It has come to my attention that some people out there might not have appreciated the post wherein I said that I loved the names of several of my male relatives but don't care for the names of my female relatives.

So here's the thing. I love and respect everyone I'm related to. And I'm not saying that because I'm related to them or whatever. I'm saying that because, as I've grown older and come to understand more and more about what my family is and who these people really are, I've come to understand that they my family is a collection of excellent people that deserve to be loved and respected. I don't think I will ever find a group of harder working, more dedicated, more generous, or more loving people. My mom's generation built lives for themselves almost literally out of nothing. And my generation--with the possible exception of myself--has done pretty good for itself, too. My family has never let me down, even though I've let them down frequently. I love them each because of who they are, and not simply because we have common ancestors.

I didn't mean any offense when I said I liked some peoples' names and not others. I should have been more clear and said that I love everyone I'm related to deeply. I'm sorry that I wasn't clear, I'm sorry that I posted that, and I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings or disrespected anyone. That wasn't my intention, and I hope you can forgive me.

So if you're out there, and you know someone that might have been upset by what I said, please pass my apology along.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)| Filed under Apologies , Existential Nonsense , Things I Wish I Could Take Back

I've grudgingly accepted the fact that, in our society, you can now be famous and admired for absolutely no reason. There are young girls in America that look up to Paris Hilton. That, right there, should be enough to let you know that something is seriously wrong with everything.

But I think there's someone who's actually worse than Hilton. That person is Heidi Montag. I can't even come up with a good way of expressing exactly how worthless this thing is, so I'm going to resort to analogies. If Paris Hilton is a hangnail, Heidi Montag is inoperable brain cancer. If Paris Hilton is a fender bender, Heidi Montag is the Titanic disaster. If Paris Hilton is Jar Jar Binks, then Heidi Montag is Hitler. Do you see what I'm saying here? Heidi Montag is fucking absolutely without worth.

Don't believe me? See for yourself:

I mean, am I wrong here? Look at her fucking face! Why is she making that face? Dear Jesus, why?

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)| Filed under Funny Shit , Horribly Inappropriate Things I've Said , Potentially Entirely Unhelpful Analogies , Rants About Things That Make Me Irrationally Angry

This weekend was awesome. Let me tell you why.

On Friday, a bunch of us met up at Brocach for drinks and food. Our original plan was to go to happy-hour Gomeroke, but that shit ended at like 7, which was lame. So we went to Brocach and had some drinks. I hung out on the fruity side of things, enjoying some brady old fashioneds and a midori sour. Then I had a vodka gimlet, which wasn't very good, frankly. Chelsadilla and I split a shepherd's pie and some fries. It was friggin' awesome.

Around ten, RPM, L-Dawg, X-tina, chelsadilla, and I headed down to the Ivory Room. This place could be in contention for the coveted spot of my favorite bar in Madison. The atmosphere is awesome, especially if you can sit up by the bar. The music is live--which is always a plus--but it's also not so loud that it makes conversation impossible. The drinks, though not cheap, are good. After trying to decide what to drink for pretty much ever, I settled on one of my favorites: a dirty gin martini. It was dirty as shit, too: it was really briny, which is fine with me. Chelsadilla and X-Tina drank chocolate martinis, L-Dawg stuck to scotch, and RPM had water, seeing as how he was feeling under the weather.

When we first got there, this one guy was playing. He was tall and skinny and mediocre. But halfway through the night, this short, fat, bald, bearded dude showed up. I had seen him before, and he's awesome. He did not disappoint. He did an awesome versions of "Beast of Burden," "Don't Stop Believing," "The Wind," "Wild World," and a bunch of others. He's really awesome.

When we were all ready to leave, there was some controversy as to what the plan was for the rest of the night. L-Dawg and I were heavily lobbying in favor of a visit to The Dock. X-Tina and chelsadilla were heavily opposed to a visit to The Dock, owing to the cold and the late hour. I was torn, so I took RPM and L-Dawg aside and briefly conferred on the question of whether a trip to The Dock was worth pissing off the girlfriend. We decided that it was not and called it a night.

Saturday was much less eventful, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Chelsadilla and I went over to Co-SME and The Reeg's place and watched trashy TV. It was awesome, really. I hate myself for saying this, but Tool Academy really is an amazing show.

Sunday was another relatively uneventful day, but the evening was awesome. Upholding a ner tradition, I cooked a ridiculous meal for chelsadilla. I picked another recipe out of the book pH was kind enough to lend me. This time, I baked some chicken thighs, potatoes, and tomatoes together. It was fan-fucking-tastic.

Also, get this: in a previous life, I must have cured cancer. I say this because that's the only explanation I can think of for chelsadilla: the universe owes me something awesome. See, on Sunday, she came over and did my dishes while I cooked. Then she hung out with me while I logged onto WoW and killed some dragons with RPM, L-Dawg, X-Tina, et al. So, basically, I have the best girlfriend ever.

And that's how I spent my weekend.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Hanging Out With My Friends , Music Reviews , Restaurant and Bar Reviews , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

So, if you're in college and you happen to be friends with the people who throw some of the biggest house parties on campus, you get used to having tons of people--mostly strangers--around you on weekend nights. And you get used to interacting with them on some level. Personally, I never liked to have more than shallow conversations with those people because, frankly, most of the time they had nothing interesting at all to say.

Anyway, on most Friday and Saturday nights in college, I found myself at The House, partaking of various boisterous activities. If they weren't hosting a party we were all drinking at the table talking about Important Things.

But every now and then, I'd have to retreat to the restroom. And while I stood there, apart from the conversation and noise, I had a moment to think. And, invariably, I would think about all the things that I had to be sad about. Mostly, I'd think about how I was alone and lonely.

I'm telling you this to note a contrast.

I was out with friends and chelsadilla tonight. We were having a good, boisterous time. The music was loud and the conversation was good. And I had been drinking, so I went to use the facilities. And as I stood there, I actively sought for something to be sad about.

And here's the thing: I couldn't think of anything.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)| Filed under Existential Nonsense

So, in keeping with my resolution to listen to albums rather than songs on random, I sat down and listened to one that I hadn't listened to in a while: Zwan's Mary Star of the Sea. Zwan, for those of you who don't know, is Billy Corgan's other band. It only released one album, which is really too bad.

I'll go through song by song like I normally do and then give you an overall opinion.

Lyric
This is a beautiful song and a great opener. It's up-beat and uplifting. The vocals are really pretty, with the bassist--Paz Lenchantin--providing a really nice counterharmony to Billy's lead. The structure is classic Pumpkins, but the overall effect is distinct: this is what the Pumpkins would sound like if Billy had been happy rather than, you know, a ragey caged rat.

Another thing that really makes this song stand out is the intricacy of the guitar parts. Zwan had three guitarists, and they really got a lot of mileage out of them. Even though Billy always used studio trickery to make his songs sound extremely dense and lush, this album takes that to the next level on a lot of tracks by also adding a lot of variation to the parts the guitars are playing. That effect is prominent here, and it's good.

5 out of 5.

Settle Down
Not as good as the first track, and definitely not as pop-friendly. But still decent. Not a stand-out track, and certainly one you'd skip if you were doing an abbreviated listen, but not every song can be a showstopper. This is one of the weaker songs on the album, but it's still decent.

3 out of 5.

Declarations of Faith
Another up-beat, radio-friendly affair. Billy's songs always have interesting structures with fluid transitions from one section to the next and from one dynamic to another. This song--while not as varied as, say, "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" (one of my all-time faves)--still goes from the drum-driven verses to the bombastic choruses to the complex breakdown. Very nice.

4 out of 5.

Honestly
This is the single from the album. It got some airplay and there was a video, but I think it mostly flew under the radar. I can see why--it's adequate, but not amazing. I don't know why they chose this one, frankly. "Lyric" would have been my choice. Actually, I do know why they picked this one: it was fairly safe. It's got a conventional structure, a guitar solo that's not off-putting, and it's not entirely un-Pumpkins sounding.

Still, for all its shortcomings, it's a decent song. It's sort of the love song Billy never wrote with the Pumpkins. Machina gave us "Stand Inside Your Love," a pseudo-love song that is frankly creepy ("I'll wrap my wire around your heart"), and then Star of the Sea gave us a sincere ballad.

I'm hesitant to give this one a 3 but I don't think it merits a 4, so I'll give it a 3.5 out of 4.

El Sol
I like this song. I can't really quantify why. It's not particularly exciting in any aspect, but it's just sort of fun to listen to. I could see myself driving around listening to this song during the spring or summer, tapping my foot, with a smile on my face. Which is strange cause, you know, it was written by Billy Corgan.

4 out of 5.

Of a Broken Heart
Hey, so Billy can still write sad songs. But even though this is a more introspective tune, it's not as dire and bleak as some of his previous work--it's no "Soothe," for example. Paz plays the violin on this one, I think, and it really adds a lot to the song. The strings here aren't as in your face as they are on, say, "Disarm" or "Tonight, Tonight," but they're a little more intricate.

4 out of 5.

Ride a Black Swan
I don't know. I don't find this one particularly appealing. Again, I can't really put my finger on it. The melody during the verses just doesn't do anything for me, and there's nothing too interesting going on during the chorus. I'm comfortable comparing this song to something like "We Only Come Out at Night" in that it's there, it's not offensive, it's not so bad that it ruins the flow of the album if you're listening all the way through, but no one ever puts on the CD for the express purpose of listening to this song.

3 out of 5.

Heartsong
More of the same as "Ride a Black Swan," really. There's some interesting stuff here, but overall it's just sort of "meh." I don't dread this song, but I don't look forward to it, either.

3 out of 5.

Endless Summer
After the relatively down-tempo "Heartsong," getting an up-beat number like this one is a good change. The verse-chorus-verse-chorus part is decent but not special, but I really like the solo, breakdown, and end. The vocals are fun and the guitars are cool. Again, it's not a break-out hit, but it's a fun listen.

3 out of 5.

Baby Let's Rock!
This song is called "Baby Let's Rock!" That should tell you that this is a significantly different band than the Pumpkins. As near as I can tell, this song is about, well, rockin' with your baby. Or wanting to. It's happy and it's about wanting someone, but not in a creepy ("Lily (My One and Only)"), desperate ("Love"), or entirely unhealthy ("Bodies") way.

And it's catchy, too.

4 out of 5.

Yeah!
For those of you playing along at home, that's two consecutive song titles with exclamation points in them. That's fucking strange. But both of these songs live up to whatever it is that the exclamation point promises: up-beat, good-time songs. Which, again, is strange.

This song is similar to "Lithium" in that the chorus consists entirely of the word "yeah," but the similarities between those two songs ends there. This one goes back and forth between quieter verses and louder choruses, the latter of which come with a very catchy little riff that you sort of want to hear forever. It's a keeper!

4 out of 5.

Desire
Meh. This is probably my least favorite song on the album for two reasons. First, it's just not that great. It's sort of boring. The lyrics are me, the music is meh, the whole thing is meh. If I was gonna cut one song from the album, it would be this one.

Depending on how you draw the line between a two-star and a three-star song, this one could go either way. Is it actively bad? Not really. But it's completely by-the-numbers and boring and just overall weaker than everything else on the CD. I'm listening to it now and it definitely seems like a two-star song, but I could see it as deserving three if I was in the right mood.

2 out of 5.

Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea
The second thing that "Desire" has going against it is that it has the unenviable task of preceding what is, by far, the best track on the album and one of my all-time favorite Billy Corgan songs. If "Desire" was a good song, it would be hard for me to sit through it instead of skipping to "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea." Given that it's a meh song, I almost never make it all the way through.

Anyway, this song is fabulous. One of the things Billy was best at was the epic songs. "Soma" is simply one of the best songs ever written, "Silverfuck" is an interesting excursion in psychedelia, "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" is epic and sprawling and awesome, "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" is just an excellent song, and "X.Y.U." is one of the most honestly angry songs I've ever heard. In terms of sheer length, "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea" is longer than the longest one of those by almost double--this song is fourteen minutes long, people.

This thing starts with a simple guitar line, and builds from there. Billy's voice enters, then another guitar, then the whole band, all building on that first guitar figure. The song keeps building until you can't help but nod your head in time to the driving drums. Then a very-Billy-Corgan guitar comes in and tears everything down. Then the whole thing starts building again, this time much more slowly. Eventually, there's a temp change and my favorite part starts.

It's this soothing, fragile, lush sound. Each of the guitarists is doing something different and the overall sound is deep and complex and just beautiful. It builds gradually, thins out, slows down, and then the drums come back in and this thing slowly morphs back into a rock song with a heavy guitar doubling the vocals. There are so many different parts, it's hard to pick them all out, but it never sounds muddy or unorganized or overwhelming. It's sublime. "Everything just feels like rain" and then it's an awesome hard-rock jam till the end.

All in all, this thing is awesome.

5 out of 5.

Come With Me
I forget that this song is on the album, frankly. For me, "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea" is such an awesome song that I don't understand why they didn't end it there. I'm honestly shocked when this song's little vocorder intro comes on. But then I hear the first few bars and my shock turns to pleasant bemusement. This is a damned good song, actually. It's different from what you'd expect, but it's catchy and infectious and cute. It's just a guy singing about being happy and wanting his girlfriend to stay the night. It might not be what we've come to expect from Billy Corgan, but it's good.

5 out orf 5.

I think that last sentence sums up the album, really. It's different, but it's good. There are a lot more songs on this album that are in major keys than on anything the Pumpkins ever did, but that's not necessarily bad. In fact, a lot of the songs here reveal a songwriter who's still got it to some degree. This album's not about angst, it's about moving past that and being happy. That might have put some people off, and I think that's unfortunate.

Still, the thing's not perfect. There are definitely some areas where it drags, and I think that the band would have benefited from having more time to come up with a few songs that weren't as predictable as some of stuff that came in in the middle. But the beginning and the end are awesome, and there's some decent stuff in the middle. So overall, I think this is a respectable showing, and I think this band should have gotten more respect than it did.

On the overall rankings, I'm tentatively prepared to move this ahead of Adore on my list of all time favorite Billy Corgan works, but I think I'll have to listen to Adore again before I make that a final decision.

So there you go!

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)| Filed under Music Reviews , The Smashing Pumpkins

Flagstaff had a Sonic Drive-In, and I remember going there exactly once and being largely underwhelmed by the food. So while everyone else in Madison was flipping their shit over how amazing the new Sonic was going to be, I was largely cool to the whole thing. I certainly was not going to wait in line in my car on University for an hour and a half for some thawed tater tots. But the combination of pH and Mr. Vice discussing Sonic during Chuck, my grumbling stomach, and it being late enough for the wait to be reasonable conspired to make tonight the night that chelsadilla and I would try out the latest Madison craze. As it turns out, Sonic was right about what I remembered: In a word, "meh."

i had a chili-cheese dog (a "coney," in the parlance of Sonic), some popcorn chicken, and tater tots. Chelsadilla had some fries with cheese. My dog was the best part. It was a pretty good chili-cheese affair, actually. The popcorn chicken was ok, but vastly inferior to KFC's version. And the tater tots were completely disappointing. As much as I love the idea of tater tots, I'm honestly hard-pressed to come up with a single example of having been satisfied with the actual execution. Sonic's attempt was pretty lame, even by these deflated standards. Chelsadilla didn't complain about her fries, but they didn't look all that appetizing.

Still, there are a lot of other options on the menu, and some of them looked pretty good. And then there are the shakes and floats and stuff. I think those will really hit the spot once the sun decides to shine it's love on Madison again.

Overall, though, if I drive past the Sonic and see that immediate eating is not an option, I'll keep driving and not feel like I'm missing too much.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Restaurant and Bar Reviews

So, for the first time, I have a girlfriend on Valentine's Day. While some people around me stressed over what to do for their significant others, I took the pressure in stride. For one thing, chelsadilla and I haven't been together for all that long, so it's not like I'm expected to buy diamonds or anything. I hope not, anyway. If I was, I completely failed. But also, I sort of knew what I wanted to do: I fed her.

We started off going for breakfast at the winter farmer's market with pH and RPM. Everyone except me had crepes with caramelized apples and yogurt of some sort. They all reported that their food was good. I decided to try the savory option: savory crepes with a pork-liver mouse and some caramelized onions. I thought mine were good, too, although if I had it to do over, I'd probably take the sweet option, too.

After hanging out at her place for a while, chelsadilla and I headed downtown. First, we went to Five Guys for some badass burgers and fries. Then we headed to the Terrace to see the styrofoam Statue of Liberty the Hoofers have built down there. That was fun.

Later, we took a trip to the grocery store to pick out the ingredients for my planned amazing dinner. We brought the ingredients back and then ventured out once more to take in Coraline in 3D. It was really good. The animation was excellent, the music was awesome, and the 3D effect was the best I've seen.

When that was over we headed back to her place and it was time to start cooking my ridiculous dinner. Let me tell you about this thing. It was fucking amazing.

First, I took a beef tenderloin and crusted it in salt, pepper, rosemary, and fennel seeds. I threw that in a roasting pan with olive oil, red onions, celery, and some smashed garlic. I roasted that for about forty-five minutes. When it was done, I took the beef out and put it on a plate. Then I added some white wine to the goodness left in the pan and made a little sauce to go with the meat. On the side, I roasted some potatoes, red onions, and garlic in olive oil, butter, and balsamic vinegar. Here's a picture:

I think that it was by far the best meal I've ever cooked, and I owe it all to Jamie Oliver. Mr. Oliver, I tip my hat to you. Chelsadilla appreciated it too, I think. At least her sighs and smiles suggested that she did.

Now we're sitting here watching some TV due to the food-induced coma. There are still some chocolate-covered strawberries in the fridge, though, so the awesome food isn't done with.

I just asked chelsadilla if I succeeded for Valentine's Day. Her response: a thumbs up. I think I did ok.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Fun Shit I've Done , Movie Reviews , Restaurant and Bar Reviews

If I'm Superman, then UPS is Lex Luthor and Charter is General Zod who, I now admit, is a first-rate Superman villain. Anyway, yeah, UPS and General Zod. Today I was pleased to learn that Charter Communications has filed for bankruptcy.

Yeah, sure, the article makes it sound like it's a friendly bankruptcy or whatever, and Charter's not gonna start liquidating its assets or anything, but it's something. I mean, yeah, it's not as awesome as tricking General Zod and making him think that I've lost my powers when in fact it's him that was exposed to the anti-power energy, then kneeling before him, then breaking his frail, non-superhuman hand, but it's something.

If nothing else, it's a moral victory.

I'd like to think that this means that Charter will get its head out of its ass and start offering high-quality customer service--or, you know, any at all--but I know it won't. Charter will survive and will continue to be the most worthless company to deal with. Most worthless after UPS, that is.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Funny Shit , Reviews , Superman

So, Mr. Vice, RPM, chelsadilla, and I all went to the Majestic Theatre last night to see dane101's showing of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Joss Whedon's NPH-starring musical bad guy thingy. As it turns out, the thing was awesome, and seeing it with a bunch of people who loved it only enhanced the experience.

I should note that of all of Joss Whedon's offerings, I have loved only one: Firefly and the movie it spawned, Serenity. I don't care for Buffy or Angel. Still, I really, really love Firefly and I had heard innumerable good things about Dr. Horrible's. As it turns out, they were all correct. The movie was funny--extremely so, in fact. It played on the whole good guy-bad guy thing just right while still providing interesting characters. It didn't take itself seriously at all, but it also wasn't frivolous in any way. In short, it was awesome. And the music was really good, too. RPM voiced was less thrilled with some of the numbers than others, but I thought they were all excellent. I'm actually wondering if there's a CD with all of the songs on it because I'd really like to be able to listen to them at will.

Of course, the only thing better than watching a good movie is watching a good movie in a huge room full of hardcore fans--I swear, nothing will ever match the awesomeness of the collective geekout that happened on the opening night of Attack of the Clones when Yoda used the motherfuckin' Force to bring his lightsaber to his hand and then ignited that thing. Everyone in the room needed new pants, and it was awesome. Where was I? Right, the fans.

So, yeah, it seemed like everyone in the room had seen this thing before. The result was that lots of people sang along or quoted the best lines. Some people--chelsadilla amongst them--were annoyed by this, but I thought it made the whole thing more fun. The excitement was contagious.

After the show, they had a quiz contest to determine who the biggest Joss Whedon fan in Madison is. Although Mr. Vice entered, he lost to a girl with an awesome t-shirt that read "Joss Whedon is my master now." A reference to both Whedon and Star Wars? Awesome!

All in all, an excellent evening. Too bad pH couldn't make it . . . .

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Hanging Out With My Friends , Movie Reviews , Music Reviews

One of the coolest things that's happened since I started the blog was that it started being a place where I can keep in touch with a bunch of people that I unfortunately don't see as often as I'd like. Another cool thing is that I've met a few people in the blogosphere that are pretty cool. You might not all know each other for reals, but you're probably vaguely familiar with the names and aliases that comment on here most frequently. Also--and I just thought about this--no one's come on here to bash me in a while. I sort of miss it.

Anyway, so I wanted to introduce a new character to those of you from far away and far afield. We'll call her Chelsadilla. She plays the viola, she's a Ph.D. student, she's got brown eyes and brown hair, she can go round-for-round with me in the sarcasm department, and she's cute as heck. And, as it turns out, she's also my girlfriend.

So, be kind to her. But not too kind--she can take it.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense

You know, I didn't care for Jennifer Hudson's performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Superbowl. I've never really liked all the histrionic nonsense people do to the song. But, whatever--it takes a fuckload of talent to do it. And from the perspective of appreciating someone doing something difficult and impressive, Hudson's performance was awesome. Except that it was a lie. Which is bullshit.

According to Hudson's manager, lipsynching is "the right way to do it." He goes on:

There . . . [are] too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance.

He'd never recommend that any artist go live? What the fuck does that even mean? Like, does he mean ever? The slightest glitch would devastate the performance? Isn't that sort of the point? It seems to me that it is: we're impressed by professional musicians because they're so good at what they do that they show up every night and give us an excellent performance. If they're not even doing that, then what's the fucking point? In fact, it seems incorrect to even call standing up and moving your lips vaguely in time to a recording a "performance." That's like calling me a hunter because I played a lot of Duck Hunt when I was a kid.

I went to the symphony last night. There was a guest pianist. After playing a Beethoven piano concerto, the woman came out and played an astounding solo piece as an encore. It was mind-blowing to watch her hands effortlessly glide across the keyboard playing this beautiful music. It was mind-blowing because she had one chance to do something that is very difficult, and she did it. She hit every note without the benefit of sheet music. As she was playing, I thought about the training and practice and concentration necessary to be able to do something like that. When she was done, the whole place exploded with applause, and rightfully so.

But no one would deserve shit for faking it. Anyone can sit on stage and make vague gestures in the direction of a piano. Anyone can go into a studio, do thousands of takes and--with the benefit of perfect acoustics, zero pressure, and voice-enhancing software--come out sounding amazing. That's not impressive; that's what makes Britney Spears a viable music star. What's impressive is to do that live in the cold in front of literally a billion people.

But Jennifer Hudson didn't do that. Instead, she lied to us.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Music Reviews , Rants About Things That Make Me Irrationally Angry

Recently, tRJ told me that his work had sponsored some thing where people came in and told all the employees what they were like based on when they were born. Apparently, Generation X kicks ass and Generation Y is a bunch of ingrates. Or something.

Anyway, I was thinking about that today and I went and started looking on the whole "Generation Y" thing. As it turns out, I was not as cool and unique as I thought I was when I was a teenager. Did you know, for example, that everyone my age was sad when Kurt Cobain died? It's true, apparently.

So after looking around, i decided to do a little quiz. If you're around my age--I'm 27--then maybe you'll get a kick out of remember this stuff. If you're older, then this'll make you feel old and out of touch. If you're younger, then you won't feel anything because you're probably too busy being worthless and trying to fit into skinnier jeans.

So here goes:

1. On The Adventures of Pete and Pete, what was the name of the younger Pete's tattoo?
2. In what order did the Planeteers call out their elements when summoning Captain Planet?
3. What was the name of the planet where the action in Thundercats took place?
4. What was Doug's dog's name?
5. Arrange these in order from best to worst: Mr. Wizard, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Beakman. This isn't a subjective thing, either.
6. What was the group that told each other stories on Are You Afraid of the Dark called?
7. On You Can't Do That on Television, what substances did people have dumped on them and what words triggered those substances?
8. What was the name of the ranch on Hey Dude?
9. Finish this lyric: "Camp Anawanna, we hold you in our hearts, and when we think about you _________."
10. What were Alex Mack's superpowers?

Post your answers and then I'll post the correct answers. There will be a prize for the winner.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Funny Shit , Quiz Things

I think I've mentioned several times that I'm now an avid reader of Wil Wheaton's blog. I'm such a big fan of his, in fact, that I decided to sign up for Twitter based simply on the fact that he uses it and thinks it's awesome.

What is Twitter, exactly? Glad you asked:

So far, I'm following Wil Wheaton, Jeph Jacques (the guy who writes Questionable Content), and Darth Vader.

I know that tRJ tried the whole Twitter thing a while ago and got bored of it pretty quick. I think part of the problem is that he's not nearly as egotistical as I am: see, I actually think someone--everyone?--cares about the minutiae of my life.

So far, I think Twitter's pretty cool. Sometimes something happens that I think is interesting but that's not worthy of a whole post. Or I feel like cursing at someone. Or some random and entertaining thought comes to mind. Now I can put those things somewhere. And since I added the Twitter app right there in the sidebar, that means that there will almost always be new content on the blog, even when I'm too lazy or busy to post something real.

So let me know what you think. And if you're on Twitter, too, let me know and I'll follow you. And you can follow me.

Also, I think it's about time for a new poll. Any suggestions?

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , General Remarks

You make one tiny change to your Facebook relationship status and everyone you've ever met is tripping all over themselves trying to figure out what's up.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)| Filed under Existential Nonsense