Month: August 2001

shitty Wesley entry (& congrats)

Today’s discovery: Wil Wheaton (of Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation fame) now has a weblog. Before you start snickering (I know, too late), he’s actually a decent writer and a pretty funny guy. I think he’s got his head screwed on straight. Turns out he cringed at the lines they made him say on ST:TNG as much as we did when we heard them….

Incredibly great news: My brother was hired today as a police officer! This is his first (real) job after getting his 2-year degree and 6 months of certification training in North Carolina. I’m extremely proud of him and happy for him.

rockin’

Earlier this evening, someone put a condom on the handlebar of my bike, which was locked up right outside my apartment building. Upon discovering such a wonderful gift (the gift of latex [and it’s not even my anniversary]), which did not appear used, by the way, I did the only sensible thing possible: I carefully removed it with my housekey and gingerly deposited it in the nearest dumpster. This, 3 or 4 weeks after I find my (broken) bicycle seat (and [non-broken] post) stolen. Why me, people? Why me?

(Maybe it’s because I use nested parenthetical statements [multiple times, even].)

* * *

After the aforementioned condom removal, I rode my bike to the 7th St. Entry to see the Minders tonight. Damn good show. I spoke very briefly with the lead singer Martyn Leaper after the show and all I could really get out was, “I wish you guys could have played longer.” What I really meant to say was, “Your songs are beautiful, you are brilliant musicians, and you really know how to rock.”

Overheard at the concert (names are made up because I didn’t know them):

Tyler (introducing Greg to Frieda): [Greg] plays in a rock band.

Frieda (earnestly): Rock’n’roll?

Greg (deadpan, the bastard): No, just rock.

If it were fiction, my next line would have been:

Tyler: Yes, Greg says the rolling part can get tricky.

And the name of Greg’s band would be Chris Price and the Krackels.

If it were bad fiction, that is.

* * *

This coming Tuesday I find out whether I go on strike or not. Judging from the tenor of events, and the momentum that seems to be building, I’d be very surprised if we accept this contract. (If we reject it, I’ll probably canvass again, in addition to participating in job action activities [e.g., picketing], till the strike ends.)

comix & anniversaries

Hey there! A couple recommendations:

  1. Go to your nearest independent comic shop, or visit Fantagraphics online, and pick up Dan Clowes’ Ghost World, a compilation of stories about two teenage girls that have appeared in his brilliant Eightball series.
  2. Then go see the movie he co-wrote with director Terry Zwigoff, of Crumb fame. Ghost World the movie was, well, worth the wait.
  3. Wow, and on the Ghost World movie site (Flash), check out Steve Buscemi‘s selected filmography. What a great, underrated actor. I especially love his work with the Coen brothers. [Sheesh, that’s a whole lotta links.]

I saw the movie Friday night with Amber, who originally introduced me to Eightball. It was nice to see it with someone else who could really appreciate it.

Anyway, comics can be art. They can contain interesting and incisive social commentary. Clowes’ work—amusing, affectionately mean-spirited, and sardonic as hell—satisfies both conditions. Funny thing is, of course, only now that Ghost World has become a movie does Clowes get the publicity he’s always deserved.

* * *

This is great: competitive Photoshopping, or Photoshop TennisTM, by Coudal Partners, Inc. and company. Very clever stuff.

* * *

Happy 13th anniversary, Mom and Rich! Hope it was a good one.

the striking web designer

Gee, haven’t been here in a while.

A couple things of note:

  1. Went to Seattle for Thunder Lizard Productions’ Web Design World 2001. I enjoyed the conference and the city immensely (not to mention the beautiful weather). 72 and sunny. (Seems like a long time ago.) I got to meet Zeldman!
  2. Working on strike preparations. Yes, a striking web designer. Virtually all state of Minnesota employees are unionized. We’ve been offered a 2% raise and higher health insurance costs. Great. We will walk, if a majority votes to do so, around September 20th. [The date is now set for September 17th at 6:00 am.]

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