Insert Personality Here

Flambe is French for Holy Crap The Kitchen is On Fire!!

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:18:15 GMT

So, last night I was working on cooking a pork chop dish that uses a rum based glaze. I tend to follow instructions rather directly and most that I have dealt with that concern potentially flammable stuff suggest removing the pan from the heat before adding. This particular recipe did not say anything before "add rum to pot", so I assumed that the rum was not high enough proof to burn (but I had my doubts). Wrong! A roughly two foot flame burst out of the dish. I managed to spill a bunch of rum on the floor getting my hand out of the way. Luckily the flame did not follow. I can only image the scene from the living room. Everything seems fine and the usual cooking noises are coming from the kitchen. Suddenly there is a bright flash of light and your significant other come hauling ass into the room yelling "ohmygodfuckingshititsonfire!!!!". The flame had mostly died down by the time Melissa came out and I was left standing there looking rather sheepish. Clean up on isle five. :) Melissa did suggest that there are better ways of hinting about the desire for a kitchen remodel. The pork did turn out really good after all was said and done.

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:27:11 GMT

I have made a discovery today. The glue that is left over after you peel up linoleum is made of the dried spooge of Satan himself. It is pure evil and cannot be reasoned with.

With that in mind, I learned something new today. Anything can be fixed with a bigger hammer. But wait, you say! If you use too big of a hammer you will break something. To which I replay, if you are up to using a hammer that big, then by that point you mean to break it.

Ain't home remodeling fun?

Cleaning Out The Memory Box

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:30:08 GMT

I didn't mean to start the new year by reminiscing but I was sucked in to a trip down amnesia lane on the sly. I'm not much of
a pack rat, but I do have an old shoe box with mementos and such. While doing some housekeeping today I came across a few
items I wanted to add to it. As I pulled the box down from its shelf in the closet, I realized that it was so full that the
lid wouldn't stay on. I thought that there must be some stuff I could throw away by now. Sure enough, I was able to empty out
half of my junk by getting rid of some clothing items from the early 90s (some hideous purple sunglasses and a pair of
leather boot straps with studs on them) and some birthday cards from names I no longer recognize.

While going through my flotsam, I found a stash of old movie and concert ticket stubs. I had forgotten about some of the
things I've seen in my life. Lately I've been moving a lot of my memories in to a digital format. My CDs are all converted to
MP3s and my photos are all taken on a digital camera. I didn't realize that while I've been focusing on the electronic now,
my analog memories have been fading. Some of the ticket stubs have faded to almost unreadable shades and my concert T-shirts
are shrinking and unraveling. I had better get some of this stuff down on paper (or screen as it were) before I lose my
references. With that in mind, here's a list of bands I've seen in concert. In no particular order...

INXS - San Diego Sports Arena
Public Image Limited - San Diego Sports Arena
Stone Temple Pilots - SDSU Open Air Theater
Pink Floyd - Jack Murphy Stadium
Depeche Mode - Cox Arena
Stabbing Westward - Cox Arena
Tori Amos (3 times at Copley Symphony Hall)
The Sisters of Mercy - Brixton Academy, London
The Crystal Method - 4th and B
Collide - The Vampire Bazaar in L.A. & Brick By Brick
Babyland - The Vampire Bazaar in L.A.
The Iron Maidens - Cane's in Mission Beach
The Atomic Punks - Cane's in Mission Beach
Led Zeppagain - Cane's in Mission Beach
Icon of Coil - Therapy at Club Rio in Mission Valley
The Cruxshadows - Some random house in Mission Valley (supposedly it was an S&M club normally)
Front 242 - Cane's
VNV Nation (New Year's Eve at the Avalon in Hollywood and 4th and B)
Genitorturers - Brick by Brick
Shaolin Punk - many, many times
Combichrist - Brick By Brick
The Cure - Coors Amphitheater
Interpol - Coors Amphitheater
Assemblage 23 - The Knitting Factory in L.A.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - 4th and B
The Red Sparrowes - 4th and B
Ani Difranco - Copley Symphony Hall (Melissa made me)
Randy Newman - Humphry's
Dead Can Dance - Humphry's
Henry Rollins spoken word - 4 times at 4th and B

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:43:30 GMT

Happy somewhat belated birthday to zeldacat ! I still haven't gone to bed yet so it's still technically the 12th, right?

Hope you had a great day. :)

Melissa & Me Anime Style

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:21:29 GMT

Comic Con Pics

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:58:04 GMT

Comic Con Pictures
X-Sanguin Pictures

The Writing's on the Wall

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:51:39 GMT

I don't know if there has been a major upswing in the amount of graffiti being put on walls or if I just am more sensitive to it now, but I have been seeing a lot more lately. It all started when in San Francisco this April. I saw tagging all over the place. I had seen stencil graffiti in the past, but now I saw tagging in places that it had not been before (yard fences, storefronts, etc.). Now I'm starting to see it a lot more here in S.D. as well. I did see a lot of tagging while riding the trolley down to the convention center, but it goes right through Encanto and Logan Heights, so no big surprise there. It really hit home while driving to work the other morning. Someone had tagged a rail bridge over the freeway during the night in several foot high letters. No art to it, just someone's alias.

I was discussing my thoughts with Melissa this morning and realized that I am a total hypocrite on the subject. I actually don't mind it so much if it has some artistic value and doesn't damage private property. As an example, there is a drainage canal next to the Encanto trolley stop that has some pretty cool images painted along the sides. I don't know if it is sanctioned or not, but it took some time and talent to create the work. I think it enhances the area a bit. I also like some of the stencil tags I saw up in San Francisco. Most had some artistic value and political message (and were even amusing in some cases) and were put on public sidewalks or light posts. On the other hand, it would have disturbed me to see the same images on someones front door or fence. I just can't be OK with damaging someone's personal property. Melissa brought up a good point. What if someone did the same thing on a sidewalk in the old town area of La Mesa? I don't think I would be OK with that either since it would be damaging a historical location. I can also image getting a little fed up if there was too much of it all in one place. Now to completely flip-flop my view, I hate seing someone's tag scrawled on a wall, a window, or the bus. I know that the idea of getting a name or message out in the public view is the same, but it bugs the crap out of me.

It's kind of funny how reviled common tagging is, but you can go to the book store and find items on stencil and sticker tags in the art section. Guess I'm not the only one who is conflicted on the subject.

Artists I Saw at Comic Con

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:50:41 GMT

Man, everything is still such a blur. Probably doesn't help that I managed to pick up a cold along with my comics at the show this year. Bleh :(.

I just want to make sure I jot down all of the stars and artists I saw at Con before I forget.

Robert Rodriguez - at the Red Sonja panel
Rose McGowan - same
This sounds like a really cool movie. They want to keep it close to the comic book feel (really dark and bloody). The poster samples they had to show were pretty rad. Rose stated emphatically that she would not have a mullet like in the 80's version.

Al Feldstein - The editor for EC Comics in the 50's and Mad in the 60's. I saw him at a spotlight panel and then later down in artists alley. Really funny guy. I got to tell him that Mad was what got me interested in reading.

Kevin Smith - We had been waiting in line for the Battlestar Galactica panel line forever and were about to give up when Kevin Smith ducked outside for a smoke break in between his panels. I didn't get to talk with him, but he was about 10 feet away.

Bernie Wrightson - Attended his spotlight panel.

Simon Bisley - Got him to sign his art book at the Heavy Metal booth. I did get to tell him that I first saw his Slaine stuff in H.M. many moons ago and had been in to his stuff ever since. Unfortunately, my voice decided to crack at that very moment so I ended up sounding like a 12 year old fanboy squawking at a metal god. Oh well.

Bill Plimpton - I was checking out the puppet figures being used for the upcoming Caroline movie when someone starting talking to the person next to me. I overheard them say "It's an honor to meet you, I love your work." I grabbed a quick glance at the target name tag and realized who it was. I waited for the other person to leave and then said Hi and told him that I enjoyed his work.

No More MySpace

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:37:34 GMT

I finally decided to kill off my MySpace account. I just got tired of all the spam messages and bogus add requests. The last straw was when someone tried to put a virus link in my comments. I've heard stories of people getting their accounts hijacked as well. Too much B.S. for not enough return. I am keeping LJ and will blog more in the new year, but I am thinking of changing my username to something that suits me better.

P.S. Merry Xmas to all!!!

Last Minute Post

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:19:33 GMT

Happy Halloween!!

My favorite night of the year. :)

Sad It's Over

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:15:56 GMT

Comic Con
Comic Con
Comic Con + X-Sanguin (dancing and drunk-assery yay!)
Comic Con (suprisingly sans hang-over)
Sleep Sleep Sleep

Pics
Comic Con
X-Sanguin

Happy Birthday melisstar

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:47:46 GMT

Many hugs and kisses. I hope you have a great day. Love ya!!

Twilight Zone Moment

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Fri, 11 May 2007 07:11:51 GMT

You remember the old Twilight Zone episode where the guys flips a coin and it stands on its end? I was playing a game down at Game Empire the other day and I accidentally recreated the scene with a geeky twist. As soon as people realized that the die was stuck like that a small crowd gathered around. After a moment a guy at the end of the table said "Dude, can you read all of our minds now or something?". I listened for a moment and then replied "Nope". The spell had been broken and everyone went back to what they were doing. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that time didn't stop or I didn't get a super power. It didn't help me win either. Oh well.

Trip Photos

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:26:15 GMT

San Francisco
Mine
Melissa's

Las Vegas
Mine
Melissa's

San Francisco May 4 to 6 2007

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:33:44 GMT

Melissa and I went up to San Francisco this past weekend for a quick vacation. We decided to fly this time so that we would have more time to play on Friday. Things didn't quite go as planned. The flight left SD at 6:55 and got in to Oakland at around 8:30. We took an AirBart shuttle from the airport to the Bart station. Had to wait around for the Bart a little, then went in to SF. Got off on Market and got on the bus for the B&B out in Ocean Beach. The bus was packed so it had to stop on every block. We didn't get to the B&B until after 11. Luckily, Joanne was still up and let us in. We were pretty beat and it was a little too late to go out so we just crashed for the evening.

Saturday was a lot of fun. M let me sleep in a little. The first thing I saw when I woke up was the waves coming in down at the beach. I just lounged for a while and soaked in the light and quiet. We had a good breakfast and then headed out to the Mission area to see what was happening for Cinco de Mayo. We bussed down to Van Ness and walked South from there. We went through the City Center and Soho areas. There were a couple of luxury car dealerships along the way so I got to drool over some Lamborginis and Lotuses (Loti?) Got to the Mission pretty quickly but couldn't really find much going on. It felt a lot like San Diego or Los Angeles and we wanted more of a SF feeling so we started heading towards Chinatown. There was a lady yelling quotes from Revelations in Spanish on the bus when we first got on. Everyone did their best to ignore her. Thankfully, she got off after a few stops. All was not to be well though. After a few more stops we started hearing yelling from the front of the bus. A crazy lady was going off on an indignant yuppie that kept antagonizing her. After a few minutes there was a loud thump and the lady started yelling for 911 and saying she was going to sue. I'm guessing someone got hit or pushed. The guy took off, but the bus had to wait for the police to come and take a report. M and I decided to walk instead of waiting around. We walked back up Van Ness to Geary and then headed East. We walked through a little of the Tenderloin which really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We relaxed for a bit a Union Square and then pushed on to Chinatown. First stop was The Budda for Rum & Cokes. Headed out after a while and got some Boba. We walked through a little of North Beach and took a rest at the park in front of the big church. M mentioned Coit Tower and I told her that was where I originally wanted to propose to her. After a little begging she agreed to walk up. The hill up was really tough, but she was a trooper and grudgingly admits that the view was worth it. She still says she hates me though ;). Headed back down to City Lights bookstore for some browsing, then over to Vesuvio for drinks. We got a little hungry so we went over to Mona Lisa for dinner. After dinner, we walked over to Specs for a drink, and then back to Li Po in Chinatown for one last one for the road. Took the bus home and crashed out.

I woke up a little late on Sunday and so grabbed a quick breakfast before we had to check out. I did get a shower before we left, but had no shampoo (so I had to use hand soap). Thanks TSA for being such pricks :P. The flight back wasn't until 4:30, but we decided to just start heading back to the airport just in case of delays. Good choice it seems because our first bus broke down adn we had to wait for another. The rest of the trip to Oakland was pretty uneventful so we got there at around 1:30. We were both really tired and tried our best to stay out of each other's hair. It didn't help that the TSA guys threw away my hair gel and toothpaste. It seems that even though I had taken them out of my carry on and put them in the bin as instructed, they were not in the extremely necessary ziplock bag (that nobody mentioned until it became a problem). Fuuuuccck!!!! Flight home was on time and we arrived in one piece.

I had a lot of fun, but I don't think I want to fly next time. I hate the whole airport ordeal. They make me feel like a criminal as soon as I walk through the door. The whole cattle call, take off your shoes, get yelled at by angry drill instructor wannabes, put your shoes back on but don't get in anybody's way thing is just too much for me. Not to mention that the last couple of times I've flown I thought my head was going to rupture when the pressure changed. It was like nails in my temples. I'll check in to the train next time or just drive. I like the idea of doing it at my own pace and being able to eat or drink whatever I want.

Las Vegas

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 08 May 2007 04:45:51 GMT

I finally had a chance to take a trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago (first trip there for me). My company was having a meeting and decided to make a weekend of it. Luckily I had to opportunity to take Melissa along too. I don't think I would have gone unless I had my partner in crime in tow. The company picked up my plane ticket and half of the hotel room, so we pretty much got to go for half price which was kind of cool. We flew in on Friday evening and got to the hotel in pretty quick order. We stayed at the New York hotel on the 27th floor. The room was a pretty nice size with two beds and a couple of chairs near the window. Our room faced close to pointing down the strip so we had a good view on what was shaking down there. The roller coaster went by our window (so of course we took turns making rude and naughty gestures at the cars as they went by to see if they could see in).

After getting settled in a little we headed down to the bar that the company had rented for the evening (The Big Apple Bar). It was nice to have a few drinks, but the place was pretty packed. The company is getting a little too big for events like this. The bar had some of the best snacks. I think we're going to have to make a special order of their tri-tip for our wedding ;). I orderd a Red Bull & Vodka but what I got kind of tasted like grapefruit juice. It turns out they only had the Sobe energy stuff. Not bad, but not what I was expecting. It was a little too noisy to have any good conversations, but I got to introduce a few of the people I work with. I think they wanted to see what kind of crazy woman would date me. M and I headed out after getting a good buzz on. Since neither of us gamble, we headed out on the town. First stop was a run on the hotel roller coaster. A little expensive, but fun as hell. It was really cool riding it at night and seeing all the lights. The beam from the Luxor was coming up behind the hotel and shooting off in to the sky as far as you could see. We waited until we could sit in the very first car. Very fast train and my first coaster ride with a loop. Side note, nope you can't see in the windows from outside. After the ride we ventured out on to the strip for a few minutes. Bleh, people can smoke anywhere they want. We poked our noses in to the MGM Grand for a few, but then started getting hungry. We headed back to the New York and had a late dinner (11pm or so) at the USA Cafe. The traveling and drinks had tired us out so we called in a night.

Next day, we got up around 10 and did a little sight seeing. We walked down the strip to Bellagio and watched the fountains for a little while. The drivers on the strip are totally crazy. Saw a taxi make a turn from the far left across three lanes of traffic to pull in to Sav-On. The city is really dirty and dusty too (from being in the desert and lots of construction too). Saw lots of broken bottles on the ground. You would think they would put eveything in plastic to keep the drunk-asses from making such a mess. Plenty of call girl/porn flyers on the ground too. Every ten steps there was some dude handing them out. They would smack them together to get your attention and then hold one out for you to take. Could have been that they didn't speak English, but also may have been skirting solicitation laws. They never actually asked you to take one. The air was really dry. I had a head ache and poor Melissa's nose wouldn't stop bleeding. Had to head back after too long because of my meeting. Had lunch at Gonzales Y Gonzales. Pretty good food, pretty good Margaritas.

Compliance meeting was boooring. Afterwards, they had an ex-football player do a motivational speech and some reminiscing. Kind of fun to listen to. Headed back up to the room to kick back for a while before the dinner. Headed downstairs fashionably late, but still were kind of bored. I don't really know many of my co-workers, but we had been seen so we couldn't duck back out. Dinner was an OK buffet. More amusing were the very drunk people around. Awards ceremony went way too long. The company is sales oriented, so lots of back slapping and hand shakes for the sales teams. IT got one joint award and the announcer forgot to read off all of the names. Such is life in the computer world.

After dinner M and I headed out again and walked a pretty good part of the strip. We cruised down to Treasure Island to see the show, but the last one was at 11 (we arrived at 11:15). A little dissappointed, but not ready to go back. We didn't know what to do and really didn't want to pay $20 cover on a club and then get $10 drinks. Started walking back towards New York and did manage to catch a volcano show at the Mirage. I noticed that a lot of the hotel fountains have the same funky musty smell as the ones at Disneyland. Walked back to New York to grab some food, but all of the places we wanted to eat were closed. All of the bars were packed out the door too. Went back to room in defeat.

Sunday morning, got up, got Starbucks, checked out. Plane was 1 hour delayed to terminal and we sat on the tarmac for another hour. I found out later that the people headed to Colorado had to sit in on the runway for six hours! I was really glad to be home.

All in all the trip was a bit of a bust. I didn't get to see the Double Down, Red Square, or Freemont Street. The place just didn't have the vibe I expected. It seemed really sterile. All of the famous old school hotels from the pictures I've seen are gone. Only the Tropicana is still kicking. No more Rat Pack or Elvis. I may go again, but next time without the meetings and schedules.

Tagged By zeldacat

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 02:27:40 GMT

"List seven songs you are into right now, no matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your Live Journal along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to."

1) When I Am You - Panzer AG
2) Destroyer - Snog
3) Atom Bomb - Fluke
4) Tomorrow Comes Today - Gorillaz
5) Beyond Raging Waves - DJ Krush With Shinichi Kinoshita
6) Le Printemps - Natacha Atlas
7) One of These Days - Pink Floyd

I'm going to tag...
10gauge
charon_grayi
urko
dork_grrl
melisstar
miriku
psyyche

The Scene Becomes Mainstream

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 05:01:38 GMT

I was watching Nip/Tuck with Melissa last night and happened to catch them using a remake of Marian by the Sisters of Mercy during a lesbian make-out scene. rad!

Also, last week I was driving home from work when the license plate of the car in front of me happened to catch my eye. It said VNV NTN. They also had a big Wumpscut sticker across their back window.

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:07:58 GMT

Happy Birthday melisstar
Hope you have a kick-ass day! *Hugs & Kisses*

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 19:01:41 GMT

Saw a funny bit of vandalism on a Keebler cookie truck on the way in to work today. The large "HOW'S MY DRIVING" lettering on the back had been turned in to "OW'S MY DR.VING"

For Melisstar

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:54:29 GMT

Say Cheese!
I love you babe. :)

Bored at work...

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 00:03:58 GMT

So I bring you camera phone action!!! I was almost tempted to make sure that everything lined up perfectly, but that's a bit too OCD for me.

You know when you're meant for each other when...

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 02:20:17 GMT

Not only do you get each other the same Valentine's Day card, but you get each other the same dirty Valentine's Day card.

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 17:55:14 GMT

I'm kind of bummed that I missed Magic Mtn yesterday, but I'm so poor at the moment that there wasn't any way to make that happen. The good news is that I'm broke for a good cause. The house is looking really good. A few more odds and ends and it will be perfect. Well round 1 at least. We already have plans for rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

I'm not much of a football fan, so I was downstairs painting some miniatures yesterday afternoon. I didn't have my radio on, but I could tell when a big play would happen from all of the shouts from up and down the street. Kind of amusing really.

Work has been really good lately. I was getting kind of bored, but a bunch of cool programming projects have fallen in my lap. I keep learning neat new tricks that I can apply to other projects, so each one makes the next a bit easier to do. I've been wanting to brush up on my coding skills, so now I just need to dust off my XML, SQL, C#, ASP.net, VB.net, PHP, CSS. Hmm, no problem. Should be simple, right. ;)

--Edit--
I almost forgot. I highly recommend The Matador. Pierce Brosnan is really on his game in this one. The character is totally opposite the smooth operator that he normally plays, but he still pulls it off. The scene where he stomps through a hotel lobby in nothing but a speedo and cowboy boots was so classic.

It was just a little foggy on my way in to work.

graforlock2000@yahoo.com — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:14:08 GMT

I've been haunted by The 40 Year Old Virgin ever since melisstar and I watched it a few weeks ago. I found myself grinning and blushing a few times during the movie as I recognized more than a little bit of myself in the main character, but I kept thinking that there was no way that I was that bad. Fast forward to about a week ago when I find my old GI Joe stash while cleaning out my basement. My first thought was to throw them out because I wasn't going to do anything with them, but then I had a brilliant idea. Why not sell them on eBay! Hey, wait a minute. Where did that idea come from? Doh!

Then, there's today when I was thinking about getting a group together for some war games. I realized that I still have to paint some of my figures, and then immediately thought back to the movie. "I'm gonna make your silver pants blue!". It's sad when the only way to make yourself feel better is to think "at least I don't talk to my figures while I paint them". At least I know my girl luvs her geek boy.

Anybody want to buy some GI Joes?