Your Score: 10", Oak, Dragon

That's right--24 years ago today, Michelle Branch was born.

Dustin, too, which is more relevant.

Your Results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (91%)
3. Barack Obama (82%)
4. Joseph Biden (76%)
5. Wesley Clark (75%)
6. Hillary Clinton (75%)
7. Al Gore (71%)
8. Christopher Dodd (70%)
9. John Edwards (70%)
10. Mike Gravel (69%)
11. Bill Richardson (60%)
12. Elaine Brown (50%)
13. Kent McManigal (50%)
14. Ron Paul (45%)
15. Rudolph Giuliani (28%)
16. Mike Huckabee (27%)
17. John McCain (24%)
18. Chuck Hagel (22%)
19. Tommy Thompson (18%)
20. Mitt Romney (17%)
21. Newt Gingrich (15%)
22. Sam Brownback (15%)
23. Fred Thompson (9%)
24. Tom Tancredo (9%)
25. Duncan Hunter (8%)
26. Jim Gilmore (4%)

http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html

I feel like there are probably more questions that I would have liked to have been asked, but I don't know what they would have been.

It's very big. It cost $6.99 at Value Village.
The end.

Go to Wikipedia. Type in your birth date (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.

EVENTS
1251 BC - A solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes, Greece.

1860 - Steamship Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 400 lives.

1936 - The last surviving member of the thylacine species, Benjamin, dies alone in her cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.



BIRTHS
1936 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)

2006 - Dannielynn Marshall Stern, daughter of Anna Nicole Smith




DEATHS
1978 - Keith Moon, drummer in the English rock band The Who (b. 1946)

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane

Total: 9

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchor Man
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 16

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
(x) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Pie Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp

Total so far: 21

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 29

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots

Total so far: 35

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) King Pin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG

Total so far: 40

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber

Total so far: 49

(x) Harold & Kumar (go to White Castle)
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards (The original w/Burt Reynolds and not the Adam Sandler remake) (This person must mean "The Longest Yard," I guess)
(x) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 55

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Freddy Vs Jason
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total so far: 63

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
(x) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Sleven
( ) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
(x) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 73

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2

Total so far: 79

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 89

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
( ) X3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total so far: 99

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin

Total so far: 101

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 107

(x) BASEketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
(x) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three

Total so Far: 115

(x) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 123

(x) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld

Total so far: 130

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
(x) The Hills Have Eyes
(x) I Spit on Your Grave
(x) The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness

Total so far: 138

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(  ) Star Wars Ep.III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 143

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Total: 152

Guilt	What is yours?	Explain yourself
Culinary:	McDonald's double cheeseburgers	They're absolutely disgusting. I hate the feeling of having just eaten one, as well as the feeling of eating one, and I well remember those feelings as I'm ordering one.
Literary:	Not producing any literature	I used to. I don't anymore. I ought to at least try. But I don't.
Audiovisual:	Gilmore Girls	That's a good show. It's just not totally acceptable for a man's man (like myself) to be all into it.
Musical:	I'm guilty of being a music snob	I am SO ready to judge people's musical tastes. Not the person, so much, but definitely their atrocious taste in music. I realize that it's all subjective, and I listen to a lot of indefensible crap, myself...but it's fun to criticize (in a mostly-joking way).
Celebrity:	Milo Ventimiglia	Jess!

Now I tag:-

azrael99876 irma_c almightyreihl darrad and sunnygreen


to complete this same Quiz, Its HERE.

Charlie and I competed in the Guitar Hero II tournament today.  They held it at our local Gamestop.

We went in not really knowing what to expect.  We're totally awesome at Guitar Hero, but we knew that people existed with skills far greater than ours--people who can 5-Star "Jordan" (the only song that neither Charlie nor I can beat), but we didn't know if they were common or rare.

Well, we got there and this one dude took the guitar, just foolin' around before the actual contest began.  He played "Jessica" and hit all but maybe five of the notes.  It was disheartening, to say the least.
     Until he'd gone up, people'd been playing one song each, then passing the guitar on to the next person.  But when he finished, he turned around and with a smug look on his face he asked, "You guys don't mind if I do another one, right?" like he knew he was hot shit.  It's breaking etiquette to ask for a second turn, but no one wanted to break etiquette by refusing a request, either, so he played "Beast and the Harlot."
     And...he effing hit all but ten notes, maybe eleven.  His score was astronomical.  He was crazy amazing.

He was in the first matchup when the tournament actually started.  It was him against this Asian kid (a music major, it turns out).  They played "Institutionalized," and it was neck and neck the entire way...sometimes the Asian dude would lead, but mostly the smug-seeming guy would be ahead.  ...Until the last forty-five seconds or so, when the other guy managed to squeak by.
     We'd all been rooting for the music major, too, because he seemed more friendly and jocular, and not too impressed with his own mad-skillz.

Soon enough, I was up, and I lost.  I was really nervous, and my fingers kept misfiring and hitting the wrong notes, even though the song ("Sweet Child o' Mine") was an easy one.  Still, I almost caught back up at the end....I don't like, and almost never play, that song.
     Then Charlie was up, and he trounced his opponent.
     And then some others' went.
     But then the one dude was up again!  First-round eliminations didn't mean anything, apparently.  Which I was excited for, because that meant I could go again.  I don't know if I could have handled an embarrassing, Axl Rose-related defeat.  Anywho, that dude stomped the piss out of his match-up, and then it was my turn.
     But my match-up had left, assuming that he was out for good.  Kat (Charlie's lady) stepped in and played me, and I won that round's song ("Girlfriend") to advance.
     Charlie's match wasn't as fortunate, and he lost on "Hangar 18" to the dude who'd beaten me in the first round.  Which was weird, I thought...the guy had been so-so at "Sweet Child o' Mine" but really, really good at "Hangar 18" (which is waaaaaaay harder).
     Then it was my turn again, and who was I paired up against but the one dude who was really, really, amazingly good (and sort of an ass).  The contest-official announced that this was the semi-final, to see who'd face the music major.  And I didn't have a chance in hell.  But I gave it my very best shot.
     I asked the guy if we could play a song called "Yes We Can," which you can listen to here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=20736082 (it may or may not be the default song).
     He said he hated that song (as everyone does), but I beseeched him to grant me that one last request.  People pressured him into accepting, because I'd been doing pretty crappy.  And he eventually said that he'd do it, and I thanked him and told him he was most gracious.

But, yeah.  It was fun, all the same.

That's a high score.
Set by me.
On Freebird (Expert).


That bodes well for the Guitar Hero II tournament I'll be entering tomorrow.

Haven't started drinking yet.

A thing:
...Oh, wait.  I haven't had this journal a year.  Well, I'll figure something out.


My last year in livejournal. The first post of every month:

January: New Year's Eve was pretty coo'.

February: "What sleeps beneath the trees / Or what's buried 'neath a rock / Or hiding in the leaves"

March: Well, my mood is not "Lenten," per se, but whatever.

April: Skim < 1% < 2% < Whole < Half&Half

May:  Not as impressive as if it were a bullet, I guess.

June:  I'm sure there's a formula.
            -also-
            Except the Dew will be different, too.

July: I finally did the whole karaoke scene.

August: I had to come to this computer and use MuseNames so I could find a more suitable name for the guy..

September: What I wouldn't give for a big gang of giant house spiders right about now.

October: Hey, hey, hey. Hi.

November: Oh my god-damn God.

December: I thought it was just the snow that made people run Stop signs. Guess not.

My journals don't lend themselves to that kind of game, I think.  Because usually I'll pick a Subject entry out of thin air, and then the first line of the journal itself is an exercise in free association using that randomized subject line as a starting point.

I need to get a bottle of NyQuil or something to get me back on a semi-normal sleeping thing.  I hardly ever have anywhere to be before early afternoon, so it's not so bad, but 4a.m. is a weird time to feel at the height of awakeness.  It'd be more convenient if I felt all peppy and zesty at a time when other people were awake.

I wonder if NyQuil has the same soporific as Tylenol PM...
Because that stuff just makes me twitchy and uncomfortable; not sleepy.  It's a sleepiness, but one that my body feels compelled to combat.

Bookworm Adventures is a fun game, but I devoured it too quickly.

There was much wind this evening.

     A trip to the gas station's convenience store revealed the true, awesome force of the blasting wind, flinging dirt and even bits of rock into my and my steadfast companion's faces on our way there, and propelling us forward on our way home, hastening our retreat, urging us to return to the relative safety of our home. The ominous nature of the wind's insistent suggestion was not lost on either of us.
     The howl of the wind was eery as the taut powerlines overhead carved through the gusts like keenly honed knives.
Though it was not yet half-past nine, the streets were desolate; the city all but deserted.
     After anxiously traversing the barren, windswept streets, we neared home at last. As I fumbled with the keys, first struggling to select the right one, and then laboring to guide it into the keyhole, we spotted one other excursionist, but I must admit that we were loath to hail him. For he seemed as though not quite...right.  I am sure that his peculiar gait was nothing more than a vain attempt to reduce his resistance to the marauding gale, but he appeared to lurch or shamble more than walk.  This I frantically assured myself of as I managed to wrestle key into lock and make possible our flight from untold danger.
     I must confess that I could not even bring myself to peep from behind the safety of the blinds and check on the progress of our fellow windblown nomad, for the weather had filled my head with notions both fanciful and frightening.  It was all I could do to securely lock all of the doors and keep vigilant watch throughout the night.
    Oh how the terror surged in my breast at every flicker and momentary lapse in the power supply, as I was cast suddenly into ephemeral darkness.  Never for more than a second; maybe two.  Still, such visions I was subject to at every such occasion (of which there were many).  That man...that shape staggering in our direction, his face obscured and his intentions unknowable.
     I really should say no more; better to end my account of the night's events here, before I tread into the realm of speculation.  But...would it truly be speculation, and nothing more?  For I know what I heard, even if I know not what produced those terrible sounds.  That rapping at the window--I can hear it even now, so stark is the memory racing through my mind.  It came three or maybe four times throughout the course of my vigil, just a single tap at a time.  But clearly audible.  There is no tree, no shrubbery, no overgrown hedgerow in the vicinity of the window in question...nothing that might, wind-driven, brush against the pane.
    It is light again.  I only hope that I am not inviting catastrophe by presuming that whatever threats--be they real or the simply product of an overtaxed mind and a restless imagination--will recede with the night's malevolent blackness.  For I am to require some small period of rest if I am to resume my surveillance when the sun again descends below the horizon, pitching the city into restless gloom.  I must be allowed to replenish some amount of acuity, lest my worst fears become a horrifying reality.

I must bid you all a good night...although for you, this is day.  The sunlit hours are yours to enjoy, for in your good fortune, you may rest during the nighttime hours without fear of ghoulish figures slouching ever closer, waiting and ready to strike the moment your head hits your pillows.
    Count yourselves as lucky, I bid you!  There may come a day when you can no longer take for granted that peace of mind; a day when you will, like me, be forced into perpetual readiness, always dreading what lurks just beyond the reach of your perceptions, but that you can be sure lurks there just the same.

I thought it was just the snow that made people run Stop signs. Guess not.  People still blow through the 4-way stop by my house.  It's not very busy, so it doesn't really matter (often).

The only two non-secret songs I haven't beaten on GH2 (on Expert) are "Misirlou" and "Freebird."  Up-and-down strumming and masturbatory guitar solos (respectively) are the twin banes of my existence.

By nighttime (like one a.m.), I've usually accrued enough zest and energy to want to go have an adventure or interact with the world in some interesting way.  And it tends to not stick around while I sleep, and I've got to start all over again in the morning.

I met a hooker today.  She offered me her company, and I said, "No, thanks."
It was pretty awesome.  So seedy!

Yup.