HappyHappyDonut

Reading an article in this month's issue of The Atlantic Monthly, I guessed that the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate in 1952 was Adlai Stevenson. I was right. :)

Been watching a lot of the A-Team recently, what with all of the free time on my hands. I don't remember missing many episodes when I was a young gaffer. Dependin on what time of the day it is, the A-Team either really, really sucked or it was not so bad for what i promised. Definitely not the dramatic quality of a 24 or a Sopranos...

So busy painting the kitchen yesterday that I missed a doctor's appointment. Ugh. Still waiting for other news though.

Have to stop surfing these damn social networking sites ... must relax ! Aaggh, I am addicted!

Was it the high octane Pepsi I drank before heading off to bed, excitement about a new opportunity, or the fact that my hand was pulsing in pain ? In any event, I barely slept a wink last night and can be accurately described in French as being "scrap". Oh well, have a 2nd coat to put down today before heading off to class.

Spent most of the day painting the kitchen. HCW™ left me to fend for myself for the day. Went to Subway and read the Journal de Montreal. Should have got some more mileage on this month's Atlantic Monthly instead. Oh well. Tomorrow I guess.

Bought a 2L of Pepsi and a dozen packages of Fizz candies.

Digital cable box on the fritz. Put Pooty Tang in the DVD to test the TV. Still watching it as I alternate between interviewing for a job remotely and writing this. Capatown my damies!

20 years after it came out, I am finally sitting down to read William Gibson's Neuromancer, a book that, along with Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson defined the whole cyberpunk pehenomenon and was major inpsoration to The Matrix trilogy.

(I watched my copy of Ghost in the Shell for the 3rd time I believe ... yum! Need to get a hold of the 3nd movie and the 3rd one (which releases this week). Also need to get a copy of Akira, another great movie of the genre...)

Watching Red Sonja. Featuring Sly's future squeeze Brigitte Nielsen, Ahnold the Groper, and that hot blonde with the imposing rack from a few nights ago, Sendahl Bergman. Brigitte plays Red Sonja, a red-headed warrior chick. (is she really a red head ? There's only one way to know ... hehe). I liked her better when she died it blonde, cut it short, and shot Tagebaum in Beverly Hills Cop 2.

Ok, now. Sonja killed the king, ketchup splattered everyway, the savage hordes attacked. Ahnold came to the rescue, tapping Sonja on the ass on the way by. Smells like another Dino DeLaurentiis classic. (is he the one who made Ishtar with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty? Turns out Dino didn't produce Red Sonja or Ishtar. )

Holy shit! The son of Sho Kosugi (is her really ?) just drop kicked some Mofo!

In a classic Ahnold movie move, the vision of the lady dancing in the pool features a topless chick!

Mindless plat flows by.

Ok, now Ahnold is wailing on some fake plastic water beast. Goot go, groceries are here.

Choice between watching Billie Bob Thornton* in Chopper Chicks in Zombietown and the classic Russ Meyer flick, Beyond the Valley off the Dolls. What to do, what to do?

I haven't looked yet but the Chopper Chicks seems like just the kind of movie to get funding from Telefilm Canada. American stars, pointless story, Canadian crew ... I'm sold! Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. The Yanks kept it for themselves.

Oh well, off to work on that other site I am doing ...

James Earl Jones just told some snake to stay still. He then stroked the length of it, making it hard. Making it straight. Making it true. He then loaded up his bow and arrow with the snake, and launched it across the canyon floor hitting the now 53 year-old blonde with the likely droopy rack in the side. She's cold she tells us. Ahnold takes the opportunity to cop a feel and dream about one day becoming governor of the world's 7th largest economy. One-time hot blonde now on funeral pyre. Between copping a feel and looking sad-like, one senses that Ahnold is thinking about amending the US constitution to enable Austrian born muscle men to run for president. Chick would later turn down role of Red Sonja in favour of Brigitte Nielsen is now nothing but ashes. Camera cuts to Ahnold sitting in front of sacrificial chick tied to a rock, arms in air, exposing generous cleavage. Now our hero is preparing a series of booby traps and ambushes. Built series of fake soldiers--clones if you will. Wait, is this when he had his idea for stem cell research. We appear to be waiting for bruce from Iron Maiden and the other guys from Spinal Tap to show up. Waiting for the key shot with the tusk swinging around the stone and impaling the dude. Please don;t let them edit it out!

Still watching Conan. James Earl Jones is taking a break from doing the lines for Darth Vader, ads for Verizon, one of the guys along for the ride with Slim Pickens, and saying "This is CNN" in order to turn into a frickin' huge snake. That hot blonde is Sandahl Bergman and is now a spritely 53 years old. Some guy wearing an S&M mask like the freak in Pulp Fiction just go it . Ahnold is decked out in zebra stripes. Kills a few dozen semi-naked chicks, stopping to grope on the way by. The dudes from Spinal Tap are now on the scene. Ahnold is going to kick some ass. Wait, isn't that guy the lead singer for Iron Maiden? Column just fell down, knocking one mofo out. Hot blonde just disemboweled some guy. James Earl Jones slithered away safely moments ago while the sacrificial princess was captured with the goal of being groped in peace at a later date.

Currently watching Conan the Barbarian. Ahnold just bit the head off a buzzard before being saved by the tall blonde with the amazing rack. Question: did he have his MBA when this movie was filmed ? Question: did the unrestrained groping of women happen before or after his MBA ? (Maybe it was a result of it?)

My efforts to execute a manual override in the parking lot of a major hospital last week were worth it. It's official, we are now firing on all cylinders. Woo hoo! :-)

Interesting take on life in a start-up company once the company gets bought out. Or in my case (twice now!), when a new CEO is brought in. In the first case, he brought in all his loser friends from other companies, destroying the company culture in a matter of months before running the company into the ground. In the second case, just the arrival of a new CEO was enough. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop though.

Got computer back from dealer with brand new screen. Apple warranty covered it. How nice. Energy level really low as starting to decompress from all of the crap of the past months. Have family over for a few more days now. WIll relax after. cheers.

This is some f*cked up sh*t. Damn.

First day of what we shall call a sabbatical. Still too wired for speed. Suppose to be par for the course. takes a week to come down to Earth. Then a full month for the body to detoxicate. 2nd month is when the regeneration happens.

So what did I do you ask?

Hmm. Slept until 9 or so. Read the newspaper. Watched the end of Knight Rider. Followed by a whole episode of the A-Team. Read a couple of articles on supply chain optimization (part of a 6-article special in HBR). Read some more of The Ideas That Changed The World, though I must admit I am getting bored. Surfed the web in the afternoon. Read George Kennan's seminal article, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct", which laid the basis for the policy of containment during the Cold War. Walked the dog. Ate some St-Hubert chicken with HCW™. Watched Porky's, still the highest grossing Canadian film in Canadian history, about a bunch of teenage kids and their experiences in high school and with a certain bar across the county line. Memorable quote from that movie: Give me pussy or give me death. Memorable movie moment: A young Kim Cattrall's impression of a white tailed deer before undertaking the moan to end all moans (yep, even more than Sally's). Now watching some kung fu movie on The Drive-In Channel's Monday Night Kung Fu movie event. (Still hoping to come across that movie where the one guy splits the other guy in half--down the middle--with his sword ... oh well, it's not this one.)

In my resume, I describe myself as a polymath (I used to use the term 'rare generalist') which means ' a person knowledgeable in many subjects'. This could mean someone who does astrophysics, German Litterature, gardening and kayaking, for example. In my case, it means going from reading the Economist to playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to reading Clausewitz's treatise on war to watching anime and Japanese game shows to coding web sites and writing blogs (including diatribes on the US political scene), all of it capped off by reading Brett Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero. (Yes, coming soon, look for yours truly in a dingy LA hotel room, pants down around my ankles, working hard for my next hit of H...)

'nuff said.

PS: A quote on the polymathic lifestyle:

"At the core of a polymathic personality is an unrestrained curiosity -- about nearly everything. They don't learn in order to procure a degree. They don't learn to get a better job. They don't learn so that they can impress other people with their knowledge. They learn because they are curious. They want to know. No matter how pragmatic the popular culture might be about learning, the polymathic personality cherishes knowledge for its own sake." Smells like me.

This is another good idea, following up on the Harper's article.

My bitchy post-election article is still on hold, though Harper's as another good idea.

As for me, just trying to survive the day tomorrow. Then home base will be in sight.

The plan was to write some bitchy post-election commentary to kick-off another site I am working on. But then one of the hinges on my laptop screen broke (costing me either free, $350, or $1,000, depending on whether the warranty ponies up or not), and in the rush to get to the meeting I forgot to attend, I forgot my power adapter at work ... since in all likelihood, my battery will run out fairly soon, I am not going to write that long missive, nor am I going to do the stuff from work. The final stuff I agreed to do prior to my, how do you say, 'sabbatical', which starts Friday (unless something else comes up). Too bad as well, as I felt like a spot of business plan writing as well...

I really need some rest. Little things irritate me big time. At wit's end half the time. Still not received the news I was hoping to receive. Worried about the future too. Need to do a soft landing as planned and then pull up to avoid the mountain range ahead... Though I tend to get myself in trouble a lot in life, I also, perversely, tend to land on my feet more often than not. (So why am I never happy ? news at 11) 'nuff said.

Pleasantries and platitudes were exchanged this morning.

Sides were updated, decisions were made, intentions were somewhat discussed.

The pause button was pushed in.

Someone get a new tape to record on.

Hit Pause to continue.