THE DINER IS CLOSED

Back Tuesday.

OHMYGAWD!

Please, give your money! I NEED this!

BOOTY

Yar, me found a link that tells ye yer pirate name. Me name be Black Morty Bonney. Yar...

HUH, SO CATS IN JARS, NOT SO GOOD

Another blog flashback, on February 2nd, 2001 I posted the following:

HAHA! Cat in a jar! Cat in a jar! BONSAI KITTENS! HAHA!

I guess the FBI got involved, but it looks like some people are taking kitten abuse to the next level.

I'm still not sure if I'm humored or nauseated by that.

SIGNS OF LIFE

Back on July 26th, 2001, I made commentary that the blogs belonging to Sarah, Connie and Jeff were becoming wastelands of digital thoughts.

However, since then Sarah has totally redone her site (I posed for the picture on the left) and Connie is trying to get back into posting (I'm going to redesign that site, with help I'm sure).

Sadly, one site remains unattended and I'm pretty sure it may never flourish again. No more talk about female, spanish television hosts, and no more talk of massive nuts. Good bye to Jeff's blog. Farewell my good blog, fare thee well.

The Architect Who Would Be King (12/3/2000 - 5/14/2001)

WHEN X-FILES NEED WORK

Poor, poor Annabeth Gish. Didn't anyone tell her there's a season 9?

ESTROGEN AND AIR JORDANS

On my quest to find myself some form of personal timepiece and I came across the awesome re-issue of the 80's Air Jordans. Enter my self-battle with no money and credit cards and this need to have those shoes.

Stick Bus: . . . s h o e s . . .
Finalcut11: are your estrogen levels raised?
Finalcut11: cause i've never seen a man be so obsessed with shoes
Stick Bus: jesus man...some how, that just totally detered me from wanting those shoes.
Finalcut11: your welcome

WORST DECISION EVER

Okay, if you're not an avid hockey fan, go ahead and dismiss the following post.

Here's the dilly. Sounds like the Blackhawks are on the verge of doing something really stupid and keeping right on pace with every other Chicago sports team and their stupid decisions.

SPEECHLESS

Words fail me right now.

IT'S THE RED NOSE AND BIG FEET

Jeff Crain hates clowns, I'm not sure if I can blame him after this

STILL HOPE?

Hey, do you guys remember this? No? Good...cause neither do I.

WHEN HEROES ARE FOUND AGAIN

Some people will talk to just about anyone for friends.

IN PROTEST

Hey, hey! Look at that! I'm blogging!

Anyway...the protest is beginning against the quest I will soon be taking on...

"YOU CAN NOT MOVE. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT. THERE ARE PROBABLY NO M&E's [Max and Erma's] IN L.A."
- Kelly Moore

IN SEARCH OF...AGAIN

Only moments ago, I checked out my stats and came across the following in the search query:

jackass ali g

And I'm laughing so hard right now...

HMM...

I'm starting to hate my site again.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

It is VITAL that people be aware of this information.

FOCUS

I'm nervous as shit right now.

PACKING BAGS

Just spent the afternoon thinking.

T O F O G

That's actually Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts, more well known here in America as, "Russell Crowe's band." Anyway, I caught them on Leno (no, I won't link Leno) last night. They're...interesting I guess. They play a little old school rock, nothing real heavy, nothing real light. The closest thing to their sound I can think of would be an Aussie Chris Issak. Music came first for big-Russ, but obviously now, stardom hasn't hurt album sales.

I don't blame him for using his image, I mean look how well it worked for Dogstar and The Bacon Brothers...

WHERE WIPERS BLADES WILL LEAD YOU

My truck needed new wiper blades last night, a chore I love doing so much. For the last few years, I've bought a large portion of my car parts, cleaning utensils and auto fluids at the Super K-mart in Vernon Hills. This is my logic: white trash shops at Super K, white trash knows cars, so the car parts at Super K must be top notch and affordable. Makes sense to me, I get good wipers and a horrible dose of culture shock.

Anyway, on my way out, the lines are pretty long and I'm annoyed because I have three items (two wipers and one Coleman camping refillable lighter) and I don't want to wait in said-designated lines with the general masses. So I'm hunting for the shortest lane, and finally I come to the end of the lanes to find these "mini-lanes." At first I'm totally baffled because I see people, civilians not in the Super K army, ringing up their own items. Cashier-free check out. There was no wait at all because white trash is intimidated by any technology not NASCAR sponsored and not of the Atari 2600 family. I'm scanning my items, bagging my own shit, and LOVING IT! There's a little touch-screen monitor that tells you what's going on and you can pay with cash or credit/debit card. It was quite a spectacle to behold (also a sad, sad statement that I've been awed by Super K).

Now this raises the question about the carbon-based cashier units, what will happed to their jobs? If you think about it (no offense to the any members of the cashier unions of America) their job has essentially been phased out anyway. How hard is it to scan items and give proper chance? This digital replacement of cashiers is way over due if you ask me.

So run, don't walk, to your nearest K-mart to see how technology is benefiting the grocery industry first hand.

Note: I guess Illinois is quite behind the times. I was informed moments before writing this that Michigan has had such devices for some time. What the hell Illinois? We're a NORTHERN state, we're supposed to be more advanced than say...a state that builds a train in a baseball park...

GUTTERS

it's two in the morning again,
nothing but the whispers of tires and pavement
humming away in the background
train tracks colliding on rails counting down somewhere

everything smells wet
i guess it rained while we were asleep
the mud is still on my truck though
and you're tangled in bed sheets against the wall

i can't figure out what you were trying to say last night
you were fighting monsters in your sleep i think
they probably sounded like rain and thunder
maybe they sounded a little like me

at quarter to three the storming began again
the lightning is leaving trails around the front yard
and it's thrashing around the tree tops in back
you don't seem to mind, hands held close to your face

i lit our one candle to see between the lightning
i'm sure the rain is getting into my basement now
but all i can think about is your tiny hands
and the feeling of your crazy kiss and smile

just passed four now and i can't help but touch your hand
warm little fingers wrap around my wrist
and the pull my hand closer to your face
you press your cheek against the palm of my hand

before the sun came up i gave into sleep
our bed is floating on rain water and the room is a mess
the rain stopped not to long ago but it's too late to worry
this is just the way things were supposed to be

SMALL WONDER

Written by Howard Leeds & Ron Alexander
Sung by Diane Leslie

She's a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls.
She's a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls.
She's a miracle, and I grant you
She'll enchant you with her sight
She's a small wonder, and she'll make your heart beat twice.
She's fantastic, made of plastic,
Microchips here and there.
She's a small wonder, brings love and laughter everywhere.

There, that was in accordance to Kyle's fascist lyrics guidelines.

TO PAUL

Welcome aboard.

FAKE PLAS...

...nevermind.

WORST THING EVER

There's a Seinfeld movie in the process of creation.

Does this really need to be done? I can hardly tolerate 30 minutes of worthless whining, do we really need two straight hours?

MOVIE RAIN DELAY

I'm a still a little peeved about last night. Connie and I tried to catch Made last night. When we arrived at the theater it turns out they cancelled that nights screening because the roof was leaking in that theater. So much for that, we'll try again later this week.

MY SITE ACCORDING TO KYLE

Acapriccio: your blog is becoming a goddamn dorm room.

because...

Acapriccio: radiohead is lame though to like

and why...?

Acapriccio: cause it's the college bandwagon thing to do

then he threatened...

Acapriccio: i swear to god, if i find one more non-sitcom-related song lyric...

So now apparently, I've been forbidden to post any more lyrics unless they come from off-air television programming, 80's hair bands, or swamp rock. I guess it's back to yelling "EEE-CHE-ROW" every other post...

SPEAKING OF AMERICAN MUSIC

"Wilco paid the price for breaking the mold instead of fitting into one."

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune in regards to Wilco's current album.

Thanks to Catherine for the link.

ALL THE WAY TO RENO

Wing is written on your feet
Your achilles heel
Is the tendency to dream
But you've know that from the beginning
You didn't have to go so far
You didn't have to go

CURE FOR BORDEM

Nevermind the pen...I just found this to entertain me.

BIC SOFTFEEL PEN, BLUE INK

That's what I'm looking at right now. It's not even 10:30am and from the bordem I'm suffering from now, comes the temptation to stick that soft, rubbery, blue pen in my eye socket...then click it!

CLICK-SQUISH! CLICK-SQUISH! CLICK-SQUISH!

THE CD PLAYER THAT CAME FROM EUROPE

I was up dating my "spinning" section in the column to the right, and I realized that the CD changer in my car has been completely over-run with bands from European countries again.

I'm still not sure if that's a good sign about my high standards of music, or a sad statement about the quality of what is on the radio here in the states. The American public has created a monster in the music industry with the spending trends of the last ten years. Our economy has been good and strong here which allows much of the public (most of the cash coming from the young babysitters and lawn mowers of the world) to take a risk on buying a crappy CD.

The fifteen-minute attention span of the public is also defacing the music scene in my mind. Flashy colors, big videos and more merchandise that you can shake a New Kid at. If these industry-manufactured pop bands stay out of the Total Request Live circle for too long, people start to forget about them. Thus the fate of the Backstreet Boys who held the "number one boy band" spot until they disappeared for over a year. In that time, the rival 'N Sync moved in and took control. Quite possibly the saddest part about all of this is that many of these band members are pushing 30 years of age, so why do we keep labeling them boy bands? Maybe if we'd call them "man-bands" and the sixteen year-olds of the world realize that they're almost fifteen years the junior of 'N Sync's, Chris, the interest would start to dissolve.

And I don't want to make it sound like I'm forgetting about the females of this pop wave, they just haven't had the down-our-throats packaging that the boys have had. Britney flashes here and there but is currently only seen because she is in cahoots with a MAN-band member. And as for Aguilera, she might as well pack it up and go home. Aside looking like a damn circus freak, her grandma calling her a hooker, and being a sponsor for Coke (in which I NEVER saw and ad on television thank God), she's really got nothing going on. At the bottom of the pop-girl heap is Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson, who are both resting comfortably on the heads of the UGLIEST chick band ever, Dream.

The bands that hit my ear are ones that have little to no radio play. Amnesiac had nothing radio friendly and MTV probably played "Pyramid Song" all of four times. Haunting melodic voices, bands that play their own instruments and deeper lyrics than "Tearing Up My Heart" just aren't in demand by the surplus-capital spending portions of our population. They want something fun, entertaining, something they can sing along with. Nothing that would conjure up some false emotion or something they would have to crack up a CD sleeve for lyrics instead of Joey Fatone's huge head or the address for Aguilera's whore-page...I mean homepage. Travis had "Sing" hit the airwaves here and there, again with a video that played more on VH1. Travis reigns from Scotland and the gorgeous use of a banjo throughout the CD will probably frighten the synthesizer-prone youth in Amercia. Kent is totally foreign, Swedish born and they've only released two English speaking albums. Sigur Ros gets about as much air play as I do...none. The Icelandic band released their last album, "Agaetis Byrjun," into the U.S. music market without translation. The album remains in their native tongue. And while U2 remains one of the best bands in history, I'll admit my less-than enthusiastic liking of the "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "Popmart" albums. I'm a fan of classic U2, I guess, from "War" to "Actung Baby." I will also say that "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "Popmart" were and still are FAR superior to much of the music that has been released in the last four years.

I'm not totally against American music either. There are bands that still move me like R.E.M. and Wilco, but there's a new wave of bands that have haunting reminders of Alice In Chains and early Stone Temple Pilots, bands that seem to think that trying to mimic Pearl Jam will get them into the longevity of the music biz. Then there are other bands who are just hanging on and no one seems to know why, a.k.a Limp Bizkit.

I need music that lasts and doesn't get killed on the radio. I need music that gets under my skin and makes me stop to listen. I'm not out for catchy beats or a new remix of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." Jesus, write your own shit. The last two bands I can think of that made it big off remakes were again Limp Bizkit for "Faith," and Marilyn Manson for "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics. Look how far they've gone. "Would you like fries with that?" Think about what you hear on the "oldies" stations now. Do you think in thirty-years, people are going to calling in the hear "Lady Marmalade?" No, I don't think so.

Maybe I'll just move to Europe.

MUSIC TO LIVE BY

So I'm trying to make a CD for Connie before she leaves for school, and the making of a good CD is always a complicated process.

First of all there's trying condense the fifty-plus hours of music I have into eighty minutes this is a difficult task because I want to add a ton of songs. This leads us into the second issue.

The second thing is that Con and I have musical tastes as different as day and night. Therefore I have to make something for her while avoiding many of the songs I would put on a CD. This includes such pitfalls as "Every Rose Has it's Thorn."

And finally there's the arrangement. A good mix CD does not have songs strewn about. There's a logical progression. In this case, it's a CD she can put in her CD-alarm clock and fall asleep to. So starting out with some of the faster paced songs and taking the CD out on a slower, quieter song would be the proper thing to do.

In many ways the CD could represent the cycle of life from a youthful vibrant child, to a steady, elder man. So says the Zen of the Diner.

SEVEN-FORTY-SEVEN

Silence, like a whisper
So this is all we need
The full airconditioned sound of speed
A violent whisper
And this time it's for real
So this day I made plans for us to leave

UNDERLYING MESSAGE

Once again, I was doing my usual rounds of blog reading, and came to Poje's page. Now I've always know that he hides little messages when you hover your mouse over a link, but for some reason I hadn't hovered over my name. To my giddy surprise, the words "White Bastard" appeared. Good think the office was empty when I laughed out loud. I guess my secret is out.

Thanks Poje.

FRUITS OF A GREEN PLASTIC TREE

DANCING NANCIES

Twenty three and so tired of life
Such a shame to throw it all away
The images grow darker still
Could I have been anyone other than me?

BITCH, ARE YOU FOR REAL?!

So I was clicking around The Hollywood Stock Exchange and checking out future movie "stock." To my delighted surprise, I came upon this...

Superstar rapper L.L. Cool J brings charm and style to the Dimension Films remake of Dolemite. L.L. plays Dolemite, a club owner who is framed by his nemesis and sent to prison. Upon parole, Dolemite tries to go back to his old club, but finds out his rival has taken over. Enraged, but not embittered, Dolemite decides to take back what's rightfully his. The original 1975 film starring Rudy Ray Moore was a part of the blaxploitation film trend. Buddy Johnson, who also star in the movie, pens the new version.

I squealed like a school girl after drinking a forty-ounce. Now I wait for Kyle's response...

VIA CHICAGO

I painted my name on the back of a leaf
And I watched it float away
The hope I had in a notebook full of white, dry pages
Was all I tried to save
But the wind blew me back via Chicago
In the middle of the night
And all without fight
At the crush of veils and starlight

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE



Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days
And people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day
By the bottle that you drink
And times when you're all alone all you do is think

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive

SUCKED OUT

where'd you go now that everybody knows
and we did a couple shows out there?
look at me, I can write a melody
but I can't expect a soul to care
kissing the bride, 45 minutes a side
this was my dream - played out rocking routine

MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

Red wine and sleeping pills
Help me get back to your arms
Cheap sex and sad films
Help me get back where I belong

SULK

You bite through the big wall, the big wall bites back
You just sit there and sulk, sit there and bawl
You are so pretty when you're on your knees
Disinfected, eager to please

CRUSH

Hey, it seems like Peggy was up all night working on her Kyle Ford fan page!

Lookin' good Peggy!

A SHOT IN THE ARM

We fell in love
In the key of C
We walked along
Down by the sea
You followed me down
The neck to D
and fell again
Into the sea
You changed
Oh, you've changed

LIKE CLOCKWORK

   DUDE
   Terrific, Walter. But you haven't
   told me how we get her back. Where
   is she?

   WALTER
   That's the simple part, Dude. When
   we make the handoff, I grab the guy
   and beat it out of him.

   DUDE
   Yeah. That's a great plan, Walter.
   That's fucking ingenious, if I
   understand it correctly. That's a
   Swiss fucking watch.

DUDE IN DOLBY 5.1

Now I know that no one cares but I thought I'd mention that my personal home theater is set up and rockin'. So I'm just chillin' while this storm is raging outside and absorbing Lebowski in surround sound.

P.S. You can see a million miles tonight, but you can't get very far.

PRETTY, PRETTY PEGGY SUE

Looks like someone has the fever again.

THE DOBI

I was doing my usual cycle of afternoon blog reading and I was checking out Goatee Style and he mentioned the site, dobi.nu. I checked it out and was instantly awed by some of the photos that Rob Dobi has taken. Take a look. It's good shit.

Thanks to Ryan.

MR. JONES

Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights
Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely

TOLLS? WHERE WE'RE GOING, WE DON'T NEED TOLLS

I signed up for the infamous "I-Pass" system yesterday. With Jeff living in the city and Connie heading back to school in a few weeks, I justified the use to myself. However, there will be none of the following from me:

I got my I-Pass today. I'm very excited. I'm gonna use it to pick up chicks. That and the fact that I have massive nuts.
- Jeff Eichhorn

STREET SPIRIT

This machine will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again and fade out again

SOMEDAY SOON

IN SEARCH OF...WHAT?

I know it's another cliched thing to do with blogger, but I still want to list some of the things that people have been searching for and somehow my site is coming up for them. Some of them are understandable, others are just odd. I think I'm going to add another box to the right here for the best search query line of the week. Anyway, here are some of the more recent ones.

   Empire Diner - Which of course makes sense.

   Wilco lyrics - This is also okay, they are one of my favorite
   bands and I do have their lyrics plastered all over this site.

   John Popper skinny - A little rare, but I did do a short blog
   about that.

   Gizmo Duck - Damn right, Gizmo Duck. I'd hope this comes
   up in everyone's search queries.

   Hashbrowns - Hmm...okay...?

   we both lie silently still - At first I had no idea why this was in there,
   then I searched my blog. Those are the first lyrics to "Every Rose
   Has it's Thorn" by Poison.

   Stupid company names - I REALLY hope that wasn't referring
   to the name Stick Bus.

   Pictures of hashbrowns - ...what the hell?

   Comodores lyrics - I don't even listen to the Comodores.

   Blairwich - Ouch, that was a punch in the stomach.

   Poje skating - Poje doesn't skate, he designs.

   Dave's Willams web page - No, no. Dave SLIOZIS, that's
   not even CLOSE to Williams.

   Aki from Final Fantasy getting f**ked - Okay, no. And
   there's something depressing to be said about people searching
   for computer generate characters in sexual positions. Loser.

With my luck, this only opened the door for more odd things to appear in my seach query. I expect that Final Fantasy line to pop-up a lot more now.

DON'T LET GO

Anything you desire
I will set at your feet
With a kiss in the air
For the gods to recieve
But if there comes a day
You should turn your heart away
I'll be down on my knees
Beggin' for that girl to stay

SKIPPED

there were days when i swam home
days where the ice covered everything
days when there was nothing to do
but just jump around that edge

living in the below, i learned nothing of the above
didn't care much of the storming outside
didn't care much that the windows were broken
and the glass scattered throughout the house

the tire tracks cut across my lawn
they stopped at the house
they stopped short of my feet
and you scared me when you parked your truck there

you were the storming that tore off my roof
and flooded my attic
and knocked down my walls
leaving me open and warm in the summer sun

there's no place to sleep except the floor
warped from the drying sun
warped from the summer heat
that left me burnt in the day and freezing at night

there were days when i walked home
days where the sun covered everything
days when there was nothing to do
but just jump around at your feet

CRAWL

Promises that tell me
in a thousand ways
Moving on forever
Living life this way
And I can't wait to crawl
I can't wait anymore

DAVE vs. COLLEGE

The war rages on.

Today I re-enrolled in the community college I hated so much because things at Columbia weren't working out. Columbia really screwed me over and I'm thinking about writing a letter to tell them how awful their entire set up is and how impossible it is for students to get anything they need. Columbia always said, "Our teachers are also currently working in the field." Well that's nice and everything because they have a ton of life experience, but I always had the feeling they never gave their all because they knew that in a few years we'd be competing with them for jobs out there. Jerks.

Anyway, I'm nervous about going back to the community college because I thought I was done there and I thought my life was finally moving forward. I'm nervous about going back because I'm smarter than that place and I hate having to use it as a stepping stone. I'm starting to feel like leaving Columbia was a dumb thing to do, and now I've got to go face my old enemy again. I'm much older and I guess much wiser than I was the first time around so maybe it won't be so bad. I don't know, my life seems to be shifting in big ways again and the twisting in my stomach isn't getting any better. We'll see in two weeks.

Jeff Crain offered me some advice on the subject:

"Every school is a shit-hole man, it's like they're the giant toilets of our lives, and they flush years and years away. And when it comes down to it, the only thing that is any different is what color the lid is."

VELVET

My skin feels strange like there´s something underneath
And it´s aching to be free
Try to think of something else
In my mind, imagination running wild
I try to shut my eyes
Try to hide it with a lie
But I´m running out of time
You and I move at the speed of light

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES

Not like any one cares, unless maybe you're a new reader here, but I've almost got my archives in a non-suckass state. You can read everything from old months again, most of the pics are missing so it's not your computer, it's mine.

THOSE DAMNED CLONES

Lucas released the name of Episode II. I bet he lost alot of sleep picking that one out...

EXTRA CRISPY

BrusBus2: HAHAHAHAHA
Stick Bus: ?
BrusBus2: I deleted IE
BrusBus2: cant put it back on
BrusBus2: so fucked
Stick Bus: terrible!

SVEFN-G-ENGLAR

Sigur Ros is rolling through Chicago (thanks for the tip Alison) at the end of September (9.27.01) to the Vic Theater. Tickets are $20 bucks each, I recommend you try to be there. Especially because Radiohead are fans of theirs, you might bump into Thom.

Actually...you probably won't bump into Thom...he'll be in Japan. But you might bump into me, and I might as well be famous.