spacebase

I started to feel sick again last night. It quickly intensified after work. I went to Meijer with Tom and began to feel my throat constrict and just didn't feel like walking. I briefly napped then went to bed w/ a healthy dose of Mark's Robitussin. I took more in the morning and felt great (and a bit comfortably out of it all day). I bid Tom farewell and went downstairs, secretly taking his bike because I just missed the bus and I left mine downtown a week and a half ago.

I quietly lifted the bike out and pushed it down the sidewalk and as soon as I mounted it, I looked into the circle window in the stairway and saw Tom looking at me as he came down to get into his car and go to work. I pedaled quickly to get out of his sight and soon felt my phone vibrate. I just pedaled harder toward work.

I was sure his call wasn't to berate me for "stealing" his bike, but to mention that he had the key to the lock on it and share his concern for the bike's 'safety'. Still, it was amusing to me to think that I was stealing his bike and that I was caught and he was angry. The whole ride to work I continually spit up mouthfuls of phlegm. I considered it karma for taking his bike. It was disgusting, regardless.

The traffic lights were changing in my favor and I was quickly approaching the downtown bus stop to take me to Allendale. I didn't need Tom's lock. My bike was still down there and I could just lock them both up together and take Tom's bike home tonight and come get my bike another time.

The bus was at the stop and I hurried to lock it up and get on. But my bike wasn't there. I kept looking, but didn't see it. So I put Tom's bike on the front of the bus and decided to leave it in my office like a few professors do. I called Public Safety and asked if they may have removed my bike for being considered "abandoned" and they told me I should come down and fill out a report for a stolen bike.

This makes the 2nd bike I've had stolen from that bike rack. And this same bike had its tires stolen once before. Either the rack is cursed, or people case it and steal bikes they've seen left there for a while. Now I think I'll offer Tom some money to rent his bike for the rest of the year.

Hot Boyz

Our landlords take great care of our place. They replace our light bulbs/appliances and they do yard work constantly. They particularly enjoy keeping our front yard and sidewalk clean. They'll bring out the leaf blower several times a day. Mark told me how they were out in the dark blowing leaves off of the sidewalk. The result is beautiful:

While waiting at the bus stop across the street though, I realized where they all go. Across the street. In large piles. Isn't this illegal?

1. His real name is Hosato Takei. Takei is pronounced /tuh-KAY/ not /tuh-KAI/. Gene Roddenberry accidently pronounced it /tuh-KAI/, which, in Japanese, means "expensive". Roddenberry remembered that it rhymes with "OK".

2.

3. Takei co-wrote "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe" with Robert Asprin. Amazon reviews say,

"A ripping good yarn, combining the irony of Robert Asprin with the first attempts of George Takei."

"If they made a movie of this book, they would probably re-title it 'Ninja in Space'."

4. Takei's favorite Star Trek episode was "The Naked Time". Understandably so...

episode guide with link to video

5. Soundboard! (His laughs are hilarious. I remember hearing them Howard Stern)

6. Takei believed that William Shatner was personally responsible for Mr. Sulu's slow rank advancement in the fictional Starfleet.

7. During World War II, Takei grew up in internment camps for Americans of Japanese descent in Arkansas and northern California.

8. On October 28, Takei "came out" as a homosexual to Frontiers magazine. Though many knew before and he never hid it, saying, "It's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen."

In a review of his 1995 autobiography To the Stars, an Amazon reviewer wrote in September of 2003

"What stood out to me the most is the lack of love in this book. George never mentions getting married or wanting to get married. He never mentions going out on dates. He never mentions going to his high school prom. He never says he was too busy for a love life. He mentions that other Star Trek actors and other relatives are married, but he never says anything about himself. Surely a famous actor would get lots of invitations for romance. Thus, this book begs the question of Mr. Takei's sexual orientation."

9. Takei was on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and while involved in Arts in Transit he ensured that each subway station had its own look to foster neighborhood pride.

10. Takei did English dubbing for The Return of Godzilla in 1955.

I ordered a camera on Sunday. At 7:45 last night I got a phone call from the 718 area code. I answered it and a too-friendly New Yorker started a conversation.

TFNY: Hello, is this Kevin?
K: Yes, hello?
TFNY: Hi there Kevin. How are you doing?
K: I'm alright, how are you?
TFNY: Oh, I'm good. So yeah, how was your day?
K: Uhh, well-
TFNY: Was it long? Sounds like it was long.
K: Yeah, it was quite long actually.
TFNY: Well, I hate to bug you but this is Chris from CheapFuckinCameras.com.
K: Oh, right. Yeah, I just ordered a camera from you.
CFCFCDC: Yeah, that's right and I just need to verify your billing address.
K: Okay, it's...
CFCFCDC: Great, and can you tell me who Kevin T!mmer in Allendale is?
K: Umm, well. That's me. I wanted it shipped to my work. I'm not around when UPS arrives.
CFCFCDC: You'll have to clear that with your Credit Card company.
K: Okay, you can just ship it to my billing address.
CFCFCDC: Great. That'll be great, we'll get that shipped tonight.
K: Thanks.
CFCFCDC: Hey Kevin. Do you know what was in your package?
K: Well, I remember there was a, uh-
CFCFCDC: Right, well your package came with a 20 minute battery and...(blah blah) You know, for just $50 we can put a 3 hour battery in there.
K: Thanks, but my friend was going to give me his battery. I-
CFCFCDC: Oh, but does he have the right model? I bet he has the T1. You ordered the T7, remember. You'll need the right battery for the right model.
K: Yeah, well I don't really have the money. I just got this money and was going to spend it on this camera, I really can't afford anything else right now.
CFCFCDC: It's only $50, okay. Just don't go spending it on strippers now.
K: Ha, no, I won't.
CFCFCDC: Haha, I'm just kidding with you man. I'll tell you what. For $39 I'll get you the 3 hour battery and upgrade your shipping to 3 day.
K: Well, I don't know. I really don't-
CFCFCDC: C'mon, this is a bargain. It'll be at your house by Friday!
K: Only $39 for the battery and the shipping upgrade?
CFCFCDC: Yeah, exactly. A bargain.
K: Well, okay, that'll be fine I guess.
CFCFCDC: Great. We'll have that battery in there and get this shipped to you ASAP, my man. You have a great night.
K: Thanks.

Why do you think I bought the fucking thing on the internet? I hate you slimy salespeople. I don't want to upgrade. I bought from you because it was cheap on froogle! I planned on taking care of that later, from someone else. Thanks for calling me on the phone while I'm eating peanuts at a steakhouse! (Actually yeah, thanks for that...a diversion was nice) I need some assertiveness!

Things I am thankful for (the best non-Quizzilla, etc. meme):

· Mad Money with Jim Cramer
· Baboo, my new Nintendog (impulse purchased forced upon me by that vile Best Buy sales clerk...no offense Jenny)
· Manny Santos
· Landlords who are avid leaf/snow blowers
· Vegetarian Stove Top (stuffing)
· Michael Showalter
· The Rapid
· WiFi
· The color brown
· Sangria
· My dad's latest joke:

So I got a letter in the mail the other day. All it said for the address was "Dumb Sonofabitch, Marne, MI". Now, I don't have any problem being called a dumb sonofabitch, but it really hurts that the postman knew who to deliver it to.

I know g-rad has a lot of people from Calvin, and this is for you. My dad scanned this from an old National Lampoon magazine he had.

.

There's a History professor whose office is right before the stairwell on my way to the lab. I like the sound and rhythm of his name. The past few days I've been chanting it softly as I walk by and adding rhymes.

Daniel Aragon
is the paragon,
eating tarragon
on his snapdragon.

(This snapdragon, by the way, isn't the flower. It's a dragon that is very ferocious yet sweet-smelling. It's also pronounced SNAP-dra-gon and the accent is the same as paragon.)

Several weeks ago Tom, Mark and I came across an old movie with dogs walking on hind legs, smoking, conspiring and loving on TCM. After a little research, I learned that the movie was "The Dogville Murder Case" and was just one of many shorts featuring dogs.

This article filled me in: More Barks Than There Are in Heaven
The Extremely Bizarre Story of MGM's Dogville Shorts

Then I found the original shorts (not all, and sadly not the one we originally saw) on TCM's website.

Dogway Melody
A flat-out parody of MGM's own Broadway Melody, it featured showgirl Queenie (the Anita Page role, taken by a very glamorous Oscar) pursued by the evil Mr. Curr (not Jiggs, for a change, but a very threatening-looking black dog) and protected by her boyfriend (the reliable Buster).

Matt and I watched this last night. They had a dog named Al J. Olsen who performed Mammy and had white hands.

The Big Dog House
A prison film parody, released in September of 1930. In this tale, sales clerk Buster is set-up by his boss, Jiggs, who wants to make time with his girl (Oscar, of course, in one of his greatest dramatic performances). Newspapers noted the huge cast, the tiny prison uniforms, and Jiggs' debut in a villainous role.

Trader Hound
A fairly high-budget African adventure, with Buster in the dashing title role, Jiggs all done up in blackface and Afro wig, and Oscar in the Edwina Booth role, complete with a very fetching long blonde wig.

Love - Tails of Morocco
This drama featured Foreign Legionnaires reminiscing about the women who done them wrong (Oscar was, of course, a dance-hall girl who two-timed poor cowboy Buster). One racy pre-Code line got past the censors: two gossipy dogs say about a third, "I hear she had her tail lifted!"

The Dogville Murder Case (also known as Who Killed Rover?)
This one was downright weird: detective Fido Vance is hired by a nervous bride to protect her husband, Rover, from greedy relatives. Rover is kidnapped and -- in a twist unheard of in a real MGM film -- is killed before Vance can save him. "I regret to inform you that you are now a widow," he tells the bride, who shrieks, "eeek!" and keels over. The End. There is also a very funny police line-up, featuring a dead ringer for Marie Dressler (a bulldog named Laddie), and a gay dog who was "strolling in the park." Filmograph felt it was "amazingly clever," and felt "the dogs are perfect in their difficult roles."