wreckx n effect is in effect but I’m the wrecker

A pre-birthday media blow: Mass Effect: I can’t get over the feeling that I’m playing this game wrong. Part of this feeling arises from the fact that Mass Effect has no tutorial to speak of, throwing you into the action with limited instruction but deep backstory. But most of this feeling arises from the hundred [...]

how old are you, are you old enough?

1. “I went to The Pill for the first time.” “How was it?” “It’s great. It’s a new wave / indie pop dance night. Good crowd; hipsters, but less intense.” “Less intense?” “Yeah, dialed up only to about a 3. Not trying as hard to not try as hard, if that makes any sense.” 2. [...]

so we’ll walk down the shoreline one last time together

Too many of my friends have sent family to the hospital in this past week. And only some of them have come back. So take advantage of this rare moment of unguarded sentiment from me and believe the following: I Like All Of You. Really. If you think I don’t like you, nine times out [...]

there’s something in my head, but it’s not me

Got home and promptly went to bed at 6:30 last night. Slept until the alarm went off this morning, whereupon I called in sick to work and slept another few hours. That seems to have put a real dent in this head cold, so I think I made the right call. Plenty of odd dreams [...]

then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose

I hadn’t gone to 90s Night in a while, and my friend Meghan O’ also expressed a desire to go dancing. So after sharing some excellent Upper Crust pizza with Melissa and Fraley over the BSG finale, we trucked to Allston and shook it all out. The dance floor seemed more crowded but less sketchy [...]

the evil that men do to live life close to kings

And now, the remainder of your media blow: Kitchen Confidential: Now I see what the fuss was about! Bourdain writes accessibly, but also with the intent to educate – about what goes on in kitchens, the way restaurants are run and, most importantly, what separates good chefs from the great ones. A fun read. Killing [...]

why are we here? because we’re here. roll the bones

I intended to touch on the Cattlecar Fantastica season finale in the tail-end of a larger media blow, but I have a suspicion the comments may “blow up.” And not in a Cylon-baseship way, or in a Saul-Tigh-ordering-young-men-to-die-for-New-Caprica way. I mean, in that way of the Internet. So BSG gets its own post. Spoiler-free Abstract: [...]

let’s go to the mall! today!

Today’s sign of the continuing disintegration of the American shopping mall as a center of commerce:Selling Snuggies in a mall sounds odd enough – the reversed bathrobe is one of those products that thrives on direct marketing and drop shipping, not herding massive quantities of inventory around. But no one’s selling these in a storefront [...]

iceland part three

Concluding our three part series: Heat, Part One. Hot water in Iceland stinks, literally. The entire island sits on bubbles of sulfuric water, requiring only a little drilling to summon to the surface. The amount of effort that the rest of the world puts into heating water for the home, a Reykjavik home has to [...]

iceland part two

General impressions of Reykjavik: More Like NIceland: Everyone I met in Reykjavik was cordial. Not quite friendly and outgoing, the way you’d get in the American South, but civil and helpful. Mix a laidback eagerness to please with the inherent stoicism that comes from any cold-weather climate, and you get an Icelander. I stumbled stepping [...]