Lightsabers and Lollipops

i'm pretty sure the writer's strike is the beginning of the end.

the concrete sign is that oprah is rushing in with a crappy reality show into a time slot where there might have been an entertaining and rewarding show.

i was excited to watch new episodes of LOST but i was told there are only 8 episodes before it turns to dust without re-writing. so sad. at this point, just give the writers what they want.
make the tide of reality shows stop before they flood us all with brainless excrement.
oh. and i'm pretty sure the writers for the current comcast commercials are on strike too.
those are the worst commercials i've seen.
they just make me want to strangle something.

on a lighter (less psycho) note:
due to the TV writer's strike, they are making a G.I. Joe movie. which will make all of us guys who grew up in the 80's all kinds of happy again.


...and knowing is half the battle.

memo to myself:

must buy extra large bag of googly eyes.

i hope this dancing shirt appears in your dreams somehow.



is it supposed to sting like that?

that's how you know it's a shirt!

i'll repeat that:(ahem) FREE STUFF IS GREAT!!!



show up to events that i am part of and you may win all kinds of free things to wear, place on your shelf or just throw in your closet until you finally throw it away.
most free items provided by Tall Steve Enterprises or www.Redpac.com

"because when you say Redpac, you say quality"

um, actually... you say something like free Chicago Wolves paraphenelia. but hey, Hockey rocks.

Go Wolves.

i introduced my kids to the most brilliant and simple pieces of percussion today while driving home.

both my 2 year old son and 5 year old daughter loved slapping their knees and clapping their hands to the timeless hit of "we will rock you" by Queen.

unbridled joy i tell you.

it made me think of the movie A Knight's Tale and how i already miss heath ledger.



...oh well.


watched shoot em up today as well.

it was greatly bad and entertaining. i have never witnessed so many uses of a carrot in a movie.

okay.
danced in a cage in Vegas.
check!

so i can cross that off my list now.

sweet.

softest.

blanket.

ever.

CREPES!!!

Vegas Food Day Two:

woke up too late for any breakfast buffets. we went on the search for a place to eat a brunchy time meal. ended up at planet hollywood where we waited for the lunchtime buffet. it was well worth the wait. i grabbed my dessert first. they laughed at me until they found out later that all the chocolate mousse cake was gone.
here's round one:


and me loves some crepes. plus there's fried calamari and buffalo shrimp. and this eggs benedict thing with crab meat. its so rocked!

aaaaaaand round two:


everything at planet hollywood tasted great with one exception. the create your own taco bar. it was dry.
but mmmm, shrimp tempura...


fast forward later to our visit to fremont street. the great shrimp off of '07 was called off due to leesir's sissiness. so yup! i won.
so i was becoming one hungry hungry Spaceman.
we had some fried twinkies and oreos at mermaid's cuz they are soooo stinkin tasty!



after some serious time passed the hunger really set it in. so tall, dan and i set off to get some food. we made several stops but nowhere looked even appetizing, even at 1:30 in the morning.
i held off til we got to ellis island casino. i registered there last visit so i had 5 dollars in free comps. the menu items were on the cheapy cheapy side. pictured here is the steak and eggs special for $2.99. it hit the spot and is probably going to be the reason for my first heart surgery.



and that's it. we tipped heavily and went back the room and slept a whole lot.

crepes always make me think of talledaga nights. and i really really want some right now.

working in a bookstore at closing i have one recurring thought:

people who shop for business/management books are inconsiderate jerks. the people who buy and read them may not be total idiots, but the people remove almost every book in the section and redistribute them throughout the store deserve hell.
i just find it ironic that people who are trying to sharpen their business skills can't seem to grasp simple organizational skills, like alphabetizing or simply placing something back where you found it.

anyway. i'm through with my little wah wah wah moment.


wankers.

so the day started badly yesterday but it could have been a lot worse.
woke up and the street was flooded.
no biggie. could still drive. my house is on high ground.
i told my wife that i wouldn't worry til i saw animals striding by two by two.
she did say that she saw a skunk swimming down the street.
so yes, i started to worry.
it was garbage day so i was walking in and out of the garage.
and lo and behold, i stepped into the garage and yelled, "OHMYGOSH!!!"
the skunk had decided to seek shelter from the rain inside.
luckily, the skunk decided to retreat further into the garage as i decided to retreat the heck outta there to run into the front door of the house.
also luckily, as i was going into the house i witnessed the skunk exiting the garage to go into the neighbors yard.
but man! that would be sooooooo bad if the skunk got spooked and decided to spray me with it's butt juice in my own garage.
that would make me and my entire house stink for like a week or worse.
other than that, the day was pretty uneventful.
thank goodness.

japanese cartoons are weird.

does this picture really need explaining?

so my wife left the TV on in my room while i was working on the computer.
it was on the lifetime channel.
for some reason a movie started and i became attached to it quickly and couldn't seem to turn it off til the end. and as a result of all lifetime movies, i feel dirty and ashamed for being a man.
i did get closure on the movie by the way. the bad guy who lied cheated womanized and murdered did get sentenced to be executed by a court of law.
justice is served.
girl-power.
men are pigs.

i felt i needed to watch a manly movie like die hard or terminator to restore my masculinity.

i watched spider-man 3 and skipped past the storyline and just watched the action scenes.

now i feel i can sleep at night.

rock-a-hula baby!!!

today: i'm all about the sour grapes.

Purple Reign!!!



one of the things i really really wanted to do in Vegas this last time was see the Prince cover band called Purple Reign. i've heard good things.
and for some reason that i can't ever explain, i'm a Prince fan.
i'm also a fan of They Might Be Giants, Mortal and Soul Coughing, but somehow Prince was what i had on record and tape when i was a kid. grew up with it. it's grandfathered in. so there.
i also would like to blame Kevin Smith.

so here's how it went:
first off, we were late.
couldn't be helped. we were at sam's town enjoying our zesty burritos and chips. and we were on vacation, so there was no reason to rush. it's Vegas. enjoy.
so because of that, we got there as the Prince part of the show was about to launch into 1999.
cool. we find a place to sit. there weren't any free tables. we had to sit way in the back like stalkers.
i tried to take pics, but i had the flash off and my camera is tiny so i always shake when i snap a photo. so none of those came out.
then the band says they are gonna take a break.
some DJ starts playing poppy songs like usher's yeah and even the cha cha slide.
we endure. good thing is, some people decided to leave, so we stole their table.
i think the DJ played for like 20 minutes. and since this was the last thing we were doing that day, we were exhausted. i think Tall actually fell asleep while sitting at the the table.
so then the faux Prince comes out finally and sings a few songs. the memorable one for me was Head. i won't explain the theatrics. this website is for kids.
but then they do a long bass solo and the guys who pretend to Morris Day and The Time come on stage. they do like 4 or 5 songs that all have long talky talky introductions.
none of the songs are what i am familiar with. they even did a ballad. sheesh. so i was startin to make plans to get outta there. i mean, instead of watching the show, i found myself watching this girl and her boyfriend get more and more intoxicated from this gigantic drink contraption that i was pretty surprised they finished. it was sad that that was more interesting of a show.
ah well.
since steve was barely awake and i was feeling the effects of little sleep vs. running around all day, i decided that once the Prince showed up for the next song i would go up close to the stage, take some pics and be on my way. i was tired!!!!
so sure enough, he comes out and fires up "Erotic City" and the show was worth watching again. i came so very close to considering staying just to see what other hits they covered. but i couldn't burn us out any longer. it was time to o get some sleepy sleepy. big day the next day.
there was a neon sign graveyard to be seen. and food to be eaten! i like food.

Purple Reign!!!

Vegas food: Day 1



i hope none of you ever wonder why i love In-N-Out Burger.
i mean, just look at it!
they cut up the whole potatoes for the fries right in front of you.



i'm still all kinds of sad that i bought a new hat from In-N-Out and left it by the escalators at the hotel. i didn't realize it til we were waiting at the airport.
sigh.
i guess everybody has got to lose at least something in Vegas.

Sam's Town



went out of our way to eat at an old casino called Sam's Town. the beef burrito was soooooooo good. i understand that the margaritas were not top notch. but i was far too busy enjoyin my delicious burrito and eatin lots and lots of chips and salsa to really care.

next: Purple Reign.

THAT'S IT!

i am never, ever going to another new year's party celebration or gathering without driving myself there or a fool-proof escape plan.

NEVER!