Oh the places I've been...

Some years back, a couple of work buddies and I decided to go out just to hang out, have a drink and something to eat. I was down for anyplace they wanted to go.

"We're going to Hooters."
*um okay?!* "Okay, the one in Lynnwood?" *ugh! eww!*
"Yeah!"
"Okay, I'll be there" *Well, we'll just chock this one up to life experience*

I make my way to the giant ogle-fest that is Hooters. The place just looked incredibly wrong. A whole bunch of guys eating bad food while girls in skimpy attire serve up the food. At least there were TVs around as well as the giant TV towards the center of the far wall to keep my attention away from this dive. We talked for a bit while I took a look at the menu. Everything was battered, fried and so not good for you, even the salads' description looked deep fried. I went for the barbecue wings.

The waitress finally came and she sat right next to me and asked me for my order. I scooted over because although she did not look skanky, she may have picked up skank from the others. She then got up and started to leave but then came back. Apparently, I forgot a drink. So nice of her to come back, but... She sat on the table right in front of me to take my drink order. I hastily said a beer. She got up off the table.

Sometime later, my food and drink order came. It was placed exactly where my waitresses butt was on the table. All that separated my food from her butt was a plastic basket and parchment paper, and whatever she was wearing.

"Can I get a moist towelette?"

Flavored condoms... according to Dan Savage.

So blatant, so blunt, so matter of fact. So good.

from Seattle Stranger:

I don't understand flavored condoms. My frist assumption was that they were for performing protected oral sex, but on second thought I realized that there is no way in hell that any flavor would ever cover that nasty latex smell and/or taste. Therefore my question is what the fuck are they really for? Are they suppose to be used to spice up the penis or pussy for post-sex oral? Who gives head after condom sex really? Are they really meant for marathon sex sessions only? Or maybe were they just created as a novelty sex item that no one really sues for flavor?

Carrot and Tomatocat

My answer after the jump...

Flavored condoms were heavily promoted during the worst years of the AIDS crisis. Back then we were obligated to pretend that all sex acts were equally risky—kinda like we pretended that people of all sexual orientations were equally at risk. If gay men needed to use condoms every time for anal intercourse then, by God, straight people needed to use 'em every time for vaginal intercourse and everybody needed to use condoms for oral sex (and "latex barriers," a.k.a. "dental dams," a.k.a. "a joke," for eating pussy and rimming). But sucking on a latex condom is pretty gross, as latex tastes pretty awful, and so flavored condoms—strawberry! cherry! bubblegum!

But you know what you want to taste when you're sucking cock? Cock. But somehow it never occurred to anyone to produce a cock-flavored condom.

These days flavored condoms sit on shelves in sex shops, and in bowls in college health clinics, gathering dust with dentals dams. Occasionally someone who doesn't like giving head, or is sleeping with someone who doesn't like giving head, buys or picks up a few flavored condoms, in the hopes that their blowjob-averse partner will have a change of heart after sucking on a flavored condom. Never happens.

bot kills bird

Although the birds remind me of Twitter, I won't hold it against the artist. Pretty cool artwork, check it out: Click-y .

Devil ducky modeling my latest acquisition

So a friend of mine went to PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) this year. It is THE biggest gaming convention out there and it's hosted yearly in Seattle (It's good to live here.) I did not partake in geeky frivolity, but I am secretly jealous he went. If you play Munchkin, he got to play Rock Band with the guy in the munchkin suit and I'm sure he got plenty of swag from the expo.

He also gave me the above art book for the upcoming Guild Wars 2 game. I got to my desk and there it was. It was a signed copy too! *squee!* He said it may be a collectors thing since only so many were published. Nonetheless, I am overjoyed that he gave me something from PAX.

Are you addicted to the internet?

I understand that this is a debilitating problem. I can spend many hours on a game or staying online and I'm glad there is a resource to help a person with their internet addiction. However, for a treatment facility to help with your addiction to the internet, there are a few ironic elements to the facility:

"The center, called ReSTART, is somewhat ironically located near Redmond, headquarters of Microsoft and a world center of the computer industry. It opened in July and for $14,000 offers a 45-day program intended to help people wean themselves from pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology."

That's right, not only is it in Washington State, but it is in Fall City which is one of the neighboring cities to Redmond. Maybe it for a certain company's employees who stay up too late for work AND play...

If you want to look them up, they have a website: http://www.netaddictionrecovery.com/
I'm assuming it's so the non-addict can get information, but I can't help wonder about them having a web presence. It's kinda like giving a pack of cigarettes that has info about how to quit smoking to a smoker.

You can follow them on twitter, facebook, and youtube.
Um these social networking sites are staples for the addicted, take it from one who has accounts to these and many more.

I may jest, but if there is a problem, go seek help.

Biggest Win, Biggest Fail, and Holy F***

Well it seems like the old songs are making way for the new songs becasue a lot of the chart toppers are making their descent this week. One Lady Gaga song is heading down and the new one is making its way up. I'm also really enjoying "Evacuate the Dance Floor." Something about infectious sound or some such. Again volatilty in the dance catagory, what was 1 is now 10 what was 11 is now 31 talk about a drop!

Biggest Win

• Colbie Callait - Fallin' For You
• Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
• Cascada - Evacuate the Dance Floor
• AFI - Medicate
• Weezer - (If You're Wondering If I want you to) I want you to.
• Alice In Chains - Check My Brain
• Agnes - Release Me
• David Guetta - Sexy Bitch
• Mariah Carey - Obsessed

Biggest Fail

• Pitbull - I Know You Want Me
• Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
• Lady Gaga - LoveGame
• Franz Ferdinand - No You Girl
• Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
• Shinedown - Sound of Madness
• ThePussycat Dolls - Hush Hush
• Kristine W - Be Alright
• Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

I suggest - Holy F***

Sure the album is two years old. Better late than never. (Funny how I censor myself, though.)

Give it up for the Bassists

Lead Vocals gets center stage and most of the attention. When you think of a band, you think of the singer first. After all, they ARE the voice of the band. Then there's guitarz. Most of the time, if the singer is not the lead it's the main guitar guy who is. They are the main songwriters also and many a song would have a signature riff or solo that the guitarist gets to perform.

Drums and Bass seem to get little love from fans though. There are times when drums do a great solo, but they really are not the focus of many songs. There are times when the Bass is the leader of the band, but they're rare lot. Wicked Bass-lines always grab my attention, but again not really the focus of many songs.

So here I am giving some love to the bassist, the person who keeps the rhythm, the person who gives us that great low to the guitars high. These are a sample of bass players that have that certain something that lets their presence be known. It's completely from my personal taste and I have plenty more, but I like to keep things concise. (oh and it's in no particular order)

Feel free to comment and tell me your faves.


Flea - The Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is one of those bands that each member is recognizable in his own way and as part of the group. Of course them playing with only a sock on their *ahem* helped in their notoriety. Apart from RHCP, Flea has doen the Bass line for Young MC's



Darcy Wretzky - Smashing Pumpkins. Chicks Rock. Rocker Chicks RAWK! Rocker Bass Chick... RAAAAWWWKKK! Darcy was one of the first girls I saw in a rock band. Just seeing a woman rock as hard as the guys left a great impression on my feeling on the individual band members.






Murdoc Niccals - The Gorillaz. Sure he's a cartoon, but that rock star attitude is portrayed well on the bassist of this band. Among all the band memebrs, Murdoc looked like he embraced the rockstar image most of all.







Nick Oliveri - Queens of the Stone Age. Okay I admit it was more along the lines of eye-candy for me. Wicked Bassline in "No One Knows." But, the fact that most of the times I see a vid or images of Nick, it's him with his instrument and nothing else.







Peter Hook - New Order. Bands eventually embrace a distinctive sound that is all their own. Over the years, the musical style can change but the sound remains the same. I collected multiple CDs from New Order. When they came with a new album back in 2001 after an eight year hiatus,some elements changed but that distinctive bass sound from Peter Hook was still there.

BabyDaddy - Scissor Sisters. To be fair, I think he and Del share in the duty of bass, but i see Babydaddy more on bass. Again more of an eyecandy thing for me - presence and physical attraction always helps. Attraction aside, he plays multiple instruments and one of the main song writers for the band. He helped write Kylie Minogue's "I Believe in You."

Tony Kanal - No Doubt. Another band where I feel each individual is recognizable from the whole. Eventhough Gwen went solo for a while, the band came back and toured this year. From the start, the band has a mix of ska/raggae sounds, perfect for bass. With bass on the forefront gotta hava guy who can play and good stage presence. I saw many a times Tony jumping around and enjoying himself.

Nate Mendel - The only other original member of the Foo Fighters. He is like most bassists, there but kinda inconspicuous. So what sets him apart? From my perspective, I notice him in live performances. He seems to have his own groove or rhythm when they play. It's almost a signature for him, in some songs I can see him moving his head which seems out of synch with the song, but the rhythm is there .