Garage Sale Tally / Graveyard Commentary

Garage Sale Tally

I completely forgot to go out garage saling yesterday (Saturday – the primo garage sale day), but I did manage to get out to a few this afternoon.

Garage Sale #1 had this huge box of flashlights, in packages, with batteries. There must have been at least 40 of them. I might have bought one except there was no sign of a price, nor did anyone seem particularly interested in offering me anything. So if you’re putting on a garage sale, keep that in mind – pricing your items will help them sell. The most interesting thing about this garage sale was that you got a free portrait done by…well by some guy. Looks like he was doing an OK job but I didn’t really get a good look.

Garage Sale #2 – this one was unattended and everything was free. Of course, most of it was crap but there was a monitor and some computer power cords.
SCORE
2 power cords: free!

Garage Sale #3 I stumbled upon quite accidentally – not having seen any signs for it. When I got there some chump was talking the seller’s ear off about Tiger Beer being available in bottles in Calgary but not here. The most interesting thing about this one was that the seller had a very nice British accent – I asked him where he was from. He’s from Stratfordshire. He’s lived in San Diego and Toronto, and doesn’t miss England nearly as much as he does California. That was our 60 second conversation.
SCORE
big backpack: $2
Thrasher magazine: 10 cents

Garage Sale #4 This one was teeming with kids of all ages. Most of it was clothing, but I gathered that the family was of the petite Japanese variety, and since I am neither Japanese and (more importantly) not petite, I didn’t bother looking through the racks and the bins (of which there were at least 4). Lots of shoes too. They had some really nice lamps but I couldn’t really justify buying them, even though they were cheap $5 and, as I said, really nice. I did find some magazines but again, there were no prices. I was interested enough to ask how much they were, but I had absolutely no idea who was in charge so I just kind of yelled in a vague direction hoping somebody would answer me.
SCORE
12 Men’s Health magazines for $3.

I will now comment on a commentary

Last night Ed emailed me about the DVD audio commentary for Graveyard. He rented a mixer from Long & McQuade and I met him at his place, which is 2 blocks from here. Then we walked to James’. Kier-La (James’ roommate and as many of you know, the director of the Cinemuerte film festival, and an old friend of mine) is in Texas right now and when she gets back she’s moving out of the place. She’s lived in that house for as long as I’ve known her (6 years). There is a bunch of free stuff at the side of the house that anyone can take away. I took some cloth and some video tapes. I don’t know the address, but it’s on 19th and Cambie basically and if you email me I can tell you more. Some of the stuff might be rained on by now though…like old Cannibal Culture magazines. Anyway I hadn’t been in that house for probably 2 years or more, so it was like strolling through memory…house. James is moving in with his sister and he tells me that the people in back of the house (it’s one of those split level houses with several suites) are getting the suite that they had – I don’t know who’s getting their old place or why they want to move.

Thor Arrives
Anyway, Ed set up the microphones and we waited for Thor to arrive (his real name is Jon but I much prefer Thor – I know too many Jons, I’ll rant about that another day). Finally we all were set up and we went through the movie once with the sound on, to refresh our memories, and then we went through it again with the sound off, so that we wouldn’t get feedback on the commentary. It was a blast. I loved it. I did a fucking audio commentary! We talked about the usual stuff you talk about on an audio commentary along with all the expected witty quips. Shira, who played “the girl” showed up halfway through and sat in as well. At the end both James and Shira performed a little jaw harp song, it was very touching. Then Shira and Thor left leaving James, Ed and me to do the commentary for the 2 deleted scenes. Ed says that the audio commentary tracks for the deleted scenes aren’t going to be listed, so you just have to guess they’re there and press the audio button on your DVD player. I actually am against secret stuff – what they call “easter eggs” on DVDs. I don’t want to spend time hunting around my DVD menus for extra stuff – just tell me where it is for Yog’s sake. Nevertheless, we did them. We only had to redo the very last delete scene because James started going off on a tangent and asking Ed if he would date a guy and it was just kind of pointless.

Bottomful Fries
Then we sat around, chewed the proverbial fat, and finally decided to go out for food, along with Janet, Ed’s S.O. Ed apparently has this thing for Red Robin’s, which actually was fine with me, I haven’t been there for quite a while. Janet and I shared a plate of nachos and I mooched off of James bottomless fries, which were in fact not bottomless because we got there pretty late so they shut down the kitchen while we were still eating. The service was wretched but at least James was very vocal about it, so that made me feel good.

Boring

Can it really be four days since I posted? Outrageous, you must be thinking. And I concur. Never fear, though, I’m back!

This morning I got an email from someone I went to junior high school with, who I haven’t seen or heard from in 10 years. I actually didn’t know him very well, but he reminded me (well, reminded is the wrong word since I have no memory of it) of something that happened back in grade 8. That’s cool. I think everyone should email me to tell me their memories of me, since my own memory is so hit and miss. Then I could compile a biography, which I would then read front to back and wonder how much of it was true. But maybe that has to start with me emailing people I knew back in school and telling them stories. In which case I’d have to find all these people – thank gawd I get spam from Classmates every few days!!! (Bit of sarcasm there.)

But the good news is that I’ve got this blog! So that in 20 years I don’t have to depend on out-of-the-blue emails to remind me what my life was like. I’ve got my writing and your…

This concludes the science lesson portion of the blog entry.

After yummy dinner at the Mongolian BBQ we watched Rushmore. The last several times I’ve watched Rushmore I had no idea who Brian Cox was. It’s always a cool little treasure to learn about a new actor, and then go back to rediscover him in one of your favourite movies. Brian Cox of course was Striker in X-Men 2, and in Rushmore he was Dr. Guggenheim, the dean of Rushmore (I assume). He’s been in tons of movies I haven’t seen but was also in The Ring, Adaptation and The Bourne Identity – all good and very different movies.

I thought my elders were supposed to be wise.

Yet how come when I went to Wendy’s for a salad lunch I saw a half dozen old people eating there. I mean – don’t they know better than to drink watered down coke?

Tonight Yvonne and I ate at Wrap Zone. They ran out of bananas because of (I say) some freak who ordered 11 smoothies just ahead of us. But the good news is they gave me a card for a free smoothie. So – tomorrow – lunchtime – see you there. After we finished filling out the comment card at Wrap Zone and walking to Roger’s Video, we watched Rabbit-Proof Fence. They didn’t actually show any rabbits – leaving me to ask, where’s the “Proof“? Not as misleading a movie title as 200 Cigarettes or Dog Day Afternoon, but still – I wanted rabbit proof. The fence, they had, so that was good.

The movie was pretty good. We kept making japes throughout it so we kept missing stuff. But even so it seemed to jump over important things rather quickly and, as Yvonne pointed out, there was an abundance of “close calls”. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. Still good though.

Plus Yvonne met Kodos, and vice versa. They exchanged rubbings. Yeah so…that was pretty much my day. Well it was exciting for me, anyway.

Christopher Walken is up for the roll of Willie Wonka in Tim Burton’s new adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hey, Burton! Remember when you used to do originals? I do. Those were the halcyon days.

Washing By Hand? In This Day And Age?

Professor Frink, Professor Frink, He’ll make you laugh, he’ll make you think…

There was this guy…heh heh…at acting class…heh…and he was funny. To look at. Anyway, I already told the story to both Stuey and Yvonne so I’m all pooped out on that one. Sorry.

Here’s another story: the washing machine in our building is broken. I suspect it’s been broken for a few days. I put my load of laundry in with soap and everything before I noticed that the money slot was stuck in the ‘in’ position. So I took my load back out and threw it into the bathtub, and washed it by hand. Can you imagine such a thing? How did they do it in the old days? I asked Stuey if he had a washboard and he said “never ask me that again.” Anyway I gave the forearms a good workout wringing out the towels and then I threw them into the dryer – which was working! I feel so industrious. Strangely, in the laundry room were some baby socks still in the package, something that looked like a turkey baster (also in a package) and a bunch of scratch & win cards from Husky/Mohawk gas stations. There was a free coffee crisp, a free coke, a free pepsi, and a free ice cream bar of some kind. I left them down there because there’s no Mohawk around here. Does anyone want them? Actually…that free coffee crisp is too good to leave down there for one of the other cretins in the building. I’ll be right back….

Okay it was a nasal aspirator, not a turkey baster. And the coffee crisp WAS the ice cream bar. Meaning: coffee crisp flavoured ice cream bar.

The building manager’s roommate invited me to a BBQ for the building. I said I’d consider it and tell Stuey. Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa! I could have told her the truth: that I’d rather have botfly squirming in my neck, but I don’t think that would have gone over well. The people in this building are all very scary, with 2 exceptions. Janine’s scary too but in an artsy way so it’s OK. One time I was doing laundry and I let this guy into the building who was buzzing Erin on the main floor. As I walked away Erin or her roommate let him into the apartment and I heard her ask something, to which the slightly audible reply was “freak boy let me in.” So, I know where he stands anyway. It’s okay – I don’t mind being considered freak boy to the pinks. They can say whatever they want as long as they don’t say it to me. That could bring things dangerously close to a conversation.

Here’s a follow up to my rolaids entry:

My dad sent me an email:
Welcome to the Atkinson curse. G.E.R.D. (Gastro-esophogial reflux disorder). Your Grampa treats his with a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water (about 4 oz.) 1/2 hr. before bed. I on the other hand take a prescription drug daily called Prevacid. In between these are Pepcid AC, Zantac and/or their generic (cheaper) brands, and of course Rolaids/Tums etc. Good Luck, Dad

Then, my mom added:
…don’t forget to eat mush in the morning, also Dad finds he cannot eat lettuce at dinnertime, it adds to his stomach rumbles at bedtime. And of course spicy food will do it to you. Regular meals is best, don’t forget your fruits and veggies. Eat healthy, oh, and yoghurt is the best thing for you, good bacteria for your tummy.

So I guess that answers my ‘burning’ questions (sorry about that). I guess it’s not life-threatening. I don’t have any trouble with lettuce though. Anyway, it’s good to know they’re looking out for me, their one and only son (after Merrick).

Mom Reads My Blog

I found out yesterday that my Mom reads this journal. Hi mom. For the rest of you – I’ll try not to let that influence my writing. But there may be less frequent use of the word “cornhole.” Actually – that was the first one, wasn’t it?

I was hoping to get some work done today, but it didn’t happen. I spent most of my normal working hours on a super-secret project. Now some of you reading this may be thinking to yourselves “oh, I know what project he’s talking about” but NO!!!! No no no. Think again: nobody knows about this project from me. Well, kind of. Yeah, I’m going to stick with that.

So – when’s your birthday? No, seriously – when’s your birthday?

Many sumo wrestlers are in fact Hawaiian

Many sumo wrestlers are in fact Hawaiian

I changed my settings so that this blog is on Samoan time. That way, when I do my entries, as I typically do, at 2 in the morning Vancouver time, it will register as 11pm. That way Saturday night will last until I go to bed, which is typically 3am. Hooray for me!

I took a walk out in the rain today. It was refreshing. Still very hot in here but I think that may be because Stuey was running a hot shower for…well I don’t know how long. Long enough for the smoke detector to go off, which is long. He was trying to clean his silkscreening screens. Yes that’s right – silkscreening.

Well, with the banana peel and the water jug rants out of the way, I think I’ve ranted myself into a corner. The corner of having nothing to say. You know – that corner. Variety-wise, I didn’t do much today. I drew. I could have gone to Rob’s birthday party. I could have gone to see Zombie at the Pacific Cinematheque and voted for Graveyard as the best short of Cinemuerte. I did neither, and rightly so as I really need to get these drawings finished. Sorry Rob and Ed. I’ve got so much to do in the next couple of weeks, it’s nutty. I’ve got gaming sessions, movie dates, VGG meetings, band practice, acting classes, possibly play rehearsals, plus there’s that visit from the queen. Meanwhile I’ve got drawing and writing to do. Now, as promised, the beginning of a list of worldly possessions that would make outstanding birthday gifts (you know…should it come up):

Misc:
Any weapons or armor or period clothing that I could use for D&D modelling photos for my art. You know – morning stars and swords and bracers and helmets and shit. Stuff to go in my tickle trunk.
The Nyarlathotep plush doll
Pirate minis for D&D (25mm scale)
lights, light stands, tripods, other photographic equipment

Music:
Cake CDs (any)
Wheatus CD
Newest Weezer CD (Maladroit?)
Gladiator soundtrack
the new Radiohead

Books:
Why Smart People Believe Weird Things
Dungeon Master Guide version 3.5
Astro City #6 (second series)
Hellboy: Chained Coffin trade paperback
Hellboy: Conqueror Worm trade paperback
Dungeon Magazines after issue 95
Tome & Blood
Deities and Demigods
City of the Spider Queen
Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? trade paperback
Alias (Book 1) trade paperback
Powers, Volume 2: Role Play trade paperback
The Underneath (Alias, Book 3) trade paperback
Life in the Big City (Kurt Busiek’s Astro City) trade paperback
Earth X trade paperback
Universe X (Universe X) trade paperback
Confession (Kurt Busiek’s Astro City) trade paperback

DVDs:
Miller’s Crossing
Superman- The Lost Episodes (fleischer)
Raising Arizona
Complete Superman Cartoons: Diamond Anniversary Edition
Superfriends (I think there are a couple out there soon)

Now some of this crap is way over the $10-20 range. But don’t think for a minute that a used copy of any of this stuff wouldn’t be completely welcomed. I’m not a stickler that way. I’d be happy to get any of this stuff in any workable condition.

I don’t want to be a banana nazi, but…

I’m going to be a banana nazi. I went to the beach avec Yvonne yesterday, and we said hello to many small crabs, in the way that Cthulhu might say hello to you by ripping off the roof of your house and picking you up to see what colour your belly is. When we were satisfied that enough crabs had been greeted thusly, we sat on a log and enjoyed some fruit. I brought a banana. Now it has always been my contention that the proper way to peel a banana is the way that was taught to me by the venerable Tex Avery. Your first instinct may be to grab a banana by the stem (or “handle”, as I just made up) and peel it from there, but consider this: when you see a banana peel lying on the sidewalk, ready to fulfill its destiny, where is the handle? At the top, with all the peel sections radiating out. The handle is the nexus, the very hub, of the whole affair. Like this. So naturally, the way I peel a banana is from the opposite end of the handle (let’s call it the nipple end), so that should I be called upon to initiate banana gaggery, the proper esthetic may be maintained. Sad it is, then, that when people see me peeling a banana starting from the nipple end, there is no end of gasping and mockery. The short-sighted infidels!

Tickled beyond description, was I, when Yvonne peeled the banana…from which end? From the nipple end. She brought up a different (and I’ll admit – maybe a better) reason to peel from the nipple end: often when you yank on the banana handle (that’s not a euphemism) you’ll make the first bite of the banana into a bruised mushy mess. And that’s no good for anyone.

Now the question of preferred ripeness is another matter altogether, and to this end I will simply direct you to Chart 1A. My personal preference leans towards something between colour index 5 and 6. Seven is right out. Yucky poo-poo.

Meanwhile, after the beach we went to this really neato restaurant on Broadway a few blocks west of MacDonald, and it was called………………….(Yvonne? Help me out here).

I’m going to use the word nettlesome in this entry. Watch for it.

I don’t like to fill up the water jug after I take a glassful.

I’ll tell you why. There are days, like today, when I take quite a few trips to the fridge to get a glass (or mug or cup as the case may be) of cooooool, refreshing water. The frigidity of the water is key, in this apartment, as it’s a veritable hotspot both figuratively and literally during the summertime. (Okay maybe not so figuratively.) So, given the frequency that I’m into the Brita, if I filled up the jug with tap water every time I poured a glass, I’d just be raising the temperature of the jug’s contents constantly throughout the day before it got a chance to get really cold. I much prefer to fill it up when it’s empty, which usually is at the end of the day, so the next morning I’m greeted with a big brimming jug o’ brisk clean agua. Do you see where I’m coming from? Away with tepidity! Begone! I’m not a bad man for not filling up the jug right away, am I? Oh tell me I’m good! I just want to be loved is that so wrong?

Meanwhile, not far away:

The Rolaids Dilemma

When I was working at Macneill Library Service, I happened to notice, as I happen to do a lot of things, how very often Jamie knocked back the Rolaids tablets. I thought it was strange. My father likewise always kept a big jar of them (fruit-flavoured Tums, actually) close to his bed. Well, here I am, a few years older, and what’s in my desk drawer, but a jar of Rolaids. Extra Strength (which I suspect means ‘bigger’ tablets) calcium carbonate and magnesia tablets U.S.P., Whatever that means. Over the years I started to get nettlesome bouts of heartburn more and more, usually in the evening, and at first, being the steadfast “bite the bullet” kind of a guy that I am, I would just sit it out – it’s not like it kept me awake or prevented me from doing anything (except for being 100% comfortable). But one night it just didn’t go away, so I finally tracked down a Rolaids and that took care of it. Invariably I’ll get this “heartburn” a few times a week, but it varies tremendously. I might get nothing for weeks, then in one night I might have to take several tablets as the fizzygoodmakefeelnice effect would only quell the beast for a short while. I’ve read some info on the net about heartburn and acid reflux and H.U.R.T.S. or whatever it is – but it’s all very confusing and doesn’t add up to me, so I don’t know if this is regular, run-of-the-mill recurring heartburn that I’m getting or if it’s something more. Anyone have a similar experience? Comment, damn you! Comment below!

Nettlesome: \NET-l-suhm\, adjective: Causing irritation, vexation, or distress.

The Twilight Limits

On my way to London Thugs to get the photos I took of James, Norm and Shawna developed, I found a bottle on the sidewalk. The bottle was filled with gas and when I opened it this big blue Indian appeared out of nowhere with the voice of Robin Williams. He said I could have three wishes. For my first wish I wished that whenever someone hit or was in some other way violent to another person, the injury and the pain would be felt not by the victim, but by the attacker. I haven’t decided what I would do with the other wishes. I wonder how that would affect the world, though. It might not end violence altogether, but it would probably abate it to some degree. I’m sure it would make a startling and ironic episode of The Twilight Zone or it’s little cousin, The Outer Limits.

On a completely different topic, Frank Roberts, who works at Relic and is known to me, brought my attention to this Japanese video of two ping pong players experiencing ‘bullet time’ (as seen in The Matrix and other films) live. It will make you go HA! and OOH! and you should see it while it’s still up. You’ll need a competent media player and a decent internet connection speed. It was pretty jumpy on mine, and of course I have this weird ongoing problem where some video files play super fast, others play super slow, sometimes just the audio has the problems but not the video, &c, &c. But I got the gist of it. Enjoy! http://www.ntv.co.jp/channel/asx/hkzkt10.asx

Incidentally, Frank’s sister Rachel starred as S1m0ne in the film of the same name with Al Pacino. Neat, huh? Embarrassingly now I admit that I haven’t seen it.

Birthday Auction

I’ll have a birthday party some time in the next couple of months. I’m not sure whether or not I should do another auction this year, or go for something a little more “traditional”. Maybe one of my good good friends will make the decision for me and throw me a party, hint hint. I like having my birthday auctions because they’re always a lot of fun, and it’s a very communal thing: The deal is, the party gets arranged with food and cake and all the rest, but instead of the guests bringing me gifts, they bring stuff from their homes that they’d like to get rid of, and put it in a big pile on the table. I do the same – take a bunch of crap I’ve accumulated over the years and we have a big auction. Once the auction is over, people hand over their cash which (hopefully) pays off the party “expenses” and the remainder serves as my birthday present! It’s a neat little system that I came up with a few years ago, and everyone seems to like it. People who want to can purge their homes of clutter, others who want to add to their clutter can do so, and proceeds go towards my heroine habit. But this year, there’s a bunch of very specific goodies out there in the wide world that I’d love to get my hands on, CDs and books, particularly, and since I’m more hard-pressed for cash than usual these days, the old stand-by “birthday party with hot dogs, cake & ice cream, maybe a movie, with gifts readily accepted” starts looking better and better. Of course substitute hot dogs for something edible, and cake & ice cream with a DQ ice cream cake. What kind of CDs and books am I looking for? I’ll start an ongoing list soon, most of which will likely be culled from my ebay search favourites, if you have any idea what that means. If you don’t I can explain it later.

In the meantime, here are a couple of birthday presents for YOU:

You’ve probably heard of Don Hertzfeldt. He’s the guy who did the indie animated series “Rejected” which toured with Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation Festival a year or two back, in which a poor little fellow was heard to say “My spoon is too big.” Well, here’s one of his cartoons that you can view online:
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rui/BitterFilm.html
It will take a minute to load, but it’s very very amusing. I just read on Don’s site http://www.bitterfilms.com/ that there will be a tour of Don’s stuff this year. That’s exciting, it really was far and above the highlight of Spike & Mike’s the last time I saw it.

Your other present is Harvey Pekar’s blog at http://www.harveypekar.com/
Harvey is a writer whose been publishing his own comic book American Splendor for years. I was first introduced to him on the David Letterman show – he’s quite a character and a movie starring Paul Giamatti (you’ll remember him from The Negotiator, Saving Private Ryan, Planet of the Stupid Apes, and my personal favourite “Veal Chop” from Safe Men) as Pekar is coming soon to theaters, it looks not-to-be-missed. It’s called…are you ready? American Splendor. Anyway, have a look at Harvey’s blog, I personally find it fascinating.

The US dollar is up today – I should really go to the bank and transfer some cash from my US to my Canadian account. But I’d much rather finish working on this drawing of gnomes and then get ready for D&D tonight.

PS – Sam, my friend who works at Videomatica, tells me that Paul Giamatti recently got an account there. I love this town!