Entertainmart has gots some LP records albums to sell


Tim Finn - Tim Finn (1989)


Roxy Music - Stranded (1973)

We stopped by Entertainmart, because I'd never been in before. It's new maybe? Or I'm just not ever in North Dallas, one of the two. For some reason they'll give you $90 for your Nintendo DS Lite, which I don't really understand since that's almost what they retail for. The only thing I can figure is that they're betting you'll bring it in with all of the shit you bought to go along with it and they'll low ball you on the games... I don't see any other way that it would be profitable.

They have a fairly large LP selection, and most of the records are $3 or $6. The only things marked any higher were Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, etc. You know, shit. I bought a very, very clean copy of Roxy Music's Stranded and a sealed copy of the self titled Tim Finn album for three bucks each. I put back a copy of Steve Earle's Copperhead Road (you've never seen that on vinyl, have you?) and Megan chose not to buy a double disc set of The Best of John Travolta (only because we have it on mp3 and it's fucking terrible). I'm excited about going back every few months to see what's new, because its the kind of store where the things I want will always be cheap, and the things that I think are fucking trash will always be expensive. You know how much I love that. Now if they just sold vintage bicycle parts too...
- posted by Mason @ 7:47 PM (0) comments

Gene Wolfe is my Sci-Fi Jesus



Fuck. I just finished Nightside of the Long Sun (first in the "Book of the Long Sun", the sequel series to those four "Severian the Torturer" books that I'm always on about). I know that it's much funnier for me to rail against all the things I hate, but I worship at the altar of the Urth of the New Sun, and as such I must regularly pay my respects to this juggernaut of fantastic fiction.

Wolfe's use of language is unapologetically esoteric and antiquated, but simultaneously subtle and nuanced. He builds fully believable worlds in a terribly distant future, then populates them with people you recognize from your own life. He creates characters that you grow to love, but who's tragic flaws often make them hate themselves. They often believe themselves miserable failures, but in fact are incredibly capable and sometimes even superhuman. He writes protagonists that feel like you, and for me that's the mark of a truly fantastic author.
- posted by Mason @ 10:49 PM (3) comments

Record Buying Gives Me Total Wood


The Bears - "The Bears"


The Leaving Trains - "Kill Tunes"


Split Enz - "Waiata"


Dr. Sir Warrior - "Na Kwa Echeki"
- posted by Mason @ 10:04 PM (0) comments

Watch Marco's Pizza Cock Slide In and Out of My Mouth



My mouth has been fucked by pizza. Soy cheese pizza, that is. Somehow we didn't know about Pizza by Marco at Preston and Royal. Probably because it's North Dallas which is totally balls and for rich W.A.S.P.s [not the chainsaw codpiece kind]. Marcos is just a regular thin crust pizza place that's been in business for 50 years. For some insane and awesome reason, they have a vegan cheese and meat option. We ordered online (you know how much we love that shit), and got a soysausage, onion, mushroom and olive pie. It was 17 bucks with tax, which is quite reasonable. The crust was super thin, the sauce very tasty and traditional, and the toppings were lovely. I'm 99% positive that they use Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, because I've used it before and I know what it looks and tastes like. It was very different from the pizzas I make at work, because it tasted like a pizzeria pie, not a fancy "brick oven" pizza. I would give almost anything to be able to make crust that thin, I've tried, and I just can't get it right. Any suggestions?



- posted by Mason @ 10:35 PM (0) comments

Riker doesn't ride bikes, daddy.



We tried to get Riker to sit in the bike basket... he didn't like it very much. Comet was even worse about it, jumping out the second I even moved the bike forward. Riker stayed in the basket long enough for me to ride around the courtyard once. He can be seen here getting ready to jump out right before Meg yelled at me to stop because she could tell he was going to bail. Also, he shifted his weight constantly and kept almost pulling me over. It just didn't work. Too bad, because for the two minutes while it was happening, it was hilariously funny.


he didn't want to sit in Megan's basket either.
- posted by Mason @ 10:04 PM (0) comments

A Grocery of the Asian Persuasion



Saturday, my day off. It'd been over six months since we'd gone out to Asia World Market [Dallas' Largest Asian Grocery], and we'd run horribly low on delicious imported meat analogs. I can't get enough of this soy and mushroom mutton [pictured below], and I just fucking love the Asian grocery. I know that "engrish" is totally over and done and not funny anymore, but I really liked this package, so I took it's portrait. I also snapped a product called "Dr. Veggie Hot Pot", but it was super blurry and shitty looking. Have you ever had Thai banana jerky? It's fucking wonderful. It's like a fruit roll up, but made out of bananas. I'm in love with it. Of course, we also bought tofu jerky, because it's irresistible.


it's part of the FORZEN SERIES, in case you were wondering.
- posted by Mason @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

the best shit ever



Megan thinks "Hell's Heat Forever" is an awesome name for your band. I agree.
- posted by Mason @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

Thriftola Cola



We went to the thrift because we've been bored lately. I bought a couple of sweet sweatshirts (they're cheap when its a 105 degrees outside) and some vintage blank tshirts. I wanted this bad ass portable reel to reel to work, but it was pretty trashed. Instead, I took some pictures.






- posted by Mason @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

Most Popular Movie in America



Ok, I know this is a little late, but I've been busy so I'm back posting.

We went to see that movie about a guy who dresses up like some sort of bat? Hands down the best American film made in my lifetime. Top piece of cinema post 1980. I'll spare you some lengthy diatribe regarding my joy for this movie, because there's only pleasure in talking about how much I hate things. If you didn't see this movie, you're a toot.

We saw it the Tuesday after it came out, bought tickets the day before, showed up an hour early and still weren't the first people in line for a sold out show. This will become the highest grossing film of all time.
- posted by Mason @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

Remember Gator Grip?



Remember when they showed the Gator Grip commercial a hundred times a day? Well, I bought one at Target today because it was on sale. I've always wanted one, but I don't order things off the TV, grandma. It actually works quite well. I'm going to use it to replace my heavy bag of sockets when I'm riding around. It's between 7mm and 19mm, which is the exact range of sockets I carry around with me all the time.

I will say the the socket wrench they sell with it is fucking trash. I chose instead to use my Craftsman wrench with the Gator Grip socket. Meg's dad got me a giant Craftsman mechanic's socket set a few years ago for xmas and I use it every fucking day. I couldn't even touch bike repair without it. The Gator Grip is not in any way an actual substitute for a quality socket set, but it's perfect to toss in my Timbuk2 bag. Now I don't have to carry an extra tool bag, which is fucking great. It also came with an adapter to use sockets with an electric drill, which I would have paid five bucks for on it's own. There have been a number of times when I really needed extra power to unlock a rusted ass bolt, ya herd? Buy a Gator Grip, but don't pay over $15.
- posted by Mason @ 10:28 PM (0) comments

Filipino Soda!



My love for the Asian Supermarket cannot be abated. On the way to Ft. Worth this weekend, we stopped by the Hong Kong Market in Arlington. Owing to their strong Filipino demographic, they had a number of things I'd never seen before. Among them were the sodas SARSI and TRU ORANGE. For a person that doesn't drink soda, I'm all about trying a crazy soda. Tru Orange was a bit of a let down, tasting like a slightly flat plain orange soda. Sarsi, on the other hand was pretty good. It was like a Licorice Beer with a touch of cola flavor. I hadn't read the label carefully, so even though there wasn't any corn syrup in it, the final ingredient was aspartame (aka, cancer). The second I tasted it, I thought, "Oh, that's sort of good... wait, what the hell is that in the finish?" It was the aspartame. I can't understand the logic of adding a horrid artificial sweetener to a non-calorie-free cola. I only had one drink of the Tru Orange and three drinks of the Sarsi, and then I poured them both out. If nothing else it was worth the 75 cents each just for the pictures of the bottles.






- posted by Mason @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

Guitar Slow Show Madness, ep. 8



Ohhhhh myyyyy goddddddd. We did the Ft. Worth guitar show this weekend, and no one was buying. Thanks to our outrageous energy policy in this country, no one has any money to spend. Sadly, people have already run through all their "stimulus" check money and everyone is "just looking". Fortunately, we did make enough money to warrant doing the show, and it was a least fun because my dad was there, and I love watching him work. I also ended up trading for a copy of Gang of Four's "Songs of the Free" on LP.

As always, we've got strings left over. Let me know if you want to buy some. I'm talking about wholesale prices here, bitches. You won't find a better deal anywhere, kay?
- posted by Mason @ 11:40 AM (0) comments

Peanut Butter, Banana and Agave Pizza



I'd been thinking about this pizza for over a week before I got up the energy to attempt it. Of course I only experiment with things like this at work, because I hate gambling with my own product. Here's the method:


1. Parbake a pizza crust. Warm up the PB in the microwave until it's a little runny. Spread that shit all over the crust. Thick. (Make a lower calorie substitution by thinning the PB with some water and whisking it smooth.)


2. Now take three over ripe bananas and slice them into 1/4 inch rounds. Spread them out over the pie like you would pepperonis.


3. Take your bottle of agave and shake it back and forth over the pie, lacing a thin stream of nectar (haha) across the pizza. Now stick that fucker in the hottest oven possible for about ten minutes. Don't overbake or the PB will get all crusty and you'll be fucked.


4. Slice into 8ths or 12ths (this pizza is terrible for you) and enjoy responsibly.

I made three of them yesterday morning, and customers (sorry, guests) went apeshit. This bastard is delicious. I got in trouble for not bringing any home for Meg, so I apologize about that. Next time there will be a piece for Megan to try. I promise.

(Sorry about the pictures, I only had the phone at work, not the good camera.)
- posted by Mason @ 11:45 AM (0) comments

I suppose a birthday list?



I need a cotter press and Bikesmith Design and Fabrication are the only people what makes 'em. They also make a Fixed Cup Tool, which is amazing. He also has some NOS cotters that I want.



I also want a repair stand:


A pedal wrench too, and a headset wrench. Maybe just a whole shitload of bike tools. I know, I'm hard to shop for, and I'm sorry.
- posted by Mason @ 7:44 PM (0) comments

Haha, fuck you Starbucks.



HAHA! Starbucks has released the list of their store closings. 17 Dallas area stores (I didn't even count all the Ft. Worth closings) are biting the dust. And hey, that's good for me. Specifically, both Greenville stores and the Skillman and Audelia store should boost our business quite a bit. This makes me happy. Now if they would only close the Lakewood store, I'd be set for life.

6262 GREENVILLE & MATALEE
6280 PRESTON & BELTLINE
6370 LOVERS LANE & GREENVILLE AVE
6372 CAMP WISDOM RD & HWY 67
6387 SKILLMAN AND AUDELIA
10758 NORTHPARK MALL II
10759 LBJ & MONTFORT
10877 ILLINOIS & WESTMORELAND
14144 COIT & 635
6963 PLEASANT RUN & HAMPTON RD
8135 CEDAR RIDGE & WHEATLAND RD
6282 SPRING VALLEY & MIDWAY
2977 TOWN EAST MALL
6288 PRESTON & HWY 121
6666 COIT AND HWY 190
10576 COLLIN CREEK MALL
13838 HWY 75 & PARK BLVD
- posted by Mason @ 6:29 PM (0) comments

ohhhhhhh.... spicy mexican mushrooms....



We bought these today at (of course) Fiesta. I don't know where they've been all my life. I love them so much. They taste just like the awesome "relish", but they're mushrooms. Only a buck too, can you believe it? Get down to the SuperMercado and get some.
- posted by Mason @ 6:21 PM (0) comments

Harold and Kumar Escape from a Disappointing Movie



Oh man, we tried to watch the new Harold and Kumar movie. It sucked. I laughed a little, but it just didn't make any sense. The first film made me laugh, but still adhered to the basic model of its own reality. It created a world (albeit an absurdist world) and placed a set of events in a logical sequence. The only glaring inconsistency in the first movie was them riding the cheetah through the forest. Well, to paraphrase Megan: this whole movie was the cheetah. Filled with plot holes, logical fallacies, and characters acting totally incongruous to their stated objectives. It was bad with a capital B. It was over the top, nonsensical and pointless. I know their purpose was to mock the Bush administration and the Department of Homeland Security, but like lots of liberal comedy, saying that president fuckrag is an idiot just lets him off the hook for his and his buddies' crimes against humanity. He's not stupid, he's evil and so is John "At least I don't layer on the makeup like a fucking trollop, you cunt" McCain. But I've digressed.

This movie was hugely disappointing to me.
- posted by Mason @ 5:22 PM (1) comments

Picnic (1955)



I caught the filmed version of a William Inge play Picnic yesterday. It starred William Holden and Kim Novak. It's mostly about jealously, and how no matter how much you dislike the way your life's turned out, there could be someone who wishes their life was like yours. It was pretty depressing up to the happy ending. Here's a synopsis:

The play begins with Hal arriving in a small Kansas town to visit Alan, his old college friend. Hal is hoping to secure a steady job working for Alan's father, but his rough manners and good looks quickly get him into trouble. He becomes attracted to Alan's fiancee Madge, the prettiest girl in town, while he is adored by Millie, Madge's younger sister. He also catches the eye of Rosemary, a teacher who rents a room from their mother. In the end, Madge cannot resist her attraction to Hal. She breaks off her engagement with Alan. Madge and Hal leave town, intending to marry.

That's a terribly simplistic breakdown of the story, but you get the idea. Holden was really ten years too old to play the role of Hal, and it seems really awkward for him to be in love with the 22 year old Kim Novak. I really preferred the subplot concerning the aging spinster teacher in love with the owner of the office supply store.

More important than the script or acting in the picture is the cinematography. Gorgeous. Sweeping, moving, immense and powerful. This film makes Kansas looking majestic and enthralling. I love Cinemascope. If it's on sometime, you should watch it, but I'm not telling you to rent it.

oh, here's a clip on youtube:

- posted by Mason @ 5:22 PM (1) comments

The Best Video Re-Edit EVER.



Holy Shit. This guy is the best video editor ever. He took the Mash-Up Posse song "Ante Up" and synced it up to Bert and Ernie footage. Amazing.
- posted by Mason @ 5:22 PM (0) comments

Not Just for Women Anymore



I didn't eat a Luna Bar for years because the package reads "Nutrition for Women". I was very off put by this, and I'm not sure why. I wish I'd known what I was missing out on. These fuckers are TASTY. I know that I go on and on and on about CLIF products, how much I love them, and how delicious and healthy they are, but I can't over stress the joy I take from them. Chocolate Peppermint Stick owns you.

One of my favorite things about LUNA Bars is their ready availability in a number of national chain retailers. As in, you can buy these fuckers at 7-11. I wonder if I could just eat 8 Luna/CLIF/Larabars a day and survive. I know I could, but I'd probably get burned out on them. But they're so good, and so fucking packed with your daily nutrition!

In other news, Big Brother 10 starts tomorrow. We'll watch. We'll see how CBS's "Back to Basics" approach to this season pans out.
- posted by Mason @ 7:06 PM (0) comments

Highlander: Regenesis



I love the movie Highlander. I love it. I just go crazy for it. It's one of my favorite films of all time. However, I feel that almost all its sequels, series and spin-offs are horrible. (An exception to this Highlander III: The Final Dimension, which I consider the actual sequel to the first film. It's not great, but it's watchable.) The cannon of this film series is a completely muddled mishmash of incomprehensible nonsense. Almost all of the sequels either ignore previous films and the TV show or they twist timelines and key plot elements totally beyond the imagination. The upside to such sloppy screenwriting is that I can pitch my own brand new and totally awesome sequel (that ignores all the sequels and series, and picks up where the first film leaves off) called HIGHLANDER: REGENESIS.

In the first film, Connor MacLeod (of the clan MacLeod) defeats the only other immortal left, takes the ultimate Quickening and becomes mortal. The film doesn't address one key element: you don't know you're immortal until you die for the first time. That stands to reason that in 1985 there are a number of people who don't know they're immortal walking around. I posit that in the final Quickening, all the power that keeps them immortal dissipates, rendering anyone who doesn't yet know they're immortal totally ordinary. The exception to this are two unborn babies, one in Hong Kong (Li), and the other in Cardiff, Wales (Bryn). Flash forward to present day. Now 24, both boys live in London. They finally meet when their two taxis collide head on in the middle of the night, killing them and the drivers. At the same instant, Connor MacLeod (now mortal and in his early 50's) awakens with a start and says, "It begins again".

Their deaths and rebirths as immortals reawaken the powers of the Quickening, and Connor seeks them out. He trains and mentors them, warning that "The Game" has begun again. All of the people who didn't know they were immortal will soon find out, and the mortals who knew about them previously will seek them out in an attempt to gain power. Li and Bryn become fast friends, but then are torn apart when they love the same girl who (for some reason) dies as a result of their being immortal. Li is approached by nefarious group bent on world domination, and (despondent and angry over the loss of his true love, a death for which he blames Bryn) joins them. This group then uses Li to find other potential immortals, kills them, and recruits them to their dark ways. Connor and Bryn then begin to form a coalition of good immortals who've agreed to postpone "The Game" in order to do battle against the evil band of corrupt immortals bent on world domination.

Endless. Numbers. Of Sequels. Highlander: Regenesis. This is the new shit, I'm telling you.

I would like to point out that this idea is my intellectual property, and if you use it with me getting a "Story By" and an "Associate Producer" credit, I'm going to sue the ever loving shit out of you.
- posted by Mason @ 4:46 PM (0) comments

YABICLW*


*(yet another bike i can't live without)

Ah, the new Pashley Guv'nor. A Pashley racing bike with stripped down, classic styling. This comes in single or three speed (I, obviously opt for the three). If you were going to have a second Pashley besides your Roadster, this is the one to have. I love bicycles.
- posted by Mason @ 9:16 PM (0) comments

Saturday Morning Mind Control



I'm not sure if you've heard, but all cartoons are demonic. I picked this little gem up at the thrift the other day. I've taken the liberty of scanning a few pages for your perusal. The sick thing about this book is that I actually agree with most of the chapter about how corporations use commercial time on children's shows to peddle sugar cereal and cheap chinese garbage toys. If you're interested in reading this book, let me know and you can borrow it. Christians. Haha.








- posted by Mason @ 9:04 PM (0) comments

ooohhh,,,, i'm a nerd.

A LETHAL CLOCK IS TICKING... A SILENT COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN.

It sat like a squat giant on the red skyline of a Louisiana bayou - a colossus of nuclear technology - General Power's mighty breeder reactor, yielding its energy in the service of millions.

Its safety systems were brilliant. Sophisticated. Foolproof. Then the morning quiet was ripped by the blast of sirens. Two boys in a sailboat were blown out of the water. A nearby workman was burned to a skeleton. A Howard Jonson's disintegrated killing forty. While the reactor's foolproof computer registers NO DANGER.

Now as General Power orchestrates and inhuman cover-up, two relentless men and a brave woman move to forestall the ultimate nuclear disaster, weighing the lives of ten million men, women and children against the very future of the world!

DOME
READ IT - AND PRAY IT'S STILL FICTION.

We rode 12 miles round trip to the Salvation Army off Harry Hines. The selection was a little thin, but I picked up a couple of sweet books. DOME couldn't possibly be any more pulp, and I can't wait to read it. Shapechangers is only sort of my thing, I'm pretty sure it'll probably be to girly for me, but I'll try to read it eventually anyway. I mostly bought it because it's a first printing DAW book with a Boris Vallejo cover.
- posted by Mason @ 9:04 PM (0) comments

Klegg Media Share Mega



Check it, I just got my new Klegg Media Share Mega. I bought at 750GB SATA drive for it, so it will hold oh so many hours of video for me to watch. This fucker is capable of 1080p output and acts as a NAS drive, so I've just set all my torrents to download straight to it, then I can watch them from the klegg. The upconverting quality is amazing, and it's awesome to finally have a remote control. I suggest that you purchase one post-haste. Playing files off the network is a little flaky, but with a 750GB drive, I've moved most of my video over to it any way.
- posted by Mason @ 9:03 PM (2) comments

New Bike, New Bike! Read all about it.



I bought a 1960 English made Western Flyer bike off craigslist today for $70. The guy's dad had ridden it around Penn State in the 60's. He had it stored for years, then the guy had it serviced and rode it a couple of years ago. It sat outside last winter so it was filthy. It cleaned up quite nicely. It has dynamo and front headlight, factory back rack with book clip, Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub, the tires are in great shape and it rides like a fucking dream. So there.
- posted by Mason @ 10:01 PM (1) comments

Starved - so sad you got canceled.







I really like this show, we watched all the episodes of Starved today. I really liked it and I wish they hadn't canceled it. I really like the movie My Life's in Turnaround, and this has much the same sense of humor.
- posted by Mason @ 10:01 PM (0) comments

Happy America Day.



Hey, it's America's birthday (sort of). Watch the movie 1776 or die.


- posted by Mason @ 10:00 PM (0) comments

Jon Lovitz is funny.



I downloaded the SNL Best of Jon Lovitz. It contains one of my favorite sketches ever, Lovitz as Satan on The People's Court. I tried to find a youtube video of it but there isn't one. There is, however, this strange webpage devoted to the sketch.

Remember when SNL was well written, made sense, showed sketches that had endings which made sense? Yeah, me too.
- posted by Mason @ 10:00 PM (0) comments