My friend Deb sent me a video this morning of Joe Cocker singing at Woodstock back in 1969.  The video is subtitled.  And it's freaking hysterical.  I have one word for you. 

"Ow."

Now watch.

Posted by Aron Head at 11:45 PM CDT

Updated: Friday, 22 August 2008 11:48 PM CDT

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Awfully darned funny.  I have to say, there were times in the movie where I felt the Joker's frustration...

Thanks, Rodger, for the tip. 

Posted by Aron Head at 9:09 PM CDT

Updated: Tuesday, 12 August 2008 9:12 PM CDT

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Friday night, Gary and I went to go see THE DARK KNIGHT.  It was my second viewing.  His first.

Again, it's a marvelous movie.  Heath Ledger makes the role of Joker his own.  I cannot imagine another actor playing the part now.  Really and truly a fantastic performance.

After the show, Gary and I went over to Joey's for a late dinner where we knocked around ideas about a podcast.  We know what sort of content we want to have and even the format.  Really, our biggest challenge is wrangling all our guys together on a consistent basis long enough to build an audience.  More on this later.

I'm already working on a podcast with Mark.  The Popester and I have been jawing about this for a couple of months.  After a lot of planning, we've got one session in the can.  We're hitting the mics again this week.  Before you know it, I'll be directing you to the podcast feed (gasp).

Gary and I closed Joey's down Friday night.  We were the last customers there with Joey and his crew.  Joey's a bigger than life, friendly East Coast type with a voice that would be welcome in the cast of the Sopranos.  He's a charmer making you at once feel welcome in his restaurant.  He's also a guy's guy... He entertained the two of us with the story of being tossed out of Chicas Locas.

Still giggling a bit about that. 

Suzanne's birthday was this past week.  Her restaurant of choice for Saturday night was Fort Worth's Edelweiss.  The Pope's (Mark, Libby,and Reid) joined us for the fun. 

Mark had the sausage plate, Libby the cordon bleu.  I had the jaeger schnitzel and Suzanne had "chicken A."  I love the name of that item.  It sounds so authentically German, ja?

And what did one-year-old Reid have?  Nothing.  It seems he wasn't much on the whole German food thang.  He spit out everything - everything - that Mark tried to feed to him.  Scattered about the legs of his high chair was sausage, bread, fondu, and a little salad.  Interesting, he really grooved to last week's Russian fare.  Not so the Deutsche. 

Our visit was a little disappointing in that Bernd, Edelweiss' host and entertainer, was not on stage.  You can't have a truly authentic Edelweiss experience without Bernd.  Still, Helga was in the hizzouse and she and that guy on accordion (not Weird Al) cranked out the fun.

To drown the pain of missing Bernd, Mark and I ordered a pitcher of the Dunkelweiss.  That helped numb us up a bit so that we didn't cry (too much) when we stood to sing Deutschland Uber Alles.

We had a big time. 

Mark and I record again on Tuesday.  And I think we're drinking wine, too.  I'm gonna have to get more details on that one.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 9:15 PM CDT

Updated: Sunday, 10 August 2008 9:49 PM CDT

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So Rodger (lower left) read a restaurant review of this Russian place called A Taste of Europe that's not too far from here.  Honestly, the place looks like a dump located on a stretch of road populatred largely by auto shops and mattress stores.  Rodger assured us that it was a glowing review and that we should go.

Suzanne and I (bottom right) were the first to arrive.  There was one other car in the parking lot.  Soon, the owners emerged with bags full of take-out leaving us all alone...

Mark (top left), Libby, and Reid (center) arrived shortly after. 

"Are they closed?" Mark asked.

"Naw..." I answered, "We just saw some folks come out.

We went on inside to find a cozy little restaurant set amidst a well-stocked gift shop full of Russian imports.  The wait staff greeted us friendly in thickly accented English.  Rodger and Irene arrived shortly thereafter.

It's a BYOB place, so we each brought a bottle of wine. 

The menu features the expected Russian fare such as kolduny (meat stuffed potato pancakes), stroganoff, blintzes, and borscht.  

Never having had borscht before, I orderd a cup.  Great stuff.  In fact, everything was terrific.  Our faith in Rodger paid dividends.  We were there for more than two hours, eating this wonderful food prepared by our gracious hosts.  

And when we weren't eating or visiting, we were chatting with the owner or shopping.  They've got beautiful wood carved Christmas figures, Russian flasks, and hats.  And some truly breathtaking handmade icons.  

Rodger and I spent a lot of time looking for a Stalin T-shirt.

One awkward moment... Rodger and I and Suzanne and Irene were all taking pictures with our iPhones.  Mark draws his digital camera out to capture an image or two when I asked: "Can you make a call with that?"

"Can you send a text?" Rodger asked.

"How about email?" Irene added.

"Does it have real GPS?" Suzanned wanted to know.

Apparently it just takes pictures.  Though, they seem to be very nice pictures.  Still... 

Awkward. 

It was a great night.  Good food.  Good friends.  Good times. 

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 10:18 PM CDT

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At the office at God-Awful this morning, I looked up towitness the most magnificent rainbow I've ever seen.  I snatched up ye olde iPhone and snapped a quick pic.  Most rainbows I've seen aren't so well formed.  This one was so magnificent that I'm sure had I some binoculars handy I'd have seen Heimdall up there guarding the gates of Asgard.

After a while the end of the rainbow moved a bit closer.  If I hadn't had a conference call with the boys down in Finance, I'd have wandered out there and seen that little fellow about a pot of gold.

I've always wondered how that works.

I mean, I walk to the end of the rainbow and meet the leprechaun.  Then what?

"Dude," I might say interrupting the vertically challenged faerie-type-guy as he sweeps his porch, a pot of gold visible at the corner, "Wow.... so this is the end of the rainbow and all..."

An uncomfortable silence follows as the wee one gives me the stink eye. 

"Nice place," I add.

Still, harsh scrutiny from shorty.

Eventually, I'd continue.  "...Er... gee, this is awkward..."

"Och!" He'd throw his arms up in exasperation, "Ye came fer me gold, eh?"

"Yes," I'd nod.  "Yes, I did.  That's the deal, right?  I found your place.  I get the gold?  So, I'll just... y'know, take... this..."

And I pick up the gold, tucking it under my arm.

"And ye'll take hot burnin' death, ye thieving bastard!" He'd shriek emptying both barrels of his magically produced sawed-off shotgun.

Lying on grass dampened not just by the recent rain, but by the blood rapidly draining from my body, I would consider what brought me to this low state. 

My last words might be, "I hate rainbows."

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 5:51 PM CDT

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For the last ten days, I have been checking the AT&T Order Status web page for any news on my new iPhone.  When I ordered the iPhone I was told it would take ten to twenty-one days.

21 days.

Man, that was hard to hear.

My routine has been that I check the website first thing once I hit the office in the morning.  And then several more times throughout the day and finally, one more time before bed.  It's very much like watching a pot boil.  But, you know, a pot that takes ten-to-twenty-one days to boil.

It's crushing, really, to see the site fail to update with that sweet tracking number signifying your precious iPhone is on its way. 

Tonight, I clicked over and was startled to find the status flipped to "shipped."  With wonder, amazement, and perhaps a bit of fear I found that my iPhone is already in Fort Worth and is due to hit the store tomorrow!

Sweet.

It is appropriate then that iBuddy Rodger and I were already planning on hanging tomorrow.  I had feared I would have to cancel our plans.  See, I've been trying hard not to hate Rodger since he secured his iPhone yesterday. 

Bastard.

Rotten.  Stinking.  Bastard.

I mean, sure.  He called to say the Apple Store had 'em in stock and even offered to see if he could pick one up for me.  I opted not.  That seemed like a lot of bother on his part.  So, I declined his offer. 

Rodger picked up his anyway.  Can you believe that?!? 

A true iBuddy would have declined his own iPhone until we could get them together.

Did I mention that Rodger is a rotten stinking bastard?

I suppose I've not been very successful in the not-hating Rodger department. 

Perhaps my feelings will change sometime tomorrow. 

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 9:46 PM CDT

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Act II of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog posted today and, man, it is teh awesome!

I have really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris on How I Met Your Mother.  He is just hysterical as Barney.  As much as you may marvel at the very different character he plays there from his days as a child actor, just wait til you see your Dr. Doogie transformed to Dr. Horrible. His performance here is so endearing, so genuine.  Truly, a fine performance.

Favorite exchange from this segment: 

Dr. Horrible: "I want to be an achiever... Like Bad Horse."

Penny: "The Thoroughbred of Sin?!?"

Dr. Horrible: "I meant Gandhi." 

Anybody else notice that Penny's dressed as Snow White? 

The songs in this act are instantly memorable.  Particularly Act II's finale "It's a Brand New Day (And You're Gonna Die)."  No, really.  It rocks the hizzouse!

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 10:05 PM CDT

Updated: Thursday, 17 July 2008 10:12 PM CDT

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If you enjoyed Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Once More with Feeling" (otherwise known as Buffy: The Musical or BtM) you are going to love Joss Whedon's latest offering Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog.  Neal Patrick Harris (TV's Barney) expertly plays the role of Dr. Horrible who is both hopelessly in love with Penny and desperate to have his application accepted by the Evil League of Evil.

Nathan Fillion (Firefly's Captain TightPants) assumes the role of Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis.  

This thing is fun all around and just like that episode of Buffy, it'll have you humming.  And envious.

I mean, I can't help noticing that Dr. Horrible has an iPhone.  Does the EvilBastard? 

No, he does not! 

This despite standing in line with iBuddy Rodger for two hours at the AT&T store on Saturday to find that after the dozens ahead of us in line receive their new Apple toys there remain only twelve of the goodies left.  Rodger was number thirteen.  I was fourteen.

Curses!

No iPhones were to be found in DFW on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.  Nor in Albuquerque (my evil machinations took me to New Mexico this week, y'see).

Damn your black heart, Steve Jobs!  Damn you!

So it is that I wait for the next chapter of Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog all the while planning the utter destruction of Steve Jobs.  Y'know, immediately after I get my new iPhone.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 10:16 PM CDT

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Last week or so, I stuffed the following into the suggestion box at the office...

Ours is the company that gives.

As an organization, we have raised many thousands of dollars in support of the valuable research coordinated by the March of Dimes, provided coats to the needy, and contributed canned goods to area food banks. Our company identifies need and strives to meet it. That's the kind of people our company's associates are.

Helpers.

Let me alert you... There is another group of people struggling in need.

Did you know that on average, geeks (or more appropriately designated Fanboy/girl Americans) juggle as many as five different, wildly divergent hobbies? In fact, a recent study published by Sci-Fi Weekly (Vol 4, Issue 11) reports that more than one-in-four geeks cannot afford all of their interests.

Think of the geek you know.

Fanboy Over-hobbiness is real, ruining the lives of thousands of geeks every year.

Sure, a non-geek might expect our Fanboy to be happy with his complete series collection of Buffy The Vampire Slayer DVDs, Conan movie props, and feature film quality scale models of the Ships of Starfleet, but our geek cannot be truly fulfilled. For in the support of his other interests, he cannot afford a next generation console gaming system.

Unassisted, he will never know the sublime joys of Grand Theft Auto IV.

No one should have to live like this.

It's time to reach out and help Fanboy-and-girl Americans everywhere! Whether it be a Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, every geek's needs should be met.

Support The Geek Fund!

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

Posted by Aron Head at 8:27 PM CDT

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ARON:
After my long hiatus, I am now caught up on the INCREDIBLE HERCULES. One of the best comics out there, BTW. Guardians of the Galaxy #2 also good.

For the first time since Suzanne and I married, I have all my comics in one place. I have somewhere around 10,000 comics, which seems a bit excessive. Too many. Way too many. I plan on cutting that number down to something more manageable.

I am also looking to cut way back on my pull list... when I think of what I *have* to have, here's what's coming to mind...

• Thor
• Incredible Hercules
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• New Avengers
• Mighty Avengers
• Green Lantern
• Green Lantern Corps
• Booster gold

I know there's some I am missing, but they are not coming to mind.

I've decided to pick Justice Society up in trades only.

PAUL:
I have FINALLY decided to cut back on my comics.  

ARON:
Really? What have you trimmed down to?

PAUL:
That's still up for debate. I know I'm dropping Batman monthly, and probably JSA. Booster got hit too, as did most Marvel books except for the Avengers and Secret Invasion books.  

ARON:
I haveta' tell you, I had a hard time NOT picking up issue 2 of Final Crisis. As much as I hated issue 1, I hate not knowing. 

PAUL:
I'll probably stick it through. Issue 2 was better, but it still reads as pointless to me. An epic story affecting an entire universe shouldn't be so confusing, nor so abstract.

ARON:
You know I heard a review of the current Batman RIP storyline that used the same word. "Pointless."

PAUL:
Yeah, Batman RIP is going nowhere, it makes no sense, and, honestly, it's just...well, bad. Especially when compared with Detective Comics, which is excellent. For me to drop my favorite comic character's comic in the middle of an "important" storyline, not giving a crap about how it ends, it has to be THAT bad.

I'll stick with Green Lantern and the Corps. I'll drop Nightwing, even though I'm kind of enjoying it, but not that much that I'd miss it. Probably dropping Trinity. I don't hate it, but it hardly seems worth my 12 bucks a month. Superman/Batman gets dropped now that Shane Davis left. So yeah...GL and Detective Comics. Go DC.

ARON:
Wow... You pick up a bunch of indie stuff, tho, right?

PAUL:
I do. I'll keep on with Invincible, Walking Dead, Grimm Fairy Tales, Witchblade, and The Darkness. Witchblade, surprisingly, is probably one of the best titles I read right now.

ARON:
I've not ever bought a Walking Dead floppy. I pick that one up in trade only. I've not ever liked Witchblade. But it's been a loooong time since I looked at it.

PAUL:
Now that Ron Marz is writing it, it's been EXCELLENT. The last three issues were a jumping on point (check it out), with the new artist. I was pissed that the storyline ended in three issues - it could have been double that. I never say that!

Wow, that's really saying something. I've always liked Ron Marz.

PAUL:
I have too, actually. Very underrated. I guess I never realized how good he was.

ARON:
Why the reconsideration of your buying habits? Gas prices? Or is it just time to trim?

PAUL:
Both, really. Plus, we'd really like to do some work on the house.

ARON:
Yeah... In the move, I became rather disgusted with myself as I totalled up something in the neighborhood of 10,000 floppies. It just seems too much. On top of that, I've been looking at the monthlies I picked up when I was a kid for 30 cents and am now paying three bucks for roughly the same thing. That's a one thousand percent increase! We live in a world of four-dollar-a-gallon-gas and where so many comics are just bad (cough COUNTDOWN cough FINAL CRISIS cough HULK cough BATMAN cough).

I love comics.

I love the medium.

But with the exception of just a few titles, I'm gonna have to make some deep cuts. And pick up the good stuff in trade fully aware that such buying practices are bad for the business. If nobody's buying the floppies after all, it ain't likely it'll make it to the trade. Still, I think I gotta do it.

It's too much money.  It's too much stuff. 

PAUL:
I'm with you. I hate to not support comics more, and I hate to cut back, I really do. But at the same time, I can't just keep spending 3 to 4 dollars on mediocre books. I wouldn't purchase a bad movie, or watch a bad TV show.

Sad sad state of the industry. But it seems like the harder DC tries to make up for their mistakes (Countdown, One Year Later), they make all new ones! And Marvel...I don't know. Marvel just seems very heartless lately. Like they're not even trying. Give me the indies!

ARON:
Dude, you're totally a Skrull!

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

Posted by Aron Head at 9:09 PM CDT

Updated: Tuesday, 8 July 2008 9:08 PM CDT

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