A Food Network Rant

Here's a post I left on food writer Michael Ruhlman's site www.ruhlman.com . He's been known to hang out with Anthony Bourdain. The topic: why the Food Network is disappointing.


"Let's face it, The Machine is broken.

What is the Food Network now if not one big promotional mechanism that oscillates from cleverly disguised travel show to cleverly disquised gadget and food infomercial and back?
We the public aren't privy to what goes on at FN's offices to know the fates of those who built the network with the Hannovers, Rosengartens, and Biggers. Let alone those who actually discovered and developed the bona fide stars like Lagasse, Batali, Moulton, and Garten et al. So we don't know when the ad men took over and started telling us and their stars what we should like.

Why dumb it down ALL the time? I don't always want a Velveeta nacho casserole. How dare the FN have a problem with French terms and the food. Any culinary student (attended, graduated, or otherwise) or anyone remotely involved with food, or anyone with a pulse at least knows of the significance of French cuisine in Western food. Nowadays the ad men call Spain "the new France" and cite Ferran Adria's culinary laboratory as the locus for innovation in that country, but the fact is that whatever's being "discovered" in regards to Spain's cuisine doesn't really involve any recent innovations in Spain, but rather that our lazy xenophobic American asses are finally looking past the fast food chihuaua and the chain of margarita nacho bars to actually bother to learn about and include these centuries-old culinary traditions among the American culinary mosaic.

Or perhaps the American culinary mosaic only has space for one tile right now, and French cuisine has to go to make room for Spain. Just what triggered the anti-French sentiment may never come out, but Alton Brown clearly subscribes to it by the way he sneeringly pronounces French terms and chefs' names on that pathetic trainwreck of a product-placement show of his that jumped the shark two seasons ago. (The only uni-tasker in his kitchen is his product pimp. I hear fire extinguishers make good paperweights.)And clearly he seems to be following orders on his own show, because he's all "Johnny Encyclopedia" again when he's on US Iron Chef. Say it isn't so, AB. Say it isn't so.

So here come the Spanish. Or should I say Latino? Either way, Jag-off and Ingrid were more than likely concurrent contingency plans for a show that Das FN was looking for. Hence the return of the "Sofrito!" battle cry from that Latina contestant from a previous season of TNFNS through Jag-off. All of a sudden "Fusione" started popping up in the discussions. And good for Latino cuisine. We should have more. Latinos are the majority minority here in the States, so why not have a showcase for it on FN? But are you really telling me that ALL Latino cuisine from all those countries hinges on ONE blend of spices? You sure it isn't Goya Adobo?
When I think of the names of all the Latin cooks out there who've appeared on various food programs, the natural choice is "Ingrid Hoffman". It simply oozes Latin like the ink on a German passport when it first relocates to a humid rainforest. Judas Priest, what's her lead-off dish, Arroz-con-Poland?!

I have to thank the previous poster who commented on how he did not like being snapped at. I thought I was weird for wanting to smack my TV after FN started airing the "Simply Delicioso" commercials that included that extra millisecond of footage. And I think they know at FN, too. Hence that quick mid-finger-snap cut to a side view by the shows' editors. I thank the FN for that, because if I'd sat through her show and experienced that, I probably would've broken my TV and needed to get a new one. Or maybe that was the plan to begin with."

JAG "resigns" from The Next Food Network Star

So the liar and faker finally "left". Yay and good riddance.

I added this comment to the Food Network Addict blog. See its link at the right.

"Glad to see Josh gone, but my inner cynic can't help but think that the whole scandal was a bona fide ratings pot of gold for an otherwise fading rainbow that the show was turning out to be. The bitter after taste being, of course, that the next FN star and their show is going to pretty sucky unless FN hires a crack team to pull an Eliza Dolittle and save the network's credibility.

As said by other posters, if this scandal's done anything it should have opened FN to the fact that they need to fire whoever's on the search committee and in charge of casting and hire people who can spot actual cooks and or food experts and do the necessary background checks BEFORE seeing if they're TV show material.

Seriously, this show was cast for a TV reality show. Not a cooking and food show. "

I could care less who wins.

On Friends and Acquaintances

"Nobody knows you when you're down and out," the song goes. And by suspending as much melodrama as I can I'll attest to that. I've been there and am doing that.

But when I'm having a bad day, like I did today, people who I haven't spoken to in a while have a way of just calling me.

I had a really big argument over the phone, and I lost badly. And as I sat fuming in my chair trying to find ways to simply distract myself I get a call out of the blue from two guys I used to work with who I hadn't seen in 8-9 months. It did the trick. And after that call I called the person I was arguing with back and apologized. They apologized, too.

Then I got a call from a friend asking if I wanted to hang out and just watch TV. Yeah, that would do nicely.

I sleep tonight immensely grateful that I have friends like these.

"Jazz in Paris" Collection CD 7, 9, and 10

So I've been listening to a lot of stuff lately, but today I paid a visit to the Jazz In Paris collection of my Wish List again. I listened to the following albums on Rhapsody while typing up a few posts and playing around on Flickr.



Talk about a funky album. I'll definitely check out more of Coleman's stuff because it was heavy.

I listened to Dizzy Gillespie's album (#9 in the series, above) next as the eighth disc in the series wasn't available on Rhapsody. It just flowed from the previous album almost seamlessly in style and tempo and then picked up melodically as it progressed.

The last disc I listened to was a lot slower in pace and style. A good work, it actually suited the gloomy weather and rain that suddenly came out of nowhere this afternoon and ended the day for me on a poignant note.

Disc 9 in the series is Chet Baker's "Broken Wing". I'll get to it eventually.

Faber-Castell COLORMATICS mechanical pencils

Yes, I'm broke and hungry, but what is man if not a hypocrite?

So a while back I saw this listing for 1,000 Faber-Castell COLORMATICS 0.7 mm mechanical pencils for a song and I said, "F#*k it, I need it," and did the whole Buy-It-Now thing. I only wish I had more cash available, because the price was truly a song.

I bought my first COLORMATICS mechanical pencil while in school. They came in a pck of 10 and were brightly multi-colored. Maybe the 10-pack cost $8 or $9, either way it was cheap, and I thought the pencils would be also.

Not so. The body is quite rigid and with a decent grip. The pencil mechanism proved to be reliable and the lead sleeve allowed for both good drafting and writing. Of the 10 pencils I got, I reserved my favorite blues, blacks and greens for later use and selected the most undesirable fuscia-colored pecil to use first and break-in. I used for class notes, homework, and during a series of trips home for Thanksgiving and Christmas I used it to write poetry and journal entries in a notebook. Of the 10, I wound up using only 2 and giving one away to a friend in need. The rest are slumbering within the depths of my storage unit.

Since that fuscia COLORMATICS I've actually developed an affinity for brightly colored writing implements as well as the traditional darker-colored varieties. It's completely different aesthetic for me compared to other facets of my life and appearance, but one that's become a trademark in itself.

And here I go and get 1,000 more. And they're just as good as ever. I put 5-6 in the car the other day. Why? 'Cause I could. I've seen a lot of people put up listings on eBay for these pencils in way smaller quantities for much much higher prices. They give me a chuckl, because I know their secret.

The Moleskine Notebook

The Moleskine Notebook

Ah, the Moleskine Notebook. They come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and formats. I use them in every day of my life whether it be the small plain notebook I carry in my pocket for day-to-day notes, lists, and idea-jotting to the larger sized notebooks or cahiers that I use for journaling or schoolwork or work-work.

And I especially love a deal on them on eBay, which explains the stockpiled pictured above in one of my many Cluttered Bookshelves. After pens and toys it's Moleskine's that I hoard. What's redeeming for me is that I use them and complete them pretty frequently: almost one evry other month, and I usually keep 3-4 in use at once. I also use one as a log of my job search info and contacts. I also use one for my eBay sales. I switched over to the large cahiers for these uses recently as I found that I could fill them up just in time for the stuff that was accumulating in their back pockets to make the books unwieldy to write in. Basically loose notes, receipts, packing slips, and other loose junk. They're also where the contents of many blog entries begin.

What's sad is that I've got a backlog of blog entries piling up in my M's and I've been too distracted to simply type them up. Oh well, until the job or book deal or both happen...

Moleskinerie.com is a nice little website devoted to these venerated notebooks, and I recently started contributed images to their photo pool on Flickr. Check out the link to their site or to my set of images on Flickr on the right. Also check out eBay for great deals on the Moleskine's. Personally, I hate paying retail, but if no deals can be found then these books ARE definitely worth it.

Mexican Mac'N'Chee

Mexican Mac'n'Chee

So, I have a great idea for a book that I came up with while working on my book proposal and hustling resumes out to recruiters and firms:

The Prolonged Unemployment Weight Loss Plan: 60 Days to A Poorer, Leaner You

Just let accreditation restrictions from your school's degree program force you to quit your out-of-state and lucrative job and return to the town your school is to finish up a graduate degree as a full-time student in 6 months, remain unemplyed for another 6 months after that, and watch the pounds fall off!

Bitter? Kind of. But today I present a tasty recipe I developed from my love of pasta, Mexican-style queso dip, and good ol' mac'n'chee. Not "Mac'n'cheese". Mac'n'chee. It's a Tenacious D thing. (Get the first album and watch the DVD live concert. You'll love it.)

It's cheap, good, and adjustable to your tastes. What you need:

1 lb. of rotini pasta (cooked, and you may want to leave out the salt if you cook pasta with it)
1 can of cooked chopped mushrooms (7 oz. w/ liquid or 4 oz. dry, go fancy or cheap, it's all good)
1 can Ro-Tel brand diced tomatoes and green chiles ( Original or Mexican variety)
1 lb. of Velveeta (nothing else will do)
Total cost: US$7 max. Makes 8 "servings" (translation: feeds 4 real people or 2 of ME).

So you cook the pasta. Done.

Cut up the block of Velveeta into 1/4" slices and microwave with the Ro-Tel. Stop and stir every 2 minutes to combine ingredients. Total microwaving time should be no more than 6-8 minutes.

Strain the canned chopped mushrooms.

Combine HALF of the pasta with the cheese blend and mushrooms and then add the rest of the pasta until you get the desired mix of cheese and pasta you like. Some like their mac'n'chee runny while others like it thick. Whatever mix you prefer, let the combined and mixed dish sit for 15 minutes. Then stir it up again until you hear that telltale "sticky" mac'n'chee mixing sound. That's how you know it's ready.

From this point you could put everything in a bake dish and add anything from cubed pre-cooked chicken breast, sliced jalpenos or red pepper flakes to it and or add a crust of pulverized Doritos and then bake it up. Me, I just eat it as is. With a Diet Coke.

Gotta go, the chee is ready.

Pentel Technica-X Pen and Mechanical Pencil

So I like to buy writing implemets in mass quantities. In addition to the per-unit cost savings comes the security of knowing that I'll always have enough of the low-dollar but hard-to-locate items I like and use.

I'd won two boxes of the Pentel Technica-X mechanical pencils, among other things, on eBay at a really low price even with combined shipping. But I was surprised to get a box of the pencils and a box of its counterpart ballpoint pen. I didn't even know they made a pen, but I guess it just shows what I don't know. So I contact the seller and ask her what we can do to fix things because I really was looking forward to getting two boxes of the pencil. She said that not only would she ship me out the pencils I should have received, but that I could keep the box of pens - for free! AWESOME! Actually, I would have mailed the pens back for whatever it would have cost, but after using the Technica-X pen for a day to take notes and write in my journal, I must admit they're growing on me.

The grip and tip of the pen are its best and strongest features. The rounded tip makes the pen easy to put in one's pocket without worrying about it tearing the fabric. The rubberized grip tapers back to the narrower upper body nicely in a way that I actually prefer. The clip is solid and the body is rigid. The pushbutton for the pen is smooth as well.

But I was after the pencils. Take all that was good about the pens and then there's more good stuff to them. The pencil tip is retractable, making the pencil pocket-safe (ever been stabbed by a mechanical pencil in your pocket while sitting down?). The pencil's pushbutton is the two-stage type. A hard push is needed to bring out the point, and then lighter pushes are needed to advance or retract lead. A hard push is also needed to retract the point. A relatively smaller eraser than what usually comes with Pentel pencils is included at the top of the pen under the cap, but I use a separate eraser out of habit, so no worries.

The only real "downside" of the Technica-X pen and pecil might be that they look too much alike. Personally, I need to check the labeling of the pen/cil or use the pushbutton to check the tip to identify them if taking them out of my pen cup on The Cluttered Desk.

But then that's probably why I got the free box of pens in the first place.

"Jazz in Paris" Collection CD 4, 5, and 6

Well, I've been trying to finish a book proposal that will probably never even get looked at by any literary agents, let alone any publishers, but I need something to do when I'm not looking for work. Yesterday was really cloudy and rainy, and the following 3 cd's couln't have been more appropo.







The Donald Byrd stuff was great. I'd never listened to his stuff before but it was awesomely melodic and up tempo. I've already scouted out other albums by him that were recommended by reviewers of these albums on Amazon.

This 3rd album contains more artists I'd never heard before, and what can I say? I like it.

And on we go...

"Jazz in Paris" Collection CD 1, 2, and 3

So I started listening to Verve's "Jazz in Paris" 75-CD set this weekend on my Rhapsody account. I started with the first three discs, the first two of which were of a Louis Armstrong concert. Though sold individually, they really should be listened to together because they're arranged to play back-to-back without interruption. The concert itself is a great showcase of Armstrong as a singer, arranger, and band leader. Other singers also performing added a nice variety to the whole thing.

The third disc was the soundtrack for a French film done by Miles Davis (the soundtrack, not the film). Critics have described the music as definitive for the style of the film it was written for, with Davis improvising in the studio as he viewed the various scenes for which he was composing. I'll need to read more about the movie itself, in addition to watching it, but the music is very recognizable to the modern listener as it's been regularly emulated in movies and TV since. I guess it's one of those things where you have to hear it. Think "swank" and "slinky" without being "loungey". The version of the album on Rhapsody had a bunch of alternate takes on it, so I edited my playlist to leave them out and listen to the original album in its original order. All in all, not a bad Saturday.

The Verve "Jazz in Paris" Collection

http://www.livingwithmusic.com/index.php/main/jazz_in_paris/


Please take the opportunity to ride the link provided above to read up on this wonderful collection of jazz recordings that documents a pivotal time and place in jazz and music history.

What I love most about it is that it has EVERYBODY in it. And then some.

In the linked blog you'll read about subsequent box sets that followed, but I'll be starting here with the original 75-disc set and disc 1. I did a cursory search on Rhapsody, where I already have an account, and it looks like I might be able to pursue this listening experience for $12.99 a month. Talk about further diluting a fixed cost!

Mozart: The Complete Works CD 1 / Symphonies CD 1

So this weekend and today was quite hectic for reasons too long and drawn out to write about. But listening to some of old Wolfie's earliest symphonies, the first of which was written when he was nine(!) (catalogued as "KV 16"), was quite relaxing.

One thing I found easier to do was to read up on the respective pieces before listening to them. Believe me, between the Mozart book and the classical music guide book, I'm lucky I got through it without paper cuts.

I'm liking it so far.

Today's Listening: Charles Mingus & Genesis

I'm glad I listened to this on my Rhapsody account and didn't spring for it on Amazon. I'm always keen to check out really old jazz recordings that are newly released on CD or just newly released "from the vaults", but if this were a movie I'd rate it a "rental".

Amid nuggets of live virtuosity there are clearly some trainwreck moments that, while they give the CD a bit of a playful charm, make this recording more suited for diehard fans of Mingus.

After the Mingus, I cranked up the Genesis. Having been a real big fan for the Phil Collins years, I started listening to the their earlier prog/art rock albums with Peter Gabriel. I think I have all their albums now, including their two Archives box sets. But I listened to this collection on Rhapsody because it's organized so that the tracks are arranged in reverse chronological order from their more recent to their oldest. That's kind of like the way I began listening to them. Last night I saw a rockumentary on them on VH1 Classic, and so today I had what I needed to listen to while filling out online appications. I'm looking forward to their remasters boxsets that will begin to come out this year.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Wow, this was a surprisingly good and easy read.

For fans of Zorro and Batman and the whole playboy-by-day/hero-by-night genre of fiction, whether it be in movies, books, or comics, you need to read this. It's one of the originals and an inspiration for a lot of those more current popular works.

Orczy does a great job of educating the reader about the manners of speech, customs, and modes of behavior for the period without bogging down the reader with it and preventing them from enjoying the plot and story. And while the story started off slowly for the first chapter or two, during which I got a quick clinic on the previously mentioned dialect and customs of the time, once underway it really drew me in and I found it hard to put the book down.

I also recommend reading the forward which provides some biography of Baroness Orczy and some commentary on the book and how it's been received by readers from back when it was published until recent times.

I hear there are sequels...

Hellboy: The God Machine

Not a bad read at all. A very quick read, too.

The dialogue, characterizations, and settings all follow those established in the original Mignola comics, and also add to the collective canon of the Hellboy and BPRD "world".

I definitely recommend it for those sleepless nights when you want to stay awake.

Mozart: The Complete Works

So last fall I bought this 170-disc collection of everything Mozart composed ($120, Amazon), and since then I've pretty much sampled a few discs here and there every now and then. Let's face it, 170 takes time to go through, and while I consider myself a fan and own many smaller compilations of his works, I've got stuff to do and other things I also want to listen to.

It wasn't until this past January and February that I decided to take a more academic approach to listening to old Wolfgang. I'd started to listen to a 2-disc set of some of his works at night while driving in the cold (or relative cold of where I'm at). It was relaxing, like in the car commercial kind of way. And I developed some favorite parts. But when you've got tracks of varying length for compositions whose structure you're still unfamiliar with, well, all I'm saying is that I can't drive and keep my eyes on the CD player to mark my favorite track and times. Here I was appreciating something, and I couldn't even identify it to look for it elsewhere or name it to anyone if we were talking about it. Yes, I'm sure I could play the "match game" at home with the disc liner notes and a fast-forward button, but that wasn't the point. When you hear a Rolling Stones song on the radio, you know it's them. When you hear Eric Clapton, you know it's him. I wanted to at least be able to know Mozart when I heard him.

Then I found myself wanting to learn more about the man. When I was a kid, parts of "Amadeus" scared the daylights of me, but it was just a movie based on a series of very "creative" plays that just plain made a lot of stuff up. Plus, I knew there were stories about his compositions, too. He was a child prodigy, after all, as well as one of the leading composers both of and after his time. I guess it came down to my wanting to know as much as I could.

The Compleat Mozart is just the book I was looking for, and I got a used copy on Amazon. There's basically a blurb on every composition of Mozart's on a track-by-track basis. I can literally read about a specific composition as I listen to it, because both books use the Kochel notation method to identify Mozart's works, some of whom are named or numbered or have similarities among their names. What's good for me is that includes some biographical information about each piece as well as some discussion about Mozart's possible influences and how the respective piece was critiqued during Mozart's time and since. What's bad for me is that other parts of the discussion are too technical. They're clearly by musical scholars for other musical scholars.

That's where The NPR Classical Music Companion comes in. It's basically the encyclopedia I use to understand the esoteric (to me, granted) musical terms and concepts that are used throughout the book. It's a good thing I got it, too. I couldn't read one passage about Mozart's 1st symphony without referring to the guide after almost EVERY sentence. But I'm coming along. Soon I hope to retain some definitions and move up into concepts. While I do that, I'm also going to look into a book on music theory. Do those come in "book-on-tape" format?

I guess I'll start at CD 1, which also begins the Symphonies section, and list the tracks I've heard. It'll be nice to start the week this way.

Is This Thing On?

Well, it's been awhile, but don't worry, I have excuses.

Actually, my personal routine, or, as close a thing to one that I may have, was altered in the past few weeks by my mother getting a new job. She now works from 3pm to 8pm, but with her commute and settling down after getting home, calls me at 10pm. Every. Night. And guess what time of day your humble blogger used to set aside for his personal blogging therapy? Precisely, 10pm to midnight. While I guess I could sit down and type after that, it wouldn't be about anything that I wanted this blog to be about. It'd be about my Mom's day at work and about who she likes, who she hates, and who's out to destroy her. I forget which comedian(s) said it, but every woman knows one woman who she thinks is out to destroy her. Just a fact.

So after that inescapable emotional tampon work, it's all I can do to just watch something on TV in order to go to sleep easily.

I've also picked up the pace on my job search and really hit the phones and web postings hard. Some leads, but nothing promising yet.

I've also picked up steam on my book proposal. I'm almost done filling in the figurative blanks of each section right now, and within a week I'll start polishing the contents.

While I haven't really posted in the past 3 weeks, I haven't stopped writing down stuff that I would type. The old notebook has a few things in it. I even snapped a few pictures. Perhaps this weekend I'll type all of them up at one sitting.

And then I'll alter my routine to blog after lunch or some other consistent new time. Until then.

The Parker JOTTER (pt. 2)

So the Stainless Steel Jotter was a workhorse for me both in and outside the office for a lot of years. I can't remember exactly when, but it was on eBay that I saw a lot of used Parker jotters while shopping around for some mechanical pencils. Among the stainless steel ones and those with acrylic bodies I saw some that were stainless steel with gold tone clips and trimming. Gold tone? Really? Some bling to my SS Jotter? Cool. I got the lot for a song, and the SS Jotter with the gold trim became my new Ace. And through eBay I found a means to get more.

There's a handful of sellers on eBay who sell Jotters in trays of te.. Be they overseas or domestic, I usually get trays with the newest colors for about $35-45 shipped. For the older more common colors you can usually find trays for $25-30. When everything's said and done I get the new colors at domestic retail and the older colors at a discount. I own most of the colors available and multiple ten-packs of the SS Jotters. Lately a lot of different colors, old and new, have also come out with gold trimming. There are also now translucent bodies in red, blue, green, and purple.

In a personal note, there are also Parker Jotters out there with clear acrylic bodies and gold trim. I have one, but I'd love to find out where I can get more.

In 2004, Parker put out a line of 50th Anniversary Jotters that featured a new set of 5 bright colors and a retro look to the trim of the pen. Gone were the fletching and fine line detailing in the arrow clip. The ridged crown of the pushbutton was replaced with rounded edges and featured a "50" on the top in place of the new Parker "P" logo. Older Jotter users would actually find this "new" look reminiscent of the first Jotters' design. And the best thing yet: their cartridges now had gel ink. The same cartridge shape and size, only with a gel rollerball? I swear, Parker, you must be reading my diary.

Nothing compares to a SS Jotter with a gel cartridge, and very little approaches being able to beat it.

From as best as I can figure, the 50th Anniversary Jotters were only available in Europe. I didn't really find out about them until 2005, along with information on additional models of all steel bodies with two tone blue, black, and gold bodies, respectively. There were even some SS Jotters released that had yellow and gray plastic lugs, respectively, all along the length of their bodies. The price of all but the blue and black metallic Jotters have been too high for me so far. The gold and "lugged" models for for $30+ on eBay still, while the blue and black metallic ones go for $10-20 approximately.

Soon after, new Jotters were released that incorporated the rounded-corner pushbuttons of the Anniversary editions. More and more colors came out along with gold trim for more colors. Recenlty, as in a few weeks ago, I started seeing new Jotters on eBay that had all the features of the Anniversary editions, only in richer dark colors and with the newer Parker logo in place of the "50". With this new line, the Jotter continues to sustain its popularity as an elegantly practical instrument that one can easily acquire and confidently use anywhere.

As a fan and collector, the different Parker Jotter models and colors are a prize well worth the pursuit.

Dynamic Forces' Earth X LOGAN Bust

Another item recently uncovered from my eBay "vaults" is this Eart X Logan mini-bust. Logan is the alter ego of the ubiquitous Marvel comics character Wolverine. What makes mini-busts of pop-culture fictional characters cool for me is that they're little nuggets of cool fun you can get away with displaying in the most serious and business-like environments. That this one comes with a wooden base complete with faux brass lettering makes it an even nicer item for the fanboy to display.

Before the rigors of moving to and from Maryland had completely upheaved any sense of style or organization to my DVD-, CD-, and bookshelves, I used to display a couple of mini-busts on my bookshelves placed in front of books I had in them. I had one of the Marvel comics character Deadpool (for a lot of the same reasons why I now have the Stormshadow bust, see post). The other two were of Wolverine in different costumes. As the enigmatic Canadian described succintly as "the best at what he does", his is a look that can be considered singularly iconic whether it be the flared wings on his cowl, the three admantium claws that extend out of the top of each of his hands, or even his 5' 3" stature. Forget Hugh Jackman, that's the movies and something else altogether.

At the same time, Wolverine is just as at home without the costume and has gone for entire story arcs and mini-series in regular clothes and of his own volition. Having your true identity known to the public has been commonplace for many Marvel characters, even before the recent "Civil War" comics event. But none of these other characters really do their adventuring in civilian clothes the way Logan does.

The two busts of Wolverine that I have are of his "first appearance" costume and of his more recent (as of 2000 and before his Astonishing X-Men look) brown costume. While there are plenty of other busts of Wolverine and of Logan out there to be had, I got the Earth X Logan bust next because it depicted an older version of the character who, in appearing to have tired of the whole costume thing (to me) and wholy adopting more practical everyday clothes, made a nice complement to his uniformed looks from different earlier time periods.

In the Earth X and subsequent Paradise X story lines, a possible future for the Marvel Universe is presented where heroes old and new, and villains as well, are called upon to save their entire reality from the "greatest menace they've ever faced". It was developed by multi-talented comic artist, painter, sculptor, and even writer Alex Ross. In this future, Logan and Jean Grey eventually got together and aged not-so-gracefully. I'll leave it to the many venerable websites devoted to the Earth X plots for you to learn more, True Believers. On with the sculpt description.

The sculpting by Alex Ross is phenomenal. It's as realistic as a character bust of its type has been, and that's saying something given Logan's notorious mane of hair in the comics. But then again, Ross has made quite a name for himself helping to flush out the reality of comic characters he draws and or paints through the detail he devotes to their respective anatomies, facial features, and uniforms, often rendering photorealistic depictions of actual humans and how they would look in costumes that had stiches and seams and footwear that had actual soles. He's also worked with many writers to apply the same kind of real-world "acid-test" to comics' story plotting and writing in an effort to deconstruct and then overhaul characters as well as their respective worlds or settings to appeal to an increasingly sophisticated and, sadly, less innocent audience. Back to the sculpt.

This Logan bust accurately depicts the older character from the comic series. He's got the graying hair and the wrinkles and looks distinguished. He's wearing the bomber jacket from the series as well, but I remember from being a longtime fan that the bomber has been a recurring part of his wardrobe for some time, especialy in the 80's. Reminds me of the whole "Days of Future Past" story arc in the X-Men comics of the time. It's a look for Logan that's so iconic as well that other statues and figures have been made as recently as this year that depict him in that look from that arc.

The expression on his face is incredible. Noble, sad, and wise all in one look. This is something that Alex Ross is also known for bringing to his depictions of older heroes: that realistic, for a superhero anyway, look of experience that's figuratively painted on their faces as well as literally. It almost makes one wish that thaey went through those tragedies, losses, and victories that Logan went through to get to where he is now. But then heroes are supposed to inspire us.

This Earth X Logan mini-bust really succeeds in bringing that heroic inspiration out of and beyond the pages of the comic books.

New Order: RETRO box set

One of the latest additions to my CD collection is New Order box set "Retro". I was able to get it from my CD club for even less than half of its retail price. That's better than anything I could find on eBay.

"Retro" has 4 discs with each one having its own "personality" which comes from being compiled by 4 friends of the band and showcasing some aspect of their songs. The first disc features the band's greatest hits, or at least as many as could fit on one disc. The second includes fan favorites, but I must confess I never did learn how this was determined other than that these songs were the favorites of the person compiling it. The third disc included dance remixes and extended versions of New Order's songs, and finally, the fourth disc contains live versions of various hits.

While I already had "The Best of New Order" and "Substance" compilations, it was the third and fourth discs, the remix and live collections, that prompted me to get "Retro". With a solid reputation and tradition of "keeping one foot in the rock and the other in the club", New Order has released numerous singles containing various versions and remixes of their hits. And all this was done often alongside the release of an album. While singles for many acts function as promotional tools for an album, New Order's singles have consistently served as stand-alone documents of the band's work that are worth owning and listening to in their own right. But by not being able to get the singles when they were released and not having the resources to pursue them on eBay now, where they are actively sought out and bid on, I was at a loss for a way of listening to them and selecting my favorites. Until now, that is.

The fourth "live" disc was a real treat as I didn't know they were touring again after re-forming. When I was a kid I couldn't have seen them live even if I wanted to. But the fourth disc is a great addition to their live DVD's, and they sound incredible on it. That I was spared the agony of having to pick and choose such tracks from any of the assorted bootlegs out there is, I believe, a gift to the fans.

The liner notes of the box set are a great read and feature commentaries on all the songs by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morrison. In addition, there are contributions from each disc's respective compilers and other friends of the band. The reader truly gets a sense of what times were like for the band in their transition from Joy Division, their subsequent musical growth, and their progressive impact on music and musical culture. This is something especially significant for fans outside the UK who may not have had access to journalism about New Order through out their career.

At a time when I'm scraping by, I know I should't be blowing money on stuff like this, but for New Order's "Retro" I have no regrets.

I'm Just Tired

No pics today. Not even a true blog entry, really. As the title above says, I'm tired.

I'm unemployed, overweight, have a knee injury that I can't afford to fix and don't have the time to fix because I live alone and need to look for work, and I'm unmarried.

I'm not whining. Just the facts.

I'm also the only son of a mother who calls me twice a day EVERY DAY. She calls me when she knows I'm asleep to "log the call" and in doing so inform me that she wants me to call her. If I don't answer when she calls, she performs an audit of my whereabouts when I do call. I'm 32 and pathetic, yes. But none of that is relevant when she starts crying.

We basically talk about the same things: my weight problem, my injury, whether any of our relatives called me, what my relatives and I talked about, whether I revealed any of her self-concocted "family secrets" to my relatives, and my weight problem again. She just nags me. Usually I can handle it. After about 19-21 days of 2 calls a day, though, I generally lose it and start screaming. She apologizes profusely and after a day of radio silence she calls me again and avoids the topics for about 2-3 days before the cycle repeats itself.

I'm unemployed and living on a tight budget. But I have a decent food budget because after she calls I get really depressed. And when I get sad and depressed, I eat lots of junk food. I eat to feel happier, relatively. Then she calls and depresses me with her nagging. So I go eat some more. And I'm a little happier.

But you know what makes me really happier? Seeing my double-chin recede and my pants feel a little more comfortable. And that happens when I cut down on the buffets and the drive-thru. And not eating a lot at night before sleep. Walking more and doing 30-45 minutes of simple exercises that don't stress my knees. And I don't want to jinx it. Why make a mountain of a proverbial ant-hill's worth of progress? One pizza here or there and I could be back at square one, and then I really wouldn't hear the end of it.

In spite of my less-than-zero circumstances right now, my mom is ever the match-maker and has been after me to call this girl who's a family friend. There is nothing wrong with the girl, for the record. But she is so way out of my league it's not funny. But I called her every other week or so for the past few months. Polite conversation. I elicit a laugh from her here or there. But it's blatantly obvious that she's not into me. And frankly, I have so many problems of my own right now that could not invest the time or money to pursue any further courtship let alone maintain a long distance relationship. I've seen people IN a relationship lose it all when one has to move far away. What chance do 2 strangers who aren't even looking to get together have?

Wanna know how I know she's not into me? She never calls me back when I leave a message and she never returns my email, even when I ask her to. No problem at all.

But these aspects of modern communication and relationships escape my mom, who just nags me about calling her more and debriefing me on what we talked about. Call more often? I'm not a stalker and I'm not a fool. Then she nags me about losing weight and begins her rundown of the latest weight-loss tips she's heard. Then she nags me about how I should call my relatives more and email them more and wants a transcript of any and all communications. That's about when I lose it.

Fortunately, she never nags me about my job search. She is more than aware that I am a very good design engineer. She's seen my paychecks. She's seen where I work(ed). And she watches the news enough to know about how the war and the economy are really doing a number on the aerospace industry.

Right about now most you might be thinking that there's nothing wrong with a mom checking up on her son. But EVERY DAY and TWICE A DAY?!! It's been like this for the past YEAR! You've got to experience it before judging me.

I get so upset after the phone calls. I start breathing a little heavy and sometimes I get a lump in my throat. And then I go out and get some junk food. Or I eat vast quantities of what food I have at home. More so than what I intended to eat per meal. Then I just sit around and stare at nothing . I usually turn on the TV to take my mind off it, but it takes a while. All that time I could be looking for work or following up with recruiters. Or I could be exercising. Or getting coffee with a friend. Or go for a walk. But I can't. All I can do is sit there. At night after one of her calls, I used to order a big pizza or Chinese delivery comprising a large lo mein and a large General Tso's chicken. On a good night when she doesn't nag me (2-3 times a month) and we end the call amiably maybe not.

I don't even feel like typing anymore, but this blog is one of the things at night I'm trying to use to take my mind of of the phone calls. That and I've taken up reading at night more regularly. I need to break the cycle somehow in this way because she won't stop calling me. And any attempt I've made at making her NOT talk about the things she nags me about have been effective for 3-4 days at best. Theories of positive reinforcement and extinguishing bad behavior in a behavioral modification setting are worthless if the subject has a bad memory and has honed her nagging skills into instinctively natural behavior over the course of my lifetime.

I have to do something to break the cycle that's in my control, because I don't want to die young. I'm not that good.

The Parker JOTTER (pt. 1)

Whether it was the singular cause or a contributor to my obsession with writing implemets, the Parker Jotter has been a part of my life since I was 8 or 9 years old. It was a pen my parents had grown up with as well, and in my family it was a typical gift given to kids for some sort of scholastic achievement or related special occasion, like graduating the fourth grade. My parents gave them to me for such events and also gave them to their friends' kids. It was a clasy, relatively neutral, and inexpensive gift that you could hand out indiscriminately to boys or girls. Plus, they came with a snazzy little gift box.

While I was not yet a student nor practitioner of the scientific method or deductive reasoning, I just knew there had to be something special about a pen that sold for a whopping $3.00 plus or minus some change. After all, with that much money I could buy multiple 10-packs of Papermates or Bics and start my own pen-based bartering/monetary system with them. So these Jotters had to be the bees' knees, right? Right.

They wrote smoothly. And didn't get all stuttery in their ink flow or dry up in spurts and require me to give my manuscript an Indian burn in the margin to get them going again. They didn't quietly explode and leave little ink bombs for me to discover upon uncapping them. Instead they had a continuously open mouth from which the tip of the cartridge emerged. So sure was the Jotter of its stability that it dared you to pocket it uncapped. Speaking of the ink cartridge, it was cool in itself, resembling a rocket of sorts. A depleted one often turned into my G.I. Joes' doomsday missile and became the basis of many an action figure adventure.

But the Parker Jotter was still a "special occasion" pen, for me, to be worn as an accessory like a tie or cufflinks or to be used for signing "important" things like birthday cards or endorsing gift-money checks. They really didn't get that regular a use.

The Jotter, and ink pens in general, took a backseat in my writing tool use and collecting when I went to college. As an engineering student doing a lot of equations, graphing, and drafting, I quickly developed a fetish for mechanical pencils, which became my primary tools at that time because of the need to erase. The Jotter made a cameo or two. Once, when I was home for Christmas holiday, and helping my mom clean out a closet, I came across a stash of things she had hoarded to use as gifts for my cousins that she had never used. Among the sundry knicknacks and toys were 6 pristine in-box Jotters! In their stately maroons and navy blues, they were shiny and untouched. I seized them in the name of jealousy.

The Jotter didn't experience a resurgence in my usage or collecting until I graduated and got my first job. There was a drug store in the mini-mall across from work where I would stop on the way home for snacks and or the odd mechanical pencil. While looking for a Zebra M-605, I came across something I had never seen (or noticed) before: a stainless steel Parker Jotter. I had never seen anything cooler for the same price. I bought three. I couldn't drive home fast enough to open it and test it out. It looked awesome. It weighed and balanced in a way I liked. And it wrote as well as its chromatic counterparts. I had my new weapon of choice.

If I could, I would have worn a bandolier of the stainless steel Jotters. Their all-metal exterior construction inspired me with all sorts of MacGuyver-esque ideas. I used my SS Jotter to stab open the tape on the seams of packages. I figured I could use them to slay the undead via some sort of modified crossbow (yeah yeah, silver, just let it go). Choking of food and the Heimlich maneuver proves ineffective? A properly placed SS Jotter, with cartridge handily removed of course, could be used to perform that impromptu field tracheotomy AND serve as a windpipe until the medics arrive.

I'll never understand why the Swiss Army bothers with those glorified letter openers when they could have this pen!

To be continued...

Buffet TO-GO Tactics (Buffet Tactics 2)

It all comes down to how comfortable with your food touching. Are you a culinary segregationist who believes that the peas belong in one quadrant, the mashed potatoes in another, and the gravy be damned? Then a buffet to go may not be for you. But if you're on a budget and trying to curb your take-out tendencies, then a buffet to-go box may be something that could work for you.

A small digression: I oppose buffets that charge by the pound for to-go orders. Especially if they charge a flat rate for dining-in. It's simply criminal, and to me it's their way of saying, "We know you're pressed for time and would still like a variety of foods, and so we'll just exploit that." Forget that, I say.

So from my last Friday food post "Buffet Tactics" you'll recall why I prefer the to-go buffet: lower cost, lower quantities (or more optional quantities, really) than take-out, and, most importantly to me, greater variety than any "blue plates" offered by many restaurants for lunch. Oh, and there's also the avoidance of having to eat solo at a buffet which is a peeve of mine I expound on in my previous food post.

Maximizing the effectiveness of a buffet to-go requires an in-depth knowledge of the buffet layout and its contents. You want to plan your path around the buffet to avoid backpedaling. Unlike when dining in, you can't go back and get something you missed after your to-go box is full. There ain't no coming back. Unfortunately, this requires that you've eaten at said buffet enough times previously to acquire such intel. From the Buffet Tactics post you'll know that, sadly, I have such intimate knowledge. But for the uninitiated this advice should not go unheeded, or you could take home a big box of diasppointment whereas while dining in any corrections or omissions could have been made.

So after getting the "lay of the land" and planning the "retrieval route", the next element of buffet "to-go-ing" is "stacking". From the pictures of the Chinese and Mexican to-go boxes above, you'll see that I apply stacking principles to boxes that do and don't have dividers.

The first part of stacking involves deciding which "wet" dishes you'll be eating. The "wet" are usually the main food items one eats, such as General Tso's chicken, or a meatloaf in gravy. After picking your wets and assigning them locations in your to-go box, it's time to pick what "sponge" or accompanying starch you'll have with each wet and begin lining the bottom of the box with them. In the Chinese to-go box I did this in the large compartment. I lined the left half with pancit noodles and the right side with vegetable lo mein.

Now, I could go on a whole other tangent about avoiding "filler" foods like salads, rice, and bread when dining at a buffet either "in" or to-go, but I'll leave it to someone else to write the Unified Buffet Theory. I'm pretty sure it's in the works out there. Moving on.

After lining the bottom of that compartment, I added the wet layers mentioned earlier. In the Mexican to-go box pictured second, I divided the container into upper and lower halves. My "sponge" for both halves was a thin layer of nachos that they serve in thin layers covered in taco beef and cheese. To the top half I added more taco beef, red sauce, and white cheese sauce before topping it off with steak fajita meat and vegetables. In the lower half I added seasoned rice, a different red sauce, and topped it off with chicken fajita meat and vegetables. For the Mexican to-go it's evident that that there were a few kinds of sponges employed from base-layer nachos to intermediate beef and rice. FYI, the final swath of wet was a line of salsa along the upper-lower border.

The third and topmost layer of the to-go container stack is the "dry" portion. There's only so much of the wet you can layer on top of the sponge and carry around without spillage or a complete fallout. It can be hassle while transporting your food and downright embarrassing in the restaurant. You definitely don't want to draw any negative attention from the staff. Besides, they work hard enough as it is without any hit-and-run messes. So the dry tier of the stack fills that empty upper portion or "dry space" of the typical rectangular styrofoam to-go box (pictured above) above the sponge and wet layers. For to-go boxes or other containers lacking dry space on closure I guess one has to contend with full or partial submersion of the dry elements as the container is smushed closed.

For the Chinese to-go pictured at the top of the post I took a conservative approach with a row of spring rolls, but other times I've mixed it up with crab rangoon, fried shrimp, and on-stick beef and chicken teriyaki. Though you can't really see from the photo, there are actually seven of the quesadillas pictured in the Mexican to-go. I've also had taquitos, tamales, chicken tenders, and fried shrimp, too, coincidentally.

By refining my stacking skills I actually bring home more food than I can eat in one sitting. I usually save the dry portion of the stack for later at night since they microwave up pretty well. That usually tides me over without making/ordering a dinner and fits in with my revised eating habits, which include eating less towards the end of the day. As something I make into an all-day event, a to-go buffet run is something I'm so good a that I don't have to do as often, and that saves me money and take-out food calories.

The WORST Mechanical Pencil Ever

In the lower right hand corner of the photo of The Cluttered Desk you might be able to discern a black Starbucks Networker mug with rubberized handle and base. It used to be the mug of pens I kept on my desk at work, and it now functions as the "boneyard" of my fleet of pens by being the home for many past and present All-Stars and old veterans. Many are weathered and some are even disabled in that they don't work too well in delivering ink or lead/graphite, but they can still work in spurts or for some specific uses like tracing or sketching. Some of them I'm keeping for spare parts. But there's one in the bonetard that's just plain dumb.

I bought the Sanford Clear Point in green with a 0.5mm point in a Staples in Annapolis, MD on a whim. To me it looked so grotesque it was beautiful, and I wanted to see how it handled. Right out of the blister pack it looked and felt like an amateur design job. Basic tubular design and axially symmetric contouring for low cost production. Really brittle and slippery clear acrylic was used for the body, and some rubber ribbing texture was added at the grip almost as an afterthought apparently.

There was a huge and unwieldy eraser housing at the top of the pencil that, to its credit, housed an impressive rotating eraser advance mechanism but made the pencil so top-heavy it really unbalanced the pencil for me. The pencil clip was also attached to the eraser housing. A critical design feature of the eraser housing is that it's held onto the pencil body via a "male" peg on it that attaches to a slot on the the pencil body. Either this slot will loosen after repeated openings and closings or the peg will wear down, but I can already see scotch tape in the future. A really good example of a twist-advance mechanism for a large erasers on a mechanical is on the Pentel Twist Erase III, where the whole upper half of the pencil is twisted to advance the eraser and attaches to the lower half by sliding the upper half onto the lower half. There's so much more surface area friction working with this method that the chances of the pen body loosening up are much lesser.

The Clear Point features a side click button to advance lead, but, unlike the Pentel Quicker Clicker's, it's loose and feels sluggish in response to the touch. The most disappointing feature of the pencil's lead advance mechanism is that whatever prevented the lead from sliding out loosely failed completely after after only a few clicks. So now my mechanical pencil was basically a very thin-diameter lead holder. And one that broke more lead than it retained when I tried to push over-extended lead back in. All aesthetics aside, this broke the proverbial camel's back.

I've got one or two mechanical pencils in the boneyard with similar lead advance defects, but at least they look a whole lot prettier than the Sanford Clear Point.

STORMSHADOW bust

The latest addition to The Cluttered Desk has actually been "sitting on the bench" for a number of years. It's a 6" tall resin bust of Stormshadow, the enigmatically cool Cobra ninja from the G.I. Joe franchise. It was made in a very limited run by Palisades Toys of Ellicot City, MD, and is probably one of the coolest mini-busts of its kind. That's saying a lot since there have been a lot made between Marvel and DC Comics and the burgeoning number of other entertainment franchises' characters.

I bought Stromshadow off eBay for what I can only remember was so reasonable amount that I bought two of him. When I received them, they were so pristine in their packaging, that I promptly buried in my small storage unit. My intent was to acquire one of the Snake Eyes busts and display the two together, but for some reason I could never find the Snake Eyes bust either for a reasonable price or at all. And so the Stormshadow bust didn't resurface, and receded to the back of my memory.

And during that time, something happened to the busts' boxes. The glue holding it together began to fail. When I uncovered them last week during my archaeological dig of my storage unit to find stuff to sell on eBay, their boxes had come unglued and terribly warped with the cardboard itself in a stated of bloated brittleness that comes with age and or exposure to drastic temperature variations. With all my OCD concerns for pristine preservation dashed, I felt free to unbox the bust and display one of the damned things.

The thing is formidable in appearance. The picture I posted truly doesn't do it justice. From the trim of his tunic to the sculpted folds of fabric to the detail of his sash and strap buckle, everything is crisp and cleanly detailed. His muscle sculpt is also impressive as it reflects an actual human physique wearing fabric, which is much more impressive than a lot of sculpts that just paint a costume onto what is, for all purposes, a nude sculpt. Stormshadow's head is also finely done, showing a mask with actual stitching seams and trim over a face tha has a nose, ears, cheekbones, an eyebrow ridge, and flexing forehead. It's been a pet peeve of mine to see characters loose all facial features when donning a full head mask (think Spider-Man or Deadpool). Stormshadow's head sculpt reminds me of the old 50's Italian comic book anti-heroes like Fantomas or Diabolik who later made their way to films and Beastie Boys music videos.

Maybe I'll look for that Snake Eyes bust...

Buffet Tactics

A major factor in my drastic weight gain over the past few years has been the lunch buffets available for all types of cuisines where I live. Please observe how I didn't use the terms "cause" or "reason" or "culprit". I realize that I am solely to blame for my weight gain and also for my failure to lose weight. I'm not looking for applause for making these distinctions either. I'm just setting the stage for this post which isn't going to be about maxing out the buffet the experience in as much as it'll be about preventing the buffet the experience from maxing you out on the scales. Let's move on.

Buffets were what you did for lunch where I worked. Pay your $7-9 and take trip after trip at your pace. Appetizer course. Main course. Dessert course. Substitute and or repeat as needed. It was great. But as others maintained a consistent regimen of work and exercise outside of work, I ate even more fast food and prepackaged food on beteen work, night school, and the time I spent plopped in fron t of the TV. Shame on me.

And that's how it went for years for almost every work day. Chinese buffet, Mexican buffet, Ryan's, Shoney's, and even a Pizza Hut buffet were part of my office's lunch clique's regular rotation. Looking back, it was all so sinister.

And as I mentioned at the start, the buffet was not the only factor involved with my weight gaine. If it were, I would have lost the weight for the two years I lived/worked in another state. But I didn't as I had plenty of other bad habits.

It was no surprise to me that when I moved back to town after two years that all my buddies wanted to meet up at a buffet during their lunch break. Just like the "good" old times. A new restaurant this time but a buffet nonetheless. And a Chinese buffet at that, which was my weakness.

And so I went, and then I knew I was fat. Even the mousiest waitress there took a half-step back and stared as I lumbered into the joint. The host hesitantly asked if I needed a table for one. Now, there's nothing sadder than a fat guy eating at a buffet by himself. Simply eating at a restaurant by yourself, excluding eating at a diner counter, is sad to me, but to be fat and to eat at a buffet, well, it's sad. And I had been mistaken for that guy by this host. So I guess I was that guy. It implies so many things. For instance it could mean that you have no friends at all, none that can tolerate eating the same things you do, or none that can tolerate being around you when you eat. It also means that you might have an eating disorder such as one where you eat large amounts very often. In short, solo buffet dining could be likened to solo alcohol consumption.

But I digress. The host look glad to hear me say that I was meeting some friends, and my friends waved me over almost instantaneously. I promptly placed my beverage order (Diet Coke, for the taste of it) and proceeded to confound my friends with just one visit to the buffet.

And that's my new buffet tactic: ONE VISIT. That's it.

It simply involves changing one's attitude towards the buffet meal. Contrary to what some restaurants say when they condescendingly post those insulting "All you CARE to eat" signs, I've never seen a buffet as an invitation to test my consumptive mettle. And I've never seen two people engaged in an eating contest like those with pies, buffalo wings, or hot dogs at the fair. What a buffet does for me is trigger my natural human foraging/gathering instinct that has propelled the species forward through time as we know it. It all goes back to the first time man thought to himself, "I better eat as much as I can while I can because who know what the future holds?" The one-visit tactic involves reminding oneself that in this day and age, if you can afford to go eat at a buffet, then there's probably a good chance that you have either the food or the resources to get said food later on in the day or in your life.

And so, I approached the buffet with the mindset that it was one pass and I'd better get a little bit of my all-star favorites. I should note that I used a soup bowl to hold about a cup od steamed white rice also. I loaded up my plate, which did look ridiculous, but the amount of food on my plate was far less than my usual 2-3 plate trips combined. I usually don't get dessert.

I threw my friends off their pattern. I think out of politeness they were waiting for me to finish my current plate and go back up together like the "good" old days. Finally, one friend just kind of announced that he was going up, and then I cheerfully said, "Oh yeah, sure, don't let me keep you, I'm good." And that cleared up any confusion. They cheerfully rallied their forces and attacked the General Tso's with extreme prejudice. I still had food to eat.

The new tactic has allowed me to not be completely anti-social and still get my Chinese food fix. But what can you do when you don't want to eat out at a Chinese buffet and don't want the expense and over-sized portions of delivery? Well, there's a "buffet-to-go", and that's another post. Coming up...

Rotring Core Lysium Fountain Pen

A leading manufacturer of writing implements, Rotring has always offered superior quality products that are works of art in themselves. With the Core series of pens and pencils, they've outdone themselves by combining style with practicality in their design.

I first came across the Core series fountain pens last July while stalking the Golden Edition Parker Jotter. I decided to get one when I saw a set including the fountain pen, rollerball pen, mechanical pencil, and pushbutton ballpoint pen for under $30 on eBay. The pencil and ballpoint were great, but the fountain pen became my favorite.

The basic design sense of the series involves a rubberized coating over much of the pen body with contrast color "core" exposed for aesthetics in certain parts of the pen/cil body. For the fountain pen there are also holes along the pen body to keep tabs on your supply of ink.

The Core series has different color schemes that come in blues, black, red, orange, and grays. The Lysium line reflects the color scheme pictured above with sporty Tarheels light blue accenting metallic and matte gray cores. In comparison to the rest of my pen/cil collection, they really stand out and look cool.

The body of the fountain pen is entirely plastic, except for the nib, and really lightweight. I find the cap to be really heavy when posted on the body and it really throws the pen "off balance" for me. To me it's no problem to leave the cap on the table as it serves as a good place to rest the fountain briefly between uses, thanks to the fountain pen's narrower triangular cross-section. The same triangular grip also makes it comfortably impossible to not hold the pen the correct way.

The Core Lysium accepts standard Rotring/Waterman long and short cartridges (you can store two of the short cartridges in the pen body) as well as use an ink converter. I used the pen with an ink coverter and Parker blck Quink and found that the ink kind of accumulated in the plastic seams and crevices around the nib and really looked bad on the light blue plastic. So I would recommend a cartridge with the lighter colored Core fountains pens.

Core fountain pens go for around $20 - $25 shipped on eBay, but if you shop around you can get one for $15 shipped. Not bad for a pen that used to MSRP for $40 each. With so many color schemes to choose from, the coolness factor and the functionality of this pen make it fun pen you won't be afraid to use because of the price.

Transformers STARSCREAM

Hidden behind the stacked trays of pens on top of the Good Old Desk is a toy near and dear to my heart, my Takara F-15 transformable plane/robot toy. You might know him as Hasbro's Transformers Decepticon Starscream. Back in the 80's when the Hasbro toys and cartoon were really popular, you could still get their original Japanese predecessors, made by Takara, in Chinatown in NY for much less. Such was the case with a lot of robot toys then and would still be now if trade hadn't opened up between the US and Asian toy markets and allowed more toys to come to the US direct from Asia without the need for US licensing and its associated price markup.

It was from such a Chinatown toy shop that my Mom bought me a Japanese Takara version of the Decepticon Soundwave as a surprise for my 8th birthday. Yes, Soundwave, the cassette player that came with Buzzsaw, the cassette that transformed into a spy-bird a la Laserbeak. What happened to Starscream? I'll get back to him in a sec.

When I got the Japanese Soundwave I was on cloud nine. Ecstatic. Truly one of the few times in my life when I was happy beyond any measure my 8-year-old mind could fathom. Alongside my 12" Mork from Ork figure (my main birthday gift), he became a central figure in my afternoon battles between the forces of the Decepticons and Cobra and the allied forces of my Autobots and 3" GI Joes.

A couple of months later, in September, out of the blue, my Dad bought me the Takara Starscream. And I pouted. It wasn't a "Transformers" brand Starscream, I believe, was the reason why. He had a strange box, and no Decepticon logo stickers. Wah wah. As I look back, we didn't have much money then, though I really didn't notice it at the time. And knowing what I know now about my Dad, I think I really hurt him. At the time I observed the look on his face as I complained, and now I recognize it for sadness and possibly even disappointment in himself for not getting his son, who was acting pretty bratty I must say, a toy he was satisfied with. Times were financially tough and that was the thanks I gave him. I could really kick myself.

It was the last time my father ever bought me anything that I didn't "recommend" or plead for. I'm not saying I was spoiled, but I had a real chip on my shoulder most of my life because my parents were never spontaneous about their gift-giving. It was never a dollar-amount issue, mind you. I realize I can't help but come across as a spoiled brat at this point, but I would have accepted a $1 trinket that they would have given me on their own instead of the standard check for $20 and birthday card that I got all through high school. And yes, I realize that a lot of kids don't get anything at all ever, but I can't stress enough that for me it was about re-creating the spontaneity of my 8th birthday, that's all. Dollar value be damned, I just wanted the feeling and all that the giving of that feeling to me by my parents implied about their love for me. That's all. I think I'd even have been happy to take the item back to the store the next day.

And you know what's ironic? That Starscream became my favoritest toy ever in a matter of days. I would take him with me everywhere. I'd leave his landing gear, tail fins, and missiles home for fear of losing those precious accessories and take him on the subway with me in a stripped-down "robot combat mode". I played with him so much that the sockets where his wings attached to his body loosened up and I had to wrap tape around the wings' mounting pegs to get them to stay wedged in place. That toy is still in my parents' home in a box with all my other toys.

The classic Transformers toys commanded a high premium among collectors until 5 years ago or so when Takara and Hasbro started re-issuing the original Generation 1 toys in assorted levels of packaging and pricing. I picked up the Japanese re-issue for about $44 shipped and, contrary to my collector ways, opened it up and played with it like any grown man shouldn't.

I keep it on my desk as a reminder to me that, when I'm not arguing with him, I love my Dad and miss him very much.

Good Old Desk

If blogs could have a theme song then mine would be Harry Nilsson's song "Good Old Desk".

Everyone knows the "coconut song". Even if you don't know the title, which is simply "Coconut", you know what to do when presented with the terms "lime", "coconut", and "doctor" in any sing-along or karaoke scenario. It's a shame that people may know "Coconut" but not know or remember Harry Nilsson.

I'd first heard of the man through one of my CD clubs (yes, Timmy, there used to be more than one major CD club once) when they were really pushing me to buy whatever albums of his they stocked in the time shortly after he died in 1994. I was a sophomore in college. And I felt weird about it.

That a person dies shouldn't make his work any more appealing than it would the day before, should it? It bothers me to this day as I see other artists of my time and the times before pass away. On the other hand, though, wouldn't you want that artist's heirs to be taken care off as a result of those sales? At the very least, couldn't the heightened awareness of their work after their death be a better fate than the irreversible obscurity reserved for the exponentially greater number of artists who die with their work never recognized for what it was? Maybe it all depends on who's getting paid what.

In any case, I stayed away from Nilsson's work (or what parts of it I had seen) because the budgetary constraints of college life and the post-college work experience only allowed for spending on works I was more familiar with.

I finally bought "Nilsson Schmilsson" a little over a year ago after learning that he'd performed the songs "Without You", which I remembered from my FM-gold childhood, and "Jump Into the Fire", which was used in the helicopter scene in Goodfellas. By then a remastered version of the album was available with some bonus tracks, so it was all good. As soon as I began listening to the album I wanted to kick myself for not buying it 10 years ago. I'm talking real regret here, folks, like the kind that makes you wonder what kind of man you could have been having been affected by this art way back then.

The next CD I got by Harry Nilsson was was a collection of his greatest hits (pictured above). Many have been released before and since, but "All Time Greatest Hits" presents a good starting point for new audiences by presenting works from the entire spectrum of Nilsson's career with the critically acclaimed material presented comfortably alongside those hits from the radio and initially lesser known works that later gained exposure for their use in movies, like the song "Everybody's Talkin'", which has been used in Midnight Cowboy as well as the recent Crank, for example.

Recently, in an attempt to find the album that "Good Old Desk" originally appeared on, I came across his first 9 or 10 albums as UK reissues available only as high-priced imports in the US. Remastered and repackaged to combine more than one album on a single CD, some of these were remastered by Nilsson himself, and I feel cheated that they never found their way to American shores with the same popularity that his last few albums have. Still, better late than never I say, and they're on my Wish List should some spare cash find its way to me.

Nilsson's appeal as a recording artist is three-fold, combining a superior vocal range, gifted lyricism, whimsical musicality, and - FOUR! There are four reasons why I like Nilsson's work:

1. Superior vocal range
   
2. Gifted lyricism
   
3. Whimsical musicality, and
   
4. Diverse and unpredictable topicality

Pythonian digressions aside, it's the musicality, provided in many instances by assorted members of the Beatles, who were contemporaries and huge fans of his, that helps the listener appreciate the diverse concepts Nilsson presents us with along his career. In addition to the love/hate songs are the concept children's record (induced by an LSD trip, allegedly), an album of musical standards, an album about vampirism, and of course, songs about arrows and desks.

For me, it's the simple things he sings about that endear me to his work and I look forward to listening to more of it.

Why Not?

Why a blog? Well, I'd like to practice writing and typing. My reasons are far from altruistic. I'd like to be a writer or journalist some day, and the best practice involves being able to write, compose, and type on demand those thoughts that are swirling around in the mind in order to put them in a format others can read, understand, and maybe even appreciate. My weakness is typing and constantly editing myself even as I type. The struggle for perfection and the procrastination tied to the fear of releasing anything less than such is truly an artistic double-whammy. But then again, true art is never really completed but simply abandoned after time, or so I've heard.

I also don't have the moxy to keep a writing deadline without doing myself harm by way of days without sleep and stress. Any future successes for me will involve my getting better at keeping deadlines. And which deadlines are the hardest to keep? Why, the ones you impose on yourself. So I start with my work cut out for me. Wouldn't have it any other way.

In my mind I have the image of a J. Jonah Jameson-type character picking up a phone to some poor writer and screaming, "I need 5,000 words on this new sushi joint that just opened by this Friday. Your plane leaves tonight!" followed by "Just get it done!" in response to any stammering questions for the writer. One day maybe I'll have the "problems" of travel to far off places and eating/drinking/viewing/meeting interesting things/people and having to write about them in some time and word-count constraint, but for now a blog is good. Plus, I have to start somewhere. I need writing samples before I get that cushy restaurant review job on the coast of Spain or that product review job that comes with free samples.

I've been journaling on paper for the better part of a year, and been a pen/pencil fetishist for as long as I can remember. So I plan to use the blog for the purpose of talking about those things as well as whatever it is I'm reading, listening to, and collecting. In short, whatever it is that I obsess over and use in my day-to-day goings on. I get most of my swag on eBay, and I'm a pretty experienced buyer with a feedback of over 1050 (with an actual + feedback count of over 2500). This past December I started selling stuff on eBay after graduating from graduate school. It's helped pay bills as I look for a job (more on that later). With my seller account, I have a feedback score of over 450 (over 600 +). There's never a dull moment when you're a seller on eBay. Especially when you sell military toys, japanese robot toys, and Starbucks items like I do.

This year I'm actively trying to lose weight. I "broke my knee" last year and tore 2 ligaments. Because of my weight problem, things haven't been right since, but time and time again I've been told that getting down to a normal weight would definitely improve things. Not sure if I want to keep a log of my weight, but I plan to discuss any progress or lack thereof at least once a week. I'm also getting interested in food, funnily enough. Good food, and what it entails. I don't want to be malnourished and fat at the same time, so I've been reading what I can about what's considered good and trying to change the way I eat, subtle changes though they may be at the moment.

As I look for a job, try to lose weight, and buy/sell stuff on eBay I think blogging is the free kind of therapy I'll need to either distract myself from my life at times as well as to rant about it at other times. I'm a pretty keep-to-myself kind of guy and don't like to trouble my friends and family with windy rants and whines any more than I have to. And so I turn to the semi-anonymous blog for solace.

The Internet keeps demonstrating to me how it helps people communicate freely and openly to come together from all around the world. With your permission, I think I'd also like to try.

Until next time.