hi otto!

i was woken up by the phone this morning, which was a good thing, because i was having a creepy dream about cannibalism, probably inspired by listening to fast food nation on audiobook and watching a travel show in which they ate all sorts of curious meats. interestingly, sheep’s testicles are less disgusting than american hamburger is, as described in the book i’m reading.

i am now wondering how one makes the transition from awake to fully conscious, and i have no idea.

Hi. I’m hung over today.

Huh, this is weird.

Should I be able to log in? ’Cause I don’t seem to be able to.

I don’t think that this ILX knows who we are.

i didn’t have any problem, though it’s annoying to have to wait for the password email since hotmail sucks.

oh, i had to create a new account, since this isn’t real ilx.

xp yeah.

I figured as much.

Hey.

a couple days by the ocean have me questioning if i have truly made my peace with chicago. so things are back in flux for me. how was everyone else’s weekend?

I thought it was funny that when I deleted everything in my spam folder, the google link/ad on top was for a spam + pasta recipe.

Oops, I messed up my login here by registering with the fake e-mail address.

I think everyone gets that link—I got one for Ginger Spam Salad, which sounded abysmal.

(sorry for the overseas intrusion, Chicago-ites, there aren’t enough other threads for me to read yet!)

My weekend: Sleeping, cleaning, laundering, beer drinking, tour guiding, car agonizing.

hi ailsa!

my weekend included napping and project runway. and david attenborough.

when you change your email address, they change your password and send it to the real email, so then you have to reset your pwd again.

Testing testing. hello hello.

Heard bumping from a car at Clark and Wacker just now: “The Humpty Dance.” Awesome.

Oh hi kids! I’ve missed you.

The Humpty Dance was the last song played at the (surprisingly hip) wedding that my band over the weekend.

Not that we played it, I mean, it was on an iPod after we were done.

Although Erik did bust a Fat Boys rap to give everyone’s chops a break.

So I just emailed these people about their CL ad:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/muc/194189852.html

Mistake or no? Time will tell.

led by a dope bass line

i’d be very wary of that adjective if i were you dan.

Sounds fun. Here’s to hoping they aren’t untalented assholes.

xpost, ha

Every word I say should be a hip hop quotable.

so.... do I post here or back on the HOT’s on the real ILX?

yawn

this place is kinda funny as a bizarro-ilx. it feels like a facade.

I know. Or the kids’ table or something.

That’s what I like about it.

Anyone here?

Just me.

Why didn’t I go to Chicago this year? I should have!

You totally should have! I’m not likely to be in Mississippi any time soon. :(

hahaha, if you were to ever say you were thinking about it, I’d try to talk you out of it.

Mid to late October is a possibility, but I’m trying to save $$ for the big Frank’s APA meetup next year. (We’ve narrowed it down to Netherlands or Belgium.)

Here I am.

Hi. I’m bored.

I see Rebirth is playing in Chicago this Sunday (3:30 at the Chicago Jazz Festival). I recommend GOING.

i don’t understand. why can’t we have real ilx?

You can’t handle real ILX.

What a lovable old coot!

Jack, who’s always thought his erotic appeal is underrated, first asked for sex scenes. “These kind of monsters, they don’t usually have a sex life onscreen, so I wanted to bring that to the part.” He chuckles. “I pushed that side pretty good. He’s a mad, bad nut job, so he’s evil sexually too. Fuck ’em, kill ’em, you know … At the moment, it’s a matter of discussion how far we went, as a matter of fact,” he says proudly, noting that Scorsese’s currently debating whether to edit down his brutal lovemaking.

Hi Chicagofags! I was just checking this thread for shits and giggles and saw the Jack Nicholson pictures. A preview before BEERFEST was for some big-timey vaguely cop/crime-drama that starred Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, etc etc, lots of BIG NAME GUYS. And then BEERFEST came on and we larffed. And got drunk.

That Nicholson quote is terrifying. It sounds like he’s trying to turn the character into Frank Booth:

Hi Nick — yeah, I think that’s the movie that the bit Jordan quoted is about. It’s called The Departed.

i’m here.

i can’t handle the chicago threads on the real ILX.

i miss chicago like mad, you guys.

I just filled out the questionnaire for my high-school reunion. YES.

Plan for tonight:

1. Little Miss Sunshine at the Davis Theater

2. Brighton MA at Schubas

3. Hang out with potential new guitarist (!) at Schubas after the show

There’s a band called Brighton MA? Huh.

Chicago! Specifically Eric!

Let’s go see this play: http://www.congosquaretheatre.org/richard.asp

There’s a band called Brighton MA? Huh.

Yup. Named after the lead singer’s hometown. I didn’t make it to the show, though. I was hungry after seeing the movie, so I had dinner instead. (Movie, btw, was just okaaaay. There were some funny moments, but I sometimes resist movies that try to endear me to the characters by ramming down my throat how adorably quirky everyone is.)

Jenny, that play looks very interesting.

I had the most wonderful bottle of cabernet last night (well, one glass of it). I am coming to understand that there’s nothing wrong with a screw cap. It feels weird for a while, but then you taste the wine, and you realize that it’s not automatically Mad Dog just because it has a screw cap.

Screw caps are making a comeback due to cork shortages.

I can’t remember the name of this one... Nuages, or Numan, or something with an N and a U. Anyway, it’s on sale at the store at Foster and Clark. And it really is good.

GUYS POST ON THIS THREAD

Hi John.

Hi. I think I’m gonna stay in tonight, because I’ve gone out every night this week (all for band-related endeavors) and I like the idea of watching a DVD with a bottle of wine or a couple pumpkin beers, ya feel me?

I feel ya, dawg. I’ve done nothing but sit in and do laundry and read HTML books all week, so I’m itchin’ to get out and blow some money.

Also, wine=good, pumpkin beer=not so much.

Sir, believe you are mistaken.

Although it may be too warm yet for pumpkin beer. It’s not as good if you don’t need a jacket to go outside.

The Blue Moon pumpkin beer is disgusting. I forget what I picked up. It was from Whole Foods.

I don’t need a jacket to go outside, but I am wearing a long-sleeved shirt for the first time since May.

I know, I know, I just don’t like fruity-flavored beer. Hops, hops and more hops!

Pumpkin is hardly “fruity-flavored.” It’s more of a bittersweet memory.

Sounds kind of emo.

I just figured everything out, and I am going to Alaska in a few weeks!

Whoa. How come? Is 3r1c@ involved somehow?

lol at EmoBeer.

Pumpkin beer is

a bittersweet memory

a favorite sweater

an autumn sonata

freshly cut wood and the first time you light the fireplace

a crisp breeze

a train in the distance

xpost: Possibly. I need to see if she’s got to go up there for her tribal board meetings around then. But she’s moved out to Washington state now ’cause she got a job teaching at Evergreen State College.

Two of my best friends in the world (one since I was like 3 years old) live in Homer, AK and I’ll be going primarily to visit them.

Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance

Everybody thinks its true

But she’s moved out to Washington state now ’cause she got a job teaching at Evergreen State College.

Ah, that’s cool.

IIRC, Evergreen State’s two most famous alums are both cartoonists: Matt Groening and Lynda Barry.

Oh weird, Charles Burns went there, too.

Okay, and I’m forgetting Kathleen Hanna, Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, Calvin Johnson, and Kim Thayil.

Not to mention Michael Richards.

Yup. Also: most of Sleater-Kinney, Phil Elverum, Kim Thayil, and Issac Brock I think...

xpost Exactly! It’s a cool place.

I visited there once when I was 14. The campus was very woody.

here i am

hi jesse.

alaska has always seemed like a really great place to visit, i’ve known a couple of people from there but never managed to get there.

FAUX-LX YOU

I just e-mailed someone, and she responded via text message. Weird.

I don’t want to work, I just want to play online all day. I mean, more than usual.

Re: AK... Yeah, that’s about the sense I get from it too.

Best quote while setting this up, from my friend Seth: “You can shower at my work, so you don’t have to pay for it.” Because there’s generally not indoor plumbing in the houses there, there are bath houses (not that kind of bath house... or maybe it is, I don’t know how they roll there) for the whole town to use.

Fascinating information:

The Frat Boy billed for 62.25 hours of work this summer. For the entire summer. This means that this law firm paid him $109/hour for his legal work.

...

Ha ha Dan’s going to an Alaskan bath house.

No, see, I can shower at the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District because my friend works there, and it will be free! Free hot water!

Of course, I’ll probably still go, if only for the handjobs.

Atta boy.

The Frat Boy billed for 62.25 hours of work this summer.

I don’t understand. Surely he was around more than that, or he wouldn’t be bothering people so much.

I will have worked that much this week when it’s over.

Law offices bill clients for their time. So for each project we work on, we have to turn in a time ticket that lists the number of hours we workedon, who the client was, and what we were doing. We’re in the office and getting paid hourly for roughly 40 hours a week, give or take some time for getting in late, leaving early, or working overtime.

So, while the Frat Boy was in the office 40 hours a week give or take all summer, he only worked 62.25 hours of that.

And 6.5 of those hours were “reading the handbook” and I don’t even know what the fuck that means. But it’s not billable client stuff.

What is Frat Boy’s first name? Is it Josh? He sounds like a Josh.

Mark

Both the Frat Boy and the Orthodox Jew were named Mark. We collectively referred to them as “The Marks” as in, “It’s just me and the Marks tomorrow, so I know I’m going to be busy.”

I would have guessed “Cliff.” But hearing that it’s actually Mark is kind of funny too. He’s a Mark-ass CHUMP.

Speaking of which, do you think the spike in the popularity of the name Brendan in roughly 1997–2000 had anything to do with the career of Brendan Fraser? Its peak was in 1999 (#96), which is when The Mummy came out.

xpost CLIFF? I’ve only met one person our age named Cliff, and he was a stoner-lookin’ doofus who used to intern for PFM.

And 6.5 of those hours were “reading the handbook” and I don’t even know what the fuck that means. But it’s not billable client stuff.

Oh, man. If I had to justify every hour I was here... whew.

Yeah, it was more a humor-oriented guess than a real guess. If I’d have been serious I probably would have gone for someting like Dave or Bob or maybe some serious yuppie shit like “Tanner.”

I once had a friend named Mark. By the time the dust had settled, he wasn’t really anybody’s friend anymore. He had my ex-girlfriend on his arm, though.

I remember doing mushrooms with him and some other people on Eeyore’s B-day in Austin on year, and we were all off our heads pretty good, and some guy walked up to Mark and said, “You’re the devil. I can see it in your eyes.” Which fucked with all of us, but not as bad as when some totally different guy later walked up to Mark and said THE EXACT SAME THING. We kinda chalked it up to being some elaborate prank by people setting out to fuck with tripping people, or maybe just the kind of weird coincidence that only happens on hallucinogens. But as it turns out, he actually WAS the devil.

Every single one of us.

posted elsewhere, but deserving of some exposure here:

Sites around the Big Easy Crescent

That’s a good story, except the part about him being a fuck.

I go ahead and try to register and the password-sender dealy fucks up, and now I can’t post as danno martinez because I can’t fucking log in. OH WELL

That’s some wench on a wrench.

Wrenching, isn’t it?

She’s totally fucking that thing.

I was watching Ham On The Street just the other day, and he went to the laundromat to cook food in a dryer. I wish I could remember what he was cooking.

it’s shocking is what it is. that’s not in the f.q. or anything, that’s just in some residential area. that’s too much, i say. it’s one thing to be suggestive by having her on a wrench, but that adjustable arm pointing toward her cooch.....

What the hell is Ham On The Street?

Oh, I think it’s cute and innocent. Like a little girl sliding down the bannister.

xpost A show on Food Network.

A girl sliding down the bannister only to impale her vag on a giant tool.

Someone send me a link to the Braff-hating Salon article.

I used to think Scrubs was really funny until I saw 900,000 episodes of it, each with a life-changing lesson.

Now I watch it with a bored expression on my face. I don’t HATE hate it, though. Not like I HATE Garden State.

Yeh, I don’t really hate the show, but I do hate that guy. The show is just kind of boring.

I kind of loathe “Scrubs”, plus there is always “Grey’s Anatomy”! Which is awes except for the moralizing voice-overs at ends of eps but one can foward past/mute those.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out who “OJ” was.

Everyone I’ve met who likes Scrubs is weirdly proud that they like it. They’re always saying, “You know what’s a good show? Scrubs. I know, you might not realize it, but that shit’s funny.” Of course, I haven’t heard anyone say this since 2003, so I don’t know if there’d be any post-Garden State backpedaling these days.

Funny parts of Scrubs = pretty good.

Mawkish parts of Scrubs = unbearable.

i refuse to watch grey’s anatomy. i tried but i just can’t do it. before nbc juggled their line up i’d read or go to the bar early.

is there a tt going on this week?

O.J., original jewster.

Scurbs reminds me of Office Space. I saw both of them for the first time in the company of a superfan. They both have the nice guy in the lead who’s having little crises of masculinity and conformity.

I kind of think Grey’s Anatomy is a bad show. But there’s a whole genre of prime-time soap opera that I totally avoid, so maybe it’s not meant for me, anyway.

I’m trying to think if there are any other “critically acclaimed” TV shows that I want to start watching on DVD after Arrested Development and Undeclared. I hope not, because I kind of want to get back to movies, but on the other hand, it’s pretty awesome to watch an episode or two of something before bed, without the commitment of a two-hour movie.

xpost Yeah, I don’t have any interest in Grey’s Anatomy or House or anything like that.

Do I really have to say that I love House? The show, the character, take your pick.

Is that the one Sandra Oh is on? I’ve never seen GA but she is great. I mostly think so because of Last Night.

“Why would I want to watch ‘The Sopranos’? It’s all ‘I’m gonna kill that guy.’ ‘No, f-k you, I’m gonna kill that guy’.”

-Jaymc, November 2006.

I like House a lot, too. But I get the feeling from Grey’s Anatomy that it’s kind of all about “oh look hott boyz/oh no boy problems”. House has a drug addiction. That’s the kind of problem I can get behind.

I don’t actually know anything about House except that it stars an asshole doctor named House. But I don’t have any interest in it. Also not interested in The Sopranos, The Wire, The Shield, Entourage (first ep was really bad, like Swingers the TV show), Weeds, Big Love, Nip/Tuck. Maybe interested in The OC and Six Feet Under.

Grey’s Anatomy was good for the first season, but after that I got tired of those people. I’ve seen House twice and it was nearly unbearable, the show, the guy, take your pick. No, actually, don’t take your pick, I will: the guy.

I’ve got the first discs of Freaks & Geeks and the Wire on my queue, but I’m almost loathe to get sucked in because I also have been enjoying movies, and the Wire especially seems like a big committment.

The Wire is pretty damn great. No, really.

Also interested in 30 Rock. Not interested in Desperate Housewives.

I also have been enjoying movies, and the Wire especially seems like a big committment.

Laurel said the exact same thing the other day.

: D The Sopranos, on the other hand, I have no interest in.

I dunno, I don’t find anyone on GA hott except Katherine Heigl, and I’m happy to admit that probably 2/3 of the characters are “types” (cf “the Nazi”, the beautiful smart girl, etc), but they’re well played and I like their interactions with each other.

I found the second season of Entourage used at Reckless and watched in all in two or three days. I had that same Swingers impression of the one season-one episode I’d seen, but I think it’s improving.

John, the OC? Really?

30 Rock is a treat. it is difficult to say whether I love Fey, Baldwin, or Morgan most.

x2

Not interested in Carnivale, Rome, Ugly Betty, Deadwood, or anything Law and Order- or CSI-related. Interested in The Office.

I should own some Curb on DVD. That might be my all-time favorite show. (Bold words.)

The OC is intolerable for me, although I have much-admired friends who rave about it. I don’t think I give a shit about beautiful teenagers. Ugly Betty, though, hmm. I’d at least try one or two eps if someone said I should bother.

John, the OC? Really?

Yeah, why not? I guess I’m hoping it’s like Dawson’s Creek.

xpost: beautiful teenagers: I could’ve just said this.

what the fuck is in maggie valley, north carolina and why does my phone have two missed phone calls from there?

crunkle? jenny? jeff? what’s out there?

Interested in Mr. Show. Not interested in Oz or Queer as Folk.

seriously, I can’t imagine anyone disliking The Office. it’s brilliant.

I love Ugly Betty, but watch it only semi-frequently. it’s on at the same time as The Office, which is kind of a bummer.

Interesting in Talking; Not interested in Action.

I have only seen the OC once, at a friend’s house. His younger sister was having a marathon. I’ve also never seen Dawson’s Creek, but it was a lot like what I always imagined DC to be like.

Maggie Valley is a place in the Blue Ridge mountains that is a big tourist draw. I’ve never been, but I think it’s just a really quaint, quiet, cute town with lots of jam and apple butter.

I’ve seen House twice and it was nearly unbearable, the show, the guy, take your pick. No, actually, don’t take your pick, I will: the guy.

Jeez. What is it you have against arrogant assholes? :)

Speaking of Dawson’s Creek and Undeclared: man, Monica Keena is so hot.

It’s an apple butter marketer calling you.

My grandparents used to take trips to Maggie Valley. They would go to the Stomping Ground, a dance place, predominately clogging/bluegrass related.

i checked a map and it’s close enough where it could conceivably be some people i know in asheville but if it was them they would’ve left me a message.

My relatively good day was just totally ruined. The news a couple of months ago was that the CIO was leaving, and his stranglehold on the IT department and all things web would finally end and I’d have more responsibility. He hired a replacement for himself, and I had meetings with the replacement, and really liked the guy. It looked like something would actually happen that would be really good for me.

Well, I just got an email from the President saying that he’s “happy to announce” that the new head of IT would be his sister (!) and that the CIO isn’t leaving after all. I’m crushed. Things won’t just be the same, they’ll be more the same than ever before. I’m seriously depressed about this. I don’t want to have to look for another job. But this little development means no new position, no raises, nothing but more and more being squeezed out. This fucking sucks.

WHO TH’ FUCK DECIDES TO RETIRE, HIRES A REPLACEMENT, AND THEN CHANGES HIS MIND JUST BECAUSE HE’S A CONTROL FREAK?

CRAZY ASSHOLES,THAT’S WHO.

I’M SO DEPRESSED I’M LISTENING TO PET SOUNDS. THIS IS NOT GOOD.

I WANT TO GO HOME.

YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK. Oh, you didn’t mean that home.

That sucks, dude.

I really like Six Feet Under.

I have some interest in TT. I would like to take a yoga class at 4 pm but could probably be convinced to rearrange that.

If the CIO should ever leave you,

Your life would still go on, believe you.

I am not drinking for a while. I could still go out I guess, but I shouldn’t be out in public lest I spend money.

Dammit, I want to go to yoga at 4 AND go to TT but that’s just not practical.

how long does yoga take and where is it?

hey, could someone go to theponys.com and snag the tour dates? it’s blocked here today. i blame dan martin.

FRIDAY 1/12/2007 SCHUBAS CHICAGO 9PM 18+

Yoga takes an hour and a half and is four blocks from my abode.

Oh man, the four blocks thing is deadly.

What about TT at Friar Tucks or Monsignor Murphy’s or one of those near your abode?

Yoga takes an hour and a half and is four blocks from my abode.

Maybe you could just meditate/relax/center/whatever really quickly?

xpost Or Brother Booze or Monks and Drunks?

If those bars existed I would totally go.

four blocks from jenny’s abode = another timezone from tt’s. :(

that was the only date listed? i can’t remember when jered said they were playing boston, it’s either the 27th or 29th.

Bars in the Jesuit District.

That was the only date listed.

The Jesuits can drink, no doubt.

goddamn it, i will say the new web filters are VERY good at what they do, i can’t get to anything good. can’t find shit about dick in this motherfuck.

xpost- i was raised by jesuits! it’s true!

Jesuits raise wild men.

I’ve been curious about this Irish pub that I’ve seen a bunch of times right at Belmont and Sheridan, on the ground floor of some high-rise. It seems so other-worldly over there, and, even though I’m sure it’s generic inside, I’d like to check it out sometime.

So can the Christian Brothers:

(Fun fact: my dad was in the Christian Bros. seminary for a year in the mid-1960s.)

Monks and Drunks

This is a great name for a bar. Really.

Eric, are you talking about Bridget McNeill’s? I went there with Renee once.

(I just noticed that the first comment on that Chicagoist article is from M. C@lv3rt.)

is monks on lake street still open? i used to see it from the green line, i think it’s west of clark & lake and either just before or just after the rive?

Yes, yes, Bridget McNeill’s is it.

I think Monk’s is still around. That would be a good TTs as well. It seems like the Loop version of Moody’s to me.

I want to go to Bridget McNeill’s. And Monk’s. And Old Timer’s. I like bars.

If my dumb yoga studio had some early morning classes, this wouldn’t be a problem.

i want to go to a different neighborhood for the next tt’s so if we have it up by jenny & jeff’s that’s cool. i just need to allot some extra travel time.

I read that big Reader article on the Bell’s dingus today, it was interesting.

I love Monk’s. Yeah, it’s still open. Last time I was there, one of the people I was with knew the owner, and we got freebies all night. Sweet.

kenan, what happened at tuman’s?

shit, hold that story, i gotta go.

share yr love, chicago.

I have been really bemoaning the lack of good beer selection in this shit hole town lately.

Nothing happened at Tuman’s, far as I know. I found a scarf.

OH MY GOD REALLY???

Is the beer selection in liquor stores limited too?

I have been really bemoaning the lack of good beer selection in this shit hole town lately.

Whaddar you talking about, can’t you get Bud bottles everywhere?

Depends on the store, but I haven’t found anything like State Line Liquors in MD or Liquormart in Boulder, CO around here. Then again, I have not been looking that hard. I just prefer to bitch.

xpost—no, can’t get OLD STYLE everywhere!

State Line Liquors

*genuflects*

Oh my.

A store with ~ 700 North American craft brewed beers. In Elkton fucking Maryland. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FROM A MAJOR CITY?

The guy in the cube next to me always says “g/f” on the phone instead of “girlfriend”. As in “gee slash eff”. IT HAS MORE SYLLABLES AND SOUNDS DUMB. JUST SAY GIRLFRIEND, FLAPJAWS.

don’t you mean JACKBALLS?

Haha. I was walking around downtown Chi with some dudes and saw a place called the Flapjaws Cafe or something, and it stuck (as in “what’s up, flapjaws” or “listen to ol flapjaws here”).

Holy cow, State Line Liquors, wtf. And here I was happy with the place at Clark and Foster. (Except dude gave me a shitty wine recommendation last time I was in there.)

Jenny, we should go here:

http://www.samswine.com/Products/beer.aspx

Hiya, I took most of the afternoon off to tend to some bidness.

For big beer (and of course, wine) selection I like http://www.samswine.com/Main.aspx — closer to my house, VAS Foremost liquor actually has a lot of good Belgians and craft brews.

I will go anywhere for TT, just don’t make me decide. Extra travel time may be needed, and I may bring a friend.

Otto, you ought to know better than to trifle with the VA Office of Internet Time-Wasting Prevention Department, Northern Illinois Division. We see all, we know all.

The dude from Scrubs ruins that show, I don’t care how funny it supposedly is. He sucks so hard. The Office, OZ, C.Y.E., and Mr. Show are all grebtx1000. Well, only the first 4.5 seasons of OZ, really.

xpost: GREAT MINDS, JEFF

FIELD TRIP TO SAM’S WINE.

OLD ILX IS BACK UP.

I’ve heard good things about foremost as well. Haven’t been in the Binny’s downtown, but I should check it out.

I started a new thread on the nu-old ilx: http://ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?msgid=7486949