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(click the picture above for the high definition video - but also click YouTube for me!)
 
8:32 PM, Sunday, November 30th, 2008:
 
No better way to end the month than with "Randoms". Thank you to Pat for inspiring this with a phone call this morning leading to my first random.
 
1) Double Sonic Boom
 

"Wanna go see the space shuttle land?" Oh hell yeah I do... I think. It sounds amazing doesn't it? Then, if you recall from TV, they land like planes. So suddenly a 4 hour roundtrip seemed kinda overkill to watch essentially a plane land... but there's adventure in it. Paddy said however that he was able to hear them from LA sometimes 'cause they make a sonic boom - so it ought to be very intense right there...

 
 
 
...yeah, it was. It's pretty much what it must feel like to be shot. And from my camera work you can see that I was indeed caught off-guard. Cool video, the people around the base reminded me of the scary parts of Ohio. Heh. I'm pretty certain we passed 4 meth labs on our way there. Good times. :-)
 

Pat got some cool pics. I guess... I don't mean to be an ass, like the sonic booms were cool - but maybe I'm too used to seeing FANTASTIC things. I mean, it's cool 'cause that thing right there - that was in SPACE like 2 minutes before this... uhm - WOW. Yeah... just WOOOOOWWWW. It was fun going. And you all get this randomly (somewhat mentally disabled) picture of Adam talking to Paddy:

 
Funny how depending on when you freeze life, sometimes you're Corky.
 
2) We're City Slickers
So apparently the trip to see Obama on the first of this month has turned into my friends and I trying to find things to do in California that we'd never do alone... but with a couple buddies seems fun. The winner of course are you guys 'cause we're media fiends that won't to document everything. Paddy wants to ride dune buggys (sp?) I want to jump out of a plane and I'm gonna try and get someone to do the Inauguration trip with me. Running with the bulls can't be too far away. Is this what you do when you hit your 30s?
 
3) Inaugurinsane
On the Inauguration, get a load of what I'm planning on doing. I'm considering flying in the monday before at night - taking a cab as close as I can, and just standing/sitting/camping out there until noon the following day (I'm sure I won't be the only one doing this) and then after the inauguration taking another cab back to the airport and flying home. I could do the whole thing for under $300. If I can find someone who'd do it with me I'd certainly go but may attempt it solo as well. It's gonna be freaking cold though... feel free to write me and egg me on. :-)
 
4) Oh My Gas
$1.85 here and we're almost always 40 cents higher than back east. What the fuck. Need I remind you...
 
 
I actually ended up paying $4.59 for regular at one point in May so this is actually lower than it got - so $1.85 is starting to feel like the twilight zone. Unfortunately however it means the worldwide economy is in fucking FREEfall. This is like being happy you have firewood after your house burned down. Even if you REALLY needed firewood - this isn't good. It's gonna bite us all fairly soon.
 
5) Once Biten
And literally the day that occured to me, I was told they were cutting my hours at work. (sigh). So it looks like by the start of the new year I will need to find new employment. :-( Too bad, I like the place but the only way I could give them such a cheap hourly rate was because of a 40 hour work week - c'est la vie. Nothin' to be bummed about really, it's always good motivation to keep moving.
 
6) Good Charlotte
That sounds like a dog command. LOL. Not meant to be Charlotte, was just the only positive thing I could think that would go with your name. So I had dinner with Charlotte last week (old manager for the newcomers) and it was... wonderful. I'm not sure why it is so necessary for me to find common ground with literally every person I ever meet, but it is. And she cares enough about me that it is for her as well. However, as you know, there's a giant pink elephant in the room because of our professional history and for most people it would be too much. I threw her a lob in May, she returned it a couple months later and we were finally able to meet again. We talked long enough to piss off the wait staff and will do it again soon I'm sure. And this time it wasn't Shia LeBoeuf she spotted but Perry Farrell. She's good at that. :-) Anyway, the elephant will get smaller as time passes and we'll be able to enjoy the aspect of our relationship that we always enjoyed which is simply intelligent conversation.
 
7) In All my Years
 
 
 
Speaking of wait staff. So the waiter brings the bill and he has 3 completely different items on the bill that were roughly the same price and then hands me a $5 bill and says - "this will make it even" and walks away. I looked at Charlotte and started laughing. We look at the bill and are completely confused - but it seemed about right. Waiter was probably in his 70s so it didn't completely seem like a scam, just ineptitude. Then after he runs the card the total is $17 cheaper than what we had originally? But not itemized so it could be a completely different bill? Scruples time 'cause after the shadiness of it all, the temptation to sign and go is great but we both finally agreed we had to say something. Then we get the bill back again - and it's now $4 more than the first time. ($50 then $33 then $54). What the fuck? In my entire life I've never seen a more screwy situation. Oh and I realized I covered just my meal and tip, didn't take into account tax Charlotte. I owe you a buck. :-) Casa Vega - go for the math.
 
8) Lakers will win 70
Speaking of numbers as a Jordan/Bulls fan it pains me to say it - but this year's Laker team is so clearly capable of winning 70 it's almost a foregone conclusion. They were a Finals team last year without Bynum and won nearly 60... I'm tellin' you man, they're gonna make a run for 70 in a big way barring injuries this year. They're so incredibly deep it's almost unfair. The Pau gasol trade was a steal last year and made them seem unfairly stacked but now with Bynum breaking out? This is gonna be a rollllllllllll. Lebron vs. Kobe in the Finals. It's gonna happen.
 
9) NINE TIMES
So I got to hang at Ed Rooney's house yesterday. I don't mean to be disrespectful to a fellow actor by not calling him by his name (Jeffrey Jones), but... OK I have no excuse:
 

I was at Jeffrey Jones' house helping Luara move a couch she bought from him. You may remember Jeffrey for his role as Principal Ed Rooney in Ferris Beuhler's Day Off as well as several films and television shows since. <rolling eyes> I feel like such snob saying it like that. I much more enjoy being the dork that I am and admitting that I was trying desperately to find a way to work "NINE TIMES" into a conversation (like he's never heard THAT before) because HOLY SHIT he was in Ferris Beuhler's Day off.

 
That's the truth of the matter. It's fun to enjoy movie magic. I'd go apeshit if I saw Spencer Highbanks walking down the street. :-)
 
10) Inside and Outside the Beltway
Laura's nephew Joe (the 15 year old who is younger than my Ireland shirt), is an actor/singer/entertainer and is certainly surrounded by a family in the business who support him and want him to succeed. It is a freedom I've never known and a real eye-opener seeing life through his eyes for a bit as people were talking around him. It's everything I've never had... but the true ability to empathize is understanding that his situation has it's own pressures. It's taken me every moment of the past ten years to even meet someone as generous and connected as Laura - but in that time I've grown into someone I could never have been had I had all that at his age. He has all the support and connections he'll ever need for his talent... but he also has expectations I never had. I did the unexpected from a place of angst and knowing I was meant to do more... if he does the same - that means NOT being the actor/singer/entertainer... it's fascinating isn't it? It's never black and white. I can say that I could be so far ahead had I just had some help as a teenager but what's evolved is a hunger that could only come from that ache of desperation. It remains to be shown if all that that ache created will pay off...
 
11) 360 Degrees
And we're closer than EVER to finding out. Whew. The blacked out entry this month has the potential to absolutely blow this year UP. It's because of that I can't even show the title or video. However it's a Laura contact that I will know more about in the next couple of weeks and there's a possibility that by year's end my career will be further ahead than ever before. And really, as the guy put it - it's just help. To quote: "Look what you've done by yourself, imagine if you had help". What a wondrous thing to hear and if he can get his partners to agree the stars will be aligning. Finally. Seriously. Officially. Here's to December.
 
12) Murphy was Sleeping

Speaking of 360 (oh, that was just the title of the last one, which will make no sense right now - ugh, nevermind) Two weeks before the extended three year warranty on my Xbox 360 was set to expire - I got the three red lights of death!!! How freaking lucky is that!!! They repaired it free of charge. After the 22nd it would've cost me $140. I'm not sure whether to be happy about this, or sad that my year's alottment of luck seems to have been wasted on a videogame console. LMAO. Seriously, there was a dust blob in my projector, they sent me a new unit and the focus ring didn't work on it. <rolling eyes> Sure seems like something they would check before sending it out don't you think? They finally sent me one that worked. Believe me - if there's bad customer service experience to be had, I will find it. :-)

13) Pragbama
If you were concerned about Obama before, this month has to have eased your fears a little. As a moderate I have to say I'm super-pleased with his careful selection of cabinet positions and uncanny understanding of what's necessary at these times. And I'm so glad he finally told everyone: "I would never be so stupid as to fill my cabinet with people that know nothing about how to get things done in Washington, the 'change' comes from me." He could still end up being a fuck-up like Carter, but at this point I'm far beyond hoping "my guy" does well. I'm praying we made the right choice because we need a leader sooooooooooo bad. Bush is just... it really seems like he just doesn't want the job. And hasn't for the last couple years. It's like that show Donna and I were on earlier this year "Over Your Head". He seems relieved someone who knows what they're doing is finally there so he can pet a turkey and play in the rose garden or some shit. Funny how a president of 8 years can seem less qualified than a one-term Senator. Leadership skills are extraordinary things aren't they?
 
14) Stryker's Subpoena
A couple years ago I did a parody entry/video on a Gay Pornstar named Jeff Stryker. He was in the midst of suing Kulak's Woodshed (where I performed in September) for a zoning variance and it's an ongoing suit/hearing/variance issue for the past 4 years believe it or not. Anyway, Jeff (real name Charles Peyton) proceeded to harass me, threaten me, harass my family (even writing to the staff at my father's CHURCH) because I made fun of his action figure with working genitalia. That and his song "Pop you in the Pooper". Actually, fuck this entry - read that one. It's one of the funniest Journey Entries of all-time. There's a trial on the 10th and I'm testifying on behalf of Kulak's woodshed - simply giving an account of his "cyber terrorism" as they now call it. Thankfully, I made public record of every email and I can use his own words against him. Apparently he's done this to several people and they're scared of testifying against him. I'm not in the least. Seriously:
 
 
I'm not running from that. Goddamn that's funny. How can you not have a sense of humor when you release this mp3 as a single?
 
15) TTOTHED
So Tara didn't get one of the 2 coveted spots on SNL, but they sent another head writer out the week later to see her perform. They're looking for writers for the spring. As I mentioned in last month's entry every single thing that happens from the audition is a positive even if it isn't immediately known. We're gonna do a "Combo Entry" firt thing next year giving you a more detailed update (her description of the audition is PRICELESS) and there will be more from Tara DeFrancisco. No doubt...
 
...btw (T to the D).
 
Alright - 15 Randoms. Giddy-up. Only one more month to go in probably the hardest of my life. Those even years sure know how to kick my ass.
 
Adam