Fuck Halloween

Halloween is overrated, therefore Megan and I have chosen to watch every episode of the brilliant and sadly canceled animated television series The Critic. If you've never seen the show, you're missing out. Jon Lovitz is an absolute master of his craft, and the animation is beautiful. The DVD remaster is fantastic, and I think it really holds up well ten years on. Put it in your netflix queue... now.


"Buy my book! Buy my book!"
- posted by Mason @ 3:03 PM

Edwina?

From the Iron Maidens website:

Formed in 2001, The Iron Maidens have quickly established themselves as one of southern California’s most popular tribute acts and are rapidly gaining international recognition. The band boasts beauty as well as excellent musicianship, lively stage presence, and a remarkable stage show with theatrical scenes interspersed throughout.

First and foremost on the agenda of The Iron Maidens is talent. These women are highly trained professionals with diversified musical backgrounds ranging from orchestral and musical theater to blues and rock. The band and its members have been the recipients of many awards including best tribute band, and best in category (guitar, bass, drums, voice) at events such as The Rock City News Awards, The LA Music Awards, and The All Access Magazine Award Show to name a few. The line-up is Aja“Bruce Chickinson” Kim on vocals, Linda “Nikki McBURRain” McDonald on drums, Elizabeth “Adrienne Smith” Schall and Sara “MiniMurray” Marsh on guitars, and Wanda "Steph Harris" Ortiz on bass.

The Iron Maidens cover Iron Maiden material from all eras of the band’s career, encompassing the band’s biggest hits as well as fan favorites. The stage show includes appearances by Maiden mascot Eddie, the grimreaper, the devil and more.

If I lived in SoCal, I would so be all over this. I love shit like this.
- posted by Mason @ 5:26 PM

Torchwood is my new favorite show

I know that I'm always on about my "new favorite tv show", but dude, seriously... Torchwood is my new favorite show. I really like Doctor Who (classic, not current... Tom Baker era specifically), and am therefore very pro anything Whoniverse (they exist in the same universe and The Doctor has had dealings with the Torchwood Institute). I'll spare you a lengthy review or synopsis, the wiki does a perfectly acceptable job of that. I will say that it's magnificently shot and HD like a mother fucker. (Who ever thought that Cardiff could look so amazing?) Anyway, it airs on BBC 3 (and BBC HD) on Sunday nights, but you can catch it here in the states via "that Internet".
- posted by Mason @ 12:12 PM

The Girl From Tomorrow

This show is fucking awesome. Check the brief, bitches: girl from the year 3000 accidental goes back in time to 1990, befriends wild aussie teen, adventures ensue. I'll keep you updated as the rest of them download.
- posted by Mason @ 9:19 PM

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later...

Some motherfucker popped the lock on the wagon and stole my car stereo. It was a cheap Kenwood piece of shit, so I don't know why they'd even bother. The weird part is that they didn't touch any of the rest of the stuff that was in the car. Not the back pack, not the CD wallet, not the four sealed boxes... nothing. Weird. I fixed the dash back in two seconds, it's just a big hassle. I called in a police report just to have it documented, but of course I won't get it back. I don't really even care. The whole thing just makes me feel shitty. To top it off, it made me late for work. Oh well, shit happens.
- posted by Mason @ 2:15 PM

There's no such thing as a free lunch

So our friends at Ameriprise provided some people here at work with a free lunch from Qdoba. It was OK, I had the veggie tacos. Weirdly enough, I don't know what the value of my meal was. They gave us these "Ameriprise" branded menus that didn't have prices on them. They told us all about our "financial futures", and how we should give them our money to invest. It was sort of uncomfortable, because only eight of us went. The guy and the lady who "facilitated" the luncheon were super creepy and sleazy. They wanted our money and they gave us a bunch of literature (which I tossed in the trash immediately upon returning to work. The worst part is that I didn't think about the fact that these people would stick around to glad hand all through the meal. I seemed like a good idea when it was offered to me. In retrospect, I would have preferred to go home for lunch.
- posted by Mason @ 11:36 AM

OZ Marathon

Meg and I are are deep in the middle of a hardcore OZ marathon. I am again reminded that Tom Fontana is the best television writer of all time, and that Chris Meloni is my favorite male actor.
- posted by Mason @ 10:57 PM

Let's Play: "Google This Word"!
I googled the word "scan" from google images, these are my favorite:




- posted by Mason @ 4:54 PM

Guitar Show Round Up and a Macintosh Apple (not an Apple Macintosh)
The guitar show was fun, we sold some GHS strings, made some money, saw some crazy mother fuckers... your standard guitar show experience. There wasn't a lot that really just blew me away this show, but here are three of my favorites:


The crazy thing about this is that I don't think $500 is an unreasonable price to pay for this little gem.


The scale of this picture doesn't accurately convey how gigantic this pedal is. Notice how it dwarfs all other pedals around it. It was easily twelve inches long.


I just love the shit out of this one.



In other news, have you ever had a Macintosh Apple? They're more like a pear really. Not was I was expecting, but not at all unpleasant. (One should note that I found it difficult to obtain a suitable picture of a Macintosh Apple, and as such the above pictured apples are fake. Most likely plastic, though I wouldn't rule out cleverly painted wood.)
- posted by Mason @ 2:09 PM

Out of Time
Well, that's it for me today, it's quttin' time. Beer thirty. Frydee, Frydee, Frydee and the workin' week is done.

I got through 7 albums and I feel pretty good about that. I'll start back Monday morning and hit Lola, Muswell Hillbillies, The Soundtrack to "Percy", Everybody's in Showbiz, The Great Lost Kinks Album and Preservation. This weekend is the big Arlington Guitar Show. We'll be taking tons of pictures and I'll post them tomorrow after work.
- posted by Mason @ 5:07 PM

The Kinks - "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)" (1969)

This album is a little more rockin', and I'm not sure I like that as much. They introduce horns, and the electric guitars come back. I'm a little underwhelmed. I really like "Australia", but I at 6:46, it's a little long for my taste. There's this really long extended "jam" for the last three minutes that I think is totally unnecessary. "Shangri-La" is a great track, I'd like it more if it were more down tempo. The upshot being the french horn in the background of this track. It's very subtle, very well placed, not overpowering at all. A resounding triumph of arrangement.

"She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina" is a jaunty tune ala the English music hall traditions Davies is so enamoured with. It works well here. The second half of the song is almost Lovin' Spoonful jug-band, and everyone knows how much I love John Sebastian.

I like this record. Like, not love.
- posted by Mason @ 4:30 PM

The Kinks - "Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society" (1968)

Now I had actually listened to all of this record for and I absolutely love it. I find it exhilarating, heartbreaking, and just damn pleasant to listen to. I do a terrible, terrible cover of the title track, but it's very difficult to play by yourself on acoustic guitar and have sound right. Every single cut on this album is stellar. This may be Ray and Dave at their best. The drum sound is so tight and warm, it's like a blanket I want to wrap myself up in.

I will say that I hate Hewlett Packard for using "Picture Book" in that horrid fucking morphingpicturesintopicturesthatyoupulloutoftheairwithamagicpictureframe commerical. I find it curious that the guitar part for "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" sounds VERY similar to CCR's "Green River", but much better.

It makes sense that this record is the first step toward the Davies' ultimate move toward giagantic stage productions shrunk down to pop records.
- posted by Mason @ 3:29 PM

The Kinks - "Something Else By the Kinks" (1967)

Back from lunch and stint of testing the phone system, I begin anew.

The opening of this record destroys. "FaFaFaFaFa" and the staccatto piano on "David Watts" is fucking great. I think this is going to be an awesome album. I love that so many of Ray Davies' best songs are two and a half minutes or less. The harmonies on this album and Ray's voice are fantastic. This is my favorite record so far. Expounding on the foundation of Face to Face, the layering of the harpsichord against a wall of acoustic guitars really appeals to me aurally. As storytelling, this record rivals even Pete Townsend's best. I think I may be in love with the Kinks.
- posted by Mason @ 2:39 PM

The Kinks - "Face to Face" (1966)

This is the shit I've been waiting for all morning. Dense, layered production, lots of acoustic guitar (which I love). Cut three, "Dandy" is fucking beautiful to me. All of Ray's songs are about the average bloke at this point (reportedly a reaction to his difficulties dealing with the Kinks new-found stardom), and I think it's only at this point that he finds voice lyrically. The double time harpsichord part running through the back of the mix on "Too Much On My Mind" slays me. In fact, this album is rife with crushingly wonderful harpsichord parts. This is very much the Davies' Pet Sounds (released the same year), and absolutely kills Revolver. [One should note, however that I detest the Beatles, and my opinion of them and all of their work is totally invalid because of that. I cannot be impartial where those Liverpudlian mop tops are concerned.] I would highly, highly recommend this record. Not a bad track on it.
- posted by Mason @ 11:43 AM

The Kinks - "Kink Kontroversy" (1965)

I hate that this album starts with "Milk Cow Blues". Other than that it's pretty strong. Ray is obviously moving to more pop based forms and ditching the R&B vibe. I think the guitar sound is killer and the snare drum sound is fantastic. The vocal layering is indicative of later work and is lyically steepedI think as I listen to this album more, I'll warm up to it.
- posted by Mason @ 10:58 AM

The Kinks - "Kinda Kinks" (1965)

A huge step forward. Mostly their own songs, the production is better. The first two tracks are still very "rave up", and blues based which really turns me off, but I really liked "Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl". This album is still strongly rooted in the British love affair with black america, which I think is incredibly mediocre. Davies here starts to become more of himself, and a few songs are more recognizably "Kinks". Overall, an improvement, but still not quite there for me.
- posted by Mason @ 10:52 AM

The Kinks - "The Kinks" (1964)

My reaction to this album is: eh. It's very, very 1964. It's certainly better than early Beatles, Stones or Dave Clark Five. It's about on par with early Zombies. I don't have much of a reaction to it honestly. I actually like the Pretenders version of "Stop All of Your Sobbin" better.
- posted by Mason @ 10:35 AM

Kinks Day
Wow. It's 7:30am and I'm fully awake, dressed and I've already eaten breakfast. I am now Willie Moses (my great-grandfather got up at five, ate a bowl of oatmeal and a drank a shitload of coffee and then waited for everyone else to get up and fix him his real breakfast).

Today is Kinks day. I've downloaded everything from The Kinks (1964) to Preservation Act (1973). I'm going to listen to these thirteen albums straight through today at work, then update this post with my reaction to these albums. Bear in mind that many of these songs I've never heard before, having previously been only a casual "Greatest Hits" listener of the Davies brothers.
- posted by Mason @ 7:17 AM

Fairly Amusing

Meg and I went to the Texas State Fair on Tuesday after work. The whole photo set is available on Megan's FLICKR, but I pulled five choice shots to expound upon.


The State Fair is the place for borderline (and not so borderline) copyright infringement. Behold, ladies and gents: INDIAGO JONES! Pretty thinly veiled, no? Not pictured in this shot is the left side of the signage featuring "Indiago" riding an elephant being led by a very Data (short A sound, not as in Brent Spiner) looking young man.


This is actually the main reason we went to the fair. I shit you not, and yes, you can believe your eyes. This is a Magnum PI ride with a gigantic dancing Coke can in the center. I'm fascinated with how Selleck's head is so alienesque and inverse-egg-shaped. As an added bonus, it was quite a fun ride.


I was almost tempted to pay for this "computer" to sample my handwriting. There were two of them in different locations. The whole "couples" package (ARE YOU COMPATIBLE????) was only $10, but I just couldn't part with a sawbuck for it.


The "Rock and Roll Jukebox Funhouse" was adorned with many beautiful airbrushed portraits of "Rock Stars". My second favorite was this MASSIVE Prince portrait. This fucker was well fifteen feet tall. I felt utterly dwarfed in it's presence.


And of course, you cannot, cannot have a Wall of Rock Gods without the almighty himself, EVH. (Did you know he's Dutch and Indonesian? I didn't. He was born in the Netherlands and moved to the US when he was seven. Weird, huh?) I really like that the artist has mistaken the Stryper colours for Eddie's traditional red, black and white.

It was five hours and fifty dollars well spent. The day is gone, but our memories (and hopefully the Magnum PI ride) will last a life time. Check out all the rest of the day over at Megan's FLICKR.
- posted by Mason @ 10:39 PM

Amazing Soul Covers, Chapter One

Everybody loves Paul Simon. If you say you don't, you're a liar.
No one has heard of the Intruders. If you say you have, you're a liar.

I picked up this Intruders best of several years ago at the MLS Friends of the Library Booksale in OKC. It's really excellent snapshot of group who could have been the Delfonics but just never made it that far. They're Philly Soul as fuck. On this album, there's an AMAZING cover of Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" that well rivals Paul's album version.

I've upped it for your pleasure. Download it by clicking here.
- posted by Mason @ 5:15 PM

My Gift to You
Here is a guitar part I recorded using my Dell Axim 51v and Resco's Audio Recorder software (by far the best WM5 recorder). Feel free to use it, remix it, write a song around it, whatever. It's on me. Consider it a gift, and the first in a series of things I don't feel like using.
- posted by Mason @ 11:33 PM

Symposium Can Eat A Dick

I spent literally HOURS today trying to get Nortel's Symposium Web Client Call Center program to save some fucking numbers as raw data... and it won't do it. I got so pissed I wrote a letter I will never send:

Dear Nortel,
Hey you fuckers, did it ever occur to you that not everyone wants to look at the Crosstab Skillset Performance report the way it defaults to print? Well, I don't, and I'm mad as hell about it. I just want the data. The raw numbers. Did it ever occur to you that the reports you build into your shitty ass switch emulator aren't enough for some people? Just because you want your reports to print out on fifteen thousand pages, doesn't mean that I want them to. I actually need to take that information and manipulate in a way not of your choosing. If I have to deformat your reports in order to merge them into my other excel reports, I'll never have time to do anything else you bumfuckers. I have a life outside this office, in case you weren't informed. Give me more control over the way this dog fart of a program reports or I'm going to quit my job. Not that you'd care, you evil money grubbing corporate colossus. Fuck your hardware products, fuck your software, fuck your mothers and fuck you.

Your Friend,
Mason "I would prefer sixteen analog phone lines to this bullshit" Weaver
- posted by Mason @ 5:27 PM

Ross Dress for Less is a good deal

Saturday I had to go to Ross to buy a black tie for the "gala". I found this kick ass $40 DKNY tie for ten bucks. Note to other office slackers: Ross is the shit for ties. Pretty much everything else there is ugly crap, or Sean John from five years ago. If you're willing to stand in line for thirty minutes, I highly recommend it.


Also, this boy wanted toys that his big fat mexican mama wouldn't buy him.
- posted by Mason @ 11:26 PM

You Tube Nokia 3220 Phone Video Test


I honestly think video from my phone looks sort of mediocre. Ignore the fact that this upside down, that's some crazy youtube bullshit. FYI, you need this program to convert phone video to a useable avi.
- posted by Mason @ 11:12 PM

Scalini's Pizza, Part 2

So right as I was getting ready to leave work last night, Megan emailed me suggesting that we get some Scalini's Pizza. I directed her to read my previous post... needless to say we all had a big hearty laff at that one. It was like The Gift of the Magi, execept with pizza instead of hair and a pocket watch. Above is the pesto god we ordered for dinner. Jesus it was good, it was even better this afternoon for lunch. I love the tiny plastic cup they use to keep the pie from getting crushed.
- posted by Mason @ 11:05 PM

I'm so fucking fried. And I hate Nancy Grace.
I've now worked 28 hours in the last two days and I am no longer able to think clearly. Last night was our fancy black-tie fundraiser. I worked from 9am-12am, and it sucked a donkey's dick with Heinz tomato ketchup (catsup?). After the concert, my co-workers went upstairs and "partied-till-they-dropped". I, on the other hand, sat in the office and caught up on ken-jennings.com.

I've been here since 9am and I'll be here till 9pm today. I'm so tired my face hurts. The one consolation being that I used petty cash to order pizza for everyone here in the box office since we got slammed so hard today. Scalini's Pizza on Abrahms is absolutely the best fucking pizza on earth. It's so delicious you'd snort cocaine off of James Frey's cock for it.


If you know me (and if you're reading this, you do), you know how much I despise that vile cunt Nancy Grace. As it turns out, everyone's favorite "master of american prose who just can't seem to quite get plot lines tightened up even after thirty years of being a professional writer", Stephen King hates her as much as I do. If you don't regularly read his columns for Entertainment Weekly, you really should. I, for one, love the man and everything about him. Book snobs who don't like him are just jealous that they can't develop characters as well as he does. (He really should work on the plots, though. I mean, the TommyKnockers are aliens? I read 11,000 pages for that? What a god-damn let down.)
- posted by Mason @ 7:24 PM

Do You Know Macky?

If not, now you do. Macky is a dog, but not just any dog. He's a dog with hats. Many, many, many, many, many hats. His owner is a fucking fantastic knitter, and is amusingly japanese as well. From her flickr profile:

I live in Japan with the dog.
He is Macky. He is boy's papillon.
I like knitting his hat.
I call the hat "amikaburimono(編みかぶりもの）"
Because, in Japan, I call knitting "amimono",
hat "kaburimono".
I want to put some photographs of his hat appearance.

I am not good at English, but I do my best and write it.
I’m sorry in poor English.

折り紙フラワー(origami flower)
I make a flower of origami with paper of five square shape and six square shape and eight square shape.

More Macky:

I highly recommend you viewing the rest of her work. It's truly, truly amazing.
- posted by Mason @ 1:42 PM

Back from Broken
So blogger had my account all screwed up for quite a while there. breakfastcore.blogspot.com is frozen in time for eternity, but all those posts are mirrored over here, so fear not. You can revisit old favorites again and again! In the last two months, not a lot has happened. Our tv broke, and i went to wal-mart to trade it in, i didn't have the reciept.... it was a big hassle. Now I have a better TV, and the computer shows me beautiful programs on it's 32" screen.


We've been watching a ton of aussie TV again. We're addicted to a series called "My Restaraunt Rules" where five couples in five Australian cities get $100,000 AUD (that's Austrialian dollars for those of you outside the commonwealth) to start a restaraunt. The series aried in 2004 while the contest was actively going on, so every episode features the contestants' and the public's reaction to the previous episode. It's a pretty genius fucking format.


I'm also totally all about this show from New Zealand called "Seven Periods with Mr. Gormsby". Gormsby is a "relief" (substitute) teacher at Tepapuai Boys High School. He's a real british man's man. A no nonsene bastard. A gentelman of the old school who will hold the door for a lady, but not hesitate to cut a man's throat in a Calcutta backalley if need be. Gormsby says things like, "Alright boys, pens out, blue ink. Spelling assignment Mr. Morton is a homosexual, and there's nothing wrong with that. 100 times, hand them in when you're done." or “Some of the world’s great writers, political leaders and commerce teachers have been damp-eyed nancy boys!” This comedy is blacker than black. It's got abortion, suicide, poverty and illiteracy... and it's hilarious. It's so downbeat that it makes Curb Your Enthusiasm seem like "that Raymond show". I highly, highly suggest it.
- posted by Mason @ 11:03 AM