There's No Earthly Way of Knowing, Which Direction We Are Going

I cannot think of a good title today, and I was just watching Willy Wonka  the other night before the comic mastery that is Joe Schmo 2 came on.  I was deathly afraid of the Oompa Loompas when I was little, but I'm surprised that I wasn't more scared of the segment I quoted, where Willy Wonka is rowing the boat and it's all psychedelic. Some of the background images are really freaky in that scene.  I'm really looking forward to the Willy Wonka remake with Johnny Depp, but my sister informed me that they're not going to make it as psychedelic this time.  This worries me.  They better keep the Oompa Loompa songs intact.

In other movie news, I haven't been to any movies lately, though I'm really looking forward to The Village. I haven't seen a good scary movie in a while.  If anyone is ever considering watching the Gwyneth Paltrow stewardess film A View From the Top, it's time to consider other options. Not a quality film in the slightest, as I learned when I caught it on cable the other night.  One of the worst parts-they use a COVER VERSION of "Don't Stop Believin' !"  A travesty!!

Music wise, I've picked up a few new CD's over the past week for my birthday, courtesy of my brother and Megan, all of which are excellent.  I got the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack,  Van Halen's Best of Both Worlds greatest hits collection, and (I know, I should be caned for this one) Ashlee Simpson's Autobiography.  I feel terrible that I like the Ashlee Simpson one so much, but it's so catchy.  Also, listening to 99.9 so much has led me to contemplate buying Foreigner's Greatest Hits, but knowing that I can hear "Cold as Ice," "Hot Blooded," and the rest every time I flip on the radio leads me to wait on making that purchase.

So last Thursday, we went to Heroes.  Apparently Eddie Z was at the Prince concert, so his partner in crime, "Hollywood Jim" was taking over the "turntables." What do you call turntables when a DJ uses CD's?  This I do not know, but Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio.  Yes, we got some Starship playing on 99.9 right now, but I digress.  So anyway, this was apparently Hollywood Jim's last night DJing in Joliet as he was moving to Florida, I believe, but I was not too impressed with his solo skills.  None of our requests were played, but he played a lot of old dance music that was a bit unnecessary.  We spent most of the night outside, dancing from time to time but returning to the beer garden when the dance floor was being cleared for a "thong contest."  Classy, but I can't decide whether it's less classy than the fake orgasm contest a couple weeks back or not.  Not much else happened that night, it was mostly a chilling in the beer garden evening but a good time nonetheless.

Friday was my brother's birthday, and both of us had to get up at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday for certification tests, so we had a quick family dinner at Friday's.  I always enjoy the fine cuisine at Friday's, but I was glad I didn't notice the fugly new flower arrangement outside Friday's before we ate, because I would have lost my appetite.  Pictured below, the Fugliest of Floral Arrangements is  a giant monstrosity that must be stopped.

Saturday I had my tests during the day, did some shopping in Wheaton and Naperville, then got home in time to kick it Dragon Light style with Megan.  Ah, Dragon Light, my old standby for Chinese. The only other place I go for Chinese is Golden Dragon on Wilcox, which has the bonus of delivery and awesome sesame chicken, but I don't like their fried rice nearly as much as Dragon Light's.  After Dragon Light I headed home before going out to Samy's for the evening.  It was an eventful night at Samy's; there was a questionable incident with an ambulance, we saw a girl get carried out of the bar twice, and we met some members of the team that played the Jackhammers that weekend, the Kansas City T-Bones.  One of the "players" had recently pulled his groin muscle and felt the need to point out where this muscle was located.  If this was an attempt at pitching woo, it was not too good because the word "groin" is kind of a mood-killer.  We also ran into old pal O.J. and company (happy belated birthday O.J.!) who informed us of the fun they'd had at Monday's Van Halen concert. 

Didn't do anything interesting Sunday or Monday, but yesterday I went on a work outing to the Kane County Cougars game.  The weather was beautiful and I got quite sunburned, and we had a great time.  As usual, I didn't pay much attention to the game, but as the Cougars were already assured of a spot in their playoffs, they didn't really need my support.  When we got back to Joliet, I had my first visit at my cousin's preferred local bar, Bobby's Tap.  We got there just in time for Jeopardy, and the competition was fierce. 

That's about all I have for now, more news soon! Adios!