An Octopus

Writer's Block: Gone but Not Forgotten

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:22:47 GMT

Many beloved television shows are no longer with us, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Six Feet Under, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. What defunct television show do you miss the most?

View 501 Answers

X-Files.
Sea Quest.

Christ, I am a nerd.

Art(?)

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:49:58 GMT

It's basically graphs as art. Like this:
http://gizmodo.com/365513/worlds-least-favorite-computer-viruses-as-haunting-3d-art

Or that big one of Napolean's conquest. Their graphs, but their beautiful and have some kind of meaning and even emotional weight.

You know, this thing:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~cema/courses/CSE3325/images/lect6/napoleonArmy.gif

Blast Off Bootsy

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:46:20 GMT

Apparently, NASA is looking for people to send to Mars on a one-way mission. It has lots of perks I'm told, mostly it requires only half the infastructure of a normal NASA mission.

Obviously, we must send Bootsy Collins. The original Star Child, direct from the Mothership. If we're sending people to the red planet, I want it to be Bootsy.

Reflections on Rhetoric

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:42:09 GMT

Looking back at the last post, I realized that I came off sounding much more dismissive and ambivalent than I actually am about moving.
While I am, of course, nervous about moving, I'm very excited to move on to something new and different.

And I did have lots of fun in D.C. It was, in a word, a hoot.

The Land of NO FUN

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:18:25 GMT

I just realized what made D.C. so weird -- there wasn't anything fun!

Nothing but offices, starbucks, and overpriced restaurants. No diners, no real coffee shops, and no comic book stores!

No wonder the place was so weird!

What!?

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:50:05 GMT

MarsEdit supports titles for LiveJournal!?

MADNESS!!

(Hot, sexy, awesome madness!)

Now, if it only supported tags for LJ as well...

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:59:46 GMT

There's a bunch of film students in my house.
They're scurrying about, trying to get the sound to work, trying to figure out how the steady cam turns on.
I feel young again.

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:01:48 GMT

Well, the radio is playing The Beatles, so maybe things will be alright.

Happy New Year, kids.

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:59:01 GMT

I think I am just going to sulk, OK?

WHINE WHINE
BITCH BITCH
NYAH NYAH

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:59:02 GMT

Why does my Wii hate my new router?

This makes me angry. Damn you, AirPort Express!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:33:21 GMT

AnOctopus tends to be taken in by stupid things that look kinda pretty. Small, vinyl toys case in point.

But even AnOctopus finds these chandeliers unacceptable. Except maybe the pink one, provided that the sea shells were removed. It might look good in AnOctopus' boudoir.

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:59:37 GMT

Just a reminder.
It's a good website.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:10:22 GMT

It was done right the first time.
Does this really need to exist?

The Dark Knight Trailer.

And I didn't think that Batman Begins was all that great, either.

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:16:15 GMT

FUCK YOU, INTERNET.

43.75%
You are slightly Emo. You probably have bangs and dress in slightly too tight clothes that look like they're from the 80's. You get called an Emo kid, which bothers you a little bit.You listen to decent music like Radiohead. You also love My Chemical Romance, but you can't get them all right. You cry a little, but you usually have a good reason, like your puppy died or you got to meet Ryan Seacrest or something.

Internet, have you seen my pants? I can smuggle cats in them!
Internet, no one calls me an emo kid! I saw an Emo kid at a Wilco concert and I flashed my knife at him because I am an asshole!
Internet, did you know that I care so little about Radiohead that I didn't download that album which I could purchase for whatever I felt it was worth?
Internet, did you know that I could not identify a "My Chemical Romance" song from a line-up of other song, even if I was attacked and beaten by said song?

YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL, INTERNET! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME! I HATE YOU!

(What follows is the sound of Chuck Taylors thumping up a flight of stairs, followed by the slamming of a door and muffled sobs)

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:36:41 GMT

I am, in fact, a little drunk right now.

98%ALCOHOLIC

Looking for payday loans?

How you like dem apples?

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:31:52 GMT

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102174152

FUCK YOU, SKYMALL!

I will be seriously in trouble if SkyMall ever goes out of business. These damn magazines are half the reason that I fly anywhere.

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:26:47 GMT

That was good.
The first Garg party in 5 or 6 years -- well before I came on to staff. Or even before I came to the University.

I have no pictures. I hope I will remember it.

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:15:02 GMT

Can I interest anyone in an erotic comic about a lady that fucks a robot?

I thought so.

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:02:44 GMT

Dammit, Stephen Fry! I know you are on Facebook somewhere! I MUST FRIEND YOU!

Find Fry.

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:41:56 GMT

I just saw 300, and I think it might be the manliest film ever made.

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 06:44:31 GMT

I know, I am way off the schedule that I hinted in the last post.
But I have a really good excuse this time.

The whole alum thing last week dominated my time, but it was completely awesome. I love the alums - there will be more on this later, and I do promise that.
Anyway, the Alums were here and K- was staying with me (RAD!) but that meant we got no work done on the issue that weekend. So we've been burning the midnight oil all week to layout the issue and also do fun things -- like carve pumpkins.

We just finished. The issue is entirely done. We're doing the copy-edit corrections Friday afternoon, and it will be sent to the printer's before end of business tomorrow.

I'm going to sleep so well.

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:42:31 GMT

After my post made directly after standing in line for the quickest five hours of my life, I did not in fact fall asleep.

Actually, I went to Midas and had my car repaired. I'm not saying what exactly I had done because it was embarrassing. I will say that it cost me $5.11.

A little later, I was lounging in the Gargoyle office. Mostly sleeping and pretending to read The Argonautika. Zack, the man for whom I was standing in line for that morning, dropped in and quickly grabbed the coveted wrist band with only moments before the interview with Wes Anderson was scheduled to start at Borders. He returned, glowing, half an hour later.

He said his life was better.

It's hard to describe what happened next. There was a lot of going back and forth, yelling, and negotiating. I'm going to try to get this across to you, gentle reader, as succinctly as I can.

Cathy Fisher, my friend whom I spent the morning in line with, called me from the new line forming outside of the Michigan Theatre. She, like me, had obtained a pass to see The Darjeeling Limited. She had also taken one of the Gargoyle's coveted bombs and had Jason Schwarzman as well as Wes Anderson sign it. Their names will live on in history, along with both members of They Might Be Giants. But I digress.

Fearing that the bomb might get damaged (or worse confiscated) in the theatre I quickly ferried it back to the safety of the Office. However, upon my return I found that they had begun to bring people into the theatre from not one but two lines! Within seconds, the flow stopped with between 50 and 100 angry people still outside, hopelessly waving colored vouchers. I was among them, though perhaps far less vocal than the rest.

Tempers were high, to say the least. Curses were thrown. Managers and underlings were berated equally by the crowd. Someone would come out from the theatre, inform us that it was hopeless and that we were wasting our time. Shouts would rise from the back of the mob about promises, about how much time they had spent in line, about the questionable parentage of the manager. No fewer than three people on behalf of the theatre came out, and left noticeably deflated by the angry throng.

I felt bad for both sides, really. Borders had bungled the whole thing by passing out numbered, signed, but apparently worthless vouchers to the first fifty people in line. The Michigan Theatre had not anticipated the popularity of the film, and had obviously given away far too many vouchers, and also had no system in place for sorting the people waiting to get in.

There was visible disagreement within the theatre. A man in a camel-hair suit, who towered over the underlings that came out to speak to the crowd was seen shouting, or at least talking sternly, within the lobby. Eventually, a man in a pinstripe suit emerged and ordered all "purple vouchers" against the wall - a certain number of us would be let in. With some jostling, and quick reflexes, I made it inside.

FRIDAY: The People I Met, and the Movie Itself!

SUNDAY: Wilco At the Fox

This weekend, the Student Publications building is being rededicated as The Stanford Lipsey Publication Building. Guess who dropped 3.3 million on the project! There will also be the odd-year Gargoyle Alumni reunion. Pictures and stories to follow.

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 03:56:36 GMT

On December 25th, 2006 I received a Wii for Christmas. Along with this whopper of a gift, I also received a copy of "Zelda: Twilight Princess."

On October 21st, 2007 I beat Twilight Princess.

I think I might be the last Wii owner in America to do this, but this is the situation.

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:17:59 GMT

1. I still need to talk about Wes Anderson. There's not much to say, really, but it was such a big deal that I need to wind it up.

2. I cannot say enough good things about tonight's Wilco show. It was fun, it was dead on. The band went all the way back to A.M. and hit every album in between (save for, oddly, either Mermaid album).

So there's a lot coming. I have some more reading to do, and a paper to work on, but I be sure to fill all of you in.

Thank you, Gentle Readers.

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:23:13 GMT

1. I have Phantom Hourglass. Yes, it is awesome. However, I just got to some kind of boss that I have no idea how to beat. I am terrified that this is going to end up like Oracle of Seasons and I will get stuck and end up hating the game. It was an awful experience. Nintendo should thank GOD for Twilight Princess, since otherwise I probably would have never bought another Zelda game. Ever.

2. My Haircut continues to get mixed reviews. Personally, I do not think that it is the GREATEST HAIR CUT EVER, but I do finally look more like how I had always thought of myself. When I would imagine myself, I always had shorter, shaggier hair. I always had to kind of mentally remind myself that I have a huge ponytail. And I always thought my head looked silly, since my hair was pulled flat to my scalp. At the end of the day, I cut it off because I wanted something new, and that is certainly what I have.

3. Today, I did not eat for 23hrs because I forgot. Tomorrow, I will not do the same.

4. I just finished my rough draft for my Classic Civ course. I just finished it. Its not very good, in fact it's kind of trite at times. I didn't even find an opportunity to assert my big theory, that being that the Odyssey is a contemporary epic told in the style of an older, Iliad like story. Its probably bunk, but its nice to have an original though in a paper now and again.

5. I am very tired.

6. I kind of like this list format for my blogging - it looks more organized, even though it isn't.

7. I wonder if I will always miss the Good Ol' Days?