a new car!

(title to be announced bob barker style.)

well, to be fair, it’s only new to me, but let’s be honest: that’s good enough. i am certainly excited about it.

the old car: 1987 honda civic DX hatchback; red, rusted, no low end torque, reacts poorly to heat.

the new car: 1998 honda civic EX coupe; green, good condition, a much nicer engine, reliable (cross your fingers). i took this picture at about 8:30, so it’s kind of dark.

i do love my civic(s), apparently.

the primary motivation for the purchase of this new car was my mechanic, who told me, after the last time i fixed the car, “you know, she’s getting pretty rotten underneath. when something rusts out under there, it won’t be worth the cost to fix it. you should start looking for a new vehicle.” also, the car doesn’t always start when it’s hot; the engine turns, but it doesn’t catch. this is never a problem during the winter, but this summer, there have a been a couple of instances where it took me a while (and some words of prayer) to get it to start. these things, taken together, seem to me to be very good reasons to get a new car.

that being said, the old civic still runs, even if it has a moderate problem or two facing it. i don’t want it any more, but i hate to junk it when someone else could possibly want it. so, here’s the deal: if you come and get it, i’ll sign the title over to you. even a really crappy beater is better than no car for some people, so if you’re a gambler, drop me a line, and come pick up your new (old) car.

million dollar baby

national treasure

a nice, harmless popcorn movie. it reminded me of the da vinci code, but that’s probably just because they kept yammering about the knights templar.

another thing worth commenting about is the casting of sean bean. as soon as his face appeared on screen, lea announced, “he’s going to be a bad guy. he’s always a bad guy.” and, sure enough, he was. don’t get me wrong, he was great in goldeneye and all, but still.

a unique wedding

i attended a wedding today which was, to say the least, unique. the only reading that took place was from the book of armaments (yes, that book of armaments), and the exit music was the theme from star wars.

awesome.

i don’t have the gumption to do that sort of thing at my own impending wedding, but then, it’s not like i necessarily want to do that sort of thing, either. it was a nice personalization, though, on their part.

empire of the sun

an impressive debut by bale, and a good movie overall.

meet the fockers

rain music

some songs for the moment. granted, these songs are better suited for a slower rain, as opposed to the torrents outside, which goes to show what kind of music i like. i should throw together a proper rain mix, at some point.

• massive attack - protection
• royal city - dank is the air of death and loathing
• badly drawn boy - stone on the water
• low - stars gone out
• counting crows - raining in baltimore
• metric - calculation theme
• yo la tengo - damage

a set of songs more fitting for the downpour could be bookended by massive attack’s “mezzanine” and tricky’s “feed me.” another notable alternative to this list would be to just listen through yo la tengo’s “i can hear the heart beating as one,” though i might just be saying that because the song “autumn sweater” is on that disc, and could well place in my personal top 5 songs list.

fight club

this book reminds me of hornsby’s high fidelity, in that both are (a) good books, which were (b) excellently adapted into movies. not much, if anything, is lost in the transition from book to movie, so if you’ve seen the movie, you wouldn’t really “need” to read the book. this is not to say that it’s not a good book; i’m just saying that this wasn’t a case where an excellent book was chopped up to make a merely-good movie. the book has a very different feel to it; it is smarter and more grounded in reality, where as the movie is flashier and more cartoony at the same time as it is grittier. but, to repeat: both are good.

is it fair to approach a book like this, discussing it only as it relates to a movie which it spawned? perhaps not, but that’s how i went into it.

also, i should point out how surprised i am that i have read four books in one week.

qdobaphonics

Today, in front of me in the line at Qdoba:

“What kind of salsa would you like on your burrito, ma’am?”

“I’ll have some pie-ko duh gallow … and some fiery haba-neer-a. And … give me some more of the fiery haba-neer-a.”

I understand the mispronunciation of pico de gallo, but habanero? Even looking past the mistake in the middle of the word, it ends in an “o,” not an “a.” I was also surprised that someone who was mispronouncing habanero (and saying “fiery” in an annoying manner, to boot) would be ordering it by the spoonful. Oh well — good lunchtime entertainment.

For those keeping track, today’s lunch put me up to 3 of the 12 visits necessary for another free entree (I’ve already cashed in two or three since I got my Qdoba card). Three cheers for fast food.

the da vinci code

the controversy surrounding this book only makes it more fun to read.