105 again.

Tomorrow? 101 degrees.

It's going to be 105 degrees today.

105, people.

So, over the past year, while I've been kind of creatively spinning my wheels for the most part when it comes to my rapping, I've been amusing myself and trying to keep my vocal chords in something resembling "okay shape" by recording some quick and dirty cover songs. Some of these are very much still works in progress; I may have sound levels to even out, etc. But here they are!

First off, a triple shot of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" covers.

"Freeze Ray"
Sung by Dr. Horrible as he explains both his plans for world domination and how he pines for the cute girl at the laundromat.


"Everyone's A Hero"
Sung by the jockish, jerkish "superhero" Captain Hammer, at a dedication ceremony for him (oh, and a homeless shelter).


"Slipping"
Sung by Dr. Horrible as he unleashes his freeze ray at said dedication ceremony, gloating and trying to work up the nerve to vanquish his arch-enemy Captain Hammer once and for all.


Now, on to a couple of covers of nerd-rocker Jonthan Coulton's songs.

"Seahorse"
It's a gentle song, and though I guess technically it's not much like the actual life of seahorses, it's still a pretty song.


"I'm Your Moon"
While it's really about Pluto no longer being classified as a planet, it also doubles as a song about star-crossed lovers or two people sharing a secret just for them.


"The Future Soon"
Heart-broken nerd dreams of better days to come involving robots.


"TODD the T-1000"
A man buys a new robot vacuum cleaner that slowly takes over his life. Sound levels are kinda uneven, sorry. :(


Here's one one I did today-- a cover of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", which is one of the saddest and most poignant songs I know:

So, here's hoping you all enjoyed these!

...said better than I ever could:

• Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery
• Soup Dumpling from Shanghai Joe's
• Sarsparilla
• Good dim sum

Sigh. I have been craving these things irrationally, for weeks.

So, a few days after her puzzling decision to resign the Governor's office, and her puzzling explanation, Sarah Palin spoke with ABC news at length about her decision. Sort of.

Some choice bits:

Palin conceded many people are still confused about why she made the decision to leave office.

"You know why they're confused? I guess they cannot take something nowadays at face value," Palin said.

and

Palin said there was a difference between the White House and what she had experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

"I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.

There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.

Sarah Palin's recent twitter statement.

Sarah Palin resigning her governorship, effective right now.

I think we know what this calls for... Play her off, Keyboard cat!.

Okay, normally, I'd say that a pro wrestling fan who jumps the barrier during a show, or hops into the ring, or charges onto the stage is a stupid moron who's only endangering the wrestler he or she likes so much by introducing an uncontrolled element into a match or stage setup and endamgering performers, and then he or she deserves every moment of the genuine ass-kicking he or she gets from the wrestler before arena security comes and tosses them out.

This 30-second video is the exception that proves the rule.

From Tom Tomorrow:

I'd also like to add, having redone sites from the ground up after a client's had a previously ametuerishly-done website for free: You get what you pay for.

It's been a day of surprises for me in the world of professional wrestling personalities.

Apparently, Joey Styles is a neo-conservative talking-points guy that can call the President a Marxist with a straight face...

...and Jim Cornette is a firebrand liberal, gay-rights supporting, free health care promoting liberal and loves the hell out of good, authentic dim sum.

So, my mom, whom I agonized over getting her out of the abusive situation she was inm and moving her to TX to rent a house two blocks away from us so that we could look after her and help her get the care she needs... my mom, for whom I gave up my bed and slept on a couch for a month for... My mom, for whom the entire household has bent over backwards to make her comfortable and happy as possible... my mom, whom I love and care for, despite her disrespect towards me at times, despite the deamnding, impatient self-centered ness she displayed at times.. that mom... has now gotten into a cab after having me order a ticket, one way, back to NJ because the house she wanted to rent is going to take until the end of June-- which is when we originally told her it would, because we're "restrictive" and "I'm impatient Shawn and don't want to wait for the house" and no aprtment she saw down here was to her liking.

So, all the time, money and energy was pretty much a friggin' waste. I did everything I could, and it wasn't fucking enough.

All I could mange was a few sobs. I don't know if I'm numbing myself to that or something, because right now the primary emotions I feel are frustration, anger, and crushing disaapoint ment.

To top it off.. the 20th Anniversay A-kon-- the anime convention I'm waiting a year to attend again, that I have my press pass for.. well, first I was unsure if I'd get to go because the ladies would be gone to do the candle business at the dealers' room and kenneth would be gone running his games for the weekend, and we were unsure about mom staying hoime alone for most of the weekend.

Then, it turned out that green dragon candles just didn't have nearly enough stock in candles for a whole weekend, and no money to get more, nor the money for electricity at the booth this year to run a register OR do credit card transactions. So they were, luckily, able to get the table they paid for this year bumped up to next year.

BUt see, Kenneth was borrom his dad's pickup truck to haul 2 huge gameboxes of stuff to the A-kon room where he'll be running. And another friend already claimed the other passenger space. And the truck's a two-seater. And the other buddy I know who's attending never got back to me about ride sharing.

And this wouldn't have even helped for me to be able to drive since we don't have the money for gas to use in the van to get me there and back AND pay for parking, and Kenneth's car.. the brakes are fucked up. No fluid or not working or something.

So all those ideas for the geekly weekly? A little distraction after the shitty day I have had? Gone.

Fuck. My. Life.

It's also a little galling that, y'know, the universe seems to reward kenneth with getting to go, and free prioducts to give away for prizes at ther con and kenneth made sure he gets to go and.. fucking goddamned fuck fuck fuck. I'm just frustrated.

This is so, so true. I have been approached (and, sad to say, burned) by stuff like this before myself.

So, I will be flying up to NJ tomorrow to stay with my Mom and help her get some last minute things arranged before she flies down to TX for good this Saturday.

New Jersey peoples I will be in Asbury Park, staying w/Mom Deal Lake and available pretty much from wednesday to Thursday, flying back to TX earlyish Saturday morning. I will welcome any and all visits or chances to spare my sanity from 4 solid days with Mom.

Get at me on shawnstruck@gmail.com for any other details needed.

So, thanks to the generosity of keeva, I now have a Dreamwidth acciount. I haven;t pulled the trigger on becoming Dreamwidth-only yet, but that may come in time.

I'm theotherbaldwin on Dreamhost as well.

So my mom arrived safe and sound yesterday.

Today at Wal-Mart, we pass the electronics section, and starts asking about iPods and mp3 players and what they are and what they do...

...once I explained about the "music from ythe computer" and told her I'd give her one of my mp3 players (the Sansa eClip, holds 2 GB and is smaller than her pack of cigarettes), and now she's having me get her some Sting, Eagles, Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, and Moody Blues tracks. She is so excited!

My mother's flying down here from NJ again to spend some time for the next week hanging out, seeing the Arlingotn area, and apartment hunting... possible even moving in this next week. Internet presence will be light for the next week.

So, there's been this meme going around wherein one post a picture of one's desktop or work area or room or what-have-you. I figured I'd go one better and make a video. Enjoy.