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From "Changes" by Davide Bowie..

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't tell t hem to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where's your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time

So it's been a while. A lot has gone on in my world. Life has been as sweet a fruit as I've ever tasted, lately. But.. not completely without worms.

Over the past few weeks and months I've come to realize a few things:

I'm not really at a crossroads in my life. Or, more accurately, every day is a crossroad with choices taking me one direction OR another. I mean.. well... duh, right? Sometimes I tend to get so focused on every second of my life that when I have to make a big decision it feels like "THE BIG DECISION OF MY LIFE".

As Corissa would say.. "Oh brother!"

Also, I'm not a quitter. I don't give up on the things that are really important to me. Sometimes it takes a bit to figure out the hierarchy of importance, but once I understand what means what.. I don't have a problem acting on them.

Blah blah blah.. right? I know.. it's not very interesting. However, this is that catharsis thing again. There.. I've gotten it out of my system.. I feel better!

One thing that bothered me was; I didn't have a 'niche' to write about in my BLOG. So far it's been cranial diarrhea, which can't be terribly interesting to you.. no matter how therapeutic it may be for me.

So what's going on?

1) The Job Hunt Continues! Yes, I'm still searching for that perfect job. I'd love to own my own business.. maybe a restaurant, or a book store, call center consulting.. But I'd settle for an Operations Manager role somewhere.

2) Corissa. Woo!

3) Friends. I've jumped back into my Friday night thing, which reconnects me with a group of friends I hadn't touched base with much over the past few months. I'm excited to see my friends again. Corissa is incredibly willing to mingle with my friends, and they universally love her. Consequently, we've had our hands full with BBQ's, hiking, UFC fights and just random get togethers.

4) Did I Mention This Is The Best Summer Evar? I'm active again. In my marriage I turned into a sea slug. My milky white complexion was only ever darkened by anger at becoming a sea slug.



THIS summer though, we've spent time at the pool, time at the tennis courts, time in the gym again, time hiking..

5) Room-mates. I've invited an old friend of mine to live with us. He's an excellent room-mate, and it's a pleasure having him around. He loves Corissa and Beekus and Minnie. He mocks me incessantly and he's very conscientious. Now if only we could find him a girlfriend..

6) Goodbye, Lucy, goodbye. I traded in my car for something infinitely more practical, but something infinitely less gorgeous. *sigh* Here's Lucy in all of her glory (say goodbye..)


And here's "Elsie" I don't know why that name fits, or why the hell I had to name her anyhow, except.. well, it fits. Hello, Elsie!



So that's what's been going on.. in short, life is good. However, that still leaves the niche. What am I an expert on? Well, it would be vanity to believe I knew more than anyone else about many subjects, but here's what I LOVE:

• GAMING (RPG, Table Top, Board Game, Computer / XBOX)
• SEX
• MUSIC
• TRIPPING THE 'GEEK' FANTASTIQUE
  

When we did the podcast, long ago, one of my favorite things was answering questions sent in by fellow gamers. I loved it!! I've tossed around the idea of answering game related questions here, but I don't know how well the BLOG environment lends itself to that.

I've been Roleplaying and gaming in general for much much more than half my life. I have been doing it for just over 19 years now. This doesn't make me an expert, but it does give me a lot of experiences to draw from.

My speciality is the ability to whip up ideas for a quick game, or a campaign or a short multi session thing. My other speciality is coming up with character ideas.

What do you think? Can this work? Would YOU send me a question?

Don't make me an angry sea slug, people.. you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!!

Corissssssssssssssssaaaaaahhhh

From "Girlfriend is Better" by The Talking Heads

I got a girlfriend thats better than that
Now everyones getting involved
Shes moving up going right through my heart
We might not ever get caught
Going right through (try to stay cool) going through, staying cool
I got a girlfriend thats better than that
And nothing is better than you

As promised here's my entry on my girlfriend. I've struggled with this one, because it's important to get it right.. So here goes!!

First of all, and most importantly, she's my best friend and confidant. I'm talking "help me hide these bodies" level of best friend. Someone I trust with every secret I have, someone I feel comfortable having a key to my apartment, someone I can tell all of my woes to and know I'm going to get some love back.

She's got a great heart and the quality of her friends reflects it. They LOVE her! Though now that I think about it, I've never met anyone that hasn't been completely smitten with her the second they meet her.

She's comfortable in every setting with every type of person. Believe me, there's something daunting about being in a room with 15 hard-core gamers. She does it and still wins their hearts.

I've never met a person who is so innately good at everything. I'd be irritated with her beating me at everything if I wasn't so damned proud of her. I was formerly the king of Scrabble, but that crown has been taken and the funny thing is, I just don't mind. Whenever we play she gets this incredibly serious look on her face as she concentrates on the next 65 point word. (no, seriously folks.. she's that good!)

With all of her innate skill, it's funny to me that she's so hard on herself. I guess everyone is most critical of themselves, and she's no exception.

She's equally at home behind the wheel of a four-wheeler or dirt bike, as she is behind the microphone warbling tunes in her sweet voice. She can fish, hike, write poetry, watch plays, eat sushi, beat me at cribbage, relax and watch a movie, play tennis, sing songs to cats in their own language and still end the day with a kiss for me.

She's the most amazing girl in the world!

I've had to fight to keep her. We've had our ups and downs. I'm a natural worrier and an attention / love sponge. She left a relationship where she was always on her own to one with me where we're always together.. I'm the biggest sex junkie I know of. I'm not perfect and I never will be, but my love for her is perfect.

I'm also a bit of an anachronism, and am never quite in style. And she's (unintentionally) incredibly stylish. She just looks at me, rolls her eyes and tries valiantly to bring me out of the 80's.

She is understanding of me gaming, and encourages me to do what I want when I want to. She's honest with me and direct with me whenever I ask a question..

Her deep beautiful eyes are the last thing I see before I go to sleep, and her crazy hair fraggles are the first thing I see in the morning.

Speaking of her beauty, she is built like a greek goddess.. Piercing eyes, a smile that can be bold and crazy or wicked with just a small change of her lips. She's the perfect height to put her head on my shoulder when we dance, which we sometimes do to hummed music in my apartment. Her legs are that sexy combination of voluptuous and athletic that is every man's dream.

I hope I don't sound like a stalker or fanatic. I think this is what love is supposed to be like.

I hope so. =)

WTF? (AKA Only In Utah)

True story. I was walking into the local grocery store, on a mission of mercy, when I overheard this cute little kid and her big burly nine-foot-four-inch father's conversation:

(NOTE: This is word for word to the best of my recollection.. )

Kid: Daddy, I want a treat
Dad: You’ll get what I get you and you be thankful
Kid: Daddy, you always get me poo, I don’t want poo
Dad: I don’t get you poo, you just eat it on your own.. hush now, Daddy’s thinkin’.
Kid: Are you thinkin’ about my treat or about poo?
Dad: Dammit, your treat is to eat for two weeks, daddy’s thinkin’ about huntin’
Kid: (mostly to herself) All I ever get is poo.

Crazy Enough to Be Awesome

Ludo.

Dig it:



Found on Christy's BLOG: Degenerate Elite

Thanks Jere..

While perusing my friend's blog, I found all of this stuff. I thought I'd bore the crap out of you with my answers. Buckle up my friends!

6 weird things about me:

1. I am a midnight snacker. About half of the time I don't even know I do it, I just wake up in the morning to one helluva mess in the kitchen and crumbs in the bed.\
2. I'm sub-consciously superstitious. I don't know why or how or when it began, but I just can't escape the fact that I am.
3. I was reading before I was talking or walking. (which, before you ask, is NOT enough to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.. Trust me, I already checked into it..)
4. There are two things that I'll try at any restaraunt I go to- Key Lime Pie and Spicy Buffalo Wings.
5. I am completely and utterly (unabashedly) addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
6. When I was in high school, I thought I was Edgar Allen Poe reincarnated.

Threes:

• Three Names You Go By: Josh, Muffin and Joshua
• Three Screen Names You Have: Raging Swede, The Swede, Joshuabslc
• Three Things You Like About Yourself: My giving personality, my ability to have fun doing damned near anything and my ability (and willingness) to express myself.
• Three Things You Dislike About Yourself: My inability to be concise at times. my age and my inability to just turn off my brain.
• Three Parts of Your Heritage: Awesome, more awesome and amazingly, somehow MORE awesome.
• Three Things That Scare You: Growing old alone, whitey tighties and bad beer!
• Three Everyday Essentials: Corissa, Lucy and Coffee.
• Three Things You're Wearing Right Now: A sardonic smile, boxer shorts with little red race cars on them and new Levis!
• Three Favorite Bands/Artists: Talking Heads, Franz Ferdinand and Sisters of Mercy.
• Three Favorite Songs at Present: MLWTTKK's "Leathersex", Goldfrapp's "Ooh La La" and the Beatles "Falling"
• Three Things You Want To Try And Do In The Next Twelve Months: Become my own boss, travel outside the US with Corissa and get into a house!
• Three Things You Want In A Relationship: Excellent conversation, deep and sincere love and the kind of sex you just never get bored with!
• Two Truths And A Lie: I'm dyslexic, I've had Lasic surgery and I once owned a car named "Hot Rod the Buddhist Battlewagon"
• Three PHYSICAL Things About The Opposite Sex That Appeal To You: Eyes, a nice ass and sweet glorious hair!
• Three Things You Just Can't Do: Can't pass up a kiss first thing in the morning, to hell with the consequences, can't leave well enough alone and can't pass up Key Lime Pie..
• Three Favorite Hobbies: Gaming, Music and reading.
• Three Things I Want To Do Really Bad Right Now: Turn back the clock 8 hours and crawl back into bed, take the roof down on my car and cruise like the wind and did I mention crawling into bed? Yeah.. well..
• Three Careers You Have Considered: Stunt man, Trucker, Teacher.
• Three Places You Want To Go On Vacation: Japan, Scotland and Hawaii.
• Three Kid's Name You Have Considered: Mums, The and Word
• Three Things You Want To Do Before You Die: become a world class chef, write my own book and re-learn to dance all of the big ballroom dances!
• Three People Who Have To Take This Quiz Now: Hehe, there'd have to be 3 people who read the blog. So instead, I'd be interested to see Corissa's answers, Sean's answers and Hoffamunches answers..

I Hate Shia LaBeouf

Hi everyone, I'm Chris and I used to podcast with Josh. He said it would be ok for me to guest post on his blog, which is really nice because I've got something I've got to get off my chest.

I hate Shia LaBeouf.

I hate him. I hate his beady eyes, I hate his name, I hate his ultra-boyish good looks, and I really hate him with a beard.

I hate that he gets lots of work even though he has no acting talent. Every time he's on screen I'm pulled out of the movie's fantasy and I see not "Sam Witwicky" or "Mutt Williams" but I see ... Shia.

I'll never believe he's anyone but Shia because he never acts like anyone but Shia. It's like needles in my eyes. Put him and Katie Holmes on screen together and unless they're playing themselves in the shockumentary "Why Katie Married a Nutjob" I'd rather poke my eyes out with an empty box of Junior Mints than watch.

How does he make a career out of shouting "NONONONONONONononononoNONONONOnonoNOnonONONONO" over and over again? I'm not exaggerating either:



How irritating it must be to hang out with him.

"Hey Shia, wanna get some burgers?"

"NONONONONONONOnnononononoNONOononononoNONO!!!"

"Would you like fries with that?"

"nonononononononNONONONONONONO!!"

But most of all, I hate him for being involved in the ruining of my beloved childhood properties!

How dare someone born in 1986 get more screen time in TRANSFORMERS "the movie" than OPTIMUS F'ING PRIME! Someone younger than the invention of NEW COKE shouldn't be crowding out Indiana Jones for half of the INDIANA JONES MOVIE!

And for his his greatest crime, allow me to take you there:

One day Shia went to the green screen set, pushed open he door that read "Indiana Jones 4 Filming", sat his ass down in a canvas chair with his name printed on the back. Stephen Spielberg walked up to him ran over what they were going to shoot that afternoon. Mr. Speilberg layed out that in this scene Shia was to (spoiler alert) swing on vines with a bunch of cgi monkeys in a jungle (here's the best part) and one of the monkeys has the same 50's haircut as Shia's character does.

Instead of giving one of the correct responses which would have been:

a: "Have you lost your f'n mind you washed-up, goiter-licking, tea-bagging, turd-burglar?" followed by burning down said green screen studio with everyone in it

or

b: His catch-phrase "NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO NO NO!"

or

c: Kicking Stephen in the nuts.

Shia said, "Yessir!" and single-handedly flushed the Indy franchise down the toilet to join it's ruined brethren Star Wars ep. 1-3.

I think destroying two of my favorite 80's properties is just about enough. G.I. Joe is slated to come out next year, Thundercats has a project page on imdb.com and I've been seeing interviews with the guy who's writing He-Man. Would I like to see Shia within 100 yards of any of these productions?

NONONONONONONONOnononononononoNONONONONONONONO!!!!!

(The opinions expressed are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of Josh or Blogger.com)

To Read, To Hear, To Watch.. I Command It

Tired of what the radio has to offer lately? Sick of the same old CD's? Fear not, O dedicated reader, I have the cure for what ails you!! Here's a bite sized segment of some off the beaten track tunes and videos guaranteed to make you wish you were born with more ears!

Yes, gentle readers, I'm talkin' about..... Music:

Check out Franz Ferdinand. 90% of the songs on both of their full length CD's are catchy, poppy, fun and chock full of energy. You may have heard this bad boy, or maybe this one.. Goofy videos, but damn, these guys get under your skin!

OR

Goldfrapp. Ooh La La is right! This is the finest "electroclash" band I've encountered to date. The lead singers voice melts down some of the cold brittle feel of electroclash. I'm sure it's only a matter of days before someone comes up with a new musical category for these guys..

Interested in hearing more electroclash, or just want to read about some of the hippest new artists? Check for new stuff on Jere's Blog here!

So you want strange and maybe not terribly well known in the US? Try these on for size... Nephew.. Or The Rasmus, HIM and Apocolyptica (GO FINLAND!).. Tired of Evanescence, try Nightwish.. Holly "hubbbbba" Valence.. Kate Ryan.. Alizee..

So you're sick of the new stuff because it's got no soul, well, friend, look no further!! Collected here are some of the best of the best from the past. Don't be shy, click away....

Talking Heads -

The Cure -

Social Distortion

Oingo Boingo -

Sisters of Mercy -

The Cult -

Special thanks to YouTube for existing!


Sorry for all the embedding.. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in session!

Starting Now... A Few Years Later... PART TWO!

(( ... continued ))

As it turned out, all we needed were a few cheesy "McDonalds Drive Thru" headsets, a nearby computer and a penchant to ramble. He explained that we would try to plan out a thing or two to discuss and hopefully share our AWESOME gaming experiences and wisdom with listeners.

.... not that we believed there would be any.

So next week, we sat there with a circa 1937 microphone, enough cables and wiring to gag a mule and a plan. The plan consisted of Chris pointing at people and giving them frantic gestures to get them to pipe up and contribute.

Well, that in itself isn't very interesting, but what IS interesting is that I LOVED IT! I was instantly our Podcast's #1 fan. I started calling myself "The Shark" just because it sounded tough, mysterious and.... well.... sharky!!

Pretty soon I was bogarting the microphone with the best of them. We talked about what games we were playing, how we created characters, why we gamed, women, booze, movies and dang near everything that popped into our heads! We recorded these for ourselves, but soon realized that people were listening to us.

....Wow.

People started writing to us asking questions, requesting advice, and just overall wanting to contribute to the podcast. To handle all of this, Chris built a website and forums for us.. Now people could interact with us directly. To me, this was the single coolest thing I'd ever been a part of.. I was experiencing an almost perpetual multimediagasm!

I still experience the ticklepee-pees just thinking about some of the cool folks we interacted with on a regular basis. Brilliant people. Creative people. Down to Earth people.. People from across the world (we had listeners in Denmark and Eastern Europe... no kidding!) I still run into some of these people even now.

However, all good things must end. Scheduling conflicts, internal strife, divorce and other factors slowly prevented us from getting together and podcasting. Our listeners slowly drifted away to look for more active Podcasts, and we just kind of stopped. There was no speech given, no eulogies read... just silence.

But, it's STILL in there.. It's an itch under my skin that I can't figure out how to scratch. It's a nagging in the back of my mind... "Jeez, that would be awesome to 'Cast about.." I wonder what our listeners are listening too right now, and if I'd enjoy it too..

But most of all, I just wanted to cram as much of life into my mouth at once as possible...

RIP, Starting Now.

PS - Thanks to Miked! for inspiring me to reminisce about the show..

Starting Now... A few years later... Part One

Several years ago, in another life, a truly brilliant friend of mine suggested that we break into the brand spanking new world of podcasting. Our responses were a clear signal of how progressive minded our group was.. It went something like this:

What the hell is a Podcast? Why the hell should we do it? Will this cut into gaming time? HELL no! Can we make money doing it? Is it going to be work?

However, as I mention this, I realize that I've started this story in the middle. Let me take a step even further back..

**the air shimmers into flashback montage mode**

You see, I am a gamer. I'm not ashamed at all, I LOVE gaming. I love the people that game, I love my contributions to gaming and I love damned near every element of gaming. I play board games, card games, roleplaying games, computer games.. you name it, I play it.

Like every other element of culture, the people who game tend to gravitate towards others who game. Eventually, in many cases, you develop a "group". A group of gamers tend to share certain fundamental beliefs about gaming.... for the most part.

Anyhow, I have known my current groups for many years. At this point I'm really good friends with pretty much all of the folks I game with. We don't just hang out to game, we socialize in all other elements of our lives. So, there's a pretty strong bond there that lasts even longer than the gaming itself, as some people change their views on gaming in general. (Hang on, I'm SOOO almost back to the story at hand.. honest!)

So our gaming group, we'll call them TaNGG (Tuesday Night Gaming Group..) met weekly. The night consisted of an hour of BS'ing, 3 hours of solid gaming, a half hour of post coital BS'ing and then back to our normal lives.

One of our members, The Hoffmangler (AKA Mistah "H", AKA Hoffamunch AKA Chris..) is always on the cutting edge of whatever fad is coming our way. He ALWAYS inflicts this fad on us ruthlessly (for our own good) and then loses interest in the blink of an eye.

**Josh snaps awake, quickly wiping drool off his chin and forcing his eyes into what he hopes is an alert demeanor**

RIGHT!!

So, there we are.. Wondering what the hell Podcasting was all about, and what it would take to distract Chris from his "dream" of being real live podcasters.

(( To Be Continued.....))

TV

I don't watch TV.

I haven't for almost 10 years now, I think. I have a TV, sure, and a ton of DVD's, but I don't watch it real time. It's funny how much of American culture I miss out on by cutting TV out of my life. Small things, big things and damned near every-thing in between.

I don't object to it in theory, or in practice, I just don't have time. Or - more specifically - I don't feel like making time for it. What would I cut? Tennis? Gaming with friends? Going out for Pho? Scrabble? Why trade a highly interactive form of entertainment for one that isn't?

As it turns out, there are quite a few things I'd love to see on TV. ROME, The Tudors, BattleStar Galactica, Heroes... All cool shows, that I'm going to end up owning on DVD anyhow. Then there's Buffy.. Ahhh, and the first few seasons of Angel. And the Dresden Files.. (anyone ever see that?) There's a TON of good TV that's not on TV anymore.

Why? Why do shows like Firefly get cut from the air, while shows like Everyone Loves Raymond last forever? To answer that, I'd have to introduce you to the great unwashed. The people who ultimately pay the TV stations to do what they do. The lowest common denominator. (Hey, I laughed at what I saw of Raymond myself, but there's a pretty big disparity, you have to admit...)

Of course, one can't talk about TV without talking about the growing cost of good programming. Cable is just flat out down-right expensive.

Bottom line? After a hard day in the office missing inside jokes about the latest sitcom I've never even heard of, I have nothing but whiskey, extra money and conversations with others to console me.

..... Hmmm, ya know, that doesn't sound half bad. ;)