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Another on of those weekends.....

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21:35 / 26.04.02

Lurk? Lurk?? I'll have you know, I skulk. A man has to have some dignity. Three more days....just three more days, then three exams and I am done!

21:53 / 26.04.02

This weekend, on the Trijhaos and Utopia show, Utopia accuses Trijhaos of lurking and wacky hi-jinks ensue. Captain Zoom drops by, changes his name, changes it back and whine about how slow business is, and wacky hi-jinks ensue. All this, as well as some surprising guest appearances. We'll be right back after these commercials.

Zoom?

Hardcore Casanova

21:55 / 26.04.02

ha

23:03 / 26.04.02

*Audience claps and cheers as Hardcore Casanova enters stage left*

Zzzzzooooommmmm.

23:04 / 26.04.02

WOOOO!!! Go Casanova!!! WOOO!!!!

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

06:38 / 27.04.02

Me been at work all night and am now very tired and trying to persuade people to come to the "first thing in the morning" pub. Nobody's biting. Bastards.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

12:29 / 27.04.02

Ah well, it's the weekend again and I'm at the group home for too damn long. I had two of the staff here punk out on their shifts, so I am here for another 17 hours day after having to pull one yesterday as well.

Thankfully, since I am the director, the residents don't give me a lot of trouble. Sadly, the jeep we use had a flat tire last night, and I need to get that repaired, but am the only staff here until 4 PM.

I left all my notes on this week's news at home as well, so I am digging through the leftover newspapers here to find out what happened this week to make fun of. Good things? I have the new Previews to read through, Jeff Toobin's book on the election, and I remembered to bring a bunch of CDs. But I am also still nursing a cold that prolly won't go away until I get a day or two off to do nothing much at all.

Zoom, does your business go up a bit when the new Previews comes in? I make it a point to pick it up the day it comes out, even if I can't make it to my local (I had to go to some other comic since I haven't had time off while the one with my subcription is open since Wednesday).

Oh and whine whine whine, I passed the 40 hour mork on Wednesday, and after yesterday I am about to set a record for the most time I have ever worked in a week while not eligable for overtime.

15:13 / 27.04.02

I was, for a little while, getting copies of Previews in for sale, but, 8 months later, I've decided to stop, 'cause no one ever bought 'em, and I don't need promotional cards that badly. My busiest day by far is Sunday, when I have my Mage Knight tournament. I don't know if it's just 'cause people see all the kiddies in here and wander in, but the store gets almost crowded sometimes. I don't think there's the Previews audience here. The vast majority of my regulars are Marvel/DC/Image people, with a bit of Dark Horse thrown in. I do my best, but sometimes it's just a losing battle. Hard to sell Gloomcookie when there's 8 million variant covers for the new Transformers.

I'm feeling punchy today, can you tell.

Holy shit! I've been open for 7 minutes, and I've already done $70. That bodes really fuckin' well.

On the other hand, I love getting the new Previews. I mean, I loved it when I got it and I was a customer, but now that I'm a retailer, it's like christmas once a month. Like last month, found a book by Neil Gaiman about The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I just about jumped for joy. I love going through and even if I'm not going to order 90% of them, seeing all the cool indie stuff that's coming out is awesome. There's so much.

Ah, overtime, how I miss thee.

So I'm actually about halfway through Hitchhiker's Guide once more. It's one of those books I have to read periodically to remind me of the inherent absurdity of everything. Well, that and it's a good laugh.

Zoom.

15:17 / 27.04.02

The Hitchiker's Guide; I think I read two books in that "trilogy". Hmmm...I wonder if I still have the old infocom game floating around.

15:30 / 27.04.02

That game was great. I never managed to get past the bridge of the Heart of Gold, but it's the only text adventure I'd ever consider going back and spending time on now.

Did anyone ever try the Douglas Adams penned videogame Starship Titanic? It's based on a single sentence from the hitchhiker's guide, and the book (written by terry jones of monty python) was pretty funny. One of these days I'll track it down, play if for a few hours and then lose interest.

So, the Barbelith week in review. Favourite thread, quote, whatever. The become a lego man one was funny. I'm also quite enjoying the Canada vs. The U.S. threads. They're not really nasty, just friendly rivalries. And the Barbelith Hong Kong Action movie in the Creation is a work of inspired genius.

Zoom.

15:33 / 27.04.02

I love Ninjas vs. Pirates. I hope it goes on forever.

15:35 / 27.04.02

I remember seeing that game in the store, but I didn't have the computing power or the money for the game at the time. Of course, once I got both, it was gone. I probably would have only played halfway through or gotten near the end and quit, I have a little problem with finishing games.

I'll have to get back to you on the week in review thing, but I can honestly say my favorite thread was the pirates vs. ninja thread. Or rather, what became the pirates vs. ninja thread. It didn't start that way.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

16:05 / 27.04.02

I did horrid in that old text game...could never get the babel fish in my ear. Always wanted to try it now that I'm a bit older and such, but I don't have the time or energy to figure out how to get emulators to work.

Gloomcookie. *sighs* Love that book and the author is a wonderful person (did an interview with her for my failed webmag and still have the interview up on my website), but I wish it would sell a bit better. When I did comics retail I woudl push books I liked and people would buy an issue, tell me they liked it, and then buy whatever crossover Marvel was pushing at the time. I don't envy comic store owners, although I'm one of the customers everyone seems to want, since I spend a lot of money on them and walk around pimping books I like.

I miss overtime so much...when I worked at American Express, they did a major screw up and for 5 months there was not just unlimited overtime, they kind of demanded you put a lot in...I was getting 40 and 50 hours of OT a pay period. Paid off my house two years early and my car a year early.

Had one of the kids who has been here a long time kind of try to start a power struggle with me. He wanted a special privledge (to go visit a friend although he's not on the right "behavior level" for it...and he decided to take it personal. Making fun of how I dress (because I still dress like the Best Dressed Man In Comics, although I don't wear a tie on the weekends), and so on...to which I answered "I find it interesting that you are insulting and disrespecting the one person who decides when you leave here and how you leave. That strikes me as a bit of a thinking error, and if you want, we can have a one on one session about it."

He then decided that since I had stopped him cold, he came to sit close to me (trying a thug-like intimidation thing) and just not talk, but stare at me. Knowing it's a power struggle, I just kept reading until he finally said, "Dude, you just don't care, do you?"

"Nope. I care. I just care enough not to let you run your old bullshit."

Hopefully that's all the drama I will have for the day.

Am I in the new Gloomcookie yet?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

16:10 / 27.04.02

Can I ask something? What the Fuck is up with people who feel they can just blow off a shift at a treatment center where they are the only staff scheduled for the first four hours of their shift?

16:10 / 27.04.02

Woo-hoo!!! Screw you emulators! I just found a java-version of the game

Go here

17:33 / 27.04.02

Rose, this is something I agonize over as I'm thinking that I'll want staff one day in the future. How do you choose? Who's trustworthy? Sucks being the boss some days.

Hey, I just wanna show off! I'm almost at $500 for today, my best yet, and I've already beaten my best month by about $1500. Tara's not home for me to tell, so I'm telling you lot.

I've got the hardcore guys who come in and buy any of the goth stuff that SLG puts out, but they usually buy trades and not single issues. I don't really blame them, as I imagine Gloomcookie to be less effective on a periodical basis than it is collected. Indie comics are so hard to promote. Someone might come in looking for a good sci-fi comic, but want it now, not in 2 months when I'd actually be able to bet it. Enough comics talk. I'm gonna check out that Hitchhiker game.

Zoom.

18:26 / 27.04.02

(Also killing time at work - guarding an empty office building on a sunny saturday afternoon - what fun! Ah well, gives me time to do my web design. Anyhoo ...)

Zoom - what's your hottest seller right now?

19:14 / 27.04.02

Mage Knight. Specifically Mage Knight Sinister. I cannot keep those fuckers on the shelf.

Comics-wise, the new Transformers series is hot now. I sold out of 30 copies of the first print in 2 days. And the second print's not far behind. GI Joe is close behind that. Which, when I consider it, is pretty sad really. Ah well.

Zoom.

19:19 / 27.04.02

Mage Knight? Those damn things are all over the place. What exactly is the appeal? Why do people go crazy over these small lead figurines.

20:58 / 27.04.02

*comic geek voice* Actually, they're not lead, they're plastic.

I honestly don't know why people are ging mad over them. I collect them myself. If you were ever tempted to play Warhammer, but had neither the patience nor the cash, Mage Knight is for you. There's maybe 6 pages of rules, the figures are already painted, and you can have a playable army for 18-20 dollars, right out of the box.

The kids around here love it.

Wow. It really is quiet on the 'lith today, innit?

Zoom.

21:01 / 27.04.02

jeez, didn't have the patience for Warhammer... that's not a great reflection on the players

it is quiet innit?

21:08 / 27.04.02

Am I mistaken or are the figures you get in the boxes random?

If I started collecting these things, I'd have to get another shelf, I've got quite enough stuff cluttering up my room as it is.

*sighs* I'm going to regret this, I know I am, but I think I'll pick up a box just to see what the big fuss is.

21:27 / 27.04.02

Yup, it's all random. That's the hook. I mean, the new series has an insert figure that's one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. There's only 4 of each in existence. One on eBay is currently at US$2500. It's fucking insane.
The collectable think aside, if you can control yourself, as I cannot, it's a fun game to play. It's meant for skirmish armies really, and that makes it fast and fun. There's the Dungeon expansion, which, as you may have guessed, puts you in a Dungeon, controlling the heroes and monsters. I had quite given up on the skirmish one and moved on to Dungeons until they came out with Conquest rules, which is for absolutely fucking huge armies, and I fll in love with it. I have an enormous Orc army and I finally got to test them out. It was fun. I was never really into wargaming, but this one's sunk it's teeth into me. You wanna see what it's about, get and Unlimited Starter Set. That'll give you everything you need to play.

(And the guys who make this thing ought to pay me for all the free publicity)

fridge, I never had the patience to go through that enormous Warhammer rulebook, and then paint all the figures and then play. I couldn't afford it either, but back then that was beside the point. I was too busy spending all my money on Call of Cthulhu supplements.

It's a shame Barbelith doesn't have an accompanying soundtrack. That way things would never really be too quiet here.

So I'm setting up a free site right now where I'm hoping the musically inclined among us will upload stuff they've recorded for us all to hear. My hope in this is that eventually we'll have people put up tracks they've recorded and we can make some collaborative music. Like if I put up a cool drumbeat, then a couple of other people took it and added guitars or keys and then put it back and someone else added something else. The only problem I'm facing it that most of the free places don't allow that much storage. Anyway, that's my little project for now. I'm pretty stoked about it.

Zoom.

21:33 / 27.04.02

I'll see what the local shops around here have. If the set isn't too much, I'll check it out.

Invariably what will happen is I'll get obssesive about it, buy a box or two a week and then my interest will peter out. It's happened before with everything I've tried to collect. Transformers, video games, cards, pretty much everything except books and weapons.

You want free webspace? 100 mb ok?
9ug.com gives you 100 mb for free.

21:44 / 27.04.02

my final hopes for a peaceful, fulfilled world ended when i read that trijhaos is a weapon collector. nothin' left to do but pray...

i dig what you're saying about interest petering out though...i used to be interested in things. now...eh. who needs it?

21:49 / 27.04.02

My weapon collecting is confined to bladed weapons. You know axes, swords, knives, all those neat doo-dads.

My problem is I don't really have the money to be a hardcore collector of anything. I suppose I should look into getting a job, but without any actual work experience on my applications, I get the feeling that employers look at the application, see that this 19 year old has no experience and tosses my application in the trash. The only real work I've ever done was being a library aide back in middle and high school. Would it be wrong to put that down?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sharpen my sword

21:55 / 27.04.02

Dude, put that down (the library experience or the bladed weapon, your choice) and apply at a book store. Book stores are really low stress.

Zoom.

21:55 / 27.04.02

trijhaos, this is the best advice i can give you concerning your resume, possibly the best advice i could give you, period: LIE. lie your ass off. there is not one job i've ever had that i hadn't lied to get. hell, i lied on my college apps too! lying is the best thing one can do for themselves in this situation. make up phony businesses. get your friends to act as former employers. life's not fair, so sometimes we have to balance the scales for ourselves...

21:56 / 27.04.02

I can tell 'em you worked for me. There may be some question of your lengthy commute, but hey, you were a really dedicated employee. I miss you. So does the little dog that hangs around outside the store. He just hasn't been the same since you left.

Zoom.

21:59 / 27.04.02

I actually tried applying at a bookstore. I got a nice little note saying they didn't have a position open for a person of my qualifications. I believe that's a nice way of saying that because I couldn't operate a cash register, they wouldn't hire me.

I could use an out-of-business computer shop as job experience. While I never worked there officially, I spent a month working on one of their jobs wiring a school for telephone, intercom, and network capabilities.

01:05 / 28.04.02

who still be around?

01:06 / 28.04.02

I'm still around; waiting for Cowboy Bebop to come on.

01:10 / 28.04.02

ooooohhhhhh, yeahhhh! can't stop tha bop. i actually don't watch them on cn anymore since i started buying the dvd's. just watched ghost in the shell though (research! ha!) and the bebop may be a good chaser. boo-ya.

01:13 / 28.04.02

I'd buy DVDs, but I lack a dvd player. Hmmmm....I've got around 70 dollars, wonder if that could get me a decent dvd-rom drive for my computer.

Research? What kind of research are you doing that involves GiS?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

01:14 / 28.04.02

I'm around from time to time, checking in while at work. Why, are you going to make me pizza?

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