thanksgiving was so restful and great that i was almost too relaxed when i jumped back into work. i’m not sure if i’m up to full speed yet in terms of mental capacity for productivity, but luckily the stimulating passtime of blogging might be just the kickstart my old cranium needs.

[note: it’s taken me about 15 minutes to write this post so far, because i am also listening to tracks up the tree and apparently i can’t listen and write at the same time, having obviously not accomplished the aforementioned kickstart in any way so far. but we press on.]

things i am thankful for this year include the usuals, family and apparent good health and career success and etc. but more immediately and specifically to this year i am grateful for: having had 7 days off; guitar hero, the best video game ever invented and biggest time sink of the month of november; great books and great films i polished off over the break (soon to be reviewed), the last samurai and good night and good luck; and my new netflix obsession, six feet under, which is totally wonderful.

things i am not so thankful for: allergy season which dares to challenge the good health mentioned above; the completely average new harry potter film, which i gladly saw for free with my siblings over the break but found to be totally like every other harry potter thing already made; my current hangover.

luckily that last one wasn’t on my list when i was actually at home with my parents eating holiday dinner, it just so happens mike was down from SF for the night yesterday and we got a couple too many pitchers at ye olde cat and fiddle. it was a rollicking good time, but today — ugh.

[note: think i just hit the 40 minute mark on this puppy. SO not kickstarted.]

sorta torn this week on the pay day song i should choose. it’s between a track by the long winters that’s popping up on the main barsuk records page right now, that i first heard on a podcast over at donewaiting.com (whew, that was a lot of links), and a track off the dangerdoom album that has been kicking ass on my commute for like a month now.

ultimately i think i’m going to have to go with the former, because it’s just one fantastic song, where as the doom stuff works better as an album… although the standout track that springs to mind will make a great one next month i’m sure. so you should download ultimatum, a wonderfully sweet little melody that gets about 10 plays a day since i found it. thank you podcasting for miracles such as this.

now i’ve got to get to amoeba soon and buy both these albums so i can stop feeling guilty about spending all my cash on beer on football saturdays instead of supporting career musicians. i’m ethical!

not to be crass about congratulating the industry of my chosen profession, but every once in a while they do manage to pull off something that totally amazes me. this one’s a british tv/cinema ad for new hi-def tv’s that could have been boring and evoke no emotional response.

instead, they send a quarter million colored superballs down a san francisco street. it’s set to a beautiful song so it’s more of a music video than an ad if you watch the full extended version, which i would recommend even though it’s 3 minutes and might take forever to download. totally mesmerizing.

last night’s grocery store challenge: is that a woman with a moustache and a bad dye job, or a man with a wig and bad fake breasts? of course a real genius would not think about it and just walk quickly away before your appetite for the delicious deli sandwich you bought is totally ruined.

so it looks like tonight after a few quick birthday beers to honor a coworker, i will be going home to rock out with this, which i picked up during lunch today after obsessing about it all weekend. tell me that playing this thing in your living room along to ‘more than a feeling’ (among others) does not sound like a shitload of fun.

and no, i am not gay.

this shit looks AWESOME.

entirely separate from any discussion of the merits of the film below, it should be noted that if nothing else it is a serious barrage of music. i would not be surprised one bit if all the songs used in clip form exist as some massive mixtape compilation in cameron crowe’s closet. most of it though i didn’t really know or notice other than that there was constantly something new to hear. i was, however, reminded in a big way during an important scene of how wonderful the wheat track don’t i hold you is at capturing the feeling of a romantic evening full of stars. so even though it’s old (off 1999’s hope and adams), it justified being brough back as a pay day song.

elizabethtown – 3 stars

the movie, however, was what i would call ‘really greatly average’. at times there was really great dark humor, but at others it seemed like it was trying too hard to be charmingly offbeat. the story on paper is extremely romantic but there weren’t enough moments in the film where i felt like i was seeing people fall in love; it was more like they both thought they were being extremely clever at flirting on film. like i said, there’s a wealth of scene-appropriate music, but so much that you almost don’t get to feel a song before its on to the next track of the soundtrack (how the soundtrack can only be a single disc must have been a tough choice for someone).

i did like some of the characters a lot (the rocking cousing was great), or some of the scenes a lot (the memorial service is what i think everyone’s funeral should be like), and i have to give major credit for this film taking the burden of planning an impossible feat of romantic setup and placing it on the female lead for a change. that, at least, was something i couldn’t remember another, better example of. but overall i’m just not sure i believed it — or yes, didn’t feel like maybe garden state did the loss + right girl in the right place at the right time = true love thing a little better, probably the most agreed upon condemnation of this movie. in both cases, i get the feeling the writer/director was basically just creating their fictional dream girl scenario where they are lucky enough to find the most wonderful, quirky, beautiful female in the world without having to DO anything, and not only does a great relationship ensue but she also makes killer mix tapes. unfortunately i’d still rather see zach braff’s dreams come true than crowe’s, in this case, and can only recommend this one as a rental you’re sure to think is really good in a ‘definitely not a waste of time’ kind of way.

also, this ftrain post is so entirely a scary truth about the relationship i suspect many of the people i know have with the internet. instant factoids probably add little to any of our greater understanding of the universe, sadly, as fun as it is to be the first one to hear about the new bloc party single.

of course, that doesn’t mean i’ll stop writing on a personal website or consuming information so rapidly, but to at least be aware of the ‘shallowness’ of it all might help steer these activities in a more useful overall direction, right?

Does ikea make furniture for strip clubs now?

in the continuing series, my life is ridiculous, we turn to the fact that i have spent several hours over the last week searching for and making a digital collage out of various pictures of monkeys in funny costumes. not in a procrastinating kind of way, in a serious work-related way. also, our ‘department meeting’ yesterday was more like talking about work for 10 minutes then spending the next several hours drinking 10 beers. taking a shot ‘as a team’ was also fun.

boy, with all this hard work, it’s a good thing our bosses decided we deserve a random day off tomorrow. i don’t know what i’d do.

wait, yes i do: look for funny monkey pictures.

i wish i were blogging more lately. i feel a definite loss when i open up the page and see how long it’s been between posts lately. i wish i could say it was only that i was busy but it’s kind of also that i’m not very creatively stimulated lately. this will change, my friends, i assure you. must wake up and write!

this may help: the most creative mashup i’ve heard all year. george bush vs. grandmaster flash’s ‘white lines’? the implications are delicious. and you can dance to it.

oh and holy crap, not to flash back to some passages from the early years of this blog at all (too embarrassing i’m sure), i saw my old buddy shannon sunday which was actually super cool. a classic exchange, referring to a prudential commercial (i think):
me: “why would a financial institution choose a whale for it’s logo? seriously, any theories?”
her: “umm, maybe because whales are really big and you can fit a lot of money in them?”
me: “haha… yeah, plus once it’s in there you gotta imagine no one’s really gonna take it. i guess whales are kind of like nature’s safe.”

passing the point where you think of people as “exes” and they just become “old friends” is a huge relief.

how scary is the idea of hypnotized focus groups? this company feels a little too creepy to be real, like they’re only one step away from vanilla sky or total recall or something. i mean, if you can get the most honest answers about products out of people while under hypnosis, why not just sell them the stuff while they’re under? save yourself some time. it’s especially scary when they use wording like, “Every respondent (even the shyest) gives their own answer and opinion without being concerned about what any other respondent has said. We are now in control of the flow and content of the discussion.” (emphasis theirs).

and of course the highlights of my weekend are the usual… many beers friday night, only this time in san diego after a work meeting on my company’s tab — nice. SC game saturday was a blowout and good time. hung out with the lady friend sunday, only this time in a hotel in anaheim on her company’s tab — also nice.

then i rode my bike to work this morning because (a) i am a badass and (b) the parking lot is under construction and i didn’t feel like dealing with the offsite permits and shuttle vans and what have you, but mostly (a), honest.