NYE Address

Here is the address to our house if you would like to google map it.

1153 Frye Ave
East Lansing MI 48823

A Schrader Family Christmas

My cousin Dicken edits his home videos and posts them on YouTube. Below is his Christmas video -- I spent the holiday with them and shot some of it. TRT: 6:30

New Year's Pre-Party Dinner

Can someone tell us where we're meeting for dinner, and at what time?

Oh, and is it okay if Justin parks his dad's SUV on top of your house to make room for other vehicles?

Quote of the Day

"I don't read no papers, and I don't listen to radios either. I know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don't have to read it."

Dax's Top Ten 2007

1. Moving to Greenpoint. A couple images that stick with me: exiting the downtown Lansing library on my final day, having no set plan (a sense of liberation and fear); pulling out of the East Lansing bus depot at 10:00 at night, my mom, dad, and sister waving goodbye; landing on Tristan's couch and his hissy heating system.

2. VH1 On-Air Promos. I only realized later how lucky I was to land in NYC and get a job within a week, not to mention one where I can finally use some of the skills I think I have. The job is largely working with editors, and I tend to get involved in the edit -- the pacing, trying different shots, etc.

3. Living in Greenpoint. I like the mix of hipsters, poles, and hispanics. It still feels like a real neighborhood, and is more manageable than Manhattan. It made the transition from living in the country a lot easier. Also, I'm really lucky to live on the same subway stop as Tristan and Annie, and I'm in a relatively central location to meet up with people from other parts of the city. Plus, the Empire State and Chrystler Building are a backdrop as you walk down Manhattan Avenue.

4. Free Summer Concerts. There was a lot of music this Summer. Cafe Tacuba, Neko Case, Television, Camera Obscura, Suicide, Roky Erikson, Violent Femmes (not free), et al. The only thing that sucks is everyone else in the city knows about it, too, so you have to get there early and deal with people jockeying for position and rubbing all over you.

5. Dax Visits Nicole. It started out to just show to friends, but I think the last couple episodes have been pretty good. I like the collaborative, loose shooting style, too.

6. Acting in Graham's Projects. From Dracula to a cuckold to lead singer of a post-apocalyptic band (upcoming), it's been a lot of fun to take part in these. (Thanks, Graham!) I'm trying to become a better actor and understand the process from that angle, and working with friends is a good way to feel free to try things. I'm Owen Wilson to his Wes Anderson (joke).

7. "Managing" Fields of Industry. I'm proud to be associated with the best damn band in Mid-Michigan. Truly, I think these guys just need a couple breaks and they could be a popular regional act, and I'm trying in whatever ways I know how to help get them there.

8. Basement. I've been working on and off on this screenplay for a while, but it's coming along. Thanksgiving hit and I'm taking a break to work on other things (hard to keep up momentum on a big project during the holidays), but I should be back at it in '08. New Year's resolution: finish the fucker!

9. New Friends. Russell the Jersey Boy I sit next to, John the garrulous editor, Daniel the quiet guy in graphics, Mikey at Flux, Brian my sublet buddy, Rhys the brusque, and actually I didn't know Tristan and Annie so well before, either.

10. Movies/Books/Music. I may do a separate post on this, but I read on the subway, get CDs and DVDs at the library, and take the $11 hit at the local cineplex.

Auld Lang Syne

Print it out and bring it with you.

----------

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’ll be your pint-stoup !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

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.

CHORUS

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.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

NY Blowout 2008!

1) Here is the running list of people who have RSVP'd.

Nicole B & Graham
Megan Garza & Nick
Morgan Caputo
Marlowe
Tristan
Paul
Josh & Mary Jane (not spending the night)
Eric & Reyanne (not spending the night?)
Dax
Adam
Justin & Tricia
Brian
Chris
Ian
Claire
Greg
Joel & Sarah
Johnny B
Jason F (not spending the night?)
Nicole M (not spending the night?)

I believe there are more attending and maybes on Facebook as well, but I can't check from work. Let me know if there are any updates to this list.

2) Me and Jason are going to be heading to a Lansing bar around 9:30-10pm and back around 12:30am. Hopefully able to see a show or 2 and be back for the dance party. If anyone else is interested let me know as I'll be downtown tomorrow and Friday and can pick up more tickets (You would probably have to dress up though).

Happy Holidaze!

compliments of xmas at vail, mickey's, snood, etc. sorry that the blog has combined some words. i wanted to squeeze a lapsed christmas tradition in!

Apparently, in order to support his Christmas spending habits, this year Santaand his gang of elves have taken up extortion and petty larceny. I was walkinghome from the liquor store the other day minding my own business. I had justpurchased some Guinness and was eager to get home in time for a party and soagainst my better judgment I decided to take a short-cut through a darkalley.This wasn't the wisest idea and I will admit that I had been drinking abit prior to this incident, otherwise I would have kicked their green midgetassess. So I am walking down this dark alley where! nary a sound could be heard; not a creature was stirring not even a well... youknow. Anyway, I'm walking down this narrow Ann Arbor back alley when to mysuprise what should appear but a pack of thugging dwarfs in green ghetto gear.Now I am not a great fighter, I'm just your typical suburbanite but whennecessary I can throw down with the best.. So anyway eight midgets with pointyears and U.P.er accents in green jumpsuits with a pair of white stripes runningthe length of their suits these short mofos come out of nowhere. It was as ifthey had materialized out of thin air. You had better believe that I wasn’tgoing to stick around and find out where these green gangstas hailed from so Idecided to make for the open end of this dead-end alley I had somehow made myway into. Incredible you might think this next bit of the story at the end ofthe alley in a red impala sat p!hat old Saint Nick in all his pimpin’ glory. His ride was tight and low withgreen walls and in the back sat three ho’s. As you might have guessed I’m a bit worried at this point, trying toremember exactly what I had done at that party. I gathered my senses andconcentrated on the issue at hand, greens thugs and that pimpin’ Saint in theimpala. Sorry, I don’t mean to talk any trash about Santa but this shit waswhack. I’m sure that he used to be a pretty alright guy maybe drinking a littletoo much egg nog in the off-season but damn. Times are hard I know and themarket slow and yeah we all gotta make a living but I aint gonna let no fat assand a bunch of underfed, bell wearing, icicle sucking, matching,boy-band\gangsta wannabes in green fuck with me especially this close toChristmas Eve. I’ll admit it was a sad sight and I did feel a pang of remorseat seeing their small lifeless green clad bodies with pointy green shoes withbells on the end. But you gotta do what you gotta do Doing pretty well, busting tiny skulls and jingling a few bells Imade my way toward the impala. I swear, that old guy in red mouthed “MerryFuckin’ Christmas” and flashed N. P. with his hand hanging out of the window ofthe red impala. It stood for North Pole, I guess. I rush the car with an icepick I’d taken off of one of the elves. Yea, that’s right, the littlehooded-helper was carrying an ice pick. I rush the impala and grab FatherChristmas! by his long white beard pull him through the window and ask him. “Who’s your daddy? You aint lookin’ so jolly now. Bitch. You thingyou and those Keebler fucks could shake me down. I aught to shove that candycane that ho in the passenger seat is suckin’ on right up your...” Before I could finish my sentence I heard Santa say, “Say, have you met my friends. Dasha’ Danca’, Pranca’, Vix’, Comet,Cupid, Donny’, Blitz’ and of course who could forget my old pal Ruddy.” I didn’t even have time to shit my pants. A second later, before Icould do anything those reindeer had thrown Santa’s gift bag over my head andentire body and were stoppin’ me all to hell. My nose and a few ribs weredefinitely broken. I was having trouble breathing but I could tell that a fewof his elves had come-to and were getting a few licks in as well, jumping upand down on me, merrily. Their h!igh pitched voices ringing in the air. Then it all stopped and I could hearSantas voice nearby. The elves and the reindeer were silent. “Do you know who I am?” Saint Nick asked. Shocked, I didn’t respond. “I said, do you know who I am?” “Yea,” I laboured to say spitting blood into the sack just bigenough for my body. I wondered at that second, just after my life passed beforemy eyes, how he fit all those god-damned gifts into it. “What’s my name, bitch?” “Chris Kringle. Chris Kringle! God-damnit just let me go. What doyou want? Why are you doing this?” “Well I’ve got sources that tell me that you’ve been a very naughtyboy this year. It’s all in writing on this list I have here. I’ve been around awhile and I know people. Unless you want me to leak this info, you’d better payup. “Times are tough and I got a lot of kids waiting for gifts and theywon’t accept excuses or take no for an answer. So you could say I’m doing aservice to the community by taking a collection.” “Listen I aint got anything.” “Apparently, you don’t understand me. You see little Suzy and herbrother Bobby down the street are going to be waiting by the tree on the 25th.They’re expecting me to produce. I don’t want to make them sad. You don’t wantto make them sad? Do you? Let me tell you a little something, when they getsad, you see, I get mad and when I get mad. Rudolph, what happens when I getmad” Prancer spoke. “Tell him what happens when the boss gets mad.” Rudolph answered, “You don’t want to know what happens when the bossgets mad. Lets us just say that when the boss gets mad… Nah, I shouldn’t tellhim.” “Tell him,” Vixen goaded. “Ok, well I’ll tell you that the Tooth Fairy will be the first topay you a visit, who we keep on the payroll and who sometimes crashes at thebosses place up north, will pull out all your mother-fuckin’ teeth one by one.” “That’s right.” Donny said. I could hear him pounding his hoovestogether ( he would’ve made a fist if he had had fingers) “The Tooth Fairywaist no time rooting out the truth if you know what I mean.” “Yeah we know what you mean.” They were all chuckling. ”Next, I aint even going to talk about what that hopped up RabbitPeter Cottontail will do to you. Don’t let the name fool ya. He aint soft.” “That motha’s crazzzzy! He’s fuckin’ loco holmes!” “Shut up, Blitzen! Nobody asked you.” “Now back to matter at hand.’ Santa said as he grabbed the baglifting me from the ground. I was in fetal position, bloody inside of thatlunatic Nick’s gift bag. He meant business. “Ok, I have a few bucks in my shoe. Take it! Just let me go!Please!” I was sobbing. “What a pussy.” I couldn’t believe Santa had just called me a pussy.Then they knocked me out cold. I woke up on State St. near the UofM diag hog-tied and blind-foldedin red and green ribbon without my beer. Those assholes had stolen my beer. Noone at the party believed me and they accused me of drinking the beer they hadpitched in for. I swear this is exactly the way it happened with only a fewembellishments where I had to fill in the blanks. As I said they knocked mecold and there are a few gaps in my memory but believe me I will never fo!rget the faces of those green thugs and their boss in red and so help me God ifI ever find them and I will, I’ll make them wish they hadn’t messed with me.I’ll be waiting at the fireplace with a couple of people I know and aLouisville. The irony; the very same baseball bat he gave me for my sixthbirthday.This bit o blarney was brought to you by a sixer and yours truly,

BLOWOUT

8 days until the 2007 blowout. A few things to address:

1. Anyone planning on sleeping over should bring pillows, blankets and/or sleeping bags, etc. I don't have any of this stuff. Also, it's cold, so bring a lot.

2. Besides a few exceptions ( 2 couches, a futon, a free bed, and some old mattresses in the basement) the only place to sleep is the floor. It's made of wood. Anyone got air mattresses?

3. Food: a.) Dinner: Where should we go? My vote is for a cheap mexican place called Cancun express--they have a lot of tables, most meals are under $10, and they serve beer.
b.) Breakfast: I can cook (I did it earlier for 10 people...), but to avoid the problem of everyone trying to pay me, people should just bring breakfast food, and we'll cook it up co-op style. If people don't want to do this, we can just go out to eat.

4. Audio/video recording: We're looking for some stuff to record the show. Anybody got video equipment, etc, that they could bring?

5. When are people showing up, and how many people will be around for dinner?

Please comment.

BUTTSO BOWL I

ONE LAME DUDE vs. FIGHTING SKEETERS in the first ever SCFL Championship Game! It's Stefan's dominating squad taking on a team that was nearly shut out of the playoffs. Will Stefan plow over the Commissioner's team as expected, or could the first Big Game be a remarkable upset? Who knows. The only certainty is that the winner will be the first ever CHAMPION of the SWIM CLUB FOOTBALL LEAGUE. A year of bragging rights and respect to the victor, twelve months of shame and embarrassment for the loser. Man, it will be awesome.

The game was named in honor of the Swim Club's mysterious superhero protector, Buttso. It is his bravery, toughness, and unsurpassed militancy that has inspired the Commissioner to establish this football league, and that has moved the eight participating managers to compete so nobly and honorably. This is for you, Buttso - whoever you are.

Buttso Bowl I Pre-Game Analysis:
QB: Both teams have great quarterbacks. One Lame Dude's Tom Brady has been amazing this year, and is going against the NFL's worst squad this week. The Skeeters have another stud, however, as ancient Brett Favre (the greatest football player of all time) could come up big in the important Packers-Bears game. ADVANTAGE: Stefan, but it could be close.
WR: Stefan's receiver set could be a little shaky this week. Tory Holt played already on Thursday, and had a very mediocre game. Anquan Boldin may or may not play, making Chad Johnson's performance for the Bengals as vital. Tristan's WR core looks solid, however, with former Wolverine Braylon Edwards and Joey Galloway playing mediocre teams and Donald Driver potentially making some big plays for the Packers. ADVANTAGE: Tristan.
RB: Stefan's running backs, Joseph Addai of the Colts and Jamal Lewis of the Browns, are good and playing bad teams. They could score a lot. Tristan's backs are a little shakier - Ryan Grant of the Packers has been good, but the Bears defense could shut him down. Clinton Portis of the Redskins is extremely inconsistent and playing the best run defense in the league. Yuck. ADVANTAGE: Stefan by a fair bit.
TE: Stefan's tight end played on Saturday and did alright. Tristan's plays the excellent Colts this week, and may not do much better. ADVANTAGE: None.
K: Stefan's Kicker is good, and is the only player in the Buttso Bowl with a Monday night game. It could come down to him. Tristan has the Packers oafish kicker Mason Crosby, who is really good and very reliable. ADVANTAGE: Tristan by a hair.
DEF: Stefan has the extremely imposing New England defense, which is playing an inept Miami team this week. Tristan has the very good Packers defense playing an almost nonexistent offense. Miami sucks more, so... ADVANTAGE: Stefan.

OVERALL: Stefan has to be the favorite, but don't expect a blowout unless the Packers fall apart this week. PREDICTION: One Lame Dude as Buttso Bowl victor and first ever SCFL champion.

Remember, the winner will get a trophy, to be presented during the New Year's festivities.

Other games:
3rd place game (Close But No Cigar Bowl): Morphing Jelly Rollz (Johannes) vs. Delicious Nachos (Nicole)
5th place game (Consolation Bowl): Hidden Boners (Graham) vs. Mean Machine (Justin)
7th place game (Toilet Bowl): Smackdown Zombies (Tricia) vs. fire bugs (Marlowe)

Quote of the Day

"You know what God thinks of money when you see who he gives it to."

Spirit of Truth II

New claims.

THE SCURVY IS BARNACLE, LOCKJAW, BRUCELLOSIS...

http://scurvymusic.googlepages.com/home

Merry Soviet Christmas!

2007 Top Tens

What happened? Are you all waiting for the last little bit of 2007 to dribble away before you compile your top ten, expecting or allowing for the possibility of encountering or experiencing something exceptional within the next 10 days?

That must be what it is, because I know you're not just going to leave me hanging. I know you're not going to withhold from me what I've been looking forward to all year...

And I know you're not above this kind of thing, not yet, anyway. None of us are 30, yet. Almost, but not quite.

We've only got 5 lists so far. I am keeping track. Nicole, Marlowe, Tricia, Justin and myself. We've all done our part, now it's time for you to do yours.

I heard about Ian...

I'm in Southeast Michigan. I'm staying at my grandma's in Dearborn. Let's hang out! Call me. 617 378 8419.

Metal Christmas

The Pogues f/ Kirsty MacColl - Fairy Tale of New York

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

the Yearly top 10

I just went crazy on this. it's posted here on my blog.

The Spirit of Truth

The Bach Brigade

Because Bach is beautiful.

YouTube Grid

This web site, which I developed over the last week, lets you use your keyboard to skim through YouTube search results extremely fast:

http://www.ytgrid.com

This is an alpha version. You need Firefox (preferably) or Safari to use it. I've only tested it on my Mac.

I'm not sure how much further I'll develop this. Let me know if you find it useful.

Wow. (yet more Bach)

Bad Boys Bad Boys

More Bach (Glenn Gould)

Glenn Gould was known to wear full winter wear during the summer season.

Negative Approach - Nothing

2007 Recap

I remember there being a post last year about our top up-to-10 favorite things of the year. Let's do it again! Interpret broadly or narrowly. If you want to revisit last year's post, click this post's tag.Here's mine, 8 things I got into in 2007:


1) The Office (American). This is definitely one of the best shows on television. The first season was shaky, including an extremely awkward pilot episode that was a verbatim copy of the BBC version. But power through it, remembering all the jokes, because in season 2 things improve and the show becomes very self-referential. Season 3 is EXCELLENT, and season 4 resumes airing on NBC when the WGA strike is over. Watch them in order.


2) Chipotle "Burrito Bols." I can't even imagine how many I chowed on this year. Rough estimate would be around 50. There's no Big10 here so I have to get my fix of ultra fresh, flavorful Mexican food somehow.

3) Mashups. I love 'em! Jib Kidder, Girl Talk, what have you. It's kind of died down now but I was on a big roll for awhile there.

4) Netflix. No regrets there. Get Netflix! This year I have been able to power through ALIAS, Undeclared, Arrested Development, Larry Sanders, The Office, and we're halfway through The Sopranos. Plus almost any movie you can think of.

5) Our new apartment. It's so great. Especially compared to the old one. Come visit in 2008 and you'll have a door and walls separating you from us as we all sleep!!!

6) Benetint Lip Balm. This stuff is awesome; smells like roses.

7) Lolcats. Sorry, haters. More daily here. There's some good ones and a lot of terrible ones; so what?

8) Dax Visits Nicole!!! At first I was so so shy about it, but now I am super proud of them and they are really fun to film.

**edit** I thought of another 2 things and had to add them:

9) Olives. Who knew? I really love them. At some point this year I started eating them out of glasses of gin, and then it developed into straight-up liking olives. Especially ones that aren't stuffed with weird stuff. Just the pit, please.

10) Apocalyptic action or thriller movies. ESPECIALLY ones set in the former shell of New York City.

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

I'm doing this graduate assistantship where I basically spend 20 hours a week searching Lexis Nexis for articles on the IAEA weapons inspections in North Korea during the early 1990s. Sometimes I get bored and start looking through the website of the Korean Central News Agency of DPRK. The news releases range from shocking manipulations of global opinion regarding Kim Jong Il, to alarmingly belligerent statements about other countries, to goofy little things about Juche cultural achievements. What's more, they're all written in an adorably awkward prose style. Since I know there are some avid Pyongyangologists who read this blog, I think I will occasionally post some dispatches from the hermit kingdom.

December 1st, 1998:

Kimchi pickle

Pyongyang, December 1 (KCNA) -- Kimchi pickle is a staple food of the Koreans. As for its taste, the foreigner's memory of that is literally hot stuff. Kimchi is varied in processing methods, its kind accounting for 80. This served almost a year-round food. Kimchi making for the winter begins from the end of October to the middle of November. The pickled vegetables are used till the next spring. At this time of year in this country, each home is busy making it. The ingredients are cabbages and radishes, plus hot red peppers, garlic, onion, ginger, salt and other seasonings mixed with chestnut, pear, pickled fish, walleye pollack and flatfish. The well-folded cabbages are put into jars which are usually buried in the ground for pickling. Its taste is delicate. At present, Kimchi is massproduced at foodstuff factories. But housewives prefer making it themselves. It is the housewives' joy to make delicious Kimchi.

October 31, 2007:

New Kind of Kimchi Good for Health Developed

Pyongyang, October 31 (KCNA) -- Functional kimchi has been recently developed to improve the function of the human body.
The functional kimchi is made with the help of kimchi lactobacilli which has a high capacity of producing gamma-aminobutyric acid.
Kimchi is abundant in various kinds of vitamins including vitamins C, B1, B2, B12 and PP, amino acid and minerals needed for the human body.
With the clarification of the medicinal effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid, kimchi is getting further popular.
The gamma-aminobutyric acid is very efficacious for nervous system control and mental rest function, improvement of liver and kidney-function, immunocyte rejuvenation, pathogenic germ repression function, alcoholysis palpation function and others.
Thus it is effective to prevention and treatment for cerebral thrombus, cerebral hemorrhage sequela, hypomnesia and digestive disease.
The Foodstuff Research Institute of the Branch Academy of the Light Industrial Science under the State Academy of Sciences succeeded in developing the functional kimchi which is 10 times that of ordinary kimchi in the content of gamma-aminobutyric acid and thus developed the quality of kimchi on a higher stage.
The newly developed functional kimchi is tasty and incomparably superior to other kinds of kimchi in its medicinal function for health.

20 Eyes

Danzig wrote this about getting kicked in the head by skinheads when he was a young punk in New Jersey. Where I learned this? From Master Justin of the Munich Tabernacle.

20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
They're all the same, they're all the same
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
They're all the same, they're all the same
When you're seeing 20 things at a time
You just can't slow things down, baby
When you're seeing 20 things in your mind
Just can't slow things down

Then all those eyes
They're just crowding up your human face
Then all those eyes
Take an overload
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
They're all the same, they're all the same
When you're seeing 20 things at a time
You just can't slow things down, baby
When you're seeing 20 things in your mind
Just can't slow things down
Then all those eyes
They're just crowding up your human face
Then all those eyes
Take an overload
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
20 Eyes in my head
They're all the same
20 Eyes in my head
They're all the same
20 eyes in my head
They're all the same
20 eyes in my head
They're all the same

Jarosite

Jarosite

Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott

SCFL PLAYOFF PREVIEW: This Shit Just Got Real.

The regular season ended with a bang, as an exciting week leaves us with some riveting playoff matchups.

Recap of Week 14:
Going into the final week, Stefan and Johannes had the #1 and #2 seeds locked up, but Nicole and Tricia had a precarious hold on the #3 and #4 slots, leaving the SCFL playoff picture up in the air. In the 8-team league, your team needed to be in the top four to get to the championship playoffs, with the bottom four going into the (slightly) less prestigious consolation playoff. At #5, the Commissioner's team stood on the outside looking in, knowing he needed a win AND would have to count on either Tricia or Nicole to lose. Well, they both lost. And Tristan won. Crazy. What's more, he actually secured the #3 seed, which is sort of a relief because it means he won't have to play One Lame Dude, Stefan's juggernaut that has to be the clear favorite for the inaugural SCFL championship.

Alright, so who ended up getting the final playoff slot? Who will go against Stefan in the first round? Which squad was able to tough it out and grab a chance for fantasy football glory in the dying hours of the regular season? It was............................................................................Nicole! Yes, her Delicious Nachos will represent Morningside Heights in the 2007 SCFL Championship Playoffs Sponsored by Citibank (yeah, I decided to sell the naming rights for SCFL assets).

So, the final standings are:

*1.	One Lame Dude	11-3-0	.786	1487	W-5	2	4
*2.	Morphing Jelly Rollz	10-4-0	.714	1367	W-3	8	21
*3.	Fighting Skeeters	7-7-0	.500	1340	W-1	4	6
*4.	Delicious Nachos	7-7-0	.500	1334	L-1	3	2
5.	Smackdown Zombies	7-7-0	.500	1169	L-4	7	21
6.	fire bugs	6-8-0	.429	1204	W-1	1	15
7.	Mean Machine	5-9-0	.357	1125	L-5	5	29
8.	The Hidden Boners	3-11-0	.214	919	L-1	6

This really does show impressive parity - the 3 through 7 teams were all within two games of each other after a 14 game season. Not too bad.
ROUND 1 PREVIEW: Championship Playoffs:
#1 One Lame Dude (Stefan) vs. #4 Delicious Nachos (Nicole): Stefan has to be the favorite to win here. He has been pretty dominant this season, although he did lose to Nicole back in week 9. It's going to be tough for the Nachos, though, as Stefan's QB is the stupendous former Wolverine Tom Brady, who is playing one of the most disastrous teams in the NFL, the NY Jets. He could have a big day, and catapult One Lame Dude into the Championship Game. Nicole's got a solid team, though, and she might be able to pull it off an impressive upset.

#2 Morphing Jelly Rollz (Johannes) vs. #3 Fighting Skeeters (Tristan): Johannes has to be the favorite in the 3rd Dreisbach brothers battle of the year. Tristan lost to his little bro twice, and almost every player on the Jelly Rollz seems to be playing an easy team this week. It's going to be tough, but if the Commissioner can upset his lifelong archnemesis, Johannes will never hear the end of it. Brett Favre still rocks, and his ancient arm could get Tristan into the Championship Game. This is Game of the Week.

Consolation Playoffs:
#5 Smackdown Zombies (Tricia) vs. #8 Hidden Boners (Graham) #6 fire bugs (Marlowe) vs. #7 Mean Machine (Justin)
I say Tricia wins it and brings some consolation glory to Pittsburgh.

I'm excited. Let's do this.

"Who is paying for this summer?"

Here's an abridged and edited version of a series of emails, sent or received by Nancy, director of Duke's international programs about me. I look at it when I'm feeling down about things.

1. From Nancy to Linda:
In order to accept a Summer FLAS, a student must be "retained on an'enrolled' basis (at Duke) until the end of the summer."Paul graduated from Duke in Political Science (MA) in May 2007. Heplans to work for a PhD. in Cultural Anthropology, to be completed May2012, but I don't know from what institution (I just left a phone messagew/ Holly). What I need to know is that Paul meets the above enrollment criterion. I submitted his Noncomp payroll request throughyour office with a Summer FLAS award letter for the May 2007 payroll……..
************
2. From Linda to Nancy:

No, Nancy, this student is not registered. Is he to be registered just for continuation or for classes. Who is paying for the summer? Unfortunately, it is probably to late to pull his June pay. Sounds like he needs to register for summer full continuation as we require of all our students who are on fellowship…….
**********
3. From Nancy to Paul:

Hi, Paul. Please don't be alarmed until we sort this out, but your traveladvance is being held up because you are "no longer a student at Duke"according to both the Duke Payroll Office and Political Science. Where will you be?!

**********
From Paul to Nancy:

I’ve accepted an offer from the University of Michigan. I hope this helps….

Follow-up

I think this is gonna be the obsession of my holiday season.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1791099

First time ever.

I won't name names, but somebody wanted to here some Goro. Here's the link:

GORO

An SCSF Christmas Carol

In the spirit of the Eccentricity Scale, Annie and I sat around yesterday casting a Swim Club Super Friends version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. We have our cast in mind, but to avoid blowback we'd like your input! Here are the central characters:

Scrooge
Bob Cratchit & His Wife
Fred (Scrooge's nephew)
Tiny Tim
The Ghost of Jacob Marley
The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Ghost of Christmas Present
The Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come
Fezziwig (Scrooge's mentor)
Belle (Scrooge's lost love)
Fan (Scrooge's sister)
Ignorance & Want (The Offspring of Mankind)
The Solicitors (two men who ask Scrooge for a donation)

Have a Cheeky Christmas!

Fidel, a priest, and Woody Allen walk into a bar....

two worlds collide

chris and sarah's roommate

Silver Lake (from Wikipedia)

Silver Lake is a district east of Hollywood in the City of Los Angeles, California. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnicities and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of the creative community. Since the 1990s it has become the center of the alternative rock scene in Los Angeles. The Sunset Junction Street Fair, a major event in August, is held there. It also is — or has been — the home of musicians such as Mr. Criminal, Roddy Bottum, Tom Waits, Beck, Karen O, Eels, Irving, Autolux, Rooney, Earlimart, Dios Malos, Giant Drag, Porno for Pyros, Jane's Addiction, Scarling., Piebald (who relocated from Andover, Massachusetts), Mia Doi Todd, Moving Units, Henry Rollins, Rilo Kiley, Pavement, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the late Elliott Smith. The band Silversun Pickups took its name from the strip mall at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Silver Lake Boulevard. Since the indie rock music scene is particularly prominent in this neighborhood, comparisons are often drawn between Silver Lake and New York City's Williamsburg district.

WEEK 14 OF SCFL! SEASON RECAP! EXCITING FINISH!

Remember when Commissioner Dreisbach said that he would post every week about the progress of the Swim Club Football League? Well, he often says he'll do something and then never actually does it. He's unreliable. OK. He knows it, so nobody should rub it in. He feels bad it about and wants to change, but he's been really busy lately! He has school! And an unpaid internship! And now a part-time actual job! Granted, he could manage his time better, but really, you shouldn't be so hard on him. OK.

Now that's out of the way, so we can go on with everything that's happened since week 4.

Regular season recap:

Basically, everything is for the most part surprisingly even. Heading into the last week of the fantasy regular season, two teams have separated themselves from the pack and clinched playoff spots (the top four at the end of the regular season go into the fantasy playoffs), while three teams are fighting to the bitter end for the other two slots! All in all, there has been impressive parity this season, with Marlowe and Justin being shut out of the playoff picture by the tiniest possible margin. Justin's Mean Machine started out very well, but lost his last four in a row, which blew the season for him in the end. Marlowe's fire bugs began the year very poorly, but really picked things up and almost got into the playoff picture. Next year, guys! You'll have your revenge.

Graham's Hidden Boners had difficulties in the inaugural SCFL season. I suspect that he might not have been totally aware of this, as he didn't seem to be the most attentive manager. His starting QB was out for a good chunk of the season, but Graham stood by him anyway, which was a nice thing to do, but not the most effective way to put together a competitive team. That's OK, though! It's all about having fun! There is a consolation playoff for the bottom four teams, so even the losers could win something.

Stefan's One Lame Dude squad will finish either outright winner of the regular season or tied for first with my brother's team, the Morphing Jelly Rollz. These teams were pretty dominant, with Stefan's Patriot-heavy team winning their first five games and the last four games in a row, while my brother has been consistently good for the season. They both will be in the playoffs.

Here's the deal going into the last week: Nicole's Delicious Nachos and Tricia's Smackdown Zombies are currently occupying the 3rd and 4th spots, and if they can both win, they will sail into the playoffs. The Commissioner's Fighting Skeeters are sitting one game behind in 5th place. If he wins and Tricia loses to Stefan, he'll almost certainly get into the playoffs by virtue of the amount of points he's put up during the season. (Points are the tiebreaker) Nicole has nearly as many points as the Commish, however, so if she loses to Marlowe and he wins, it could come down to a real nail-biter, and possibly not be resolved until Nicole's QB plays his Monday night game! This could be exciting. I'll try to keep the Swim Club abreast of any developments. The Commissioner really wants his team to make the playoffs in the league he created out of his own goddamn flesh and blood, but if it doesn't happen, that's fine. Remember, there's no pressure here - I just want everyone to have fun!

Current Standings:

*1. One Lame Dude 10-3-0 .769 1355 W-4 2 4 *2. Morphing Jelly Rollz 9-4-0 .692 1263 W-2 8 20 3. Delicious Nachos 7-6-0 .538 1241 W-3 3 2 4. Smackdown Zombies 7-6-0 .538 1070 L-3 7 21 5. Fighting Skeeters 6-7-0 .462 1246 L-3 4 6 6. fire bugs 5-8-0 .385 1105 L-1 1 15 7. Mean Machine 5-8-0 .385 1031 L-4 5 29 8. The Hidden Boners 3-10-0 .231 834 W-1 6 -

Week 14 Preview:

Morphing Jelly Rollz (Johannes) vs. Mean Machine (Justin): This game ultimately doesn't mean that much, as Johannes clinched the #2 playoff spot and Justin can't get into the playoffs.

Hidden Boners (Graham) vs. Fighting Skeeters (Tristan): Tristan needs to win this to have a shot at the playoffs. Graham can play spoiler for the Commish's team. Even if Tristan wins, remember he'll still need either Nicole or Tricia to lose.

One Lame Dude (Stefan) vs. Smackdown Zombies (Tricia): Stefan already has the #1 slot in the playoffs clinched, but he can secure the best record outright with a win. If Tricia wins, she's in the playoffs. If she loses, Tristan will get in if he wins.

Delicious Nachos (Nicole) vs. fire bugs (Marlowe): If Nicole wins, she's in the playoffs. If she loses and Tristan wins, she'll half to outscore Tristan by six points this week to get in, OR she can hope Tricia loses. Confusing, I know, but very exciting.

FOI

This is from the Expresso Royale show a few weeks ago. If you can crank up the brightness it looks really good, nice job on the shooting Dax.

Norman Hartweg

Norman Hartweg and his friend Evan Engber drove up to La Honda from Los Angeles with the idea of doing the Tibetan thing for a few weeks and seeing what it was all about. That was pretty funny, the idea of doing the Tibetan thing at Kesey's. Nevertheless, that was Norman's idea. Norman was a 27-year-old playwright from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was a thin guy, five feet seven, with a thin face and sharp features and a beard. But his nose tilted up slightly, which gave him a boyish look. He was ekeing out a living by writing a column for the Los Angeles Free Press, a weekly, the L.A. counterpart of the Village Voice, and working on avant-garde films, and living in a room underneath the dance floor of a discotheque on the Sunset Strip. He had run into Kesey's friend Susan Brustman and then into Kesey himself, and Kesey had invited him up to La Honda to edit The Movie and... partake of the life...

everything's crazier in japan

Christmas is coming

Props to Johnny!

Once again in my time of need Johnny has worked day and night to pull off another miracle!! This time, allowing me to boot into my corrupted hard drive to retrieve valuable files for school/loans and pics of friends. Alas, many many giga-bytes of porn were lost, but God does not stricken us with burdens we cannot bear.

In appreciation, I've invited a very special guest to New Years.... he says he needs to borrow your toothbrush and towels, hope you don't mind....

Marlowe and I got the man-elf bodies.

Claire, Marlowe, Tricia, and Justin in elf form.

This is fun. Someone who has more pictures of swim club kids should do some more of these.

Brian, I made the cover for your self-titled Christian rock album.

Gary Harrison

I am sort of in a band... this is from our first gig in my friends basement for a birthday party.

All of the audience were music school faculty, which made it all the wierder... Ugh.

Waiting for Godot (in the Ninth Ward)

An artist from New York has produced Waiting for Godot in the Ninth Ward and Gentilly of New Orleans...

"Political action is collaborative, goal-specific and designed for power, he maintains. Art, by contrast, is individually produced, ductile in meaning and built to last. It is the opposite of ideologically instrumental; it is made to melt power."

Article.

Reductio ad absurdum

I won't be able to attend this year's new years extravaganza. As some of you may know, new years is in fact a family holiday for my family, and it would be considered rude and impolite not to stay at home and spend time with them. Perhaps I'll be able to see some of you in Ann Arbor, although I'm not quite sure how many of you will be there. Leave me comments in the comment section if you have any idea as to your late December whereabouts.

Apologies for those whom I owe an email. A surprise will be found in your mailbox shortly.

Getting out of Dodge

I've been talking about this for a while, but today I have finally finished my application in for the JET program, a scant two days before the deadline. The process of applying was, in a word, arduous- for a great many reasons, and there is no guarantee of my being accepted, especially with my flimsy credentials. I suspect, however, that more than one attempt will be made in the coming years. In late January there may be some sort of interview, so I'll post if anything happens. For those of you who are unfamiliar with JET, it is a program sponsored by the government of Japan to bring young, English speaking foreigners into the country in order to act as either a teacher's aide or some sort of event coordinator. I have applied to the former as an 'assistant language instructor.' I listed no preference for where I'd like to live and teach, so if accepted it could be anywhere. Here's the website, if anyone wants to check it out.

I look forward to seeing you guys at new years.