Aftermath

El-Sea is doing fine. When all was said and done, El-Sea needed two pulpotomies (partial baby root canals). One of her other teeth disintegrated when the dentist tried to drill out the cavity. El-Sea’s smile now glitters with two stainless-steel teeth and she’s just two incisors away from sporting that bling-bling hip-hop snarl. Last night at about 8PM the dentist called. I kinda freaked out wondering what was wrong, but it was just a courtesy call from the doctor, himself, checking in on us. And I thought customer service had been swallowed by the advent of big businesses that slash “unnecessary” expenditures to increase profit margins. If you live in the Denver area and are in need of a pedodontist look up Dr. Jesse R. Witkoff. He rocks, his staff rocks, and Def Leppard rocks!

So far so good on the VW’s engine light. It’s off now, but every time I start the car I hold my breath. When I turn the ignition, all of the consol lights flare up and then one by one the blink out. First the temperature light, then the seatbelt light, then the battery light, then the break light, and then finally the check engine light extinguishes. Of course it does tease me and toy with my mood first. That check engine light lingers four to five seconds longer than any of the other warning lights. Those seconds are long enough for my mind to run the emotional gauntlet, wary to apprehensive to disbelief to anxiety to anger to sorrow to resignation to defeat. When the light fades out I’m physiologically wasted.

To make ourselves feel better about life and finances SSDiabolique, El-Sea, and I went out and blew a load of money shopping for fun stuff. It’s amazing how much stress superfluous shopping can relieve. I scored a sweet bowling shirt with Jimi’s Axis: Bold as Love cover printed on it in all of its vibrant orange glory. It was a killer deal for $20. We picked up some music and movie, too.

Under Construction, Missy Elliott: I dig it. It’s a nice blend of hip-hop, rap, and r&b with an old school flava to it. Judging by the insert pictures, Missy has trimmed down some since So Addictive.

Riot Act, Pearl Jam: Eh, it’s okay. I want to listen to it a little more before I dis this album, all the songs sound like Breakerfall. I’m waiting to pass judgment on this album because my initial reaction to all of Pearl Jam’s CDs has been mediocre at first.

Power in Numbers, Jurassic 5: Kicks ASS! Its many voices harmonizing as one rapper. Chali 2na has a sexy-smooth rapping voice; he’s the Barry White of rap.

Sea Change, Beck: I haven’t given this one the attention I have the other three albums, but from what I’ve heard so far this is a solid album. Rolling Stone Magazine gave it a 5-star rating… I’m skeptical, but even a 4-star CD is better than 99% of the crap on the market these days.

Serial Experiment – Lain: Navi: We watched this last night not realizing it was only four episodes of a longer anime series. I’m not an anime fanatic, but I dabble enough to know better than to pick up an anime movie and not verify if it’s part of a longer series. Regardless, Lain is awesome and we’ll be purchasing the remainder of the series as soon as financially possible. The show raises some interesting insight about the thin line between the physical world and the world we dive into when we immerse ourselves online. Can we forsake human contact for the virtual contact we recieve on the Internet? If you screw around a lot on the web in chat rooms, or instant messaging, or blogging, or whatever, then go rent Lain.

South Park – The Complete First Season: Not as vulgar, shocking, or funny as I remember, but I still laughed which is more than I can say for any given 30 minutes of network tv. I believe my desensitization to SP is a result of the Pulp Fiction Effect. Back when PF was released it changed everything about cinema, but watching it now PF seams weak and contrived because it spurned so many imitators that detract from the shock value of the original. The same effect can be observed with all the Matrix clones. Saving Private Ryan also elevated the gore bar, but now it seams tame compared to its contemporaries.

Now that I’m rambling about the media… I’ve subscribed to Rolling Stone Magazine since many years ago when that damn door to door solicitor caught me in one of my vulnerable to impulse moods. I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often because I spend 50% of my waking life openly susceptible to weak advertising ploys. (Note to self: Must mulch Chia Pet with my Garden Weasel and walk the Pet Rock.) I very much despise RS’s new layout and its new affinity for small pre-chewed bits of trivia that cater to attention deficit illiterates. Despite my general displeasure, RS has had a series of illuminating interviews with Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, and lately Warren Zevon who has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Maybe when I get home tonight I’ll spin my only Zevon CD in honor of his battle. Basically RS is still cranking out quality articles, I just have to dig through a lot of ugly crap to find them.

…and I’m spent!

I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
...and so it was written, shenry at 11/15/2002 10:35:00 AM.
...and so it was appended with .