious political agenda."
"Yeah, well, I think they've got a political agenda."
"Oh, sure, we saw so many negative stories against Bush during the election, you couldn't turn around without seeing constant Bush bashing on CNN."
Then he sort of grumbled and we drove the rest of the way home in silence.

This is why I can't have conversations with the man. I've never started these arguments, and he's never interested in having a real conversation, all he wants to do is regurgitate whatever he heard Rush Limbaugh say that day so that he can be an antagonistic prick and start a heated argument that goes nowhere.
The real tragedy here is that he believes everything Rush says, a man who goes out of his way on a daily basis on his show, and even in his commercials, to remind his listeners he's the loudest mouthpiece on the right.
Try to imagine a guy who has a daily three hour show and writes several books where he talks about how all cops are evil, corrupt, violent abusers of force and how much the world would be better without them. Now imagine that guy writing for the Metro section of your local newspaper.
Bias? Yeah, kinda.
So subsequently my father buys into the boogeyman that is the "liberal media." Anyone who believes there's such a thing is either not paying attention, or is just very susceptible to repetition. If there were really such a thing wouldn't we have seen their so-called liberal bias during the last election big time? Wouldn't that have been an opportune moment to flex their massive left-wing media might and do nothing but bash Bush on a 24 hour basis?
You'd think, if it were true at all. Back in real world, those fucking Swift Boat motherfucking Veteran fuckers For Truth got an obscene amount of air time, and what happened? Their claims turned out to be completely bogus.
So, yes, long story short, my dad pretty much admitted to me he gets all of his news from Rush Limbaugh, which would be like me getting all my news from the Iraqi Information Minister. I hate Rush Limbaugh, not only because he's a partisan hack, but because he is shamelessly dishonest. He knows that his audience only listens to him only to be reaffirmed of what they think they know and will not actually make an attempt to see if any of his claims have any roots in reality. I also hate him because he likes to tell me things about myself that I didn't know before.
For example, on a recent program, I found out that, as a liberal, I hate the military. On previous shows I've found out that I also don't have a moral compass or, ironically, want to promote the truth.

Thanks, Rush, you pill-popping, misleading, lying charlatan, you've turned my dad into a moron.

-K.

more vicodin! papa rush needs his medicine!
 

9-5-05, 7:32 PM

At least if we're going to be fucked, let's know we're fucked ahead of time.

Music: Mint Royale - Singin' in the Rain

Finally updated the What to Think section.

I know I tend to frustrate some with my sporadic updates, but it requires that something happen to me or I think of something interesting enough to write about. Sitting down and forcing myself to update only creates disappointing results, which was the case when the site was first created back in November 2002. Back then I attempted to update everyday and, more often than not, it consisted of little more than three lines of very bland, boring text. I am trying to avoid that because, unlike myself, I'm sure you have more important things to do with your time and want something vaguely amusing to waste it with. There are a couple things I want to try out so that there will be at least some weekly content. They'll come soon, just bear with me.
Much like Avis, I'm trying harder.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend my Labor Day by digging out my Gravis GamePad and playing SNES RPGs until my bladder gives out.

Edit: Cool. If you go over your webspace limit Tripod solves this problem not by allowing you to delete files easily, but by locking you out of your account. At this moment everything is broken and now I have to spend more time trying to fix it.

-K.