28 February 2005

Dry Eye Relief

Perhaps, like myself, you watched the Oscars last night hoping it would be at least somewhat entertaining. Maybe you were even hoping the Eternal Sunshine would win every award it was nominated for.

Anyway, blah.

Except for Chris Rock's Banana Republic/Gap "bleeding all over the khakis" joke, I was pretty bored with the whole thing.

Anyway, I didn't want to talk about that, I wanted to talk about this:

Benn loxo du taccu: This is a blog that concentrates on African Music that I've been digging alot lately. It's nice to get some exposure to this kind of thing somewhere.

Worldhum.com: Reading this type of website is the leading cause of my depression. Having said that, I still enjoy them greatly. Worldhum is a travel writing website.

Ok. That's all I have for now.

Well, except for a bowl of soup. Campbell's Southwest Chicken Rice (something like that). Highly recommended.

27 February 2005

Cold brains, unmoved, untouched, unglued

I headed up to the Whitney Museum this afternoon to see their newly added exhibit "Five Angels for the Millenium" by Bill Viola. That amounted to watching about 10 minutes of large-screen videos in a dark room, so I had plenty of time afterwards to see what other exhibits were lurking about. Floors 2 and 3 were so-so, but on 4 was a survey of work by this guy Tim Hawkinson that made the trip worthwhile. Right away I recognized some of his pieces from Beck's Mutations album art. To keep things interesting, there was an eclectic mix of paintings, sculpture, and giant crazy mechanical sculpture. As an example of the latter - I pulled this off the web just now - PBS.org describes "Pentecost" as "a work in which the artist tuned cardboard tubes and assembled them in the shape of a giant tree. On this tree the artist placed twelve life-size robotic replicas of himself, and programmed them to beat out religious hymns at humorously irregular intervals." Trust me, it is cool to see though it is one of his largest pieces by a stretch. Apparently I have to go somewhere else in the city to see "Uberorgan," a stadium-sized monstrosity of a musical instrument that would not nearly fit in the Whitney. The effort and imagination that has gone into many of his elaborate constructions of which he has assembled everything from scratch, including electronic components, is quite amazing. This is the best of contemporary art, IMO, and definitely the best I've seen since Matthew Barney's surreal transformation of the Guggenheim.

And while I'm here, if I may, I want to give love to SIU for beating Wichita State tonight to lock up the Missouri Valley. And to UH for continuing their nice run this season, holding up at 64 on the Sportsline RPI. That is a fragile bubble.

22 February 2005

Mark Kozalek lives

Last night I trekked down to the Bowery Ballroom late to see Mark Kozalek, who I had missed when he came through NY 2 years ago with Sun Kil Moon. He has done most of his work with the Red House Painters (they had a good, if somewhat fluffy song, on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack) but last night was quite solo. It was a good enough show, although he sang everything with whatever effect (reverb?) he uses on his mic on Ghosts of the Great Highway to give it that haunted, distant quality. Speaking of that album... check it out if you haven't... Glenn Tipton and Carry Me Ohio are excellent tracks... I think that the latter is one of the better songs of 2003. This show was a nice break; it seems that all I have been hearing are the Snow Patrol/Keane/ReindeerSection type heirs to the Coldplay empire or the Futureheads/Killers/Bloc Party dance backlash.
And finally, some other good shiznit that I've been listening to: Burning Spear, Manitoba (now Caribou), Animal Collective, Jorge Ben Jor.
So, as Mike would say........... yeah.

the grass is always browner

In the early months of 2005, I acquired an Indianapolis Public Library card.

The library is quite possibly the greatest of human inventions. A man armed with only the ability to read could step inside its doors and learn almost anything he wanted.

With that thought in mind, my first visit to the library led me directly to the digital card catalog, where I quickly looked up The Best American series of books.

I became familiar with these books when on my quest to read all things David Eggers (not a particulary noble pursuit, I know... but what can I say? I enjoy reading him). He edited the last couple editions of The Best American Non-Required Reading, a series of books I find quite entertaining.

A look through the available titles showed a whole series travel books, so I made the trek upstairs and grabbed 3 at once. The library is quite nice in that you're allowed to take something like 12 books at once, which, while impossible to actually read, makes you feel quite accomplished when you're carrying them out the door.

Hop scotch forward 3 or so months, and I've devoured all three of the books, and the only thing that I've really accomplished is making myself more miserable. Suddenly I know more about Zanzibar, and it sounds like the kind of place I'd like to investigate further.

So I make plans in my head to buy maps, and place pins in them so I can mark all the places I want to see. And I plan to reread all the books, taking notes from each story that interests me, and further researching the locations, and writing page-long papers to file away, all in hopes of someday visiting everywhere.

But in the meantime I'm looking ahead 8 months, checking flights, and putting together my plans for another trip to Japan, a trip I may have to take out a loan to make (but I'm definitely making). And I'm looking ahead to when my car is paid off and I've got $369 in monthly disposible income. And I'm counting down the years until I've reached the milestone that grants me three weeks vacation at work. And I'm trying to figure out how many languages I'll need to learn, and I'm trying to figure out how I can do all this on a $38,000 salary.

And then I'm looking at the Peace Corps web site, wondering if I could just sell the house and start over. And I'm reading worldhum.com, learning more about even more places, and plotting them on the map in my head.

And I'm working out at the gym so I can look like those people in my travel/adventure magazines, and I'm looking at jeeps and land cruisers and four wheel drive vehicles (goodbye $369 in disposible income), and tents and shoes and walking sticks and camp stoves and....

All this does is make me feel more miserable in my current situation.

What good is the library anyway?

21 February 2005

the life and times of a 12 year old punk

If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; if you would know, and not be know, live in a city. - Charles Caleb Colton

17 February 2005

On Wisdom Teeth...

Well, I stay home from work today to go to see Doc Stone about a wisdom tooth that was causing great pain. I expected him to say, "Yeah, that's got to come out. Here's a list of good oral surgeons to call." Instead, he gave me two shots of novacaine and pulled it out with a tool that resembled a pair of pliers. He said to let him know if it hurt too bad. Well, it did so when he stopped I told him. He said he was 3/4 of the way done, but gave me two more shots, and then finished the job...it still hurt, but I'm tough as nails. As soon as he had the tooth out I sat up and rolled up my pants and wiped 3 gallons of sweat off my face and had the helper lady turn a fan on and point it at me. I was glad I didn't throw up, because for a little while I didn't know whether to puke or pass out. I did neither and just drove to mom and dad's and got a drink of water and my mail. So yeah, now I'm just making sure it doesn't bleed too badly by keeping gauze on the hole where the tooth was. I'm waiting for the numbness to go away to see just how bad this is going to hurt.

16 February 2005

ridehorsey.com updates

changed some schemes, added some links, including bringing back the reviews.

but i didn't write anything new.

i found a disk with a bunch of really old mikeat.net stuff at home, i need to bring that and put it up.

oh. added a list of songs on musichorsey.

i advise everyone to jump on board there.

15 February 2005

Music for ellipticals

mike's current listening list:
blur - blur, 13, think tank
annie - anniemal
basement jaxx - kish kash
the constantines - shine a light
the futureheads - the futureheads
iggy pop - the song 'nightclubbing'
lcd soundsystem - lcd soundsystem
queens of the stone age - lullabies to paralyze
sonic youth - sonic nurse


14 February 2005

lesbian bachelor party

here is my initial contribution to the blog:
Last weekend I was in Atlantic City for my freshman college roommate's bachelor party. He works for the DNC (you know, those Dem-o-crats) and aside from one other dude from UH, everyone was a party operative. It was also planned by two lesbians, who, honest to god, were hot. I know that is always the fantasy and never the reality, but this is simply another facet of my blessed life. They had much gentleman's club experience, and it showed, because the place they picked out (I believe it is called Coconutz - yes, with a z) had some of the most athletic dancers I have ever seen. At one point, I was talking to a girl we came to call "The Thinking Man's Stripper," for her cogent views on the privatization of social security, when I heard a commotion behind me. I turned to see that the dancing girl of the moment had completely eschewed the pole and was climbing across the ceiling like fucking spiderman. I nearly dropped my drink. There's not alot of sex appeal in hanging from lighting braces, but it is damned impressive. Anyway, there were more amazing feats including the 3-way beaver hat that I won't get into, but if you're ever in AC with the guys (or lesbians), check out it out.

good news, kate hudson!

someday you, kate hudson, could look just like your mother!

11 February 2005

quick note:

the ceo of my company came into my office today and said to someone else "mike sort of looks like a terrorist".
i guess it's because i could use a shave.
the interesting thing is that i have had that thought while looking in the mirror at home before.

and i kind of find it exciting.

PLAN FOR THE YEAR 2006

Gina's entry is fantastic. Probably.

ok...

1) like it or not, i'm going to have to go back to that fucking eye doctor...

last time i was fitted for contacts at my chain eye doctor, i put the new contacts in, and the doctor had me look at the chart. this is what she said:

"usually you're supposed to wait for them to settle in but we're really busy so you don't have that luxury"

anyway, since i am very smart, i signed up for the contact replacement program, which means that i get enough of a discount at that particular eye doctor that it doesn't make any sense to get my new contacts and new prescription from anywhere else. besides, i can see fine in my contacts. it's just that the left side is itchy right now.

2) somewhere along the line i've become obsessed with the southwest, including adobe houses, southwestern cooking, broiling desert days, mexicans, lights strung up, and faded watercolors. i think about my abobe house in arizona, with my burro and sombrero...

i've taken to listening to calexico at least 3 times a week, and i only own one calexico album.

i had arizona cardinals desktop wallpaper for a week.

as you may or may not know, my cousin works border patrol in arizona, making fantastic money, and quite often i am jealous of him (even though i can feel for mexicans jumping the border for reasons related to improving their lives).

gina and i spoke last evening about my 2006 planned trip to arizona (i want to drive there and see... oklahoma and texas. and new mexico. is that weird?) and i've now rethought it and i think gina and i will drive to colorado and arizona and new mexico and texas and oklahoma (somehow avoiding kansas, which makes me cuss just to think about) over a two week period camping and being adventurous and taking pictures and looking fit and healthy and generally living like an aricle in men's health or conde nast traveler... i need to subscribe to that.

it's a dream i'm having these days and i need to accomplish it maybe.

hey brent you're welcome to join. you're in my adventure plans as well (and don't let me scare you with the following words) as you and maritza join gina and i in our travel adventures all over the world because you're not allowed to have children either. and we need company.

and dave, you can come too.

yes, i posted this two places.

10 February 2005

So Happy It's Thursday.

Dear person I work with,

I have noticed more than once this week that you like to show your butt crack. I am hoping this is unintentional and that you will be a little more mindful of it next week. Your butt is disgusting and makes me kind of queasy whenever I happen to catch it out of the corner of my eye. I can plainly see that there is always a belt involved in this horrible scenario, as that image has been burned into my eyes. May I ask if it is too much to tighten it another notch? Or perhaps, finish tucking in your shirt? I realize this is a concept you are unfamiliar with, but please understand that it is for the betterment of society.

Oh, and also, shut up. You talk too loud. Just because you are my age and have a master's degree does not mean that you need to talk over everyone else to get your point across. I am sure that professor would have been able to understand you if you used your "inside voice" for that entire effing hour. She was old, I'll give you that, but I assure you she was not hard of hearing.

No, I don't want to listen to your woes about having so much work every fifteen effing minutes. Maybe you could stop calling your wife and asking what was going to be for dinner and you could get some work done.

Thank you,

Gina

07 February 2005

A TO B

this stupid thing emails me every time someone posts. gotta fix that.

FASHION TIP FOR THE DAY:

dress shirts with button down collars are actually considered casual clothing. if you read gq.

i need a new watchband.

So I'm in.

I've been too sexy to post lately... Christ, that made me laugh for some reason.

I guess everyone else has SB on the brain, so here are my worthless thoughts.

Pregame: I had steak and french fries. But not regular french fries, actual potatoes cut up into french fry like shapes. Very good, and supposed fat-free. Hooray. The player introductions were lame. This team first crap really sucks. I wanted to see Andy Reid flying out of the tunnel...

Game: Defense makes a game look sloppy and boring. TO was impressive in playing well, but added very little to my enjoyment. With the exception of some spetacular catches (most because of poorly thrown passes) the game was ick. Not every year can be the 1986 MLB playoffs. And the commercials didn't even seem to live up. Next year I'm drinking.

So, I'm blogging now. And bye.

MANIFESTO!

this weekend:

saturday! souper bowl saturday at indianapolis' city market.

the city market, from my understanding, was once a place where a bunch of farmers sold their vegetables. and maybe animals. anyway, right now it's just a place to buy lunch during the week. it's closed on weekends, which i think sort of illustrates how completely boring this city is.

DOWNTOWN! EXCITEMENT! closed on saturday.

Anyway, Souper Bowl Saturday was a soup cook-off competition that Gina and I attended. We attended because:

a) Gina likes soup
b) Gina has never been to the city market (because it's not open on saturday. wait.. maybe it is open on saturday, now that i think about it... for the sake of telling this story, we'll assume it's not open on saturday)
c) We enjoy foods

After purchasing $5 in tickets, which allowed for five seperate samples (big enough for two people to sample, easily), we worked our way around, trying soups from St. Elmo's (the restaurant all the visiting football players take in while in town), LS Ayres Tea Room (Gina said something about them having a somewhat famous Chicken Velvet (blah)), and a couple other places I don't remember, we decided that we liked Brinkley's Cafe's Carrot Cumin Soup best.

This was after I had gotten it on my coat while mocking Gina for spilling soup all over a countertop. Not on purpose, of course.

We spent another $5 on tickets to get the large sample, and ate it. Great.

another note: I had a sample of duck soup, and felt pretty guilty eating it. Probably because we have ducks in the pond behind our house from time to time, and I kind of felt like I was eating my pet.

* * * * *

Anyway, after that we headed south, and out of town, to the outlet mall.

Not much worth noting except that the outlet mall was a different planet on saturday, especially at the back of the nike store, where families that looked completely normal (included a quite attractive college aged daughter) are overcome with angst toward one another and feel the need to have a full on screaming match.

"I JUST NEED 5 MINUTES TO TRY ON THE SHOES IS THAT OK!?!?"

"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING AND SHE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING DAD!"

"JUST GO OUT TO THE CAR!"

"WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"

"I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IF I SPEND $60 ON SHOES THAT THEY FIT IS THAT OK??"

"DAD!"

* * * * *

Of course the superbowl was sunday and it was probably the most boring way to spend 5 to 6 hours we could have come up with. Except that we watched it with two stand up comedians, and although I'm funnier than both of them (obviously), they proved to be quite entertaining.

here's a LINK to one of their websites. I guess he's been on Bob and Tom, that quite popular syndicated radio show.

Good guy, anyway. He liked my chili.

04 February 2005

ridehorsey

come on people now, smile on your brother.

this has taken off like a lead balloon, hasn't it?

fantastic!

01 February 2005

mints: a comparison/contrast

wrigley's peppermint eclipse mints vs cool mint icebreakers mints
wrigleys:
woodsy
mentholic (that's a word)
tastes very sort of... organic
will break teeth
chewing causes sneezing and a sort of peppery marijuana flavor (honest)

icebreakers:
sweet
vanilla
will break teeth as well, but not quite as dense as the wrigleys
very strong menthol burst when chewing

i ate them back to back, and now i kind of feel like i just burnt out my nostrils.


bloghorsey - blog for ridehorsey.com

bloghorsey - blog for ridehorsey.com

hows this work.