Really Big Unshow

Really Big Unshow

Unshow #44.

Special Guest Paul Maki aka JohnBoze

Lately Paul has been busy:
He has contributed to the Quirky Nomads (http://quirkynomads.com/wp/)
Between the Lines Studios as both writer and voice actor (http://betweenthelinesstudios.com/)

Jack’s announcements
The Orc Skit in the latest Requiem of the Outcast was co-written by Jack and is in this episode: (http://www.requiemoftheoutcast.com/wordpress/2009/11/03/roto-s07e02-boo-did-we-scare-you/)
Jack will be doing live performance at Podcamp AZ on Saturday, November 14 (http://podcampaz.org/)
A webstream of this perfomance will be available. Watch the deadpan website for times and further info.

Greasy Nipples by:

Vanamonde (first comment of the week)
Ed from Texas
Cj
JOhnBoze
The Energizer Bunny
reaper
Johnny Null
JohnBoze
Johnny Null

Jack annouces the Duel of the Fates III contestants – with a twist. Send in “intangibles” in 12 seconds or less.

Paul Maki starts a semi-recurrent segment (please help name). Paul said fragments of lyrics, can you guess what they are?
Paul is also looking for intro music for this segment.

Don’t forget to send in your Deadpan slogan from episode 142 boards

And Episode 144 will expose Huey Lewis’ lies

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

732 thoughts on “Really Big Unshow

  1. Which is particularly strange, since my laptop’s clock and the one on my cell phone are in sync. Why isn’t the Deadpan’s? I don’t know.

    Re: the networking puzzle I mentioned in the last thread: Well, we used the solution I came up with to fix one of the errors from Monday night’s class, but we couldn’t put all the pieces in place because our instructor moved us on to something else. Oh, well, at least I figured out how to solve the puzzle.

  2. Ok, in regards to JB’s segment, my guesses are:

    Song No.1

    Violet Femmes – I hate the TV

    Song No.2

    Loverboy – The Kid is Hot Tonite

    Song No.3

    Green Day – Sweet Children

  3. Morning pan. almost hit a deer this morning. not sure if I should be happy because it was almost or I should be mad because I slowed to 20mph or so and when I was just 5 ft from it, it decided to finely run across the road.

  4. CP: Really big unshow
    Jack just said something to the affect of “have people ride through with a character” if that’s the way it is i’m calling Jessica rabbit.

  5. Almost forgot just finished Phil Rossi’s Harvey. Creepy and graphic just what I expect from Phil. Not my favorite book that would have to be Crescent but it is a good book

  6. Nomad Scry: Apparently Hapkido and Aikido share some roots. I will try to find the site where I found that info. and post the link. I picked Aikido because it’s a style that someone can do well into old age. MMA and various Kung Fus are a bit more physically demanding. And I train to be effective in a fight, not for physical fitness, as many do. Until I find a way to reverse my aging, a softer style makes sense for me in the long run.

  7. Morning Pan.

    This is either my first post or my first post in two years. I’m frankly not sure which. Been following the community on and off for some time and a listener for two years.

    Chatted a little via ustream with Jack and Amy last weekend. Took the encouragement to decide to start reading and posting here more. Looking forward to be a part of what looks to be a terrific group of people.

  8. Hurm. Wikipedia states there’s no known link between the two styles. Conflicting info on the webbernets?!?! What has Cyberspace come to?

  9. Johnny Null, i wasn’t a big fan but i think i was 2 young for it. I remember my dad would watch it on tv every time it was on. i also remember him saying something about not running around in front of the tv when this good of a movie is on.

  10. There are times I love my job. at least now that people like IT. one of the managers came in to talk about a user needing software off a different PC that is no longer used. This user is sometimes a bit thick headed and the manager started to alluded to that but said “never mind” and started walking away saying to herself “be professional”. It makes we happy to know that we are not the only group that see how “strange” some people are

  11. My hubby is being weird. I got snow tires for his car yesterday, now he’s upset because we are expecting near record heat today, so he can’t try them out.

    I personally would be very happy if we never get to try the new snow tires out this year.

  12. I hate being called “the other guy” in a department of two when we have both been here for 3+ years. We both have names. and for God sake there are only two of us!!!

  13. When you think of him
    I’m thinkin’ of the other guy
    I’m in love to
    He’s constantly on my mind
    If you weren’t shared by blood
    Then would you have the time
    I don’t get to choose
    Who I dream of at night
    You tell me how you feel
    I feel the same way with the other guy

    -Avril Lavigne

  14. I loved the damning with faint praise in the article ditto posted the link to:

    In addition to the Beatles records, the vinyl guru also pressed special versions of albums by Helen Reddy, Peter Appleyard and a compilation featuring Anne Murray. For most of us, these are … less compelling

  15. Arrrgggg! I was going to Pan from my work computer and play Dragon Age on this one, but WP doesn’t seem to want to accept my posts from the other computer.

    Still planning to play DA. You may or may not hear from me for the rest of the morning. Depends on where my i-touch is…

  16. That’s not it, Wolf. There were no changes. I tried using the DJ persona on a different computer and that got hung up in moderation,too. Right now WP seems to only like my touch. Which means I’m actually going to be out for a bit because I’m playing Dragon Age and switiching back and forth is a bit of a pain. Will still ghost from my work computer til lunch,though

  17. Lo Pan enjoyed his first Unshow. Lo Pan approves of the progression of Deadpan and sees that Jack Mangan indeed has brought himself forthwith from the bowels of the underworld. He has been set free, and for this, Lo Pan is both really pissed off and happy for Jack Mangan. Being of no-flesh kind of sucks for Lo Pan.

  18. The Duel of the Fates team thing won’t have any restrictions. It’s very likely that some characters won’t have anyone supporting them, while some may get a bunch of supporters.
    If you want to be linked to any particular character, then just let me know before the first Duel (Nov 18).

  19. finished V. I liked it. It has a similar feel as the original and I like that. also can you imagine watching a movie on a screen the size of a space ship. i think the over head thing would suck though with out good recliners.

  20. Thanks for the Dead(pan)Pool approval. I have uploaded. Sorry I’ve been quiet, I’m terrifically busy.

    Hi nulloperations. If you’re new or newly new, I’ve yet to meet you. Hi.

  21. I clicked the link, couldn’t watch the vid. I think just hte still iamge was scarring enough.

    And yes, welcome back to Deadpanland, nulloperations! This is indeed a terrific bunch of people. Sorry Lion-o didn’t get enough votes.

  22. BANANA STREET, MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!!!!!

    Lo Pan must gain nourishment for his no-flesh. Lo Pan does not know what to have. Right now it is between Black Blood of the Earth and Taco Bell. Egg Shen is having Taco Bell. Damn if an encharito doesnt sound damn fine to Lo Pan.

    What do you mean theres no such thing as an encharito anymore? I SHALL CURSE THIS WORLD!

  23. My Rosemary chicken and cheesy hash browns stood up the seasoning sucking power of the microwave. i wonder if i have stumbled upon a weakness.

  24. Van?

    Who could say what about Jack?

    That he’s enjoying Jennifer Connelly’s fleshly pleasures or that nobody is arguing his hawtness?

    Because – I guarantee that Jack’s hawtness cannot be argued.

  25. Jennifer Connelly lost Lo Pan after Requiem for a Dream. Lo Pan cannot look at her the same way after that pile of depression. However, she does have wonderful green eyes and she can Tame the Savage Heart for Lo Pan anytime.

    PS: Lo Pan finds Banana Split lollipops delicious.

  26. Greetings and welcome to nulloperations. There’s always room for another at the bar. Just don’t drink from the same glass as Justa Joe 🙂

    Forced Itunes to update just now and my Ipod will soon again be full of Mangany goodness.

  27. Ok, 20 minutes into the new V, please tell me at some point somebody points out that there is a load of water in the Kuiper belt for f sake..or even some of the moons of the Gas giants.

    Dumb as a bag of hammers.

  28. There are ways Lejon, and if there wasn’t they wouldn’t be able to cross interstellar space anyway (space is cold and them being lizards and all that…zzzzz).

    I’m not asking much, just for them to update the bloody plot so it makes some sort of sense…sigh.

  29. Hiya, nulloperations. You’ll like this place.

    I really love you guys. I mean that. I’ve had a rotten week or so, and I really just love coming home from work and catching up on this. And Jack made my day today.

    C: waiting for Sly B so we can go for sushi.

    Van, LOL. I love it when you say “for f sake”.

    My neck is normal length. Or is it?

  30. EssBee: Your neck looks perfect to me.

    Lejon: Holy crap! That chick is pretty damn hot!

    I think we’ve clearly proven that Jennifer Connelly is indeed a fine looking woman. I’m a bit jealous – more than a bit. I’d never look good in tight red leather or vinyl.. whatever that material is, but I’d love those shoes… those shoes were definitely made to wear while lying on your back.

  31. Ha hah, It’s Halloween, It’s a party. It’s a Wide screen window to a bunch of random people with weird names. Trust me, I understand. I haven’t been right there, but I’ve been in a part of town that looks strikingly similar and has a diner with comparable customers.

  32. CJ –
    “God knows you’re looking good enough,
    But you’re so smooth, and the world’s so rough
    You might have something to lose
    Oh no, pretty momma,
    What you gonna do in those shoes?”

  33. Fine then.

    “You just want someone to talk to,
    they just wanna get their hands on you
    You get whatever you choose
    Oh no, you can’t do that
    Once you’ve started wearing those shoes
    Oh no, you can’t do that
    Once you’ve started wearing those shoes “

  34. Have a safe trip, Van.

    Much better job on the pictures. I knew the Deadpan would come through 🙂

    And, now it’s back to work in the Phantom Zone.

  35. I have 5 I switch between. I don’t think I spent more then $5 each at the local Good Will.
    I worked at a small office (30) when I stared wearing Hawaiian shirts and by the time I left most of the office was doing it to. Friday also got more and more happy the longer I was there.
    At my current job I wore them on Fridays before my manager was let go. Friday doesn’t feel festive anymore since then.

  36. There, kissed hubby out the door.

    Now it will be eggs and toast for breakfast
    cleaning the main bathroom
    doing the grocery shopping
    baking cookies
    clearing off the table for gaming tonight

    And somewhere in there I actually have to do the paying job.

    Why am i still typing on the boards?

  37. I have mixed feeling on ours being on Thursday. and the feeling are mixed biased solely on how my current employer/coworkers handle the Friday after. I have worked at places where it is a “Nose to the grind stone” kind of day (boo)
    I have worked where it is a day of work but 1/2 the office is gone of the rest 1/3 is told to go home early 1/3 is told come in late the other 1/3 figures it out on the fly and no one really works that hard (yay)
    And like my current employer it is a holiday and we actually lock the doors(yay)
    So right now I like it being on a Thursday.

  38. I like Mondays. Three day weekends (yay)

    I also like work Fridays with only a half dozen contracts to go over. Believe it or not, it’s 7:30 am and I’m done my work for the day (unless something else comes up unexpectedly).

    So, time to move on to item two on my list. I have a dirty bathroom that’s about to meet cleaning supplies 🙂

  39. I don’t mind working Fridays because they are normally easy days. people don’t call on Friday when they have problem they tend to let it go. I much prefer Mondays off few people are happy on Monday… unless someone brings in pumpkin bars.
    yes I have a one track mind 🙂

  40. Wolf, Yes,but I never get the design right so I have to eat the failure.
    I have never gotten to the point of adding the candle but I’m going to keep trying!!

  41. After iTunes gave me the episode yesterday, I’ve gotten down to listening to my own cold-croaky voice. Man, it sounds like Fox is coughing from a few feet away, not down the hall with the door closed. Guess that Snowball picks up a lot.

  42. I think I’ve worked out a spoken script for my broken lyrics open. Darcy’s sister is coming in from Boston for her initial fitting for her wedding dress Darcy is making for her, so I doubt I’ll be laying down audio for it this weekend.

  43. I’m literally in my bunk with my laptop (my laptop is cuddly) and a migraine on the opposite side of my brain today. I’ve never had one on the left. It’s not as bad as the ones on the right.

    Canadian candy is better. So are Canadian bunnies.

  44. In prep for a tour they had us on a cleaning frenzy this morning. Now the workplace looks good, but somehow on each leg of my pants I got some manner of cleaning product, with resulting bright purple stains. I suspect some kind of bleaching has occurred as none of the products were themselves purple.

    Plus I managed a drinking accident with orange pop on my shirt, but it does not appear to have stained.

  45. WP FT-bot says I already said the following:

    In prep for a tour they had us on a cleaning frenzy this morning. Now the workplace looks good, but somehow on each leg of my pants I got some manner of cleaning product, with resulting bright purple stains. I suspect some kind of bleaching has occurred as none of the products were themselves purple.

    Plus I managed a drinking accident with orange pop on my shirt, but it does not appear to have stained.

  46. It is true my job could be a “tshirt and jeans” position, but I go for that whole “dress for the job you want” thing and dress business casual. Today might have been better in the jeans.

  47. JB: I’m the same way. My new job is VERY casual attire. Even shorts are permitted. I just don’t see myself dressing down. I feel like I work better in an office environment when I dress the part. I’m sure I’ll wear jeans, but tee-shirts will never happen.

  48. Most candy in the US sucks compared to anywhere else in the world because of tax policy discouraging real sugar or making real sugar prohibitively expensive.
    *puts away soap box*

  49. I dated a girl once whose dad for retaliation would play a record of middle eastern music that featured spitting camels very very loud. I though that was weired enough. I don’t thing I want to hear orgasmic animals.

  50. Well, reaper, I’ll recap briefly, as I don’t know the last time this came up. Canadian (and I assume British) Smarties are similar to M&M’s, slightly larger, more pastel-coloured, and the candy shells are flavoured.

    American Smarties are usually only seen around Halloween. They are most similar to SweeTarts, though without as much acidity. They are packaged in cellophane tubes, and I believe are available in Canada under the name “Rockets.”

  51. JohnBoze, so they are chocolate? I can see how most people would prefer that. there are so few candies I can eat. Hay I have a roll of smarties here.
    mmmmm High-fructose corn syrup

  52. CP Sigler’s Title Fight Round 7
    He keeps saying octagon and all I can think of every time he says it is the like from anchorman:
    …I have a nick name for my penis. Its called the Octagon…

  53. Both Jack’s and Reaper’s links were most excellent.

    I love Friday’s as I only go in for a half day and they are usually rather quiet.

  54. Little story elements from the books surrounding RBT keep pooping into my head and playing around while I execute a very repetitive task. I’m doing my best to file it all away. Damn, why can’t this happen when I’m actually able to write???

  55. “Perhaps you were nearby, when this story began. Easter Sunday, 1990. Interstate 94, westbound just over the St. Croix from Hudson, WI. Here it begins. A tan minivan full of teenagers drives a little too fast. The music is a little too loud, if you can hear it over road noise. Some piece of that minivan vibrates in merry sympathetic frequency with some component of the song. Were you there that day?

    “Were you the man in the white sedan, driving his family home from services and smirking slightly in silent approval of the display of youthful exuberance? Perhaps you were his spouse, pretending not to notice this expression, knowing what is going through his mind. Maybe you were the old man, going five miles an hour under the limit with your blinker on, seemingly keeping time with the music. Or perhaps you were the fourth person.

    “What was your reaction, then, when you were suddenly presented with the buttocks? There they are, on display, fishbelly pale and

  56. Oops, my finger slipped to the button. Where was I? Oh yeah.

    “There they are, on display, fishbelly pale and pressed against the windowglass. The man in the white sedan couldn’t help but chuckle, held back only a little, sort of a snorting noise. His wife affixed a default disapproving frown and checked the backseat to verify the kids were dozing, and had not seen a thing. The old man was as oblivious to the buttocks as he was to his blinker, or to the traffic passing him angrily on the right.

    “The fourth driver decided he’d seen enough, and he flicked the switch to light the cherries overhead.”

  57. I know, I know, you post something on the Internet and the whole world can see it. Well, I trust that at this point the whole world isn’t interested, an you guys .I trust as well…

  58. Shifting verb tenses. I’ve always been guilty of them. Still, both present and past tense feel right in there. I’ll probably settle on good old comfortable past tense, tho…

  59. Dragon Age has begun installing. My wife has already declared it’s a good thing the kids will be away at my parents for the whole week of thankgiving so we can play uninterrupted. What do you mean, ‘Geek!”?

  60. I’m feeling OK actually, just a little warm. Weird really.

    Anyhoo… I’m hungry so I can’t be THAT sick!

    Should I be playing this “Dragon Age” thingie?

    I had something else to say, but I forget what it was.

    Look at that shiny thing over there…

  61. What’s the scoop with sugar taxes making our candy not as good as elsewhere?
    I was unaware of that. I had always thought it was just a result of huge volume production as opposed to smaller, “hand crafted” candies you get in other countries.

    Although, I hear that “See’s (sp?) Candy” is pretty good stuff and I have had Ghirardelli Chocolate while I was in San Francisco and that was pretty swell.

  62. I meant to say drink WATER..

    ahhh.. I’m distracted by these seven little men in my living room apparently.

    Hope you are feeling well by tomorrow morning. Hope to see you there.

  63. Ha!

    Modern progressive rock is more diversified, with many offshoots of the core “progressive” motif. Progressiveness can now be attached to death metal bands (Opeth), thrash metal (Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation), orchestras (Apocalpytica, Symphony X) and even retard metal (Rammstein).

    Retard METAL!!

  64. And now, another moment of international product differences!

    Today’s topic of discussion will be the following quote from a fellow NaNoWriMo participant (an American):

    “Did you know that Canadian Mountain Dew doesn’t have caffeine in it? What’s
    the point?”

    TEB, can you confirm? Did you know that Mountain Dew in the U.S. had caffeine in it and Canadian Mountain Dew didn’t? Other thoughts?

  65. I can address that. In theory, in Canada, a beverage may only have caffeine if it might naturally occur, the “brown beverages” like colas. Mountain Dew has no caffeine, nor Sunkist orange, which has caffeine in the US.

  66. Dragon Age is installed….but, non functional. I can’t get through the character creation process without the thing crashing out to the desktop. Looking around, it appears I’m not alone.

    I’m about to try the black art of rolling back my video drivers to an older version. My Kung Fu is getting too old for this.

    SPeaking of Kung Fu, btw – Lo Pan was also Po’s father in Kung Fu Panda.

    And now the circle is complete.

  67. Does that rule apply to “energy drinks” as well?

    My favorite is Bawls, mostly because I really like the flavor of guarana, but it is crystal clear so I wonder if it is available in Canada.

    … What is the abbreviation for Canada? CA? CN? CD? Look look! My head is twitching!

  68. I’ve had MD without the caff and it is … lacking. That bitter bite from the caffeine adds to the flavor. Without it, the syrup is too sweet and the overall flavor is kind of flat.

  69. I feel your pain Ed. That’s why I’m pretty sure I’ll end up getting Dragon Age for the 360 instead of the PC. I know the PC version looks somewhat prettier and has more downloadable content, but not having to deal with the techical headaches seems like a good thing. Sitting on my couch and playing on the 57″ HDTV doesn’t hurt either. 🙂

  70. Nomad Scry: If it’s easier, just go with calling me nullops. It’s the typical short hand I’m used to hearing. Plus it still instills that operations bit without all the syllables.

    You know, burning 10 DVD labels and 25 DVD’s go with takes a while. Especially when each process is on a different computer in a different room.

    16 DVD’s down, 9 to go.

  71. My dad has to do that sometimes, nullops. Some of the teachers at school just don’t understand that making large quantities of a CD or DVD is time-consuming and a lot of work.

    NaNoWriMo status report: 4,225 words.

    Good night, mush.

  72. You should totally get one of those old school timer things and plug everything into it, set it for midnight, and then oppressive darkness will force you to sleep!

    Or cause you to hunt me down and slaughter me in -my- sleep.

  73. ok Jack, I know I’m a little late to the party, but that Cracked prog rock article made my week. I can’t yodel like that Focus dude, nor can I grow out such impressive sideburns in time for Podcamp, but I think I can do the flute solo!

  74. I’ll be getting to sleep shortly too. Feel better, Cj and EssBee.

    Went to see Paranormal Activity tonight – definitely a fun skin-crawler. For maximum creep effect, I’d actually recommend waiting to watch the DVD in your dark house before bedtime.

  75. I really like Du Hast and that other one. What was it, self-titled I think? Du Hast is a good song if you want to invade another country or tear the head of an opponent off.

    My taste in music is a bit odd. Shocking, I know. I like Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk album. Yeah, it’s true. Lady J has officially banned that from ever encroaching her airspace. I can see its shortcomings, but I still like it. I also have Psychosonic’s self-titled album, which I mostly like. She hates it less, but certainly only by degrees.

  76. Nomad Scry: I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. The ending of Blair Witch was so terrible, and I, in my mind, was demanding some sort of decent payoff for submitting myself to a crappy movie, that I just about wanted to burn the cinema down.

  77. Not -just- to be disagreeable, but I really did think that the ending was the only decent part of the movie. At least nobody was screaming, crying, whining about being lost, and/or saying the word “fuck” like some sort of “glory to god hallelujah amen” statement of profound and drastic meaning.

    And I did like the pine straw crosses. Those were simple and creepy. I immediately went outside and made three in the front lawn.

    The landlord asked us to remove them in less than a week. It was bothering the neighbors.

  78. The darling that is my wife tolerates the Rammstein and such. She does not tolerate the Dreamtheater. Queensryche, and Dragonforce. She actually mocks me when I listen to them.

    And she threatened to hurt me when I tried to listen to Tara McLean.

    (It was scary.)

  79. Morning, Nomad.

    I’ve already worked out this morning – despite my lungs wanting to kill me for it – and now am waiting for the coffee. To the coffee I say: HURRY!!

    My game plan for today is to clean up the leaves in the front yard (again) and clip all the dead/frozen flowers and such to hike up the curb appeal. We live next door to a very young couple who are hyper-vigilant about how their yard looks, which just makes ours look worse! Maybe I’ll blow all my leaves into their yard. I’m listening to The Lost Symbol (the new Dan Brown) so the work should go fast and pleasant.

    As for The Lost Symbol, I have read all of Brown’s books, and I’m not sure why. I think he’s a wonderful story-teller, but his writing is dreadful. There was a great review on boing boing yesterday that I agree with 100%. Still, I continue to read them.

    What are y’all doing for your Saturday?

  80. Kudos to The Mighty Mommy by advocating kids wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water, and not just slathering on anti-bacterial goop.

  81. I have burned a few (meaning roughly two) DVDs and it was a long and aggravating process. I am very carefully making sure I do not imagine what it must be like to do many many many. Cuz repeating the word three times makes it magical.

  82. EssBee: Good morning Nomad? What am I, chopped liver?!? 😛

    Good job on working out early! I am catching up on e-mail, then I will bust my butt, and get in a quick run.

    I have a lot of cleaning to do. I really haven’t had time to catch up to my satisfaction since Halloween (Which no one commented on our pics. 😛 ). Past that, getting the place ready for winter, haircut, a touch of shopping, and hopefully some writing.

  83. I have read some samples of Dan’s writing and I would be embarrassed to call it my own. But! My goal is to learn to be a great story teller. If I never make it to being a great writer, I can deal with that. I’ll be disappointed if I pass before learning to tell a great tale.

    I wanna make people laugh and cry.

    And then I will laugh the evil laugh.

  84. One shortcoming I will admit I’ve found on Linux is burning. I’ve yet to find any package that does a good job, except K3D. I don’t mind installing it, and it works like a friggin’ champ, but it annoys me how none of the others seem to work well or at all.

  85. My goal is to write something that is not so bad that it rends space-time in half and beckons forth daemon-spawn to devour every last living thing on Earth. So far, so good. But the chances increase with each new word I add.

  86. “Good morning!”
    “… who is this?”
    “Come ON, wake up sleepyhead. We’ve got things to steal and bad guys to fuck up. Aw, fuck, I fuckin’ cursed. AH!”
    “Tania?”
    “No shit! Fuck! Ah!”
    “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
    “I can’t stop. The old guy won’t let me in on the action if I don’t stop swearing and I’m a fu… stupid idiot and already gave him the goddam license plate number. They don’t need fu… me anymore. This is hard. They do not need me anymore so I am trying really hard not piss the fuckers off. Oh fffff…”
    Rodger started laughing.
    “Fuck you, man. Oh crap.” She wimpered. “I feel like I’m trying quit smokin’ or something. It’s ridiculous.”

  87. I’ve had calamari, once. Liver, never.

    I haven’t tried burning with Linux. My external DVD writer is a Sony, so there never was any hope of it working with Linux. Which is why I smacked myself in the head when it arrived. Der.

  88. Nomad Scry: I find I need to stop all distractions, and I put on something sufficiently-backgroundy on Shoutcast. It’s easy for me to drop out of “the zone”.

  89. Nomad Scry: I’m going to explain this very poorly. Ready?

    It’s a streaming-service collective thing. Your cable provider is to Shoutcast as channels are to Shoutcast stations.

    If you install Songbird (or Winamp *cough*), you can pull up Shoutcast stations/streams. And there’s an atomic butt-load of genres there. Pretty much anything you could ever want.

  90. Mornin’ EssBee, Nomad, Mr. Null!

    EssBee, perhaps you do Dan Brown the way I do football. I watch it, generally understand it, but don’t necessarily like it that much.

    But I watch it because I’ve always lived places with intense football passions, and as a cultural reference point, speaking football helps a lot.

  91. I remember using Shoutcast (if i am remembering it right) as a menu item in winamp for streaming MP3. I don’t remember it being all the great but my boss and a few of my co-workers at the time where big in to music so I was not wanting for music I must have left there with 200gb of MP3’s

  92. BTW morning pan
    trying to get some of the more annoying accomplishment in smash brother brawl IE 50 hours brawling collect all CD all Stickers and 500 trophies. I’m close but some things are tedious. some times i hate being the kind of person who need to 100% finishes a game.

  93. No caffeine in Canadian Mountain Dew??? We must start a campaign to help our impoverished Canadian brethren who are thus incapable of “Doing The Dew (TM). How do they get buy without any real extremes in their lives?

  94. I have not used Pandora, though one of my sibs liked it. I like Jango and Slacker, but I prefer my own collection of music most of the time.

    So I can go from Euphoria to Dragonforce to Butthole Surfers.

  95. reaper: I’ve had many, many problems with Winamp. But I personally really like Shoutcast. It’s really hard to NOT find a genre of music on it. Want an Irish music feed — from Ireland? BAM! You want trip-hop? BAM! Classical? BAM! Mind you, I have found a few feeds to be sub-par, and it’s helpful to filter out non-high-bitrate feeds.

  96. I’m a fan of Pandora, and I do find it mixes things up pretty well, since my tastes very much like yours. I’ve never heard of Jango or Slacker.

  97. Nomad Scry: No! And I wish we had the luxury to drink! Lady J had to go to work early the next day, so we had on training wheels and drank Mike’s Light Hard Lemonade.

  98. I remember when i was young the mountain dew ads being of people sitting and looking over a pristine lake. boy did that take a 180. when I quit drinking soda (helps keep my weigh in check) 2 years a go the only MD I liked anymore was Live wire.

  99. Morning JB, reaper!

    Yep, that sounds like it re: me and Dan Brown. I mean, I really like the freemason stuff – it’s interesting. But Robert Langdon — gawd. If I took a class from that guy, it would have to be ironically.

  100. I -think- Jango is out of closed beta now. I mean, it has been at least two years since I found out about it.

    … which, if I recall correctly, was because I was trying to find an invite to Joost and mis-remember the name.

    I like Jango better than Joost.

  101. When I was working third shift, I ODed on caffeine. Just about literally. I’d have a large, black, dark coffee, and a two-liter of Mountain Dew every night. Plus, I’d pop No-Doze. I strained my adrenal glands to the point where I had to give them years to recover.

  102. Morning Pan!

    Just a quick hip hop in before I head out for MA. Boy you guys were busy last night.

    Scry: CDN = Canadian

    Amy, Yup on the caffeine thing. however our energy drinks such as Jolt or Red Bull or Rock Star is full of caffeine jitteryness.

    CJ: Dragon age is a fun D & D type game. It actually has the feel of a more Baulder’s Gate as opposed to Neverwinter Nights. So if you like those type of games, then yes, get it and play. It is, however a single player game, not co-op.

    I hope everybody who’s sick gets better. Will try to hop in later but not sure how the time will go. Have MA in an hour. Then lunch. Then a couple of girlfriends and I are going for dinner and then to the Flames/Ranger game.

    I have a busy, yet fun filled day planned.

  103. Omgosh. I’m afraid to refresh after reading all that. I’ll forget some of the many things I want to respond to. Where to begin?

    Uhm. OK wow.. you were busy!

    I’m awake and I feel great! Thanks for all the well wishes, I think they worked.

  104. JN: Thanks for listening to Mighty Mommy. *blush* that episode just went up last night. And yeah, too many people DEPEND on hand sanitizers. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t actually CLEAN anything.. just sorta kinda disinfects. I prefer fully cleansed people.

  105. I was fighting against the incursion of anti-bac everything in our house until I realized that it didn’t matter any more. The masses have spoken and so we shall have induced the evolution of stronger, more capable bacteria. Hooray for our immanent demise.

  106. Oh and good morning to EVERYONE.. EssBee, sounds like you are feeling better too? Doing all that stuff – hard to do if you feel too horrible, so I’m hopeful you are feeling better?

    Today, I have a PodCampAZ meeting in an hour and 1/2 so I gotta get off here and feed the kids, kinda.. they are munching apples right now. I should eat something to soak up the coffee… Then I’ll come home and start cleaning. I think I’m going to spend the afternoon in the kids’ rooms cleaning and organizing. Time to ditch all the too-small summer clothes and see what still fits from last winter. I have recipients waiting for my kids’ winter clothes from last year so they have clothes from this year.

    I might even try trading some in to a 2nd hand shop and see if I can make some bucks… generally, I just like to help out others so I just give to those who need clothes for their little ones.

  107. Once I saw an ad craigslist from this girl who said, “I have a friend who can’t afford to buy clothes for her baby girl. If you can donate anything please call me.”

    So I gathered up (no exaggeration) 3 hefty bags full of Sarah’s clothes. I had bought plenty and someone had given me several bags of hand-me-downs.

    The girl showed up in winter and her daughter was wearing no more than a white onesie and wrapped in a blanket. She literally had no clothes for this child.

    Things like this make me rethink selling my kids’ clothes all the time, I’d just much rather give them away.

  108. JN: ODing on caffeine is NOT fun.

    I got caffeine poisoning once while in Vegas. I wasn’t able to have caffeine for about a year after that without feeling horrible.

    I’d rather be hungover on alcohol any day than on caffeine. It’s soooo not pretty.

  109. I’m so tempted to make french toast right now, but it takes too long and I gotta get a shower.

    I know there was more wanted to respond to, but speaking of those extra hours in the day. I probably better get moving.

    Everyone have an amazing weekend!

  110. Cj: A retro-active good morning!

    Thanks! It’s been quite a lot of work. I’m not satisfied yet, but I’m getting there!

    Sex toy party? Let’s hope the aforementioned grain alcohol makes an appearance!

  111. I guarantee there is no alcohol of any kind in my near future.

    If I can talk my girlfriend into it, we might be going to see Couples Retreat after the party and then there’s a band playing in Scottsdale that we might pop in to see.

    We’ll just have to see how the night goes.

    Now the children are demanding cinnamon toast! YUM… off to the toaster I go!

  112. ***Back from sick-day hell***

    reaper: RE: U.S. Candy – the tax incentives are on Corn Syrup. Corn Syrup and corn products in general are supplemented by the U.S. gov’t, and so are substantially cheaper to use than Sugar. Such incentives do not exist in foreign countries, so they use sugar (lucky bastards) which makes things taste so much better.

    I don’t care what the manufacturers say (“there is no significant difference in flavor according to extensive taste testing”), Sugar tastes better.

  113. Wife suggested I would enjoy King Corn about a year ago. It hasn’t managed to make it through my Netflix queue yet.

    Also… Last.fm is turning out to be pretty nice. I’d played with using it to record what I listened to and how often. Now I’m playing with the streaming radio and liking it after a whopping 15 minutes.

    I put in Delerium and the first selection was Sleepthief, which was okay. The second was Amethystium, which I liked a lot.

  114. I hear Government officials say all the the time “if we raise a tax on something the market isn’t going to change.” but out of the other side of there mouth they say “Lets give a tax incentive so people do/don’t do this thing.”

    Not only do corn subsidies lower the price of that product, sugar price supports nearly double the US price for sugar. In 2008 world price was 12cent/pound US was 22cents/pound.

    We have (had maybe) coke in the Hispanic grocery store and it tasted so much better. made with real sugar It was also in glass. not sure if that helped at all

  115. The glass probably did help. Plastic, especially hot plastic, add to the flavor in a not so pleasant manner. It took me a while to get used to drinking Mt Dew in bottles instead of cans because I kept missing the flavor of the aluminum can.

    On the other hand, one of my little hobbies is trying new sodas. I find the flavor difference between sugar and corn syrup to be very subtle. What isn’t subtle at all is the disgusting slimed out feeling in my throat after drinking a corn syrup soda. The sad thing is that I’m so used to it that I don’t even notice it anymore.

  116. My Last.fm Delerium station just pulled up Enigma. My favorite song of all time, Return to Innocence. The blurb says blah blah blah “His former wife Sandra often provided vocals on Enigma tracks.” And I’m suddenly sad.

    Goodnight sun.

  117. RE: Dan Brown – I’ve watched the movie of DaVinci Code (Which probably should have been called the Leonardo code, but no one cares about the guys real name…) – If the movie is any indication, he writes in a very mediocre fashion. However, the whole concept of the DaVinci Code gave me an idea:

    Everyone writes about Jesus Christ, but no one writes about John the Baptist. I mean, he had his head cut off. He was a martyr before there were martyrs, dying unjustly for his beliefs. Well, OK, dying because someone said “Give me his head…” which is kind of the same thing… So, you have this disembodied head of a well-followed prophet that sat on a silver platter for a while (actually, not sure why it’s supposed to be silver, but that’s part of the myth). Pure blood of the fore-runner of Christ on a pure (symbolically speaking) metal platter… Why couldn’t that platter become imbued with magical powers similar to a Grail?

    Anywhoo… I have this idea to spoof DaVinci Code, based on the above… Does it have any merit?

    #playingcatch-up (stupid octothorpe tag)

  118. My wife and daughter are going shopping so i get to listen to my music loud YAY. Beethoven’s 4th 5th and 6th here i come. maybe even a few more if they are gone that long

  119. I have two helium balloons here, I’m alone in the office this morning, and I need a moment or two to laugh…at myself.

    I’ll be back in a bit…. It’s a shame Helium Hilarity doesn’t come off well in text. Just imagine the following phrase “Boss, Boss, teh plane, teh plane!”

  120. Tonight just got more interesting! My girlfriend surprised me by agreeing to my painting-the-town-red proposal!

    1. Sex toy party
    2. Movie: Couples Retreat
    3. Live Band in Scottsdale: East Delta!

    Woot! It’s gonna be a GREAT night.
    I’m so amped today. Wheeee!

  121. Re: Sugar/candy/taxes ect …

    I did some web research last night, trying to find out what youse guys might have been talking about. Didn’t really find anything directly related but did find two interesting data points.

    As was mentioned – US sugar was more expensive then the rest of the worlds. Turns out that this (like every other issue we face) is has a side that doesn’t get much press. Sugar production is very labor intensive. The rest of the world uses what is basically slave labor. Since we here in the US insist on paying workers at least minimum wage … the US sugar was more expensive to produce and the market was being crushed. So the Fed. Government set about trying to save the industry by fixing prices and adding tariffs to imported sugar.
    Should we have just let the US sugar industry die.
    Not for me to say. I just eat the stuff. I don’t make a living off of it.

  122. I can’t cite specific pages, but there are details of the soft drink industry’s involvement in pricing of sugar in the US in “For God, Country, & Coca-Cola.” It is a pretty good, thick volume about all aspects of the history of Coca-Cola, blemishes and all…

  123. Sugar fact #2

    Since about 1997 but REALLY picking up steam in between 2000 and 2007, almost all the BIG, mass production candy makers moved their factories south of the border.
    The articles I read indicated it had everything to do with maximizing profit by using dirt cheep labor. According to one report I read, workers in Mexico’s processed food industry earn an average of $2.70 an hour. Seems they couldn’t find workers in Chicago that were willing to work for less than $20 a day.

    Other interesting tidbits I cut/pasted –

    •Brach’s Confections, closed its Chicago factory in 2003 and moved to a new factory in Linares, Mexico.

    •Bobs Candies of Albany, Ga., a leader in the candy cane business, moved the last of its production to Reynosa in 2005.

    •Sunrise Confections, opened a plant in Ciudad Ju?rez in 2001 to make candies for U.S. grocery store brands.

    •While most industries are suffering, candy creators and shops are reporting gains. Companies like Cadbury, Nestle and Hershey reported profits in 2008, with Cadbury leading the group with a 30 percent rise.

  124. Now that I’m thinking about it, I do believe the passages in that book I’m thinking of were earlier in the history than the corn syrup business. They actually speak to the trouble Coke was in when they played speculation on the sugar markets…

  125. By the way, I had no idea that Jack Mangan was so popular at Manchester High School, where ever that is. They seem to account for nearly a quarter of the fans on the Facebook page.

  126. Mac folks! The folks at MacHeist are offering a “NanoBundle” of 6 FREE apps for 4 days to the first 500,000 downloaders. This includes the full non-ad-supported version of Twitterific and WriteRoom, which is allegedly handy for easily-distracted writers. It hides everything else on your desktop, menubar, etc, and presnts you with only the wordprocessor.

    I have downloaded the apps, and I’ll let you guys know what I think when I have the chance to try the stuff. But hey, at the price of $0 they’d have to suck pretty bad for me to complain…

    http://www.macheist.com/

  127. I know I’m talking out of my butt when it comes to matters of high finance, but I cannot see how “speculating” on futures could be a good thing. But that’s because I don’t believe in stealing money from the poor to give to the rich. Silly me. (way way over simplified, I know.)

  128. I don’t know if this is true, but I have been told that for what “they” pay one of the US operators, they can get 10 Mexicans or 100 Chinese. I haven’t seen anything to make me think that is a ridiculous ratio.

    It makes me surprised that we produce anything in the States anymore.

  129. EssBee, All the programs are free. The download page should have all the serial numbers listed. Just go to “Enter Serial” on the Shovebox menu and you own it!

  130. We enjoyed V last night. I can see where someone would get the anti-Obama message in the show, but I think it’s a stretch, and as a flaming leftie, am going to keep watching.

    We’re also really enjoying SGU. We haven’t watched any of the previous SG shows, but enjoy this one.

  131. Good morning.

    Last night I went out with my girlfriend. We both needed a “girls night” and it was PERFECT! We enjoyed a little “romantic enhancement party” hehe.. (sex toys) and those are always great for laughs!

    Then we saw the movie “Couples Retreat” which was just as silly, hokey, predictable, and brainless as we expected. And it was chock full of Vince Vaughn goodness.. Truth be told, I’m a little hot for Jon Favreau too. Jason Bateman does nothing for me. Anyhoo, it was exactly what was needed to turn off the brain and have some giggles.

    Afterward we went to a local bar to see another one of my friend and her hubby was playing some awesome classic rock. The band is East Delta (http://www.myspace.com/eastdelta) and it was their second to last show because my friend, along with her husband, are moving to China for his job so it was great to get out and see them one last time.

    Then I came home and passed out hard! I even slept for 7 full hours.

    Life is good!

  132. I’ll give V a continuing nod at this point as well, though it seems like more flash than substance at this point.

    The latest Flash Forward on the other hand – whoa! That is going to shake things up.

    Also caught that “Legend of the Seeker” just started it’s second season. Off to a promising start. They are picking up the overall “quest” of the 2nd book, but, as with season one, there are going to be significant differences. And Charisma Carpenter as a Mord-Sith – can’t go wrong with that one 🙂

  133. On today’s docket – grocery shopping! It’s coupon day!

    Start gutting out the kids’ rooms to make room for the holidays and my mom and her boyfriend who are staying here next weekend so Dan and I can spend all the time we need at podcampAZ.

    And I am going to surprise my kids by taking them to Bass Pro Shops later where Santa Claus is making his first appearance of the year!

    Whoooo!

  134. Today, the womenfolk and menfolk of the from Texas family are splitting up. The women are meeting up with the extended family women to go to lunch and see the traveling production of “Mary Poppins”.

    The boy and I are heading to Incredible Pizza to eat, play games, and race cars.

    Everybody wins!

  135. Watched V last night too. Was not impressed for the first 75%, but of course the actiony climax was interesting. Not enough to make me go “oh-wow,” but enough for me to watch another episode.

    Kinda fun watching stuff on Hulu with a few people all connected via skype. Especially when you’re trying to sync commercial breaks.

  136. I’m looking forward to the 2nd episode of V. I really did enjoy the 1st as did Dan.

    On another note… I really really really want a Droid phone. I want it SOOO bad!

  137. I just really dig Elizabeth Mitchell — thought I think she’s wearing too much make-up in V.

    Ed, I also really dig Flash Forward — it’s a really fun show.

    Today the womenfolk and the menfolk . . . wait, we’re just womenfolk . . . so today we’re going to Boulder (gack) and Sly B is performing with her Mariachi band. During sound check, I’ll be hitting the bookstore to see if I can find the first Michelle M. Welch book. And maybe the first book in Jim Butcher’s fantasy series. After the show, we’ll go grab a bite, probably, and then come home and finally watch BSG The Plan. I bought the DVD last week and have been waiting and waiting!

  138. Morning all.
    I tried watching Flash Forward. Caught the 2nd episode on HULU.
    It was just to slow for me. Way to much screen time on people looking angst ridden.

    In a way it reminded me of Heros, in that I thought that the hour episode (really about 48 minutes or so when you take out the commercials) would have made a kick-butt, 30 minute episode.

  139. Hiya, JOe!

    That’s what Sly B said about Flash Forward too. I think part of why I like it is because I knew the female FBI agent was gay right away, and decided I HAD to see that through. 😉

    Okay, we’re off to Mariachi. I’m with the band today – videotaping. If I have any skills at all with the camera, we’ll post to Youtube and I’ll share a link.

  140. FYI – While Incredible Pizza is good for the special day, it is definitely not the place for a cheap date. Both the buffet and the gaming are on the high side.

  141. We took the kids to Bass Pro Shops. It looks just like this: http://bit.ly/23kW4k and holy moly was it fun and FREE. My favorite price.. although I did buy a new cup. It was pretty green and has a nice lid. It’s for my new job.
    I’ll throw pics up on Flickr of the kiddos with Santa and everything.

    I highly recommend taking the kids (or grown-ups.. I mean a free cookie and hot cocoa is good for us too!) to Bass Pro Shops. It’s fun just to look at the fish, but right now it’s so incredibly awesome.

  142. Sorry to hear about the down, Van. I hope everything is okay!

    I took today off, as an attempt to use up vacation time, so all is good. Yard work awaits!

    Mariachi uploading to Youtube now — I’ll send links as soon as it’s all posted.

  143. Morning Pan!

    Back from an early trip downtown. Now to do some work, then to hit the post office.

    After that it’s garbage and cat litter cleaning. Then I can finally get back to Dragon Age.

    A poor little mouse sacrificed itself (willingly) so I could learn the secret of transmogrification 😉

  144. After reading the comments:

    Have a good and quiet train ride home.

    Look forward to seeing Sly B’s performance. Jack, why don’t you record and upload some of your stuff to youtube? (I know, Saturday’s performance will be streamed live)

    Cj, I never found Vince Vaughn particularly good looking so the comparison to Jack didn’t work for me.

  145. My poor kittycat is not feeling well. She’s also losing weight even though she seems to constantly eat. I don’t think she’s long for this world. She has a regular appointment at the vet’s on Thursday anyway. While not totally unexpected, it is still a little depressing.

    I’m hoping the sick part of it is just a cold or something. I heard somewhere that Swine Flu is actually transferable between cats and owners. I wonder who’s been hanging around my cat. I wonder who my cat would let hang around her. She hates everybody.

    Ok, now to do some work

  146. Oh yeah, on a completely unrelated note (not that any of my thoughts today were related): My boss’ travel requests were denied because of the current situation with my company. So don’t work schedules around me, I can work around you.

  147. I hope that isn’t cause for concern, Bunny.

    So – I had a weird musical whiplash weekend: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Saturday night and Carmen Sunday afternoon. Blues guitar to opera in a space of about 15 hours.

  148. ( ) Study at remote temple with mysterious, James Hong-like sensei, become baddest motherfucker in the world.
    ( ) Revamp website to make story .pdfs and .mp3s available for purchase.
    ( ) Change guitar strings.
    ( ) Milk.
    ( ) Multi-grain bread.
    ( ) Cat litter.

  149. I’m appreciative of the rare weekday EssBee *AND* Rhettro sightings!

    BTW, Rhett, I hope you can wait a decade before friending the middle-aged bald Jack Mangan. I sure hope he doesn’t show up any sooner.

  150. And I
    I want
    To see my crush again, yeah
    The magical correction
    I dream; the world speeds on, yeah

    No se apoye contra la puerta
    No se apoye contra la puerta

    Maybe I’m a loser
    Maybe I’m the unsuspecting Lord
    Maybe I’m a rapper
    Maybe I’m just living by the sword
    Your sorrow is
    Beautiful
    To me tonight
    So cold and bright

  151. “…that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited and so thrilled all together. Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around… nothing… I like the roller-coaster. You get more out of it”

  152. Bunny, I should not even compare Jack to Vince Vaughn. Those are completely different leagues.

    Jack wins – hands down on the “who’s hotter contest” …

    I got my hair done today. Sweet relief has been achieved.

  153. CW: “V”

    75% thru. Will probably finish it but it’s going to take something awfully compelling in the last reel to make me watch another episode.
    Interesting note (SPOILER ALERT) – just reached the 1st bit of the show that a conspiracy folks might say was anti-Obama. It was the mention of “Universal Health care”.
    Funnily enough though … about 30 seconds earlier, someone says that the the Aliens were already secretly among us, starting unnecessary wars and destroying our economy. Hard to get more anti-Busch/Cheney then that! So, I’d say the show is not picking political sides. People are just reading into it what they will.

  154. the multi-party references, sorry.

    Ugh, my brother is a nightmare. He and I haven’t spoken for years (long story). I’ve really been thinking about him a lot recently, so I emailed him with just a short “thinking about you.” I got a response from him saying that he prays for mom, dad, and me every day. *sigh*

  155. Sorry that there is strife between you guys EssBee.
    One of the really saddest things about that is that it is completely 100% possible to pray for someone without estranging them/pissing them off.
    IMHO – If he is wielding prayer as some sort of blunt weapon, then I think he’s missed something in the instructions.

  156. Thanks, JOe. The prayer isn’t the reason for the estrangement. I can deal with prayer pointed in my direction . . . it’s just that . . . well, I won’t get into it here.

    CW: A Fish Called Wanda, which is definitely on my top 10 of all time list.

  157. I have some overly-zealous in-laws that I, on occasion, have to remind that “I’m already Christian.. I don’t need you to urge me in that direction.”

    Just because I don’t blast my beliefs in everyone’s faces doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my faith. It irritates me no end when people use use their beliefs to apply guilt or as a weapon.

    I’m just sharing – I’m not assuming that any of you are experiencing this. 🙂

  158. Hey Pan.

    Dinner is done and just doing a quick hop on to say Cj is a sweetheart. Not anything special, she just has a general aura of sweetness surrounding her.

    That is all. I now return you to your rgularly scheduled Panning

  159. I just figured out who DJ Bunny is. I am t3h dumz. Hi DJ Bunny. But you said out. But I’m totally putting out the Hi anyhow. I need tequila.

  160. Sorry to hear about the Family trouble EssBee. Christians like that drive me crazy. I’m a very strong Christian and I wield it like a soft pillow, an open door and a showing of love. Many people use faith as a reason to criticize and hate… Those people are the reason I hate more organized religion. Trust me those people are doing it wrong and Jack is right Cthulhu will devour them all.

  161. If Canola accidents occur in threes … the rest of you better go lock up your spray cans!
    I just spent an hour in hazmat clean-up. The can of spray Canola I had in the cabnet above my stove, failed containment. Fortunately it was not a sudden, catastrophic failure. More like it just slowly stopped believing in itself as a pressurized container.
    meh
    So everything else in the cabinet had this sticky, slicky mess on the bottom AND a bunch of it had run down the front of the cabinet and into the crack above the stove fan/light unit.

    ick

  162. jJ: What a mess! That’s much worse than a 4 year old with a can of it spraying wildly around the kitchen.

    You have my sympathy!

    I hope nobody was injured or slipped or anything like that.

  163. EssBee – Thanks for sharing the video. Tell Sly B that the music was great fun!
    The Cascabel was teh hot! Made me want to do “the forbidden dance”… or maybe even dances that, while not expressly forbidden, are highly regulated in most states.

  164. CJ – no deaths reported but I will fear flammable canola slowly seeping it’s way through that vent hood till it finally finds a hot light bulb or expose wire. (insert “fretting” emoticon here)

  165. Johnny Null: That license plate image made me bust out laughing so much I woke my wife. Love it.

    You know what’s weird? Listening to a friend’s recording of him playing a harpsicord while the song keeps buffering… like the harpsicord keeps stopping in creepy ways. Fun.

  166. “CTHULHU” is not a valid vanity plate. Please verify that the plate you entered…
    …consists of only numbers and letters.
    …begins with at least 2 letters.
    …is no larger than 6 characters.
    …does not intermix letters and numbers.

    Damn.

  167. However!!!

    As of the first of this month, “TRYSEX” may be available for order. Please submit an application or call our telephone center to confirm availability.

    Note: Because “TRYSEX” is 6 characters, it is not available as a motorcycle vanity plate.

  168. 9-1-1. Please state the nature of your emergency
    This dude just ran us off the road!
    Did you catch the license plate?
    It said TRYSEX.
    I’m sorry, you do realize there are serious penalties for making prank calls to the 9-1-1 emergency system?

    Heheh.

  169. Hmm, Texas recently went to seven letter license plates, but that part of the site is down for maintenance this morning, so I can’t check if a custom plate can be ordered with seven letters. CTHULHU may be able to ride in Texas 🙂

  170. Checked ADOT
    Plate CTHULHU is not available, search again.

    Plate STRTREK is not available, search again

    Plate DEADPAN is available, order now or search again.

    ooooh Jack! Do you see that?

  171. Good morning, J0e, Essbee, Bunny, NS and anyone else who is awake or hello to you when you are awake.

    Yes, Bunny. I did buy something. I wasn’t going to buy anything, but there was something I wanted and now it is mine.

  172. meh

    Apparently I DID start a new frakken yahoo account at one point but I don’t seem to have the correct password AND I can’t just get them to e-mail it to me because I can’t seem to enter the correct info in their “verification” step. Which also means I can never cancel the account and start over so I guess it just hangs out there forever doing nothing but padding their stats as to “Look how many members we have” even though it is DEAD and useless.

    bastards

    this has already taken more time then I had to spend on it this morning.

    NO I DON”T WANT TO PLAY IN YOU DAMN YAHOO SOCIAL NETWORK !!!
    I ALREADY HAVE ONE, THANK YOU !

    grrrrr

  173. jJ: Stoopid, mean, Internet! Gah. I hate when I spend more than like 2 minutes trying to get into an old account.

    I once spent an entire hour and a half reinstating my ICQ account because someone hacked it and changed my password and there were certain people in my life where that was the ONLY contact info I had on them so I felt it important to get it back.

    Needless to say, I was irritated, but had a sense of satisfaction once it was fixed.

  174. Sorry for the tirade. 🙁

    I’ve managed to let my life be defined by the things I haven’t done or have left unfinished. So things like this which are a step backwards for me and an added time sink, just get me livid.

  175. Good morning, Pan!

    I’ve seen a couple of good license plates here in AZ

    DRK JDI is my favorite.

    Oh, an TEB: ADOT =
    Arizona
    Department
    Of
    Transportation.

    Aside from the obvious, they do appear to have perfected the legal singularity, so they are indeed “a dot”…

  176. I’ll be cuddling with a housefull of children tomorrow. I’m having a backyard picnic with all my favorite little munchkins.

    Time to make lunch for one of them now.

  177. CP: Vivaldi Concerto No. 1 in Gm.

    ^^^The bumper music I used in the old Highbrow/Lowbrow segments – – I can never hear this now without mentally adding the burp sound effects.

    Sorry, Antonio.

  178. I’m playing with Pandora today. I put in Delerium with Apocalyticpa (sp?) and Hans Zimmer.

    Very cool mix for writing actually. Although both the Star Wars and Star Trek themes are a little too well know to not be distracting.

  179. cat stole my hand. my good hand at that.

    I spent a good half hour last night railing at one of my little brothers on facebook about why i hate yahoo mail, myspace, facebook, etc.

    i was pretty devoted to yahoo mail until they decided, incorrectly, that they could and should use ajax.

    and as much as i enjoy twitter, it worries me to see then starting to go down the same path. sure it looks pretty. but does it work? wordpress, facebook, and twitter all work ( and look ) different when i go from win opera to linux firefox to win firefox.

    forgot what my point was. i did mention the tired part, right?

  180. JØ: The mass of one Pip Ballantine traveling at relativistic speeds through Macedonia at the correct angle and vector, will penetrate the Earth’s crust and intersect with the LHC test zone, possibly being effected by the magnetic resonance coils (depending on the fourth-dimensional factor).

    All you need to do is work out that whole Space-Time-propulsion thing.

  181. I’ll have to check out Rasputina and the Gobbler some other time. Though Rasputina sounds way less potentially terrifying. The mom has returned, so I can now go to sleep. I would do the happy dance, but I am too damn tired for that.

    I’m procrastinating getting up and actually walking to the bed because that sounds like too much work now.

    Goodnight pan.

  182. Cj: Anything made out of pumpkin is made of win!!!! as long as I don’t make it I can’t bake. My wife just order Pumpkin flavored coffee and I already have pumpkin creamer and pumpkin bread. or maybe I should say:
    My wife just order Win flavored coffee and I already have win creamer and win bread.

  183. Also, I downloaded Nevermore’s “Love Bites” cover. What a treat to hear Warrel Dane go for those Halford high notes and totally nail them. 🙂

  184. reaper: I like pretty much anything pumpkin except for pumpkin pie. I only liked that once and it was while I was very very pregnant.. Just that one time.

  185. Hey Pan! Sitting on the couch, sewing on my lap, falling asleep. Kitty made a cave out of my sewing and is laying against me. It’s very cute but my leg is falling asleep.

    I’m thinking of being evil and playing hooky from MA tonight. Decisions, decisions.

  186. Okay, so the strange room where the gang holes up after the explosion at Ed’s Museum, before going to ChattyBelle to gain entrance to Ivo’s pocket universe is meant to be a decrepit but not destroyed Blue Room at the Gobbler.

    I knew at the time the Gobbler was destroyed, but figured in the RBT universe, at least, the Gobbler could hobble along to the present day.

  187. So, sorry to those of you who follow my tweets and have already seen this, but I love love love this picture I took of my kids watching Up in a friend’s backyard tonight.

    The weather was perfect and there were about 12 kids, their parents, one baby, 2 dogs.. and EVERYONE was well-behaved.

    It was perfection: http://twitpic.com/p2rev

  188. “and the discovery of a large cardboard box in the Capitol Rotunda Thursday that prompted minority whip Sen. Tiddles (R-TN) to call a recess so that he could sit inside of it.” Damn, that’s funny.

    Thanks for the link, Johnny. That show will either be hilarious, or it will wreck the humor.

    nulloperations, I saw you earlier!

    Cj, that is very cool.

  189. Found out my Neighborhood has a forum. Joined it but it is so very empty. Still, such a strange but neat concept. Used to people on forums I talk to being across the country or on the other side of the world, not down the street.

  190. I’m afraid the TV deal for the “SMDS” site will = fail.

    IMHO – What makes that site HI-larious is that it is unscripted comments from someone who isn’t trying to entertain. He’s just saying it. It’s funny because he is like a TV character but in real life.

    When you sitcomize it … he becomes just another grumpy dad character who wonders through the room and throws out abrasive one-liners. TV’s wasteland is filled with the dried up husks of that character and it’s many incarnations.

  191. I assume it will be another reality TV show. Reread J0e’s comment.

    Are we going to have a quiet morning while Bunny is off cuddling?

    Thanks for the inbox of voicemail messages, by the way. You guys make me teary-eyed.

  192. (catch-up post with comments for 4 different people ahead!)

    nulloperations: Go for it! I just hit 10,000 words yesterday afternoon, and I’m planning to do another long writing session this afternoon.

    Oh, how I would like to clean out my stuff from the garage, and some of the stuff in my bedroom. Maybe after I’m done with this year’s NaNovel.

    TEB: Both my school and my dad’s are giving us the day off today, too.

    reaper said:
    I’m a very strong Christian and I wield it like a soft pillow, an open door and a showing of love.

    *high-five!*

    JB: Awesome! I was familiar with the Gobbler before RBT, but didn’t catch that reference in RBT. I wish I had.

  193. Hi, Nomad! Mom is typing away on her NaNo across the table from me, while I rush to finish the last chapter of Cisco Semester 1. I won’t get back to my NaNovel until I’m done with that

  194. Enjoying a day of friends and rockband and lots of little children too!

    Hey, you guys, anyone wanna send my mom an email wishing her a happy birthday? That would crack her up!

    She’s twinklersmom AT cableone dot Net

    You know you want to! 🙂

  195. Looks like WP didn’t like my string of os in response to Cj.

    I have a NaNoWriMo buddy that just wrote me to make me commit to 2400 words a day for the rest of the month. I just made 574. Total. I think she’s out of her mind. It’s good to push your buddy, but I think I just want her to go away.

  196. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. While it is a fascinating show with interesting characters and themes that challenge the viewer…..well, actually, all of that is pretty much why it was doomed.

    I’m glad we’re at least getting all the episodes for season 2. Sadly, this one has just not been able to make a dent in the ratings.

  197. Whatever will happen to my Beloved Dolls? Where will Echo go? What will happen to Victor? And Sierra…. Rrrrowrrr… what will she do? They don’t have the skills to survive in our society… Will they get wedged with their own imprints again?

    Fox is dumb… I hate them…

  198. *hugs for everyone except fox.*

    I noticed that my DVR recorded “V” – too bad Dan probably won’t have time to watch it.

    Look at me.. I got all my work done early and I’m free to do whatever I want tonight… hmmmm play online? I think – YES!

    Google Reader has 600 thingies for me to scan through. I’m excited.

  199. NS: Yep, I sure did! She’s known about it since I started doing it in 2004, but this is the first year she’s had time to do it, since she’s retired now. She is kicking word-count butt! 😀

  200. I can’t say that I’m surprised at Fox. I’d pretty much given up on Dollhouse (again).

    They needed to either tell the big story, the one that made Epitaph One amazing. Tell it, tell it all, tell it till it’s done, and then… be done.

    Or they needed to back off of Ballard and Echo. They are the main characters, the heroes of the story, and when they progress the story ends. So they must stagnate in order to drag out the story. So stop focusing on them, show us the awesome nifty cool little characters for 90% of the show. Do more episodes where Whiskey is the awesome, but don’t mix that up with more boring Echo doesn’t progress nonsense. Minor character all the way through and then have Echo do her trademark highly symbolical minor action at the end of the episode that makes your hair stand on end.

    Then again, I’m one of the idiots who loved Sarah Connor and am digging on SGU. So what do I know. =)

  201. Null – Congrats on the 574. Now, let go of the steering wheel and close your eyes and just let the words flow out of you. If you fall asleep doing this, all the better.

    I wish this wasn’t useless advice. I wish this wasn’t useful advice.

  202. NS: It would be 250,000 words if I had won every year. It was actually:
    2004: 34,000-some (have lost the original final total – didn’t keep a spreadsheet that year)
    2005: 50,443
    2006: 25,325
    2007: 50,292
    2008: 50,210

    …for a grand total of 210,270.

    My NaNo ID is Emiko. Yes, I’m public about it, I just joined that site before I started using my real name on most websites.

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