LeftyBrown's Corner

I never cared much for Everybody Loves Raymond, but man I looooooooove Peter Boyle's Frankenstein. Rest in Peace.

Here's the news.

Posted by Lefty at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Instead of flirting from blog to blog asking questions in the probably overlooked comments areas, I decided I would ask questions of various bloggers here. They can, if they so choose, answer them on their blogs (or in the comments section here) and trackback to this post, thus making us all happy with the page visits which then measure our worth to friends and family...or something like that.

So here are my questions to my various readers/bloggers:

To Gordon D. of Blog This, Pal!:

How long will it be before Cheap Trick shows up in your "Records You Should Own"?
How good is Cheap Trick's new disc?
Is it required that all Chicago-area residents love Cheap Trick (like New Jersians and Springsteen)?
Cheap Trick, the best rock band out of Chicago, or the greatest rock band out of Chicago?

To Roger Green of Ramblin' With Roger:

What is the best concert or festival you've been to in your lifetime?
What music does your daughter enjoy that you are tickled pink that she likes?
I'm formulating my Top Ten Music, what are some ones that might have slipped my eagle-eye gaze?
You have any music that your wife won't let you play when she's around?

To Paul of Paul's Rants & Raves:
What the hell happened to Rod Stewart? It's been what 35 years since he last played great music?
You get to put together the greatest jazz group ever! Living or dead, who would you have in it?
Why do chicks dig Josh Grobin?
Bruce Springsteen & U2, Bruce Springsteen & Neil Young, or Bruce Springsteen & Bob Dylan, which team-up & tour would be the most exciting for you?

To Mike Sterling of Progressive Ruin:
Sure we've all heard the horror stories of comic book retailing, but what would be your "aww shucks" story to warm our hearts and weep manly tears?
Has there been a big event book or series that didn't disappoint and did change the status quo of the characters?
Incredible Hulk versus Swamp Thing, besides the readers, who'd win?
What's your single issue favorite back issue in your collection?

To Elayne of Pen-Elayne on the Web:
What still excites you (other than that talented inker you keep around) about the comic book world?
What issue or issues should the Dems really drive home when they officially take control of Congress next month?
Obama, Hillary, Edwards, Villsack...anyone in that group appeals to you, or there someone else you hope throws their hat into the ring?

Posted by Lefty at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Yeah, I know. Somewhere it's a cardinal sin, one that everyone commits every now and then, so like Luther says, Sin Boldly!:

I have a lot of posts lingering around in my head. I wish we had a home computer again, so I can play around with some of them. Here's what I hope to one day get around to:

+ I have a British mag, Q, which has the 80 Best Records (and singles) of the 80s. I want to list them, and then list my own. (I've been toying with this post for months)

+ I need to post on Gordon D's mix cd project Law & Order. I have several cds to review, but they all take time, and I wanted to have a "very special" post about Eddie Mitchell's discs because he sent me (and the Mrs L.) a bunch of them a couple months ago.

+ I also have begun thinking about my 2006 Top Ten lists for music, movies, TV, etc. I'm reminded that I saw very little movies this year...or at least any real good ones. Man, Fast Food Nation has already blown through Fresno. I think it was being shown for only two weeks and it disappeared the very weekend me and Mrs. L was going to see it.

And someday I need to do a comic blogaround and a political blogaround of various posts. Haven't done that in a loooong while. Geez, maybe Santa needs to bring a PC this Xmas, because with me so busy at work, I have no idea when I'll get around to posting about all these.

Anyway, speaking of work...back to it for me!

Posted by Lefty at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I am going to be a little scatter-shot in today's post, rambling from one topic to another, so bear with me:

+ Our religious university is observing World AIDS Day for, I believe, the first time. I am very happy that it seems that rational Christians are finally understanding that this is a disease that we can not stand idly by and watch decimate nations. At the same time, I could never understand why my fellow Christians are often the last ones to lend a hand, when by our very Christ-like nature we should be the first on the scene. It's a downright sin, and one that, we, the church, must confess and ask forgiveness for. I often wonder how our Christian leaders would respond to an in-the-flesh Jesus who served the poor, dined with prostitutes and hung out with a motley crew of disciples. Anyway, I for one, on World AIDS Day will be taking time out to reflect on what I can do to help.

+ I finally read the latest issue of Amazing Spider-man #536. The artist Ron Garney occasionally checks the blog after I gave a bad review of an earlier issue. In a subsequent issue I had thought he had done a bang-up job. Well, I'm happy to report this issue holds up art-wise as well. The latest issue features the MOAB between former comrade-in-arms Iron Man and Spider-man. The action flowed well and I liked Garney interpretation of the script in certain spots. In particular I liked his direction when Spider-man makes an unannounced stop at a television newscast. I have to admit, JM.S. has gotten some knocks on his Amazing run in recent years (some of it deserved, IMHO), but the past few issues are going to be well-remembered in the Spidey fan mythos.

+ I've been in a funk as of late. I've don't know if it's the season change, stress about money, frustrations with my weight-loss, my annual frustration with the crazy crowds this time of year, or what...but lately I'm been a real son-of-a-bitch, and pretty darn anti-social.

I may have some more stuff on eBay soon, especially comics. I was a bit disappointed with how cheaply the DVDs went for, but comics usually do pretty well. We need the money so the Mrs. Lefty and I can afford to spend some Xmas cheer to relatives. As for her and I, Christmas has always been pretty small for us. I think that's a good thing. Still it would be nice to get a new computer or laptop. When I get stuff up on EBay, I'll be sure to shill it here on the blog.

As I head down to the final few weeks of 2006, I am nowhere where I had hoped to be in my weight loss. Admittedly I think the goals I set for myself were too high, and I did have periods of bad eating. However I've been fluctuating at the 336-344 range for over 6 months now. 338 would signal that I've lost 50 lbs, and right now that is my new goal to end the year. I originally had hoped to end the year at 300 lbs, so I'm depressed knowing 2007 I'm still have a long way to go. Still 50 lbs is a great accomplishment.

I do need to reinforce good eating habits. I started the year off so darn good, well into May before some bad habits would occasionally creep up. I need to address those if I'm going to have a lifetime of change. In 2007, I hope to develop of network of other people who want to change, so we can hold each other accountable. Anyone interested?

In any event, I hope I shake off my funk, because I could really use a renewal in my heart, a good ole' Charlie Brown Christmas feeling to rejuvenate me. Maybe the new issue of Nextwave will help me.

Posted by Lefty at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

*if you observe it.

There will be very little posting from me the next few days. I'm at home taking care of the pets while Mrs. Lefty is visiting her family. It's like 1993 here trying to post on a broken laptop running in safe mode, witht he screen slowly rolling like it's running Mosiac over a telephone line, so the posting between now and Monday may be sporadic.

Tomorrow I'll be having Marie Callender's crock pot stew, playing some Xbox 360, and doing some house work. Still I am thankful.

I'll be back on Monday for sure (if not before)

Posted by Lefty at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have plenty of work to do today before I set out on my Thanksgiving break, so posting will be infrequent and light.

Saturday the day I thought would never come but did! Our new washer arrived! Our domestic bliss ensues, and this blogger is now swamped with clothes hanging and folding chores (it's weird but every single time I fold and hang clothes I end up watching an episode of Smallville as I do it, go figure).

Saturday was a very cool day. My wife and I had some fun in the morning, and then the rest of the day we had an otherwise mundane day together that just about moved me to tears. As you know my wife is in chronic pain, so usually when she's not working she's at home resting trying to feel some if any relief. So a lot of the day to day chores get left to yours truly. So it was moving for me to spend time shopping with my lovely wife. We went to Barnes & Noble so that she could use a gift card I had gotten her ages ago, so she would have plenty of holiday reading. Of course, getting me in a Barnes & Noble always means my pocketbook is gonna take a hit, so not only did we walk out of the store with books for Mrs. Lefty, I also took the plunge and on the advice of a couple of my musical gurus, picked up Elvis Costello's My Aim is True and Armed Forces. At least I had a pretty nice coupon to help soften the blow to the finances. We then did some household shopping to do at Target where I picked up Beck's latest disc (more about that later).

On our way home, I wondered aloud about how much discounts are at Tower Records were, and much to my disbelief the Missus actually suggested I stop and look around. She loathes me stepping into Tower because time stops and drags forever for her when I'm at Tower Records...she definitely won't be said when they finally do shut their doors forever. Anyway, the box sets I had hoped to one day pick up were already gone, but I did end up picking up the "never on sale" latest Elvis Costello (and Allen Toussaint) disc The River in Reverse that I long had my eyes on at 40% off no less.

So later on Saturday night I felt like a third grader. Beck's new album has virtually blank front and back liners, and comes with a nice sheet of stickers to decorate the album with. So as I listened to the new album, I got my arts & crafts on, and created my new Beck CD. I'll have to get someone to scan it in for me so I can post it here. I think it turned out very well, and quite frankly I had a blast indulging my inner-child. That alone was worth the $15 CD (but the album itself is quite good).

Anyway, Sunday was spent more or less relaxing, but I did get out with my best friend to check out the new Bond film, which I loved. Quite honestly it's one of my favorite Bond flicks, which in the past few years have become so over-the-top that I've lost interest in them. This new one had my full attention, and loved virtually every minute of it.

Posted by Lefty at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Help! I've forgotten who I lent my Seasons 1 and 2 of Arrested Development to. If one of my circle of friends has these, please drop me a line. I have Season 3, but I want to re-watch the entire series from the beginning.

Posted by Lefty at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It's always something. I am now getting sporadic problems logging into my site, and evidently some folks are having occasional problems posting comments on my site. When I can't login to my site I get this message:

Got an error: Missing configuration file. Maybe you forgot to move mt-config.cgi-original to mt-config.cgi?

Anyone happen to know what's going on, so I can correct it? I suspect that it has to do with my hosting company. Oh, and this problem comes and goes without rhyme or reason.

Help.

Posted by Lefty at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I mentioned earlier that I hope to be playing Gears of War tonight (but I somehow think that won't happen until tomorrow), I just want to opine on the 360 for a little bit.

In yesterday's news came word that on Nov. 22nd, I'll be able to download TV shows and some movies on my 360. I really do enjoy how much my Xbox is becoming a media center. But I'm going to put together a wish list for the 360:

Microsoft NEEDS to release larger hard drives...pronto. I need a 200gig hard drive, AND the ability to use my Xbox like a Tivo. You want to have an iPod killer? Pair up a Tivo-like Xbox 360 with a Zune, with the ability to move shows you record to your portable device. I'll be first in line to pick up a Zune then.

My Xbox 360 also needs an Internet browser. Microsoft has said they are now aiming for the casual gamers, just think if you could buy a device that you could occasionally game, surf the 'net, and video chat or share photos with. Sure, the browser would probably be IE, but it's still a significant step in the right direction.

Other small ideas are having Xbox 360s in different colors, having bluetooth, and an internal wi-fi card.

Posted by Lefty at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I got a little of this and a little of that to talk about this morning, so bear with me.

+ I got my little "I Voted" sticker this morning. Collect Them All. Things don't look good for our Democratic nominee for Governor, and I wonder how much it'll affect my Democratic challenger to my Republican Representative congressman (and Bush-yes man) Georgie Randovich. T.J. Cox is my districts first "real" challenger in some time, so I would love to see great results. I also voted for my first Hmong candidate this morning. He's running for city council in a race that's been refreshing free from mud-slinging. If only all elections could be run in the same fashion.

So I have Air America running all day at work, and I'm eagerly awaiting a great evening. I'll be distracted a little bit by the release of a new Xbox 360, Gears of War which aims to replace Halo as the game to play on Xbox. But I'm an excellent multi-tasker.

+ As I've stated before, I've been in a punk rock mood as of late. So on Saturday I picked up the fantastic Tori Amos Rhino box set called "A Piano". Yes, I know Tori isn't "punk rock' musically, but she is soooo "punk rock" in attitude. Once again, I wish Rhino had a subscription service where once a quarter for a nominal fee you would get a new box set. They do great work.

+ Update on my laptop problems: I reloaded/repaired windowsXP and that seems to have worked, but now I'm unable to connect to our router. The laptop won't even pick up/find our IP and DNS settings. It's a bit frustrating, so if anyone can give me a bit of email or comment help please do.

+ Wrapped up two different "insider" Allman Brothers books. The Willie Perkins book was perfunctory and a really fast read. The Red Dog book was just downright horrible. It was more concerned with giving shout-out to former groupies and lays than it was to anything about the Allman Brothers. This is too bad, because I’ve met Red Dog several times, and he is a pretty nice guy and has been with the Bros. since the beginning.

+ Not that I'm a huge sport nut or anything, but I think my favorite teams in the NFL, college football, and baseball have really gone out of their way to kill my interest in their seasons. The Niners & the Raiders, the Fresno State Bulldogs, and the SF Giants all have had or are having really crappy seasons. Time to start hoping in the LA Galaxy's next season.

+ Go vote.

+ More later....

Posted by Lefty at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well it looks like my hoisting service resolved their hiccup and things are working like normal. I went back and deleted people duplicate posts, and took care of yesterday's Top Ten screw-up.

Now if only fixing my laptop was as easy. I still need help getting that back in order.

Later on today the first of many Gordon D.'s Law & Order mix reviews, starting with the man, the legend, the musical guru Gordon D.

Keep tuned...

Posted by Lefty at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Um, something is seriously wrong with my Dell laptop. On Sunday I started to have problems with it. Ther screen gets all pixelated and then the mouse stops working, and then I get the blue screen of death. I can run the laptop in Safe Mode, and I've defreggad the hard drive, run the virus scan, the Microsoft Defender, and rolled back my laptop to an earlier date. However I'm still having the problem. I'm now at a place where it's beyond my grasp of what to do. Could it be a Windows script that's gone bad? Is it some bad .dlls? Is it my laptop graphics card thats going? I haven't loaded any new hardware, and I don't visit sites that may make me vunerable to picking up malware or bugs. Anyone out there have a clue?

Help!

Posted by Lefty at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

With all these blogging anniversaries going on as of late, I suddenly remembered that I should be celebrating one. After some digging I discovered that I know have been blogging for 3 years! To see my first month of posts, go here. Now my blog has been mangled all to bits. Sometime in Feb of ths year someone stole my original site at the original Leftybrown's Corner so I moved to another Leftybrown's Corner, but wasn't able to retrieve my posts. That frustration, coupled with wanted to not have to deal with being "bloggered" (those on blogger know exactly what I'm talking about), I opened my own website here at Leftybrown.com with the help of a fellow blogger named Guy.

So I have plans, eventually to repost all my posts here, even if it means cutting and past every single one. I hope to be finished with that huge undertaking in time for my fourth anniversary.

So here's to 3 years, and if you're new to the blog, here's what I said in my first ever post 3 years ago:

Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Well... howdy, welcome, and felicitations. Starting is always the hardest part, so I might as well jump in. My name is Chris "Lefty" Brown. I'm 30-something, married, overweight, liberal, Christian, and have a myriad of different hobbies and interests.

I'm still 30-something, for now. I'm a little less overweight with a lot to go, and everything else still applies.

Posted by Lefty at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I think I mentioned that I had a personal treatise in the works, it's nothing spectacular. I think the word treatise gives it a little more grandeur, I think realization is more apt. Anyway, I digress...

I'm a bit weird. I'm all over the map in a lot of areas in my life. Here's just a few:

+ I'm a pacfiist but I do enjoy playing first-person shooters videogames, recognizing the difference between "reality" and a fictional life.

+ I receive life-changing spiritual insight from the Bible, Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov, or a book of interviews with Bono.

+ I like Rock, Country, Classical, Reggae, Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, Bluegrass, Indian, Disco, Pop, Alternative, Grunge, Showtunes, Heavy Metal, Dance music...all to various degrees.

+ I have sporatic doubts on the nature of faith, the existence of God, the existance of miracles, and whether justice and mercy will ever prevail over the evils of this world (and George W. Bush). And I also think this is normal and keeps me always questioning.

+ I alternate between being a pack-rat and being free of most possessions...which often results in me buying some things multiple times in my life (don't even get me started in some of the great music I tossed out when I first 'got the fever' for Jesus).

+ I rather have great friends and a woman that I can trust & love than to have everything I ever wanted.

+ My friends think I'm joking that when I die I want to either be cremated like Gram Parsons or buried like Edward Abbey. Either way requires my body being absconded from the "authorities". Gram's body was then torched in Joshua Tree. Abbey's body was buried in the Utah desert...somewhere. My lifeless body is so down with either of those...maybe I should have that in a living will or something.

+ I read King Lear every ten years just to see if I approach the text differently as I age.

+ There is the very real possiblilty that my wife and I will never have a child. I mourn that emptiness like a death in the family.

+ I worry that my wife will never get better, and I get scared and mad that I immediately think of our sex life before I think about how much she needs me.

That's all for now.

Posted by Lefty at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm back from a long weekend, but I'm catching up at work. So quickly:

+ Gov't Mule concert was fantastic!

+ My wife's "Doctor's appt" in S.F. was only mildly useful, but cost us a lot of money just to get a "real" appointment. If we count dog boarding, food costs, and gas it cost us around $225 just to sit in a room with other folks for the 'privledge' of scheduling an appointment at her next open date...in January! Ahh, HMO how I love thee!

+ I have earned Roger Green's ire for not posting last Friday, and I think Tosy & Cosh and I are going to rumble in the back alley of a stage theatre should we ever meet.

Posted by Lefty at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm on vacation tommorrow, but Mrs Lefty is going to make sure I don't turn into my luddite self, so I'll actually post my 3 Questions and stuff tomorrow. Until then, a Jack O'Lantern eats a cat. Enjoy!

Posted by Lefty at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Just wanted to let y'all know that this will be a light week from me as posting goes. Things to look forward to sporadically this week:

+ Gordon D's mix CD "contest" (where everybody wins!) reviews in which I tear Tosy & Cosh a new one, and I watch the empty mail slot for Roger's mix.

+ Wednesday's Weekly Top Ten. Here's a hint, Solomon Burke goes country (and makes one of this year's best albums).

+ Black Crowes concert on Wednesday and Gov't Mule concert on Saturday...so expect a Top Ten or a peek at the concert game my friends and I play.

+ Friday 3 Questions which I hereby invite you readers to submit your questions, and I pick three of them to answer. Make them good! Just post your questions in the comments section.

+ And possibly a post on the sad death of Tower Records gone the way of Montgomery Wards...I mean the Dodo.

Until then here's a pick of me with a bra on my head*:

*Wow, I really HAVE lost weight, my face is really not as puffy as it is there. That pic was taken last December if believe.

Update: Forgot to mention that I was just joking about tearing Tosy & Cosh a new one. He ripped apart my mix, and thus began my pseudo-spat with the decadent, latte-sipping, theatre loving goofball.

Posted by Lefty at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Every know and then my wife posts her strange thoughts, but I've been known to have some of my own from time to time. Here's what strange subjects I've been thinking about lately:

When's the last time you did a cartwheel?

I used to love to do cartwheels, round-offs, and handsprings. At one point in my youth I even had semi-mastery of the back handspring. Throwing my body into those motions nowadays just scares the bejeebus out of me.

Are there cities or towns in America that doesn't have a police force?

If Jesus DID change the water into wine, was it any good?

I bet it was a little watered down. It was probably to early to have Merlots, Shiraz, or Cabernets...but even Jesus wouldn't let his guests drink Merlot.

I'm not disputing evolution, but in the measurable history of Homo Sapiens has there been any known evolution in our species? I'm not talking moving from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens, I'm talking from Homo Sapiens to Homo "X"?

That last one may be a little confusing I admit.

And speaking of human history...when did music first exist?

Posted by Lefty at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Although it has steered me wrong before, it's time to peer once again into my crystal ball and predict the future. This time I've upgraded to Crystal Ball 3.0:

On this Friday or next Friday, Dennis Hastert will step down as House leader. He'll go on to lose his reelection next time it comes up, only to find a new career as spokesman for Subway sandwiches after losing 100 lbs.

Um, crystal ball are you sure about that last part?

Trust me.

Ok, what's next....

The G.O.P will no longer be known as the "Party of Lincoln" because of the rumors that Lincoln may have been gay. They'll then come out with a new Contract with America promising to keep our under-age kids safe from harm, unless they enlist in the U.S. Army...then all bets are off!

True that! What else?

World Series, the A's will take on the Mets, and will bring the trophy back to the Bay Area. Thus making most of California temporarily forget that all our football teams suck hard this year.

Ummm, yay? Anything else?

Mark Waid will secretly write in Mike Sterling into an issue of Legion of Superheroes as Swamp Thing makes an semi-off panel save of the said comic blogger from Time Trapper. Swamp Thing then time travels to the past and betrays Jesus three times, causing Rick Veitch's head to explode. I Am Chalk

huh? Okay we got time for one more.

On the day before he is indicted for his crimes, Grover Norquist will mysteriously drown in his own bathtub. The liberal blogs will crack in half over the irony.

Posted by Lefty at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I have a bunch of DVDs and an Xbox 360 game for sale on eBay. Soon (mostly this weekend) I will be adding other items like lots of comic books (single issues, sets, TPBs), maybe some music, and possibly some other things.

Check out what I have for sale here.

As always, if you win an auction and mention the blog, I'll cut you a deal on shipping.

So buy, buy ,buy...papa needs a new washing machine (possibly...depends what the serviceperson says how much it'll cost to repair our current one).

Posted by Lefty at 08:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

+ The wife and I watched the first episode of The Amazing Race this weekend. By the end of the episode the Muslim and the Hindu teams were eliminated. My immediately reaction was "that's too bad, because I would liked to see how that would have played out as the race got more intense"...but the sarcastic side of me then thought: "Well that's two less Gods to thank by the end fo the race." Um, I have no favorites yet in the race.

+ I am re-reading issues 1-20 of 52 the comic. For the most part I'm really enjoying the series, but I some of the way Renee Montoya is writtern just comes off as waaaaay cliche. Then I remember that it is a comic book. And then I remember that Grant Morrison is writing bits of it, so does that make it a magical document? Um, but how can it be if it has Lobo in it? Anyway, so far in my re-read I haven't picked up on any more clues, and I'm still clueless as to who Supernova is, which is different fromthe rock band Supernova who sued the other rock band Supernova, who had to change their name recently to Rock Star Supernova whose lead singer is not Conner who is not Supernova...which gets me not even close to Kevin Bacon.

+ New Scissor Sisters disc comes out on Tuesday! Yeah it's about damn time! Loved the first disc, but from I've heard this new disc is going to be ten times better. Unfortunately I have to wait until Friday to pick it up.

+ Enjoyed the first episode of Smith, but I couldn't help wondering how long it'll take before some "Parent's Group" cries out that our children are no longer safe again, because in the pilot I distinctly say a dancer's nipples in one scence. Oh the horror! The Horror! Still the episode was quite good...not "The Shield" awesome but very watchable.

+ I think I was the only comic blogger that actually enjoyed Civil War #4. I rather like the idea of toying around with cloned superheroes being "protectors". It's very Terminator-ish (or is that Terminator-esque?). It's be fun when the "heroes" have to reap what they've sown. But yeah, I do agree that some of the characters where written a little out of character, and the death of the "major character" was anything but major (at least it wasn't another gay character...but then again there's aren't many running around in the Marvel U. nowadays is there).

+ Heroes starts tonight. I'll probably get around this weekend to watching it, but it definately looks up interesting.

+ In the real world, a new report says that since the war in Iraq the threat of terrorism has increased for the U.S. Way to spread freedom and democracy there Bushy!

Posted by Lefty at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So after work on Friday I cruised to my local Borders to hear B-movie actor, Bruce Campbell and to get a few Bruce Campbell related materials signed. Bruce came out and answered questions to the packed house for about a half hour. It's questions he gets all the time, but just for the record: Freddy vs Jason vs Ash is NOT going to happen; Evil Dead 4 is not going to happen...for a long time; and yes Bruce is in Spider-man 3...but he can't talk about it.

After the Q&A, I went to get in line to get my books signed, and I waited tofor 2 and a half hours. Now don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not a FAN of Bruce Campbell. I mean I like his works, and I loved his latest book, How to Make Love!* *The Bruce Campbell Way. It's just that I don't jump on fan bandwagons that much, including Bruce's. So why did I end up standing in line for so long? So that I could take a pic, and get a book signed to put up on my blog. That's right, I did it for YOU.

I have a signed copy of Bruce's first book, If Chins Could Kill to give away. It is signed "Stay Groovy" and has Bruce's John Hancock. Here's the contest, it's called What's Dorian Thinking? Provide a clever and witty doctored photo of these lovable miscreants detailing what Dorian is thinking*:

That's Mike Sterling on the left and Dorian Wright on the right. Email me your pics or provide me a link to you blog with your entry. I'll pick the winner on October 1st.

*Feel free to also show what Mike Sterling is thinking, but it's probably about Swamp Thing, Chalk, or that Glow-in-the Dark Ghost Rider cover he had slabbed.

Posted by Lefty at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ummm, I don't know how I did it, but I fixed my problem with those mysterious "/" popping up all over the place. It had to do with archiving statically versus dynamic or something. I'm not quite sure, but now my site works somewhat close to how I want it to. Yay!

(Now if only I can understand JUST what I did, not to mention have the talent to mess with my site to have a picture banner and what-not)

Posted by Lefty at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This Friday author and actor, Bruce Campbell, is coming to Fresno for a signing. I already have my book and my copy of Bubby Ho-Tep ready for the signing.

Also I found out today that next March author and "adventure chef" Anthony Bourdain will be in town for a speaking engagement with the San Joaquin Town Hall Lectures.

I hope to be at both these events...just to make these two jealous.

Posted by Lefty at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing with the Linkmaster 3000:

Politics

Mustang Bobby writes about how the military rather have hate groups, high school dropouts, and felons in their ranks rather than gays & lesbians.

Steve Bates posts on how the California Democrats were able to muster their resources to "crack" the code and download Gov. Swazzerwnfkjeyha...um Govenator's website.

Left is Right highlights a report that makes me dubious of Democrats winning back the House or the Senate this fall. You can't win when the game is fixed.

Firedoglake talks about "doing lunch" with a former President.

Echidne of the Snakes has a great post on impeachment.

Corrente gives us a little Deja Vu.

Other Links

Gustav's Groupie has some pics of one of our two library desks, that we've now been waiting two weeks for I.T. to comes in and get out circ terminals set up. Adam does great work, and we are all pretty happy.

Tosy & Cosh writes about one of my favorite albums, and my favorite U2 album.

The Newsarama blog reports that J.M.S. is off Fantastic Four. Fantastic Fours fans rejoice. I guess we WON'T see a story about Sue Storm making sweet love to Doctor Doom during her college years, or Red Richards growing spikes out his back.

After years and years, technology has finally gotten to place in which we are now able to find the same number of hot dogs with the same number of hot dog buns. Now The Sock Drawer tackles the next major supermarket crisis.

Eddie-torial Comments is back! And he posts more on his special delivery and on his new cat!

Roger Green posts about who should be able to give blood.

I'm just linking to this guy, because every time you read his blog you make a "Cheater Pants" cry. Plus he has lately risen in my ranks of musical gurus (watch out Roger Green he is closing in on you!).

Friday's 3 Questions coming right after lunch....

Posted by Lefty at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to the Linkmaster 3000, a state of the art linking machine, able to reach across the Internets and check out what others are posting about:

Comics

My vote for "Post of the Week", Thom hands out some advice for comic book artists to gain wider attention to their work....by picking feuds with comic book writers. I think he's onto something here. I also need to remember to move Thom up to my comic blogger list, since he now posts more on comic books than I do!

The talented Tom Spurgeon has the 2006 Ignatz nominees. The awards will be handed out Saturday, October 14th. My money's on Charles Burns to win for his fantastic Black Hole....um that just sounds sooooooo wrong.

Ray Randell is mad as hell over the last issue of Marvel Team Up and Marvel's treatment of gay characters. He makes an excellent point.

James "Don't Link To Me" Meeley assures us he's no prude...and something about funny books should be for kiddies. C'mon James, have you visited a comic shop, those kiddies are over 30. The kid market is busy playing Nintendo DS.

I hate it when excellent comic bloggers call it quits. Take care Sean Maher, I certainly loved reading your thoughts on a myriad of things. Maybe we'll bump into each other at a future A.P.E.

Serene calls out the comics community to produce to stuff she'll like, because right now she's bored. Better listen to her, she has excellent taste (and a spiffy Scott Pilgrim shirt)!

Collected Editions did the same thing I did when I bought my copy. It was a pretty good trade by the way. You;d think the synergy in marketing would add the 1 Yr Later logo to the book.

Tom Foss pokes fun at James Meeley. (As if he was the ONLY one).

More links (politics, etc) later, I have to reboot the Linkmaster 3000. (Also any spelling errors HAS to be due to the Linkmaster 3000, and not my own inability).

Posted by Lefty at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Just some strange, sometimes stupid things that Lefty has going through his head:

+ Is there REALLY a need for pre-made peanut butter & jelly sandwiches now found in the frozen section of your local supermarket chain?

+ How easy would it be to exert our collective bloggin power (and some comic convention booze) to get Mike Sterling to make an appearance in a Swamp Thing comic book? We must work on this.

+ Next time you pass by someone and they give you that little head-bob acknowledgment....just stick your tongue out at them. Do that all day and see what happens.

+ Whatever happened to Christian music artist and autuer Steve Taylor?

+ Should I go see Audra MacDonald perform here in Fresno just because Tosy & Cosh loves her and now has me intrigued?

+ Is it really new TV season already? Man I'm so not ready to watch any new TV shows, let alone set the HDD up to record 'em.

+ Roger Green named checked Moby the other day. Sometimes Roger just blows my mind with his musical knowledge. Next he'll be posting about obscure Qwalli musicians and my mind will explode.

+ Comic book team-ups I, and probably only me, would want to see: Silver Surfer and Deadpool, Power Pack and the Teen Titans, Cloak & Dagger and Hawk & Dove, Detective Chimp and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

+ Can I go a whole year without driving in a car, using only public transportation or a bike?

+ Somewhere out there in the world is probably a group of people who are hopeless devoted to every minutae of the band T'Pau. Thats mostly sad, but juuuuuust a tiny bit cool just for their specialization.

Posted by Lefty at 07:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

"What are you doing, Dave?"*

Unbeknownst to me, my Xbox 360 went out and got itself a blog.

Seriously.

I don't do any posting to it, but somehow it has gained sentience and has begun keeping tabs on me. It's slightly creepy and strangely fascinating.

Go here to check it out.

And it's sorta a dick!

(* HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey)

Posted by Lefty at 07:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I still haven't figured out why I get "/" appearing on my posts before every comma or quotation mark when you click om my posts. Can someone out there figure it out for me? It's been plaguing me for the past couple of months. Is it something in my CSS? Just click on my comments to see. They even get placed in the comments people leave.

Help!

Posted by Lefty at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife.

This past year and a half has been hard between my wife and me. Not going into specifics, our relationship was pretty shaky for a long time, and sadly I was oblivious to it for years it seems. Anyway, since January she and I have made lots of headway in re-communicating and strengthening our relationship.

However, this past year and a half has been hell, especially for her. Mrs. Lefty is suffering from a mysterious chronic pain in her pelvic area. She’s been getting by on Norcos for the past year, to only minor relief. So we haven't been able to get out and do a lot of things. I used to joke to friends whom I've had occasion to get together with solo, that I've chopped Mrs. Lefty up and she's buried under the house.

Yesterday was a very bad day for her. She couldn't even manage to make it through a full day of work. Getting up yesterday morning, I could just tell just by looking at her that she was at her absolute worst. She was red like a lobster, as if she had a sunburn. She was sweating profusely, and she hadn't been able to get any sleep.

We're with Kaiser, and so far it's been frustration after frustration with trying to come to a diagnosis, and find some course of action. I know we're at our wits end with the HMO. Right now she's being tossed back and forth between two doctors, and neither one seems willing to go the extra mile to try to expedite things to get to the bottom of the mystery. I just want Mrs. Lefty to get some relief. It's hard not being able to do anything for her. If there was a way to take some of the pain upon myself, I would in a heartbeat. For the past five or six years it's been medical problems after medical problems, not to mention it's also disappointing that it looks like we'll never be able to have a child as well.

But I love Mrs. Lefty. Even in these trying days. But I do hope and pray for better days ahead. I'm learning to trust in God. It's not an easy thing for me. I am a child of the practical and miracles and pray are elements of my faith that seem foreign to me. However, if you could keep Mrs. Lefty in your prayers and lift us both up to God, I know we'd both appreciate it (not to mention need it).

Posted by Lefty at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I feel like crap. I feel like I have the flu, but I don't have any fever. My right shoulder feels like I pinched a nerve. My joints ache. I feel like collapsing. Oh, and now my neck aches too.

Still I got lots of work to do in the library. So here I am playing the "Am I sick enough to justify taking a sick day?" game.

So if you don't see a more meaningful post from me today, I'm either in bed recouping or getting a ton of work done because I've gotten a lot better.

Posted by Lefty at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In the event that this was an actual post, I would tell you what Top Ten Things are fascinating me, but right now I have very little time with our library renovations going on, and avoiding thinking I may be working around asbestos and the nauseating smell of carpet glue. I came close to calling Cal/OSHA yesterday.

Look for a real post later this week, probably Friday.

Update: I have to say I am impressed with my employer. After asking our HR about the "A"-word and the tiles the carpet crew was removing, my employer DID do what they should have done and our building got a clean bill of health. I can literally breathe a little bit easier. Nice to see the professionalism involved and making sure our staff and patrons are safe.

Posted by Lefty at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This goes out to some Xbox Live gamers I play with, you all are on notice....and I'm gonna kick yer asses on Xbox Live:

Posted by Lefty at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay click on comments. See how all of a sudden before every character there appears a backslash. The entire page, the Title, the post, the cooments, all have backslashes. How the hell do I get rid of that? Is that in CSS or PHP? What do I do? If someone could let me know how, please do...because it's bugging the heck out of me.

Posted by Lefty at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Real content coming soon, just wanted to let you know the obvious. Best Buy sucks! For about a year now they think I live in Omaha Nebraska. I've called them loads of time to update my info, so I can get those reward zone rebates I should have coming to me. However for the back six to eight months my account has been in processing. So I've know resorted to calling the operators by names I make up, since they evidently dont really care who I am. Hell I can't even cancel this Reward Zone account because it's "in processing" (by the slowest person known to man it seems).

Best Buy sucks. Call them and tell them so. 1-888-BestBuy.

(And I haven't even started talking about their annoying loud speakers that make me scream at them like some weirdo pariah, and other things that make me curse their name)

Posted by Lefty at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I really need to learn CSS. See my right-hand side box fo the blog? How do I mke it bigger so the the LaLa plugin is within the box. I also think I need to expand the main box, because my right-hand box is most likely contained inside the larger middle section. Some help please...for the birthday boy?

Also if one of you technical geniuses also wants to create a graphical header for the blog, that would 'rock my world'. Maybe something that features some comic book character (GL, Flash, etc) or musical god (Duane Allman, Bowie, etc). But that's reaching. Did I mention it's my birthday?

Note to self, pick up the easy CSS book you've been eyeing at Barnes & Noble. You deserve it, it's your birthday.

UPDATE: I removed the Lala Plugin on the side. It was causing problems for IE users.

Posted by Lefty at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's time to play that fun game, You found my blog, how? That's right here's how people reached this blog via their searches (with my own commentary) :

Top 40 of 101 Total Search Strings

1 infinite crisis -They cancelled it, but stayed tuned for the Infinite Victim-Offender Reconciliation miniseries
2 liberal blogs -RRRRRRRRRRRRule!
3 things ive learned -do not let yourself be photographed with a bra on your head
4 anne coulter scientology -um, both are shysters?
5 chris brown -thats me!....but probably not the one you're looking for.

Continue reading "Chris Brown, Yes...but not Chris Brown" »

Posted by Lefty at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sorry about the non-posting as of late. I've been very very busy on a library project. We've had several summer library projects, including a little renovation. Our library is plumb out of room, so we've made the decision to put a few thousand or so volumes into storage (which we are also still looking for). I've ordered 500 boxes, and we'll use them all.

Continue reading "Lefty is a Birthday Busy Bee" »

Posted by Lefty at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Changes are a' coming. I'm starting to get comment spam, so I'm going to make it a tad harder to post.

Posted by Lefty at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)