Dozer Online

2004-06-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary
(stolen from TJ)

So Saturday was the wrapup of the birthday celebration. Started with an afternoon viewing of the Chronicles of Riddick movie, which I saw with Gomez. It's a good summer matinee space opera blow 'em up, with more than a passing resemblance to Dune. Great beginning, dull end, good cliffhanger. Next was dinner at Sawatdee with friends - not just for the birthday but also to send off a friend who's spending the next 7 weeks in California (she isn't actually leaving until later this week). After dinner, we wandered around the Clarendon-Wilson area of Arlington for awhile, stopping at the Galaxy Hut. OK place, but the advertised outdoor patio is actually the narrow alleyway between it and the next-door establishment. Night wrapped up at the Boulevard Woodgrill, which left a sour taste in our mouths. Not because of the food; they serve a good rich cheesecake. But we incurred the establishment's cold shoulder for daring to take up outdoor seating without ordering full courses - just drinks and dessert. It was a simple miscommunication, or at least that's how it was described to us - though we were never told about their "dinners only on the sidewalk" policy. Judging from the snootiness of the clientele inside, I couldn't help but wonder if we were being written off as riff-raff, like people took one look at us and figured we were overflow from Whitlow's on Wilson. I dunno. I've been to the Woodgrill once before, and had fine treatment there. All the same, it was a good night.

2004-06-10T23:54:00.000-04:00

Jesus Saves... And Takes Half Damage

A friend reminded me of the "Jesus Saves... And Takes Half Damage" gag. This is a parody of DaVinci's Last Supper Painting, except Jesus and the disciples are playing Dungeons and Dragons. Inspired by the reminder, I did a Google search and found out that this is available on t-shirt. To top that, someone was inspired by the Testament d20 role-playing game and ruminated on what Jesus' D&D stats would be. From the essay:
I'm convinced that when Jesus said, "God, why have you forsaken me?" he was really implying, "DM, why can't I have some more levels, dude?"

2004-06-10T23:26:00.000-04:00

Birthday

I'm 32 today... a nice, sweet, low-key birthday with Liv. Dinner at Austin Grill, two weeks of comic books, the Bubba Ho-Tep DVD and book as gifts, and cards from home, the sisters, and my friends Matt and Julie. This is just the beginning of the birthday festivities; Saturday I'm getting friends together for dinner, the new Chronicles of Riddick movie, and barhopping in Arlington. I'm hoping to check out the Galaxy Hut, a cool small patio bar. It's a combined event with a friend's last weekend in DC before a 7-week trip to the West Coast.

2004-06-08T20:49:00.000-04:00

The past Memorial weekend

Every time I go back home to Cleveland, where I grew up, I never get to see everyone I want to. But it was still nice to go back two weekends ago for the holiday - which happened to coincide with my mom's birthday and a friend's birthday/graduation party. Liv and I flew out of the Reagan National Airport, which was a big relief from BWI. There was literally no security line, and we saved on parking by taking the Metro to the airport. My sister Audrey flew home from California that weekend too, so this was a whole family reunion - maybe the last until our sister Arlene gets married in November. The three siblings chipped in to get a spa certificate for mom, which she appreciated. The weekend was a big karaoke-fest, with the home karaoke machine that my parents love. I even threw in a few songs - Back in the USSR and a few others I can't remember at the moment. Audrey gave a rousing one-woman performance of Bohemian Rhapsody, and Mom even sang Stairway to Heaven (!) - maybe she thought it was a Christian song? I also got my first taste of the City of Heroes superhero online game. My test character was Soul Survivor - a combination of the Highlander and Shaft. If only I had a computer that could support the game...

2004-06-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

Bunny Exorcist

You know you have to see it... A 30-second reenactment of The Exorcist with bunnies.

2004-06-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

Five Days to Midnight

Watched the first two episodes of the Five Days to Midnight miniseries on the SciFi Channel. It's about a professor who receives a package from the future that documents his murder in five days. Stars Timothy Hutton and Randy Quaid - who looks ready for a Dr. Phil biopic. This is a clever show, complex without being convuluted. It's something that you need to watch and pay attention to, not have on in the room while you're paying the bills. I have a feeling that as soon as the show finishes, I'll want to watch it again and look out for clues that I missed the first time around. Too many commercial breaks, though.

2004-06-06T23:28:00.000-04:00

This weekend

It's been awhile since I've gotten to attend one of Kim and Shelly's social gatherings, but I did so this past Friday. These are people who know each other through a number of social groups, volunteer organizations, etc. I've hung out with them several times, and I'm just at the point where I can attach names to familiar faces. This time around, it was dinner at Timpanos in Rockville, an Italian steakhouse which is just a few minutes north of home. Decent place, good company.

Saturday, saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Enjoyable, but the story was a bit drawn out. Which is par for the course with the Harry Potter movies, it seems.

Sunday, a pool party with people from Liv's church.

2004-06-04T02:11:00.000-04:00

No Knight Rider rap album

Sadly, the story that David Hasslehoff is coming out with a rap album is a hoax. However, he does have a new covers CD, David Hasselhoff Sings America, which includes his version of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, These Boots Were Made for Walking, and La Isla Bonita (?!?).

2004-06-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

I'm attacking the darkness

Here's an 8-bit animation of the Dead Ale Wives' classic Dungeons and Dragons skit. It includes a brief gaming version parody of the Beatles' Hey Jude.

2004-06-02T00:58:00.000-04:00

Vin Diesel - Who knew?

Apparently Vin Diesel is a Dungeons and Dragons fan. At first, I had no interest in this Chronicles of Riddick movie. I saw Pitch Black and enjoyed it, but the Vin Diesel character didn't really leave me wanting more. Plus, the name "Riddick" doesn't sound like the kind of guy who would have his own chronicles. Maybe a sports trading card, or a neighborhood bar, but not an intergalactic epic trilogy. But the more I see of the movie preview, the more intriguing it is. Could this be the movie surprise of the summer?

2004-06-02T00:47:00.000-04:00

Buffy cartoon?

Aint-It-Cool-News reports that the cartoon spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer may actually happen now. This project was started a few years ago, and then shelved. Now it may be dusted off to end the Mutant Enemy on TV drought. The show would be set at the beginning of the live TV show, in Buffy's sophomore year - the "new version" of this time that was created by the monks who inserted little sister Dawn into the show's history. Here's an interview with the project's prime mover, Jeph Loeb - who is currently working on Smallville.

2004-06-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

Another night of trivia

Just spent another night of trivia at Murphys in Alexandria. There was a substitute triviameister, and while she was easier on the eyes than the usual host, since this was her first time, the game went a lot slower than usual. We almost won, but the tiebreaker question went the way of the other team. So no Orioles tickets for us this week. This may be our last time at Murphys for awhile. For a change of pace, we may go to another place on Wednesdays - no more Angel on TV, so Wednesday nights are free.

2004-05-15T01:29:00.000-04:00

Who you gonna call?

It's not too late to bid on a Ghostbuster uniform, "considered to be among the top five reproductions by industry professionals."

2004-05-15T01:20:00.000-04:00

Bug out for blood

The other night, I left the patio door open just long enough to let in a dozen bugs of various size. I didn't notice them until the middle of the night, when I saw them clinging to the ceiling. Since I'm such a bugaphobe, I grabbed the closest object within reach, and with a rolled-up comic book I smote mine enemies and smeared their greasy bug guts. All except for the biggest one. I don't know what it was; it was one of those things you see skimming the surfaces of lakes, with a legspan of a few inches. I only clipped that one, taking off one of its limbs. But it got away before I could finish the job. So now there's a five-limbed insect lurking in the apartment, no doubt looking for some vengeance against me. I'm looking around corners, checking the toilet before sitting down, checking the bowl before taking another scoop of cereal, wondering when it's going to jump out. All this, and the cicadas haven't even arrived yet.

2004-05-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

My friend Tina's wedding

Liv and I were just in Cleveland to attend the wedding of my friend Tina. It was quite a show. Lots of people, reception at a ritzy golf club, beautiful weather, homebaked Italian pastries, radiant bride, etc.

I also got to see a bunch of my Cleveland friends, whom I don't get to see often enough. Two of them reminded me that they still check out the blog on occasion. Hence the resumed posting.

Also, finally, a month after the fact, I got to tell people about our engagement (bad me). And I recruited two groomsmen for the big show.

Bad news: I picked up a speeding ticket in Lakewood. Really, I should've known better, as the traffic cops are eagle-eyed and relentless there.

Also got to spend Sunday with the family, which was good. I spent way too much money treating the family to lunch, but that's what I get for not coming to town with a Mothers Day gift already purchased.

2004-04-09T00:07:00.000-04:00

Guess who just got engaged?

Finally did it. The ring was ready on Wednesday, and I had to figure out just how, where, and when I'd propose to Liv. I wasn't in the clearest of mindsets; I was exhausted and grumpy. But I didn't want to wait too long to do the deed; I didn't want to give myself a chance to lose the ring. And I'm going to be in Cleveland this weekend.

So, in a groggy haze, I called Liv and told her we were going out to dinner. She'd been wanting to eat at an Italian place, so I found one nearby.

To be honest, the place kinda sucked. We were placed in the back corner, on the side of the kitchen door, where you're barely visible. Our server was spaced out, dropping her pens all over the floor, forgetting our drinks, hovering over us at odd times.

Also, there was also this totally cheesed out jazz act who was just killing the mood. We'd try to be romantic, reminiscing how we met, and then the singer would start warbling

Feeeeelings... whoa whoa whoa whoa feeeeeeeelings....

and then awkward silence.

In short, the dinner was a consolidation of every first date I ever went on. Except this one actually worked. She said yes!

So here we go. Memorial Weekend 2005. Yay us.

2004-04-07T00:14:00.000-04:00

Harold and Maude

I finally saw Harold and Maude as part of my cultural movie exchange with Liv. I took me two times to get through it. At first, the characters seemed bratty to me. But the second time, I just took it in stride. After all, the movie was a product of the Vietnam Era, when brattiness was a legitimate political statement. Ultimately, Maude won me over. The movie revealed just enough of her character to fascinate, and let you figure out her motivation for yourself - something I always enjoy in movies.

Trivia bit - Did you know that Bud Cort, the dude who played Harold, also played God in Dogma?

2004-04-07T00:07:00.000-04:00

Eye trouble

Turns out it was a cornea infection that I picked up Sunday. It's serious, but treatable with no vision damage. I'm taking antibiotic drops, and I'm about to apply an ointment to the inside of my bottom eyelid. Yum.

2004-04-06T00:59:00.000-04:00

Crying and my first dessert

I actually cooked something on my own this weekend. It's been awhile since I'd pulled that off. It was a simple cranberry apple crisp dessert that I made for a Saturday potluck. It was warm and everything, and even got a complement.

Wrapped up that night watching Training Day on DVD while others played poker. Good acting, but with a few hard-to-swallow plot points (the movie, not the poker).

That night, the crap fairy must have visited me, because I woke up with a nasty irritation in my left eye. It was tearing, red, and itchy the whole day.

Which really put a cramp in the wedding that I attended with Liv. The bride was a coworker of Liv's. I made it through the ceremony, trying to pass off my eye irritation as tears of joy. But I bailed out of the reception, which was a bummer. Liv wants her coworkers to get to know me better, and the feeling's mutual. But not when I'm fighting the urge to claw my eye out.

2004-04-03T01:55:00.000-05:00

Hellboy review

I got to see a free sneak preview of the Hellboy movie on Monday. Here's my review...

For those who don't know, Hellboy is based on a comic book. The premise is that during World War 2, the Nazis tried to summon a demon lord that would lead them to victory. Instead, they summoned a demon infant who was adopted by Allied troops. This infant grows up to be Hellboy, an agent of a secret government organization that fights supernatural nasties.

The movie is kinda corny but fun. It felt a lot like Men in Black, both in the setup (secret government organization fighting otherworldly dangers) and in its tongue-in-cheek tone.

The movie doesn't have much of a plot, if you care about such things. But the heroes are likable, and the clockwork Nazi assassin was cool.

Ron Perleman did a particularily good job as Hellboy. At first, I was annoyed by his cheesy one-liners. But it made sense with his characters, who in demon years is still a teenager. And he played it just how I'd imagine a teenage boy with superpowers would be: boy scout earnestness combined with chip-on-a-shouder surliness, and humorously awkward around girls.

I'd say it's definitely worth a rental or a matinee viewing.

2004-04-03T01:37:00.000-05:00

May you blog in interesting times

So I grabbed a late dinner at McDonalds tonight, and I'm reading Hellboy: Wake the Devil while I'm eating. And I get halfway through the book when an undeniable voice from inside tells me

Dude, it's a Friday night and you're reading comic books at McDonalds. Show some self respect. At the very least, get your butt to a Starbucks.

So it's not the most exciting way to resume blogging. But over the past month, I've gotten a new job and a new apartment.

And I'm on the edge of getting engaged. But that's another story, for another blog.

Times for me are getting interesting, so why not start blogging again. We'll see how long this lasts.

2003-09-09T08:08:00.000-04:00

The return of Opus

Berkeley Breathed is returning to the Sunday funnies with a weekly strip starring Opus the Penguin.

2003-09-07T23:21:00.000-04:00

Failed letterboxing attempt

Liv and I tried to find two letterboxes at the Dunn Loring Park in Virginia, but we struck out each time. It's not clear if the letterboxes were missing, or if we just didn't see them.

2003-09-07T08:29:00.000-04:00

Geek-out weekend

The weekend for me has so far included both role-playing games and comic books. Friday night was another session of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG campaign.

Yesterday, Liv and I attended the Small Press Expo, which showcases independent comic books.

We saw Terry Moore, writer and artist of the excellent Strangers in Paradise talk about his experiences in self-publishing.

I also discovered Sheba, a funny & clever historical/mythological story that I probably never would have heard about outside of the Expo. It's about the mummified pet cat of Cleopatra, who gets involved in the antics and schemings of the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian gods who have fallen out of power after the rise of Christianity and Islam.

2003-09-04T07:58:00.000-04:00

For all you aspiring superheroes...

The Skyray is a personal flying harness that propels skydivers at 186 mph.

2003-09-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

The theory of everything

Put on your thinking caps. The New York Times published an article on string theory, which supposes that there may actually be numerous universes, each with slightly different laws of physics.

2003-09-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

Letterboxing Pt. 2

The second time was the charm. Liv and I found our first letterbox stamps at the Buddy Attick Lake Park. We uncovered two of the three Greenbelt Beverage Animal stamps from the Mobots.

Even though I've lived here for nearly three years, I wasn't aware of this park until I looked for these letterboxes. Since it was Labor Day, there were families grilling and little kids scampering all over the place.

2003-08-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

Letterboxing

After more than a year, I've finally gone letterboxing. Liv and I tried to find the Absinthe box earlier today.

Like a novice, I went walking wearing shorts and no insect repellant. The directions to the box mentioned moving through a trail in the woods. I imagined a full, clear path.

In fact, it was a narrow barely-a-path crisscrossed with thorny branches that caught on my clothing every other step. Fortunately, I came out with only one mosquito bite and a few small scratches.

We never found the box, nor the "huge huge double tree" that the directions listed as the box's location. Our guess was that the tree may have been knocked down during the recent nasty thunderstorms.

Still, it was a nice walk around the Lake Artemesia park.

2003-08-29T18:24:00.000-04:00

Sick day reading

I've been fighting off a cold since yesterday.

While I've been resting, at Liv's recommendation, I've started reading Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus J. Borg.

2003-08-18T08:33:00.000-04:00

Catching up on my reading

I spent much of yesterday reading news articles to inspire my creative writing. Subjects included random number generators and documenting the territory of Amazon tribes.

2003-07-31T16:32:00.000-04:00

Ping Pong Reloaded

In case you haven't seen it yet: ping pong, Matrix style.

2003-07-30T08:26:00.000-04:00

Lebowski Fest

Here's an interesting vacation destination... the Lebowski Fest.

Every July, more than a thousand fans of the movie The Big Lebowski gather in Louisville, KY to screen the movie at a bowling alley.

Reigning the court is Jeff Dowd, the guy who apparently inspired the Dude himself.

2003-07-29T08:38:00.000-04:00

I've almost readjusted my sleeping patterns after the Blogathon 24-hour blogging for charity mararthon.

In the end, a total of $210 was raised for the United Way Philippines!

Heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who pledged the Dozerthon: Corey, Audrey, John, Lisa, Daniel, Tara, Bob, Matt & Julie, and all the Anonymouses.

They gave some great, crazy sentences for me to incorporate into a single story. The sentences usually either involved in-jokes from the sponsors or a deliberate attempt to make my writing task as difficult as possible.

I spent the week before Blogathon looking for story ideas in my big collection of news articles. I also borrowed a book on mythic structure as explained by Joseph Campbell to guide my plotting.

But in the end, I didn’t use any of that stuff. The only concept I had going in to the story that I actually incorporated was the general idea of aliens producing an intergalactic reality show on Earth. After that, it was sponsors’ sentences that drove the writing.

I was also motivated by the messages of support from friends while I was writing it. That made the event seem a lot less solitary.

The Dozerthon web site will remain up for the foreseeable future. And I'll definitely do the Blogathon next year.

2003-07-27T09:04:00.000-04:00

2003-07-24T23:48:00.000-04:00

Air conditioning is back! Just in time for Blogathon.

2003-07-22T14:01:00.000-04:00

Hot in here

It's the third day without air conditioning in my apartment, just in time for the 80 degree Farenheit weather and 70% humidity that we've been "enjoying" lately.

I'd be tempted to just leave the freezer door open, since electric is covered in the rent, if it weren't for all the pesky food that I keep there.

Oh well, at least the elevators are still working.

2003-07-22T13:57:00.000-04:00

Blogging comments

For some reason, the commenting feature on Dozer Online stopped noting when comments have been made to entries.

So I've added (includes comments) entries when they have been commented upon.

2003-07-21T23:14:00.000-04:00

Blogathon!

It's official; I'm participating in the 2003 Blogathon this Saturday.

In case you aren't familiar, this is a 24-hour blogging marathon to raise money for charity.

My charity of choice is the United Way Philippines. My parents came to the United States from the Philippines, so I wanted to benefit the land of my heritage.

For the Blogathon, I will write a story from beginning to end. Anyone who sponsors me may submit sentences, chapter titles, or even the title of the story itself for inclusion. So not only do I get to help out a charity, I also get to exercise my creative skills.

If you're curious, or would like to sponsor, you can find more info at my other web site, Dozerthon.

2003-07-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

It's just wrong (includes comments)

2003-07-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

Kenneth, What Is the Frequency?

Last Saturday, I saw Kenneth, What Is the Frequency?, the latest production from raunch-meisters Cherry Red Productions.

The play is a mock documentary that tries to explain a physical assault against CBS News anchor Dan Rather back in 1986. The attacker was reported to have asked the bizarre question that titles the show even as he pummeled Rather.

Most Cherry Red Production shows are notorious for going out of their way to offend with blunt sexuality, outlandish violence, and plain old-fashioned grossness. But that's not the case with Kenneth, What Is the Frequency?

This show features more of a wry, clever, "Isn't that interesting" kind of funny as it weaves its convoluted theory as to who instigated the assault and why. It pokes fun at Dan Rather, but also more broadly at the genre of conspiracy theory exposes (which are always interesting to me).

Kenneth, What Is the Frequency? continues at the Source Theater through August 9.

2003-07-14T10:10:00.001-04:00

Pirates of the Carribean (includes comments)

When I first heard that a movie was being made based on a Disney ride, I rolled my eyes. In fact, I think I rolled my entire forehead.

Lo and behold, Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl turns out to be a really good action film. It also succeeds at being sufficiently creepy without being too gory and terrifying for the kiddies.

My minor quibbles are that a major plot point regarding how to lift the curse isn't really explained. And the ending seemed to pull away from the logical conclusion of what the heroes of the film seemed to be headed toward (Sorry for the vagueness, but this is spoiler-free).

Still, the movie's fun and well worth seeing.

2003-07-11T10:37:00.000-04:00

Science news (includes comments)

So what's going on in the world of science and technology...

The Hubble Space Telescope detected the oldest known planet, apparently formed 12.7 billion years ago (Only a billion years after the estimated date of the Big Bang)
The National Science Foundation is funding work to compute the evolutionary relationships among every species that has ever existed (using a Linux computer cluster at the American Museum of Natural History)
Researchers at Osaka University are inserting a viral protein into the brains of mice that increase their aggression and hyperactivity (28 Days Later, here we come...)
Israeli scientists are developing a microwave radar that can detect buried objects from orbit (Potentially useful for archaeological expeditions and locating mass graves)
The SETI Institute won a five-year grant from NASA's Astrobiology Institute to continue its survey for alien radio signals (years after NASA cancelled its own SETI project)

2003-07-09T00:48:00.000-04:00

Peeing for Justice (includes comments)

Normally, I don't have much of an urge to play multi-player online games. They just seem like too much of a black hole for time and money.

But this story makes me reconsider. It's a Wired News report on antisocial behavior in the Sims Online game.

The tactics of these virtual mobsters include declaring target characters as enemies to ruin their reputations.

In retaliation, players have formed vigilante groups who strike back at Sims extortionists by trashing their characters' apartments and peeing on their front lawns.

This amuses me to no end. After all, who wouldn't enjoy being a member of a peeing posse, dispensing justice and urine across the untamed plains of Simland?

My Sim would stride across the land, with a cowboy hat and an itchy trigger finger, ready to guzzle an Evian bottle and then unzip at a moment's notice.

I'll have to add this to my list of things I'd do if I won the lottery and quit my job.

2003-07-08T16:22:00.000-04:00

Back from California

So what did Liv and I do over the past week in southern California? We:

saw the gardens and museums of Balboa Park
watched the very good movie Whale Rider
walked along the beaches of the Santa Monica Pier
sunned at Redondo Beach

Then there was the Taste of America festival and fireworks display on July 4.

While it was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and the fireworks themselves were great, there were a lot of annoyances that accumulated into a not-ideal way to celebrate Independence Day.

There was the $3.50 ATM usage fee and the inadequate number of food stands for the crowds. That I was able to tolerate.

But there were the hordes of kids running around and tripping over everyone. And the baby carriages bogging down foot traffic. And the baby screaming during the fireworks in front of us. Do parents really need to see fireworks so badly that they must subject their infants to loud fireworks and 90 degree heat? Let alone subject me to their screaming infants?

And then there was the show itself, with crass and overdone corporate branding from Subway (which emblazoned its logo all over video footage of Revolutionary War re-enactments) and Clear Channel Communications (celebrating freedom of speech, as long as it fits on our nationally-approved playlist).

And did the video presentation really need to equate baseball and football athletes with firefighters and police officers?

And was a tribute to the Space Shuttle Columbia really appropriate at an event devoted to things exploding in the air?

Ahem.

Anyway, overall it was yet another very enjoyable July vacation in California. Must do again next year.

2003-06-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

Guess who's in California?

Liv and I are in sunny, pleasant, non-drowning-in-humidity southern California. We're visiting friends for the week, and after a busy schedule of web design, book editing, and other work festivities, a vacation is right in order.

Not that Liv and I are actually together. At least not for the next two days. While she's visiting a friend in San Diego, I'm with a college buddy in Orange County.

While the girlfriend's away, we'll indulge our geek boy natures with all-night computer gaming. Staying up all night in the Pacific time zone will no doubt wreak havoc with my internal clock when I return to the DC area, but this is no time to worry about such things.

In two days, we'll pick up Liv in San Diego and continue seeing the sights, most likely to include a beach or two.

2003-06-26T09:40:00.000-04:00

Migration to Bethesda?

Liv and I talk a lot about moving. Specifically, about relocating to Bethesda, a suburb in Maryland. We work at different locations, and while I have an easy 10 minute commute, Liv has to slog through 30+ miles of Beltway traffic, which can be excruciating (one especially horrendous commute took 3 hours!).

Bethesda would be a decent midway point between our two places of employment. Plus, the town has great restaurants and other places to hang out.

Naturally, it's expensive. I was just talking to a Bethesda resident at a happy hour last night. She complained that when you live in Bethesda, you usually can't afford to do anything there.

So we'll stay put for now and see if Liv can continue to endure the traffic time.

2003-06-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

Spelling bees and crazed killers

Not crazed killers at spelling bees, but the subjects of two really good movies I've seen recently.

Last Saturday, Liv and I saw the movie Spellbound. It follows eight contestants of the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC. The contest was more suspensful than you might expect for a spelling contest. Mostly because the movie does a good job of endearing the viewers to the kids by showing their determination and expectations for victory.

One especially interesting aspect was the vast difference in family backgrounds among the eight contenders. One child came from a modest downtown Washington DC school district and had a beat-up dictionary and a Scrabble board game for learning aids. Another kid had a wealthy California father who was paying for tutors to teach his son the etymology of German and French words. It would have been interesting to see the documentary maker ask this father if he thought there was any inherent unfairness in this disparity of training resources.

The second movie I'd seen recently is completely different: 28 Days Later. In the movie, a virus is unleashed in England that turns people into bloodthirsty infectious killers. The story follows a handful of uninfected who struggle to survive. It was effectively creepy because it didn't rely on cheap scares, like people jumping out of nowhere. There was always at least a split-second warning whenever an attack was imminent. But the psychological toll of the apocalyptic situation was even more chilling. Also, the scariest moment for me had nothing to do with the infected.

2003-06-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Friends in town

I'm feeling groggy this morning, as I was out last night until 2 in the morning.

I was out with friends who were visiting town for work. Jon, the closest of my college friends, was visiting customers in Fairfax; and Tina, one of my many Cleveland friends, was in DC for a conference.

It was tricky finding a place to meet. Jon was staying at a hotel by the Dulles airport in Virginia, while Tina was at the heart of downtown DC. This put about 30 miles of some of the most convoluted, congested roadway in the country between them. Plus, Liv was going to drive to join us after work in a Virginia suburb just on the fringe of the Beltway.

Through much of the day, I was stressing the logistics. But I really wanted to meet up with them both last night. First, it would probably be the only
chance for me to see them during their visits.

Second, I've made a lot of friends at different stages of my life: the Cleveland years, the Ann Arbor years, and now the DC years. I always enjoy bringing together friends from those different stages together. Maybe it's because I like being the only person at the table who knows everybody.

Anyway, I set on the Faccia Luna pizzeria in Arlington, VA. Despite yet another torrential downpour and Tina's late-running conference event, everyone made it. I drove my friends back to their hotels, to spare them the horror of navigating DC's roadways. And when I returned home, it was 2am.

2003-06-13T01:00:00.000-04:00

Crusty guy at Orioles game

I was purchasing a drink at Camden Yard earlier tonight, during the Orioles-Cubs game.

As I handed my money, one of the stadium workers excused himself to go get dinner. "I need to get some food before I die of hunger," he quipped.

The crusty old guy serving my drink then muttered, "Maybe I should cut your throat so that you die first."

I didn't have a good response to this. I just took my drink, said, "Rough day, huh?" and then peeled away back to my seat.

I probably could have said something clever, or asked this guy what his problem was. This would be a more interesting anecdote if I did. So much for my writer's instinct.

2003-06-11T01:05:00.000-04:00

Trivia Tuesdays

Liv and I were just playing trivia with a few friends at Murphys in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

It was our second try, and we won the contest under the proud banner of "Big Poppa Smurf." The prize was four tickets to see the Baltimore Orioles play Philly two weeks from now.

So now trivia night at Murphys is shaping up to be my new way to spend Tuesday nights now that Buffy is off the air.

My addiction to all things Buffyverse should continue to be satisfied by the new Buffy roleplaying game. I've been buying the game books over the past few weeks.

It's not a small expenditure, but the hours of use that I should get out of them should make it a worthy investment - especially compared to the cost of four-hour baseball games...

2003-06-04T08:59:00.000-04:00

Following in the Slayer's footsteps

Last Saturday, I participated in a roleplaying game that is based on the recently departed TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It was hosted by a couple who've been wanting to form a new gaming group. In effect, the day was a test drive for everyone involved, to see if we'd all get along.

For the one-shot game, the gathered players ran with characters from the actual TV show's third season (Buffy's senior year in high school). I took the role of the renegade slayer Faith; I picked her because she's my least favorite character and I thought it would be a challenge.

The game went well, and everyone agreed to continue with new characters that we'll make. Then we spent several hours watching Buffy episodes for the benefit of one player who had neither roleplayed or watched Buffy before.

The continuing game should be fun, combining two of my big geek passions.

It's also nearby, and the commute is a lot shorter than the 40 minutes that it takes me to drive to my other gaming group.

2003-06-03T20:45:00.000-04:00

Week o'sickness

Well, that was fun.

I ended up missing nearly a full week of work to get over my congestion. Fortunately, I never broke out in a fever, but I was coughing enough to be annoying and contagious. So I stayed home, slept a lot, and immersed myself in the Discovery Times Channel.

2003-05-26T00:03:00.000-04:00

Sick on vacation

My cold's not getting any better. As nice as it is to be home, I'm spending much of my visit in bed. I'm surprised I'm actually still up now.

2003-05-24T09:12:00.000-04:00

Flight to Cleveland

I'm in Cleveland now for the Memorial weekend. My family's coming together to celebrate three upcoming birthdays at once - since our family's spread out across the country, it makes sense to consolidate birthday parties when they're so close.

I'm still fighting off a cold, even though I took off work yesterday to recuperate. I was cramped in the corner of the very last row of the plane that took me to my old hometown. Hopefully I haven't gotten anyone else sick.

The flight wasn't very comfortable, but after the weeks of clouds and rain that DC has been under, it was nice to see sunlight again as my plane rose above the clouds. Much time was spent gazing over the cloudscape. One particular cloud formation resembled a steep cliff that under siege by a horde of ogres - I finished reading the Two Towers on this flight, so I guess I had epic fantasy battles on the brain.

2003-05-23T08:50:00.000-04:00

Just in time for holiday travel...

I stayed home from work yesterday to recover from a cold. Liv had picked up my cold, so we spent the day in, resting and watching the first part of the Mists of Avalon on DVD.

I'm feeling better now, but I wonder if the rigors of travel this weekend will wear me out enough for the cold to make a comeback.

2003-05-22T22:04:00.000-04:00

Will bleed for money

Yesterday, I tried to participate in a nutrition study that was conducted by the Department of Agriculture. It would have been an easy way to earn up to $375: a few blood drawings, a few dietary questionnaires, and so forth.

Unfortunately, my high triglyceride measurement disqualified me. I had been taking something for this, but had fallen out of the habit a few weeks ago.

At least I got a free medical checkup.

2003-05-21T08:38:00.000-04:00

The last Buffy episode

Watched the last ever episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It pretty much had everything I wanted to see.

But now what do I do with the 8 o'clock hour on Tuesday nights? I suppose I could read a book, or take a walk outdoors, or call my mom.

Either that or watch American Idol.

2003-05-20T09:53:00.000-04:00

About a Boy

Last night, I watched the charming movie About a Boy. It stars Hugh Grant as Will, an indolent, solitary, middle-aged man who avoids any kind of lasting entanglements with other people.

Then Marcus, a young boy with a troubled single mother, works his way into Will's life, and heart.

Ultimately, in the movie, you can be an island. Just be part of an archipelago. Preferably one with scenic coastlines and topless beachball.

2003-05-19T08:36:00.001-04:00

I need more empty nights

It's been even more apparent than usual lately why writers tend to be solitary; it's the only way they can get any writing done.

Not that I regret having so much to do. At least my schedule has been loaded with fun stuff...

A week ago: A visit to Ohio l for a wedding, graduation party, and Mothers Day

Last Monday: Seeing X2 on the massive screen of DC's Uptown Theater

Tuesday was TV night: the next-to-last episodes for Buffy and 24

Wednesday: Seeing Matrix Reloaded (more on this later)

Thursday: A friend's graduation ceremony at George Mason University

Friday: The friend's graduation party all the way out in Manassas, VA

Saturday: A writing group meeting and another viewing of Matrix Reloaded

Now I need to take care to stay home whenever possible. There are a few calls-for-writing opportunities that I want to pursue, and their deadlines should hopefully encourage time management discipline on my part...

2003-05-06T08:10:00.000-04:00

Thoughts on X2: X-Men United (spoilers)

This is a movie that I can watch over and over. I've been reading the X-Men comic book for years, and the movie really crystallized its heart on the screen.

It had more action than the previous X-Men movie, and the fight scenes are backed up by crisp characterization. Lots of information is conveyed through quick moments, from the way a troubled mutant looks over the family photos of a fellow student to the musical tastes of X-Men field leader Cyclops (this bit nearly had me in tears with laughter). This way, the movie can afford to have so many characters and still give everyone at least some spotlight.

Everyone but Cyclops and Professor X, unfortunately. For a field leader, Cyclops does precious little leading. Also, Professor X is little more than a plot device.

One thing that stood out to me was Sir Ian McKellan's performance. He's less droll and more flamboyant than in the last X-Men, particularly in his operatic prison escape. He also fires off a catty backhanded compliment on the white streak in Rogue's hair (this is pretty vicious, given that she got the streak after Magneto almost killed her). While at moments, Magneto comes off as a spiteful drama queen (no pun intended, given the actor's background), he remains a formidable menace and never descends into Batman-like camp.

There's also a lot of eye candy, and not just from the presence of Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. X2 boasts some evocative imagery, from the last scene of Lady Deathstrike (a name which, thankfully, is never actually spoken) to another character's last stand amidst a threat of biblical proportions.

Like I said before, I wish that the original X-Men comic book creators had gotten some credit for this movie. There's one story in particular that was very much the source of X2's plot.

Still, I must see X2 at least once more, before the Matrix Reloaded captures my imagination.

2003-05-05T00:15:00.000-04:00

Birthday weekend extravaganza

Not my birthday, but Liv's. This was her first birthday that I got to celebrate with her, so I wanted it to be extra special. In fact, it evolved into an entire weekend of festivities.

Starting off with the new X-Men movie. I organized dinner and the movie on Friday night with people that I knew from my high school, my college alumni group, and my writing group.

A dozen of us met at Sawatdee, a very good and reasonably priced Thai restaurant at the Courthouse Plaza in Arlington, VA. Then we waited in line at the AMC Courthouse Theater, which was a minute's walk away. We enjoyed the comfortably warm spring night and debated who would win in a fight between the movie versions of Wolverine and Spider-Man.

I'll save my full review of X2 for another post. I will say that the only thing about the movie that wasn't excellent was the lack of credit given to the comic book writers and artists who produced much of the source material from which the X2 story was derived. At least long-time X-Men writer Chris Claremont got to write the movie's novelization.

So that was Friday. Saturday was the actual birthday. Liv and I spent the whole day together, eating out and taking advantage of Free Comic Book Day.

Then we saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch. In case you aren't familiar, this is a musical presented as a rock concert performance from a washed up German transvestite. In between songs, Hedwig tells the audience about the bizarre turn of events that led to this "tour". The show featured bawdy humor, bitter heartbreak, beer spitting, dry humping on a hapless audience member, and the eternal quest to find one's true self in a haze of rock & roll, gender identity questions, and the end of the Cold War.

On Sunday, one of my DC friends got married in an outdoor Jewish ceremony. The couple looked wonderfully happy together, and the celebration was classy without being stodgy.

All in all, a busy but very enjoyable weekend. This upcoming weekend promises to be twice as busy, so I'll need to catch up on my sleep beforehand.

2003-04-26T22:01:00.000-04:00

Easter weekend

I've just come down from a licorice and Gummy bear-induced sugar high, induced by an Easter candy gorgefest.

I picked up the sugary loot after a visit to the parents last weekend. I also got a treasure bag of souvenir goodness from a sister who had visited Europe, Mexico, and Africa over the past several months.

My family enjoyed an Easter luncheon at a Buca di Beppo. Because what better way is there to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ than to stuff oneself with pasta while surrounded by tacky Italian-American memorabilia?

While we were eating, our server carried her child to introduce her to our table. Am I terribly cynical to think that she did that to angle for a sympathy tip bonus? My sisters thought so, as they scolded me for voicing my analysis of the situation.

I'm not sure when I'll be back to the hometown next. It will be soon, as our family has three birthdays within two weeks upcoming.

2003-04-20T01:57:00.000-04:00

Dar Williams concert

So... Dar Williams concert last night. Liv and I have been fans for years, so it seemed like a natural choice for a Friday night's entertainment.

We bought the tickets in advance, and then later realized that the performance was on the night of Good Friday. Going out didn't invoke any religious qualms, but it did abbreviate our Easter weekend visit to Cleveland.

But the show was worth it. The folk singer/songwriter's performance was melodic and mellow but not boring or monotonous. The musical highlight for me was "The Babysitter's Here", which was a cute-as-a-button song that Dar wrote for her own babysitter of years past.

It was also Dar's birthday, so that gave the concert an extra boost of energy. The opening singer even popped up to give a funked-up rendition of Happy Birthday.

Liv and I watched the show along the right wall of the 930 Club, next to the bar. Beside us was a short guy with a shaved head who danced spastically whenever the music's pace rose above 60 bpm. Where we stood, we had a really good view of the stage. We also had a nice view of the cute college girls who cuddled and nibbled on each other throughout the show.

2003-04-18T19:53:00.000-04:00

The mother of all blogging lapses

Well, I've outdone myself with the blog slacking. While I've been gone, I saw a college buddy get married, fought the Huntbar parasite, and watched a war on TV.

Anyway, I'm back in the saddle, but probably with much shorter entries (better than nothing).

Next up for the night... seeing folk singer-songwriter Dar Williams perform at the 930 Club.

2003-03-07T00:05:00.000-05:00

Wooly Mammoth Theater’s Jump/Cut

The Washington Post just published its review of Jump/Cut, the latest play from Wooly Mammoth Theater.

The show is about an aspiring film maker who makes a low-budget documentary based on his best friend Dave. Said best friend happens to be a brilliant and surprisingly charming couch potato who suffers from severe bipolar disorder. Needless to say, things don't go well.

But the performance was a well done rumination on the deceptive allure of the suffering artist, fame, and medication as a salve for mental disorder.

I saw it during my most recent blogging lapse, with a group that I organized through the DCplay mailing list.

What I enjoyed most was the show's clever dialogue and the skilled performance of the actor playing Dave. The ending is foreshadowed too bluntly for my tastes, but overall I was very glad to see this.

More info about the show is available here.

2003-03-05T00:21:00.000-05:00

Writing

So what have I been doing these past two weeks?

One thing that has kept me busy is the Cat Vacuuming writers group.

Recently, we held our first writers' marathon. We convened under a post-blizzard deluge and spent more than six hours writing at a Cosi coffeehouse.

After a few random topic writing exercises, we conducted an extended world building session. Our guide were the Worldbuilding Questions of author Patricia Wrede. This was a big help for me, as I still need to develop the supernatural background of my long-term novel project.

Last week, the group members began declaring weekly goals. If you don't complete your stated goal, you have to endure the shame of public failure and contribute a dollar to the Cat Vacuuming slush fund.

My goal this week was to read the book Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress, which was quite good. I also caught up on my critiquing of other members' submissions. So no dollar sacrifices for me this week.

2003-03-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

Snowed in

You'd think that being snowed in for four days would give a person plenty of opportunity for blogging. Instead, Dozer Online goes silent for nearly two weeks.

Not that I've been trapped inside my apartment all this time. I've simply been fickle with the journalizing.

Being virtually isolated from the outside world is an interesting way to begin living with someone. Liv and I never got on each others' nerves, but a person can't help but be frustrated by the restricted mobility.

For those of you who don't live in the area, Washington DC is notoriously ill-prepared for snowstorms. They don't happen very often here, so when a blizzard does come by, the area effectively shuts down.

Even when the roads are plowed, the job can be less-than-complete. Turn lanes were commonly left buried, and the snow banks along the streets would occasionally shift into the roads, forcing you to switch lanes

For a few days, the cleared paths in my apartment building's parking lot was wide enough for only a single car to pass through. Drivers entering and leaving had to engage in an impromptu shuffling match.

Once, an impatient driver nearly ran into my car while I was backing up slowly (to avoid plowing into the snow banks).

And bitchy notes appeared in the elevators; complaints from people whose cleared parking spaces were "stolen" while they were away.

The whole experience tells me that Americans will unite under duress only when they have a foreigner to be pissed off at in unison.

Anyway, if you want to see how widespread the snow was that week, check out these images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.

Since the big blizzard, other activities have kept me away from blogging. More on that in future posts (which will hopefully show up sooner than two weeks from now)...

2003-02-19T23:50:00.000-05:00

Big snow storm

A big overnight snow fall has pretty much shut down the city. It's too bad this didn't happen tomorrow; I hate to waste a snow day on a federal holiday. Oh well...

2003-02-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Daredevil movie

No romantic weekend is complete without a superhero flick, so yesterday Liv and I saw the Daredevil movie.

I liked this movie quite a bit. It was faithful to the original comic book, with several lines and images taken directly from the printed page.

Several minor characters in the movie are named after actual comic book creators. So if you hear someone in the theater laughing for no apparent reason, it's a comic book geek recognizing a name.

Anyway, Ben Affleck actually did a good job playing a man wracked with physical and moral turmoil, which you don't often see in the escapist action genre.

Since it's an action movie, it should surprise no one that Daredevil includes plot holes, abbreviated character interaction, some cheesy tough guy dialogue, and some too-over-the-top stunts.

But overall, I was very happy with this. With two Matrix movies, an X-Men sequel, and the conclusion to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2003 is looking to be a good year for geek moviedom.

2003-02-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

Dinner at Dozer's

The day before Valentines Day was very fun for myself and Liv.

Now, for Valentines Day itself, I ventured into territory that is rarely ventured by me: cooking.

Like a typical bachelor, I don't cook very often. I never cook when I can bake, I never bake when I can microwave, and I never microwave when I can call for buffalo wings.

In fact, I once seriously considered using my kitchen space to store comic books.

So I figured that cooking would be a good treat. I prepared chicken cordon bleu bundles, which is actually pretty rudimentary. But it did involve actual sauteeing, which is not a small deal for me.

The dish turned out well, and we both enjoyed it. In fact, I plan to make cooking a regular weekend activity.

2003-02-14T00:13:00.000-05:00

Breakfast at Tiffanys

Here’s a Dozer fact for you: I’ve never celebrated Valentines Day. Sure, I got the occasional card during grade school. And though it escapes my memory, but it’s entirely plausible that I may have given a valentine card or two way back when.

But my romantic record has been so consistently spotty that I’ve never been in a relationship during Valentines Day. So I’ve never had to face that seminal challenge of dating.

Not until now, anyway.

Liv and I started the festivities on the day before Valentines. The Visions Cinema was holding a special screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's. This is one of Liv's favorite movies, and I hadn't seen it yet, so we attended the screening.

Visions had a small restaurant and bar, so we met early for dinner. The theater hosted a free champagne bar beforehand, so the lobby grew pretty crowded pretty quickly. They were even handing out heart-shaped pastries to go with the bubbly.

A group of four crowded into our table space, but no one minded. It was one of those nice social situations where people you've never seen before, and probably won't see again, cross your path and provide for some fun conversation while they're around.

The movie was good also. This was Liv's first social foray into the city since moving here. So I was happy to begin showing her all the nice DC spots.

2003-02-12T21:10:00.000-05:00

All my pride is all I have...

There is one lingering side-effect from helping Liv move this past weekend that is really bothering me.

It's not sore muscles. Liv didn't have anything that was too heavy, so I didn't strain myself. I was even capable of doing jumping jacks during the commercial breaks of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night.

The main aftershock of the move is the endless parade of pop songs that are running through my head.

I couldn't listen to my own musical selection on the road. The rental truck that I drove didn't have a CD player; it didn't even have a humble cassette deck. So I scanned up and down the radio bandwidth during the drive, deluging myself with the most pop music exposure than I'd experienced in months.

The hits du jour linger in my mind. When I wake up, I hear LL Cool J begging for forgiveness over J. Lo's squeaky vocals. At work, the Dixie Chicks sing about landslides. And at night, Avril Lavigne yells "Yeah yeah yeah!" at the top of her lungs because she didn't want to write those two extra lines of lyrics.

Not that I'm complaining. I can thumb my nose at popular tastes as well as the next on-line ranter, but I'm sure a few of these songs will end up on my monthly music mix.

But geez, Budget, can't you at least splurge for cassette decks in your vehicles? Honestly...

2003-02-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

My brush with political scandal

Helping Liv move this weekend wasn’t my first time driving a rental truck. In my first year of college, I worked on the election board for the student government. During the actual election, I spent two days driving a U-haul across campus, picking up and dropping off ballot boxes.

It was actually pretty fun plowing this big motor vehicle across the campus walkways, scattering students in my wake. But my attempts at creative parking racked up a few expensive tickets.

Fortunately, the student government covered the ticket fees. But during the next semester’s election season, an opposition party ran ads accusing the ruling party of spending tuition dollars on parking tickets.

Thus ends my history of political graft and corruption.

2003-02-10T23:32:00.000-05:00

The big move

It's natural for a guy to be nervous when his girlfriend moves in. But I was more worried about the actual moving process.

I had to drive a small rental truck across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Much of this journey ran along the Pennsylvania turnpike, which could get narrow and twisty at times.

In the days before the move, I couldn't help but concoct nightmare scenarios of tipping over and plummeting down the Pennsylvania hills, or fighting off vehicle thieves in hotel parking lots armed with nothing but complementary soap bars and towels.

To my surprise, the trip went smoothly. Liv and I broke up the journey into two parts - vehicle loading and driving to Breezewood PA on Saturday, finishing the journey and unloading on Sunday.

So now the moving is done, and the real journey begins.

2003-02-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

A one-way flight to Ohio

Three nights ago, I was staring down a snow storm. I was driving home from my writers group meeting, and a thick snow fall kept traffic under a slow pace.

As a native mid-westerner, driving in snow didn't bother me too much. But I was worried about how long the snow would last, since I had to catch a flight into Ohio the next day.

I had no intention of flying back. Instead, I would drive a rental truck along the Pennsylvania turnpike and help Liv move to DC. At least I would if the weather didn't get in the way.

Fortunately, it didn't. The snow ended just late enough to close my workplace to non-emergency personnel. At the same time, road crews were able to plow the streets clean before I had to set out for the airport.

The flight went smoothly, and I was able to join Liv at the farewell party that her co-workers threw for her. There were good potluck dishes and going-away presents. Liv's going-away presents were far more dignified that the gifts that I got when I left Cleveland. But that's a story for another time...

2003-02-06T23:44:00.000-05:00

Guest writer at Cat Vacuuming

No writing exercises this week at Cat Vacuuming.

Instead, we had our first guest speaker - Christopher Cason, author of the children's book Even Ground.

Cason began by summarizing his book, which was about an African-American girl who deals with physical disability, low finances, and a menacing bully in a new hometown.

Then Cason talked about his experiences in writing and promoting his story.

For starters, he stressed the importance of "stealing time" for writing. Since he had a full-time reporting job and two children to care for, he couldn't afford to let many moments go by idly. For example, he worked out stories in his head mentally while driving. This is perhaps my greatest weakness as an aspiring writer, since my time management skills are horrible.

He also talked about promoting your work. Even if a writer gets published, the publisher will likely provide no promotional support. So it's up to the writer to get the word out, so to speak.

Book stores are a good venue to set up talks and book signings, as long as you contact the proper person (usually a community events manager).

Newspapers, magazines, and even radio shows can be used to promote a book. The trick is to send interesting press release material that will stand out in the daily deluge of mail that these media outlets receive.

Cason also noted that conducting book research through phone interviews isn't as difficult as it may seem. People usually enjoy being a resource, as long as they think you're serious about writing.

Finally, he gave a glowing review for the iUniverse print-on-demand publishing service.

Our conversation with Cason took up most of the meeting, so we didn't have much time for our scheduled book talk. This was fine by me, as I never finished reading the book anyway.

2003-02-04T19:48:00.000-05:00

Stephen King on writing

I've been reading the book "On Writing" by Stephen King for an upcoming book discussion with the Cat Vacuuming Society writers group.

The book is an autobiography, but it's full of observations on writing as a process and as a business.

It's a quick read, and I hope I can finish this before the book discussion on Thursday. But I'm plenty busy with cleaning up my apartment for Liv's arrival, so we'll see...

2003-02-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Spycraft game begins

Yesterday, my Spycraft role-playing group began game play.

The game is set in the world of Shadowforce Archer, a James Bond-like setting of cinematic espionage and science fiction.

Our group went through a simple training scenario, so that the players could get accustomed to the rules. The game was fun, and the company, as last time, was enjoyable.

2003-02-02T01:42:00.000-05:00

Saving Tony Danza

Just over a week ago, I made an agreement with another member of the DCplay group to organize an event.

So last night, I put out a call to see the sketch comedy show Saving Tony Danza at the DC Arts Center.

Over a dozen people met at Chez Antoine to get drinks and dinner before the show. The place is small, but it has crepes and a good bar (if you like ciders and fruity beers).

The comedy show was given by three improv actors. It had plenty of clever sketch premises and some good laughs. My personal favorite involved a certain caped crusader who had to endure some financial downsizing after the Enron collapse. The show probably could have done well with shorter breaks between the skits to preserve the performance's momentum. Still, people had a good time.

Afterwards, some of the group parked at the Cities restaurant, yelling conversation over the trendy dance music. Then we indulged ourselves in massive, foot-wide pizza slices across the street.

2003-02-01T18:42:00.000-05:00

Chili and catching up

A friend from my high school days visited me last night. He was on assignment in Norfolk, Virginia, and he drove up to spend the night. I was going to take him on a Capitol Hill pub crawl, but traffic, rain, and confusing road signs delayed his arrival. So instead, I took him to a local bar with good burgers and chili. There, we shared beer and our most recent news.

2003-01-31T21:49:00.000-05:00

Writing group

Well, I haven't submitted anything yet to the Cat Vacuuming Society writers' group. But I'm still plugging away at those random writing prompts. This entry is for the prompt "Every (k)night". There's some pretty clunky dialogue here, but remember, it's all impromptu writing.

Every knight on the chessboard was missing its left ear. Arivali picked up one of the white knights and looked for other marks.

"When I was a girl," Kiran explained, "my sisters and I were each given a foal to raise. I named my baby girl (I never came up with a name, so blank). We nurtured our children, and when they grew strong enough, we raced them through the family wheat fields.

"(Blank) was always the swiftest, and that was one of the many reasons I gave my siblings to envy me. Her beauty was fascinating. I spent entire afternoons marveling at her flawless physique. Not a blemish in her coat, not an ounce of weakness in her entire frame.

"One morning, I found out that someone had cut the tip of her left ear off during the night. The deliberate maiming maddened me, to be honest. Her perfection was lost to me, and I saw no point in keeping her around. I made sure that her death was painless and personally administered."

Arivali looked down and noticed that the kings were missing their heads.

"Don't ask," Kiran smiled.

2003-01-30T23:42:00.000-05:00

Cheating on blog entry dates

You may have noticed lately that there won't be any posts on Dozer Online for several days, and then all of a sudden a week's worth of blogging magically appears overnight.

I've been posting retroactively. That is, whenever I don't take the time to post a blog entry, I'll at least start an entry to set the time stamp. Then I'll go back and fill the entry in later.

Cheating? Technically. At least I'm writing.

2003-01-29T20:20:00.000-05:00

Living in DC

A big impending life change is on the way in less than two weeks, as Liv will come to DC and move into my apartment.

Over the past eight months, we've had a long-distance relationship. While the distance meant we didn't see each other more than once a month, it also added an extra element of excitement and freshness to the times that we were together.

Now, being together will become far more commonplace, and maybe the magic of long-distance visits will give way to petty annoyances and the drudgery of apartment upkeep. And maybe I'll miss the comfort bubble of privacy that I've gotten used to, having my own place.

Still, the companionship will be really nice. I've made friends over the past two years in the Washington DC area, but I don't see many people on a regular basis. When I was in Cleveland, I could drive over to a friend's house on a moment's notice and hang out for the evening. But distance and scheduling (and my own shyness) prohibits that here.

So even though cohabitation is uncharted territory for me, I look forward to sharing my time in the nation's capitol with Liv.

2003-01-28T00:07:00.000-05:00

Truth and miracles: Monday night TV on ABC

Last night, I watched some new shows that ABC was promoting heavily during the Super Bowl: Veritas: The Quest and Miracles.

Veritas was about a globetrotting team of adventurers who searched for ancient relics while being pursued by gun-toting bad guys. The show was like the movie Independence Day, in that you could make a drinking game out of the numerous "homages" to scenes in previous movies. This has heaping doses of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, with a little bit of Entrapment for good measure.

Also, Veritas commits the cardinal sin of making a main character out of the Alienated Teen with a Chip on His Shoulder. Message to Hollywood: No One Likes This Character. From Buffy's Dawn to Angel's Connor to Veritas' own Mini-Keanu, they serve only to annoy.

Miracles showed more promise. It's about a Catholic priest who verifies or debunks miracles, at a time when an impending Big Bad is making its presence known. The show started out with effectively creepy imagery, and it developed an ominous atmosphere of mystery. I'll stick with this show for now, and hope that it doesn't fall into the trap of laying on a thick layer of style to mask a threadbare story.

2003-01-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

Reading Fellowship of the Ring

Inspired by the Two Towers movie and the Platinum DVD set for Fellowship of the Rings, I'm trying for the fourth time to read the first book in Tolkien's classic trilogy.

In my previous attempts to read this, the slow pace of the story's beginning left me uninspired to plow forward. The encyclopedic introduction of the hobbits, the dense descriptions, all the songs and the seemingly countless breaks for meals while on the run gradually wore down my interest, and shook my sense of self as fan of fantasy literature.

So now, I cheated and started reading at the chapter where the hobbits meet Strider. I take the book with me whenever I ride the metro, and I've actually made it to Part 2 of the novel.

I feel confident that I'll actually finish the book. It's interesting to see where the movie deviated from the original text. Hell, I'm even reading the songs and the verse now.

2003-01-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

Once more into the gaming breach

One of the constant recreational activities in my life has been role-playing games. I started with Dungeons and Dragons in my early grade school years, and then moved on to other games well into my post-college days.

I've started gaming with a new group. We're playing Spycraft, a cinematic, colorful espionage game.

Imagine if Q from the Bond movies went AWOL, and took his entire technology team with him. That's the basic premise of our game. Our goal is to track down the renegade scientists and engineers who have gone rogue from a global conglomerate of ultra-secret, trans-national espionage agencies.

The group has met once to set the statistics that define our characters' abilities. The people seem bright and friendly; there are no apparent social misfits that can so often tank a role-playing group.

One interesting aspect of the group is the near-even gender ratio. The players are almost entirely made up of couples.

I'm far behind everyone else in establishing a history for my character. I've always taken a long time to make a unique character that will remain interesting over months of play, and also fit in well with the general theme and direction of the game.

Everyone else is already role-playing the gathering of the characters over e-mail. I really need to get my character set so that I can jump in the fun.

2003-01-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

The Invite Everyone You've Ever Met in DC Happy Hour

On a late weekend night, three friends at a bar decided to throw a happy hour party and invite everyone they had met in DC.

They scoured through their archived e-mail, and flipped through every business card that they picked up over more than a year's worth of volunteer activities, theater outings, and other social activities.

More than 200 e-mailed invitations later, there was the Invite Everyone You've Ever Met in DC happy hour. It was held this past Thursday night at the Hawk and Dove.

Roughly two dozen people braved the frigid night air to attend. It's a good thing more people didn't turn out: we had only a small room in the basement, meagerly warmed by two anemic fireplaces.

The room had large windows facing a narrow alleyway. I wondered if drunken wanderers ever stumbled to relieve themselves there, inadvertently giving a free show to patrons at the Hawk and Dove.

At the start, we all tried to figure out just how we had gotten invited. A few people didn't even remember the person who invited them. But it wasn't long before friendly conversation built up its momentum.

I knew several people in the group, through the Dcplay group and the local blogger community. After participating in the various social mailing list scene, you can count on recognizing at least one person at any given event. Which can be good or bad, but usually good in my experience.

There's talk of continuing the happy hour tradition. I look forward to the next one.

2003-01-24T00:08:00.000-05:00

It's getting cold in here, let's keep on all our clothes

So in case you haven't noticed, it's been damn cold lately, with temperatures approaching 0 degrees Fahrenheit once you account for the wind chill.

The kind of cold where it feels like needles are plunging into your skin.

Honestly, the weather reminds me of my college days in Ann Arbor, MI. I may start getting the urge to change my career direction on a weekly basis.

It has been unfortunate timing that the weather would turn so bad on the week when I would be going out almost every other day.

But I'm just thankful that I have a thick comfortable coat, and heating that is covered in my rent.

2003-01-22T01:23:00.000-05:00

Winter Carnival

Last night, I attended the opening night of the second annual Winter Carnival of New Works.

This was a group of eight 10-minute plays that were put together by the Madcap Players. These plays were selected out of more than 80 submissions from local playwrights.

One of the final pieces was written by Dcplay organizer Daniel Louie. So I joined members of the theatergoing group to check out his latest work and to provide moral support.

With only one or two exceptions, the mini-plays were interesting, clever, funny, or all three.

The last piece was my favorite, in which a man who is grieving his deceased grandfather is tormented by his restless girlfriend as she speculates on the nature of his family dynamics.

In another clever story, a clothing store manager helps a customer with her shopping. They interrupt each other's dialogue so often that not a single complete sentence is uttered. Yet their expressions and actions fully express their feelings and attitudes.

The show is housed at the H Street Playhouse. It runs through January 28.

2003-01-21T00:53:00.000-05:00

Listening to Kerouac?

For the first time, I'm listening to an audio book. It's a CD version of "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac.

I'm not sure audio books are for me. Hearing the narrator interferes with my visualization of the story.

I would expect this tale of wanderlust, soul-seeking, and abandon to be voiced by a manic, raspy-throated young man.

Instead, the book is read by someone who sounds like the guy who announces the endorsement grants on National Public Radio.

2003-01-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

Chicago movie

I saw the movie adaptation of the musical Chicago yesterday, which I liked.

The musical numbers were catchy and vibrant. They were presented as taking place in the imagination of the lead character. So you never stop to wonder why people are dancing and singing in jail. Also, everyone does their own singing and acting, which is always nice to see.

The characters are brash and energetic, but not particularly sympathetic... they include fame-starved killers, a manipulative lawyer, and a corrupt prison warden. But that pretty much crystallizes the popular understanding of Jazz Age Chicago. And everyone dances and sings well, so you're entertained enough to care about them.

One character who elicits some pity is a manipulated husband, played by John C. Reilly (who, along with William H. Macy, has mastered the art of portraying the downtrodden Everyman).

2003-01-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Driving to Ohio

This is an extended weekend for me, since Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday. So I'm taking advantage of the extra time off to drive to Ohio and see Liv.

I left work in the early afternoon to cram as much of the road trip as possible into the daylight hours. In fact, the day provided the nicest driving weather I'd enjoyed in quite awhile... blue skies, no rain, no fog.

2003-01-17T06:46:00.000-05:00

Writing group last night

Another person joined the Cat Vacuuming Society writing group last night. It seems the group's new exposure in the Barnes and Noble newsletter is paying off.

In addition, we got two more writing pieces to evaluate. So group activity is pretty good. Now I just need to get something of my own together for evaluation.

Anyway, most of my writing exercises this week continued a story that spontaneously began forming during last week's meeting. Here's part of the continuation. The prompt for this exercise was "Being young"...

They strode the hospital hallways like giants in rented velvet. Goov was in full character. He stopped being on a date and started auditioning for the next Santa Claus movie. He bellowed his ho ho hos and pointed at all the doctors to let them know that Saint Nick was watching. "You're not cheating on your golf scores still, I hope," he joked.

Kimmie bounced in step with her date for the day. She wasn't paying the camera operator any heed for the first time since the date started.

The camera guy followed three steps behind, focused on the couple but occasionally panning for reaction shots by the hospital residents. Their faces may need to be fuzzed out for privacy reasons, but that was something for editing to worry about.

A few kids flocked around Goov and Kimmie, pattering along the cold tiled hallway in their plastic slippers. One girl in red pigtails glided before them in her wheelchair, leading the parade of toy seekers. The children looked up and smiled at the two Santas, hoping for toys. A few were delighted simply because they were going to be on TV.

2003-01-16T00:12:00.000-05:00

Sneak preview of Return of the King?

Just before I woke up a few mornings ago, I was dreaming that I was watching the last Lord of the Rings movie.

Gandalf was in a red Corvette. Arwen was by his side, wearing a wedding dress.

I haven't read the book, but I'm pretty sure that's not how the story ends.

2003-01-15T00:08:00.000-05:00

Music I'm listening to... Hot Hot Heat

If you like early 80s post-punk rock, you may want to check out the CD "Make Up the Breakdown" by Hot Hot Heat.

The quick, energetic songs evoke memories of Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, and the singer's delivery sounds like Danny Elfman (Oingo Boingo) or Robert Smith (The Cure). But the music is never bluntly derivative.

2003-01-14T00:26:00.000-05:00

Tracking codes on junk mail response envelopes

Back in October, I wrote about junk mail and the customer tracking codes on postage-paid return envelopes.

The point is to discourage people from mailing the envelopes for purposes other than their intended use, i.e. to make junk mailers pay twice for their unsolicited mail.

It turns out that the code may very well be a bluff. I've heard from two people who have seen the same tracking code on their junk mail envelopes: 0016542323019. The envelopes were sent by Capital One and Visa.

Of course, it's easy enough to simply cut out or mark over the code...

2003-01-12T17:01:00.000-05:00

Colossal colon!

Only 54 days until the Colossal Colon comes to Washington DC...

2003-01-11T00:10:00.000-05:00

The value of art versus life

I watched The Train last night at the Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater.

The movie's set in France during World War 2. The story focuses on resistance fighters who try to stop a Nazi colonel from moving a trainload of priceless paintings to Germany. It starred Burt Lancaster and was directed by John Frankenheimer.

The Train has a clever plot that earned an Oscar nomination for best screenplay. Much of its cleverness shows in the numerous ways that the resistance delays, reroutes, and otherwise impedes the train's journey.

Another thoughtful aspect of the movie is the question it poses about what is more valuable: paintings by artists such as Picasso and Gauguin, or the lives of the people who strive to protect them.

Lancaster's character, Labiche, doesn't think the paintings are worth risking lives. He takes on the mission to protect them only because his compatriots are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for them.

Meanwhile, the Nazi colonel who values the art for their irreplaceable beauty is also capable of coldly, ruthlessly killing scores of people to secure the paintings.

I saw the movie with a group from the dcclassics movie-viewing group. After the free showing, we hung out at Cosi's and talked about movies over dinner.

2003-01-10T00:57:00.000-05:00

Impromptu writing exercise

Last night, I attended my first 2003 meeting of the Cat Vacuuming Society writing group.

Here's the result of one of my writing exercises, inspired by the prompt "She had her suitcase with her":

She had her suitcase with her. She swung it and clocked Jim right in the face. He stumbled three quick steps, and then straightened out with his hands held up before him. That way, he was in position to catch the suitcase during the inevitable follow-up swing. Jim yanked it away and threw it across the room.

He just stood and looked at Kimmy with his fists clenched. She held her face downward, but her tear-soaked eyes kept contact with his. Two moments passed. A tear grew ripe and dripped down Kimmy's cheek.

Jim took one quick step at Kimmie, and she flinched back, darting back to the center of the room. Then Jim unclenched his right fist and rubbed the point of impact on his face.

"You packed the iron, didn't you?" he asked.

"Hotels always supply crappy irons," Kimmie mumbled. "They take forever to heat up."

2003-01-09T23:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone they've ever met in DC

Here's something to look forward to: three people decided to throw a happy hour party and invited everyone they'd ever met in town. They scrounged their old e-mail archives and business card collections, gathered from numerous theater outings, happy hours, volunteer projects, and so forth. The last I checked, the invite list boasted more than 200 names!

I was invited by someone I met through the Washington Post Restaurants group. Should be fun...