$650.00 and going UP.

You wanna piece of the GOD WARRIOR???

(warning: may be a bit loud for work)

Thank you, fark.com.

Holy shit.

I can't believe this hasn't been done yet, or that I never even thought about it:

[ Star Wars Transforms: New toys are more than meets the Jedi ]

Speaking Good.

Funny how, during Bush's Veteran's Day speech, the soldiers placed behind him were black, Asian, or female. A nice piece of 'strategery'. On that note, some website's top ten Bushisms (I know it's too easy, but whatever):

10. "I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport."

9. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."

8. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

7. "There's no doubt in my mind that we should allow the world worst leaders to hold America hostage, to threaten our peace, to threaten our friends and allies with the world's worst weapons."

6. "There's an old...saying in Tennessee...I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says Fool me once...(3 second pause)... Shame on...(4 second pause)...Shame on you....(6 second pause)...Fool me...Can't get fooled again." (my personal favorite)

5. "See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."

4. "The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the -- the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."

3. "I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend."

2. "Wow! Brazil is big." after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

1. A TIE BETWEEN:
"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning'?"

"The illiteracy level of our children are appalling."

"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?"

Patrick Stewart.

After that Monday Night Football debacle, I luckily flipped to a rerun of the Patrick Stewart SNL episode. 'Phil McCracken: Scottish Therapist' and the Sexy Cake Shop helped ease the pain. Also, maybe the greatest introduction of the musical act.

For those of you with HBO, check out the season finale of 'Extras' for a great Patrick Stewart cameo:

On the set of an Elizabethan drama, Andy pitches a sitcom pilot script to Patrick Stewart, who shares his own screenwriting story ideas (he plays a man with special powers who makes women's clothes disappear, after saving them in Iraq).

Stewart: "For instance I might be walking along and see a beautiful girl and think 'I wish I could see her naked'... and so her clothes fall off."

Music, Part 2.

Check out my brother's band, White Noise! They've got a good sound and they're going places, so get on the bandwagon now. I'm proud of you, bro.

Music, Part 1.

It's been a while since I posted, thanks to Civilization IV. Anyway, I went to the Audioslave show at Lowell last night. My expectations were pretty tepid, due to a general lack of enthusiasm for their music, my growing antipathy towards going to shows, and seeing one of my idols, Chris Cornell, slowly fading from relevance and, it seemed, talent.

However, I was very pleasantly surprised. Some highlights:

-Cornell was 'on' from song one. His voice, raspy and off-key in these older days, was clear and powerful. I couldn't help but smile like a goofy bastard. He still knows how to work the crowd, although he's a lot less confrontational and sarcastic than he used to be. It's the kinder, gentler, older, tanner, soberer Chris Cornell.

-Morello being Morello. Guitar at his chest, fingers flying, feet stomping, pulling-the-power-cord-out-and-rubbing-them-over-the-strings-to-create-some-crazy-noise. I'll always marvel at his mastery of the guitar.

-Brad Wilk wearing a gorilla mask for most of the show.

-A choice selection of Soundgarden/Rage Against the Machine/Temple of the Dog songs. Disappointingly, the Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog reception was a little underwhelming. It seemed like only half of the audience recognized 'Rusty Cage'. I think five people recognized 'Slaves & Bulldozers' (two of them being me and Jon). The pop for RATM was crazy though. Probably the most fervent reaction of the night. Morello/Cummerford/Wilk were excellent playing Cornell's stuff. As for Cornell rapping...

-The first encore, which had solo, acoustic Cornell. Beautiful. The crowd kind of fell asleep though.

A couple of gripes:

-The crackhead couple in front of us who were way too enthusiastic about everything.

-There seemed to be too much of a concerted effort to play the 'hits'. It would've been nice to hear some Audioslave non-singles ('Yesterday to Tomorrow,' 'Give', 'Hypnotize'), although I generally did like the setlist. And I wouldn't have sacrificed any of the SG/RATM songs to hear them.

-Finding out from my brother, right before the show, that Theo resigned. With text messaging though, it's difficult to tell if he meant 're-signed' or 'resigned'. Unfortunately, it was the latter.