Tripping The Light Phantasm
Posted on | August 1, 2008 at 8:19 am | 2 Comments
I finally went jogging again this morning after a break. It’s not like I’ve had any health issues or anything. I just haven’t had time in the morning lately. And I don’t like running when it’s hot. Yesterday we broke the record for the most consecutive days over 90°, and the heat shows no signs of letting up soon. It’s also been very dry with little precipitation. They say the next three days should top out in the three digits. This is one hot, dry July. But thankfully, there’s no such thing as global warming. The weird thing is that I told myself I was going to really get into shape before the reunion this weekend, yet I ended up hardly running at all the past few weeks, and I’ve been eating like a pig and actually gained 3-4 pounds over the last week. *Sigh*
Anyway, something very odd happened to me this morning while jogging. As I explained way back in this post, there’s a stoplighted intersection I go through on my run every day that is on the night cycle when I start, and on the day cycle when I circle back to it. This means that when I first encounter it on my run, it’s flashing red in my direction and flashing yellow in the other direction. Flashing red means that cars alongside me are supposed to treat the intersection as a stop sign, which they do. Flashing yellow means that the drivers going the perpendicular directions are supposed to slow down and use caution when entering the intersection, which they never do.
I can’t hit the “walk” button, because it doesn’t do anything when the lights are on the night cycle. So I have to wait for a break in traffic, between the cars who have the yellow light, before I can cross the intersection. This is usually not a big problem. Even though I’m running across six lanes of traffic, there usually is not that many cars on the road at that time of the morning.
This morning, for the first time ever, one of the drivers who had the flashing yellow light not only slowed down, but actually stopped at it and waved me through the intersection. It was a dude in a fairly new covered pickup truck. I don’t know if he was confused about what to do at the flashing yellow light, or if he was just trying to be nice, but it shocked me.
Of course the flipside is that it kind of annoyed me. I could’ve been through the intersection faster if he had just gone through it and not slowed down/stopped. There were no other cars on the road. But I do have to say I was somewhat impressed, as most of the drivers don’t even notice I’m waiting there, not even the ones who are waiting at the flashing red to make a left or right turn in front of me. Those people never let me go first.
So, here’s to you, anonymous courteous driver. Even though you probably violated a traffic law by stopping, and you caused me to lose some seconds off my run, it was still a nice and unexpected thing for you to do. I hope the rest of my day is as nice.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 65°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Blood And Thunder” (Poi Dog Pondering)
- “Come Back To Life” (Koufax)
- “Never Again” (Pete Shelley)
- “Go-Go Dancer” (Wedding Present)
- “Soundtrack” (B-Movie)
- “In Love With Somebody Else” (Pete Shelley)
- “Spoke Is The Joke” (The Celebrity Pilots)
The iPod really loved Pete Shelley today!
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “zilla”.
Henching For The Naja-Naja
Posted on | July 31, 2008 at 10:11 pm | 4 Comments
In honor of my 30th High School Reunion this weekend, I’m going to pull out some old comic books from that era and get all nostalgic on your ass.
I have a secret. I’ve always wanted to be the henchman of a supervillain. They’re the cool ones. While the evil overlord frequently gets locked up (or even killed) by the hero, the henchman actually sometimes lives to face another day, and to possibly hench for some other villain.
One of my favorite evil overlords from the old DC Comics days was Kobra. He was this dude who dressed like a snake and was head of a cult. He was always trying to bring about the Age of Chaos or some such nonsense. Since he was considered godlike and worshiped by his supporters, he had an automatic pool of henchman to dip into whenever he needed someone to execute his evil schemes. He didn’t treat them very well, but they didn’t care. He originally starred in a series in the late 70s that was canceled after seven issues. It featured art by the great Mike Nassar. The image above, and the full page it comes from, is from Kobra #6, Jan/Feb 1977. (Note the cobra-head insignia on the his cowl.) Kobra’s big secret in that series was that he had a twin brother whom he shared a symbiotic psychic connection to, and when one of them felt pain, the other did too. He spent the series trying to find a way to kill his brother without killing himself, and he eventually succeeded. After his series was canceled, he became a staple of the DC Universe and went on to arch such heroes as Batman and the Justice Society of America. He wasn’t very good at avoiding cliches from the Evil Overlord list. (Note: “Henching” and “Arching” are two terms made popular by the brilliant Venture Brothers TV show on Cartoon Network Adult Swim. Kobra could easily be a Venture villain.)
So, imagine my surprise when I recently realized that my shoes carry the Sign of Kobra. The only thing I can think of is that I subconsciously purchased these Asic shoes because of the Kobra insignia. I was meant to be part of the Cult of the Kobra God. These are the main athletic shoes I wear when I’m out and about for any reason. They show that I am ready to hench, anywhere, anytime. I long to serve my master, even if it means having to eat bugs and kiss snakes. Even if failure means the Isolation Cell. Or Certain Death. Because that would be a glorious death indeed, in thrall of the great Naja-Naja (Naga-Naga?). My spirit would become one with the great Snake God.
So if you see me skulking behind a plant at the reunion, I’m not trying to avoid you. I’m listening to the voice in my head and planting recording devices in the… plant.
Seriously though, those poor schmucks did not have a good life. Kobra was kind of a dick to his assistants.
Latre.
Pet Peeve of the Day: Naja-Naja gets to wear a much shinier costume than mine.
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “television show doughnuts”.
Next They’ll Be Taking Our Children
Posted on | July 30, 2008 at 5:04 pm | 7 Comments
Today, I’m going to indulge myself in a brief session of What’s Up With That? Note: This entry has been sitting in my Draft Posts since the weekend. This is the first day I’ve been able to use it without more urgent blog topics getting in the way. In other words, I got nuthin’ today.
- I was at a barbecue last weekend where a wasp kept stealing food off my plate. I’ve never, ever seen a wasp do that before in my life. The first time, he carried off a piece of potato salad. Then later he came back for a piece of chicken. The pieces of food were almost as big as he was. At one point, he tried to take a piece that was as big, or bigger, than his body, but he couldn’t fly very far with it and had to put it back. Since when did wasps start eating chicken and potato salad? Does this have something to do with climate change? Their traditional food sources aren’t available, so wasps are evolving to eat our food? Is this going to be a plot of a future SciFi Channel monster movie of the week?
- Lately, I seem incapable these days of correctly typing the word I’m. I keep putting in a quote instead of an apostrophe: I”m. Something is no longer wired correctly between my brain and my fingers. Unfortunately, Firefox’s spelling checker doesn’t even mark it as an error. Though I manage to catch most of them as I type them anyway.
- N and I were shopping at a local mall on Sunday, and the whole place closed down at 6pm. Since when do stores close at 6pm, even on a Sunday? I guess I”m not used to shopping outside of the holiday season, when stores and malls seem to be open 24/7.
- Why has the second season of Mad Men started already, when I still haven’t finished watching the first season? It’s stacked up on my DVR. I’ve watched through episode six, I believe. I can’t even read any articles about the show, because they all divulge things that happened in the first season, and I want to be surprised. Why is there so much good stuff to watch?
Okay, time to stop typing and start viewing…
Latre.
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “gozilla extras matthew broderick costume”. Totally awesome. I think I’m going to get myself a Matthew Broderick costume and make N get a Sarah Jessica Parker costume.
Indignant Again!
Posted on | July 29, 2008 at 8:44 am | 5 Comments
Pet Peeve of the Day: Filth. Everyone knows I’m no prude. But I do rail against inappropriate images in our media that children and other sensitive types may be inadvertently exposed to. I was aghast, aghast I tell you, when I opened up today’s Rocky Mountain News, and there on the cover of the Spotlight section was an “art” image of a woman wearing a pearl necklace and a slinky black dress, suggestively holding in her hand a fleshy-colored rod sprouting something from the tip. Don’t get that dress dirty, lady! The article it relates to has something to do with losing weight in order to please your man. I feel this is wildly over-the-top, even for our sex-crazed liberal-bias media, and I would complain to someone (other than you guys) if I had the energy. There is just no call for this!
(Sorry that the image got cut off on the right side – my scanner isn’t quite big enough to capture the whole cover.)
Latre.
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “how do you believe in god after such a tragedy?”.
A Peppy Little Red And Blue Stew
Posted on | July 28, 2008 at 9:38 pm | Comments Off
I know you all come to FlasshePoint for the very best in insightful political coverage and commentary. In this election year, it’s the one place you can go to for the latest poop scoop. And since the Democratic National Convention is going to be held here next month, you can be sure that FlasshePoint will be Pooping Johnny on the Spot for all the timely, exciting news you crave. That’s what we do here. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
So today, we’ll get things warmed up by going over the current political climate here in the city. Things are at a fever pitch! Why just today, I witnessed a campaign rally outside the Fox 31 studios for Democratic senate candidate Mark Udall… no, wait, I guess it’s for his opponent, Republican Bob Schaffer… no, wait, it’s Udall, definitely Udall. Waitaminute, what are all those Schaffer guys doing there? They seem to be intermingling, and even sharing water bottles and stuff. The two groups of supporters aren’t even on opposite sides of the street! Okay, just WTF is going on here??? Every once in a while, one side will erupt with appropriate chants like “U-DALL SEN-ATE” and then the other side will counter with their chant. This is like some freaking pep rally from hell, where cheerleaders for both teams are in the gym, trying to out-do each other’s routines. This is way too civilized. I want to see some fisticuffs. The only sign of contentiousness is the two guys with pouty faces dressed up in “Where’s Waldo” gear off on the other side of the street, brandishing signs that say something about “Where Was Mark Udall When…”. I really like their costumes and wonder if they’ll sell me one. Those hats look like they would keep me pretty warm in the winter.
Hmmm…. maybe both groups are getting together to protest biased Fox News coverage? No, that doesn’t make any sense. I guess it has something to do with the debate between the two candidates being filmed today at the Fox studios today. That’s the most likely explanation, dull as it is…
If only I had snagged me some T-shirts.
Latre.
Pet Peeve of the Day: I can tell that it’s going to be kinda hard to get around the city for the next month…
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “peeing dog statue”.
The Arc Has Ended
Posted on | July 27, 2008 at 7:24 pm | 1 Comment
Movie Review Sunday!
Sorry, I don’t have any movies to review. The only movie (away theater or home theater) I saw this week was The Dark Knight, and I’m sure you don’t want me reviewing that again. Oh wait, I did watch Stargate: The Ark Of Truth on DVD, but I consider that to be a TV show rather than a movie, even though it’s billed as a direct-to-DVD movie. It ties up a lot of the loose ends from the final season of the SG-1 TV show, which would have been explored in more length if there had been another season. It was pretty entertaining, and the characters were put through the usual dire circumstances which they eventually had to overcome. Even though there was more peril and swearing and violence and blood and stuff than on the TV show, and the visual effects underwent an upgrade, it still played like an extended episode of the show. But it did give some closure.
Makes me wonder what they’re going to do for the second DVD movie, Stargate: Continuum, which comes out this week. I think I’ll rent the Blu-Ray of that from Netflix. Note: I’m not a Stargate fanboy, as I only started watching SG-1 when the spinoff Atlantis started. Nevertheless, I do enjoy the show and was glad to see they were allowed to wrap it up. If only the same could be said of Deadwood, which is now looking like it will never be wrapped up.
I’m just surprised they never (AFAIK) showed Ark Of Truth on the SciFi Channel, so that the fans had to actually buy or rent it. At least Comedy Central seems intent on broadcasting the Futurama movies.
Note: I’m really getting sick of the Replicators showing up in Stargate whenever they need to increase the level of danger. Retire those machines already!
Latre.
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “cilantro taste like soap genetic”.
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