… for Christmas is:

1. A new job. One that preferably doesn’t suck balls, pays well enough that I can support myself and doesn’t require me to work with half-wits (I know the last one is pushing it…)
2. A new computer… specifically, a new motherboard, processor, ram hard drive and video card(s). At the very least, I’d accept financial donations towards the aforementioned.
3. The following DVDs: Doctor Who Series 3, The Bourne Ultimatum, Heroes Series 1, Torchwood Series 1, Battlestar Galactica Series 3
4. Absolute Sandman Vol - 2

Now I know I said  in a previous entry that I wasn’t going to be participating in Christmas this year due to my finances… but a man can still dream can’t he? After all, a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what is heaven for?

Since I ended the last entry with a comment about music I figure I might as well follow through on it.

It’s that time of year again. Time for every anal-retentive, list-obsessed person with a blog to compile their top X favorite lists for the year (be it albums, movies, books, tantric sex positions, cattle mutilation photographs or whatever).

Far be it for me to ignore this tradition despite my self-assertion that I’m neither anal, nor list obsessed — I may not even be a person but that’s a discussion for another time. I’m just going to stick with music this time around and if I’m feeling up to it I will follow through with more banality over the weekend.

Here’s my list (in no particular order)

Personal Five Favourite Albums of 2007

(Heh. Typing that makes me feel just like Rob Fleming from High Fidelity. Now if I only had John Cusack’s style and savoir-faire (and possibly his paycheque) while doing it, then life would truly be grand)

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

I love this album. It’s witty and brilliant and the lyrics are pure working class teenage Britain. I love hearing the lead singer’s Yorkshire accent come through when he sings. The colloquialisms, odd phrasings and 80s pop references are all part of the charm for me. I’m partial to the songs D is for Dangerous and Fluorescent Adolescent. After all I don’t think you can go wrong with a song that contains the lyric “you used to get it in your fishnets, now you only get it in your nightdress”

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

I’ve always been a big fan of Dave Grohl and the Foos, ever since they released their first album back in ‘95. They’ve always managed to incorporate lyrical integrity with melodic rock and this latest album is no exception. I’ve had the lead track off the album, The Pretender, on loop for quite some time now and it still hasn’t got old. Plus the album’s title itself evokes something and strikes a chord deep within me. Hrrm, I wonder if I can find anyone interested in going to their concert in March.

Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight

I was introduced to this fine group by a friend and was pretty much instantly hooked by their folk/rock/pop gems (Plus the lead singer, Jenny Lewis, isn’t half bad to look at which is always a bonus… What? Sex sells. Sheesh! Deal with it already!). This album is a bit of a sidestep from their earlier releases and I really like it because of that. It’s more rock-like and less folky and I love how they’ve stretched and challenged themselves musically. At times it reminds me very much of an early Fleetwood Mac album and at others it’s it’s own beast. If I were to pick, I’d probably have to go with either The Moneymaker or Dejalo as my favourite tracks.

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell

I’ve always been a big fan of BR, ever since I harassed my sister about buying “the devil’s music” despite the fact that I had all their albums to date at the time (hypocrisy is a grand thing when sibling harassment is involved isn’t it?). I’m glad Gurewitz is back with the band as I felt their work was sub-par during his absence. Now that he’s back, they’re capable of some damned good music. Sure, this isn’t as punk as some of their earlier works, but the songs are all well crafted and still very lyrically relevant. New Dark Ages would have to be my favourite, though Germs of Perfection runs a close second.

Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

My first exposure to Modest Mouse came after hearing their song Dashboard on the radio. At the time I bobbed my head at the melodically quirky song and moved on. Then I found the video for the same song on Youtube and I was intrigued. It was totally surreal and the more I listened to the lyrics the more discordant the video’s images became. Needless to say I was hooked. Dashboard’s video is probably my favourite, but I can’t say that I have a favourite song off the album… yet.

I’m sure you can all play this game at home yourselves. Have fun creating your own lists.

If you’re interested in any of the above artists, feel free to search either YouTube and MySpace for their music. You won’t be disappointed.

I stumbled on this the other night and thought it was rather appropriate.

For those of you who don’t know any better, here are a couple of definitions to use as a primer for this entry.

Nocturnal – active and feels better at night
Diurnal – active and feels better during the day
Repuscular - active and feels better primarily during twilight, i.e., at dusk and dawn (freaks)

A Guide to Telling if you are Nocturnal

1. You feel half alive until close to 7:00 p.m.
2. You believe that ‘morning people’ should be lined up and summarily executed
3. You know all the places in town to get a burger (decent or otherwise) after 2:00 a.m.
4. Music sounds better, and should be played louder, at night
5. You’re :
   1. a musician
   2. a police officer
   3. a graveyard shift worker and you LIKE the hours
6. The cat gets more sleep at night than you do
7. Going to bed a 2:00 am seems too damned early
8. Waking up to sunshine and birds singing makes you want to vomit
9. Even prescription sleeping pills have little or no effect
10. You’re sick of being told that you have a ’sleep disorder’
11. Your great tan during the summer months confuses your friends. This amuses you and you continue to visit the tanning salon. After dark.
12. Your best work is done at night.
13. When you do try to sleep you’re constantly thinking of ideas, getting out of bed, and typing them into Word or writing them down on scraps of paper.
14. Your sunglasses cost more than your first car
15. It’s not insomnia asshat! It’s my period of waking hours.
16. You know every free porn site on the net

Being Nocturnal does have some benefits after all. Such as finding lots of new music and webcomics while searching through all of that porn.

Yeah, I suspect it’s going to be one of those weeks where I make a bunch of posts each filled to the brim with useless crap and links. You can assume that I’m just phoning in these posts. It’s the Holiday Season. It’s not like anyone reads this damn blog anyway. Deal with it.

(Of course my suspicions have nothing to do with the fact that I’ve written these entries earlier in the week and am just post-dating them so as it appears that I blog 24/7. Honest!)

You are The Magician

Skill, wisdom, adaptation. Craft, cunning, depending on dignity.

Eleoquent and charismatic both verbally and in writing,
you are clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Okay. So according to this article, Peter Jackson will be involved in The Hobbit after all. Sounds like he’ll be a producer though and not a director, but I suspect he’ll get his hands dirty at some point in the production. This is something I’m happy about.

As for the WTF?!?! Reading the article I came across something passing strange. Let me quote the passage for you and see if you catch it.

A press release has been issued with regards to the long-anticipated big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit, and it looks like Peter Jackson will indeed be involved as an executive producer on both The Hobbit and a sequel.

Did you catch it?

Here. Let’s look at it again and this time I’ll highlight the part that made my mind boggle.

A press release has been issued with regards to the long-anticipated big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit, and it looks like Peter Jackson will indeed be involved as an executive producer on both The Hobbit and a sequel.

Last I checked, the sequel to The Hobbit was called The Lord of The Rings and they already made those movies. Honestly. What the living hell are they talking about? Okay. I could possibly see them splitting the book into two seperate movies but then again it’s not that big of a book to begin with. It’s half the size of Fellowship and they managed to fit that into a single movie (albeit a 3hr one).

While I’m happy enough to just wait and see how this pans out, there’s part of me that’s filled with righteous indignation at all the money grubbing bastards at New Line. I suppose I should wander over to The One Ring.net and see what they have to say about this.

As you were.

C’mon! Even I have to admit that I’ve had way too many introspective and bleargh posts lately. I think it is past time for a side trip on the Amusing Waste of Time Express, destination: RPG Town. While this quiz is primarily geared towards the tabletop geeks, I’m sure those of you who play online games can appreciate it as well.

Enjoy

What Type of RPG Player (Not Character) Are You?

You scored as: Storyteller The Storyteller is in it for the plot: the sense of mystery and the fun of participating in a narrative that has the satisfying arc of a good book or movie. He enjoys interacting with well-defined NPCs, even preferring antagonists who have genuine motivations and personality to mere monsters. To the Storyteller, the greatest reward of the game is participating in a compelling story with interesting and unpredictable plot threads, in which his actions and those of his fellow characters determine the resolution. With apologies to Robin Laws. Storyteller 85% Character Player 80% Casual Gamer 55% Tactician 50% Weekend Warrior 45% Specialist 30% Power Gamer 20%

You can also find some more information on the styles of RPG players here and here.

I was reminded of this via email today after one of you twits read my last post decided to call me on it. Thank you my friend. I appreciated your candor and frank wisdom more than you might realize.

I do tend to get ever so emo and overdramatic about my current woes but you’re right, in the big picture they don’t mean shite and life is bigger than all the little worries we each have. I’ve known this instinctively for awhile and I’ve tried not to let my life overwhelm me but it still helps to hear someone else tell me this from time to time. Thanks.

In an effort to completely throw off the stigma that Mondays are all bad, I had an amazingly good interview today somewhere other than my current hell job and I suspect very strongly that I’ll get it (course if I don’t, it’ll be twice the blow to my ego but I’m not going to burn that bridge till later). I go in for a second interview tomorrow, so we shall see. *does the hopeful happy dance*

Tonight I’m feeling somewhat melancholic and reflective (and not because of the shiny duct tape on my arse either — don’t ask). If I had to guess, I’d blame Christmas and my financial situation for my complete and utter lack of enthusiasm. Due to my debts I’ve already decided not to participate in the holiday and I sent out an email to my family stating as much. I just don’t have the money for it and when I do, that money is already committed to debt reduction. I don’t have anything for them and would rather I didn’t get anything from them in return. It just wouldn’t seem right.

More importantly however, I just don’t have the spirit for the season.

On top of my seasonal Bah Humbug-ness I’m none too thrilled with my current job. It’s retail sales which is tolerable but I’m not a fan of the merchandise so I can’t be bothered to “sell it” with any great conviction. I can safely say that my co-workers are a bunch of knobs with little or no intelligence and even fewer social graces. It’s commission based sales which I utterly despise due to the poor work atmosphere it espouses. Already during my minimal training I’ve come face to face with the ugly underside and it ain’t pretty — as I said, my co-workers are knobs. Finally, it isn’t a position that has any upward mobility unless I sell well and with my aforementioned distaste I’m doubting that will happen anytime soon.

Needless to say I’m still trying to find something better, or just different and this will just keep the wolves from the door for a little while longer until I land somewhere I like. Hopefully that won’t take long because already my patience for this place is wearing thin and the little good that is there is being buried under a mile of bad.

I was going to post another stupid meme at this point, but my lead up to it jumped the tracks a long time ago and this post is a wholly different beast now. Instead I think I’m just going to end things for now and go to bed. I have to “work” *shudder* in the morning.

G’night

As you can see, I’ve changed the theme again. I’m going to test this one out and see how it works out but so far I likes it. If nothing else, it’s a big change from my usual colour palette of blacks, blues, greys  and greens. I still need to tweak it a little to suit my needs but at a glance it works well enough. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, let me know.