619 thoughts on “Jack Mangan's Deadpan #114: Stuck in an Elevator”

  3. I hope everyone can get the new ep without any problems.

    Rhett, that new Jeff Loomis disc is knocking me out.

    For those with less tolerance for guitar instrumentals, what I’ve been hearing from Earlimart is also knocking me out.

    Goodnight .

  7. Well I’ll have to tell you about my new hat. It’s White, pointed and has a big D painted on it.

    iTunes had the date wrong on DP 114.

    I’ll just go and stand in the corner.

  9. EssBee, when you get onto the boards. I get The Daily Show a day late. I thought of you when I saw the Dec. 9th one, yesterday. I thought Jon Stewart put things very eloquently when talking to Mike Huckabee.

  10. So Dub’s Hermitcast is back, and rather than have a first episode, I’ve finally put together the first episode of Brain Bleach Radio and posted it for your enjoyment. (and cringement)

    Next week I might start looking for people to co-host/interview. So get on my Skype list. dubshack79. 🙂

  15. Morning, Deadpan!

    Excellent episode, Jack. Really funny. Great stuff, Amy! Awesome contributions everyone! Cj, excellent first contribution!

    Bunny, I watch almost everything a day late just like you. I do love Jon Stewart, and thought he did a fantastic job talking to Huckabee. I think Jon got a little angry, but kept his temper.

  19. Yes, yes join the silliness that is the Deadpan board! It may take a couple of hours for your initial post to get out of WP purgatory the first time, but after that…

    It’s a matter of jumping in and showing your extroverted side!

  22. The hockey bits just didn’t quite ring true for me, missing a certain accent…

    But then again I see a lot of hockey interviews between periods here in MN with Minnesotans involved between the Gophers and the HS Hockey tourneys with MN accents, so I probably have a bit of bias toward hearing Minnesotans with the “hockey accent.”

    And of course there’s a whole different flavor to the postgame coach’s press conferences after Wild games…

  23. Yeah EssBee, I didn’t even think of that. “the contents of my basket” and “see to the needs of my cat”

    That was actually much larger, several strange items “in my basket” 😉

  32. Well Pan, I’m off.

    Spending the day taking my grandmother Christmas shopping.
    Then some supper
    Then MA

    Talk to y’all tomorrow!

  37. I must confess to mild disappointment when TEB said she was going to share the contents of her basket and there were no candy filled plastic eggs to be found. 🙂

    As usual, great contributions to the show this week. While I’m sure I’m forgetting something, CJ’s and Amy’s stood out.

    Once you go Deadpan, you can’t stop.

  55. Jack: I’m glad you are enjoying Jeff Loomis, I am as well. It’s pretty dense stuff, it takes a couple of listens to let stuff sink in. I think my only dissappointment with it is I wish there were more slow parts. Jeff does great acouctic work and he hints at it a little on the disc, just wish there were more. But overall one of the best instrumental albums out there. 🙂 Also, I loved your sports stuff on todays episode. I did laugh out loud more than once.

    Amy: Great work on the fiction.

  56. EssBee, Rhettro: Thanks for the compliments! 🙂

    Jack: I thought your sports segments were very funny, especially the football one. 😀

    Cj: I agree, that was a great first contribution.

    No one’s ever told me my voice was comforting before, but that’s good to hear. Thank you! 🙂 *virtual hug*

  57. Agreed, Cj. You should really consider doing your own podcast.

    Thx again, everyone 🙂 Feel free to add to the Sports thing (or anything you hear), if you want.

    I have a feeling there will be more about the Bunny’s basket. . . .

  71. EssBee, Crappy morning was my own fault. I have been dealing with insomnia mostly caused by putting more on my plate than I should lately.

    That and my car battery being dead which kinda ticked me off. The car is in the garage so I can’t reach the battery with jumper cables because my truck is in the driveway. So, I had to remove the battery completely from the truck and carry it into the garage, then jump start my car that way. It was a dirty, heavy, battery covered with that icky acid stuff.

    Not that I’m all girlie or anything, but … well… actually, the fact is… I am terribly girlie. I’m not gonna lie about it.

    I put the battery and the jumper cables in the back of my car though, so I wouldn’t get stuck at the store. That was using my brain-power.

  75. *ahem*

    Excuse me guys.. ummmm…so where do we get in line to be serviced by ditto?

    *swooon*

    Ok, I read that far and had to comment but now I gots to go before reading the rest of the comments

    I saw some mention of Daily Show with Huckabee. I thought that was a great exchange.

  86. Enjoy Yourself ! It’s later than you think.

    Please find the lyrics below.

    You work and work for years and years, you’re always on the go
    You never take a minute off, too busy makin’ dough
    Someday, you say, you’ll go fulltime (*have your fun) when you’re a millionaire
    Imagine all the fun you’ll have in your old rockin’ chair

    Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think!
    Enjoy yourself. While you’re still in the pink!
    The years go by, As quickly as a wink.
    Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.

    You’re gonna take that RV (*ocean) trip, no matter, come what may
    You’ve got your reservations made, but you just can’t get away
    Next year, for sure, you’ll go fulltime (*see the world), you’ll really get around
    But how far can you travel when you’re six-feet under ground?

    Your heart of hearts, your dream of dreams, your ravishing brunet
    She’s left you and she’s now become somebody else’s pet.
    Lay down that gun don’t try my friend to reach the great beyond
    You’ll have more fun by camping with (*reaching for) a redhead or a blond.

    Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think!
    Enjoy yourself. While you’re still in the pink!
    The years go by, As quickly as a wink.
    Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.

    You never go to campgrounds (*nightclubs) and you just don’t care to hike (*dance).
    You don’t have time for silly things like campfires (*moonlight) and a bike (*romance).
    You only think of dollar bills tied neatly in a stack
    But when you kiss a dollar bill it doesn’t kiss you back.

    Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think!
    Enjoy yourself. While you’re still in the pink!
    The years go by, As quickly as a wink.
    Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.

  88. No ditto servicing for me eh?

    Ah well. I’m used to the rejection 🙂

    So I am confident my husband has lost his mind. His friend got them tickets to see a football game tonight. Its going to be 18 degrees out there. I can’t think of much I would be willing to sit outside in 18 degree weather for.. well besides a million dollars or a cure for cancer.

  105. CW: Top Gear

    Friday has arrived. My one goal today is to get my Secret Santa gift out in the mail. Amazon failed me earlier this week, so I’ll have to suffer for my Deadpan and go into a physical post office.

    If you don’t hear from me again, you’ll know I was a victim of some Christmas mob.

  113. I have realized that if it’s snowing at the Bunny’s house, it’s going to be snowing at my house in 2 days.

    Morning, Pan!

    Sorry about the insomnia, Cj! I am also a sufferer and it’s miserable.

  115. CALL-IN Challange!

    Okay Deadpan ’tis the season to go to parties. So I challange you to have the Deadpan Voicemail number loaded in your phone before you go to yoyur next party.
    Then, when you get to said party make a mental note of the FIRST book (or magazine?) you see when you get there.

    When the opportunity presents itself, pick up the book, turn to page 56, skip down to the 5th sentence, call the Deadpan and read that sentence!

    It’s “Stolen from my neighbor” or something like that. 🙂

    This is a great chance for you lurkers out there to play along as well.

    Good luck!

  117. Spin has the new video to Brody Dalle’s song, Ghetto Love:
    http://www.spin.com/articles/first-look-brody-dalles-spinnerette

    The song, overall, is pretty catchy. It has a heavy bass with 80s synth-pop thrown in for good measure. I’ve always liked Brody’s voice, but I never really got hooked on The Distillers. She sounds pretty good here. My only complaint would be that I’m reminded too much of Pink.

    I’m interested to see if the rest of her solo EP is as good as this song.

  123. Inspired by Geologic Podcast #94

    Music Purchase Firsts:

    First LP: Around the World in a Day – Prince & the Revolution
    First 45: Rock Me Amadeus – Falco
    First Cassette: Ghostbusters Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
    First CD: Nothing Like the Sun – Sting
    First iTunes track: Walking with a Ghost – Tegan and Sara

  125. Music Purchase Firsts:

    First LP: Reach The Beach — The Fixx (not sure; hard to remember)
    First 45: (never bought any, but had some as gifts)
    First Cassette: Kilroy Was Here — Styx
    First CD: Love Over Gold — Dire Straits
    First iTunes Track: Woo Hoo — The 5 6 7 8s

  126. Ditto, yeah, I’d heard she was ailing and in a coma…

    I have to admit though, when I heard my first thought was: “She’s still alive?”

  128. Ooh, almost forgot:

    First MP3 that ever “Magically appeared on my hard drive through no particular effort on my part( if youu know what I mean, and I think you do…)”: Vampire Beavers – Joe Hall & the Continental Drift

    I didn’t feel too badly about this, as it is pretty darn out of print…

  129. Well I didn’t seriously start building a music collection till I started going to gigs in 1999, so my music first purchases are:

    First LP: Probably the soundtrack to the movie ‘The Black Hole’…but it could have been ‘War of the Worlds’.

    First 45: Milk and Alcohol – Dr Feelgood

    First Cassette: Galaxy Gold – Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra (mainly synth versions of scifi movie soundtracks). The inlay mentions that a theremin is used on some of the tracks.

    First CD: Movie soundtrack for Pulp Fiction

    First iTunes track: Never bought a track in iTunes.

  132. First LP: Buckingham Nicks – Lindsey B. and Stevie N.
    First 45: I’m Against It – The Ramones
    First Cassette: Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac
    First CD: Ani DiFranco – self titled
    First iTunes Track: Skullcrusher Mountain – JC

  136. Actually, now I’m second-guessing my memory. I’m not absolutely certain the Sting CD was my first, it also may have been Life’s Too Good by The Sugarcubes. I bought both of those within the same couple weeks.

  137. Nope, now I remember, and it means there’s one last purchase category for me (never bought an 8-track, personally).

    It was the Sting Album, and that same purchase included:

    First CD3: Motorcrash- Sugarcubes

    I bought the CD3, as I’d read a review of the full album but hadn’t heard any of it. Then I decided I liked it and bought the full CD the next week.

  144. JB: I remember those! I never bought any since I was never a fan of singles. Otherwise, I’m usually an early adopter of new media; early on CDs, Laser Dics, and DVDs among others.

  145. Got my ass kicked on the RB2 drum trainer last night. I’m about half way through the beats. I can’t quite master kicking at a different beat from my hands.

  150. I’d do the “album game” but I don’t remember any of my firsts for music. (unless the Disney Greatest Hits when I was six counts)

  151. My first cassettes were the Close Encounters sdtk and a forgotten Neil Diamond one, when I was really young. Then, at about 10, I talked my mom into letting me get A Columbia House membership, so I got 12 for a penny. I can’t list the 12, but I know Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, and Men at Work were in there. Probably Pat Benatar too. eGads.

  153. Music Purchase Firsts:

    First LP: Business as Usual — Men At Work
    First 45: Summer Breeze — Seals & Crofts
    First Cassette: She’s So Unusual – Cyndi Lauper
    First CD: Tragic Kingdom — No Doubt (I’m not sure on this one, it might have been First Band on the Moon by the Cardigans. I have had them both forever)
    First iTunes Track: Love Long and Prosper – The Daddy Doo Band

  154. TEB: Cool. It’s nice to avoid the crappy weather. I got home from a quick shopping trip to BestBuy. I was surprised to find a recent anime movie that I really like at a really cheap price. Yea me!

    Jack: Pat Benatar had some really good early albums. I know what you mean though. 😉

  157. We were actually thinking of seeing The Punisher this weekend if my husband can spare the time.

    Hmmm, wonder if there will be any “batch-flapping” in that movie.

  159. Or “Be Good Johnny” or “It’s a Mistake” or “Overkill”? All great Men at Work tunes.

    Ironically (?), I’m pretty sure my first CD purchase was Overkill – “The Years of Decay”. It was either that or “Practice What You Preach” by Testament. I was very metal when I got my first CD player.

  162. CP: You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid — The Offspring

    So far, I’m enjoying the new album. It’s a solid album from them. If you like their old stuff, you’ll like this one.

    Bob Rock produced the album. Canadians are everywhere. 🙂

  163. Show me how to lie
    You’re getting better all the time
    And turning all against the one
    Is an art that’s hard to teach
    Another clever word
    Sets off an unsuspecting herd
    And as you step back into line
    A mob jumps to their feet

    Now dance, fucker, dance
    Man, he never had a chance
    And no one even knew
    It was really only you

    And now you steal away
    Take him out today
    Nice work you did
    You’re gonna go far, kid

  165. I clicked the Down Under link and my daughter immediately broke into wild dancing. The lead singer is awesome, but he still gives me the creeps.

    I still have my vinyl of Business as Usual along with over 400 45’s from the 1950s and 60s.

  171. Come on jj you know it’s short term memory that goes first as you get older. So I can remember my first 45 I bought but not what I had for breakfast yesterday.

  191. programming announcement –

    For those of you late afternoon/early evening Deadpanners … search back through today’s post for your new “phone in” instructions.

    – that is all

  199. Just saw 10 minutes of “Shallow Hal” on FX TV.
    It wasn’t abysmal like I had assumed it would be. Is that because the premise can only hold up for about 10 minutes? Did anyone here see this film?

  200. I wanna play along!!

    Music Purchase Firsts:

    First LP: Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams
    First 45: Prince- Purple Rain
    First Cassette: Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
    First CD: Depeche Mode 101
    First iTunes Track: Nirvana – Where DId you Sleep Last Night from MTV acoustic

  203. Too bad I didn’t see J0e’s post before I went to my nonprofit org.’s Christmas party today. There were books there, as prizes in the Yankee Swap gift game.

    Music Purchase Firsts:
    First LP: (never bought any)
    First 45: (see above)
    First Cassette: I had lots as a kid, but I’m pretty sure my parents bought them all for me. The first one I picked out for myself was probably one of the Animaniacs soundtrack tapes.
    First CD: Spice – The Spice Girls and Songs in the Key of Springfield – The Simpsons (both purchased at the same time)
    First iTunes track: Fog Bound – Klaus Badelt (from the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack – I got the whole album via iTunes)

  211. “All alone, or in twos,
    The ones who really know you,
    Walk up and down outside the wall.
    Some hand in hand,
    Some gather together in bands,
    The bleeding hearts and artists,
    Make their stand.
    And when theyve given you their all,
    Some stagger and fall.
    After all its not easy,
    Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.”

    Outside the Wall – Pink Floyd

  213. Happy Saturday Deadpan (sorry you have to work, Van).

    We’re off to SouthWestern Colorado this morning – about 4 hours away – to visit some family. Tomorrow, Christmas tamale making. If you all lived here, I’d be dropping by with a 1/2 dozen tightly wrapped packages of love for each of you.

    😉

  224. Wait till there are more folks in the bar and then open it in front of us!
    ooo, schedule a time like “be here at high noon Central Specific Underworld time and you can see what I got!”

  230. Since I video blog – should I open my Secret Santa on-screen for all to see?

    I am still hoping recipient receives my shipment in time. I have little faith in my shipment!

  247. Morning Pan!

    -29 right now; -40 with the wind chill. I think today is a good day to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.

  251. Van: I haven’t had time to read all of the article, but first thought is that it isn’t far off. Like anywhere else, there is a huge spectrum of opinion in how citizens feel about their country. Canadians have the added complication that there is a kind of sibling rivalry between Canada and the US, with the US being the elder, and somewhat oblivious, brother.

  256. The nice thing a-boot the I Am Canadian commercial, is that while it did make fun of some stereotypes–yes, I have been asked the “Do you know so-and-so from Canada?” question–the commercial also showed that Canadians do have reasons to be proud of their country.

    For a fun contrast, see this I Am Not Canadian parody done by a Toronto radio station that I really like.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TncdhLGjFTE

  259. While there is some items on what it is to be Canadian, I think, to me, the commercial is more about what we are not – which is American, than what we are.

  260. Besides, like the write-up says. I don’t think Americans really care whether we identify ourselves as Canadians or “not Americans”. We’re more – just there.

  261. But we aren’t American. More people are familiar with what Americans are than with what Canadians are, so phrasing the description of ourselves as this is what we are not is not the same thing as being anti-American, in my opinion.

    The only thing in the commercial that could be legitimately construed as being anti-American is the policing crack.

  262. I agree, ditto. Just because we “are not American” does not mean we are anti-American.

    See what you did Van! You started us on a “What it is to be Canadian” discussion.

  281. I just spilled boiling water across my right hand. I tweeted, but felt the need to share my pain with all of you here as well. I’m making delicious treats and this is how I’m rewarded. Ouch and ouch and ouch! I hope my treat recipients appreciate what I go through for them! 😉

  285. Well, we have done battle and have come away victorious. My wife and I decided to make the jump into HD and spent a fair bit of time recently looking at television options. We had been torn between DLP and a larger screen, or a good LCD. We’ve had a 60″ RPTV for many years, but the cost of an LCD of that size or larger would make a nice car.

    In the end, we decided that we felt the image quality of the LCD was worth more than getting a larger DLP for the same price.

    Today, Best Buy started a killer deal – better than I was able to do with online stores! So, we get there at store open to make the deal. After we pick out a few other things to go with the purchase, we approach someone about getting the package. Turns out, even though there is a sign on the TV about the package deal – they have no TV’s in stock. Mind you, we arrived literally at the time the store opened. They checked around and could find none of the TV in the deal IN ALL OF HOUSTON!

    Now, I understand that, sometimes a store is just going to happen to be out of stock on a deal, but all of Houston?

    So, we took the flyer across the street to Circuit City where they ended up matching the deal, including installation. It took them a good while to get their computer to accept the price adjustment, but in the end, we got our deal. The TV will be installed tomorrow.

    I’m really looking forward to the final episoides of BSG in HD.

    And, if you’ve read this far, you may as well know that the TV is the 52″ version of SONY’s XBR6 series.

  292. Ouch, Cj. Stupid water!

    And yes Ed, as cool as that new TV is going to be, you should heed Rhett’s warning, if it applies.

    Van, were you saying Heinlein would remove the r from “treats” ?

  293. Morning Pan,

    Yes Jack, I still haven’t got over the horror that was ‘The Number of the Beast’.

    Today’s tedium of shopping will be spiced up by the fear of slipping on the icy paths.

  294. Well, this is southern Texas for you. Last week – snow and down to the lower 30’s. Over the weekend, highs near 80. By this afternoon, back in to the 40’s. It’s a whole year worth of seasons in one week.

  300. +be

    Ignorance is bliss, I should never have looked at the ingredients on a tin of hot dogs, even for me the phrase ‘mechanically recovered chicken and pork’ is offputting.

  304. Oh, Van. By the way, I only have one butt, and it’s a woman’s. (unless there’s something about be I’m not aware of 🙂 )

  308. Morning, Deadpan!

    We drove in really horrible snowpacked and icy conditions yesterday (for 5 hours) to get home from our tamale-making excursion. It’s -10 F at my house this morning.

    Looks like everyone’s been busy this weekend. Sorry about the scald, Cj! Trade you some red chile tamales for some of that candy?

  309. We’re at -29C. -37 with the wind chill. (since the temperatures meet at -40, that’s cold no matter what measurement you use).

    We holed up for the weekend but I do have to go out later this morning.

    By tomorrow it’s supposed to go up to -15C. Downright balmy.

  316. Yeah, I think it has died down considerably now that the sun is up.

    Also, I’m not positive, but I think the factoring equations used in the US & Canada may be different ones…

  318. Oh, and I recommend checking out the latest Coverville, as you may hear a familiar voice, somewhere in the vicinity of “Musically Challenged.”

  329. EssBee, I would happily give you candy treats in exchange for tamales. Although, I assure you that my treats are divine, I would personally always prefer tamales.

    J0e, you can be sure a blueberry bagel is bad if it’s, ahem, blueberry to begin with. Sorry… Blueberry bagels are at the opposite end of the spectrum from tamales. The smell alone causes me to emit a sound much like, “Blechh… yuck…eewwww.” But, you should enjoy yours when you can. 😉

  333. Even so, the context of the remarks should have been a clue. Even if I didn’t know what the term meant, I would have known it was derogatory, not inviting.

  334. Wowie, it’s cold outside. We just shoveled a bunch of snow and moved a frozen Corolla so that our friendly lumber man can deliver a ton of pellets for our stove. BRR.

    I’m taking a vacation day today, but somehow have been up and working since 6:00.

  337. Here’s something our UK friends probably don’t encounter very often.
    I was going to buy a “Silver Eagle” dollar as a present but the store I usually get such things from didn’t have any and said that the plummeting silver market had cuased the US mint to quite making them earlier this year.
    The shop keeper then recommended a “rare coin” dealer I might check with.
    So I go to this other shop and well, it had the exact same vibe as a comic book shop … if the owners of the comic book shop were expecting Armageddon sometime before the end of the day.
    The guy DID have my coin (as well as an assortment of knives and swords) but the bit that was probably ALL AMERICAN was that he had a TOMMY GUN leaning (very visibly) against the wall behind him.

    I suspect it wasn’t fully automatic though … that would be illegal.

  338. TEB: I know. It’s mind boggling. How could anyone think that a hockey player calling his ex “sloppy-seconds” could be anything other than an insult. Especially, Avery!

  339. Line from Grease, “Sloppy seconds ain’t my style” – Didn’t we all go find out what that meant after seeing that movie? It was such an educational movie.

  340. We’ll get some overhead lifters and some four barrel quads
    oh yeah
    (Keep talking whoa keep talking)
    A fuel injection cutoff and chrome plated rods oh yeah
    (I’ll get the money I’ll kill to get the money)
    With a four speed on the floor they’ll be waiting at the door
    You know that ain’t no shit we’ll be getting lots of tit
    In Grease Lightning
    Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go

    Go grease lightning you’re burning up the quarter mile
    (Grease lightning go grease lightning)
    Go grease lightning you’re coasting through the heat lap trial
    You are supreme the chicks’ll cream for grease lightning
    Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go

    Etc… we all know the song, but I felt compelled this morning.

  341. Well Pan. I have some errands that must be done, so I’m off to brave the cold. Let’s see if my car will even start.

    Later.

  346. To the Stone Roses I have to say… ehhhh.

    Don’t get me wrong, the Silvertone record was stellar. “Second Coming” was just dull and uninteresting…

  349. Okay, yeah that wind didn’t really die off all that much. Had to walk over to the main building and just now as I return I read that it is -6ºF, feels like -28ºF…

  363. Yeah, Wolf. Okay, a couple tracks were a little bit unfair (I won’t say why here in case others want to try it out). I definitely was assuming Brian would get two points on the first cut…

  365. Currently reading through city government web pages trying to figure out what is needed for a building permit. The more I read, the more my head hurts.

  367. JB,

    “104.6 Official Records. The fire code official shall keep records as required by Sections 104.6.1 through 104.6.4. Such official records shall be retained for not less than ninety (90) days after final ocupancy approval, unless otherwiese provided by other regulations.”

    =P

  372. Back from the cold arctic tundra.

    In a note of silliness, my front door is frozen shut. had to go out the back door and around the house to get my mail.

    It better warm up soon.

  374. It’s cold in the office, I guess they’re trying to keep the utility bills low. Might have to put my jacket back on. Can’t wait for February and the return of 80 degree weather.

  385. When you can’t get the status of your shipment and your shipment is a Secret Santa gift, it’s frustrating. I’m really hoping it gets to its recipient on time.

  392. Jack, I do directly challenge you to the Musically Challenged on the latest Coverville, I’m sure you must have seen my general challnge to the Pan-at-large…

  397. Re: Out of parties – OK, as an alternative … walk into anyplace that has a waiting room … pick up the first magazine you reach, turn to page 24 (the inverse of the answer to Life the Universe and everything) find the 5th sentence, whip out your phone, call Jack, read the sentence then hang up. Smile politely at those in the room and walk out with no further explanation.

  400. Done JB. My score was 1, before you played the giveaway clips.
    I can’t believe I was right about the Skrew clip, though I didn’t recognize the song at first.

    Score 5, after the giveaway clips, not counting their guesses – and before you gave the answers.

    Thanks for the plug, though!

  403. Cool 6-string-bliss, Rhett!

    Van, what’s wrong with tomorrow? For you?

    You know — I have a helluva lot of good timely content – for GPB and other stuff – yet xmas is coming up. Not sure yet how I’m going to do this.

  405. *hugs* to Van. Hope it’s not as bad as you feel.

    I’m heading to another party tonight. All girl parties are sometimes the best for me so I’m looking forward to this one. I’ll try to find another book while I’m there.

  414. On trivial note, my Xbox 360 died last night with the red ring of death. It’s out of the guarantee period that MS extended and since they charge 100 euros for a repair, I’m thinking about buying a new arcade version.

    What I want to know is that if I use the old HD (which appears to work fine) in the new Xbox, will it retain all my settings for Xbox Live or will the new Xbox wipe everything on the old HD?

  415. I agree with the commentors. The ZF-1 should have been on that list.

    Did I mention that The Fifth Element is the 1st Blu-Ray disc that I bought?

  416. Van, I hope things go well with your family today.

    As for the Xbox – that’s an interesting proposition. I’m afraid my knowledge of Xbox architecture is such that any answer I offer would be coming straight out of my ass and probably not of any value.

  426. awww Thanks Guys.
    Just to clarify – I am not podcast famous… I bask in the glow of the Mangan and others that are far more talented than me.

    Wow – Skritches from the Bunny.

  428. Awww, Wolf. You know you’re my favourite animal pseudonym on the board 😉

    -9C. today. WooHoo! (ok, -16 with wind chill, but still a marked improvement over yesterday)

  429. Jack: Cool link.

    Van: Glad the family troubles weren’t too bad. As for the 360: getting an arcade version and a 60 GB drive is often cheaper than buying a regular model. I believe all the drives come with a transfer kit that will allow you to move all your games and profiles onto the new drive. You might want to check at the store though.

    The downside is that any arcade game that you bought on your old console will not work on your new console without getting new licenses. This link should give you the information you need:
    http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/faq.htm

    Let me know if you have any questions.

  431. Van,

    Your Xbox HD will retain all of the Xbox Live settings, but you’ll need to get the Xbox license transfer tool from the Microsoft Live webpage to transfer content licenses.

    You might consider selling your broken Xbox. We were able to get 75 bucks for ours on Craigslist so if you have an equivalent type of selling venue, you could consider that.

    Good Morning, everyone!

  433. So… Sounds like the consensus result among folks who tell me is that the Musically Challenged was pretty hard. I have an email in to Ibbott about other factors (that Bis clip I had tried to level down a bit, but you can still hear him say it’s a “little loud”), and I think I’ll be sending him a couple more that I have ideas for.

  436. Last night, I finished playing Mass Effect for the second time, this time on hardcore. It’s not that difficult when you’ve got the best equipment in the game and you are starting at level 50. 🙂

  440. I did my Cpt. Kirk impression the first time through.

    The story holds up pretty well a second time through. This time I played renegade instead of paragon. I was hoping I’d get enough XP to reach level 60, but didn’t quite make it: I was about 140k short.

  442. I need to take the renegade route. Although I’m kind of confused how that will translate into Mass Effect 2. Supposedly, Mass Effect 2 will alter it’s beginning story based on how you played Mass Effect 1. My guess is you’ll have to pick which save game to start ME2 with. I guess I should research a little more.

    Entomophagy? Is that like a deep desire to eat mutants?

  447. Oh, by the way, with all the NFL doping investigations, shouldn’t they go find out who put the downers in the Cardinals’ Gatorade this past Sunday?

  454. MST3K fans should listen to Decoder Ring Theatre this week…

    “Black Jack Justice (25) – A Midsummer Night’s Noir” (for those of you perusing the message board out of anthropological curiousity many millenia into the future)

  463. You don’t know the half of it, borther.

    Well, the wx is looking craptastic, so I think I’m bolting early. Gotta beat those downtown commuters to the ditch, right?

  465. Santa Pan Gift Received! I will video blog the opening of the gift later as promised previously.

    Jack wants an alphabetical list – of what? I don’t know, but I was thinking an alphabetical list of gifts we don’t want for Christmas… Like

    An appendectomy

  500. Should be getting pretend snow soon. I’m kinda jealous of my baby brother in TN who has already had two snow falls. I’ve got a new tire on the car, so I’m all set… let’s have it!

  502. Oh, but the nice thing is that I’ve got the snow but not the cold. It’s only 28F. Which is a bit nipply, but not unbearable. When it hits the teens, that’s when I feel my …

    what are the little air sacks in your lungs called?

    … When it hits the teens, that is when I can feel my alveoli freeze and that just hurts.

  509. Alright, help me out. On this week’s Chuck, the cop on the outside who’s the store manager’s cousin – wasn’t he also the cop that worked with Bruce Willis in the first Die Hard? Well, the actor, I mean. It would be classic Chuck if they gave the character the same name as in Die Hard.

  510. Morning, Pan!

    It’s balmy here today — in the teens before the sun is up. Might see a few snowflakes melt today!

    And, that’s all I got — kind of a rough week for me so far. Off to Evil, Inc. Catch y’all later.

  514. from Wiki-

    “Officer Al Powell arrives to check the building, finds nothing amiss and drives off, but McClane gets his attention by dropping one of the corpses onto Powell’s patrol vehicle.”

    Reginald VelJohnson = Sgt. Al Powell

  515. Nope, definitely not Big Mike. Haven’t seen the latest Chuck, running about 4 eps back on the TiVo. The actor in Die Hard I believe was Reginald VelJohnson? Not sure on the spelling, I’ll look on the iMDb ti make as though I am all-knowing now.

  516. Oops, to actually appear all-knowing, you can’t admit to using an external resource…

    But I was right, right down to the spelling! He isn’t listed as appearing on Chuck tho. Most recent cred is for an ep of Bones…

  517. … and still the networks don’t “get it”. I couldn’t find a full list of cast members on the “Official” site. I had to go to IMDB TV.

    Mark Christopher Lawrence … Big Mike

  518. Didn’t see anyone in the episode cast that seemed to be the character you described, so it could be VelJohnson and the information just hasn’t hit the IMDb yet…

    Oh, and I may want to bank up those Chuck eps for a while, holiday hiatus looks to last until Feb 9 after the current ep…

  539. So … I videotaped the opening of my SS Gift and my kids decided to have a screaming fight in the middle of taping. I’ll have to do some fancy editing to make it seem like my kids are well-behaved little angels. 😀

  544. CP: Amazing Grace — The Blind Boys of Alabama

    I highly recommend this song. It’s a fantastic blues version of the song, sung to the tune of “The House of the Rising Sun”.

  558. HA! XKCD.

    Haven’t been there in a few months.

    RE Wolverine – Rad.

    CP: IAMX – “Skin Vision” from Kiss + Swallow

    Highly recommend, Esp to T.S.H.s kinda up Andrea’s alley.

  560. Looks like Wikipedia got out in front of IMDB. It is the same actor – and they did give him the same character name.

    Brilliant. I’ll refrain from saying more until the rest of you have caught up on the episode.

  589. Cj, that was AWESOME.

    Van, I’m not going to videoblog my thank you for my gift, but I LOVE it.

    Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

    It’s coming with me on my holiday travels.

  591. Unfortunately, I can’t load Cj’s video here at work, so I’ll try when I’m at home.

    Mythago Wood was a good book. I’ve read it a few times. I’m not so happy with its sequels.

    Tonight is the GPB deadline, right?

  597. Good book to start with!

    I haven’t read “Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn” since I got a bit frustrated with “The Hollowing”. I hear it ties things up pretty well. I’ll just have to start from the beginning again before I read it.

  602. That ‘Wild West Wind’ song on WW #34 is teasing me..I’m sure I’ve heard it sung by somebody else but can’t remember the name.

    Memory like a sieve..

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