minijonb

Happy Blogging New Year

2008-12-31T23:59:00.002-05:00

First... Happy New Year!!! It's 2009, the last of the "00" years. Enjoy it while you can. Wear those big sunglasses before they go out of style again.

Despite the fact that I slowed down my blogging activity this past semester, I still spent too much time on the Internet when I should have been getting work done for classes. I still got the grades I wanted, but I was up far, far too late at night finishing up assignments. I'll need to change my priorities this year to get things done when they should be tackled. How blogging will fit into that, I have no idea... when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

It's time to relax

2008-12-17T23:11:00.004-05:00

I finished my first semester of grad school today. I am 1/4 of the way to being an urban planner. If I decide to get an additional degree while I'm here, I might have an extra semester or two to deal with before I'm done. Considering the state of the economy and the auto / banking / investment / jobs insanity out there, it might not be a bad idea to stay in school for a long, long time.

I watched the movie Deja Vu on the DVR tonight. Had I watched it before? Why did I have a feeling of déjà vu while watching it? Now that I think about it, I've had that feeling all semester.

Holiday studying anagram fun

2008-11-30T16:08:00.003-05:00

My holiday weekend was really great. I now have about a month's worth of homework due in the next ten days. After that is over, finals hit. Would someone please remind me why I decided to go back to school?

Life slowly moves on

2008-11-11T19:27:00.004-05:00

Let's see, Obama won the election and has announced that his Chief of Staff will be the man who is the brother of the person who inspired the Ari character on Entourage. Got it? Good. In an attempt to continue my overuse of run-on-sentences, I'll explain that I'm so tired of avoiding to study for mid-terms tonight that I've decided that blogging will get me back into the mood to actually study some more tonight.

Dr Pepper loves Guns N' Roses

2008-10-22T18:42:00.002-04:00

If you believe everything you read, Guns N' Roses will finally release the album "Chinese Democracy" on November 23, 2008. As promised months ago, Dr Pepper will give one free 20-oz. Dr Pepper to every American on that day. Read the instructions here on how you can cash in this offer on that day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have had enough Axl Rose inspired nonsense for one day and I'm going to go lay down for a while.

Debate season is over

2008-10-16T22:42:00.003-04:00

I watched the last Presidential debate of 2008 at a party last night. We were going to drink whenever we heard "Maverick" but we should have picked the phrase "Joe the plumber" instead. I'm glad those things are over and done with for the year. Time to get some election on.

So where have I been for the past month or so? Between school and "the social" I have had my hands tied up in cyberspace most of the time. I've even been ignoring my mistress Pandora. My music mojo is so washed up I don't even know any of the bands kids listen to these days.

Tortoise plays Ann Arbor

2008-09-18T21:36:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I saw Tortoise play a show in Ann Arbor at the Blind Pig. The Pig is a pretty influential bar in the indie rock scene and you can think of it as the CBGB's of Michigan if you'd like but remember that the Pig is still in business and CBGB's has closed its doors. I hadn't been to a show at the Pig since I saw Toad The Wet Sprocket play there in the decade we call the Nineties. Anyway, the Tortoise show was great since every hipster in Ann Arbor was there wearing their ironic t-shirt and the music, a blend of instrumental indie rock and krautrock with electronic, progressive and jazz influences, started off slow but got much better as the night went on.

It wasn't until I was at the show that it dawned on me that I bought my copy of the Tortoise album TNT while I was visiting Ann Arbor 10 years ago. Now I live in Ann Arbor. Life is pretty strange sometimes. I could tell you about how strange it is but I'm up to here with it since I'm taking 15 grad credits of classes this term and I can't remember the last time I sat back, relaxed and read a blog or two so maybe I'll go do that right now.

Far gone and out

2008-09-10T03:30:00.003-04:00

Right about now, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on the border between France and Switzerland near Geneva is getting turned on for the first time. If you feel like watching some atoms get smashed together, tune in. A student from Michigan State (where I did my undergrad degree and also where my father is on the faculty as a professional atom smasher) who is at CERN even wrote a rap song about the project. It's a small sub-atomic world after all.

Fact or Crap: David Duchovny edition

2008-08-31T23:59:00.004-04:00

David Duchovny is a lucky man. He's cavorted around the world on screen with Gillian Anderson. He's married to Téa Leoni. And he has now decided to make entering rehab for sex addiction a fashionable statement... you had to know that this was next... worthy of a round of Fact or Crap:

Duchovny appeared in the 2002 Steven Soderbergh movie Full Frontal as a sex addict.

Bree Sharp recorded the song "David Duchovny" about the actor.

He currently appears in the Showtime series Californication as a sex addict.

Only Fact or Crap on this blog can properly feed your sex addiction. Don't resist. Enjoy. Cheers.

Fact or Crap: Sarah Palin edition

2008-08-29T23:59:00.005-04:00

Barack Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate, which is fine by me since I like people with the initials JB. John McCain threw everyone a curve ball and picked Sarah Palin, which only made me think of what kind of jokes can I make about this situation. While I think this is a bit of a stretch, some people in the press think she looks a little like Tina Fey. However, it does set us up for a fine edition of Fact or Crap:

Palin's youngest daughter is actually a love child fathered by McCain from when they met at the Republican Convention in 2000.

She was Miss Wasilla and competed in the Miss Alaska pageant.

She has appeared in a few porn movies including, "MILFs Gone Wild: Alaska's Hockey Moms."

Can you figure out what is fact and what is crap? I can't. I need to get out more. Stay tuned for more editions of Fact or Crap... this was too easy... cumming soon to a blog near you.

My own worst enemy

2008-08-21T17:31:00.005-04:00

The title of this post has nothing to do with the song or even the new tv show on NBC, although all the commercials for it during the Olympics is probably what got it stuck into my head. I have engaged in a couple of self-sabotage activities in the past few days and I need to break out of these habits. The first is that I started using the elevator to get to my 1st floor apartment (there is the ground or lobby level with no apartments, and then I'm on the first floor above that) in my new building, and since the ground floor has high ceilings, it's really two flights of stairs up to my first floor. A couple of days ago, I got evil looks from a full elevator of people as I only rode up one level in the elevator and I swore I would never be "that guy" who uses the elevator for only one floor.

Vowing to use the stairs is an easy fix, but getting my butt into gear to study has been harder over the past few days. I need to finish up a few books on my summer reading list and do a statistics review in the next couple of weeks before school starts. However, I'm always finding something else on a to-do list or another program on tv to watch instead of cracking the books. I need to change this behavior now or I'm going to be in trouble when classes start for real, so you'll have to excuse me in advance if I limit by blogging activity to being a "dessert" activity that comes after the "main course" of my studies and not the other way around.

No place for boxes

2008-08-20T08:02:00.003-04:00

I have almost finished unpacking into my new place. All the cardboard boxes have been broken down and all the furniture is up. However, I still have a few things laying around that are driving me nuts. These are things that sat on shelves or desks or even in boxes that laid around and cluttered up everything in the last few places I've lived.

I want my new place to look clean and settled and not just a place for my stuff. I'll get around to adding more flair to the place soon, but I really need to get a handle on these last few items that look like eyesores on the bookshelf or the kitchen table or even the floor. I hope one more trip to IKEA and all the other usual places fixes my problem. Any tips people have on storage and ways to keep things on hand but out of sight are very, very welcome.

I often dream of trains

2008-08-14T07:47:00.003-04:00

I've been sleeping like a rock in my new place. Really good deep sleep where I can wake up early and get going on the day more often than not. It might be the new mattress (well, not really new, it's one my parents were going to get rid of from a guest room but it's from Room & Board and only eight years old and is payback from when my parents stole my super firm mattress when i moved out to PDX years ago and didn't want to take it with me) I'm using in my bedroom. It might be the summer air or it could be that I just like where I live.

I have been a little worried that trains might keep me up or invade my dreams (this isn't as crazy as it seems as i once lived a quarter block from heavily travelled train tracks and i would dream of trains and subways and the like all the time). Last night I tried to sleep for the first time here with no fan running. I wanted to see if I could hear a train from the tracks across the river. I heard all kinds of crazy things in the woods as I drifted off, but no trains came that late at night so I'm safe from dreaming of trains for now.

View out the window

2008-08-12T18:06:00.004-04:00

This is what's outside the window at my new place in A-squared. It's a good view of some nice greenery, not that it really matters since I'm a vampire and I keep my blinds closed all day long. Then, after it gets dark, I still need to keep them closed since I have a bad habit of walking around naked while I try to get ready for bed or wake up in the middle of the night. There is no need for me to scare anyone unnecessarily.

I need to get out and explore the town once I finish all of my unpacking. I also need to figure a few things out as to how and when I start dating again. It's definitely time for me to move on. I need to keep the start of graduate school in a couple of weeks as my first priority, so now I need to figure out how much time in my full-time student day I'll have to just be a social bee in this town full of students.

My Adidas

2008-08-10T22:35:00.003-04:00

I usually don't have shoe envy for all the hot new kicks available out there, but these babies are too much. Olympic edition adidas. With the colors of the Olympic rings on the stripes. I would buy them and put them on the gold medal platform of my closet.

Lucky Eights

2008-08-08T08:08:00.002-04:00

This post has been brought to you by the number 8. No reproduction in whole or in part of this post may be made without express written consent of the number 8. Because 8/8/08 isn't just a good idea, it's the law. I'm number 8 and I approve this message.

Fact or Crap randomness

2008-08-04T04:00:00.000-04:00

Oooh, look at the pretty picture I found on the Intarwebnetz that features Fact or Crap cards being used to hide an identity in a clever photo opportunity. Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into with this set of Fact or Crap questions:

I am moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan this month.

The girl in the photo above is Gillian Anderson's second cousin.

This is post number 400 on this blog.

Please let me know what kind of themes you would like me to explore in future Fact or Crap quizzes on this blog we call minijonb. It takes two to tango but only one to write a comment.

Featuring Barack Obama as Mr. November

2008-08-01T00:18:00.002-04:00

One of my all time top five rock bands of the new millennium is The National. A few years ago they wrote and released a song called "Mr. November" that spun a story that played around with the old baseball term "Mr. October" for a clutch hitter who saves the best for the end of the season playoffs like Reggie Jackson did so often. Now that election time is right around the corner, they have issued a t-shirt with the slogan under the face of Barack Obama and the band will donate their proceeds from the sale of the shirts to the Obama campaign. If you'd like to view the lyrics of the song, keep reading because here they are:

This is nothing like it was in my room
In my best clothes
Trying to think of you

The English are waiting
And I don't know what to do
In my best clothes
This is when I need you

I wish that I believed in fate
I wish I didn't sleep so late
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders

I'm the new blue blood, I'm the great white hope
I'm the new blue blood
I won't fuck us over, I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November, I won't fuck us over

Yeah, I don't understand what they are talking about either. Fuck art, let's dance. If you'll excuse me, I have to go now. Lots and lots of packing to do.

Presenting The White Keys

2008-07-30T00:12:00.002-04:00

In other news worthy of stopping the presses, Alicia Keys and Jack White are going to record the new James Bond theme! The song called "Another Way to Die" will be featured in the next 007 installment Quantum of Solace which hits the big screen on November 7th. White, member of The Raconteurs and one-half of the White Stripes, wrote and produced the tune and this is the first time a duo will perform a Bond theme. The rumors of Amy Winehouse doing the song died out after she couldn't keep her act together, so this news is very welcome, and if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go watch the trailer for the film again.

All hail the "Mad Men" redhead

2008-07-29T22:42:00.004-04:00

Enough about Gillian Anderson. There will never be another redhead on TV quite like Dana Scully, but that character has been off the air for years. I need to get a weekly fix of redheaded hottness on the tube or I explode. If anyone will ever give Gillian a run for her money, it will be Christina Hendricks as the super sexy secretary Joan Holloway on AMC's Mad Men.

Mad Men began its second season on Sunday and it was amazing. Even the BMW commercials were fantastic which is not surprising considering it is a show about ad men from the heyday of Madison Avenue. The show itself is full of smoking (all puns intended) hott women like Hendricks and Maggie Siff and even Anne Dudek who you might remember from House last season if you ever watch that show. But stop the presses and hold on tight to your armchair when that red hair and hourglass figure of Joan Holloway appears on your screen because it will almost make you forget about your favorite FBI agent.

Part II

2008-07-28T06:00:00.005-04:00

I saw the new X-Files movie this weekend. It was good not great, resolved a few things but didn't touch on others and was particularly gruesome to the point of having almost too much blood and gore even for the X-Files (think Re-Animator without the b-movie camp and fun). Anyway, here's Part II of my Gillian Anderson story:

"Memories?" I said. "Like what?"

"Well, for starters, she dated Ahab (again, name changed to protect the innocent) for a while. I was kind of jealous. I guess I had a crush on her. I even asked her out on a date once, but she turned me down."

"Really?" I was getting sucked in. "Why do you think she did that?"

"Oh, you know, she was the austere punk. I must have been a little too square for her. I did get to have a dance with her at my prom, and I did try to give her a little kiss, but she kind of turned her head away. It was really awkward. Boy that does bring back some memories."

"Ish, that has to be the best Gillian Anderson story I've heard yet."

And with that statement, the look on Ishmael's face became concerned.

"Jon, what do you mean, 'the best Gillian Anderson story I've heard yet?'"

"No, what do you mean, 'what do you mean, "the best Gillian Anderson story I've heard yet?"' Do you ever watch 'the X-Files?'"

"Yeah, I watch it all the time. What does that have to do with anything?"

I was incredulous by this point. "Do you ever watch the credits?!"

Ishmael answered quickly: "No, not really. I usually miss the first five minutes or I'm in the 'fridge getting something to drink."

"OK, let me get this straight. You've not made the connection that the Gillian Anderson you danced with at your prom is the same Gillian Anderson who plays Dana Scully every week on 'The X-Files?'"

At this moment, Ishmael was leaning back in his bar stool to empty his glass of beer. He fell backwards out of the stool and onto the floor with a loud thud as some of the bar patrons looked over to see if everything was alright. He got back up and tried to knock a few cobwebs out of his head. I could see the gears moving behind his eyes and smoke coming out of his ears.

Meet {mini Jon B}: I blow minds for a living.

The rest of the conversation was mostly Ishmael talking about how different Gillian looked 10 years down the road.

It's been another 10 years or so since I had that conversation. Gillian Anderson is still a hott FBI agent on screen. Funny how some things never change.

I blow minds for a living

2008-07-26T00:05:00.005-04:00

This picture is the cover of the CD single "Extremis" by the artist Hal featuring Gillian Anderson. It is the only piece of Anderson or X-Files memorabilia that I will keep until the day I die. I've thrown out a few X-Files magazines and I might still have a box of VHS tapes in storage of X-Files episodes that I taped from the first five seasons on Fox and FX. If I haven't thrown those out yet, they are going to get tossed this week.

I still haven't seen the new X-Files movie yet, but I guess I can't pass up a chance to see FBI Agent Dana Scully on the big screen. I may go on Sunday or Monday if I can find the time. Since some of you asked, I will share some edited portions of the article I wrote about Gillian almost nine years ago. You've been warned, I was just as delusional back then as I am now.

As the popularity of "The X-Files" has grown over the years, I've read more than a few interviews in local and national publications with Gillian. She has become increasingly impatient with questions about having grown up in Grand Rapids. To her, it was just a place she had to endure her teenage years. But the more she tries to duck the subject, the more often it gets asked, which is funny.

I was living on the West Coast a few years ago as "The X-Files" was reaching the height of its popularity of its run on Fox. When friends discovered I grew up in Grand Rapids, their first reaction was usually: "Did you know Gillian Anderson?" or "Did you ever shag Dana Scully?" I had to confess to never having known her well. I did have friends who attended school with her, so I made a point of finding out some dirt when I got back to West Michigan.

After returning to Grand Rapids, I was out on the town one night, having a beer with an old college friend who had attended the same high school as Gillian. He has not achieved the same kind of celebrity status as Gillian, so I will try to protect his innocence and call him Ishmael.

"Hey, Ish," I asked my friend, "did you know Gillian Anderson when you were in school here?"

"Gillian Anderson," Ish said, "that brings back some memories."

Since The X-Files is notorious for cliffhanger endings, I'm going to torture all of you until I publish the end of the story.

Poll: Go see X-Files or not?

2008-07-24T00:08:00.003-04:00

Great, here we go. Dixie saw this ecard and it totally reminded her of me. Why? Because as much as I try to deny it, I used to have a big crush on Gillian Anderson.

Yeah, I was addicted to the first few seasons of The X-Files when it was on Fox. I started to lose interest about a decade ago after the first X-Files was in the theaters. I was tired of having my chain jerked around by the show's writers so I found better things to do with my time. Eventually, I even wrote a newspaper article about Gillian Anderson to try to put some closure on the whole thing, but I have since discovered that there really never is any closure on anything so it is pointless to even try.

My crush on Anderson went far beyond what any ordinary "X-Phile" had to endure. Most of those people who fell for her just saw her on television and then spent far too much time on the Internet looking for naked or semi-naked pictures of her. Since I grew up in the same town as Anderson and was only a couple of years younger, I was lucky enough to even have had friends who dated her in high school. If you want to hear more about that, you will have to beg and plead for me to dig up the old article.

So, now a new X-Files movie opens this week and I have been telling every person I know that I don't want to see it. It's bad enough that I have a fetish for redheads primarily because of the Dana Scully dye job on the show, I really don't want to have this crush reinforced more than it already has been by years and years of pop culture nonsense. So I put this question to you, dear and trusted blog reader, as to what I should do about my quandary. Should I go see the the X-Files movie or not?

Hooligans on the loose

2008-07-21T23:59:00.003-04:00

I asked Dixie to snap this picture of me wearing my West Ham kit at the game on Sunday. West Ham beat the Columbus Crew 3-1 but this match is going to be remembered in the press for the big hooligan brawl at halftime and smaller parking lot skirmish after the game. Forget about blood on the ice at a hockey game, if you're really lucky you can see it in the stands at a real football (soccer) game. Seriously, the majority of the fans were true supporters for either team who just wanted to see a great game, so there were a few drunken hooligans wearing both team's colors and the rent-a-guard security seemed to only be reacting the problems and not proactively preventing them.

But now I eagerly await Thursday night when I can sit down in front of the tv and watch West Ham play the MLS All-Stars, including what's-his-name David Beckham, in Toronto. It would have been great to see that, but tickets were going to be harder to obtain so the weekend visit to Ohio was the better option. The trips down and back were uneventful with no interference from highway cops so in all I had a great birthday weekend. Thanks to everyone for your awesome wishes.

Do the birthday math

2008-07-19T00:00:00.003-04:00

It's my birthday today and I'm turning 38. I'll be celebrating with Dixie as we drive down to Columbus to see the West Ham United match on Sunday. If I decide to drive recklessly on the Ohio highways, do you think the state troopers will let me off a ticket because it's my birthday? No, I didn't think so either, so I will try to take it easily on the roads.

If you've just done the birthday math, you now know I was born in 1970. Let's think back to that year for a bit since so much has changed since then. We had finally landed people on the moon about a year earlier, no one knew what an energy crisis would look like and The Beatles officially broke up the band that year. I really have no idea how we will look back at 2008 in 38 years, but I hope that most of the memories will be good.