100th Entry!!! Mood: vegas lucky Topic: Site News
I am happy to announce that this is the 100th blog entry! Woohoo! Please picture streamers falling from the sky and champagne cascading down a fountain of glasses!
Are you a CEO with your hand in more then one cookie jar? DO you stay up at nights worrying about being audited? Do you have trouble trusting your employees with the knowledge of your blatant thievery? Did you fund your kids braces with the employee retirement fund? Is that sports car your investors money redirected? If you answered yes to any of these questions then we are the company for you. At NINJA SHREDZ we don't judge, in fact we don't even speak! With our ancient ninja training we just know what has to be done. We guarantee you will never get caught red handed. You won't become the next Martha Stewart! We look down on knitted grey panchos! Ninja Shredz will get the sensitive material destroy it and kill would be informants. We are here for you. A lot of people ask why we would do this.... and when they do we laugh and say because you are rich!
The other shoe finally dropped Mood: not sure Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
There was an old Geto Boyz song that had a chorus that went like this: "Dam* it feels good to be a gangsta". Boy do I wish I was a gangsta! Slanging rock from my coat pocket. Hustling for some "paper".
The thing is I am not. I am one busted, broke, down on his luck writer that has recently become jobless. Yeah I said it, I am unemployed. My position with the employment agency ended and I am back on the street scrambling to figure out where the next check will come. I have some resumes out there and even have a good lead on a job from a friend. I am not too worried but I am still worried. The thing is I was worried with the job. I was not making enough money to make ends meet anyway. Maybe that is why I am not that worried. I may have lost 300 dollars this month by not working the next 2 weeks and that is probably estimating on the high side. Young kids in Cambodia make more money then that in a day! Of course they don't get it paid to them in dollars... and it is a much longer work day... and they are only 6 days old.... but you get the point. The loss of the job although very annoying isn't as catastrophic as it would be if I wasn't already looking.
The thing is I wanted to leave them.... I wanted to walk in and say "Here is my badge and headset now kiss my lily white buttocks!" Unfortunately they were able to say "Kiss my unintellgible English speaking pinkie finger you dumb swine your job is now awarded to someone who has no teeth. Be gone from our presence" Well I am sure it was something like that I could barely understand her.... maybe she was the lady with no teeth.
I really have nothing more to say or add. I have no plans for revolutionizing the world... So this is it. This is my entry. Deal.
The further adventures of my mom, auntie and me! Mood: special Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Hey all! I just put together a small album of my mom and auntie's trip to Portland. I took the best of what my mom and I took. Auntie's took pictures but I never got them in my posession. I do not have any pictures of us running about Powell's or downtown Portland but I have quite a few of Multnomah falls, nature and roses...
I left you guys dangling after a quick update last Monday. Here is the next 2 days.
I got up and went to work on Tuesday before Dawn and was sent home 2 hours early.... not good for the pocket book but great for the tour guide side. MY mom was rearing to go to a local vegetable stand and I knew of none but I had a little paper that told that there was one nearby. Auntie was waiting for a replacement phone for her phone that saw the bad side of a public restroom toilet.... Not sure she would want that in the blog entry but I always promise to be true for my readers.... ANyway my mom went out to get some things for lunch and I of course took us galavanting throught the place where I went hiking and had the fun with the mud and the hobos.... We saw an awesome snake and I got a great picture of a black winged bug with a red head. We found the fruit stand finally and it was some guys house.... drove past it twice. We also got free bread from a place called Bob's Red Mill which produces a lot of the fancy milled wheats, grains and granola you see in stores..... They gave us free bread for having seen a movie at the movie theater near me... we didn't even have to buy anything even though my mom did. Then we headed back to my apartment where auntie was already munching since we were an hour late from our promised time. Her phone had arrived and we were ready to go. We decided to go to the zoo and headed out the door. The zoo was a bust because the lot was full a sign that promised more parking ended up taking us back on the freeway and before I knew it we were back down town. I decided to revamp the plan and take them to a museum. We parked near Powells and ended up using it as a potty break where auntie decided she really would prefer to be. She loved the store and had only gotten a mere taste the day before... she was aching for round 2. We left her there and heade to the free tram stop. It was 20 minutes away so my mom and I walked. We got to walk through a nice area of downton to find out we only had 45 minutes left before the museum closed. With a 10 dollar entrance fee we decided it would be better to explore another time. So we headed back, stopping at a trimet station where we inquired about a monthly bus pass... which was a lot for something that was a 1/3 of the month left and decided my bus pass could wait until half price day.... In the middle of the month it becomes half priced. From there we stopped at a coffee shop so I could rejuvenate. Then we headed back to Powells and stayed for a while before grabbing auntie and heading to Widmer to eat. The food was excellent at Widmer's as was the beer.... in case you were wondering my auntie had a diet coke.
Wednesday.... I went to work again and this time was sent home an hour early. We had some food and then headed to the zoo.... it was raining.... When we got to the zoo it picked up the pace and the zoo was forgotten for the second day in a row. I decided to take them through Washington Park and to stop at the International Rose Test Garden. Thanks to the wonderful signs I found myself back on the freeway instead of going where I meant to so I had to double back. When we finally got to the park my passengers were enjoying the view. The Rose Garden was just icing on the cake. I decided to go a different way out and ended up showing them a scenic view of Portland. I missed it because I was trying to figure out where to go to get out and navigate the turns at the same time. After that fun jaunt we ended up back at Pizza Schmezza having a slice before heading to my ill fated choice of a movie.... The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Once again I liked it and they did not... We ended up viewing "Oh Brother Where Art Though" to rid their memories of the movie a bit. Then I watched auntie's copy of Eight Below as they fell asleep around me. I liked Eight Below.
The next day we had breakfast before they hit the road.
Superman Returns Mood: surprised Topic: A Rambling Review
I have already written a little about this movie but this is my actual review of it. This was another movie I wnet and saw with my mom and auntie. This was a movie they liked. My mom even cheered and raised her hands up when the title flashed across the screen during the opening credits, it was shocking. The topic as we left the conversation was me and my cousin Jeremiah in the capes my auntie made for us and underroos running around all over the place as Superman and Batman. Without further delay the rambling review of Superman Returns.
The world is Superman free and life carries on..... sure they missed the big guy but people have to move on. That's what we humans do, we dust ourselves off and get back up and get moving. What choice do we have really? The world has gone five years without Superman and thats when he decides to come back home. He crashes in his ma's cornfield, sure hope that wasn't mortgage money. He is back and he heads to Metropolis somehow thinking he will get right back in the swing of things but Clark Kent has been gone 5 years as well. Nothing is the same. At the Daily Planet, the only person happy to see him is Jimmy Olson and that is mainly because Jimmy has always been a geek. The boss doesn't care and neither does the bustling office. Lois is off on a groundbreaking news event on a plane and Clark is discovering that Lois has a new man.... and a son!!! Holy bootknocking Batman!!! Wait.... wrong superhero. Of course the plane Lois is on goes out of control and Superman makes his reappearance saving the out of control plane just in the nick of time...... which was a little tough to swallow because I saw him reverse the earth's rotation in one of the comic books I read. Plane must have been heavier. Either way he manages to save them in the middle of a ball park during a baseball game. The crowd goes crazy and Lois faints. The thing that bothered me was he flew off leaving the plane in the field! What the heck??!!! Anyways it's all feel good touchy shiny happy feelings as Superman zooms all over the world saving everyone. Except Lois is super pissed.... what the? She does not want to interview the returning hero.... Why not? Could it be the 5 year old boy? Nah. She is just a smoker and hates that Supes blows out her lighter. SHe pretends to be over Superman, she is definately over Clark, but we know better. Clark stumbles through his words and Superman is like Supafly with his game. I mean seriously talk about having a strong pimp hand (his appeal with the ladies is great)! Anyways Lex was released from prison as Supes came back and he of course has some stupid world domination plot that will kill lots of people so he can get some paper (money). The plot is to use Supes crystals he found back in the day to grow his own land mass..... which will of course sink the US in the Sea and will leave rich people ready to buy the newly created land.... Yeah like I said, stupid. Anyways Clark is caught up in trying to figure why he and the Man of Steel are getting the cold shoulder from Lois. He is oblivious to Lex's plans. Lois however is not and ends up captured by Lex with her son in tow. We find out the kid is definately Superman's when he throws a piano on to a guy that is trying to kill his ma. Which explains why Lois is pissed and I mean who wouldn't be? You make love and the next day the man you were with flies off to find out if Krypton is still around and leaves you with a bun in the oven. Hello Superman where was the call and the roses? C'mon man! As this is happening everyone discovers that she is missing and Clark and the new man look through her personal stuff looking for clues to where she was headed before the kidnapping. As they are hacking into her computer Lex is launching a crystal surrounded by Kryptonite into the ocean because the crystals expand like crazy in water. Clark and the other guy stop looking through her things because they know where she is. The other guy heads out in a plane and Superman helps around the city a bit before taking off to the middle of the ocean. The rest you will have to see for yourself.
I liked this movie, it wasn't groundbreaking or exceptionally well done but it was entertaining. I liked the kid even though he hardly spoke, the new Superman looked the part and with a few more smiles and a little better dialogue would have pulled off the part. The story was pretty good, a bit heavy handed and a little choppy but it was not DREAMCATCHER quality (Kevin) and that was a good thing. I think a lot of the reason I liked this movie was that Lois was finally hot in a movie.... I like Kate Bosworth!
Wait!! Wrong movie that was Blue Crush... here she is in this movie...
Yeah I have superficial motives sometimes..... ANyways I thought the movie was pretty good and pretty watchable. I recommend you go see it.
The Devil Wears Prada Mood: cheeky Topic: A Rambling Review
This movie was quite a bit of fun. I was not sure it would be when we entered the theater but I was glad to see that it was. It stars Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Anne's character Andy has recently moved to New York to pursue her career as a journalist. She finds it difficult and signs up with a temp agency that sends her to a fashion magazine called Runway to be the 2nd office assistant to Miranda Priestly. Miranda is an institution in the place and a holy terror to everyone, when she comes to work everyone busily scurries off to miss her rath. Including passerbys in the lobby. She can dash dreams with a glance or a pursing of her lips. Andy is not the fashionable young lady that roams the halls and everyone makes rude comments about her hideous outfit. Somehow even with her grandmother styled skirt she gets the job. Much to the annoyance of Miranda's 1st assistant Emily. Emily has no kind words for emily, not that anyone there does. Miranda decides, after a verbal dress down to end all verbal dress downs from Miranda, to step it up a notch even though she does not fit the fashionable mode. The job could open plenty of doors in the journalistic world if she could survive just one year of it. Andy decides she needs to act the part to make it and enlists Nigel (Stanley Tucci), the nicest person to her although he still launched verbal barbs, to help with her wardrobe and an hour later there is a very noticeable change. Soon she is a transformed girl, a hard working and very fast moving fashion diva. Much to the distress of her boyfriend and other friends. At a very critical moment Andy steps up and catches the positive eye of Miranda. Miranda soon chooses her to go on a coveted Paris trip over Emily, Miranda's 1st assistant, who was scheduled to go and had been surviving Miranda with that as a saving grace. Andy is given the choice to go and betray Emily who just accepted her or to refuse and watch all doors in the journalistic world closed to her. She decides to go to Paris. Along the way Andy becomes a different person and finds herself going to Paris without friends and without her boyfriend behind her. She soon realizes that she does not like this world of back stabbing and cattiness but is she to far gone?
The movie is very well done and very well acted. I absolutely loved watching Anne Hathaway. Some people would say they loved the outfits but I love Anne. This was a very fun movie and I found myself laughing heartily at the jokes and enjoying each scene. And it has Anne:
This was one of those movies that you can take your mom and auntie too...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Mood: happy Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Sometimes movies you don't expect people to like turn out to be popular and enjoyable. I remember one barbeque Kevin and I had a few years back when we were roommates. We had my mom, Becky S, Becky K (at that time she was Becky W), my dad, Mary Jo and a few other people. I threw on 'The Original Kings of Comedy' and even though it was raunchy and full of curse words your mom always took the soap to your mouth for, it was a hit. Everybody was laughing and enjoying the show even if they deny it now. Some movies you expect to entertain your cohorts don't Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was one of the latter. I went and saw it with my mom and my auntie. I enjoyed it but they.... well lets say they felt betrayed by my pick.... Moral of that story is don't take your mom and her sister to see a movie that is action packed and fun. Or something like that. On to the movie review.
Dead Man's Chest picks up relatively soon after the first ended. Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner have an impending marriage that is interrupted by charges of aiding the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. Lord Cutler Beckett, of the East India Company, has filed the charges to get ahold of Capt. Sparrow's magical compass. He dangles a pardon in front of Will's eyes and Will is off and looking for his friend to save his special lady friend. Elizabeth is left behind in jail while her father tries to figure out how to get her out. Meanwhile Captain Jack Sparrow has just learned that his deal with Davey Jones has been called and Davey is looking to collect. Davey Jones and his crew are horrible compilations of sea creatures. Anyway Capt. Jack tricks Will into giving himself to Davey Jones. Then he runs into Elizabeth and talks about how he is trying to save him.... which we all know was a big lie. Wouldn't you sell Orlando Bloom down the river for Keira Knightley? Seriously! They are absolutely grotesque and that is the first blow for the two ladies watching it with me. In fact it was also the death blow. They never recovered from that and I was the only person of the three enjoying the movie. I had a little problem with the fact that the movie relied on people having seen the first movie. It left my two compatriots bewildered and lost since a lot of the original pirates were back. The other problem was this 2 hour movie was like a sitcom episode and it leaves you hanging for the next movie. I liked the new villains and I enjoyed Capt. Jack immensely. I do not think ol' Cap had the same swagger as in the first movie he seemed a little more desperate and a little more drunk. It was still a lot of fun and if you had seen the first movie you will have fun seeing a lot of the old crew back. Including the guy with the fake eye, his chubby friend and the undead monkey. There are a few more surprises and it is a fun movie to see. It makes you want to watch the first again.... unless your my mom or my auntie...
The real reason to see this movie.... Keira Knightly!
A whirlwind... Mood: chillin' Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
We have been busy little beavers. My mom and auntie showed up on Sunday. We headed out for a meal at Olive Garden and then to see the movie the Devil Wears Prada. Which was pretty funny and yes the movie was partially my idea. It was good fun and we found ourselves laughing through the movie and enjoying the show.
Today I was off so we headed out of the house about 9 AM. It was a late start but everyone ate and we got to see a review of yesterdays Tour De France. We headed East to the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Route that held wonderful views and spectacular waterfalls, including Multnomah Falls. We had stopped at the historic Vista House and 2 falls before Multnomah. Don't worry unlike my dad I actually share pictures of my trips they will be up sometime this week. Anyway we had lunch at the Multnomah Falls Lodge and the walked up to get a closer view. After snapping several pictures we headed towards the freeway and stopped at one more falls before heading downtown.
Downtown we perused Powell's City of Books for an hour and then over to the Whole Foods. We headed South to my side of the world and stopped for pizza at Pizza Schmizza. After a fantabulous slice or two we headed to the theaters to catch Superman Returns. Let's just say that the movie is better then the reviews seem to imply.
ANyway it is past my bedtime because I am back at work at 5 AM tomorrow. So I will write and share a little more later.
Another awesome sunset Mood: a-ok Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I really have nothing to add today. No good news, no movie to review, no odd news story. I just did not want to have another day without a post so I decided to share another sunset with you. I took some pictures of another great sunset on the 3rd of July. The first picture is of a strange cloud formation and the picture came out pretty good. The second picture is one of the better shots of the 15 shots I took. I have a few more I like and I would be happy to share but I am running out of space on the sites free bandwidth..... So if you want to have a few just email me at: crazedlunatik@gmail.com
I hope you like them. I am looking forward to my Auntie and mom visiting this week. Even though I have no idea what we are going to do.
I'll Give You an Inch Mood: smelly Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I was reading the newspaper this past few days. Something I try to restrict to sports and the funnies. I usually glance at the frontpage to find out what horrible thing occured yesterday and then I move on. This time though something caught my eye. An article about a new trend in real estate. The article was about a guy who has set up a website where he is giving away free pieces of land in any of the 50 states, just in time for the 4th! You get to pick the state and then give your name and email address and that is how you become a land owner. It is actually easier then becoming a ULC minister. Here is the deal, this guy in New York by the name of Scott Moger got an idea from an old promotion Quaker did where they gave away a fake deed to Yukon Country. This captured his imagination and then like all people do he grew up and forgot about it. A few years back while going through his old stuff he found this deed and the idea for American Acres came about. He purchased parcels of land in all 50 states. He took it online and is making his money from the sale of deeds to people he gives the inches too. His company still owns the land so if he ever felt like doing something with it we would all be out of luck but it is still kind of funny. At first I was irritated by this idea because I thought he was actually selling people the land. I figured that this guy had just found one more way to seperate people from their money. It got increasingly hard to stay mad once I went to the site and saw it was free. You do not even have to buy a plaque or a deed so giving him money is not even a requirement. Which of course makes me want to own a deed. I took the plunge and I am now a proud owner of a piece of Hawaii. I am finally a land owner and damn it relieves a lot of stress.... hehe. I know where I am going if I ever lose my job.... to find a 1 inch bed to put in my spot.
Anyways here is the link to your dreams http://www.ownapieceofamerica.com/
The rest of the weekend... Mood: vegas lucky Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I am sitting here on a Monday evening doing laundry.... I guess that beats doing laundry on a Friday or Saturday evening like I normally do. I had planned to do a few loads yesterday but ended up getting home and falling asleep. I was pretty tired.... and here is why.
After I wrote you all on Saturday my dad and I headed to Powell's so I could trade some books in. Along the way we stopped at a joint called Philadelphia's and had a wonderful cheese steak sandwich. When we finally made it to Powell's and I had traded my books we found out that neither of us really wanted to be there so we left. I dropped the books they didn't take back in the car and we headed to the tram stop. We headed South to the Central Library so I could show him the old books exhibit. After that was done we hopped back on the tram and headed back North, I said we should stay on and see if anything caught our eye. Before anything did we had to depart or purchase a ticket to continue our ride. So we got out and started walking back to the garage. On the way back I started yammering about going to Henry's Tavern to have a Hoegaarden and pop decided it sounded like a good idea. We managed to get there in the midst of happy hour so our drink prices were reduced and they had a list of appetizers at great prices. We had a Hoegaarden White Ale, which was on tap, to start. Then I ordered a Pilsner Urquell, which I dubbed the Urkle, and I also ordered shrimp and seafood egg rolls. They were not bad, I would call them interesting. I would not get them again. My dad ordered a Boddington's and when we both finished we headed to the car. I asked my dad what he wanted to do next and he said he would like to go to Barnes & Noble.... Let's rehash: Went to Powells and the library and he wants to go to Barnes and Noble? Makes sense, obviously what we needed to do was go to a place with books. Hehe We spent the evening reading and splitting a banana foster cheesecake slice until I realized the mall was closed and B&N was the only place open. Which meant I needed to get home and get to bed.
Sunday rolled around and things started off weird. I left my headset for work at home along with my security badge. I did not realize it until I was nearly there so I had to turn around and get it. So instead of a few minutes late like I was about to be I was almost an hour late. Good way to start the day, right? When I finally made it the calls were back to being slow. I was afraid that not only would I lose the hour I spent going back to get my headset but that I would get sent home early. Luckily that did not happen. When I finally was off I headed to Border's to wait for my dad and from there to head to dim sum. Border's was set up for our meeting spot so that he could head from there to Aunt Wanda's after we had indulged in dim sum. He had planned on being there and reading when I got there but he was running behind and I was the one who was able to read until he made it. We had a great meal at our hidden Chinese place and then he headed South for the day. It was pretty warm so I decided to stay at Border's as my dad hit the road. I cracked open a Boondocks collection of comics. I was enjoying it until I started dozing. I decided to go home and get started on laundry. Instead I went home and passed out. Waking up to go to work today. I missed calling my mom to wish her happy birthday... d'oh!!
Sorry Mom. Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday Auntie!!
vegas lucky
not sure
special
surprised
cheeky
happy
chillin'
a-ok
smelly