This Blog Sucks

This is the first post in over a month. I think it might be time to fold this blog.

The Horror

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile, but I keep on forgetting to do so. Last week me and Hanna went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a Baltimore art museum near her apartment. They were showing it on a screen and simultaneously acting it out on a stage.

I don't know how many of you have ever been to a live showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but this was my first time, and it's very difficult to describe. As you probably know (even if you haven't seen it) it's a huge cult classic. I knew that before I went. What I didn't know was that this movie really earns its "cult" status. And by that, I mean that its devotees are really weird. Start with the fact that the man sitting across the aisle from me claimed to have seen the movie 1,260 times. And he claimed to that all of these experiences occurred in a theater; apparently, seeing it on DVD or VHS doesn't count.

Why, you might ask, do you have to see this movie live? Because going to a live show adds a complicated and highly developed dimension to the experience that basically obviates the need to watch the actual movie. First of all, many theater-goers dress up like the characters in the movie, who (for those of you who don't know) are a bunch of transsexuals. There's also a ceremonial pre-movie ritual that involves identifying everyone who's never seen the movie before, having people come up to the stage to fake orgasms, popping balloons to represent taking people's virginity, etc. It's hard to describe, but it's very strange.

Then there's the actual movie. The plot of the movie is irrelevant, but also still a mystery to me, because the lines of the characters are drowned out by ritualized and heavily choreographed shouts from the audience. You may think I'm making this up, but I'm not. I'd say that around 75% of the dialogue was unintelligible because the audience members were shouting responses/additions to the actual movie dialogue. According to a Wikipedia article on the subject, the cult members study their lines intensively, usually learning from a few CDs that have been released which offer training on what to shout and when to do it. The audience members also throw various objects at various times throughout the movie.

In addition, the movie features both Susan Sarandon and Meat Loaf.

Let me tell you, it's entertaining, but very strange. I don't know how easy it is to convey the experience, but if you ever have a chance to go, I recommend that you do so. It's the kind of thing that everyone should experience once.

The Horror

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile, but I keep on forgetting to do so. Last week me and Hanna went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a Baltimore art museum near her apartment. They were showing it on a screen and simultaneously acting it out on a stage.

I don't know how many of you have ever been to a live showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but this was my first time, and it's very difficult to describe. As you probably know (even if you haven't seen it) it's a huge cult classic. I knew that before I went. What I didn't know was that this movie really earns its "cult" status. And by that, I mean that its devotees are really weird. Start with the fact that the man sitting across the aisle from me claimed to have seen the movie 1,260 times. And he claimed to that all of these experiences occurred in a theater; apparently, seeing it on DVD or VHS doesn't count.

Why, you might ask, do you have to see this movie live? Because going to a live show adds a complicated and highly developed dimension to the experience that basically obviates the need to watch the actual movie. First of all, many theater-goers dress up like the characters in the movie, who (for those of you who don't know) are a bunch of transsexuals. There's also a ceremonial pre-movie ritual that involves identifying everyone who's never seen the movie before, having people come up to the stage to fake orgasms, popping balloons to represent taking people's virginity, etc. It's hard to describe, but it's very strange.

Then there's the actual movie. The plot of the movie is irrelevant, but also still a mystery to me, because the lines of the characters are drowned out by ritualized and heavily choreographed shouts from the audience. You may think I'm making this up, but I'm not. I'd say that around 75% of the dialogue was unintelligible because the audience members were shouting responses/additions to the actual movie dialogue. According to a Wikipedia article on the subject, the cult members study their lines intensively, usually learning from a few CDs that have been released which offer training on what to shout and when to do it. The audience members also throw various objects at various times throughout the movie.

In addition, the movie features both Susan Sarandon and Meat Loaf.

Let me tell you, it's entertaining, but very strange. I don't know how easy it is to convey the experience, but if you ever have a chance to go, I recommend that you do so. It's the kind of thing that everyone should experience once.

My Favorite Song(s)

#1 - "In My Life" - The Beatles

The rest are alphabetical by artist. Go ahead and (legally) download theses for your aural pleasure:

"Almost Here" - The Academy Is...

"Dammit" - Blink 182

"Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" - Brand New

"Last Flight Out" - Butch Walker

"All We Ever Needed" - The Early November

"State of the Union" - David Ford

"A Song for Everyone" - Fenix Tx

"Happier" - Guster

"Everything I Once Had" - The Honorary Title

"Fall" - Over It

"Anyone But You" - Rx Bandits

"Hands Open" - Snow Patrol

"Understanding in a Car Crash" - Thursday

I'll add more as I remember...

Voyages to U Street

I have to go from my home in upper Northwest to the U Street corridor quite frequently, as it is the residence of not only Ben, Ian and Parnes but also some friends of mine from Wesleyan who live half a block away. Formerly, I only went using 13th Street, because it took me right to 12th Street. But there was something about 13th Street I never liked--possibly the stop signs, possibly the excessive lights. In any event, I never felt like I was really reaching my full potential.

So I resolved to try 14th Street two nights ago. This was the first time in awhile that I had been down this extremely important commercial corridor. It's faster in its northbound stretch, which is good, and has a lot of pupuserias, which would be helpful if I ever go during dinner time. However, it has a lot of possibly sketchy commercial establishments. Also, when I crossed over Webster Street, there were 12 police cars on both sides of the block. I don't know what all that was about.

Nonetheless, the police cars probably has to count as a downside. Also, when you get to the heavily gentrified portion atop the Columbia Heights metro, traffic gets a lot slower. On a side note, for some reason there's a Ruby Tuesday's in the Gentrified Zone. Why? Who goes there?

Anyways, overall I would say I prefer 14th Street. It's more interesting and I think it's faster.

Going back from U St last night I took the park, because I had to drop someone off in Dupont first. On Broad Branch road, past the split with Beach Drive, there was a Taurus going 15 mph. There was a line of three cars directly behind him. I didn't know what to do. Clearly, this fool had made the foolish mistake of taking the parkway, at night, without knowing where he was going. But how do you fix it? There's nowhere for him to pull over, and it's very dangerous to try to pass him across the median. Eventually I honked at him out of frustration. I feared that I was being too much of a road jerk, but in fact it got him to stop on a straightaway, allowing the three trailing cars to pass him. So I guess something good came of it.

A Fall Day in Baltimore

On Sunday, me and Hanna decided to hang out in Mount Vernon Park, which is right next to her house. It's a nice little park, roughly comparable to Dupont Circle for its size and setting (e.g. in a relatively trendy neighborhood with a few sketchballs).

We ran into an interesting cast of characters. The most interesting was a woman who was wearing a fashionable outfit that included a full length coat, warm boots, and a hat. Bear in mind that the temperature was around 75 degrees and no one else was wearing anything but shorts and t-shirts. This woman approached us as we were sitting in a park bench; at that point, we were the only ones sitting in a bench, so she had plenty of other bench options to choose from. Nonetheless, for some reason she liked our bench, and so she asked if she could sit down next to Hanna. Since the benches are partitioned, there is no way that three people can sit on a bench at the same time. Without waiting for Hanna to respond, she sat down, essentially sitting down on Hanna, and causing their bodies to become very squished together. At that point, Hanna got up to lay down on the grass. I waited around a little while. The woman started reading the Johns Hopkins student newspaper and humming to herself. After awhile, I left as well. She was a weirdo. Me and Hanna weren't sure if she was crazy or not, but she probably was.

There was also a guy who was definitely crazy. He was wandering around without a shirt and yelling about medical care at various inanimate objects, including buildings, construction scaffolding, and a nearby statue of George Washington.

There was also a homeless guy with a dog. The dog was well-behaved, but when the dog went up to other people, the homeless guy came over and asked for money. It was unexpected.

On the Road, Volume 3: North and South

South:

I-95 (North Carolina): Three and a half stars

70 mph speed limit, little traffic, and hilarious signs announcing your entry into various counties and irrelevant economic zones (primarily the Global Transpark Development Zone and Northeastern North Carolina Industrial Development Zone). Very few cops. Only downside is some pavement that could use repair, particularly in the right lane.

I-95 (NC/VA border to Richmond): Two and a half stars

Plenty of road space, but too many cops, and I don't appreciate a 65 mph speed limit.

I-95 (Richmond to DC): Negative Four stars

Everyone hates this road, with good reason. There are cops everywhere when traffic is moving, which is never, because there is always a traffic jam. Obviously, this gets worse the more northern you go, but it's always bad, everywhere. My dad gets so frustrated with it he wanted to loop around through Culpeper to take I-66. Luckily for him, I talked him out of it, because the day we drove back there was a truck fire on 66 which closed the road. This meant that 95 was the "preferred" option even though there was about an hour delay.

North:

I-95 (Maryland): Three and a Half Stars

Nothing to quibble with. Little traffic, high speed limit (at least for the Northeast) and reasonable tolls. Oh, and I like the Chesapeake House--Burger King and Popeye's in the same building. Can't beat that.

I-95 North (Delaware): Negative 8 million Stars

You want to charge me $9 to go through 10 miles of your state? Fine, I'll blog about how Delaware is the shittiest state in the Union. They use that fucking 95 toll to fund the entire state's entire transportation budget. What a bunch of fucking assholes. To add insult to injury, there is construction in the southbound lanes, causing about a 30 minute delay.

New Jersey Turnpike: Three Stars

While this is the road that everyone loves to hate, it has decent food options, cheap gas and is usually ok on traffic, although the area between the Penn Turnpike and Trenton can get dicey. Police enforcement is generally light, although I don't like the double fines in the 65 zone. It makes me nervous that I'll get nailed with a massive fine.

I-278: One Star

It gets you where you need to go--in my case, over the Verazzano bridge into and out of Brooklyn. But traffic is often bad, and do you know how much they charge you? $6 going eastbound, and a whopping $9 heading westbound. All Hudson River crossings have the eastbound toll, but a $9 westbound toll? No fucking way. Next time I am taking Canal Street over the Manhattan Bridge and through the Holland Tunnel. Even if it does take me an hour, my stinginess just will not accept a $9 eastbound toll. I wonder who decided to levy that toll anyways. Well, they're not getting my money next time, that's for sure.

Shuler vs. Bono

Now I don't usually post anything sports-related, but I thought you Redskins fans might find this interesting.