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Ah, the good old days. Before people asked left and right: "Adama?" When Pangalin was still a member called Pangalin, and I ran into him once and got nominated for an award. When Mucknuggle still had the first post in the Music Exposure Club. My disastrous thread-making incident. When Crash was still smarter than me - wait, that one hasn't changed. When Zephyrin was still a *%&tard, even though I thought he was a girl that one time. When nobody knew who I was at all outside of the MEC. When I couldn't count to my user number without spending days and days on the task. When ChocoJournal was bright and new, and I actually updated.
Yep. Good times.
Man, that guy is fun to talk to. I called his hospital number, and we talked for an hour and a half before I realized that it was getting late and he pretty much had to get off anyway (some test or procedure or another, I can't remember what it was). I'm just happy that I made his life a bit less boring, though I can't say I didn't enjoy the hell out of the conversation. Early on, we talked about "Heroes", how certain heroes and powers (even down to their 'hero' name) were seemingly lifted straight from a conversation he had with an ex-friend some years before the show aired. Crash also talked about some of his theories regarding the show - DAMN, that dude is observant. Certain things that he proposed make perfect sense, particularly his theories on Mr. Bennet and Niki Sanders - when I look back on it, his theories adds up frighteningly well, and are full of "Why didn't I notice that? It was so obvious!"
Later on, I read his first "Girls I Have Known And Rejected" entry to him, using my keen Oral Interpretation skills (lol), and we talked about how he reads it in his head way different than I read it out loud, and about social experiments involving recording multiple people reading the entry out loud without hearing what the other recordings sound like, particularly if Crash made one reading it how he has it in his mind. Hell, I'd do it. I'd participate. I'd even help set it up if needed.
Crash has this neat way of making incisive and witty commentary on whatever subject is being discussed, and making it seem almost effortless. Sure, he tends to dominate conversation a bit (at least relative to what I'm used to, which is ME doing most of the talking - for all I know, we could have been having a 100% normal conversation like regular people) but it's never one-sided, and he's always saying something interesting and engaging, if not entertaining. I'll let him tell the story himself, but I'm going to absolutely require him to make a journal entry about his late mother's masochist tendencies involving hot peppers and forcing Crash to eat the most crazy hot thing imaginable. The way he tells it is fantastic.
AyB and AyyB came upstairs eventually, so I put the phone on speakerphone and we all talked about various things ranging from fighting games to The Shaggs (best worst band ever). He made fun of AyB for changing the spelling of his name based on his Radiohead fanboyism (a trait I also share), and I was calling him on picking on a sixteen-year-old when I realized that it's basically his job to torment people younger than him. Talk of Budokai and Soul Calibur was lots of fun, including Crash's reenactments of various characters, particularly Astaroth.
Oh, if there's another NE meet planned for this summer, Crash wants in. He'd be willing to drive up, and he even suggested York, ME as a good place, especially for the beaches, the arcade down on the boardwalk, and the Goldenrod. Portsmouth is, of course, right nearby (sup GFFNE Meet January 2007), so there'd be plenty of ways for a meet to find things to do.
You guys really ought to go into his journal and dig out his phone number. It's only a couple entries down. Call Crash, make his day less boring, have a great time talking with one of GFF's eldest members.
Sprout and Sass have both made their summary entries, and now it's time for me to add my thoughts.
YOU GUYS ARE ALL AWESOME! <3 I would do another meet with any of you guys in an instant - all four of you were really cool in person, and it was a total blast hanging out with you all afternoon.
I really must say, I should've been a bit more thoughtful about the whole Coffeehouse thing. If I'd been at all conscientious, I'd have thought "Oh wait, at least some of them, if not all, are probably not religious" or "If they aren't, this'll probably all be pretty weird" or "I'm the only thing they're coming to see, not little kids and stuff." It's just that the Coffeehouse got moved to the same date as the Meet, and at the time I was coordinating the Meet I thought I'd be returning to college tomorrow and this would be my last weekend to attend the Meet. So, I lumped the two together, thinking I was really clever! If you haven't figured out by now, I have a great knack for missing the obvious. I'm sorry about the sheer awkwardness, but I'm glad you guys came and that you had a good time anyways.
Man ALIVE, my performance could have been a million times better. If they hadn't thrown the fundraiser that far ahead in the year's schedule, I'd have had more time to prepare and practice. Probably would've written a better song. There was supposed to be a drum track as well, which I'd play from a laptop through an amp, but the laptop had no battery power. That was a big contributor in certain parts of that performance falling apart. Oh, well. We did okay.
Sassu - I didn't realize that you'd put twenty bucks into that 50/50 raffle ;__; you should've won, that would've been way too great.
I couldn't hear Jordan's soloing during the second half, what did you guys think of it? I'm trying to turn that beast into a song for an Open Forum album, and I want some feedback. You guys didn't get to hear the drums, and the leveling was far from perfect, but I think you all got the gist of it.
The Portsmouth segments were both amazing, I thought. I'm still lolin' at Opeth playing when Sprout and I walk in and Sprout declaring "It must be fate!" Clearly, we were meant to be friends - Michael Akerfeldt agrees! Sass, Dope, Plarom, and Sprout - meeting you all in person was an experience beyond words. You were all so friendly and nice, and we all got along really well, I thought. The group as a whole just kinda gelled, and that rocked so hard. I know that I talked a lot, and that me and AyB were particularly animated, but that's just how it goes with us. We're crazy. Oh, and the whole Pagan thing - sometimes AyB says stuff without thinking (AyB: "I meant to say AGNOSTIC!"). I can't believe that became the biggest running joke of the night. Legendary!
Oh, and remember Rob mixing Red Bull and Moxie and then downing 30 sugar packets? That's not a Maine thing, that's just a Rob Being Dumb thing. He was still shaking today, as of 8PM - he hasn't slept at all since last night, and claims to still be on that sugar high
This meet rocked pretty damn hard. Even if it were just another 'meet in Portsmouth' deal with the same faces, I'd do it without hesitation. I'm thrilled that something I organized actually worked, and big, big thanks to Sass and Dope for their help in making this work. Again, I apologize for the huge amount of awkward that was the Coffeehouse. Still, we all had a blast last night, and all I can say to that is AWESOME!
Currently Playing: Boards of Canada - Sunshine Recorder
MEET UP: Is this at Gilly's? I seem to recall that being the place where we'd convene. If this is true, people like Sprout are gonna need directions. Or the address so they can mapquest it.
COFFEEHOUSE AT 7PM (Directions in a private entry a couple entries down)
Friendly Toast after Coffeehouse, Kael, Stoob and myself need to be home by 11PM.
SASSAFRASS: Why don't I ever see you on AIM? Like ever? IM me sometime, like seriously ;___;
Because I got a positive and relatively enthusiastic response last time, and also plainly because I can - here's another GP5 rip sample of a track I'm authoring for Open Forum. This one takes a lot more influence from Opeth and Pelican than anything else, and it's got some neat guitar work and some really cool bass lines. I need critiques of it, though, to finish it and improve on what I've already got.
GP5's Realistic Sound Engine absolutely nails the delayed, palm-muted repetition of the theme, but the augmented chords are super muddy - they're strange chords to begin with, but the rendering of them in this medium is a bit rough. Also, I labeled it "01-04-07" just because that's the day that I was working on it and made the most recent changes.
I'm one that tends to enjoy linking samples of my works-in-progress into my journal, so why break that habit? What I have here is another MIDI sample of something I'm writing, but with a twist. I composed this sucker in Guitar Pro 5 (Thank you greatly, Pirate Bay), which utilizes Realistic Sound Engine (RSE) to make an incredible, dynamic, fake instrument sound that blows conventional MIDI out of the water. Now, if I saved this stuff as MIDI and then listened to it in any other program, it'd be all crappy again, so I ripped it using Audacity so it maintains its original quality. Basically, it's an mp3 rip of an awesome-sounding MIDI.
This one is called "enjoy your sleep pt.1", and I'm certainly not done with it. This is being written for Open Forum, that awesome band that several GFFers are in (sup ramoth, Arkhangelsk, Stoob) that crosses several time zones and such. If all goes well, I hope to perform a finished version at the coffeehouse next Saturday - GFFNE participants, this is a digitally-rendered sample of what you might be hearing me perform live in a week and a half!
Note: the melody that kicks in right at the end is going to be sung by me. Probably gonna have an instrument double it, because I really like how that sounds.
I have to run to get to a practice for my Chamber Singers Alumni concert (this Friday at 7pm), but I need to let you all know this now.
The meet is scheduled for Saturday, January 13th, as all of us can make it that day. However, there is a conflict, but I think I can turn it to our advantage. Every year, I MC and perform in a coffeehouse put on by my church's Youth Ministry group by way of a fundraiser. I go up there, do my hosting thing, and do some song or another of my own. Well, this year, the scheduling got advanced WAY the hell up into this month - the 13th at 7PM. Here's my idea:
We all arrive at a certain meeting point at 4PM, hang out, and have fun. Maybe eat dinner early depending on how hungry people are (Gillian's sounds REALLY good). At either 6pm or quarter to 6, Stoob and I leave for York so that we can make it back to to the church in time to help set up and warm up in the space. I'm officially inviting all the rest of you GFFNE Mini-Meet members to attend the coffeehouse - it'll drum up funds for an awesome cause, the yearly Mission Trip, bolster the audience just that much, and allow you guys to indulge in free coffee and homemade pastries and desserts (after you pay the minimal entrance fee). I mean, YUM. Plus, you'll get to sit around, relax, and enjoy some live entertainment from either really cute kids or really competent teens and adults. You'd get to see me exercise my MCing and performing talents, as well as Stoob on bass guitar. You want to see Open Forum perform, right? RIGHT?
You'll even get to meet my folks if you come down =D
Anybody else that wants to leave Portsmouth a bit early to make sure they're on time and get a table up front is invited to do so as well.
It's also a yearly tradition for me, Stoob, and my friend Sam to hit the Friendly Toast after the coffeehouse, so that'd be another cool thing we could do to hang out. After that, who knows? MYSTERY!
There. I finished that bastard of a review, and now I'll never have to listen to that band ever again for the rest of my life. I expect :10bux: for completing the task.
In other news, a "Happy Day-After-December-Thiry-First And Such" entry is coming later.
And now it's time for that movie survey that's been going around.
( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 6
(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 10
( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 10
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 16
(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 19
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 22
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 24
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 25
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 28
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Seven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog (Specifics should be noted, there are more than one version of this movie)
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 32
( ) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 34
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
( ) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 35
( ) X-Men
( ) X2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(xx) Freaky Friday (Specifics should be noted, there are more than one version of this movie)
(x) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 45
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street (Specifics should be noted, there are more than one version of this movie)
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 45
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 51
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 53
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 56
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 Days Later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 58
( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 58
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 64
( ) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 66
Ouch. In terms of raw numbers, that's pretty lame.
Christmas was pretty good today. In terms of gift getting, I made out pretty damn well - I'd say opening my 'big gift' to find an HDD sitting in my lap was a particularly cool moment. That, and the complete Monty Python DVD set - gonna have a blast with that! Also, my dad managed to nab Vinci, which is an incredibly fun out of print board game. It's a game of rising and falling civilizations with simple, yet dynamic and balanced gameplay - a great balance of form, function, and fun. Since the game is out of print, dad had to find it on ebay and bought a German board, which did manage to come with English rules.
AYB and AyB also scored pretty well - I grabbed the Gamecube version of "Twilight Princess" for the two of them, and they also got Shadows Over Camelot, another awesome board game, the Serenity Roleplaying Game, and AyB got a bow and arrow set with a target block. These things, and an assortment of lots of other little stuff, made for a great day gift-wise. Seeing my cousins and eating a wonderful dinner at my grandparents' was a lot of fun, even with the odd confusion regarding our annual Stocking Stuffer affair (that's a story for another time).
Okay, gang, since I have to schedule stuff off from work two weeks in advance by Sunday, I need to let them know really soon. Out of these dates and times:
1. Friday, January 12th, early afternoon
2. Friday, January 12th, late afternoon
3. Saturday, January 13th, midday (noonish)
4. Saturday, January 13th, early afternoon
5. Sunday, January 14th, midday (noonish)
6. Sunday, January 14th, early afternoon
Which ones could any potential meet-maker attend, and for which ones would you be unavailable? I could make any of them.
Another thought is that we don't all have to be there at the same time. If there are some people (like Stoob) who would only be able to show up late on certain days, we could just have certain individuals plan to meet the group at a certain location at a later time. This would mostly be feasible for people who know the Portsmouth area. Good idea? Bad idea?
The Day of the Knife is something that was invented on the 17th, in the University of Southern Maine cafeteria. The dishwashers are notorious for either being slow and leaving us hungry patrons hanging for dishes or silverware, or for doing sub-par work in cleaning the dishes. Just one of the hazards of college life, I guess. On this particular Sunday, I arrive at the cafeteria and find a table with some friends already occupying it, and claim a seat as I quest for edible food. I'm immediately presented with some decent-looking steak, so I grab a tray, a plate, and a helping of steak and steer towards the utensil racks.
I surveyed them curiously, noting how empty-looking they were, and realized that the primary eating tools occupying them were knives. A scattering of spoons as well were there, but no forks could be found. I checked all utensil stations, and was greeted with the same result each time - no forks. Now, I'm a reasonable guy, and I know there's a solution here. I'd read about how in Medieval times, before forks were really a perfected technology, how a pair of knives would be used, and I figured I could make do with such crude wares as well.
My decision to do so raised a few curious eyebrows at the table. Undaunted, I stabbed one knife hard into the steak, using it to hold the meat in place as the other knife sawed through. I repeated this until I had more readily edible portions, and then jammed my primary knife into a small piece of steak. To the delight of myself and the amusement of those around me, all went according to plan, and I ate almost normally.
Being a less-than-usual occurance - even for me - my use of only knives generated discussion and banter, and someone challenged me to eat jello, a perennial favorite of mine, with naught but forks. I immediately left my seat without a word and grabbed a big helping of jello, then returned to eating my steak. After my main course was finished, I dug into the jello, initially prodding it to see what didn't work. Stabbing right into it wasn't a feasible option, so I figured out a new plan - slide the knife under the jello slab I was going for until it was relatively balanced, then lay the second knife across the top of the jello to stabilize it and keep it in place.
Result - flawless victory.
Needless to say, everyone at the table was impressed. In a moment of inspiration, I threw my hands up in the air, a knife firmly clasped in each one, and declared "This is the Day of the Knife!". It stuck, and by the end of the evening, all of us at our table had decided that December 17th was, officially, the "Day of the Knife", in which you could only use knives to eat.
It's a stupid story, but it might explain why the calendar had the seemingly inexplicable inclusion of "Day of the Knife" on the 17th.
I think you guys should totally try and participate next year. I've already marked the GFF Calendar with a recurring (yearly) event, so I'll try to remember and challenge all of you to do it. Maybe even take pictures~
Capo had some good ideas regarding the day:
<Capo> Petition the president to add it as a national holiday
<Capo> "Most Dangerous Holiday Since Independence Day!"
<Capo> Imagine all of the horrible injuries
<Capo> Punctured esophogus
<Capo> That would sting
On the note of Capo, he and I seem to share some sort of Vulcan Mind Meld or something. We kept reading each other's minds, and saying what the other way going to say as they were saying it. Here are some examples (#1 is modified slightly for ease of reading):
Case example #1:
<AA> That track is gonna be friggin' epic
<Capo> I've already said it, but it sounds-
<Capo> Quit reading my mind
<Capo> I was gonna say epic, btw
Case example #2:
<Capo> We're eternal rivals Admiral
<AA> REMEMBER THE RGB MONTH
<AA> BLACK AND WHITE
<Capo> Remember #000000 vs. #FFFFFF
<Capo> Hahaha
<Capo> Great minds, I'm tellin ya
<AA> God what is with the mind-reading
Case example #3:
<Capo> It would just be "OMGBUONO THE HWUDNUOSEN ISUNFDOSA MEIKELNT!!NOIW"
<AA> And then somebody would take it and make a thread out of it
<AA> And it would win "Thread of the Year Forever"
<Capo> And it would win thread of the year
<Capo> omg
<AA> LOLOLOL
<Capo> seriously stop it
<AA> Holy crap, man
<Capo> thisis just scary
