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
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
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
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 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
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…Here’s a picture of a mimic octopusimitating a snail (I think)imitating a flounder Plus a quicktime video of the flounder trick and another video of it imitating a sea snake .
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.
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.
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).
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
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 :
Music :
Books :
DVDs :
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.
