The next stop will be...

Funny Flashback

thenextstopwillbe — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:05:38 +0000

Yesterday’s post reminded me of a joke that my Dad’s been telling for as long as I can remember. It goes like this:

Last night I had a dream that I swallowed a giant marshmallow. I woke up this morning and my pillow was gone.

Dream Theory

thenextstopwillbe — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:32:02 +0000

I rarely remember my dreams and I have a theory as to why that is. I suspect it’s because I don’t use an alarm clock so my natural sleep patterns aren’t interrupted.

While that might explain my lack of dream memory, it doesn’t answer the question of why I wake up with music in my head. I guess that’s a problem for another day.

How Do You Define Genius?

thenextstopwillbe — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:45:55 +0000

This scene from The Hudsucker Proxy by Joel and Ethan Coen does it for me. Roger Deakins, their director of photography, should have received an Academy Award for the sheer beauty and exuberance of it. I love how the young boy is tapping his foot in time to the hoop and the slo-mo section just blows my mind. The whole movie is brilliant but this scene is one of my all time favorite pieces of film.

Me Want Read

thenextstopwillbe — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:12:11 +0000

My desire to read comes in waves. I’ll read a bunch of stuff then I kinda drop off and not read so much. I’m in a bit of a pickle though cause I’m at the crest of a reading wave and I got nothing on the bookshelves that interests me. I like fiction and non-fiction so if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

While I’m on the topic of media, here’s a couple of music tracks that are rocking the h*ll out of my iPod.

The Presets - My People
Modern goth new-wave along the lines of The Faint.

Eels - Get Ur Freak On
Indie rock take on Missy Elliott’s hit

Ps. For a variety of reasons, I haven’t been on the bike much lately and I think that has contributed to the dearth of posts. Biking really gets the creative juices flowing and without it, me no so creative.

Not Bragging, Just Saying

thenextstopwillbe — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:19:27 +0000

I got a shock this morning from the old mainframe in the attic. I had to check out a website at work that I haven’t visited in over a year and somehow my brain managed to recall both the username and password. How the h*ll did that happen?

It wouldn’t have been a big deal except it’s not even my username/password. It’s one we share at work so there’s nothing in the login related to me. I can’t remember people’s name five minutes after I meet them but apparently usernames and passwords are not a problem. Maybe I should start asking people for that information when I meet them instead of their name.

The Leaning Tower of Niles?

thenextstopwillbe — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:39:38 +0000

One of the treats from my recent trip to Chicago was a visit to the Leaning Tower of… Wait for it… Niles, Illinois! It’s true. There’s a half-scale replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in a small city just outside Chicago. But the story gets better.

Behold The Leaning Tower of Niles in its smaller but just as slanty glory.

Oh the half-scale majesty!

Even the Telefono booth gets in on the slanty fun. But the best part is yet to come.

Yup, it’s the Leaning Tower YMCA. It was built well after the tower replica but come on, how can you not love the fact that there’s a Leaning Tower YMCA?

Fortunately for its residents, it’s not slanty.

Morning Song Returns

thenextstopwillbe — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:30:05 +0000

I stopped posting the songs that were in my head upon waking because they invariably became songs that I’d heard the day before once I started noticing them. It was like Schrödinger’s cat applied to music which says that the mere act of observing an experiment changes its state. Morning songs used to be totally random in the sense that I had no idea why they popped into my head until I started tracking them then they became just memories from the day before.

I decided to post today’s Morning Song because it was a return to form. I haven’t heard this song in forever and I wasn’t even quite sure what it was when I woke up. Just a little loop playing in my head that required a bit of investigation to determine who’s work it was. The lyric, track, and video are below. I leave it to you to ponder why it was in my head this morning cause I sure don’t know why it was there.

Pretty sirens don’t go flat
It’s not supposed to happen like that
Not like that
Not like that

We’ve got to keep our little click clicking at 130 BPM
It’s not too slow

Suffer for Fashion by Of Montreal
It’s from their very excellent album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer.

High Hopes and Then Not So Much

thenextstopwillbe — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:35:43 +0000

So I was all primed to write a post this morning, riding my occasional high of exercise and caffeine but then a terrible thing happened. I got busy at work. Huh?!?! It’s true!

My busy’ness then proceeded to consume all of my morning and most of the afternoon. The result? Now I’m out of steam, dead sleepy actually and I still gotta bike home. Oh well, perhaps I can get the proverbial creative juices flowing tomorrow and come up with some creative content for your pleasure. On the plus side, I did solve a software problem that’s been dogging me since Monday.

OCD Guide to Coffee

thenextstopwillbe — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:12:11 +0000

Sugar must be placed in the mug prior to pouring. Milk or cream, however, goes in after pouring.

I’m sure I have other rules for coffee but that’s all I can think of right now.

Ps. It’s amazing how exercise can stimulate your mind. Or maybe it’s just the caffeine. Either way, it’s all good.

Pardon the Cobwebs (aka Cobby’s)

thenextstopwillbe — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:45:15 +0000

The blog has been a little neglected for the past week or so. The big news is that *E* closed on her house and bought a car. CRAZY!! We’re both a little overwhelmed by the enormity of it all but we’re working through things a step at a time. I see lots of power tools in our future. Cool.

I’m in the beginning stages of searching for a new apartment, hopefully in the Bronx so it’ll be easier for *E* and I to get back and forth to each house. There’s lots of green space up there plus bike paths that I look forward to exploring. And, according to sources who lived there, everything is cheaper in the Bronx. I like the sound of that!