Thursday, January 31, 2008

PSA: too much television

Oompa Loompa doompadee doo, I've got another puzzle for you, oompa Loompa doompadah dee, if you are wise you'll listen to me. What do you get from a glut of TV? A pain in the neck and an IQ of three. Why don't you try simply reading a book? Or could you just not bear to look? You'll get no, you'll get no, you'll get no, you'll get no, you'll get no commercials. Oompa Loompa Doompadee Dah, if you're not greedy you will go far. You will live in happiness too. Like the Oompa Oompa Loompa doompadee do.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

book review: 1984 by George Orwell

#41 1984 George Orwell 1949 * * * * * If you read it a long time ago when you were a kid, read it again. I love this novel, and the writing style is fantastic. Did you know Orwell is only a pen name? The author's real name was Eric Blair. ~ January 29, 2008

See all my book reviews at danmanning.com/37.html

Monday, January 28, 2008

movie review: no country for old men

no country for old men 2008 * * * * * The Cohen Brother's do it again in another jaw-dropping mesmerizing movie. Tommy Lee Jones is a great lawman, as he always is. The ending promped one dumbfounded moviegoer in our theatre to go "what?" as the credits popped on the screen, but this is a masterpiece. Un-friggin-believable. The bad guy, played by Javier Bardem is terrifying, and Kelly Macdonald, the trailer park bound wife of the good guy, is smokin' hot. ~ 06.17.07


See all my movie reviews at http://www.danmanning.com/38.php

Sunday, January 27, 2008

hey hey we're the U.S. Navy Monkees . . .

It's 5:20 in the morning. I dreamed I was back in the Navy. Some friends and I were at the base "mall" and we ordered cinnamon rolls at one of those stores in the mall that sell cinnamon rolls. Then three of my friends decided to break into the theme song from "The Monkees" and everyone joined in. Weird.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

the first starship Enterprise crewmember to be killed off

Michael Zaslow was the first red-shirt on Star Trek (original series) to get killed off. Wiki entry here. thanks Barry for that awesome info.

Monday, January 21, 2008

because

This weekend I did a whole lotta nuthin because there was nothing to do. I kept a fire in the fireplace because it is nut-crackin' cold outside. I watched football because there is a Superbowl coming up. I played World of Warcraft because it is friggin' awesome, and I worked on the plot of the second part of my bestselling novel, because I am a super-genius.

Now I am going to go to the dentist because my teeth are horrible. I'm wearing my slippers because my office has no carpet. I got my hair cut after 301 days because I couldn't stand it, and I'm going to Byron Center today because somebody's computer doesn't work.

Okay, you're all caught up on the awesomeness that is danmanning because you read this post. Have a nice day because your going to have to get through it, and the only thing you can really control is your attitude.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Generic blog post, Wednesday

Today I replaced another slow computer. Yesterday I retrieved some deleted bookkeeping files from a pc. I encrypted an external hard drive for an accounting firm. I set up a Windows Live account for a different accounting firm. I cut spam at a law office. I fixed a wireless connection; they had two "linksys" wireless networks in their house and didn't realize it. One was secured with one code, the other with a different code. The laptops were understandably confused. At home I moved the bunk-bed from downstairs to Alex's room. I got my hair cut. I didn't vote in the Michigan primary because the Democrat$ managed to screw that up and no one I liked was on the ballot. I quit reading Hemingway and started reading Orwell. I started taking vitamins. Vitamin B and D, taken together, are like speed. I have too much energy. It's freaking me out. I’m making a lot of lists. Everything is alphabetized and cleaned up.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

before and after 301 days without haircut


64 days short of a year. I couldn't take it anymore

Saturday, January 12, 2008

oh, so THAT'S how a sewing machine works . . .

I always wondered how they worked.







Swiped from http://www.dvorak.org/blog/.

movie review: i am legend

i am legend 2007 * * * * The Fresh Prince has come a long way. I have to admit Will Smith did a great acting job in this movie, which had a lot to do with going crazy from solitary confinement. The story had a couple of weak points, like the immaculate car in the end and the female lead had perfect makeup. And oh yes, the female lead, Alice Braga is smokin' hot. ~ 01.12.08


see all my awesome movie reviews at here

Thursday, January 10, 2008

upgrade from Vi$ta to XP today.

Today I get to do my first upgrade from Vi$ta to sweet, sweet Window$ XP. Since the machine is already bulked up with 2G ram to handle the lethargic, massive bloatware that is Vi$ta, it goes really really fast with XP. I love doing "upgrades."

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

news you won't see

Check out this site: theuptake.org
Lots of interviews with people you'll never hear from otherwise. Pretty interesting

Saturday, January 05, 2008

generic blog post on Saturday Night

The place where we went to shoot pool Thursday was one of those working class joints with one pool table, two booths, a few chairs, and a bar in the dark corner away from the windows. The waitress was an aging beauty with too much red lipstick and a baseball cap and ponytail. The pool table was slightly warped, and the ball would move slightly toward the door, where an overweight kid who barely looked old enough to drink checked IDs at the door. They started karaoke at nine and some gal in tight jeans and frizzy hair sang a Crystal Gayle song. Playing pool, I actually made a jump shot to sink the six ball into the side pocket. I also made a bank shot to sink the eight ball. These things have never happened to me before. But I scratched a lot and everybody let me know about it. We got out of there early, and we were back by ten.

I had a laptop to reformat, and I was doing the reformat and left for awhile and came back and it was dead and it wouldn't start. The battery recharge light wouldn't come on. I took the entire thing apart in a panic before I finally called the owner and asked if she'd had problems charging the battery. "Oh yeah," she said. She'd forgot to mention that little detail, how you had to hold the power cord "just so" to make it charge the battery. Dammit. Not only was the operating system trashed, the screen was stained from smoke and there were seeds or something in the keyboard and I cleaned all that out and now it shines like new with a pure OS in a filthy apartment.

Today I took the girls and my niece and nephew sledding at Proven trails where we were lucky to escape with our lives because the snow was packed solid on this steep hill with solid trees at the bottom and if you don't steer carefully you get a face full of pine and possibly a broken skull or fractured bone. No one got hurt and after that irresponsible Uncle-ing I went and got KFC for everybody.

I love it when the in-laws visit, they are cool in-laws, but after having anyone visiting for awhile, the house seems huge after they leave. So now I live in a big house.

I'm just glad that finally, FINALLY, the holidays are over. I have lots of work already lined up for next week, so I'm pretty happy about everything and everybody.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Another year, and another year of bla bla bla

Last night we rang in the New Year here at the house. Dick Clark is old and scary now; he slurs his words and reminds us all that death is the ultimate end. Do we need to be reminded of that on New Year's Eve of all nights? He should do a "Dick Clark's Rockin' Halloween" special, where his ghoulishness would fit in better with the spirit of the season. Why don't they just have the CryptKeeper puppet host the New Year's ball drop? He's got more life in him than Dick Clark.

Today is one of those lazy days with nothing to do. I'm playing World of Warcraft. I printed out my 2007 journal. I'm rereading the short stories of Ernest Hemingway. It snowed last night, but the shoveling was easy. I ate two corn dogs.

About Me

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I am the author of 5 books: Android Down, Firewood for Cannibals, The Cubicles of Madness, Robot Stories, and most recently, Various Meats and Cheeses. I live and write in Michigan. My website is at danmanning.com