12.31.2003

The random musical connection of the day:
On the latest Switchfoot album, the 9th song ("On Fire"), there is a moment at about the 2:30 - 3:10 mark where the song proper drops out, leaving whiring and chiming electronics and then Jon Foreman reenters. It strikes me as earily similar to a Thom Yorke wail during OK Computer-era Radiohead. I likes it.

12.30.2003

a day of small tasks:
-picked up my new glasses, regained my youthful vision
-renewed my driving licsence. i had to take the written test and barely passed. do you know how many feet it takes a fully loaded semi truck to break to a complete stop? i don't.
-decided that the play will not be a part of my spring semester. i ask with a tear in my eye for you as my witnesses to hold me accountable. don't let me sneak off to try-outs.
arrr...it's drivin' me nuts!


12.29.2003

und jetzt...to let you know what's up in the king household...

dad is entering the final week of his job before taking a new one at the VA - while the situation at the hospital has been very bad the last few years, i think he's a bit sad at leaving (he's been there 10 years, longer than anywhere else). he also cooks a lot as mom is often working.

mom arrived at the ten-thousand villages where she works saturday and discovered a gas leak (actually upwards of six) and spent a crazy and cold day trying to get that fixed. luckily, neither she nor the store nor those living in the above apartment were blown up, but had she been a few hours later...

alana sleeps a lot and plays ping pong with me (btw, i got a brand new paddle for xmas, what a difference!)

emily goes places with her high school friends and plays monopoly with me (btw, i often lose)

and i am eating a ginger altoid as i type this

brett, download pop up stopper from cnet or download.com or somewhere

blog!
ahoy, goshen college is playing in a holiday basketball tournament here in b-town. surprisingly GC is 14-1 right now, BC is 5-3, and the other two teams in the tournament have losing records.

ginger altoids, eh...talk about marketing blunder (one or two may be okay, but a whole tin of them...???)

phil, perhaps you should try playing some of the more fringe sports...z.B chess, or perhaps darts, archery, dance line, fencing, curling, Calvinball.
I KNOW YOU ARE ALL THINKING IT, BUT "BRETT'S MOM" IS NOT A SPORT.

in conclusion, death with pointy, knashing teeth to pop-up ads, which force me to interrupt my train of thought every 20 seconds.

12.28.2003

bloooo....so I finally saw LOTK:ROTK yesterday. I cried through about a third of it i think. It was just so darned epic. After a few days of my computer not working, i called my friends at Dell technical support. A pleasant woman with a thick Indian accent helped me through the necessary remedy. I can't imagine the challenge of explaining that stuff to people who know hardly anything about computers. It would be quite frustrating....ooog

12.27.2003

Welcome Brett, now we have more than a third of east hall on board! BLOG! Hope all y'alls piss went from yellow to orange this past week. BLOG! Phil, you need an impartial way to judge. Flip a coin, heads = yes, tails = no. Only one flip. If you feel relieved about the end result, good. If you feel upset, then you choose the other option. Simple, huh? Just don't tell be to decide on my career between physics and music that way. BLOG! ROTK was fabulous. It's great that the movie captured the spirit of the books, and if you had actually read them it was even more enjoyable because you knew all the backstories. Hooray! BLOG! Unpleasant discovery of the break: I didn't know they even made ginger altoids. Curiously strong indeed. BLOG! Saw a movie on Mormon missionaries on PBS last night. They went to Germany. I was terribly excited to hear real German again. I love the blunt, straightforward, simple elegance of the rhythm and cadence of the language. Those Utah accents were horrid for German, though by the end they were speaking better than I ever did. BLOG!

12.26.2003

ummmmm...ROTK was amazing...except for the fact that the people behind us kicked our seats during every action scene (they were so excited they were also emitting squeals of joy and cheering on various characters)...also one guy had a running commentary going about all the changes from the book. i gave a good "uncomfortable-eye-contact-turn-around-glare" and that quieted them up until the next action sequence.
well, my sister is really interested in boxing as a workout, so my dad found a video at the library called "Boxing for Women", an action packed half hour of all you need to know about boxing, the instructor is a woman...i think...the women learning have really long nails and no acting ability, also there was no film wasted on this Darwin Award winning instructional video...we have noticed at least three errors in the script or acting and we're only 13 minutes in...the music is very inspirational and we're about to learn about combination punches (we've already learned about hooks and jabs)...one of the learners is having a really tough time and i think the instructor is getting irritated...alright, well i'm sure if you've actually read this far you're getting quite bored by now...oh, baby!

12.25.2003

i'm rockin' to ace of base, the cd martha gave me. it's officially christmas. we had the obligatory eve service at 11pm at church.

now i sit here pondering my life for next semester. the question? do i audition for the play or look the other way?

here's my pro/con list

pro --- con
great social outlet/new friends --- limits other relationships
forces me to organize time --- occupies a lot of time
possibility of wearing tights and makeup --- means no time for intramural basketball...no i'm serious...this is a con
i hear gay guys are in theater a lot --- i'm the only gay guy in the theater, not to mention the college
chance to finally act in something serious --- what if i'm only meant for comedy? i mean, i'm funny, but can i really act?

BLog!

12.21.2003

martha - i too find the milkshake song strangely alluring. It has a good beat and really strange lyrics.
So we are moved into our new (really old) house. It has been fun but exhausting. We're living out of boxes and slowly adjusting to things. I sleep on the couch because my room is not yet set up. The rooms joe and i will sleep in aren't painted yet. They are the most amazing retro colors of green and blue ever complete with terrrrible green shag carpet. I will take pictures. Overall, it's cozy and new, but not quite home yet.

I just got home from kenan miller's house where there was a congregation of football watchers. Here is the conclusion i came to as explained to a friend with whom i was chatting online:
"why should i pretend to have any interest at all in sports? would any of those guys sit through a three hour musical with me while i make stupid jokes that only people who know about musicals would understand? i don't think so."

so there you have it. this year, i might not even feign interest in the super bowl because frankly, i really don't care. and i'm not going to feel guilty or weird about it any longer.
this just in! our national threat level has been raised to orange. BLOG! this is the second highest level and means that once again, it is uncomfortably likely that one of the hundreds of countries and/or millitant/political groups we've pissed off may give us a little taste of our own not-so-tasty medicine. it's times like these that we must unite as a country, pray to God that he protect his chosen country from evil-doers, and highten our sense of paranoia so that we can stop those terrorists before they ruin our holiday cheer.

12.20.2003

BLOG! Today I played Monopoly with my sisters. It's great because they always know I will win and so they convince themselves that I am unbeatable and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ahhh, power! BLOG! Also have not seen ROTK yet, what's up with that? People are saying it's the best of the three. However, I did see It's a Wonderful Life again tonight. Steve, watch it. It's one of only two movies that I have ever cried at, and yes, I got a bit teary-eyed again tonight. *sniff*

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus-For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'1l be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
FOOORR AUUULLLD LAAAANNNNG SYYYYNNNEE!"

Robert Burns

*sniff*
BLOG!

12.19.2003

SEE BeLOW " [ Fri Dec 19, 03:10:58 AM | Danny King | edit ]" Danny! GO TO BED!




j00r blogz0r
Thats awsome danny I wish I could see it...send me a cd or something. Im on break at wonderful festive P-Plant right now...WHIZZA.... A motherboard I was working on caught fire last night, and incidentally I HAD NOT kicked it nor made any aggresive advances towards it (needless to say I sent it back). Also I have not seen LOTR yet. Have any of you? If so dont tell me about cool things or Ill pwnz0r j00r b0xors. BLOG! Time to play with live wires again. BLOG!
HOOOOOOO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!
After countless hours of video editing, "Como Se Llama" is finished! I may make a few touchups here and there yet, but otherwise, it's 5 minutes and 12 seconds of pure joy (and a little weirdness)! There ain't much plot, but the music drives the beast. Look for the world premiere at the Short Film Fest in April (assuming, of course, that there is one this year)!

12.18.2003

good job danny. i think i'll send your letter, with a few minor modifications, to my host parents.
well i'm verging on boredom.
i could really use one of adam's bush impressions right now. "bring em on!" oh..man...cracks me up every time.
Hear is my great accomplishment of the day - my first written German in over three months! I'm quite proud of it, or at least I was until I put it into those internet translator things. Can those of you who speak German understand it?

Ist es schon Dezember? War es schon 3 Monate, dass war ich in Deutschland? Die
Zeit geht so schnell. Mir scheint, dass war es nur Gestern.

Dieses Semester war sehr hektisch, aber dass ist ganz normal. Viel spass und
lernen und wenig schlafen. Ich studiere noch Klavier und Physik. Ich erwerbe
naechste Jahre meine akademischen Grad. Ich weiss noch nicht welche ich
tun will.

Die alte Erfurt Stadtplan haengt auf meine Wand. Es freut mich, zu hoeren
ueber die Kinder. Ich vorstelle mich die Kinder tanzen. Manchmal ist Klavier
spielen anstrengend, nicht immer spass wie spielen Deutsche Kinderlied bei CJD.

I sehe nicht Chris, weil er arbeit in Colorado fuer sein Onkel. Aber, kommt er
zurueck zur Uni in Januar. Ich habe ein bisschen von ihm gehoert, dass alle
ist OK. Heute haben wir schnee, aber nicht viel - vielleicht eins oder zwei
Inch.

Es ist schwer, zu so viel auf Deutsch schreiben! Ich hoffe, dass alle klar
ist. Ich muss mehr oft schreiben
probieren. Danke fuer deine Email. Froehliche Weilnachten auch!

12.16.2003

i introduced my brother to zoolander today. he loved it of course. we watched the best scenes repeatedly. his favorite? orange-mocha-frappaccino!
he also loved the earth-to conversation towards the end..."hello....hello"...i discovered a mini-"snap" in that scene too.
priceless.

blog!
WHIZZA! BLOOOOOOOG!
BLOG!
Songs of the day:
"Moondance" by Van Morrison
"Hey ya" by Andre 3000
"Stacie's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne
These were about the only good songs I heard in over 3 hours of listening to the radio (mostly I had it on scan, it's better that way).

BLOG!
Don't drink too much acidic stuff, because it wears away the enamel. That's what the dentist told me. All this time I thought lemonade was better for me than pop.

BLOG!
That stupid website someonelikesyou.com started sending me stuff again. Adam, have you done anything lately there?
oh my goodness. today i received an email from "the girls"...something about rare new movies. The mail server marked it as possible spam, but I'm just sure that it's a personal letter from "the girls" inviting me to watch naughty movies of them on spring break in Cancun. I've heard of other people having problems with junk email that makes you think that you're special so that you'll open it, but the difference here is that my unhealthily high self-esteem has me convinced that I am indeed special and that I will soon be drowning in soft-porn. wait a minute, how come "the guys" never email me?

12.15.2003

so my prepubescent love pangs for Counselor Deanna Troi are once again burning hot in my loins....or whatever. you gotta admit...she's hot...and she can read minds. i read your mom's mind last night
PWNT! BLOOOOOGGGGGG!
BLOG! BLOG! BLOG!
It's fun to type BLOG!
BLOG START!
Break is going well for me. I sleep a lot. It's great because my youngest sister still has school, and I can bum around home reading magazines and the newspaper. Seen a couple of good movies for the first time, Finding Nemo and Chicago. Touched a piano for the first time about 30 minutes ago, I guess I need to get back into the swing of that. Learned the most interesting stuff reading the latest Scientific American about how the inventor of the first pocket calculator finished his designs while imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Why didn't we hear about that when we were there?
BLOG PAUSE!
... ... ...
BLOG CONTINUE!
Steve, I'll send you the pictures as soon as I get my own computer hooked up to the internet - hopefully in a day or two. Oh yeah, I'm spending most of my time playing with this movie program and am nearly finished with a rough version of our short film. Maybe by the end of this week I'll post some stuff on the public drive so you all can check it out. My sister is watching Calamity Jane right now. Remember the pain, former quad? We should also think about house shirts - I'd be happy to design some stuff over break. What do we want for a slogan?
No parents!
So hot right now!
Some quote of Rachel swearing? (btw, that's a showstopping moment in my film-edit Rachel, when you flip the bird at the world)
Something else?
Take care all and keep writing, even if it is dumb and about stupid stuff (like mine).
BLOG END!
BLOG! BLOG! BLOG!

Whizza! I pwnd J00r M0mz0r Brett.

Well Im not doing too much so far this break. Im working 40 a week at physical plant this week (xmas is $$) and Ive started to learn guitar, Mark youll have to teach me. I had fun with bretts mom last night, and she seemed to enjoy herself too. Lots of video games and sleep as well of course and perhaps even some 'reading for fun' (i forgot there was such a thing). Heck I even practiced trumpet. Anyhow, Bretts mom is undoubtedly the most exciting thing ive done so far. Hope you are all having some good times, and danny please send me the pictures from our 'things' from last year and this year so my dad can see them. W00t I pwn j00 all. (now everyone else write stuff)

12.14.2003

wow, christmas break is so hot right now. i am surprised that i don't feel as if it's been completely worthless so far. the big move accross the road is underway. we've started painting and new carpet comes in next week. here's a list of other things i've accomplished since coming home.
-baught knitting needles and yarn
-learned how to knit off of a website
-began to knit a scarf...pictures to come
-practiced piano and voice
-watched "surprise by design"..so hot right now
-began working on finally printing out germany pictures

ok so basically i'm just stoked about my knitting. it makes me feel ok about sitting around a lot.

so this here weblog was inspired by last year's shoup house crew. they keep their banter going online even though they don't live together. and since we must face the reality that not all of us will be around next year, i thought we should get this started.

so write about random stuff. it's fun.