For the records

My drug, buddy

Remember the big blackout of 2003? I could barely make it through 20 hours[more like 14 hours when not counting sleeping hours] without electricity. I never thought of how dependent I was on it until I didn't have it.

Since yesterday evening after I came home from work, I had not been able to get my internet to work. I'm not sure if someone in my household changed the settings, pulled out a plug or what have you. I thought at first that the service was down but I tried throughout yesterday evening, as well as this morning, and also after work today and the internet still wasn't working. I had phoned my ISP tech support during my lunch hour at work and they said that the service was not and had not been down recently. So methodically[and I hate this part of computers], I checked each and every plug and cord running in and out of my computer. I accidentally put off the power bar while doing this. When I rebooted the computer, and clicked on 'Internet Explorer'.....my internet worked! Man, if I'm so overjoyed about this, I must be an addict. Another day without my internet access and I would have gone through some serious withdrawl. A 12 step program awaits me some day. ;-)

A few things of interest:

• On the DVD front, the movie Underworld was released on DVD today. I don't care what anyone says, but I seriously enjoyed this movie. The movie wears its influences on its sleeve: Romeo and Juliet, The Matrix, Blade primarily. The underlying story involves a historical rivalry between Vampires and Werewolves. There are some key plot twists that keep the film from being predictable. Of course Kate Beckinsale was hot! I'll definitely watch this film again.



• Saw Ryan Adams on Letterman yesterday. I haven' t heard his music although I've read that he is a Bloodshot Records alumunus ie. was part of that whole alt-country scene. I'm a a fan of that music such as Wilco, Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, Neko Case etc. So I'd assume that Ryan Adams might have some sort of twang to his music. However the song he performed on Letterman was wholeheartedly pop, almost a more polished version of the Strokes. I really liked it! Some reviews of his music, specifically his most recent album Rock n' Roll, seem to knock him for insincerity. But is Mr. Adams bad-boy publicity making critics pre-determined to dislike his music? It is highly rational that this is the very reason that critics fawn over The Strokes and Interpol[two bands that wear their influences on their sleeves] and are nicer guys in comparison to an 'asshole' like Ryan Adams. BTW, I like both The Strokes and Interpol and I'll seriously consider delving into the Ryan Adams catalogue....Rock n' Roll is full of assholes but if we held that against are rock n' roll idols, what is the alternative? (insert lame artist of choice here)



• I saw on the news today that NASA's Spirit rover has sent back to Earth a colour photo of Mars "... revealing ... breathtaking detail...". Very cool.