Howling Mad Unshow – – featuring J.R. Murdock

Fun conversation with J.R. Murdock.

Howling Mad Unshow – – featuring J.R. Murdock

Jack calls the Pirate Hot Line and gets J.R. Murdock

Listen to J.R.’s tale V & A Shipping and upcoming Billy Billy Barbarian. Check out his website (http://www.ofgnomesanddwarves.com/) or (http://jrmurdock.com/)

Greasy Nipples:
The Smarty Hotties® (First comment of the week)
Vanamonde
EssBee
ditto
J.R. Murdock
Cj
Nomad Scry
J.R. Murdock

Jack and J.R. discuss their Facebook experiences.

March 11(ish) to 14th(ish) is the Deadpanmmmm meetup. Why haven’t you booked your trip yet.

J.R. gives us a dumb ass memory.

Jack and J.R. are part of the mutual admiration society.

Send in content: 206-350-Tomi (8664) or e-mail: sphericaljackmatgmaildotcom

902 thoughts on “Howling Mad Unshow – – featuring J.R. Murdock

  1. Ow. Spent the last two-ish hours chasing down paper trails and trying to deal with a nasty setup on a machine the just does not like me (today.)

    I was unable to verify if the person using the red pen really was the person who neglected to clock into work today. I am pretty sure I saw her at that station when I got in, but I don’t like putting my word up against a person’s daily wage.

  2. morning pan, 2 day left here. I can’t wait to start my new job. and dead pan downloaded
    … I gota say it was a good day (or maybe chock full of win)

  3. The Olympics start tomorrow and, so far, only Lo Pan has stepped up to the plate and accepted my challenge. I didn’t realize :pan: were that afraid of the Canadian Hockey team.

    *cluck…cluck…cluck*

  4. … sorry to digress (and at the same time, regress).
    … but I am simply unable to let this go – (see previous Ep’s comments)

    “He gives the example of a string of entangled ions oscillating back and forth in an electric field trap, a bit like Newton’s balls.”

    I know you already touched on them (hehehehe) … but Jack failed to point out that “Newton’s Balls” should be the other OTHER name for our band.

  5. I admit to being a terrible singer, and I’m not as brave as EssBee was on our last bet, so I may have to channel my inner Shatner IF Canada loses. (And that’s a GIANT IF)

  6. Lo Pan, GMTA? anytime that happens I think of the movie white chicks
    “You where thing it”
    “but you said it”
    “OMG”

    gets me every time

  7. Any Akira fans here? I am. Hard. So it pains me that the Hughs brothers are rumored to be behind the upcoming live action version. Ugh. Nothing. NOTHING is sacred.

    I’m sure next up will be the Wachowski brother/sister and Robotech.

    And then Uwe Boll and Gatchaman.

    And then me drinking myself to death.

    Its the way things go.

  8. I’d heard of IRSOF before, though it may have been from Vanamonde, but found it too difficult to read (or remember to read.)

    Still, a shame. Looks like a lot of work went into that project.

  9. What to you think Lo Pan? Are you willing to double the bet and include women’s hockey?

    Does anybody else want to join the fun, either men’s, women’s or both. You don’t have to choose just Canada or US, any playing team is open to fans. The stakes are the losing team has to sing the national anthem of the the losing team.

    However, as per the last bet, “singing the national anthem” is a fluid term. Imagination is greatly encouraged. 🙂

  10. Ok Scry, I have you down as Latvia. (men or women or both?) When they meet the US and Canada, the stakes are as above. That means if you lose to both (likely) you’ll have to do both anthems and send it in to Jack for all to hear.

  11. Lo Pan: I somewhat agree. Canada, Russia, and Sweden are obvious picks for the top 4.

    As for the Czechs, they haven’t been as good since Mr. Slinky retired, but they still have a strong, experienced team. I doubt they’ll medal, but they’ve surprised me a number of times with their resilience.

    While I’d like Team USA to do well, I’m not terribly impressed with the roster. You never know, they might gel really well. We can always hope.

    Finland always over relies on defense. If their offense can’t produce, they won’t win.

  12. TEB: Count me in for women’s hockey. 🙂

    I am a little concerned about Team Canada. They are their own worst enemy. In Canada, it is Gold-Or-Nothing. The national religion of hockey allows nothing else. And, since they’ll be playing on Canadian soil, the pressure will be even greater. I really respect Stevie’s choice in picking players that deal well with pressure. I think that will help a great deal.

  13. All right, so if Latvia faces Canada or the US and does not win, then I’ve gotta sing the national anthem of the winning team? And if Latvia, through some horrible accident, perhaps through the intervention of the Doctor, actually manages to win then yall will be singing the Latvian national anthem?

    Oiy!

  14. Official lyrics
    Dievs, sv?t? Latviju,
    M?s’ d?rgo t?viju,
    Sv?t? jel Latviju,
    Ak, sv?t? jel to! (repeat)

    Kur latvju meitas zied,
    Kur latvju d?li dzied,
    Laid mums tur laim? diet,
    M?s’ Latvij?!(repeat)

    English Translation
    God, bless Latvia,
    Our dearest fatherland,
    Do bless Latvia,
    Oh, do bless it!(repeat)

    Where Latvian daughters bloom,
    Where Latvian sons sing,
    Let us dance in happiness there,
    In our Latvia!(repeat)

  15. TEB: I want in on the hockey bet this year, but I have a question. I see that each team will be playing at least three games. If I were to bet on a team and they lost all three of those games, would I then have to sing the anthems of all three of the countries that beat them?

  16. Dievs, sv?t? Latviju,
    M?s’ d?rgo t?viju,
    Sv?t? jel Latviju,
    Ak, sv?t? jel to! (repeat)

    Kur latvju meitas zied,
    Kur latvju d?li dzied,
    Laid mums tur laim? diet,
    M?s’ Latvij?!(repeat)

    ….

    I’m listening to the audio on the wiki page and I can’t make out much over that organ. Nice organ but a bit overwhelming.

  17. The only game I play on FB is Cafe World, even though it all rather crap I stick to it for two reasons:

    It doesn’t take up much time to play.

    I’m in a friendly competition with a Cafe World neighbour to go up the levels as quickly as possible.

  18. No Amy, the bet is only when the chosen teams meet. Right now we have three teams chosen, US, Canada, and Latvia. Therefore, if you were to choose US, you would potentially only have to sing the Canadian and/or Latvian national anthems if the US loses to either of those teams.

    You can either choose the women’s, men’s or both. If you choose both, they are considered separate bets so if the men’s US team loses but the women’s wins then you only have to sing one anthem, if both lose, you have to do it twice.

    Does that help?

  19. Nomad: Call me anything you want. 🙂 I’ve been called worse. My name was once spelled ‘Meredick’ when I ordered a pizza. I thought… huh? How’d you get THAT from Murdock?

  20. Last night I saw a Haiti relief public service announcment:

    I saw two problems with the announcment.

    1. George W. Bush was promoting the relief effort
    2. Sitting next to George W. Bush was, Bill Clinton.

    I got whiplash just from the mental gymnastics required to figure out how they got these two to sit next to eachother.

  21. One last plug based on the countries chosen so far:

    Feb 16 CDN vs Norway (Men) (ditto, bunny vs. Amy)
    Feb 18 US vs Norway (Men) (Lo Pan vs Amy)
    Feb 21 CDN vs US (men) (bunny vs. Amy)

    In the countries chosen, the women are not likely to meet until the finals.

    any other takers? First game starts Saturday, Feb 13 so I think that should be closing on the betting.

  22. J Mac: Yeah. I’d commiserate, but I keep changing my legal name, so it is a bit of a chore trying to explain why it used to bother me that “they” never spelled [redacted] right, even though that’s not the name I was born under and it is not the name I live with now…

    But Meredith is a bit extreme.

  23. Lo Pan: “I am. Hard.” Your Freudian Slip is showing

    NS: RE: White on White. Move the cat onto the snow. Better illustration of the concept. Of course, when I took my photo course, I did chicken eggs in a white paper sack… OK, so I’m not original…

  24. LeJon: If I thought that semi-stray cat would have stayed in place, I would have gone downstairs and got a closer shot a better angle so that she (?) would have been backgrounded by the snow.

    But really, I looked out the window and went, “Damn that is awesome!” And then Vex came running to see what I was talking about.

    (And thanks.)

  25. Van’s link to the one season wonders – I hadn’t even heard of some of them, but I have to agree that Brimstone was pretty good. I caught it in repeats on the old SciFi Channel long after it’d been canceled.

    The other one that I watched that way was called Prey. It started that lady from Will & Grace. I was a bit peeved when I found out that it wasn’t a new series. Very interesting, very well done.

  26. Names I’ve been called when trying to pick up ladies:

    Assface
    Douchebag
    Fuckstick
    Idiot
    Noway
    R. U. Kidding
    *simple laughter*
    Creep
    Asshole
    Jerk
    Nutsack
    Tool
    Knob

    Yay this is fun!!!!!!!

  27. Vans link – they put in shows like “Miracles” and “Moonlight” but skip right over Space: Above and Beyond???? That shit was BSG way before BSG was BSG.

  28. I also take offense that Earth 2 is in there with the one season “clunkers”. Not the best show but certainly not in the Galactica 1980 realm.

  29. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this”

    DEFENDING Galactica 1980:
    OK, only defending 1 episode:
    — The Return of Starbuck —

    Interesting tale of Starbuck crashed on a planet with a cylon ship where he rebuilds/reprograms a Cylon Centurion. It was very Daniel Defoe. For years, I thought it was part of the original series… Then to my horror I found out it was 1980.

    This is the only reason to watch any Galactica 1980 eps, and it really is the only ep you should watch from the series.

    I am prepared to be assaulted now.

  30. Its nerd common knowledge that return of starbuck is the only reason to acknowledge Gatactica 1980. I figured that was a given.

    Still pondering Van’s last comment.

  31. Plus, Van, its all about presentation and doin’ shit right. If youre gonna go to a bar to get shot down anyway, make sure you go down IN FLAMES!!!!!!!!!!! All or nothin!

  32. That indeed was a touching story. It’s largely things like this that brought me from being a casual listener to a being more a member of The Deadpan. I was impressed at how people were able to bare themselves. It was very compelling, very endearing. Takes a bit of bravery, too.

    See? I can have feelings, too.

  33. I assume you’re talking about the German, Sheppard Pie or the sausage tacos.

    but seriously, thank you. This started out as a light conversation and I always try to keep things light. I look at podcasting as entertainment and that’s what I aim to do.

    When you’re talking one on one with Jack, you never know where the conversation will go. From a death in the family to greasy sheep nipples. I think we covered it all. 🙂

  34. The “Hockey Challenge” thing lost it’s loving feeling for me when I discovered that there really was a Swedish Hockey Team and in fact, they were good enough to make it to the medal round.

    Where is the comedic potential in that?

  35. Not a pad post run for opening day.

    TEB – To make things interesting, pick me for a random team, male or female, that hasn’t already been chosen in the Hockey Challenge.

  36. It’s funny to read the comments about this today – my wife and I were just talking about stopping the Facebook games. I’d already cut back to just Mafia and Vampire wars, but I’ve really lost interest in them.

  37. My least favorite lyric evAr:

    ahem – I shall try to repeat without throwing up in my mouth a small bit.

    “I heard your suitcase say goodbye”

    Really? Your girlfriend’s suitcase is talking to you? It’s so fucking stupid lame.

    Then he goes on to talk about his Jeep or something.

    No really – the lyrics claim to say “You left me drowning in my tears ” but listen to the song. I dare you.. he sings ” You left me driving in my Jeep”

    I don’t care what the lyrics claim to say. He’s bitching about stupid talking suitcases and driving his stupid Jeep.

    I hate this song. Why is it on my iPod anyway?

    Yeah I said the F word. This song and it’s stupid-dumb-ass lyrics deserve it.

  38. Sounds like the board is overdue for some naked oiled up dancing them. Where’s Andrea when we need her?

    Anyway, I’m sure whoever set you off was most deserving, CJ. Still, tough way to end a day.

  39. Thanks, Ed.

    I absolutely don’t blame anyone. I’ve been dealing with a very very sick little boy. My son hasn’t been well and it’s been difficult going to work every night when I would much rather be here taking care of him. One night I literally got home at 2am and just as I was going to bed, he started vomiting and I was up with him until 7am when he fell asleep… at which time I had to get my daughter dressed and take her to school.

    I finally fell asleep at 8:30 am, woke up at 11am and had to head off to work soon after.

    That’s my story.

    I earned a night off somewhere in there.

  40. I am very tired now. I did some heavy maintenance on a machine that isn’t running and then had to make up the preventative maintenance that I didn’t do yesterday.

    I should have done it yesterday.

  41. One of my cousins (2nd cousin? Cousin once removed?) is touring Europe (or something) and is posting lots of pictures. He started in Ireland and has been working his way across to Morocco. Very beautiful architecture over there. The odd thing I just noticed is that there don’t seem to be many people. I’m not sure if he’s just really good at getting a snap in without catching the humans or… well, I don’t know.

    http://defermat.posterous.com/

  42. [puts on stupid hat]

    I couldn’t figure out why the new CD I ripped last night refused to show up in iTunes even after I told it to go get it.

    I was sorting by genre, not by artist.

    [sits on stool in corner]

  43. Do I want a waffle?
    Maybe I should ?
    But then I would use butter and harden my arteries…
    No I guess I don’t want a waffle.
    But they smell so good.

    Will that work for you TEB?

  44. Morning pan, today (my last day here) operation not gona work that hard has been resounding success. I turned a 2 minute printer fix in to 1:45 of saying good by

  45. We accidentally picked up something called “Table Syrup”. I haven’t tried it, not after the faces the others were making at it, but I took a whiff of it and it smells pretty disgusting. Ugh.

  46. I’ve had artificial maple syrup before. I grew up in Minnesota where we want to pancake feasts after they harvested the maple sap and boiled it down. OH YEAH! Fresh from the vat. That was heaven! with real butter churned from their cows.

    Ok, dammit. I want pancakes now. 🙂

  47. I’m finally caught up! What a mad week. . .

    Slovakia has an outside shot at the final 4 in men’s hockey. Bunny, I’ll pick them, as long as their national anthem can be found. (Which I guess would make Nomad Scry my nemesis for their first-round match-up with Latvia.)

    As for IROSF: http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10188
    I met the editors about a year after publishing that – – fantastic people.

  48. Slovak Republic.

    Music from folk song “Kopala studienku”
    (Risoluto)

    Nad Tatrou sa blyska (Lightning Flashes Over the Tatra Mountains).

    Nad Tatrou sa blyska hromy divo biju
    Zastavme ich bratia
    Ved sa ony stratia
    Slovaci oziju

    To Slovensko nase posial tvrdo spalo
    Ale blesky hromu
    Vzbudzuju ho k tomu
    Aby sa prebralo

    English:

    Lightning flashes over the Tatra, the thunder pounds wildly,

    (repeat)

    Let us pause, brothers, they will surely disappear, the Slovaks will revive.

    (repeat)

    This Slovakia of ours has been fast asleep until now,

    (repeat)

    But the thunder and lightning are encouraging it to come alive,

    (repeat)

  49. I advocate only real syrup, myself. A shame I live in New England. Rats.

    On a topping/sweets note, I’m told that Marshmallow Fluff is strictly a New England thing. It’s tasty used to top off hot cocoa. But, tasty in a once-a-year kind of tasty.

  50. Just biding my time til COyotes / Avs tonite. Goona be great high stakes game.
    Lesse:

    Beer? Check
    TV? Check
    Authentic Villie Neimenen jersey? Check.
    Photo of Karolína Isela Kurková to “work off the pre-game jitters”? Czech.

    8 hours til bliss…

  51. Historically, the women’s hockey has been a showcase for USA vs. Canada, so I’m going to keep my wagering to the men’s games.

    Null: Marshmallow Fluff plus hot chocolate equals win. Also – through the magic of Facebook, I noticed that you have other plans for the Deadpan MMMmmmeetup weekend. . . . . . While that’s a valid reason to stay home, you guys can certainly do that in AZ too.

  52. Lo Pan, according to the countdown on the TV, there is another seven hours of torch run before the opening ceremonies. I don’t know when coverage started but, even assuming it only started in the last hour, which I doubt, do we really need to watch eight hours of people walking while holding a fancy burning stick?

  53. No. No you dont. When they were held in Salt Lake City in 2006 (I think?) there was minimal coverage of the torch run on the news. That I saw anyway. Bunny thats pretty much overkill what youre going thru.

  54. I thunk it’s two weeks Van, but I could be wrong. In the mean time, I think I’m going to change the channel and see if I can find any thing with local noon news. Barring that… Mass Effect 2

  55. I’m all ready up to my neck in Fallout 3, Batman Arkham Asylum and Dragon Age. So why do I still want to get ME2? It’s a sickness I tell you.

  56. NBC will supposedly be streaming all of the Olympic hockey games. If possible, we should coordinate and watch one of the games “together”. Maybe USA-Canada?

    Don’t applaud NBC for this move, btw. They’re relegating TV coverage of that game to MSNBC in favor of Ice Dancing and Olympic Moose Shaving.

  57. JRMurdock: Yea and verily! I had dozens of fluffer-nutter sandwiches growing up. Very yummy.

    Jack: I should raise a hot cocoa to you one day!

    An we had the free funds, I would be happy to fly down. However, we have some other things that require cash a little more urgently. Car, engagement ring, things of that nature. But if ever I run into unlimited funds, I’ll be right on my way!

    Thanks for the invite, BTW.

  58. Oh, and we’re ~ 40 minutes into the first episode of Babylon 5. Much better than the thing that comes before an episode. What do they call those . . . crap.

  59. Van: RE: Syrup – Maple or Honey are the only acceptable pancake “syrup” type toppings. Anything else that anyone tells you “So called” Americans “supposedly” like on pancakes is pretty much due to pure ignorance of reality. Also, the other “syrup” types are made with a lot of corn syrup, so steer clear.

    #catchingup

  60. TEB – Here is my offer. Find a couple of obscure teams (Jamaica? Do they play hockey in Jamaica?) that aren’t the US, Canada, etc.

    I’ll take one and I challenge someone in Deadpan to commit to the other. I shall gladly throw my pathetic vocal cords upon some obscure anthem for the amusement of the pan.

  61. There, the night of the long knives is finished. As I have now committed to stop playing Mafia wars, I no longer have a connection to the 400+ that I recruited on the Zynga forums to make a big mafia.

    I’ve gone from 540 people that I don’t know to 93 friends that I do know and care about.

    It actually feels quite good.

    And, while I think I was careful, I may of gotten too wild in my click and scroll frenzy. If you got caught by my dragnet, let me know so I can refriend you.

  62. Just checked the bottle and yes it was the corn syrup type.

    Maple syrup is the way.

    The smell of honey when it’s poured on to hot food is not a smell that I personally can stomach.

  63. Really, the Russian team looks the strongest, I just expect some surprises from the Slovaks.
    USA-Canada play at 7:45 EST on Feb 21, according to that schedule.

    Van, it looks like the Deadpan walls are dripping with syrup today, not sarcasm.

  64. JR, I was offered a job about 2 weeks ago so I’m moving on up.

    I think I had the best last day EVAR!!!!!!!!!
    around 9 we blew (hehe) 2 legs of out 3 phase power service. Our UPS run on the 3 phase service and to won’t be up till MAYBE 9 tonight so I got to leave early along with the rest of the company.
    but I do feel bad for the bird that caused the short across the 3000amp bus bars.

  65. I don’t know if any of you get the CDN local music channel, Much Music but their Olympic coverage is amazing. They have a VJ sitting in a hot tub with obvoisly under aged. Girls in bikinis, body shots and a “drop your gear for beer” compitition, where two guys basically stripped for some free beer. It was hilarious.

  66. a few years ago I watched the curling coverage. IT WAS AWESOME! because of the Canadian commentators. When someone can make a 22 year old LOVE curling they are wonderful commentators! I tend to like odd/off beat sports so that helps but they where funny and made the sport interesting.

  67. JN, it was a little black rock when all was said and done. if it wasn’t for the feathers and nest we might not have know it was a bird. So i don’t think we will have a supper bird on our hands. BUT time will tell…

  68. I was wrong. Salt Lake City was 2002.

    Man, this opening ceremony is teh_ghey. Not saying anything about the host country. Just the opening ceremonies are always too much fluff not enough filler. Even China 2 years ago was the Olympic equivalent of Transformers 2.
    At least 1st intermission Avs and Coyotes will be done soon. Avs up 1-0. Good stuff.

  69. OMFG…. Do the female athletes in the Danish contingent indicative of women in Denmark? Cause if so I’m moving there. Now.

    Nice standing ovation for Georgia.

    Avs-Coyotes 1-1. Pnx pwned Avs second period.

  70. Good. At this rate I’ll be able to raise a glass to the U.S contingent then catch the beginning of the third period.

    Ive decided after watching this my life isnt complete without having sex with a European girl. Lets make that happen, Van.

  71. You lucky ducks!!!! US West Coast NBC isn’t even starting the ceremony for another 8 minutes!! 🙁 🙁 🙁

    Lo Pan: Hong Kong and India probably have many, many more Olympians in the Summer Games.

  72. Thank you for the well wishes and hidden hugs. Much appreciated.

    On the ‘my day got better’ front — we did get sent home from work early (mandatory overtime day) which is made of win because I appear to have caught whatever my little dude has.

    Now I feel REALLY bad for him, not that I didn’t before… but no wonder he was so miserable. I can’t imagine being 4 and feeling like this. He needs more hugs. My poor little dude.. I hope he feels better more immediately than evAr.

  73. AUGH! Of all the times US NBC could have gone to commercial during the Parade of Nations, it HAD to be right when Colombia was entering. I really wanted to see Colombia! I KNOW people from Colombia!! (Not the athletes, of course. Just most of my students back in Florida.) >:-(

  74. I found the opening ceremony … nice.
    I too liked the giant bear.

    Lo Pan -Re: “16000 people per square mile in Hong Kong and they have 1 Olympian?”
    Makes sense if you think about it. No room to train. They’d just keep bumping into one another. :unsure:

    I thinks I wants me a Moose, Ski cap.

  75. Morning, Pan. Didn’t catch any of the opening last night. Went out with a bunch of extended family for dinner and had a great evening.

    Not sure how much of the games I’ll watch. I watch very little TV anymore to begin with.

  76. Question for the gamers. I think I’m within a few weeks of finishing Dragon Age. Mass Effect 2 looks intriguing, particularly being another Bioware game.

    I never played ME1. Are the ME game play mechanics similar to DA?

  77. Jack, that guy also “reviews” all the Next Generation movies as well. He’s freaking hilarious as well as dead on on most of his problems of the films. Theyre really quite intelligent and hilarious reviews done in a voice that reminds me of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the lambs. I recommend the Generations review the most, tho all are wonderful.

  78. Ugh. 12 cups of water go into the coffee maker, 4 cups of coffee come out. Somethin’ taint right. Think I’ll just have a beer.

    Off to do….something.

  79. Quick good morning before I take off.

    Ed, you don’t have to have played ME 1 to enjoy ME 2. The mechanics are different from DA but are fairly easy to pick up. Like most Bioeare games, it’s the story that’s the big thing. So lots of talking. You can also choose the “paragon” or “renegade” path (good or evil) like most Bioware, although I don’t think it affects the game play over much either way. Me us sci fi as opposed to DA’s fantasy setting.

    It you like Bioware’s story telling style, I would very much recommend Mass Effect.

  80. Yup. The I-touch is telling me I have fat fingers this morning. I think you get the gist of what I’m saying despite the fat finger spelling errors.

    Ed, do you game on PC or console?

    I luvs my PC 🙂

  81. I have been, and always shall be a PC gamer. You ask that like there’s some other platform upon which to play 🙂

    I first experienced Bioware’s game style with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I really enjoyed that one and played through as light and dark side. I can see DA is an excellent evolution from that game and I definitely appreciate the story driven experience that Bioware games offer.

    After seeing that vid (did I post that here? I think I did) with all the Chuck and BSG cast doing major voices in the game, I think I shall definitely be giving ME2 a go.

  82. I think I’m too old to ever learn how to play a FPS on a PC. Not that I’m much good on a console, either (back when I owned one). All those keys, I’d blow myself up every ten seconds.

    I just yesterday realized that Avitar isn’t connected to Avitar: The Last Airbender. Lady J has put in her queue.

  83. Anyone ever see The City of Lost Children? I saw it several years ago. I don’t know why, but I watched it twice in a row, and a third time the next day. I remember it was odd, and that guy that plays Hellboy is in it.

    And I totally forgot RoboGeisha. Maybe a dumb, fun watch.

  84. I dont usually by re-issued albums cause I usually already own the first release, but Target (pronounced “Tar-jay”) had the 20th Anniversary edition of Bleach by Nirvana for only 9.99. 2 CD’s worth of material (remastered Bleach plus live Portland 1990 CD) plus 52 page booklet of awesomeness! Thats awesome price for a fucking great and underrated CD. Least it was when it first came out. SO good. Lo Pan approved!!!!!!!!

  85. Lo Pan: Well, as long as they make it worthwhile.

    I just picked up an album by Low. Gave it a quick once-over, has a nice sound. Maybe I’ll actually listen to it tomorrow.

  86. But first, a little story. I was at our local Chapters yesterday (book store), perusing the SF section. I overheard a couple of teenagers looking for a book that was assigned to them at school. What was said, “I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of him before. The name is Asimov…I think”. I almost went up to these guys and throttled them. Kids today.

  87. I’m actually starting to root for Slovakia now. I’d like to see them get at least one goal.

    Canada is on the power play. The goalie has lost her stick. The second time in the game.

  88. To give Slovakia credit, while thier hockey team may be terrible, they do have a gold medal already. It’s in women’s biathalon. It’s mor than Canada has at this point in time.

    13-0

  89. Fuckin great hockey night!

    Olympics – Canada kicking ass

    College- Denver and Minnesota- Denver kicking ass

    Avs and Kings – Avs hopefully kick ass.

    Just good stuff.

  90. Silly American TV didn’t show the Canada vs. Slovakia game. I did have fun today watching men’s ski jumping, men’s speed skating (more of that is on in 30 minutes), and some of the women’s biathlon.

    (CPIMM: Matt Mango – Decathalon)

  91. They’re on the phone to NHL head office. There was a goal everybody missed. Decided it was a real goal. Have reset the clock back two minutes. Ducks now up 1-0 over the Flames. Damn.

  92. How can they do that? I thought, if a goal was to be contested it had to be done right away. Once the puck goes into play it’s usually too bad, so sad. While I don’t deny it was a goal, this is the first time I’ve seen one contested and accepted two minutes later.

  93. Well, we finally did it. My parents were in town visiting, so we do our usual and take advantage of the free babysitting and had a date night.

    Saw Avatar in 3D. Yes, the was almost nothing original about the story. But, it was certainly done in high style and the 3D effects were well done. I’d say it was a worthwhile event to see in the theater.

    Doubt I’ll be planning to own this one, though. The one showing in the theater was enough for me.

  94. I suppose the thing with Asimov is that sci-fi fans, in general, do put him on a pedestal. There’s also the shame that those of us with grey in our hair feel for the youth when they disregard the roots of something really great. Especially when the roots are considered the “Golden Age” (and yes, they had other roots as well). But Vanamonde, you make a good point. I guess my feeling is that I’m shocked his name isn’t enduring as much as say, Tolkien’s.

    I am not afraid to admit I have no clue what 19:20 is. Commence with the stoning!

    I’ve got more Heinlein on my list. Thus far, I find it to be hit-and-miss. That being said, the hits are bone-jarring hits.

    I think Heinlein heavily influenced the Stainless Steel Rat series.

  95. I’ll admit, 19:20 has no meaning for me as well. And really, I think we’re overstating things a bit. It would not surprise me at all for some high school kids to not know who Asimov is. It wouldn’t surprise me for the typical high school kid 20 or 40 years ago to not know who Asimov is.

    Books are not mainstream. Sci-Fi books are even less so. As geeks, we tend to congregate (and the internet has made that even easier), and I think it gives us a false impression of our numbers.

    Though, I think that is true of many interest groups. The internet is a series of tubes with echo chambers scattered throughout.

  96. Ed: Good point. That leads to my vague, back-of-my-mind concern over the increased segregation, at least in the U.S., since that’s the only country I’m aware of. Segregation of mentality. So many people are either sticking with, or falling for, pseudo-science and various forms of nonsense. The biggest problem is that the numbers of the Mindless seem to be building, and are now impacting government and education.

    I think we need to start having Dumb Camps. Who’s with me?

  97. re: echo-chambers: Very true. That’s true of other avenues, as well. Think of Fox I-Can’t-Believe-This-Is-News. The increasing population is making these groups that used to be strictly niche to become a big enough market to pander to.

  98. Morning pan.

    TEB: Don’t feel too bad about the Slovaks. They beat Bulgaria 82-0 back in 2008.

    We were soooooooooooooo close to beating the curse last night. Sooooo close. Still, Kearney had a fantastic run, well deserving of a gold medal.

  99. Time for Bunny’s (spoiler free) movie review.

    The Wolfman – I liked it.

    First of all, I wouldn’t call this movie a horror. Yes there was lots of blood but it wasn’t horrific, nor was there things jumping out at you. This movie actually had an old fashioned feel to it. It was slow paced and there were no surprises, but that worked.

    The one critisism I would have is, for a story that took place in Briton, I didn’t hear one British accent. However, this is actually noticeabe after the movie is over and you take a moment to think about it.

    To sum up, I repeat my earlier statement, I liked it.

  100. Van: Your last link is quite appropriate for me. It’s eWeek (Engineering Week) here in the states and my Engineering heavy employer is celebrating it with a Rubik’s Cube competition and a Lego Mindstorm competition (as well as a Rube Goldberg competition and several others). This should create some hubub around the office :drevil:

  101. My hubby’s watching some of the robot chicken guys playing D & D (found ont
    the official D&D site). He has his headphones on so I can’t hear what is being said but it must be pretty funny, he keeps bursting out in (not very well) held back laughter.

  102. More women’s hockey today.
    14:30 Switzerland vs Canada
    19:00 Sweden vs Slovakia

    Switzerland and Sweden are not strong teams, but they are better than Slovakia. I don’t expect the scoring to get into double digits in either game.

  103. Downloaded the Sean Connery thing. This is pretty damn funny, ditto

    Bob Schimmel is usually pretty hilarious and really dirty. His bit at ditto’s link isn’t his best, but it also has some moments.

  104. So, finished the first two episodes of Babylon5. First was basic, but good. Second had the Soul Hunters. I guess next is Gandalf. That, and how amusing that the Captain guy is the one to go out and fly around all the time, even into battle. Makes sense. Not.

    That being said, I like it thus far. Still waiting for the Shadows or whatever they’re called to come around.

    And the crazy Soul Hunter actor? He was awesome. Did a fantastic job, and really upstaged everyone, IMO.

  105. I watched a bit of the women’s US vs China hockey match. It may have been 8-0 at that point, but there seemed to be some very wobbly passing on the US side of things. They;re going to have to tighten things up if they expect to keep up with Canada’s 18-0 pace.

  106. My grandmother sent me home early because she wanted to watch the olympics. 😆

    it’s a good thing. Now I can watch the women’s Switzerland vs. Canada hockey game. Starts in about 40 minutes

  107. I too have a friend whose house is mure clutter than space. On the few ocassions we get together for coffee, I make her come to my house simply because she literally doesn’t have any surfaces for either sitting or to put a cup on (although I’m polite enough I don’t tell her that 😉 )

    my house is all about space. Hubby an I are constantly looking for ways to rearrange things so there seems to be a whole lot of openess.

  108. There’s apparently an American reality tv show called “Hoarders”, dedicated to profiling the people who stock up their homes with crap. Sad, really.

    I don’t even have that much stuff, yet my counters always seem to accumulate clutter.

  109. JN: The Captain Guy on Babylon 5 going out on missions makes about as much sense as the top officers on the enterprise always going out together on missions. At least the Captain doesn’t take along a red-shirt as bait.

    Not that I’m a big fan (or a fan at all) of Babylon 5. Its just that the same “I’m the star so I need to have the highest position on the ship AND the most screen time” syndrome is nearly always at play. And Babylon 5 did try to get around the matter by having the Captain go on these missions either because he was the only one talented enough to do it or because he was avoiding someone/something/some job/etc.

  110. Apparently the Swiss have never scored against Canada (women’s) in any game, not just the olympics. While I obviously want Canada to win, I think it would be nice if Switzerland at least gets one goal.

  111. I must confess, I’m pretty much getting all my Olympics coverage from the Deadpan board. Someone poke me if I’m supposed to start warbling an anthem or two.

  112. Nothing riding on this game so everybody can breath easier.

    If you’re only getting your Olympic coverage from Deadpan Ed, then you’re pretty much only getting Canadian coverage. I think ditto and I are the most vocal when it comes to the winter games.

  113. Um, did Canada win the Super Bowl last nite? Yknow if Americans celebrated as much as Canadians did over one Gold Medal we’d pretty well be called arrogant and full of ourselves. Among other things. Yes I know its the first gold on home soil, but still. Just sayin. Double standards are awesome. Dunno why we deserve a stigma…

    *pushes Iraq and Afghanistan under carpet*

  114. I think Canadians celebrate their medals more simply because we get so few of them. US gets so many medals, another one is passé, ho hum. Canada wins it’s OMG. A miracle 🙂

  115. Maybe. And you could very well have a point, Bunny. But even on the board here I see you and ditto openly and honestly showing plenty o’ Canadian spirit (and god bless ya for it). Not a whole lotta U.S pride on here. At least outwardly. I think its gotten to the point where we’re scared to for fear of coming o ff bad. Tis sad. Well I aint afraid to paint my cock and balls red white and blue and holla!!!!!!

    not that i paint them… well i mean i would if you paid me..erm…

  116. Lo Pan: I agree with Bunny. Show your spirit!

    Canadians so rarely show theirs, I think it is great when we finally can show pride in our country.

  117. Tomorrow is men’s hockey, Canada vs. Norway. Or ditto and I vs. Amy. Unfortunately, it’s on at such a time that I’ll miss it completely. ditto, you’ll be expected to keep up the cheering for our end.

  118. Lo Pan, Bunny: Here are my personal reasons for not showing any U.S. pride:
    -shame and cynicism about my country’s impact on the world
    -As Bunny said, the US usually gets quite a few medals, so indeed, it is
    less special to us. I’d rather celebrate the victories of the other countries where I have friends, because it means so much more to them to win.

  119. On second thought, I believe we should be checking our weighty international affairs at the door and just having fun competing. I was proud of my country’s mogul-skiing women the other night. Go, Team USA!

  120. I was gonna say – this should be the one time international affairs shouldnt get in the way.

    ditto – USA IS the only country that matters. Yeah! Yeah get out or go home! Uh… Yeah and speak my language too! FFFTTTPPPPT!!!! 😛

    Anyone ever watch the show “American Pickers” on the History Channel? Its billed as two antiquers that go around and “rescue” Americas history, but really it comes off as two assholes that rip-off old farmers. Meh.

  121. Normally I’d be watching “House” at 8:00 P.M. on a Monday, but they’re showing a rerun. I strongly suspect they’re showing a rerun because they know everyone will want to watch the Olympics, which is exactly what I’m going to do now. 🙂

  122. It is snowing here. Now. Barely.

    I should check and see if they’ve canceled school yet. Apparently New England has forgotten how to deal with snow. Not that we’ve had any this year.

  123. It rained last night. Then the weather dipped below the freezing mark. Hubby e-mailed me saying the roads are insanely slippery. We are also suppose to get approx 12 cm of snow later today, which will do a good job of hiding the icy roads.

    Fun times

  124. Most people I know dislike -real- licorice. Quite a few people seem fond of the anise flavored knock-offs, like the black twizzler things, but that doesn’t quite count.

    And I’ll take your licorice too, TEB.

    =)

  125. There. I finally remembered to re-d/l the latest WR. For some reason MediaMonkey didn’t like the file and wouldn’t sync it properly to my Clip. Hopefully this will take and I can listen tonight.