Posted 10:41 PM by John A. Seafisk

Hinterland Who's Who

The woodchuck is found in open woods and ravines throughout most of Canada and the northeastern United States.

A terrestrial day-active animal, the woodchuck hibernates in snowy climes.

For more information, contact The Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa.

Posted 5:33 PM by John A. Seafisk

The best thing about this news story is the last line.

Posted 10:25 PM by John A. Seafisk

I don't recall anyone asking for a "Deuce Bigalow" sequel.

Posted 3:38 PM by John A. Seafisk

Mas Musica!

Here's a little something passed along from Jim that's one of those get-to-know-me-better activities:

Total volume of music on my computer:
23.85 GB (6,622 songs)...and still growing!

The last CD I bought:
"Unemployment" by Kaiser Chiefs

Song playing right now:
"Explode and Make Up" by Sugar

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

1. "Wots....uh, the Deal?" by Pink Floyd - a beautiful, lesser-known song from one of my all-time favorite bands. This is off of "Obscured By Clouds", one of their pre-Dark Side albums.

2. "Touch of Grey" by The Grateful Dead - positive without being saccharine; singing "I will get by...I will survive" can bring you up when you're a bit down.

3. "I Don't Know" by The Replacments - very anarchic; it appears but isn't even on the track listings of their greatest hits compilation, "All For Nothing: Nothing For All".

4. "Revolution" by The Beatles - the rockin'-est song by the Fab Four; the scream at the beginning works quite well as primal therapy.

5. "1826" by Frank Black & The Catholics - perfect 6-minute guitar assault when you need one.


Five people to whom I'm passing the baton:
Jeremy
Lucubus
Maura
Young, New Librarian
Mr. Evilstar

Posted 9:20 PM by John A. Seafisk

Good Humour

The other day, being in the supermarket frozen foods section, I bought myself a box of Firecracker pops. These were the red, white & blue frozen treats I enjoyed as a kid under the consumer name of 'Bomb Pops'. Of course, the geopolitical climate has changed since then.

As I went through the tri-color ice-on-a-stick (but not the whole box in one sitting), I noticed on the sticks themselves little riddles printed on. In this way, even after the snack is gone, you still have something to enjoy! Allow me to share some of the nuggets of comedy I uncovered:

Q: Who Lives In A Sand Castle?

A: A Sand Witch.


Q: How Do Pigs Talk?

A: Swine Language


Q: What Did The Digital Clock Say To His Mother?

A: Look Ma, No Hands!


Q: What Magic Spell Turns You Into A Dinosaur?

A: The Tyrannosaurus Hex


Q: What Washes Up On Really Small Beaches?

A: Microwaves.


Ah, the mirth of it all.

Posted 12:13 AM by John A. Seafisk

I think I'm finally done with the Pepsi/iTunes Free Music Crusade. It's getting harder to find bottles with the yellow caps, and my more-than-normal consumption of sody-pop is causing my stomach to revolt. So, here's what I proudly claimed and happily downloaded onto my 'puter:

Pixies - Bam Thwok
Phil Collins - I Don't Care Anymore
Quiet Riot - Bang Your Head (Metal Health)
Judas Priest - You Got Another Thing Comin'
Supersuckers - Hey Ya!
Danny Gatton - The Simpsons
New Bomb Turks - The Night Before The Day The Earth Stood Still
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand
Ice Cube - Check Yo' Self
Neil Young - This Note's For You
Eddie Murphy - Boogie In Your Butt
Hoyle Osborne - Maple Leaf Rag

If that isn't eclectic, I don't know what is.

Posted 11:08 PM by John A. Seafisk

My own personal Pepsi/iTunes Free Music Crusade:

1 for 4 so far. Today I tasted defeat thanks to a non-winning Sierra Mist bottle. Before purchasing, I tried looking through the bottle to see if I could tell what was on the cap underneath...but 'twas to no avail. And I had a feeling the Sav-On cameras were turning my way, so I bought it after all. Besides, who am I to deprive PepsiCo of straight $1.29 profit, plus CRV?

Here's hoping they start putting iTunes offers on the Pepsi product I enjoy over all overs - Pepsi Vanilla.

Posted 7:21 PM by John A. Seafisk

Link Math:

Napoleon - Emperor & military leader of France.

+

Alfred Nobel - Inventor of dynamite & establisher of the prizes that bear his name.

=

Preston, Idaho - setting of the recently-viewed-by-me film "Napoleon Dynamite".

Sweet!

Posted 1:26 AM by John A. Seafisk

I actually saw snow on Wednesday. It was up in the San Gabriel Mountains, the towering peaks northeast of Los Angeles proper. Driving along the 210 (a.k.a. The Foothill Freeway), I noticed some of the peaks blanketed in white. This has been due to the recent deluge of precipitaion to fall in the southern California vicinity.

The higher-altitude Colorado-esque range beckoned me to take a closer look. So I exited Mountain Avenue and head north, on the way to Mount Baldy. As the road twisted and turned, I could see the small traces of snow on the sides of the highway. By the time I passed through Mount Baldy Village, the traces were now full-fledged snowpacks. Cars were parked along the road; families were building snowpeople and throwing snowballs. Luckily none of the snowballs were aimed at me, which is prohibited anyway, as posted on numerous national park signs usually reserved for fire danger warnings.

As I wound up, a snowplow wound down. I was one of the first cars to enjoy his road-clearing efforts. And it was black asphalt all the way to the end of the road. Another hundred feet up, I could see the edge of the cloud cover, obscuring the top of the mountain itself. Having made it as far as I could, I turned around and began my journey downward.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera on me. All the images are stored in that great analytical machines known as my brain. But it was pretty cool, believe me.

Instead, here's a story about 2 folks trying to get local TV reception to Mount Baldy Village.

Posted 10:09 PM by John A. Seafisk

After a short (OK, long) hiatus, I resumed movie renting. The 3 I chose (no more, no less) were:

Napoleon Dynamite - Good, but kind of an up-in-the-air ending.

Shrek II - OK, not as good as the 1st.

Anchorman - Much funnier than I thought it would be. I had the same reaction when I first saw "The Brady Bunch Movie".

LINK OF THE DAY:

Since 'Anchorman' takes place in San Diego, here's the World Famous Zoo.

Posted 1:35 AM by John A. Seafisk

DATELINE - LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN AREA & VICINITY

It's still raining.

Streets are flooding. Massive sinkholes are forming. Mudslides are sliding.

Just the perfect time to have a DSL line installed!

With the higher-speed service, not only will porn be downloaded at even faster rates, maybe this will encourage me to start posting on a more regular basis.

Like posting LINKS FOR THE DAY. Like this one:

Never mind the NHL cancellation, here's a hockey game worth watching (and for a good cause, too, eh?)*

(*From a Canadian news source, no less!)

Posted 2:13 AM by John A. Seafisk

Chek it:

I found Ali G's commencement speech at Harvard:

http://www.hbo.com/alig/harvard.html

Respek.

(juts fist out waiting for equal fist-jutting to commence)

Posted 3:05 AM by John A. Seafisk

There are three known large-capacity pyramid structures in the United States: The Pyramid arena in Memphis, Tennessee; the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, and the Pyramid sports arena in Long Beach, California.

Since I have already visited #2 on my list, this past evening I took a trip to check out #3. This Pyramid is where the basketball and volleyball squads of Long Beach State compete (at least the home games, anyway). I enjoy attending sporting events, and usually the less expensive and crowded, the better. I'm a big fan of minor league baseball, minor league hockey, and of smaller college sports, notably football and basketball.

Since my Saturday evening schedule was clear, I decided to check out "The Beach". I've already attended games at Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara the past few seasons.

The Pyramid sits on the north end of campus. After I parked, I had trouble locating it. Not because the lot was far away or that it was hidden behind various university buildings, but because it was dark out and the Pyramid itself seems to be painted black or a very very very deep blue. From the outside, it literally looked like a set of doors that led to nowhere.

There wasn't even a light on top, or even a red blinking light, which might be a good idea, since there's a regional airport nearby and small planes kept flying over throughout the evening.

Once inside, the Pyramid is much brighter and more spacious. The basketball court & seats are situated in a diagonal layout to the outside structure. And there's plenty of head room, since there's a lot of open space up to the tip-top.

Most of the seats were individual back-bracers, complete with beverage holder in front. There were some bleachers, but they also appeared to be cushioned. The Pyramid was built in 1994, and still felt new & clean. I had a seat 6 rows up just to the left of center court. The crowd was small and the student section was mostly vacant, which I believe is due to the fact that this week was a semester break.

The 49ers (Long Beach's numerical nickname) faced off against Utah State, the team that won the Big West Conference tournament last year and went to play in March Madness. After about 10 minutes, the score was 32-8, Utah State. Guess there was a good reason why Long Beach was 1-7 in the conference before this game.

Right before halftime, the fire alarm went off. Or at least, that's what we thought. All these little white lights began flashing all over the place, and not-that-boisterous buzzers could be heard. But the game went on despite the threat of fiery death, and dang it, I wanted t get my money's worth! During halftime, the PA announcer told us it was a false alarm, so we were all safe for the evening. (It may have been pulled by some of the Long Beach coaching staff, 'cause how else could you escape from a 30-point deficit?) The lights and buzzers stopped just as a 50-year-old woman won a halftime shooting contest.

The rest of the game remained a blowout, with the Aggies winning 75-44. But there was a silver lining to this cloud. Actually, it was more like a silver mug, which was the night's promotional giveaway. Sure, the home team lost, but I got a new drinking vessel out of it.

Long story short, two U.S. Pyraminds down, one to go. Maybe I can send myself to the Fed Ex offices to help achieve this goal. Via FedEx, of course.

Posted 1:54 AM by John A. Seafisk

Is it late January already? My, how time flies.

Let's see, what have I done since my last documented rambling? Well, I....

-Made garlic mashed potatoes & green bean casserole for Thanksgiving dinner

-Attended a Chargers-Bucs game with Jim and a co-worker friend of his (more details detailed further down this page)

-Drank some Windhoek Lager from Namibia

-Helped put out a mini-fire at someone's party

-Got mad at co-workers

-Drank some Boddingtons from Manchester

-Re-made garlic mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner

-Went to Disneyland the day after Christmas

-Watched a Bakersfield Condors ice hockey game from ice-level seats

-Became ill, then consumed a few Coldbusters from Jamba Juice to help eradicate it.

-Bought SCTV Volume 2 to place next to my copy of SCTV Volume 1, while anticipating the upcoming release of SCTV Volume 3

-Got mad again at co-workers

-Drank some Stella Artois from Belgium

All in all, an eventful two and some months. I hope the following year has just as many adventures for me. Like, maybe I'll finally try Steinlager.