Flashback

Have you ever had one of those moments where several things happen in a few moments, and you are taken back to a time in your mind of something really cool? It may be something really small, like a sound or smell, or bigger--like something you see or do. (Dane Cook does a really funny bit about this, by the way) Anyway, I had one of those moments this evening. I was on my way home from Summit, and after a discussion about Italian Cream Sodas (Cremosa), I decided to stop by Coffee In Motion to get one. Last week I saw a sign out front that said "We make the best Italian Cream Sodas". Many years ago I was introduced to these things. My parents and I went to the coast, and for some reason, one of my sister's boyfriends from high school came along. We got to Newport, and he insisted that we stop in and get one of these "soda things". It was a little hole in the wall thing where the Italian Mafia version of the soup Nazi was serving as a barista, before Americans knew what a barista was. Anyway, that was the best one I had ever had. So I see this sign, and decided to take the Pepsi challenge. And I will be danged if they aren't indeed, the best Italian cream sodas I have ever had. Back to the story at hand.

So I swing into the big red double decker bus coffee shack, located next to the adult shop on Mission St. in Salem, and order up my blackberry cream soda. Well, I got a 24oz. soda the other day, and sort of accidentally ordered a 32oz this evening. No biggie, more blackberry goodness for me to enjoy. Anyway, the flashback. The coffee chick hands me back my gigantic non-biodegradable styrofoam cup filled with ice, syrup, soda, and cream. It was crisp and cool out, with not a cloud anywhere that could be seen, and an enormous orangish moon rising. I was immediately transported to the summer of 1998. I had visions of sitting in my (at that time) brand new Ford Ranger in Duncan, Oklahoma at Dave's Cave, which is a brew through, buying my "Ocean Water" beverage. They were fantastic. Some sort of blue thing that was sweet and lemon-limey at the same time. Thankfully, I omitted the chick from Oklahoma from my little flashback, but it was a nice wholesome little vision. It made me think a little though. I really miss that truck. It was the nicest car I have ever had, and I wish I had it today. I also was thinking that on some teeny-weeny levels, I miss Oklahoma. I had a lot of fun there, and made a lot of good friends. It also made me miss the Army that much more. Once again, solidifying that what I am in the process of doing is the right thing, and in a couple of years, I will rejoin my family of soldiers.

Anyway, it doesn't sound that fascinating now that I have re-read it, but I get these kinds of little mental pauses (mentalpause?) from time to time, and I thought I would share this one with you.

Speaking of movies...

I saw a clip about this on the news. Too bad. The first Jaws fim is actually one of my all-time favorite films. At least in the top 25. He is also one of the reasons why people have such a fear for Sharks. That, and the fact that they are gigantic flesh eating creatures that are bigger than us, and are more comfortable in their environment. Of course, get a few sharks out in the open, on land, and we will see who is the baddest one of them all...

Wow, three posts this weekend! I actually have two more that I want to get written, but they may have to wait until around Thursday.

When I was looking for the Benchley thing, I ran across this. All I can say is. Whoops. Hey, if you are around firearms long enough, you will have an acidental discharge. Of course, who doesn't want to shoot a millionaire lawyer?

Hostage!

Well, I should probably be working on my research project, but I am pretty unmotivated. I was sitting around today and realized something. I was being held hostage by my TV! Now this may come as no surprise to many of you out there, but I watch a fair amount of TV. That is, when I am not playing Halo2, or Blogging. I have had this conversation with several people, and decided that I finally need to write about it. Yes, I know this is my second post in as many days. So here is the deal: What is it that compels me to watch shitty movies on TV? Seriously, every time there is a terrible movie that I surf across, I will watch it. Often at the expense of a better movie on another channel, or something more noteworthy, like doing something outside. It really dawned on me today how much my TV was holding me hostage with crap, the second time I started into Ten Things I Hate About You. What the hell is wrong with me? By in large, these are movies I would not normally pay money to watch in the theater, rent, or even buy. Some of these movies, however, are good enough to watch on TV but nothing else. I wouldn't pay money for them, but I will watch them on TV. Then there are other stinkers that defy any real reason of why I watch them. I think that some of this stems from the fact that almost all "shows" on TV are ass, and if I am going to watch a quality film, I want to see it unedited and without commercials. So, what are these stinkers you ask? I will put them into two categories for this posting. The first category is Watchable but not buyable. The second category is Not even watchable, but hold me hostage anyway.

Watchable but not buyable:
Road House I know that Ted is a big fan of this film on TV, as are several other people. I will watch it every time it is on.

Navy Seals This movie represents some lame 80's crap. Again, I will sit through it at the expense of another, better movie that may be on.

Days of Thunder/Top Gun I am not much of a Tom Cruise fan, these movies are pretty bad, again, I will sit through them in my living room.

The Replacements I will probably catch some flack over this one. This movie is not that good. But I will sit through it. Maybe I don't like it because I watched it three times on my return flight from Korea.

Actually, I will sit through almost any 80's action flick starring Arnold, Sly, Segal, Swayze. For the most part these flicks are big dumb fun, and represent sort of an era of film in America that is best forgotten. I purposely left VanDamme out of this list. He never made a single movie that I will sit through.

Waterworld This could have been a good movie. The only three good movies that Costner has been in, are Dances With Wolves, Field of Dreams, and Open Range. The last in that list is actually one of my favorite westerns. Anyway, Waterworld is another film I will sit through and stare at aimlessly. For those of you who don't know, the little girl in that stinker is the girl who grew up to play Deb in Napoleon Dynamite. Jack Black is also in it. He plays the airplane pilot. The Postman is not worthy enough to make it either list. I will pass by it every time.

There are others, but this is just a taste.

Not even watchable, but hold me hostage anyway:

Fast and the Furious 1 & 2. These movies suck so hard it is beyond comprehension. They are actually making a third crappy installment. Anyway, for whatever reason, I will usually watch this tripe.

Ten Things I Hate About You This list actually just this afternoon made this list. It sucks really, really bad. I sat through it 1.5 times today.

Bad Boys Actually, you can put almost any Michael Bay or Bruckheimer movie on this list, with but a few exceptions. This movie is dumb as hell, especially edited.

S.W.A.T. This film sucks. Hard. Too bad, Sam Jackson is a damn fine actor most of the time, save for Long Kiss, S.W.A.T., and Formula 51.

Torque I have only seen this movie once. ONCE. That was enough. I saw it for 4 bucks at best buy. I passed on it. I sat through it with Ted, Tyler, Matt, and I think Jake may have been there. We are all subsequently dumber for having viewed it. To prove its power, it held all of us hostage.

Blow This movie isn't that bad. I would not buy it though. It is on AMC or TNT every thirty five minutes, unless a Segal movie is on, or a Bond Marathon. But I will almost always sit through it.

Erin Brockovich I am probably going to catch hell from the empowered female audience that I may or may not have. This movie is LAME. But, I will sit through it. Often two nights in a row.

Anyway, there is just a smattering of crappy movies I watch, I know a bunch of you will now call me a person who has no taste in film and blah blah blah. I know that these films are horrible. I know that it is a bad idea to watch them, but I can't help it. Since I have bared my soul (luckily for you, audience, that is all I will bare here) and told you all some of my dirty little secrets, I ask that you guys chime in with your movies that you will go out of your way to watch, even though you know they are garbage. I look forward to your comments.

Rimjobbing

Hahaha, got you all with that headline, didn't I?

I am pleased--scratch that--thrilled beyond words to announce the beginning for plans of Road Trip 2006! Oh yes, it will be done. As it stands right now, it will be a mid-August trip. This year, as opposed to most other years, we will be focusing our trip around one national park, instead of many. Once again we will be heading to one of the seven wonders. Another Grand Canyon trip! As most of you who know me are aware, Matt and I made the hike to the bottom and back two years ago. It was one of the most difficult and amazing experiences of my life. This year we have decided to do a Rim-to-Rim hike.

Yes, I know that August is a danger month in the canyon, but so was June, when we did it last time. Yes, I know it is 25 miles. Yes, I know it is going to be hard. No, I cannot even begin to think about not doing it.

The plan, in its rawest form is this: Leave Salem in a rental car, head straight to Vegas. Spend one night in Vegas, head out to the south rim. Get to the south rim, park the car and catch a shuttle to the North Rim (a 4 1/2 hour shuttle trip) Get to the north rim, and camp near the trailhead. Get up around 4:00 am, and head into the canyon from the north rim. We will hike the 14.5 miles to Phantom Ranch on day one of the hike. Spend the afternoon in the 140 degree heat, and then sleep (this is actually harder than it sounds in that heat) get up around 3:30-4:00 am and head back to the trail south. Make the nine mile hike (faster than last time) to the South Rim. Get to the top, spend two nights in a canyon lodge so we can recover. From there it is back to Vegas for one or two nights. The route home from Vegas is as of yet undetermined. This will be one of the greatest things I will have done, and may ever do. I am excited beyond words about this. We will be getting hom a week or two before we have to take vacation from our vacation on the houseboat on Trinity lake. It will be needed I think.

Since I like pictures. . .

Some of you may or may not know, but the climates and terrain vary greatly between the North Rim, and the South Rim. So here is a picture of each to represent how different they are:

North Rim;




South Rim;

Just a mere 25 miles apart.

How it is

Well, this is another one of those just semi-interesting "the way things are in my life right now" posts. I have a few good posts in mind, but need time to work on them, which is in short supply now. So here goes. . .

I got sick. It was really really lame. A week and a half ago I got a chest and sinus cold. I leveled me for most of last week, and I am just now on the road to a full recovery.

Math is going well, I took my midterm, and got an 85% on it! I was stoked. It looks like I am actually going to make it through pre-calc, which keeps me on track with getting to OSU in the fall. Who knew?

I got a JOB! Wow, all these years of just slumming it, I finally got a job. I think back to the cousin Eddie character in the Vacation movies, who has been out of work for 14 years, because he is holding out for a management position. Well, I got a management position. I wasn't trying. Honest. I just wanted a job as the minimum wage flunky at AutoZone, so I put in an application for a part timer there. Well, apparently based on my qualifications, they offered me a job as part time parts sales manager. I was pretty shocked. I start my training on Monday. This job will be a pretty good fit for me, because I only drive shitty cars, and this way I will be able to get a discount on parts.

I am knee deep in my Research Writing class assignment. My topic is about the potential collapse of General Motors, and it's effect on economies and what not. I am writing it from a problem/solution stance. If you have anything intelligent to offer, feel free to post it. Things I consider not intelligent from the standpoint of helping my paper are comments like "American cars suck. " anyway, I have to write a 12-16 page paper by the end of term about this. I am excited, because it is a topic I am really interested in.

Not a whole lot else going on, lots of school work, soon to be lots of hours at work, getting better after being sick, looking forward to nicer weather, and all that jazz. Thanks for continuing to read. I am really starting to wonder if the collective shine has worn off blogging in this community of readership I have.

I guess I will try to also include a picture for your viewing pleasure as well.

I saw a guy wearing this T-shirt the other day. I thought it was funny.