penstonville

Go Ask Alice

penston — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:20:22 +0000

At the request of the fine folks at DGM Live, I’ve prepared the collage below for an upcoming contest at their site. Visitors will be asked to contribute their own dialogue, dualogue, diatribe, dissention, or even declamation for the empty balloons. The DGM Live staff will then choose the winner and award a fresh CD. What I think is really cool is that for every 50 contest entries they receive, I get a CD too. Stay tuned for more details.

Crave

penston — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:08:29 +0000

You know how pregnant women are known to develop sometimes odd food cravings? I was talking with a pregnant woman at work and I began to have a craving. Vanilla Tootsie Roll Midgees. A whole bag of just vanilla ones can be hard to come by except during certain holidays. But I’d be happy with a bag of assorted flavors, and just picking out the little blue jewels. The craving became so strong I had to head for the store. Walking in the heat and humidity, this began to seem like a bad idea. But I lumbered on. Past the catering for the filming taking place today. Past the barbershop that’s never open. Past the knick-knack shop selling forty year old scouting and bowling patches. Man, it was humid. I thought to myself. Vanilla. Midgees. Past the Mexican restaurant with the poster in the window announcing Author Night with Ernest Borgnine at the local library. No, he’s not dead. Past Cappy’s World Of Spirits liquor store, that’s been closed for quite some time. He is dead. Past the crew smoothing out the wet concrete sidewalk across the street. The “Businesses open during construction” signs made no sense today. Unless you wore galoshes. Finally, the store. Vanilla. Midgees. I searched the plentifully stocked candy isle. No vanilla. No midgees. The only Tootsie Rolls in stock were the dental restoration risking Yuletide log size. I returned empty handed. But I may take a look at those shirt patches again tomorrow.

Retro

penston — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:58:24 +0000

The other day I walked to the drugstore to purchase some mouthwash. While I was there I also picked up some bar soap. The antibacterial kind. While I was in the vicinity (one isle over), I checked out their inventory of deodorant. There is one brand of deodorant that I am loyal to, but there have been challenges recently locating the product. This particular deodorant comes in different fragrances and also different model lines. There are the Classic, High Endurance, and Red Zone model lines, and I prefer the Classic. I tried the High Endurance, but it actually burnt my skin on contact. I haven’t tried the Red Zone line, but with fragrance names like Showtime, Swagger, and Double Impact, maybe I should. Within the Classic line, I’ve always liked the Fresh scent over the Original. Yes, I’d rather be Fresh than Original. At least with respect to my apocrine glands. The problem has been that the Classic Fresh product keeps disappearing from the stores. At one point, it appeared that the Classic Fresh had been discontinued. I tried half a dozen different stores and nobody had it stocked. I had to reluctantly switch to Classic Original. This, despite the advice offered at the manufacturer’s website (yes, they even have online FAQs for grooming products). “Can I build up a tolerance to deodorants or anti-perspirants? Sir, no, sir! You can’t build up a tolerance or become immune to a deodorant or anti-perspirant. So, when you find something you like, stick with it.” Well, the good news is Classic Fresh is back in stock. And I bought two. I’ll be applying some tomorrow.

Karma III

penston — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:56:59 +0000

King Crimson is playing tonight. My name is/was on the guest list. The show is in Nashville. I’m in Cali. To help make me feel better, I do look forward to this –

Karma II

penston — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:08:43 +0000

In my current work role I have to attend (and often chair) large teleconference meetings. These meetings often include folks calling in from three or four different locations around the world. I’m familiar with most of the players involved and find the meetings usually productive. On Tuesday my boss asked me to fill in for her at a project review meeting she couldn’t attend. This meeting featured a team of folks with whom I wasn’t previously acquainted. And the meeting was scheduled for two hours, from 11AM to 1PM. As I told my boss, that’s both of my lunch hours. The meeting began late. The presentations were sent late. The person managing the project was not organized. In a word, the meeting was a train wreck. And it just got worse. After about 15 minutes I wanted to scream. After about 30 minutes I wanted to kill. After about 40 minutes I could only think about one thing. How can I get off this call? I can’t just hang up the phone. There’s no good excuse I can use to leave. No equipment failure I could feign. How can I get off this call? Then help arrived. After the second strong rumble, I calmly stated, “We’re having an earthquake, gotta go.”

Listening
Artist	Title
Jon Hassell	Maarifa Street
Ozric Tentacles	Savernake Forest, 6/15/85
StoneTiger	CBGB, 12/11/83

Karma I

penston — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:06:25 +0000

On Saturday we attended the Summer “Picnic” Event presented by the Mega Corp that employs me. It was a day at Universal Studios, including lunch. After the lunch and the backlot tram tour, we marched off to experience some of the park rides. They have convenient electronic billboards throughout the park that update you on how long the current wait is for each ride. So we were quite aware that The Simpsons Ride had a 65-minute wait. And that Jurassic Park – The Ride had a 45-minute wait. Man, the place was full of people. As we surged and stuttered with the sweltering swarm, I suddenly sensed a squeeze on my arm. A complete stranger who was done for the day wanted to give us their four “Front Of Line” passes. These passes, which double the cost of admission, allow you to bypass the above mentioned waits and pretty much get directly on the rides. We enthusiastically thanked our new acquaintance and took off for the bucket-of-water-in-the-face known as Jurassic Park – The Ride. A flash of the pass and we were aboard with no wait. Next, before our shirts were dry, we were experiencing the virtual world of The Simpsons Ride. We used the passes only three times, so we weren’t completely convinced they were worth the extra money. Oh yeah, it wasn’t our extra money.

Unabhängigkeit

penston — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:42:43 +0000

Yesterday we went to Daddy’s (Secret) Beach. It was crowded, but accessible. Many seals swam by and the pelicans were a treat to watch. They flew just inches off the water and then dropped into the waves, their wings just skimming the face of the waves. Big surfer birds. Then we went home and got set up for a barby exploding with flavor. Right before the hound exploded through the screendoor -

Then it was off to the fireworks.

Everything was going swimmingly, until the hill caught on fire. Both the fireworks and the fire got a big round of applause.

Listening
Artist	Title
Damien Rice	O
Fission Trip	Volume One
Frank Zappa	Hot Rats

Baron von Clipper

penston — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:55:18 +0000

I got my hair cut tonight. Just needed to note the date. That is all.

Listening
Artist	Title
Petey and Pals	Big Blue Ball
Bar Kokhba	Lucifer: Book Of Angels, Vol. 10
F/i	Blanga

Very

penston — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:21:43 +0000

Tired

So, you get a pic. From the last trip to Scotland. Messing with the ISO in the rain.

no, it’s not on fire!

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

penston — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:57:24 +0000

Mr. Never Gonna Retire and I went to lunch at King Taco today. Always the best carne asada burrito that money can buy. We take the light rail to get there. On the way back we sat at the end of a car where the seats are along the sides. Standing in the nearby “between” the cars space were two Metro Cops. Our soon-to-be acquaintance strolled into the car with a big cup of fancy coffee. No food or drink allowed. He sees the Metro Cops and does a 180 so quick, it looked as if he was on a skateboard, but he wasn’t. Almost before the Metro Cops can give him the nasty eyeball, he’s back aboard, sitting down, explaining how he was just about to put that cup in the trash, you see. Our skinny, gregarious train-mate has a gift for gab. He comments on Mr. Never Gonna Retire’s company badge and explains that he once lived near the Puerto Rico facility. He speaks, somewhat longingly, about his time there and the lifestyle he had there. Says (in too many words) the natural allure combined with a laidback attitude was second only to Hawaii as a place to drift and waste time. Sounds pretty good! He and Mr. Never Gonna Retire discussed some specific locations, as Mr. Never Gonna Retire has been there before. Our stop came quickly and we left our chatty pal. After we got off the train, I asked Mr. Never Gonna Retire if he had noticed that the fingernails of our acquaintance were all painted an almost black midnight blue. He said he hadn’t.