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October 31, 2005

Canned Spam

It was like the calm before the storm. On Saturday, this web site had 0 visitors. None. Ziltch. Nada. Nil. Get the picture?

Then, starting at 5:00 on Halloween (today), I received about 40 comment spams. That’s great news.

So starting now, until I can get things fixed up – and by “I,” I mean Kevin – there will be no comments from anyone allowed. Sorry!!! But that’s what you get for NOT visiting my site on Saturday!

Happy the Halloween, everyone!

Posted by Seth at 08:55 AM

October 28, 2005

Chimichanga, Chimichanga, Chimichanga

In Fayetteville, there’s a mexican restaurant (that my mother used to drag me to all the time) called Jose’s. It’s a staple of Fayetteville and especially of Dickson Street. Over the years, Joe, the owner, would be the voice talent for their radio spots... why not. He coined the phrase, “Ole for Jose’s,” which, I think, still lives at the very end of every radio spot you hear for them. A few years ago, after I had moved to Kansas City, I heard about his latest radio spot about chimichangas. Yes, good ol’ Joe had created another catch phrase, “chimichanga, chimichanga, chimichanga.”

Enough about Jose’s, but speaking of chimichanga...

A group of co-workers and I went down to Taqueria Mexico today for lunch. I love this place (see, I told you I do), their food is so damn good. After today, I’m not so sure how much love for them will last.

Halfway through a meal of beef chimichanga, a co-worker discovered something odd in the tortilla. When she asked several of us what it was, we all replied that it was just a part of the tortilla that didn’t get deep fried. She wasn’t satisfied with that answer, and neither were we when the poked at it with her fork and it sprung back and forth like those door stopper things that make the cool boing noise when you flick them.

None of us knew what it was and she stopped eating. After making several jokes about what it could be and then singing the pre-chorus to Weezer’s “Holiday,” I decided to go ask the wait staff what it was.

After a few minutes of discussion, we all concluded that the thing (that was now on my plate) was a corazón – that’s "heart" in English. She had a chicken heart in her BEEF chimichanga. Gross. GROSS!

You couldn’t really say that her heart was in the right place. Nor did she get heart burn. The meal wasn’t too hearty, but, it WAS a heart-felt situation. Someone already asked if she ate her heart out... no, she didn’t. Okay, stop.

Posted by Seth at 01:55 PM | Comments (2)

October 26, 2005

Worst Official TV Show Site Ever

Back in my Fall TV Preview post, I mentioned my interest (and complete disinterest) for several new shows. While I’m still on the fence about one show in particular, I decided that I’m going to watch a few more episodes before I give it the axe. So I wandered on over to the network site to see when the next new episode would air.

This proved to be a very unnecessarily daunting task.

When you create a web site (micro, mini, etc.) for a movie or television show, it needs to follow a certain mold – it needs to contain certain things: cast bios, character bios, episode guide/recaps, upcoming schedule, etc. Most, if not all, show-specific web sites do this and they make it easy for the user to find the information.

Let’s check out a few:

All of them contain the necessary information needed to find out what you want to know. Do they all look the same? No. That’s fine, as long as the information is there and prevalent.

But what happened in ABC’s world? Lost’s page looks fine. So does Desperate Housewives.

Tell me why Invasion’s page is total crap. If you look at the actual web address (http://abc.go.com/primetime/invasion/blog/index.html), it appears that you’ve just reached the “blog” page. Fair enough, but if you try going to http://abc.go.com/primetime/invasion/, you get re-directed right back to the totally cool looking blog page – complete with missing banners and hard to decipher navigation (meaning I didn’t figure it out right off the bat).

What’s more troubling is that this is the “blog” of the paranoid brother-in-law. In the show, he doesn’t have computer access at home, he records his thoughts on a tape recorder. So how does he have a blog? And even if he had electricity, why is he blogging about “next episodes” and “episode recaps?” This is not a very good marketing tactic from ABC. Rather, I should say that this is not a very well executed tactic.

First off, this blog shouldn’t be the default Invasion home page. This series was just picked up for an entire season, surely, with all the money they spent the filming of all the episodes (they have in the can already) and marketing, wouldn’t they already have a nice accompanying web site to go along with it?

Secondly, the Lost and Desperate Housewives pages aren’t anything spectacular. All we need is a decent landing page to get our information from.

Third, why not make this blog more hidden? Host it at Blogger or TypePad, make people find it. Remember the success of OceanicFlight815.com and Oceanic-Air.com?

Fourth, if dude only has a battery-powered tape recorder and is taping his thoughts... how about you turn that into a podcast? Booyah.

Hello, ABC... you guys rocked it for Lost and this show is supposed to ride the coattails of that success. Let’s start doing that.

Posted by Seth at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2005

Nothing To Substantiate A Full Post

I got nothin’ to really jam about right now, so here’s a few things that I’ve been wanting to say. To you. My loyal readers...

The Latest on the Flea
It’s totally the owner who’s trying to make the Flea go away. How lame.

Camping
Is very fun with lots of friends. I vow to go camping at LEAST once a year, even if it’s a giant hassle to drag all that crap out there for one night.

Walk to Work
I’ve been walking to work for about the past week now and it’s amazing. It’s only 30 minutes and it’s a perfect time to relax and prepare for the day – or unwind from the day. If you live close enough to your work, I couldn’t urge you enough, you’ll love it. But get some good walking shoes, first!

The West Wing... Still Good
After telling ER, “it’s not you, it’s me,” I had my doubts about The West Wing. Those doubts are gone, it’s still a fun show and I can’t wait for the Live Debate Episode!

The Caption Contest
We’ve only had 25 votes!?! We had twice that many people at the damn party! Go vote now, please!

A Halloween Message To You
That’s right, I took time to prepare a special Halloween message for all of you. Get ’er done!

Posted by Seth at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

I Choose Burgers, Not Boobs

“This is one of the worst cataclysms in Kansas City Dining history.”
– Scooter J. Murdock

The past few months have seen rumors running rampant and I’m sad to say that the rumors are finally proving to be true. The absolute gem that is the Westport Flea Market will be closing it’s doors soon. I don’t know how soon, but if you’ve received the latest coupon for the Flea, then you’ll read on it, “Last chance to get a flea market burger.” That coupon expires on November 11, 2005. Is that the closing date? Who knows. Will I go and eat massive quantities of flea burgers? Damn yes.

Closing aside, the most troubling aspect of this entire deal is what will replace the Flea. Gone will be the building and all the people who sold their crap in there, all of it replaced with a nice, new, shiny Hooters.

Yes, Hooters.

Done barfing yet? I’m not. This makes me sick. Westport doesn’t need a Hooters any more than it needed a Johnny Dare’s (which, is now closed... shocking, I know). Westport is all about the small, unique shops, boutiques and restaurants (sans Chili’s, Starbucks and Sonic). When I go to Westport, I go for Murray’s Ice Cream, Mesa Wraps, and McCoy’s. Or I go for beers at the Stagecoach, Harry’s (the original) or Buzzard Beach. Never for those other, chain-based, stores.

Westport doesn’t need a Hooters. Unfortunately, with the amount of bachelor parties that roll through there, it will probably work out for them. Gross. Gross food, even grosser girls. What a joke.

What Scoot said above is so true and I couldn’t agree more. If you’d like to send Hooters a note on what you think about them opening a place in Westport, then by all means, don’t let me stop you.

Posted by Seth at 11:30 AM | Comments (18)

October 18, 2005

I Want No Lipogram, From You

Do you know how hard it is to post a blog without using an “e” in any word? I think it’s particularly hard... I sat around wracking my brain, for half an hour, trying to accomplish this task. Silly, I know, but it truly is hard. Try it, you savvy human, you. As much as I thought it was hard to do it for a blog post, think about writting a damn book without using e’s. That’s absurd, it’s too much, in no way is it a cinch. Right?

Wrong.

Don’t say that to Mr. Wright, author of Gadsby: A Novel of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter “E.” Wright would scoff at you in a flash. And probably slap you across your mouth, too. I’d also put odds on him calling you a sissy, pansy, idiot, and no doubt a bull-riding poo-brain. That might push it too far, who knows.

Still don’t think it’s an actuality? Scan portions for your own satisfaction.

If youth, throughout all history, had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn’t constantly run across folks today who claim that “a child don’t know anything.” A child’s brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adults act, and figuring out its purport.
...
A glorious full moon sails across a sky without a cloud. A crisp night air has folks turning up coat collars and kids hopping up and down for warmth. And that giant star, Sirius, winking slyly, knows that soon, now, that light up in His Honors room window will go out. Fttt! It *is* out! So, as Sirius and Luna hold an all-night vigil, I’ll say a soft “Goodnight” to all our happy bunch, and to John Gadsby - Youth’s Champion.
Finis.

Baaaam!

Posted by Seth at 09:53 AM | Comments (4)

October 17, 2005

Credit? Check!

With the recently announced news of my building going condo, I’ve been thinking seriously about taking the plunge and being a home(loft) owner once again. Absolutely zero details have been released in regards to pricing on each unit or what the price will be per square foot, but rumors have floated around about there being a new exercise room, home owners’ association fees, and several more.

Regardless of if I actually do decide to buy, or not, I’m now in the mode of getting my credit report cleaned up as much as possible. Yesterday, I started searching for low-interest credit cards so that I can transfer the balance of one card and start knocking it out. To start my search, I went to bankrate.com, and upon searching for low-interest cards, I came across a section about checking your credit report regularly.

The big thing I came out of that article with is that, according to a new federal law, everyone is entitled to one free credit report per year. That’s awesome news. Now you can go and find out all of the loans and credit cards you have – for free.

I got my free report yesterday. Pretty cool. Oh, but don’t expect to see your credit score, that’ll cost you about $5.

It’s worth checking out and making sure you’re in the clear (or, to put it bluntly, close that damn Target card you have open and don’t use). Enough blabbering, go get your credit report, now.

Posted by Seth at 08:54 AM | Comments (3)

October 13, 2005

What's That? A Contest? It’s Ready!

UPDATE: Sorry, the link wasn’t working for IE users. Get a better browser! Or, just try the link again, it should work now. Losers.

The contest to decide the best submitted caption is up. It will only be up for one week, so make sure you vote soon. Aaron and I chose our ten most favorite-ist captions for you all to vote on. Please note, no one person was favored in our choosing... so if you were left off, we’re very sorry. Good luck to all!

Vote for your favorite caption.

Posted by Seth at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

The UK Gets Lost

Yes, more Lost stuff here... but this is good, I promise. Without going into anything about Season Two, the other day I happened across a nifty little Lost video promo (made by David LaChapelle and features a Portishead song) for a British television station – Channel 4. The video is very cool and is basically gearing up the UK for the premeire of the spiraling-out-of-control show.

Here’s what Jim Emerson has to say about it:

If you’re familiar with the show, then it all makes a kind of spooky sense: Jack and Sawyer both dancing with Kate; Jin and Michael dancing with Sun; Boone dancing with an noticeably non-pregnant Claire, and (in one brief shot) interceding between Sayid and Shannon; Hurley lugging his suitcase along the shore; Charlie dancing with himself; and Locke seemingly conducting the whole thing (echoed by young Walt). But they’re dressed in anachronistic formal wear and the women have lots of smeary mascara.

But the really cool thing about this is the Lost microsite that you can get to from Channel 4’s site. It’s your typical show/film site, complete with charactier bios, episode guides, etc. Nothing too special.

Except this – UNTOLD: Step Into The Subconscious.

It’s a GREAT microsite about Lost and it’s first season and has tons of stuff to play around with. Also, lots of online help as well... for those who don’t want to mess around with the microsite to see the other stuff I’m talking about, here are some links:

That’s all that I found. If you find more, let me know!!!

Posted by Seth at 01:20 PM | Comments (1)

October 10, 2005

“That Party Rocked!”

UPDATE: Sorry, Sarah's link is now fixed at the bottom of the post.

The party, in a nutshell...

Cramming:

Playing:

Laughing:

Cleaning:

Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated Aaron and my’s 20th Anniversary. Here's looking forward to the next 20.

If you like to see more recaps of the evening’s events, read Sarah’s and/or Bev’s blogs. Also, stay tuned for the caption contest, coming up in a few days.

Posted by Seth at 08:08 PM | Comments (2)

October 04, 2005

What's That? A Contest???

UPDATE: Now you can view all captions at one time AND/OR subscribe to an RSS feed of approved captions! So, so rad.

Well the 20th Anniversary Party site has taken off a bit better than we expected it to, so why not capitalize on it, right?

Hear ye, hear ye... Announcing the official Seth and Aaron's 20th Anniversary Party Caption Contest (SA20APCC, for short)
Starting now and ending on Saturday, October 8th at 11:59 pm (Central), enter your best caption(s) for a chance to win a fabulous prize pack from the last 20 years! Aaron and I will select a group of the best captions (10-20) and there will be a public vote for the winner. Please note, the captions are anonymous, so no one has an advantage over others – except Todd.

Good luck!

Go enter your caption!

Posted by Seth at 04:50 PM | Comments (3)

October 02, 2005

Do You Trust Your Oil-Changers?

Among the not-so-many things that I did this weekend, I finally took my car in to get its oil changed. I’ve never found a place that I prefer to go to over and over, and frankly, I’m beginning to think that one doesn’t exist. The only reason I’ve gone to the same place for the second time in a row is because I get a nice, free, car wash in the deal.

But I don’t trust them. Not one bit.

Why should I not trust them? How about the last time I went there, they said I would need to replace something (a filter, maybe) soon... but that I could definitely wait until the next time I came in – which was about one month and only 1,000 miles overdue (I hope my dad or grandparents aren’t reading this). So this time when I’m in there, they don’t mention a thing about what I was supposed to replace soon. That sounds a bit fishy to me. As if that’s not enough, I asked if they filled my tires and checked the pressure... nope, I can do that around the block... so why on my receipt does it say that you checked all my tires for the air pressure? Lastly, what’s the point in vacuuming the interior of my driver’s seat if you put your oily shoes on my floorboard?

What’s the incentive in going back there? Ninety percent of the employees are 16 year-olds and the manager looks like he just came from the back where he watched a porn and ate cheetos with his nasty, grubby hands.

I’m all about customer service and feeling good about the people working on my car. Is it too much to ask for?

Posted by Seth at 10:31 PM | Comments (2)

October 01, 2005

Party Like It’s 1985

My good ol’ buddy, Aaron, and I have now been friends for 20 years. Twenty years, yes, that’s about 17 years too long. But Aaron thought it would be “cool” to have a party to celebrate this fact. Even better, he threatened my life if I didn’t have it at my place. What a pal.

Thanks to Aaron, Danica, Kevin, Matt and Bev, we’ve created a damn fine official invitation for the public. It rawks, so please go check it out!

Seth and Aaron’s 20th Anniversary Party!

Posted by Seth at 06:31 PM | Comments (3)