The boy and I have been playing The Incredibles for some time now. We’re at a part that neither of us can get past (the stupid Volcano part with the robot – can’t seem to figure out the sequence to beat the bastard). So while shopping tonight for our holiday donation gifts I went over to check out the XBOX games on sale (not 360, just good-old regular XBOX). I wasn’t really looking for something the both of us could play, but I came across Lego Star Wars. Now, I’d just rented Black and had officially determined my level of game play isn’t what it used to be. I know I’ve always liked adventure games, and this one looks kind of cool, and it’s a “Everyone” play rated, so I figured we’d try it out. And, it’s a two player game (if desired).

Ok, so near 10pm, I turned it off and sent the boy to bed. I was still playing it after I sent him up. It’s fun, challenging (in some parts), and the graphics are very cool. We’ll see how far we get till we get stuck and move onto a new game.

What happens when you take Flash, merge it with a hot woman who has something to say about everything, and introduce search results powered by Microsoft Live Search? You get a slick search portal that kicks out results in a fun way: Ms. Dewey.

According to Wikipedia:

Developed by MRM and EVB, Ms. Dewey is a fully animated search assistant who audibly comments on searched keywords in her own style and makes random actions when idle, including taking props from behind her desk.

Technorati returns some interesting results other bloggers are writing about. From 24th Floor:

Ms Dewey’s real name is Janina Gavankar. It just came to my attention that Ms Dewey also played in a movie call Cup of My Blood.

And my personal favorite from WebProBLOG:

Before becoming the most attractive thing about MSN Search, Gavankar was pleasing crowds using another method – soft-core movies… you know, the ones you find on Cinemax during their late-night viewing schedule. According to Cutts’ post, Ms. Dewey appeared in a movie called Cup Of My Blood, and judging by the screencaps (NSFW) Gavankar is not a believer in the “no nudity” clause so many actresses include in their contracts nowadays.

So, happy searching. Just as a fun little bonus, type in Porsche 911 C4 – at 8:36am I was listed as result #3.

UrlTrends A free service that allows you to view any URLs PageRank™, Alexa Rank, popular search terms, incoming links and more!

Since having children there have been a number of films I find difficult to view. One of note is a popular one: Trainspotting. Specific to the child scene. I can’t watch films that deal with children being harmed or abused in certain ways. A level of realism churns me to the point of unable to watch the scenes before me. Even important films that question the political or societal nature of past/present/future. Simply put, I just can’t watch them.

I first realized this issue I have when we lived back east. Wife and kid were on a trip to the mid-west, and I was left to my own devices. I went to a speciality video store in the district and rented some Out Of Print (OOP) titles. Titles my wife would never be able to stomach. One of which was Salò. You might know of Salò as the most expensive OOP DVD ever (in some cases over $1000). For those that don’t know what Salò is, I’ll try my best:

Pier Paolo Pasolini
1975
(from the Criterion site)
A loose adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo is perhaps the most disturbing and disgusting film ever made. It is also one of the most important, offering a blistering critique of fascism and idealism that suggests moral redemption may be nothing but a myth.

Now, the part about “most important” got me interested. The “most disturbing” part had me intrigued. I’ve seen my share of exploitation films, hard core violent, out and out insane, so I figured I needed to see this film…20 minutes. I got though about 20 minutes before I had to turn it off. Disturbing doesn’t come close. I still have images burned in my brain that I can’t shake.

Why the recap? Where’s the point? I just read this from DVDFile.com:

Criterion has supposedly had issues renewing licenses for the film from the Pasolini estate, but as posted on Criterion’s official site: “Have we been able to renew our rights [to Salò]? Well, here’s the answer you weren’t expecting. Yes. We’re working on a brand new HD transfer now. It’ll be a totally new release and be out in 2007.”

So the reason I’ve never re-visited Salò was due in part to the inability of finding it without spending a fortune. Now, that it’s being re-released I’m toying with the idea of attempting to watch it all the way though. Maybe if I watch it with someone else it might allow for conversation though some of the harsher parts? I don’t know. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

So any of my friends out there that want to watch Salò with me?

My parents tell me they made a choice when I was first born – give him really strong drugs that might weaken his teeth, or not give him really string drugs and let him die. I have this very early memory of my mom/dad/me spilling the medicine on my “blanky” and destroying it. Mom cut out a small piece for me to keep, but for the most part is was trashed.

Move ahead to many moons ago – I was eating a sandwich (ham, most likely) when I bit down on a *crunch* sensation. Gross, was my first thought. I fished out a white piece of something sharp. It was the front of my tooth. It has sheared off the front half. Needless to say, I called mom and told her we needed to call the dentist and fix this shit now!

Lets back track a little…I have the very fond memory of screaming in the dentists chair, as he was ripping out 1 of 4 teeth that session “I CAN STILL FEEL…” I had been injected into my gums the anesthetic that was SUPPOSE to numb me, but alas it did not. I know my mother heard me screaming from the waiting room (she was, after all, working for the good doc at the time). After it was all done, I swore I’d never take a needle in the gums again, no matter what.

slob? I floss. I Brush. I drink as ass load of soda. That might be one reason. So I head into the dentist this morning to have 2 taken care of. Seems the filling from the “sheared off tooth” incident was all So it turns out at the ripe age of 30 I have, what was it, 4 cavities! What I am, an unkemptfugly, and the one next to it needed to be taken care of as well. I ask the assistant:

Umm, do you plan on shooting me in the gums to numb me up?

Yes.

Right, I don’t do that.

No anesthesia?

No, I don’t do needles in the gum. You guys can give me a topical, but I don’t do that…

So very nicely, she writes a note on a stikie and pastes it to my chart: NO SHOTS. As I’m talking to the assistant about holiday shopping, she looks away and has a brief conversation with the doc. “We’re talking about you. That you don’t do shots…”

So the doctor rolls over and looks at me perplexed “So, you don’t do shots? Topical won’t do anything, so if you won’t do a shot, you’ll feel it.” I answer “I’ve had 4 teeth pulled with all feeling, I’ll be ok.” She looks at me “4 ADULT teeth pulled? You’ve had 4 ADULT teeth?” I say “Yup.” NOW, they might have been adult, they might have been baby, but hell if I was going to have anyone stick a god-damn needle in my gums. So she starts in. Drills away. I focus on a spot. I’m more concerned about the congestion running down my throat preventing me from breathing 100% then I am with the pain.

The good doctor pauses, so I think, and looks at me “Wow, you’re amazing. You didn’t even flinch. 99.9% of the people I’ve seen couldn’t do what you just did – and I’ve seen a lot. You’re awesome. How do you do it?” I tell her that I’ve been fortunate enough to inherit a high tolerance for pain. My legacy spreads across the whole office. I can feel the vibe…ok, now I’m totally embellishing for the sake of ego.

So while I’m sitting there, waiting to have my teeth filled, I ask the assistant to help me take this picture. This is the before. This is when I had all my nerves exposed to the world…and I didn’t even flinch. At one point I looked up and said “Dustin Hoffman’s got nothing on me…” I’m not sure if they got it.

Real quick – holy crap! So the wife rented me Clerks II. I’ve (we’ve) been dying to see it. We’re about 20 minutes into it and she needs popcorn. It’s hilarious. Sad, simple, crude humor I live for. And I’m having a hard time truly appreciating it due to the simple fact that I can’t F’ING swallow without serious discomfort!

When I’m sick I hold up in the basement. Thanks to my new laptop I can do both work and watch an ass load of movies since I can’t sleep when I can’t swallow. When I was studying for my Fine Arts Degree (I switched to Advertising after two quarters) I did a project where I photographed exploitative films and used stills to wrap a series of judging emotions. I loved the slight blur and warm colors photographing the television produced.

I’ve recently switched the resolution on my camera to the lowest possible setting. I’ve starting shooting specifically for online display. While sick, and pouring over work emails, I looked up and became absorbed in a film my wife rented for me – Lucky Number Slevin. Great film. Highly recommended. This shot I grabbed on the fly. I held up the camera and clicked. I find it haunting. More questions surrounding it then provided.

Other films I’ve been watching while unable to sleep:
Alien Resurrection
The Constant Gardner
Superman Returns
Kingdom of Heaven
Lucky Number Slevin
Scoop bad
The Transformers Movie
The Bourne Supremacy
Multiple Futurama Episodes

I was diagnosed with Bronchitis yesterday afternoon, and this morning I’m having a little difficulty with swallowing – which makes it difficult to talk. I choose to sit out todays radio show which sucks because the topic was all about “drink marketing.” SoftDrinks, EnergyDrinks, RegionalDrinks…you name it. I sent Rick a bunch of emails (none of which he responded to on the air), so I downed a hot cup of tea and called in. I had to mention my favorite marketing ploy to date concerning energy drinks: Cocaine Energy. Cocaine in a can. I know it’s not politically correct. I know a lot of people are upset by it. From ABC News:

“It’s just a bad idea and has all the same downsides of too much caffeine plus a very bad name,” says Dr. Charles O’Brien a professor and vice chairman of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

The drink touts 280 milligrams of caffeine. I remember when Jolt Cola was all the rage, and that has only 72mg of caffeine.

I might have to drive to Texas and get me some (it’s not nationally available yet).

Allison asked me on the show what regional drinks I missed from the East Coast? Saranac Root Beer. Made by Saranac Brewery in upstate NY. They micro brew this amazing root beer. If you ever have the chance to try it, do!

I think we survived Thanksgiving. 2 meals, turkey, ham, rolls, wine, beer, pies, cookies…good god there was an ass load of food. We started the day out at the country and ended it back here for a nice quiet evening of Chiefs football and, you guessed it, more food.

I let the wife have the day after off to spend with a friend. Black Friday.

Kids and I went to the gym, then to drive way too fast on twisty roads, then to the park, then to the lake, then back home for leftovers. Because I had them in the 911, I had to take a bunch of photos (see, I am that kind of dork), so I’ll post them to my 89c4.com site later this weekend.