omw to go get harry potter! i've somehow been able to avoid any spoilers. Even playing wow where ppl give away the ending in general chat. BUT, haven't seen shit yet (have a good guess what happens tho.) So i'll get that shit tonight and knock it out in like 6.5 hours, then I'll dead-lift 300lbs and chug 32 cases of MGD and then go nail some hot sluts to get the stink of NERD off me. Queers.

EDIT: HELLS TO THE NO! I rolled up there at like 11:45 and there was like a million old dudes dressed like Hermione. And then since I didn't actually try to reserve a copy, they said it'd prolly be around 2-2:30AM till I'd be able to get a book. No.

EDIT Part Deux: If I was that kinda guy, I'd a found a pdf version and settled on that. The same kinda guy who read MOST (like 5 books) of the Fire and Ice books in BUSTED, fucked-up, GHETTO MS Word/PDF/Plain txt file versions. All kinds of misspellings included. Let's see what happens to Ha&ry Potttor and the Deadry Horrers...

Wow. Uh, this isn't safe for work (potty mouth words). Someone sent me this link today.. and.. it's just.. wow. Apparently it was originally a commercial aired on BET. Brace yourself. It's like "One to Grow On" but.. gangsta rappified.

Brush yo' Teeth! Brush yo' Teeth! Brush yo' goddammed teeth!

| BR and BB

I took a quick listen to the new BR record on iTunes, and it seems pretty good on its own, but as like most of their later years work it just seems to be less charismatic or dynamic than the old albums. I don't know what it is, but newer punk albums just seem to lack something. Passion maybe? Anger? the DIY aspect? I dunno. I'll still probably buy it if I happen across it at the store.

BB has some really good songs, but like eLzar said, some of the lore is actually bigger than the work itself. HR? Just could never sink my teeth in that. I guess for the same reason I don't really dig Tim Armstrong, to reggae-ish for me. Then again I was not a big Rancid fan either because of his voice.

ConQuest sounds good to me. I think we ought to give it a test this year. I really am interested in what the turnout and the gaming complexion is like.

D>M>

| Tim Armstrong, Life of a Poet

I think is the name of the album. I did the iTunes for it last night, which is funny you brought it up today, but it sounds pretty good. I mean it's rocksteady stuff, which is nice to listen to, but not too close, and her certainly has a huge wang in his mouth, but he actually has a decent voice and hits decent harmonies when he sings (and screams) it is just very subtle.

It seems a little self serving for some reason, but if it was playing in the background as I played some Space Hulk or Tichu, I certainly wouldn't mind! Same feeling about the Bad Brains dub record. And yeah, BB is better in theory and in folklore, HR just kinda sucks singing punk songs. His band HR, was all reggae and yet he still sucked. Just an ugly voice.

| vocals mouth my in dick a got i

me and eric i think still have the worst movie-going XP. Mortal Combat screening! We thought we were gonna get murderlized.

I don't like the new BR (just cuz ryan likes it.) Nah, I got the leak about a month ago, meh. Nothing jumped out at me. I'll listen again to it soon, maybe I'll like it. Bad Brains always seemed like a better idea than when I actually listened to them. Nothing touches Body Count.

Tim Armstrong just put out (or is about to? can't tell with leaks) a dub/ska/rocksteady kinda album. Real old-school sounding reggae/rock-steady music with his "i got a dick in my mouth" vocals on top. Sounds ok, barely listened through it once or twice. Better than that last project he did, forget what those 2 albums were called.

I'm all about the disco/punk music these days. Just about anything on DFA records (LCD Soundsystem being the main group.)

| ConQuest Looks Awesome!

It appears that it is a somewhat historical-o-centric con which is right up my alley, but of course lots of other stuff to do too. What most intrigues me this year is that there will be some Combat Commander: Pacific playtesting going on! Also, I guess a perennial favorite is a massive, bomber squadron based version of the solitaire game, B-17: Queen of the Skies. Usually you play it solo with one plane in your control, but it sounds like it is a massive, multiplayer, solitaire game! Neat!

Our move day is August 13 - 15th, so I will totally be in Aptos for the con! We should check it out! I will be going back up and down quite a bit in the early stages of the move, but I can try to be there that weekend. Awesome!

Rdub: My old Channin board needs a home!

old surfboard you say? tell me more.

| Manchu Man Combat Fuck

So here I sit enjoying the fruits of fine mid-western foods one or two days after the fact. I don't know what it was that I ate, but it has declared war on my intestines. Uggg... Fucking Shit-Piss. All I can say is good thing this did not happen yesterday while I was air traveling.

O: That is good to hear that the Wife is doing fine. How is her voice? Or is it too early to tell how it may be affected?

eLzar the goZarian: I understand the bitter-sweet parting with the Southbay. I definitely get nostalgic and want to visit and then when I do, I get bummed out. What was once such a great place to live in and experience just perverted over the years. In some ways the changes were so subtle that I did not notice them until I had lived away from it for a while. Both my stay at dirty SD and SF each showed me more and more of the changes as I left for periods of time. These absences help me notice the changes and also compare to other cities. DO not get me wrong, entitlement is a problem in all of America, but some places are worse then others. The only thing left for me down there is family, friends, memories and the weather.

Moving is teh shitz.

Movie going can be a real crap shoot, but I don't seem to run into the bad movie experience but very rarely. I don't know if I have been just lucky or maybe certain theaters or locales are more prone to yahoos and attention seekers. Actually the two worst experiences I have that stand out happened quite some time ago. One was for a showing of Boyz n' the Hood in an theater that draws upon some very poor blue collar communities in Ohio. Boy was that great. Every serious part of the movie was sullied by laughing, name calling and gratuitous foul comments. The second was in a middle class community in San Diego for a Braveheart showing. Some asshole-cowboy went apeshit during every bloody scene in the movie, literally screaming at the top of his lungs the stereotypical "YeeHaa's" and general Whoopin' hoots. Even the usher could not control this lame ass hick. I just dislike loud self-centered people.

j0rn: There is also ConQuest SF on Labor Day weekends. Maybe we can scope it out this year to see if it is worth dragging the whole crew to next year. It is located at the Marriott, not too far from the KublaCon convention.

D>M>

| Well played

- Indeed. Nice work you two to avoid, defuse, and understand the situation. Could have been ugly, ended up being nice.

- I think I remember you going to that party Rudy. You are totally on the bleeding edge of what I will months later find funny!

- Listened to the iTunes snippets of the BR record and it sounded interesting. Then I followed a link to some Bad Brains and I totally wanna get some! Again, I am 25 years too late on this one, but I wanna get their first and second records, and then recently they released a dub record that sounded sweet. They have a new record out produced by MCA of Beastie Boys fame (I think it was him anyway).

- Anyone want:
a) games from my backroom,
b) xbox, playstation, and gamecube games
c) White Dwarf magazines
d) a red recliner
e) Paintball guns
f) Old surfboard
???

I'm gonna Craig's List everything soon, so if you want any of it, come on over!

i got to go to a free private party/screening for flight of the conchords a few months ago - awesome show. FOR FUCKING WHITE PEOPLE! Haha, jk! No, its really good. "I bought her a kabob" soooooo good.

That's all good ryan. The Action Team is all about scoring gnarly humanity points, and things a billion times worse are said on the regular, but for some reason you're initial rant just irked me (cuz it seemed fueled by anger/frustration, not typical action-team lack of morals/tact/taste). No need for qualifiers. Shit, I've met white people before and I know you guys aren't all Dahmer-esque serial killers. MOST, but not all. :)

Lesson learned: going to the movies is a big fucking roll of the dice. Especially gems like Die Hard 4.

Ryan is right, it is a matter of psychology and the powerless 'acting out' to demonstrate control in their lives. Thus, white teenagers in Transformers wouldn't shut the fuck up, greasy nerd guy in Harry Potter felt the need to yell out various gems such as "GET SOME, HARRY!" when he was kissing his girl-interest and "TAKE EM OFF, PEOPLE!" when the 3d section of the movie war over.. and yeah, the black community tends to have a general issue with yelling shit in the movies, but that speaks to the general powerlessness of the community (broad-brushing, obviously).

I submit that it isn't necessarily that folks are of a particular culture / heritage in and of itself, but it is the lack of control in their lives that has the psychological 'acting out' result.

But, understanding why something is doesn't necessarily make it any less annoying, no.

| I'm Staying Outta This...

... because there is no possible way to broach the subject without it being refuted with an air-tight infallible counter argument.

Therefore, I offer this diversion for all to enjoy. The Flight of the Conchords. My favorite show on HBO right now. Hilarious folk music duo from New Zealand that got a TV show. Good songs, funny interpretation for the TV. Good stuff.

This one KILLS ME. Brett is dating this girl Coco, and Jermaine kinda goes on all the dates with him. Funny in the show, but man, this song kills kills kills me.



This one is better with the video, though the song is broken up. The live version is awesome, but the Enron inspired costumes make this radicool. Jermaine does an AWESOME robot voice that sounds like Stephen Hawking.



A little Hip-Hopapotamus vs. The Rhymnocerous. Funny.



Rad one with a kick ass 80's guitar and a funny intro.



And with that, you need to watch the show or d/l it!

Rudy, and everyone else for that matter, please don't think that I am closed minded and a bigot. Though my rant may have sounded that way, that is not the way I intended it and I probably should have put some qualifiers... some credentials, if you will. I assure you, I was not trying to speak in the white-washed, typical as-you-put-it "I went to school in Manhattan Beach, same ol' shit" sort of way.

Keep in mind, I teach at Torrance High School, one of the most culturally diverse schools in Southern California. It also has a very culturally diverse staff as well. One of the staff members, who happens to be African American, has explained to the entire staff during a staff meeting on more than one occasion that it is part of the black culture to be late, she actually calls it "black time", and to be extra talkative during movies and lectures, so we as teachers need to be more understanding.

Furthermore, my sister, who has a masters in sociology, worked at jail schools to rehabilitate young people who had been arrested and need to make up credits to try to graduate from high school. She didn't teach them. She had the hard part: trying to get them to talk about their feelings about watching family members get shot and such. I digress. Many of her clients were African American, and as a result many of her co-workers were African American. I was able to share with her some of my frustrations with behavior problems I was having with some of the black students in my classes at THS. She told me on more than one occasion through conversations with her co-workers that blacks from the inner city will by-and-large, tend to be more vocal at inappropriate times. This, according to Brandi and many of her co-workers, is due to a feeling of lack of control in their lives. It boils down to a power issue, or rather, a lack of power issue. Behaving that way gives them a feeling of control, which kind of makes sense, but is it okay?

So as my seat was being kicked and I couldn't hear the dialog of the film I paid to go see, these were the two things that were going through my mind; not "these are just assholes," but "these people are assholes because of their culture." I should be more tolerant especially as an educator, but at the same time, I was frustrated and annoyed. You're right. There are assholes of all shapes and sizes no matter where you go. I am sure in certain situations I am no picnic. Bottom line, I should check myself and take a deep breath before I unload controversial points of view, and I am sorry that I disappointed you and made you sick to your stomach.

And, no... the BR album says nothing about African Americans at the movies. It's just really good. And I'm still bummed Eric is moving.

Comeon Ryan, you're smarter than that. Sorry the mean lady kicked your seat. Mean people suck. NOFX taught me that. But believe it or not, there are disruptive assholes of all colors/shapes/sizes in movie theaters. orly? yarly.

And then you talk about Bad Religion... I bet the new album is chock-full of songs condemming the actions of the black movie-going menace.

JESUS.CHRIST. RYAN!

I'm not pissed - just disappointed. I went to school in Manhattan Beach, remember. Same 'ol shit.

Not trying to be a downer to the Action Team, but felt a little sick to my stomach and had to say something. Thanks. Watch a murloc video now.

| Thoughts and Comments

30 years in the South Bay has been a fun ride. I mean, when I am rich and famous (at least really, really, really rich) I wanna buy a strand house and come back for summer sessions and all that, but it is just not reality here. I don't want Wylie growing up around here. (Not that buying a summer house on the strand is reality... but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!).

I just can't imagine what this place is going to be like in 10 years, when it has already changed so much for the worse the past 10. There are of course spectres of the past all around, but the general overwhelming feeling is that this place is going to hell in a Mercedes S600, and I just can't stand it. I don't like watching this place corrupt the good memories I have and turn them into bitterness and hate.

So, evidently in our quest to find a more even and balanced upbringing for Wylie, we move to the north and end up in a town that is like 95% white. Which is funny, or rather ironic, because the folks we are renting from are in the other 5%!

I know it is the right thing to do for us, and really when you get down to brass tacks about it, building and selling a new house here is the only fiscally responsible option we have, and that is saying a lot because spec homes are a huge gamble. Up north you get a little more for a little less, have clean air 95% of the time (MB is something like 36% for a barometer), and are close to natural trees. The world around is not manicured, it is natural. Kids still ride bikes to school, and seriously for the 3 days we were there this past week, I was looking really hard, and only saw ONE 7 series BMW.

Getting stuck in 'traffic' in Santa Cruz means sitting on a two lane freeway surrounded by trees and mountains, not spray paint, concrete, trash, more concrete, and more trash.

I dunno. It will be a huge change for me, as I pretty well know the South Bay inside and out, and almost all my memories are tied to this place. But I look forward to it.

And friends are like riding bikes. You can not ride a bike for a while, but when you do, you pick up where you left off and are totally doing rad bunny hops, skid outs, and sweet airs off of curbs, so I am not really concerned about losing touch with anyone. Not to mention I gotta come back at least once a year for the travesty that is the Body Surfing Championships!

And finally, having Enron and the lads up north these past few years, once you start to make the drive up (or down), it really gets easier each time and then it's nothing.

And screw going to movies. If the movie doesn't suck, the fucking audience will.

Be forewarned, this may sound racist. I went and saw Die Hard 4 with my parents yesterday and I seriously cannot tell you how the movie was. I was totally distracted by the row of black people sitting behind us. Every time an intense scene came, the music swelling to a crescendo, the young lady sitting behind me would kick the shit out of my chair. Then, if there was a fight scene, they would yell things like, "That bitch got what she deserve (sic)," and "Oooooh, I know that hurt." When the big boss was finally killed at the end, the entire row of black people applauded and cheered. At one point, my step-father was so annoyed by the kicking of the chair, he slammed his back into his chair. The young bitch had the audacity to stare him down as we were leaving.

Granted, I probably should have gotten an usher or something, but as some of you know who have been the victim before, that usually leads to worse retaliation, so we let it go as much as we could.

This may sound humorous and all, especially if you know Terry, but what makes being inappropriate and bombastic part of their "culture"? And if being rude, obnoxious, having no sense of manners, class, or decorum, and behaving like a total douche is part of their culture, then their culture is fucked. I know that stereotypes are wrong, but sometimes I understand them. Some may crucify me for saying that and I am sorry, but it was really lame yesterday.

On a lighter note, I got the new Bad Religion record. I love it. I cannot stop listening to it. Something about Greg Graffin's voice, the four part harmonies, the nostalgia of it all makes me feel comforted. I love that band. They went through a phase where they were less than good, but with Brett Gurewitz coming back, and their new kick ass drummer... it's just a great record. I highly recommend it.

I am sad that you are moving, Eric. I was secretly hoping that you guys would change your mind... fooling myself, I guess. But, alas, I have to face the music. We have had a good run down here, had a lot of fun. Even though I know I'll see you guys only rarely (that's just the way it goes), hopefully we keep in touch, and I can find my way up there every once in a while. I'm sure if the South Bay could speak, it would apologize for sucking. I am happy for you guys though. I hella (do they still say that?) hope Nor Cal has everything you need.

I do pity you on the physically moving part, however. I hate that.

Wow, thank goodness Art! Glad everything is A-OK!

Grats eric! wtf is a aptos!? Is that a town near sc? spam sushi and brewski b4 u move!

| The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

- Michelle is gonna be a-ok!

- We have a house in Aptos! Our move in date is August 1st, which is not going to happen, but hopefully by the end of the month, we will be moved in! Huzzah! NorCal Rippers here we come!!!! BTW, is there any group or organization called the NorCal Rippers? If not there should be.

- The house is about two blocks from a state park, 2 blocks from the beach, has a two car garage, a one car garage, a deck, a yard, two bedrooms, and a huge bonus room/office/third bedroom. It is pretty sweet. The best and one of the better money saving aspects is that we can easily move our storage unit crap into the garages and not have to pay storage rent. I will have TOTAL access to all my gaming crap! Thank God, because I have been feeling some separation anxiety from my Arms and Claw Law, Oriental Adventures, Mertwigs Maze, Dark Future game contents, and my classic Space Orks.

- The Douche Crew has moved out officially next door. I hate those pieces of poo with such a passion it is just not funny. Seriously, they are terrible human beings and I wish bad things to happen to them. Not death, and not excruciating pain, but certainly financial woes, minor personal damage, anguish, harassment, and embarrassment, surely.

- I now have a Space Hulk set that is a combo of the 2nd edition rules and missions, with the 2nd ed flamer templates and blips, with the first ed tiles and minis. It is awesome!

The Bad:

- We will be paying rent and mortgage for prolly 2 months until the plans are finished for the house, and then we will only be paying one rent and paying off a huge construction loan... win/win!

- The Douche Crew moved out 15 days before I am planning to move out.

- Moving is awful. Long distance moving that cannot be done in your own cars, or a rental, and a move that requires movers is teh shits.

- Managing the construction of this house from afar is gonna be some commuting hell, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

- Leaving the MB/Torrance/Gardena/Redondo/LA Crew is gonna suck. We will definitely miss having Ryan, Rudy, Denis, Peter and Heather around all the time for gamin, body surfing, eating, and just hangin' out with. Mi Casa Es Su Casa, so hopefully everyone will come up and visit and stay with us as much as they like.

- No more El Pollo Inka, Gringo, Back Home at Lahaina, and the like. My belly thanks you, my mind and heart are gonna be sad.

The Ugly

- Transformers the Movie.

- Me, in Junior High. Hell, me now.

Good news, the pathology on the tumor came back and while it managed to grow to over 3cm, it was still considered a benign adenoma and so a second surgery / radiation therapy won't be needed. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes though all this. Now, we just have to work on getting the surgery site healed up and getting Michelle back up to full speed.

| POX

Never heard of that Jon, but I'll look it up! I want to see Harry Potter also, but I'm in no rush. The only things I've seen in IMAX are IMAX movies. I dunno, I just can't imagine watching a regular movie on a big 'ol curved screen.

I just watched the 2 Bourne movies this weekend in prep for the new one (had only seen parts of the first one.) They're pretty good! The 2nd movie kinda went by quick but it was good. I think it was slicker than the first one, but I think overall I like the story in movie 1 better. The new one looks pretty sick.

Glad to hear the op went good Art, best of luck with all the follow-up stuff!

| PAX

Hey guys, in light of the fact that GenCon Socal is now officially kaput, what do you think of trying to make it to PAX? It's in August, so attending this year is unlikely, but it seems sorta cool.

The focus is a little different, being as much about video games as it is about tabletop and board games, but that doesn't seem like a bad thing. Honestly it could be a good thing.

It's in Seattle, which is actually driveable -- barely. It seems like it would be a perfect opportunity to use a bigger car like Aeryk's mobile gaming unit, even if the gas price would be a bit higher (not to volunteer your car for shit or anything, we could take lesser cars as well).

Seems to have a pretty high population of people attending from the RPG board, the privateer boards, etc. so I think there is no shortage of tabletop stuff to do, if we ever decided to do something outside our own group.

I dunno, just an idea. Anybody have any thoughts on it?

We went and saw the new Harry Potter last night at the IMAX. Not bad, not bad. One thing that was not so cool was that the big, gorgeous screen was distinctly underlit. In any scene where all these students were standing around, their black cloaks were indistinguishable from the background. Daylight looked like dusk. It was like watching the Godfather with some glare on the TV. It wasn't so bad as to ruin the movie, but it bugged me the whole time. The cool part was that the big action set piece at the end was in 3D. That was cool.

This is my first day of freedom in something like two or three weeks. The project that I am working on is moving increasingly towards doom and disaster. Heads-will-roll disaster. Fun times! As always, I'm glad I'm just helping out on this one, and not in charge of it.

Hey Ja-El, are you alive or what? We haven't heard from you in like six months!