excuses excuses...

The Magic Landing update was delayed due to the unforseen circumstance of sleep deprevation & a lack of motivation. It's hard to decide where I was going with the final posting, but It's coming soon. I had preloaded my iPod (which acts like a 20 gigabyte flash drive) with photos I was going to use for the last post. They remain there for now.

Update will be soon.

Am I ready to sink my teeth into a Mustang?

In my mind I am. Monetarily speaking I am. Parking is going to be an issue, but I don't see anything wrong with my idea.

I found a 1988 hatch back Mustang 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual for sale (by owner). It needs some work, but its mostly work performed on a weekend and it'll be back on the road in no time. The clutch might need to go to a shop to inspect/ install new, but again, something that could be tackled in a weekend.

It'll need a new distributor & rotor, fuel pump and clutch. It probably also needs some attention to the brakes and possibly the clutch cable (previous problems for it). Other than the small cosmetic details, its a fully functioning road worthy car.

In my eyes I see its paint stripped off and repainted the same color as my old Stang was, Torch Red. Revamp the suspension, tweak the brakes and re-tint the windows and she'd be halfway presentable.

She isn't the 1966 I imagined, but its a body style I admire. Every car has its beauty hidden underneath its seemingly plain exterior.

Penis Envy

I bet that got your attention. See, on Friday, I had posted this:

I also have a new toy I should be getting in a few days, a new digital camera. I was initially going for a 6.1 MP camera that I saw advertised in a Dell catalog. I get those damn catalogs ever since I bought the laptop now 2 years ago and all they do is make me want things that are too expensive. The camera I ended up getting is a 9.0 MP camera. Yeah, 9 fucking million megapixels. Lets put it into perspective: The average computer monitor resolution is 1024 X 768, the new camera I bought takes pictures with the resolution of 3488 X 2616. Finally, I will be able to use Photoshop the way it was intended to be used.

So, skip ahead a few hours after this posting and I received this comment to my blog:

Digital still sucks when compared to film.
By Anonymous, at 7:27pm

When I first read it, I laughed. How petty is a person who posts this sort of comment on the website? I call it penis envy. I have a 2 MP Kodak camera and always wanted something a little better. I have a 35mm Minolta XG-A that is out of commission due to a broken film advance lever, and I used to use it a lot. The photos off that camera were good, but with the advances in modern photography, Photoshop and film printing technology, digital cameras are now surpassing the old fashioned film camera industry as far as sales go based off of the ease of use and instant satisfaction of a well snapped shot.

I won't apologize for buying a digital camera, nor will I apologize for owning them. If you want to persuade me into buying a film camera, that's your own doing. However if you want me to get one, you'll be the one forking over the cash to get me whatever camera you think I should own.

You ever come to the conclusion you've Blogged the wrong things?

Well, this week I have. Not that I'm saying that I will shut down my site, but there are some things that get overlooked that are just like "what the fuck?" and I rarely capture them.

I try really hard not to include things that happen here at work in my blog, but this time, there's no mercy. Our sales staff are a complete set of inept dunderpates who do not know:

• Shows they sell
• Days the shows they think they're selling run
• Who they are selling
• What products they want to pitch on air

I walk out of my studio on Tuesday and saw one of our soft music format jocks walking in the hallway showing her bra. Not the one she was wearing, but the padded Marilyn Monroe-esque Seven Year Itch style that she was asked to wear and tell everyone driving to work every morning all about them.

Don't get me started talking about the CHR station in the building, I'd probably get fired for commenting on what I think about them. Their newest hire is a cool guy, he rides a Yamaha R6 (which is cool in my view) and has an outstanding persona in person and on air. He JUST YELLS DOWN THE HALLWAY HERE AT WORK SO YOU CAN TELL EXACTLY WHAT HE SAYS TO EVERYONE HE'S ON THE PHONE WITH CAUSE APPARENTLY EVERYONE HE CALLS IS DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING.

And don't think for one minute or studios are sound proof. They aren't.

I also have a new toy I should be getting in a few days, a new digital camera. I was initially going for a 6.1 MP camera that I saw advertised in a Dell catalog. I get those damn catalogs ever since I bought the laptop now 2 years ago and all they do is make me want things that are too expensive. The camera I ended up getting is a 9.0 MP camera.



Yeah, 9 fucking million megapixels. Lets put it into perspective: The average computer monitor resolution is 1024 X 768, the new camera I bought takes pictures with the resolution of 3488 X 2616. Finally, I will be able to use Photoshop the way it was intended to be used.

It's also T-Minus 4 weeks till I head out to Chicago. I can't wait. Vacations have all been finalized at the radio station and at Sonitrol, so things are looking good. All bills are paid up and my vacation funds are in place. Add a new camera to the mix and I am one happy camper!

Expect some great photos coming back this time!

More later.

There's nothing more satisfying than a washed car

So here I am standing at one of the car wash places waiting for the car
to get waxed. Standing at a distance I see the car gleam with the
metallic sheen of a brand new car has.

Its also costing me $30 to get it done. I think I need to open myself
up a carwash...

Its time for an upgrade...

Meet the new iPod video. Slated to debut sometime around the end of the year, it has a virtual touch screen instead of the click wheel.

I want this gadget.

A return to one of my haunts

It's hard for me to describe how I feel about some things. Its rare that a place emotionally moves me as much as an abandoned/ forgotten playground or entertainment venue. I guess knowing it still stands and is closed to the public is heartbreaking. Everyone who knows me knows the sort of head-strong passion I have for Magic Landing and its history, but something that is a complete mystery to me is Mountain Shadow Lakes.

Now called Lake El Paso, Mountain Shadow Lakes was the hot-spot in the El Paso area (that wasn't a water park per se) where all the entertainment and fun happened. Concerts, hot air balloon festivals and fireworks displays were all held at the lakes and drew a huge crowd, often times sparking the issue of why anyone in their right mind would spend hours waiting to get into a park that was outlandishly over crowded and had inadequate shade for the numbers of patrons. I guess it was the awesome factor of it all.

I was too young in the 1980's to go with my brother and sister to the lake. They would go with their friends and come back with sunburned stories of the days events, from barbecues and swimming, to the local who's who sightings they saw. Radio stations were almost always out there doing live appearances (often times using the lake telephone to make the connection to the studios) and would work the crowd into their loyal heat stroke victim listening minions. It was a smashing success.

Then it disappeared. Forgotten like Magic Landing became just a few years later.

I had (on several occasions) driven with Evelyn, Yolie and Lupe in my Cavalier out to that location and wondered about what was inside. Back in 2004, I grew adventurous and drove out there in the middle of the day and with brand new digital camera in hand, went inside and discovered the park still has water!


*from my personal collection*

Well, I plan on heading out there today with my digital camera and a pen and paper. I am going to find the manager of the park (who I bumped into when I took the photos of the park) and sit him down and ask him all he knows of the history of the park up to that point.

Look for that update on my Mountain Shadow Lakes site soon.

The Itch

Its back. That itch you need to scratch. The want for something you don't yet have, but know it will cost you something big.

I scratched that itch back in 2004. It was Torch Red and had a tan convertible top. She was a 6 cylinder automatic with a 4 speed transmission. Power up the waazu and was pure, unbridled fun.

You see, that car hasn't completely left the back of my mind. The car sits there. It flashes its headlights at me, pounding the pavement on the streets with me behind the wheel doing outlandish speeds and having all sorts of fun.



I have some cash stashed away. Not much at this point, but its at the point where I want to do something with that money that isn't productive to paying off my bills like I wanted. Its enough cash to get myself something like the picture above, just not rolling or running.

The other problem is thinking about the sort of cost that goes into something like that. Just in suspension and braking upgrades alone will cost me something short of $5,000. I also have a problem with instant gratification. What good is the new car if I can't drive it while I update it and make it look the way I want it to look?

It's an itch.

Oh, by the way. I have something in my backyard I haven't touched that I think you guys would be kicking me wondering why I don't do anything with it.



There is a 1957 Chevy 210 Sedan sitting in my back yard that I haven't touched.

Why?

I want my Mustang.

Do you recognize the answer?

Here is a math trick so unbelievable that it will stump you.

1. Grab a calculator. (you won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT YOUR AREA CODE)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number.
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2.

Do you recognize the answer?

I hate the windy season

Aside from having really really dry skin (mine has cracked straight to muscle) attempting to live in it is much worse. Laundry day has its own challenges, you can't hang anything out to dry or else pockets will get filled with sand and the clothes smell of dirt and dust.

Well, the worst indignity was getting up to the drive thru at one of the Wendy's locations in town. The fucking lady at the window was speaking soft and the wind gusts were drowning her out and you had to stick your head out the fucking car window and speak to her, causing sand to blow into your face and eyes. Then, if that wasn't enough, a strong gust hit right as I opened my window, covering EVERYTHING inside the car with SAND, not dust. I stepped out of the car and when I saw myself in a mirror, my hat, shirt and jeans were covered in sand.

I have a feeling she knew what she was doing when she answered the speaker softly...

When Nerds Attack

I am not an avid gamer. I knew avid gamers in my past and they are a little freaky. Take into consideration a high school acquaintance by the name of Jens. Small, meek wiry guy who always had the latest videogame as soon as it came out. He usually mastered it in about 3 days. He gloated about the conquer over said videogame and he had a following of other highly game addicted geeks who would follow in his victory and would mock and ridicule anyone who took way too long to buy a videogame that he and his cohorts beat weeks, even days prior.

Jens is now the manager at one of the Electronics Boutique stores in town.

He is one of the hard core gamers. The freaks who populate the game World of Warcraft are in a planet all their own. The game is an online experience that few (if anything) can top. Gamers have been clamoring to this game in record numbers and build online characters, even interacting as their online characters with other WoW members across the globe. Some people have even been fired from their jobs and lost relationships because of this engrossing game due to its addicting nature.

My little addiction to the Gran Turismo series isn't that bad compared to the extremes some people go thro. With that said, I found it absolutely hilarious when I read a news story about WoW members who took online memorials a little too far, and other members who saw opportunity. I was reading one of my news aggregate sites when I stumbled across what seemed like a touching tribute to a fellow gamer who had died in real life. One of his online friends thought it would be nice to log in as the deceased man's character and take him to a scenic lake in the game so other gamers could (in their own special way) pay tribute to a fellow gamer.

This probably wouldn't have made the news if the news story was just about this sap. Oh, God no. The news comes from a rival group of geeks who thought it would be an awesome coup de tat to crash the memorial and slaughter everyone in attendance, even the deceased man's character. Not only did they slaughter everyone including the dearly deceased, they videotaped it and posted it online.

I thought they used great music to choreograph the bloodbath. There are some seriously fucked up people out there.