Mac vs PC - Transformers Style

/Film had this video posted today, it's very cool.

Merry X-Mas everyone!

Vader Christmas

Funny for about two seconds...then you go mad.

Any Buffet But Old Country

I like eating out at restaurants of all different styles and food types, even the occasional buffet. But I can no longer handle Old Country Buffet.

During my work day, I often deliver nursing supplies to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Since my normal area is Ocean County, there are a number of these that I visit weekly.

I've learned that, for the sake of my own sanity, to avoid the residents and, if at all possible, what can be considered their food.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing old people or those who can't take care of themselves anymore. As one employee told me, she thinks of each of the residents as "someone's grandma" to help get her through the day; I applaud this woman, her compassionate coworkers, and even the poor residents who may not even be fully aware of their surroundings.

But I must admit, at times the residents creep me out a bit. The ones who aren't all there, anyway. I can be friendly with anyone for a few minutes, that's my one superpower. But it's hard to be friendly with someone when they're unresponsively drooling. Or making a bodily function in public. Like I said, creepy. But I do my best. Luckily most of my business is in the industrial areas of these facilities, or maybe at the front desk.

Unluckily, it's in the unseen areas that the foodstuffs are readied or, most horribly, discarded. I don't know what it is about that stuff, but it's all goopy (I suppose so one has no need to chew). And the smell, sweet baby Jesus, the smell...

Long story short, today I was getting new tires and front brakes on my car, and found myself in need of lunch. Within walking distance was a Wawa and Dunkin Donuts, both of which I visit a few times a week during my workday, so I opted for something different. There was also Burger King and KFC, but I usually don't opt for fast food unless I'm in the mood. That left chinese and Old Country Buffet, 'Haven't been to Old Country in a long time, buffet sounds nice' I thought to myself.

I was the youngest customer, the next youngest were probably my parent's age. Everyone else was old. Normally that wouldn't bother me in the least, but all the food had that no need to chew consistency. I suppose this put me in a frame of mind to think of old age homes, I started to see things, notice things that I'd otherwise hardly pay any attention to. Like the guy sitting at the table directly in front of me, who wore mashed potatoes on one corner of his mouth for several minutes. Or the guy who wore his heavy coat and Sinatra-style hat throughout his entire meal.

It was like a horror movie, instead of fixating on drama or gore, I was traumatized by symptoms of old age and loosing one's faculties...and sub-par lunchroom food.

He Thinks He Can Crap Diamonds

Billy Corgan reformed The Smashing Pumpkins (minus some members), recorded a new album, and are currently touring. Normally this would be a good thing.

But apparently Billy Corgan has lost his fucking mind. He's taken to not playing his hits, and closing his shows with weird instrumental numbers (in one instance, a chaotic bad rendition of Pink Floyd's Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun that lasted for over 10 minutes), or by ranting and berating his own audience. This clip, which starts out as a sing-along Everything Is Beautiful, just dissolves into a rant at his own fans. Another show has him insulting the very town he's performing in, to the overwhelming jeers of local fans.

Apparently he thinks this is cool, what's expected, or the true meaning of alternative rock.

Every concert I've been to follows a similar pattern: there's a strong opening, featuring solid hits. This is followed by what I've come to think of as The Long Dry Spell, which, depending on the artist and what they choose to play, can be very dry indeed. Basically somewhere in the middle of the show, things slow down, get more experimental, or the artist focuses on their most current or least popular music. Then there's the end, where the performer typically kicks it all the way up to 11, pulls out all the stops. Most shows feature one or more encores, though a few just finish the show and that's it. Either way, it's a strong finish with the best material.

Billy Corgan apparently believes he can crap diamonds and that his fans will eat it up. But the news, the interwebs, and the blogosphere are exploding with furious accounts of his antics. Let's face it, the current Pumpkins album is mediocre at best; Tarantula is an okay song, I'm So Alone quite frankly I can't stand. Now I'm just a fan of a few songs, but after seeing this, there's no way in hell I'll ever spend money on The Smashing Pumpkins live.

Billy Corgan's not the only one who thinks he can crap diamonds, there's a list that goes on and on, but here are a few of my favorite highlights:

• Rick Berman, who ran Star Trek into the ground after ruining DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, Insurrection, and Nemesis.
• George Lucas, first for the Ewoks, then for Jar-Jar Binks and the adventure of kid Anakin, now for the animated TV series that's Sunday morning animation quality.
• Bill Gates who, to borrow an old joke, doesn't think he can crap diamonds, he thinks he can crap features.
• Stephen King, who went from a modern day Poe or Lovecraft, to retelling his original stories or writing stuff no one cares about, like The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
  

Three Years

I just realized, the yesterday (the 5th) was my third anniversary with Pitt Ohio Express.

This really means two things:

• Starting Monday, I'm not only earning top rate per hour, but also make time-and-a-half for every hour worked over 40.
• More importantly, I'm still very, very, very happy with this job, this company, this workplace and my coworkers

(by way of comparison, I was 3 months into my last job, when I realized it completely and totally sucked and started looking for a way to escape!)