The Move, the Toe, and the Tour

Man, it's been a while between updates! I guess the Mega-Mash took a lot out of me. So, since it's been so long, this post requires 3 acts.

Act1
The Move

Well, I'm all moved into my new apartment! It's gonna be a pretty slick pad once I fix it all up. I'm gonna throw a party once it's ready, so stay tuned! But man, moving was a B-I-T-C-H! I hate moving. I spent every day after work moving, and then the whole weekend. Gah. But now's it's done! My folks are coming down this weekend to bring some stuff from home, so that'll be nice. It's gonna be the coolest pad ever! From here on out, it shall be known as the Crocco-cabana. And whenever anyone comes to hang and tells stories afterwards, they must incorporate the name into the tale. Ie: "So last weekend I was hanging out at the Crocco-cabana..." You get the picture. I'm glad everything survived the move in one piece, well, almost everything.... which leads me to...

Act 2
The Toe

As I was moving, I found my old friend and nemesis, APEX!!!! For those not-in-the-know, APEX was my old dvd player. He was a good little trooper, and got me through some hard nights these last few years. However, a few months ago, he started to be, well, difficult. You see, he would start off being nice, and play the movie like a good lil player, but then, just when you were all settled.... BAM! Green screen!!! BUSTED! However, he wasn't completely broken. I was able to communicate to him that I wanted him to play my movie with a series of ejects and blows to the head, and eventually he would understand and cooperate. And just when your hand had stopped throbbing from hittin' 'im, and you were once again settled.... BAM! Green screen! "APEX!!! Why have you forsaken me???" could be heard throughout the hallowed halls of Parkwest at any given weekend. At first I was in denial. I mean, APEX was my friend, how could he do this to me? Maybe it was just a phase, he would grow out of it. However, I finally realized it was time to acknowledge the problem. The only way to save him was surgery. I broke out my tool kit, and pryed the little guy open. After what seemed like an eternity of tweaking, adjusting, and bashing, I deemed that there was nothing more I could do. We would just have to wait and see if the surgery was a success. I plugged him back in, and with a sputter and a pop, he lived again!! Success!! But it was not to be. After about a week or so of flawless playing, APEX had a complete relapse. There was nothing I could do to save him this time, and I pulled the plug. I put him in his little box, but I still did not have the heart to let him go. He was laid to rest in my closet. Some people say you could hear taps playing that night, slowly, and gently in the breeze.

Fast forward 3 months: Moving day. As the closet was being cleaned, I found a strangely familiar box. I dusted off the top, and could it be? Yes! It was APEX! After 3 months of grieving, I deemed I was ready to finally let go. Feelings welled up inside me. The times we shared, the movies we watched. Then finally of his horrible disease. I now realize in hindsight it was not his fault, but, overcome by emotion, I raised little APEX above my head, and thrust him down in a mighty blow. "HOW COULD YOU APEX??? I thoght we were friends!!!" I then unleashed a mighty kick. How ignorant I was. Even in death, APEX was more than any mere man could handle. The mighty kick crippled me, my big toe lay limp, a casualty of the feud among friends. I picked up the remnants of APEX, and limped to throw him down the garbage shoot. But he refused to die! His cord, caught in the crack of the shoot, clutching to a life he longed to have and was denied long before his time, still clinged to that glimmer of hope. APEX??? WHY??? I, I, I, Loved you... And with a swipe, I lay the old friend to rest among his other fallen comrades. But not to fear readers! APEX still lives on! In the form of my sprained, black and blue big toe. APEX!!!!

Act 3
The Tour

With a new spring in my step (or limp in my gait, however you view it) I arrived at the Sony lot early this morning for my orientation. It was your general new hire meeting, but it was fun. We took a tour of the studio, saw the apartment where Cary Grant and Elvis used to stay, the sound stage where they filmed Wizard of Oz, and also saw them building new props for Spider-Man 3. We also went to the set of Jeopardy, which was neat! At the end of the tour, they gave us a goodie bag containing a wind breaker, hat, notepad, mosuepad, pens, and a dvd (I got Hitch). Pretty sweet deal!! Oh, and I also found my new favorite movie!

It has shadows, it's at night, with thrills, doctors, crimes, trances, and ghost killers! What more could you ask for???

So there you have it. A 3 act update from yours truly. Stay tuned until next week!

MASH!

One day, some kind of challenge arrived in the mailbox...

Family Size! 62 cubic inches of 'taters!

It taunted, nay, BAFFLED us for a week!


Until Nick had a brilliant idea!


"We should go buy it! One per each!"


Little did we know, it came with bonus 'desserts' of gravy!


Dowis dove right in...



Rob and Nick were a tad more tactful in their methods of consumption...


"Goes down smooooooooth...."

Andrew: "Aghast and agog, and it's still early yet!"


Nick lost his patience...


He's got a heart of a champion!


Then Andrew grew impatient...


Insanity breaks loose...


An hour in, our team begins to struggle...




But one is undauted...


But then Rob gets a second wind!


Behold the madness!

Nick rises to the challenge!


Oh, how the mighty have fallen.




Success for our challengers!



Consumed by madness...


...Andrew defeats the monstrous potatoes!


At a high cost.... DIGNITY.


Rob's victory has led to a spud-induced coma.


Not to be outdone, Dowis meditates before his last stand! He can make it on his own!!


Fueled by Metallica, Dowis gives it his all, but faces difficulty.

Medic!


Man down!


"I'll get you next time! Damned 'taters!"


Everyone's a loser in the mega-mash challenge.


The End...?

Mega Mash

As taken from Andrew Dowis' away message:

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eye beheld a frightening sight
For my stomach had a rumble that began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

I saw the mash
It was the MEGA MASH!
I saw the mash
It was a tater smash
I saw the mash
I grabbed it in a flash
I saw the mash
And I ate MEGA MASH!!

I grabbed a straw and dove into this beast
And so I began my potato feast
But my stomach churned with unpleasent sound
And I wailed in pain as I hit the ground

It's madness smash!
OH GOD! THE MEGA MASH!
Potato trash!
It's too much mega mash
A madness splash
It came on in a flash
PLEASE NO MORE MASH!
It was the MADNESS MASH!

Update would we?

I figured it was about time to update, so here it goes:

Well, December 4th is our official move out day at Park West, so last weekend I went and found a new apartment. It's called the Meadows and it's right behind Fox Hills Mall, which is literally a mile from where I work, so that makes it nice. So I got a studio there, and can move in starting the 19th. It should end up being a pretty slick bachelor pad, and even though it's a studio, I think I can fix it up real nice. It has vaulted ceilings and everything looks really new, so I'm pretty excited. Goodbye LAX!

Work has been going well, so that's been fun. It hasn't gotten old yet, so that's a good sign, and everyone there is really nice.

As for myself? I think I'm doing well. I'm not sure if I've really grasped the fact that I'm off on my own now, even though I have been for the last few months. Maybe because I'm still living where I lived during school? I dunno. I think moving to a new place by myself will really symbolize the fact that I'm off in the real world, and I'm doing alright. I always thought that being a 'grownup' meant that you don't like cartoons, you watch the news every day, read the paper, and listen to talk radio while drinking coffee and caring about the latest politcal... stuff. I for one love to watch cartoons (animation major, duh!), HATE the news, only read the paper to laugh at the Crime Watch section of the Argonaut, I listen to a podcast that might be considered talk radio, but it's about He-Man, so I dunno if that counts, and could not care less about politics. Oh, and coffee burns my tongue EVERY FRICKIN TIME I DRINK IT. But then I have a full time job, pay bills, taxes, have responsibilites, and all that crap. So what does that make me then?

Content

PS: Bass-akwards is my new favorite word. Work it into your daily vocabulary! Here's an example: "I was trying to code a new game in Flash, and it turned out all bass-akwards so I gave up." Or: "What took you so long to get here?" "Well, I took lincoln to jefferson to the 405 to the 105 to the 605 to the 5 to 10 the 110 to get back on the 5 got off on la cienega and took it down to fountain" "That's a bass-akwards way of going... but heck, you made it!"

Ween!

Well, another Halloween has come and gone. It was pretty damn good too. Monday I went to work all dressed up in my pirate digs, so that was a blast. Everyone loved it, even though I was only one of 3 people who dressed up, including my co-worker Ryan. He went as Elvis, so, of course, we had to go show off. And what better place than the Sony Pictures lot? I felt like a movie star, it was so awesome. Walking around Sony Pictures' movie lot, dressed as a pirate accompanied by Elvis. It was just like out of a movie, a really weird movie.... Elvis vs the Pirates.... but it still was one of the coolest experiences I've had in a while. After work, I picked up Cassie (Snow White) and went over to Derek's (Kid Moxie). Met Andrew D (Slipknot drummer ..1), Andrew C (bearded knight), Jess (Malificent), Zach (Samurai X), and Mike (60's Hipster) there, so that was fun. I don't think I've seen so many trick or treaters in my life, it was intense. A few people wanted to take pictures with me, so I was digging that. Halloween is all about getting the attention :) After the ToTers died down, we dropped in at Dana and (other) Cassie's party, then off to iHop. I even ordered like a pirate! And a SPRITE is what I be wanting to drink I be! Damn, I love Halloween. Good times.

Fun weekend and then some

This past weekend was fun! A group of 7 of us went to Anaheim to celebrate Cassie's birthday. We left friday night and stayed in a big 2 story suite. Saturday we kinda hung out around there. There happened to be a Mexican Flea Market across the street, so we went there lol. We got those snaps that you throw on the ground and make the snap sound (probably why they call them snaps) and we went around popping them in our hands, because we're hardcore like that. Then we took the Chili Pepper Challenge! The goal is to eat as many chili peppers you can until you cry or puke. Sadly, we all lost........ My tongue was numb for like 30min, it was intense! Played basketball later that day as well. Then Sunday we went to, you guessed it Disneyland! So much fun! I got a Stitch hat and gloves, so that was a blast. Oh, how I love Disneyland.

Monday was officially my first full day of work! So I went over to the Imageworks building to turn in my paperwork. They had the bike from Ghost Rider on display, and tons of storyboards from Imageworks next animated feature on the walls. Pretty cool! Then I actually ran in David Feiss, my old soccer coach (who created Cow and Chicken)! So we talked for a few seconds, but we both had to go. We're gonna "do lunch" next week lol. So that was fun. Good times, good times.

It's my lucky day!

This week was chill. The new iPod came out, which I'm excited about! I had just got a color one a week earlier, so I returned it and ordered the new one. Thursday Cassie calls me after work, and wants to know if I'd like to go to the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. How could I say no? So we had ice-cream, and it was delicious! Then Saturday my friend Keith was in town, so we met up and I showed him around. We went to Venice Beach, and then Hollywood, followed by a Galaxy game. It was really fun. After I got back, I went out and rented Amityville Horror, and watched it with both Andrews and Rob. It was actually really good, I was suprised.

Today was really fun. Slept in real late, then got up and met Jess at Derek's to go pumpkin patching! We were trying to look for Dr. Bones' Ol' Timey Pumpkin Patch, but, alas, no luck. We stopped at another place that had some good pumpkins, but it was on the pricey side. We went to a Halloween store and got some decorations, followed by a trip to the gas station. It must have been my lucky day. As I was pumpin gas, I look down and see folded up cash on the ground. I pick it up, expecting maybe a dollar or a fiver, but no! $100!!! I found a hundred dollar bill on the ground at the gas station! NUTS! So after that, we went to Target to check out their pumpkins, and they actually had a pretty good selection. We ended up getting 10 pumpkins :) Derek had to head out, so after that, Jess and I went to pick up some Chipotle (CHIPOTLE!!!) and headed back to my place. Watched some Seinfeld, shopped for Halloween costumes online, and played some CROSSFIRE!!!! You might even say we got caught up in it. Worked on Jose's website a bit as well. That's about it. Overall, a very fun few days. I can't believe I found $100!