And then there was

John Oliver Thinks Jersey Sucks

2009-04-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

While Steven Colbert continues his shtick of not ever giving a fair interview (a bit that is becoming tired, if I do so say myself), the revolving door of corespondents at The Daily Show manage to keep the satirical news program hip and fresh. For example, John Oliver and his take on the recent protests on Obama's tax increase:

25 things that noone is tagged in.

2009-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Here are 'the rules':

Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to see your random things!

Fuck the suggestion, I'll write 25 things and if you give a crap you'll find it on your own.

1. I spent my entire summers in Marshfield from the age 0-22
2. My first job was bagging groceries at the Brant Rock Market. I eventually moved up to cashier.
3. I worked at Gap one summer
4. I haven't missed an episode of the Opie and Anthony Radio show in the past 3 years.
5. My dad is/was a Trekkie and I am a Fanboy. Funny how that worked out, though I really do enjoy Star Trek
6. My first movie in the theater was The Little Mermaid
7. I think Tom Cruise is a good actor
8. Val Kilmer is my favorite Batman and Mark Hammil is my favorite Joker
9. I say stupid shit when I'm drunk cause it's fun to get on people's nerves. If you're my friend you can take the joke.
10. #9 got me and two friends kicked out of a frat house in Maine. It was maybe one of my favorite nights ever.
11. i hurd u leik mudkips
12. the first time I can remember seeing Star Wars is at a friend's house. We watched an overused VHS copy of ESB on a crappy TV and I fell in love.
13. I troll the nets, especially www.findyourgeek.com, where I have made some splendid friends.
14. I've shamelessly joined dating sites, became disgusted with myself, and canceled the account (barring the above).
15. I'm decided not to take classes this semester, am jobless, and don't have much direction right now.
16. I have a hard time admitting #15 to people.
17. I've read something like 70 Star Wars books and could own anyone in SW trivia.
18. People think I dress metro, I just would rather not be naked. 17. In the winter I don't take my hat off, in the summer I don't take my sandles off.
19. I shit my pants in second grade at the end of gym, right before getting on the bus to go home. I was to embarressed to do anything about it so I wallowed in my own filth the entire bus ride.
20. This past Sunday I went to the Olive Garden. At the end of dinner I got up to use the toilet. Only on my way out, when I noticed a young lady at the bathroom mirror, did it dawn on me the reason for the lack of urinals. On the other hand it was one of the filthiest bathrooms I had ever been in.
21. I would rather admit to being in an embarressing situation or saying something moronic so that everyone can enjoy a laugh instead of being alone in my humiliation.
22. is this my 22nd fact about myself?! LOVE IT.
23. my laptop is an Inspiron E1405
24. I've been to Canada, Japan, France and England
25. I hate doing these things

Pat Scratch Fever

2008-08-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

My brother pat bursts out with a guitar solo... with the cat.

Bookmarked Online Comics, Presented In No Particular Order

2008-08-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a last of some Online Comics that I like to check out once in awhile along with a shiny example of each:

Left-Handed Toons (by right-handed people)

I Can't Draw Feet

Achewood

Cyanide and Happiness @ Explosm.net

Buttersafe

Penny Arcade

xk cd

Know any other web comics that should be added to this list?

All images posted with permission from the artist except the comics from Penny Arcade and Buttersafe.

Clone Wars - Midnight in Randolph

2008-08-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Who's with me? If you want to go to midnight showing of the new Star Wars: Clone Wars animated movie in Randolph send me a message. I'ld like to gather as many people as possible. In the meantime, check out this preview and promotional poster:

2008-07-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

To those of you who follow me on facebook, you may no longer find me there. Here's why:

When I registered by facebook account I decided that I would register with the name Timothy Jedi McDonough. If you are familiar with my online presence than you understand that "Jedi" might as well be my middle name. This account and many other accounts I use online are a play on "Jedi" (Idej is Jedi spelled backwards). This is what I saw when I tried to log in earlier:

Facebook pinned me as having a fake name. Is this right? People have said to me upon first IRL interactions "oh, I've seen you on fb, you're Tim Jedi, aren't you?!" I checked the facebook Terms and only once do they come anywhere close to making an argument for rightfully disabling my account. These two sentences are written under the User Conduct heading in the Terms section of facebook.com:

"In addition, you agree not to use the Service or the Site to:

...impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity"

AND

"use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without authorization from the Company, or create a false identity on the Service or the Site."

This is especially annoying because all sorts of new shit is being added to my account from my recent trip to England. I fired off this angry email to privacy@facebook.com as soon as I learned of their transgression (and not mine):

"Dear Facebook Staff,

To start, forgive me if this was sent to the wrong address and please forward it
to a department which is concerned with these issues.

Earlier today my facebook account was disabled under what I believe to be false
pretenses. When attempting to log into the account a received a message stating
that my name was in fact fake. I referred to the facebook terms of use in order
that I may further understand why this happened. Only twice in the extensive
terms page is there any mention of using a fake name. They are as follows:

In addition, you agree not to use the Service or the Site to:
- impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent
yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity
AND
use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without
authorization from the Company, or create a false identity on the
Service or the Site.

If you can prove that I have done any of these things I would appreciate how and
under what circumstances you decided to delete my account. I have been
completely honest about who I am and the relationships I have on the site. I am
recognized by the name I registered with is by my family, friends and peers.

I understand the need for you too keep the site clean and free from from people
taking advantage of its anonymity but arbitrarily deleting accounts without
provocation seems over the top. I put years of work into maintaining my page
and creating friendships through your service and it would be sad to see that
all go to waste. I know that one person isn't going to matter all that much to
you, but If you cannot restore my account I will not be creating a new one and
will refuse to recommend your site to anyone."

I am not creating a new account if my old one can not be restored and I encourage everyone to find new means of keeping your friends up to date. You only really have 10 friends anyhow, those 1,492 other people are hardly even acquantiences. Leave those shmucks in the dust and start taking full advantage of your email and blog.

Meanwhile, this is the best place to find me. You can get stumbleupon and twitter updates and soon a link to my picasa web album. Enjoy.

The Crosier

2008-07-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

It is completely worth the 2 pounds admittance to see the beautiful quadrangle and chapel at New College of Oxford University in Oxford England.

There are some really incredible things to see. Even the small, winding street that lead to the front gate of the campus is charming. Despite the bike lane yellow lines and the tourist types wandering these small side streets you still feel immersed in the old world feel of the city.

The college is probably most well known for the Bridge of Sighs which crosses over New College Lane and connects two portions of Hertford College.

New College, which was founded by William of Wykeham in 1379, piqued my particular interests when I entered the chapel. Within the chapel is the crosier of William of Wykeham, who presided over New College as Bishop after it was as established. A crosier is the staff which the bishop carries and resembles a shepherd's cane that has fallen into a bucket of awesome and then adorned with some of the most rediculously heavy ornamentation and sharp edges. It is unlikely that any innocent little lamb would survive evisceration of the throat or spontaneous compustion upon contact with the surely magical item. I so incredibly wished I could have taken a photo of this thing but there was no photography permitted within the chapel of New College. Furthermore, despite all my faith in Google's infamous image search I was unable to turn up any photographs snapped by anyone, or even an adequate illustration. I am unsure why I am somewhat obsessed with this fancy man of God's crosier, but I have an overwhelming desire to share it with everyone. Unfortunately, this post falls short of its initial intention.

Check back later in the week for another update on my Oxford adventures!

The Kings Arms

2008-07-06T20:35:00.001-07:00

I arrived in Oxford, England yesterday at about 8:30 local time (GMT) and was the first person to receive my room key, room 10 of The Kings Arms. I clumsily dragged my luggage through campus, eventually lifting it up three stories a very narrow staircase only to discover that I was in the wrong staircase. I lugged my things back down, found the proper staircase, and again oafishly managed my way up to my room while carrying the 70 lb checked luggage.

I thought being able to tell people that the dormitory I was staying in is called "The King's Arms" would be pretty diesel name for dormitory, but really was only understanding about half of the coolness of the situation. After some orientation meetings and dinner, myself and a couple of new friends set out on further exploration of the city in a nearly too late attempt to find a liquor store which was open on a Sunday evening. On the return we passed the "King's Arms" pub, which I had already new existed beneath my dormitory. I didn't, however, realize that my window was directly over the entrance to the pub!

My room is on the 3rd floor. That open window in the center of the building is mine, along with the window to the left of it.

Google Alerts

2008-07-04T21:02:00.001-07:00

I have my gmail sent to send me an alert whenever a new site is added to the google search engine which includes the keyword "idejmcd". "IdejMcD" is a commonly used alias of mine and its use extends far beyond this blog and into the netherregions of the world wide web. Check it:

http://www.google.com/search?q=idejmcd&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Today I recieved an alert from gmail which included a link to a Japenese version of my YouTube account profile. I think this is amazing and is probably the result of my hosting a video of the Japanese pop-punk band Toy Missile.

Demotivational

2008-06-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Jumping on this bandwagon a 'lil late, but I thought I'ld give this a try:

Some feedback would be nice.

original image found at http://www.lensculture.com/palviranta.html

Plan 9 from Central Park

2008-06-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Don't see M. Nights latest flick. Instead, head to your local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video and ask for the worst movie ever made. They will probably say something to the extent of "I'm sorry sir, but The Happening is still in theaters and no one would ever bother to bootleg that pile of garbage."
Your response to this will be, "Can I have the next best thing?", at which point you will be handed Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space.
The depth of Ed Woods biggest failure manages to muster up thought provoking ideas and performances with have leagues of depth compared to M. Night's third failure in a row. Here's a compilation of the best lines uttered during Plan 9:

Sadly, you shouldn't expect anything better from The Happening.

Still At It

2008-06-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you who actually know me, you may remember my buddy Lance. Lance and I are infamous for our lightsaber training excerices which we typically engaged in on cool summer evenings in Marshfield. Of course, with there being a short supply of training sabers and the season ripe with baseball fever, wiffleball bats made an excellent substitute. Just imagine, a jovial round faced boy, with a fro to rival a 70's semi-pro basketball star, swinging away a yellow stick at a similarly armed boy decked in a floral bathing suit, a novelty SW shirt and flip flops.

There was one occassion where Lance traveled with me to Bridgewater. In this instance we had enough friends with the amazing light up toy sabers to stage a full out 3 on 3 saber assault on Matt McGann's front lawn.

Below is a video the Lance recently made. As you can tell we are both still deeply disturbed individuals who have a hard time letting go of our childhood fantasies. Lance can be found at his new website, lancewilkinson.com

Rockets and shit

2008-06-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

I watched the first 2 hours of the Discovery Channel special "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions." It was pretty interesting watching the test pilots go through training and then strap themselves to a controlled bomb.

I was reminded of the story of Joe Kittenger, who fell to Earth from 31,330 miles above the surface after leaping from the Excelsior III hot air balloon. It was a 14min and 39 second free fall. Here's a video detailing it.

In responce to "Irritating the modern Geek"

2008-06-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

I posted the following on the findyourgeek.com in response to a thread asking what annoyed a geek the most:

I hate when people, upon realizing the extent of my Star Wars fandom, have a desire to tell me that they've never seen a Star Wars movie before.

For a couple reasons, I don't give a flying fuck. Even if you have scene any one of the six, I don't have anything to tell you about a Star Wars movie that hasn't already been said. I'm not going to be having a completely original conversation with you about which trilogy was better or how annoying Jar Jar is. We get it, he was awful. If you have seen the movies, fat chance you've picked up a SW Novel or comic, and IMO, that's the most interesting stuff.

That or you're telling me because you want me to go off on how great they are: I'm not going to go out of my to convince you to watch a movie and I'm certainly not going to flame you for not seeing them.

Don't patronize me, I can have an intelligent conversation concerning an array of topics.

Lost: Some Thoughts

2008-05-19T11:18:00.001-07:00

After watching the latest episode it definatly appears as if they are setting up the 6 to all be together to get off the island.

Sun and Arron are already on the boat. Kate, Jack, Sayid and Hurley are all head to or already at the Orchid. If they can get on the helicopter together all 6 will meet up on Widmore's boat.

As for the explosives on the boat? I can't imagine that Jinn is killed, but maybe I just don't want to except it. When Sun was telling the press about Jinn we all know she was lying, but to what extent? We have to consider that everyone OTHER than the 6 has a gravestone or memorial somewhere off the island, even if they're not really dead. Jack and the other 6s told the world that everyone else is dead so grieving families certainly would want to memorialize their loved ones somehow... right? I think Jinn is alive.

As far as new charcters go, Faraday is my favorite. He's such a character and I want him to be a "good guy" so bad (whatever good is in this show).

Ben has surpassed Locke on my list of favorites. Between season 3 and 4 he has become so incredibly interesting and enthralling, and Michael Emerson is just so fantastic an actor. What the hell is Ben's deal, anyway?! Good, bad? Just plain evil?! What the heck!?

I could talk for hours about this dman television program.

Clone Wars Movie and TV Series: Some Thoughts

2008-05-19T11:16:00.001-07:00

I am almost more excited for this than I am for the new Indy movie, Star Wars is never more fresh than when Lucas takes a step back and lets someone else have the reins.

That being said, DelRay didn't do the most amazing job with the novels. Jedi Trial and the Cestus Deception were so awful, I can't believe I even finished them (though I am more than glad to add them to my bookshelf collection of Star Wars novels).

If you want GREAT Ani and Ob1 stories you need to check out the Clone Wars era books that Dark Horse put out, especially the section where everyone thinks Obi is dead save Anikan. The relationship between master and apprentice is really drawn out and you can see the connection between the two grow strong because they've been apart.

All told I think the animation looks awesome. There's that bit with the walkers climbing the cliff face, I can't wait to see that played out on the big screen. The cartoons were pretty cool. This has potential to be even better.

Follow up to Battlestar

2008-05-19T11:15:00.001-07:00

Love this show, it is amazing. Last Fridays episode was SOLID and I can't wait the two weeks before the next airing. Damn you, Memorial Day Weekend! (No disrespect to those being Memorialized).

I'm getting increasingly anxious to discover who the final cylon is. Starbuck just seems like such an obvious choice at this point that it hardly makes any sense. However, we can't simply ignore the fact that the Hybrid seen in Razor had knowledge of a Kara Thrace when there was no reasonable explanation for why it would know that name. (though maybe one of the 4 of the final 5 on Galactica was somehow communicating with the Hybrid? So confused!)

The real big question I have is why don't the original 8 cylon models know who the final 5 are? Calling them the final 5 gives me the impression that they were created after the models 1-8, but wouldn't the 1-8s have seen them? The only explanation I can come up with was that the 5 were in fact the original cylon models. And much like the Hybrid seen in the Razor mini-series, were forced into exile because of some innate flaws. Maybe they were too human? Did they volunteer to be integrated into humanity and forget their heritage? Can they resurrect?! In any event, if they were forced to leave the cylons before the models 1-8 were created then the 1-8 would never have had the opportunity to see them (save the 3 who was graced with her vision on the algae world).

Season 4 is really shaping up to what I expect from a series finale, especially one which is blessed with choosing its own end date. Imagine if this show was canceled in its second season, much luck that awful 70s incarnation? No conclusion, no end, questions?!

God I hope there are no questions.

Some thoughts on SciFi's Battlestar Galactica.

2008-05-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

I love SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica. It is the greatest how on TV and perhaps the greatest science fiction television series of all time. It's better than Quantum Leap. It's better than Sea Quest. It surpasses both Star Trek TNG and Voyager. It's leaps and bounds ahead of Babylon 5 and leaves Stargate in the dust. And if I missed any science fiction programming that you think Battlestar contends with, please let me know. (on that note, the current incarnation of Battlestar is incomparable to that old, campy program of the same name, don't even suggest that that '70's garbage even comes close).

If you haven't watched it than you are missing out, severely, on many levels. But what makes Battlestar Galactica so fucking amazing? The dog fights are pretty neat. Watching Basestars and Battlestars make strafing runs at each other with cannons blazing is up there on the level of cool. Robotic minions with machine guns attached to their arms, also awesome. However, what really tips the scales, in my opinion, is the incredible moral dilemma the characters deal with in every episode.

I really wish I could get into it her on my awful amateur blog, but this epic program is in its 4th and final season. The decision to end the series, by the way, was made by the writers and not the ratings. This means the show will end conclusively like any good story should.

Since the beginning of its 3rd season I have diligently been watching this show every week and ensuring that I do not miss an episode. Luckily, I have of late been able to catch episodes of this magnificent program either through the full episode section of SciFi.com or through the even better, most glorious, hulu.com. Yet last Friday's episode is mysteriously missing from both these completely legal and free web pages. Usually they are updated within a day. I am at a loss and have been checking and rechecking both sites diligently hoping for my much needed Battlestar fix.

Looks like I am going to have to wait until tonight when I can sit down at Eric's, hopefully with a beer, and watch his DVR recording on his HD TV.

2008-05-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is where I'll be for pretty much the entire month of July.

View Larger Map

If you know of anything fun or interesting to do in the area please let me know.

Peace buddies.

XM Studios or Bust...

2008-05-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

... bust.

I took a trip to the big NYC recently. It was through BSC at the rate of a $15 two way bus ticket. I was with friends but we had zero idea and even less direction as to what we were planning on doing when we got there.

I alone, outside of the "we" mentioned earlier, had one ambition. To find the XM Satellite Radio studios in order to visit the Ron and Fez show during a live broadcast.

So after what seemed like an endlessly awful bus ride which included a stop at a road side McDonald's, we finally found our stop off at Time Square. Two bus loads of Bridgewater State Zeros poured into busy intersections and spun in about a billion circles trying to decide what in the blazes was the first thing on their list. I made an epically failed attempt at recruiting a champion to accompany me on my search for the Steinway Building on 57th. I then hailed a cab.

I hopped out and walked some blocks before realizing that I had messed up somewhere along the way. I didn't know where I was or where I was supposed to be. All I knew was West 57th, Steinway Building. This did NOTHING for the cabbie, who was thankful to drop me off at any random corner along 57th.

I'm from Boston. I don't know blocks.

At this point my cellphone, furiously low on battery power, became my most crucial asset. I called my bro who tried to give me some better direction. I then called GOOG-411, the free directory service, which kindly texted me a more accurate address. 111 West 57th St.

And there I was, at the base of a building I feared I could not enter because the Ron and Fez show was already underway. The security guard at the desk wouldn't just let me waltz in. This was a place of business and surely XM was not the only office located in this building. But this was my Holy Grail, at least for the time that I was in New York.

Again I relied on my phone. Over and over I tried to call in to the show. Maybe I could get through and I could let the screener know that I wanted to be let in. Have the security guard informed that I was to be allowed in. But every call I made was immediately dropped upon connection.

What was this? I called my bro again, he informed me that if the topic was hot and the phone lines were busy I might not get through. The show would have just started, 12pm, and this seemed reasonable.

Again and again I called and I called, the battery meeter approaching the zero hour at a quicker rate with each smash of the send key.

1-877-RON-0-FEZ SEND
1-877-RON-0-FEZ SEND
1-877-RON-0-FEZ SEND
1-877-RON-0-FEZ SEND
1-877-RON-0-FEZ SEND

Workers come and go, lunch breaks and cigarette breaks and fresh air breaks and I begin to feel creepy based on the looks I was getting. I'm sitting out front of this random building in the middle of NYC in the middle of the afternoon on a Monday. Shouldn't I have something better to do? I have my phone to and away from my ear off and on. Who could I be calling? Backpack strapped around my shoulders. What's in the bag? I can't possibly look like I should be here.

Finally, I recognize someone leaving the building. I ray of hope, a glimmer of success. Danny, the producer from XM's Opie and Anthony Show. I grab his attention and ask him, hurriedly, if I can get upstairs to whach Mr. Bennington and Mr. Whatley at work.

"They're not live today, come back tomorrow"

Not live? Tomorrow?! It's not every day that I can come into NYC. It's not every day that Ron and Fez take a random vacation... Why do they have to be the same day?!

Ah well. The day was so beautiful and the thrill of the chase was in my veins. I made my way back to Time Square on foot.

XM Studios or Bust?

Bust.

Introduction

2008-02-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,

There are none of you yet, so "readers" will mostly refer to anyone who dares to venture backwardly through the dark recesses of this blog in some strange future reality where what I have to say is relevant.

In the past week I have been told that I think to much, that I over-think. Anything else would be counterintuitive. I've not reached a point in my life where I feel comfortable not thinking enough. The first comment on my hyperactive thought processes was made with the intention to encourage me to slow down and take things as they are The second comment was made in a complimentary tone, referencing my sense of humor. It is not all bad.

More on my sense of humor to come when I start to feel funny again.

More to the point, I hope to make this blog an outlet for my over-thinking head. I will also post some past blog entries from other sites, and anything I post on my StarWars.com blog will be simultaneously posted here so that I can increase my audience. As I write this an increased audience = + 0.

No more on my math skills to come. You've seen them all.

MTFBWY buddies,

Tim