Overheard at the Springs

A good reason Barton Spring is awesome: the little girl in the bright pink bathing suit running down the trail yelling, “swimmmmmmmiiinnggggg,” at the top of her lungs, flip flops pattering away, all the way down to the water.

Friday

It’s about half past wade-wants-to-get-the fuck outta here, and I’d like to thank the gods of capitalism for making me drag my ass to work to sit in a moldy, god-forsaken office, while the weather gods continue to taunt me by throwing a party with blues skies and a nice breeze just outside my window. Dammit.

On a different unrelated, irrelevant, and possible ludicrous point, have you ever wondered why it costs so much to UPS something? Well I have, and it appears my iphone has discovered the answer – UPS socks. That’s right, apparently, Brown has UPS embodiered on socks for their driver. I wonder if you can get boxers too (which is humorous because you send things in boxes..get it… boxers… boxes…)?

Esssh.

Revolt

The lego men have risen up to overthrow a repressive regime (awesome custom lego build) .

Thanks Mr. Lucas

I wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank George Lucas for taking time out of his busy schedule of making bad, unrequested animated follow-ups to the Star Wars triology, to take yet another steaming crap on one of my fond childhood memories.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was going ok until ET showed up for an ill-conceived movie crossover and things went downhill from there. I can take Harrison Ford being old, he played it off well, I can even take the fact that he’s pitted against Russians and not Nazis, but aliens? Dear god. I like alien movies, but you can’t cross genres like that, it just plain doesn’t work. Battlestar Galactica and The Bourne Identity? No. Alien II and National Treasure? No.

About the same time that Cate Blanchet is getting frisky with some Alien skull ( seriously, why does it glow ? ), the Speilburg/Lucas team make the second worst plot decision and bring Karen Allen (who looks oddly stretched) back into the story. I mean, really ? I know we’re going for a circular story line, but give me a break.

The cardinal sin is the ending though – and this is a spoiler, if you can consider such a disaster of a film spoiled – Indiana Jones does not get married. Why not just invite James Bond for a vegas-style double marriage, it’d be just as plausible. Its almost like Lucas and Speilburg got together and said, “man, I’m really tied of people bugging us about the Indiana Jones movies. Lets so completely wipe our collective asses with this script that there’s no way possible to continue it (at least with Harrison Ford at the reigns…yeah I saw the hat tip to the kid too, I’m holding judgment on that).”

The only redeeming part of the movie was at the Alamo Drafthouse pre-show, there was a very fine Indy inspired cover of Mr. Jones. Take a look, and maybe it will help you forget that this wretched piece of crap move ever existed.

Yes, it’s terrible, but no worse than the movie.

Rat Mole

This thing makes a Nutrea rat look normal.

Nueva York

Somehow my bosses decided that sending me to a conference in Boston was an excellent plan for my professional development. Ok, sure. Can I go to New York afterwards and visit/drink with my sister for a few days after said professional development is complete? Ok, Sure.

Pictures

On the Train

Riding amtrak in New England is like participating in the Italian train experience –  the trains aren’t quite as late, but they are also distinctly less nice ( although i do appreciate the power plug next to my seat).

This really is the way to travel though. I didn’t have to go though security, take off my shoes or even show seventeen types of ID/boarding pass combinations. I just walked on to the train. The drinks are much cheaper too.

Being from Texas  though it’s a bit disconcerting – un four hours I will have gone through four states. I doubt If I could go through four counties at home in that period of time. Seriously, how is Rhode Island not just another county of one of the neighboring states?

The difference from home even is striking, the closer we get to the City the denser things get, all these old buildings with old people in them. The picture on my desktop is this epic shot of the road into Terlingua, with the Chisos basin prominently fixed in the center, while out the window to my right it’s small-windowed houses, aged industrial parks and old mills – remnants of a time when this country made things –  as far as the eye can see. It’s not bad, just different. It’s pretty in parts, quite beautiful, but it’s a very occupied kind of beautiful.

They also talk real funny-like up here.

A No-hitter

I was really toying with the idea of hitting a Reg Sox game while i was up here. I can almost see Fenway from the convention center, but it might as well be on the frickin moon considering I’ve been reduced to the feeble pace of ‘hobble.’ Hobbits are currently passing me on the street like I’m standing still.

So of course, it turned out to be the first no-hitter of the season.  Not that I give a crap about baseball so much, but in a classic park like Fenway, that would have been cool to see. Stupid rocks. Stupid hobbits.

Bawston

It’s Tuesday morning, I’m in Boston sitting in a design conference picking west Texas cactus spines out of my arm. The geographical disconnect would be funny, If i could actually get the little bastard out. Just an FYI, a conference on a gashed open knee and an ankle the size of a basketball – not cool.

Some more photos form this weekend’s big DNF race (I’m not bitter. really).

trains

I just bought a train ticket in America for the first time in my life. The revolutions is coming !!!!