television review: see arnold run

the long-awaited story of arnold schwarzenegger's rise from austrian body builder to governor of california by way of hollywood airs on a&e tonight at 8pm eastern.

this movie will be horrible.

life, as seen at 450 mph

last night i had a beautiful realization. that is, that despite this weekend's 36 hour delay, and the countless times that i have been stranded, screwed over or left for dead by every major airline in america, i love flying.

there is nothing like sitting at my window seat, staring at the passing landscape, listening to whatever music is ruling my world at the moment and just letting the inspired ideas and images flow into my head and out onto the little marble notepad i never leave home without. most of these ideas do nothing for me in the light of the next day, when my feet are back on the ground and the silence has given way to the chaos of life. but, occassionally one will stick.

nothing stuck last night as i finally made my way across the northern sky at 36,000 ft from boston to chicago and then on to san antonio. but it is the fact that i am rarely as content and rested as i am when i can just sit there in the dark, listen to the music i love, write out whatever comes into my uncluttered mind and completely tune out the rest of the world. it is forced concentration and and i absolutely cherish it.

never saw that one coming.

blizzard III: the final straw

okay, so finally got outside and was amazed at what i saw.

got the back stairs cleared off. that's good.

my second flight tomorrow has now been cancelled. that sucks ass!

get the damn snow off the runways, logan, and fly me to freakin' san antonio!!!!

blizzard 2: the day after yesterday

i got up to go out and take some pictures this morning.

surprise! both of our doors open out, and guess what? we can't get out.

so here's the update.

blizzard: part1

i am supposed to be flying to san antonio in the morning to go back to work and to see friends, co-workers and my parents. at 4 this afternoon, it started snowing. it hasn't stopped snowing. it's not supposed to stop until well into tomorrow. they're expecting at least 30 inches.

so, the nice folks at everyone's favorite regional jet port, boston logan, are pansying out and cancelling all flights for tomorrow. which means that i now have to get up at 3:30 on monday morning to try and get to san antonio by noon.

meanwhile, there is a lot of snow coming down. so we made some perverbial lemonade (would that be snowade? what? no. not that kind of lemonade...i mean the whole 'life gives you lemons' analogy...buncha sickos) and had a little fun tonight.

more to come.

trolling for attention

troll: (n) one who roams message boards and posts nothing but inflamatory, pointless posts in order to draw the ire of other participants.

my kansas jayhawks lost big time today to villanova 83-62. i'm over it.

i have recently gained a rather unhealthy addiction to the espn.com college b-ball message boards. i tend to start at the kansas board and move on to other top-ranked schools. most of the time i get far too into what is said. and i am always amazed by the idiots that post crap on other teams boards saying things like:

"your team sucks"
"my team rules"
"your team is overrated"
"no one can beat my team"
"your fans are idoits"

etc.

today, following kansas' embarrasing loss, the so-called 'trolls' desended on the kansas board. i am frustrated by the band-wagon fans of other schools feeling good about themselves that they have now let the world know that the jayhawks suck and don't deserve their #2 ranking.

maybe there is some truth to this, but kansas does not suck. however, there is no rationalizing with these people in these environments. all you can do is ignore them. i know it takes a big person to swoop by in relative anonimity and spout off a bunch of ignorant statements with no real merit to a group of complete strangers.

great job guys. wait 'til your teams suffer a loss and remember all that you said on this day. it will bite you in the ass.

you may have just cured my addiction.

hi, my name is cade...

...and i am a massachusetts driver.

i got my mass plates today. i am now officially a part of the system that i loathe.
so, for now, i will hold off on the $90 (man, plastic must be a precious resource up here) driver's license. but in time, that too will claim me. may God have mercy on my soul.

...and...scene.

in 2004, i made light of the fact that every girl that i ever had any interest in, and was still single, was systematically married off. like a bittersweet parade of painful assurance, the foil-lined invitaions arrived one after the other in my mailbox.

joking with a friend over thanksgiving of last year, i mentioned how nice it was to not have anyone left out there who i could become even slightly distracted by. as a rule, i tend not to fall often. but, when i do...i fall pretty hard. these falls have created a lot of what-ifs over the years. and as each of these amazing girls somehow stayed single, there was always a thought in the back of my mind: "what if...?"

last year took care of those what-ifs. with one, distant exception. a friend of mine from high school who was, and always will be, the exclamation point to more than a few of the great defining moments of my younger days. we've stayed in touch over the years and it has always amazed me that of all of our friends, she is the one that remained single. i never found it comical when someone would say "why don't the two of you just get married?" that would have suited me fine. but, i figured out years ago that it wasn't me she was looking for. but still, "what if...?" all things considered, it was beyond me how anyone in her immediate circle couldn't see the unique and beautiful woman that i've known for years.

well, she got engaged this weekend. we had dinner when i was in colorado in august, just weeks before she met her fiance. i was reminded at that time, as i always am when we spend time together, of the hope and joy that comes from a life lived for God. how when we trust Him absolutely, feelings of the present, fears of the future, even regrets of the past just don't seem to matter. it was true reassurance that He is in control and everything is going to be okay.

congratulations, kaley. and thank you for providing me with one final exclamation point. one that fully allows me to move on with my new life.

even if it was one year too late.

tsunami relief wrapped in a tidy hollywood ribbon

NOTE: IN NO WAY AM I MAKING LIGHT OF THE DISASTER THAT TOOK PLACE OR IGNORING MY OWN HORROR OR SHOCK AT WHAT OCCURED IN SOUTH ASIA...

...that said, what the HELL was tsunami aid: a concert of hope all about?


it aired on no fewer than 10 channels so you had no choice but to watch celebrity after celebrity recount the grisly details of what happened. i’m sorry but i don’t need clint eastwood to somberly (and to be honest, downright frighteningly) tell me how horrific it was to convince me to send my money to a noble aid organization. nor do i need to see the same video footage that i’ve seen for the last 3 weeks, only this time with the voice of donald sutherland telling me how hard life is going to be for all of these children. for crying out loud, how many pictures of suffering children can you recycle and cram into a 2 hour time frame? here are the lowlights of the concert of hope:

- madonna offering the worst cover of john lennon’s imagine i have ever heard in my life.

- chris matthews having the audacity to ask the head of the american red cross, “now, will this money SAY ‘from the u.s.a.’ on it?” i am astonished by this vulgar display of pride. who gives a sh*t how much “america” gives. that’s so not the point. i fought back my first wretch. it would not be the last.

- awkward moment #1 - maroon 5 following halle berry’s sobering segment with their hit song she will be loved.

- 8th version of “this is (insert any one of 20 names). he/she survive the tsunami by clinging desperately to a/an (insert any one of 20 inanimate objects). please help him/her.”

- the realization that jay leno truly does have a crush on brad pitt. leave him alone, jay, geesh.

- awkward moment #2 – nelly’s completely inappropriate n dey say following drew barrymore’s plea to help the pregnant women affected by the disaster.

- smug celebrity + tired verbal rehash of tragedy X 50 = tugged heart strings

- 10th version of “(insert name of destroyed seaside resort) was a tropical paradise and popular honeymoon destination. and now it’s GONE!”

- awkward moment(s) #3 – quentin tarantino giddily waving at the camera while on the phone every time he was shown.

- the general over use of the words: devastation, cataclysmic and tragedy

-diana ross’s reach out and touch as an ending. only in hollywood


and the highlights:

- i honestly looked for just ONE person who showed genuine compassion, but found no one. i was wondering if i should have watched walker texas ranger on the hallmark channel instead. so i guess there were no highlights.

please keep any angry comments to yourself. i am NOT interested in defending my views on this disaster. i do not need to. it’s horrible. i get that. what i am furious about is this two-hour piece of bleeding heart propaganda aimed only at guilting the american public into sending in money so that we can all feel better about our fat lives.

if you would like to really help, go here.

crazy cat guy's got a point

i have been enjoying my time off.

being able to watch movies and catch up on writing and actually paying bills and all that fun stuff certainly has been nice. i am just now getting to the "stir crazy" portion of my annual downtime. you see, much like a reverse teacher, i tend to get most of the winter months off. and it's usually about now that i start to anticipate my next trip while staving off the urge to become that crazy guy that never leaves his house and has 30 cats.

in fact today, for the first time in 9 days, i actually removed the snow from my car and drove it to the local wal-mart to cash in on the sweet $20 gift card i got from grandma for christmas. a trash can, some new hangers, and a few groceries to round out the balance of the card. all free. an easy errand. that is, until is saw what was NEXT to wal-mart. is that a guitar center?

since i moved to mass, acquired a guitarist roommate and successfully reunited 2/3 of the '90's cover super-band spilt meniscus, i have thought about revisiting my once unremarkable bass skills and purchasing a new axe.

what can it hurt to look, right?

3 hours later, i finally made it back home with a new pair of jeans, 2 dvds, a red wood-grain ibanez gsr electric bass guitar (with soft case), a new trash can, a 13-pack of plastic hangers and a few groceries.

point is: i shouldn't be allowed to leave the apartment. everytime i do, i spend money like i have it.

at least the crazy guy with the cats doesn't have to worry about impulse buying.

rock on!

television review: alias

abc's mid-season replacement drama about a young, hot c.i.a. agent, alias is a fast-paced action thriller with an occassional heart. the show's heroine, sydney, is played energetically by gutsy new-comer jennifer garner.

tonight's episode, "the awful truth" finds sydney going under cover to collect information that may or may not help the c.i.a. catch the bad guys. meanwhile, she struggles to figure out her relationship with her father and becomes confused about whether or not she is still in love with fellow agent, vaughn, competently played by michael vartan.

the show plays to a wide demographic and will be enjoyed by anyone searching for something to watch after the hit lost and before abc's perennial powerhouse wife swap. while it can't possibly hope for the numbers of swap, this show may just find an audience with its plot twists and its oft-underused "who's the real bad guy" motifs.

whether alias finds a voice in the early goings or not, this reviewer predicts great things for garner. she is only a high profile romance and a few big budget movies from becoming a full-blown hollywood starlet.

file under "unoriginal"

watching the kansas/kentucky college basketball game with my buddy james, i immediately started to notice the unoriginal signs and t-shirts at rupp arena in lexington. if you are hosting the university of kansas jayhawks in basketball, please please please refrain from displaying the following statements:

1) "you're not in kansas any more" -- thanks dumbass. no one has ever said that before.

2) "where's toto?/dorothy?" basically any other reference to the wizard of oz. -- again, never heard this one before. besides dorothy and toto are both dead. show some respect.

3) "rock-CHOKE-jayhawk" -- if you understand this one, good for you. i'm sick of hearing it.

my world is collapsing...or is it?

jennifer aniston and brad pitt have separated. story. i don't know which way is up any more.

well, what's life if you don't take your chance?

*packs a bag*
*watches one last episode of friends*
*buys one-way ticket to l.a.*

i give up

does this piss anyone else off? i am so done with frivilous lawsuits.

NBC's 'Fear Factor' Sued for Rat-Eating Episode Wed Jan 5, 4:03 PM ET Entertainment - Reuters TV

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Watching contestants eat dead rats on NBC's gross-out stunt show "Fear Factor" so disgusted a Cleveland man that he has sued NBC for $2.5 million, saying he could not stomach what he saw.

In a handwritten four-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Cleveland on Tuesday, paralegal Austin Aitken said, "To have the individuals on the show eat (yes) and drink dead rats was crazy and from a viewer's point of view made me throw-up as well an another in the house at the same time."

His suit added, "NBC is sending the wrong message to its TV watchers that cash can make or have people do just about anything beyond reasoning (sic) and in most cases against their will."

He said the show caused his blood pressure to rise so high that he became dizzy and light-headed, and when he ran away to his room, he bumped his head into the doorway.

In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Aitken said, "I am not at liberty to discuss the complaint unless it is a paid-interview situation."

A spokesman for "Fear Factor" said the show would have no comment until it sees a copy of the complaint. The spokesman said the program did feature an rat-eating scene in New York's Times Square on Nov. 8.

Over the years, contestants on the program have eaten some weird things, including ground-up spiders and live worms.

Reuters/VNU

the mind's playground

i woke up this morning from a crazy dream. the kind of dream that makes you want to go right back to sleep and continue it. seeings as i don't have a job at the moment, that's exactly what i did. and to my surprise, the dream continued.

this particular dream was one of the "notting hill" variety and involved me, what i believe to be a large multi-purpose grocery store, a family reunion and angelina jolie.

there was no pretense. no nervousness. just two people hanging out and laughing about the stupid things in life. she didn't believe me when i told her we had met before, on the set of her lackluster life or something like it. okay, so maybe "met" is a strong word, but we did share the same rainy seattle air that day.

well, i finally woke up and sat there contemplating this feeling. true, i have admired her from afar ever since hackers. but more than that, i realized just how great of a feeling that sense of companionship can be. regardless of whether said companion is an oscar winner or not. i am not renouncing my bachelorhood by any means, just found it interesting.

a yearning for old-timey baseball

and by that, i mean 5 years ago.

the picture: spring 2000. sitting at kauffman stadium in kansas city with friends for game 1 of a 3 game april series against the baltimore orioles. the royals had done close to nothing since winning the world series 15 years earlier, and we were just enjoying the weather. after a thrilling 2-run walk-off homerun, we celebrated a great victory.

"didn't they do this last night, too?" a friend asked.

truly, they had done it the night before against the minnesota twins 6-5.

"wow, two in a row. wanna come back tomorrow night?"

"sure."

game 2: final score - royals 7 - orioles 6. rey sanchez's only homerun of the season in the 9th inning. i still remember the announcer on the radio:

"rey sanchez! homerun! what is going on?!"

"unbelievable." i thought. "what are you guys doing tomorrow night?"

game 3: same seats. final score royals 6 - orioles 5. again in walk-off fashion.

4 wins in a row in the last at bat. i had forgotten how much i loved the game. and this team? forget about it. they were a blast to watch. 3 young, future all-stars in the outfield: johnny damon, jermaine dye and carlos beltran. a gritty and upstanding first baseman in captain mike sweeney. a young, promising (pre-injury epidemic) pitching staff. kansas city was all of the sudden a baseball town again. it was awesome.

i've moved since then. the royals now suck again. sweeney is the only player left from that team now that joe randa has signed with the reds. so, i dive headlong into remembrance. i just purchased, via ebay, a jermaine dye #24 royals jersey that completes my set. so this little bit of sunshiney nostalgia can hopefully take my mind off of the current state of my beloved game.

back in 2000, no one cared what BALCO was. the horrendous plague of "corporate naming rights" was just hitting it's swing. new parks like houston's enron field (later to become minute maid park, the worst name for a sporting arena until 2004, see below) san fran's pacific bell park, citizen's bank park in philly and the renaming of new comiskey to *gulp* u.s. cellular field all signalled the downfall of the pride of america's pasttime. it was official: baseball was all about the money.

last year, san diego opened the abomination of all abominations, petco park. we are in trouble.

in recent news, the angels have announced that they are renaming the team the "los angeles angels of anaheim" to extend their appeal. for more on this travesty go here. thanks pace.

now, with randy johnson joining the already gazillion-dollar-payrolled yankees. i can only hope and pray that the mets (a team i root for, but will admit also has a ridiculously large payroll) will take my beloved carlos beltran away from mr. steinbrenner and his sulfurous grasp.

my royals will never be able to hold on to the truly special players because the game has turned into the biggest pile of greedy money grubbers that has ever existed. agents are poisoning young talent and players are so deep into the myth of self-worth that they have forgotten the fans, if not the game entirely.

i can't really even get excited about the red sox (a team which i must adopt to survive...but am okay with that) because they are a big-money club as well and every bit as guilty of buying the good players.

at the very least, i have my memories of a beloved, mediocre team playing their hearts out in a stadium named for a great man, not a corporation (i will mace myself if the k ever changes to hallmark park or some crap like that) back around the turn of the century.

all that said. i still can't wait until april.