The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Albany, Part 1

Until last Friday, the last real road trip I went on with my friends was to Niagra Falls. That was three years ago, before Michele and Brianna moved up here and Nick started going on long trips for work. It was the end of an era, really, and I can't think of a better send-off than being asked to leave Canada. But that's a story for another time. Today is all about the weekend trip to Albany, which could be considered the start of a new era. Or not. Noticeably absent this time around was Hedie, the primary orchestrator of most of our previous trips. When Nick first told her about it, she wanted to come, until she found out it was the same weekend...

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Nevermind

There's a big truck outside, pumping water out of the parking garage next door. It's making a very loud humming noise, and it's annoying everyone in the office. Except me. I kind of like it. It reminds me of when I was a little kid, and my parents would vacuum during the weekend. I always liked that sound. Not when it first turned on; that part was always abrupt and loud, but after that when, it had been going for a while and became a background hum. Sometimes I'd be watching cartoons, and I'd turn the TV way up so I could hear it over the vacuum, but most of the time the TV was off and there was a tape in the stereo. To this day, Cyndi Lauper...

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A Laser For Every Occasion

When lasers aren't choreographed to the music of Pink Floyd, they're busy performing an ever-growing number of tasks. From LASIK corrective eye surgery to assisting symposia keynote speakers point to charts, it seems there's nothing lasers can't do. What other invention of this or any generation can be credited with aiding in the printing of homemade greeting cards, as well as being the primary weapon used to fight the evil forces of Cobra's dreaded Crimson Guard? I don't see Gore-Tex™ making any such claims. For some time now, I've seen ads for laser hair removal. But yesterday I saw an ad that confused and frightened me. It was for laser...

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The Best Two Bucks I Ever Spent

Nick and Jose embarked on an epic trip to the cineplex for a six-movies-in-one-day marathon Saturday. While I admire their proctal fortitude that enambles them to sit for intervals that mere mortals can only begin to contemplate, I had to forgo the cinematic extraviganza to take care of some tedious but probably significant things at home. Namely, getting the house ready for a party next Sunday. Michele and I will be away this weekend to check out NYPinTA's Serenity showing and spend hours in the line ride at Six Flags, so we tried to get as much done around the house before we left as possible. I've still got a lot of my stuff up in the living...

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Turtle Turtle Turtle

In the summer of 1994, as American televisions were tuned into O.J.'s harrowing slow-speed police chase, a slow-speed chase of another kind was talking place right in my backyard. A few months earlier, a giant snapping turtle dug herself into my grandparents' garden and layed her eggs. The day they hatched, eight baby turtles started off on a long and perilous trek, presumably to the river to which their mother had returned after burrying the eggs in the dirt. Actually, it's not such a long and perilous trek. In fact, if they'd just gone in the opposite direction, the river was about ten feet away. But I guess instincts hadn't quite kicked in...

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It's Friday!

Wow, this is some Friday, huh? Yup. Some Friday. I can't wait for the weekend that hasn't happened yet. I hope I see a snapping turtle and a Pink Floyd laser show. That'd be neat. When I left work yesterday, (you know, Thursday) I saw a CBS Channel 4 News truck drive by, followed by a couple of police cars. Some people standing on the sidewalk turned their heads, and I even saw a couple of guys running to see what was going on. Obviously I had no choice but to check it out and see what was going on. I turned the corner onto Boylston Street and heard music and a muffled voice over a loudspeaker. It sounded like it was coming from the other...

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This Guy Needs An Agent

Okay, first of all, this was originally meant to be the June 7th entry, but Blogger went on strike or lapsed into a coma and otherwise refused to cooperate, so it was left in the queue until Blogger decided to play nice. Then I forgot about it. But here we are, so let's get to it: Paris Hilton is completely useless and needs to go away. She's famous for being famous. She was born into money, and used her wealth to make sure she was seen at all the right places, making her more famous, and even more rich. The fact that she has no talent and looks like a foot doesn't seem to matter. Meanwhile, there's poor old Spare Change Guy. You've got to...

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Better Than Batman & Robin!

Well, here it is. Today is 6-6-6. If my bible knowledge is correct, this is the day that Gozer the Destructor takes corporeal form and reigns fire and death upon mankind. In what little time we have left, I guess it would only be fitting to talk about a certain movie that came out recently; a movie that is as good a sign as any that the end of days are near. An omen. I'm referring, of course, to X-Men III: The Last Stand. Number of the Beast Alright, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good, either, and that's the problem. I'm not sure how it's possible, but you could actually hear the collective moan of the internet when it was announced...

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Room with a View

Ever since we moved into the new office on Newbury Street, every day has been rife with excitement. Or at least, rife with the potential for excitement. Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to use the word "rife." But there has been plenty of times where I almost saw someone famous on this street, dating back to college. Katherine Gibbs is just a couple of blocks down the street from the office, and while I was going there, I just missed Stephen King walking out of 7-11. I read about it in the paper the next day. This wasn't too long after his accident, so he still had crutches. How do you miss Stephen King hobbling down the street on...

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