A few things I want to get to before the Christmas tune

I just got back from a midnight showing of Juno. I loved it! Of course I would, it's got Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, two of my favorites from "Arrested Development." Plus, it was written by a University of Iowa graduate, so it had a lot going for it before I even saw the opening credits.



Quick synopsis: it's the story of Juno McGuff, a 16 year-old girl that gets pregnant (insert Britney Spears' sister joke here! Nothing but witty, cutting-edge social commentary here at tPoL!), and decides to give her baby up for adoption. Hilarity, and touching moments, ensue.

I liked this movie, even if the theater was full of hipster kids! I liked it even if there was a girl crying and retelling the entire movie to her boyfriend as they walked out of the theater, about how great it was, how cute it was, etc. The soundtrack was great (2 songs by Belle & Sebastian included), the acting was well-done, and the story well-written. Go see it! Preferably not by yourself in a theater full of couples. That's just a kick in the old ball. Not the victory ball, the other one.

This gets 4.5 Flenker Thumbs Up. It would've gotten that extra half if I would have had anyone watch the movie with me. Maybe it'll get bumped up in a subsequent viewing, but this is still a solid score.













This seems as good a time as any to tell a kind of funny story, about going to a "couple" movie. I'm sure many of you are probably familiar with the movie Amelie, the French film that came out a few years ago. Well, I was really excited to see it, and talked Jimbo to go to it with me. We both liked it a lot, but noticed that we were the only pair that was just made up of two guys. I'm being totally serious here, I think everyone else in the theater that night was a part of a "boy-girl" couple. Though, to be fair, it was a great movie experience, here's a picture of us as we left the theater:

notice the glee in our faces. We were gleeful.



Another thing I'd like to mention quickly is that according to Thom Yorke in this article, Radiohead's In Rainbows did extremely well for the group. Awesome. I hope this has some influence over future releases, and shows the RIAA and record companies that the internet isn't evil.



Now, time for the Christmas song! I like the video thing, so I'm going to do that again. This time, I'm going with one of my favorites (these all are my favorites, who am I kidding?), with Mr. John Lennon and Ms. Yoko Ono

A weekend of long goodbyes

My last weekend as a resident of Iowa was an excellent one. Between great food, great fun, and great friends, I couldn't have had a much better time. Marin made it into town on Thursday, Jim and Haley on Friday, and Bill eventually made it (after some car issues) on Saturday, as well as Jeff, who made the trip all the way from northwest Cedar Rapids. After some drinking and Wii playing at my brother's place Friday night, Saturday was spent in Iowa City, taking in some of my favorite restaurants and sites one last time before I left. And oh yeah, there was a football game. For those of you who may not have noticed, the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Syracuse Orange 35-0 in front of 70,585 (mostly gold-clad) fans in Kinnick Stadium, in only the 3rd-ever night game hosted in the historic stadium. The first couple of pictures were taken from where Marin and I sat for part of the game, the last one was where everyone else was seated. We weren't able to get 6 tickets together, but it went alright with 4 together and 2 others. (I'm pretty proud of the pics, since my camera is broken and all)




The weather was beautiful, the Hawkeyes looked great (it could be that Syracuse looked terrible, but either way, I'm happy with the result), and I think a good time was had by all.

Of course, I had to forget my phone charger at my brother's place this weekend, so my phone died midway through the day on Saturday, and I wasn't able to get in contact with a lot of the people I wanted to, and made things more difficult overall, but we pulled it off pretty well. And it may have been for the best that I wasn't able to get a hold of a lot of people, because then I would've probably been stressed with trying to get everywhere to see everyone. As it was, it was a rather relaxing time with some good friends. We ate at all of the places I needed to hit one last time: Oyama for sushi with Marin, Oasis for one last falafel, Hamburg Inn for breakfast Sunday morning with everyone, The Pit to have some excellent Iowa BBQ (before I get some Texas BBQ, which may be even more excellent), and Whitey's for some wonderful ice cream. (For those of you not from Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois, yes, there is an ice cream chain around here known as "Whitey's". It's delicious ice cream.) Then yesterday I hung out with Travis for a little while before I had to go, then dinner with my dad and step-mom.

There were a few times where I think the air was rather dusty, it made my eyes water up a little. I don't know what the deal with that was. . . But I was so glad for how things went, and for my friends that were here that read this, I hope you all know how grateful I was for you guys to come down and hang out with me on my last weekend in town. For my friends that read this that weren't able to make it, no worries, we'll have more opportunities to get together. Everyone is welcome down in Austin, any time! Just give me a little warning.

Now today is going to be spent washing clothes, packing, getting my oil changed, buying some new sandals (Kenna ate mine last night), and watching a little bit of the 49ers game tonight with KP. I promise I will post one last time before I go, and will post more pictures from this past weekend as I get them from the various people that took them.

Downtown Jazz

Well, the weekend was fun. It was Iowa City's annual Jazz Fest, so that along with the beautiful weather we've been having made it a wonderful time.

Saturday was spent at work most of the day, then kicking some ass at tennis in the afternoon. Later, a friend had a party for a good cause, a "Kegger for Cancer", so I felt ok paying $5 to go, even though I'm usually adamantly opposed to that sort of thing. As long as (some of) the money goes towards something like that, I'm alright. After a little bit, my friends and I headed downtown for a little bit, sneaking into a bar to avoid the cover charge, and then getting free drinks for the rest of the night. One of my friends is the manager of a liquor store, so he knows people in all the bars, and drinks for free. So, we do too. Awesome!

Yesterday Jimbo was in the area, so we went out for lunch at El Ranchero. It was an amazing lunch, cheap and delicious. Any time I can go out to eat and get full off of $6, I'm happy.

(note: photo borrowed from the Cedar Rapids Gazette website)

Interspersed throughout the weekend were trips downtown to listen to some live jazz and to eat some wonderful food. Oasis had a stand setup, but I didn't stop there... They were doing plenty of business, and I wanted to eat something that I couldn't get on any normal day. So Friday night I stopped at a place that had gumbo, and was glad I did. With a little hotsauce, it was tasty. Yesterday I opted for some ice cream. Sitting on the grass of the Old Capitol building, eating an ice cream cone, and listening to some excellent free music is something that I will always love. It's also something that I will really miss about Iowa City. (not that Austin won't have plenty of this, I'm sure I could probably do something similar every weekend of the year. But still...)

Another thing I will miss is running into people that I know everywhere. Iowa City's small enough that I can see someone I know almost everywhere I go. Just ask Captain Crab, I think at some point in our adventures he asked me if I knew everyone in town. Almost, Cap'n, almost.

Picture this

I figured that no celebration is whole until pictures are broken out, so this post will be dedicated to a random collection of photos of me throughout the years. Unfortunately the site on which I had a lot of my photos went down, so I'm left with whatever is saved on my computer or other spots online. Sorry. Honestly I'm sorry.

This first set of photos I like to call "Drinking Flenker".

This is me and my friend Travis, obviously drinking in moderation.

And this is the obvious extension of said moderate drinking

Bill and I sipping wine, watching the same program on different television sets

This next set is called "The Scene Stealer"

Showing off the guns (and self-inflicted cigarette burn)
This was the first night that I met Haley. Bill and Jeff also pictured
I don't know more than 3 people in this picture, and don't really recall it being taken

And to show I'm not an alcoholic, some non-drinking photos

The "Shots from Behind"
In Minneapolis with the gang

Walkin' in Memphis with Marin


The "Jim and I Would Make a Good Gay Couple" series

The "I Just Ate an Entire Little Canister's Worth of Nutmeg" photo

Now this last photo may be a little shocking. It was taken over 10 years ago, so just be warned.











You ready for it?

I give you, "Young Flenker"

More like "Awesome Blog Advisory", amiright?

Naps are awesome. I had been up since 6 this morning, after not sleeping very well at all last night, mainly thanks to Jim calling me at 2:45 a.m. to explain to me the phenomena of cell phones, and how they work. I didn't answer, and was a little curious why my voice mail notification didn't sound right away. Then, 3 minutes later, right was I was starting to drift off again, it beeped at me. I thought something must've just gone a little screwy with the phone and caused a delay but no, it was a 3-minute long message. It was well worth being woken up to hear a message in the morning about towers and being able to walk around or even drive while you're on the phone. I love my friends.

So, as I was saying, naps are awesome. I laid down around 4 and started falling asleep, when it suddenly started raining, kind of out of the blue. I guess maybe out of the gray would be more appropriate. There was no rain in the forecast whatsoever, only the token 10% chance of precipitation. It was shocking, and made me want to lay there and watch it come down. But after a few minutes, sleepiness won out and I was in dreamland. And it was marvelous. Until I woke up and saw it was 5:30, and was totally disoriented and not sure whether it was AM or PM. I took a few moments to kind of come to my senses more, and gather my wits (not that there's really much there to gather).

We in Eastern Iowa are currently under a "Air Stagnation Advisory." I don't really know what that means, but I don't like the sounds of it at all. According to the National Weather Service (and I quote)

THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES HAS ISSUED AN AIR QUALITY ADVISORY FOR THE STATE OF IOWA. OZONE AND FINE PARTICULATE LEVELS APPROACHING ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY HEALTH STANDARDS WERE PRESENT OVER MOST OF IOWA EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. WINDS ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE SUNDAY WHICH WILL CAUSE ELEVATED AIR POLLUTANT LEVELS TO DISSIPATE.

THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES RECOMMENDS THAT IOWANS WITH RESPIRATORY OR HEART DISEASE...AND ELDERLY AND CHILDREN LIMIT PROLONGED EXERTION UNTIL AIR QUALITY CONDITIONS IMPROVE.

AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY INDICATES THAT DUE TO LIMITED MOVEMENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA... POLLUTION WILL INCREASE TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. IF YOU HAVE A RESPIRATORY ILLNESS... FOLLOW YOUR PHYSICIANS ADVICE FOR DEALING WITH HIGH LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION.

so that seems pretty awesome. Dangerous levels of pollutants in the air. Sweet! The only thing I've really noticed has been my allergies being a little more active today, which is always a good time. Not. This could explain why, even though it rained, it is still pretty miserably humid and hot and just uncomfortable to be outside. Oh wait no, that's the status quo for Iowa in the summer. My mistake. But what is this world coming to when there is an Air Stagnation Advisory in freakin Iowa? LA I could understand, I still have the standard-issue oxygen tank I was given by the Visitor's Bureau from when I traveled there a few years ago. But this is the heartland, the amber waves of grain (actually here it's corn, but who's counting) and all of that, we're not supposed to have pollution issues, are we? Or am I just ignorant to the situation? As far as I can remember, we haven't had such an advisory, but then again, I don't always pay attention.

One last thing, here's a link to the article my friend Bill wrote about Paul Shirley that I mentioned the other day. It's a good read, if you can make it through the crappy formatting. I don't know what the deal is with that. He emailed me a copy that was laid out very well, with paragraphs and everything, so I don't know why it's not the same on their website. Oh well, that's Ames for you.

4th of June?

Why does the 4th of July have to fall on a Wednesday this year? Doesn't it know that having a holiday in the middle of the week just makes it that much harder to make plans with people who have "real jobs"?

You see, almost every year for the past 6 or 7 years or so, some of my friends from my days at Iowa State get together for a few days of having fun. Last year it didn't happen, because I went to DC during that week. (And let me tell you, if you ever have the chance, to go the fireworks in DC. Marin and I watched them being shot off over the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty incredible scene.) We also play home run derby every year, and last time we played the Trivial Pursuit game that I referred to in the last paragraph here. (It was also when Heinricy came up with the line "We're sleeping in teams!" about our sleeping arrangements. Good times!) This year I'm going to have to figure out when we're getting together, either the weekend before or the weekend after. The weekend before has the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Both weekends have home games by the Swing of the Quad Cities. I guess we'll have to see which works out better for everyone. H has already said that she and Bill won't be able to make it the weekend before, so that may necessitate a move to the weekend after the 4th. It all depends on Jimbo and Charczuk. We'll have to start planning this now, though, since people will be traveling from all around. Hopefully it'll all come together and we'll have a good time. I'm optimistic.

It's anything but trivial to me

Generally, I'm a nice, laid-back, easy-going guy, I really am. Once the board comes out, and the pie pieces are lined up, however, the gloves come off, and I am a cold-blooded killer. I of course am referring to the wondrous game that is Trivial Pursuit. I will yell, I will throw things, I will make people cry. I will show no mercy. If my brother and I team up, we are a nearly unstoppable force, spewing knowledge left and right, occasionally pulling an educated guess out of our collective ass, and usually nailing it. Who's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most claps? Vanna White. On what two NBA teams did Kareem Abdul Jabbar play? Milwaukee Bucks and the LA Lakers. (oddly enough a movie question, not sports & games.) Who wrote Last of the Mohicans? Come on, anyone from Iowa should know this, especially any Hawkeye. James Fenimore Cooper. (our state nickname "The Hawkeye State" is from this book.) What rodeo even used to be called "Bull Dogging"? Steer wrestling. These are all actual questions from tonight's game, all correctly answered by the Brothers Flenker. We rule.

One thing that always seems to happen, no matter how hard I try to stop it, is a team giving hints to another team. Or people answering when it's not their turn. I cannot stand this. I don't know if there's one thing in this world that gets me as riled up as these actions. Seriously. Like tonight, there were a couple of people in the room that weren't really playing, but when they would hear a question they knew, they would either blurt out the answer or give clues to the correct answer. Oh, and people talking over the one asking the questions. I've never dropped the f-bomb so often, directed at a person. (that's not true. I swear quite often, but I've been good on here so far, I'd like to keep it that way for at least a little while longer. But I do have my moments or whole days when I say the "f word" as a noun. Or adjective. Or adverb. Or a period. I kind of like those days.)

Really, it all depends on who is playing. I've had many a game that was all good and fun. But I've also had games where I thought I was going to flip out and just totally scissor-kick someone right in the head.

The most frustrating, but also one of the funniest games I've been involved in happened a few years ago on the 4th of July. Some friends (Bill, Jim, Jody, Charczuk, and Heinricy) were all down in Muscatine for the holiday, cause that's what we did. We had all just gotten out of the hot tub and had a few Coronas, and decided we could get a game of the Pursuit in before bed. Bill and Heinricy ended up on a team together, much to Bill's chagrin. If there's one thing people should know about Adam is that he can fall asleep at any moment if he's laying down, there have been a few instances of him falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. And of course Adam is laying down during the game, only to be nudged whenever it was their turn. Then someone would read the question, Adam would come up with some answer with logic that was anything but logical to the question, and get it correct. The prime example of this involved a question asking for an American Indian tribe, I can't remember what it was exactly. Anyways, Heinricy wakes up, is told the question, and says, "well I had a 'Navajo taco' for lunch today, so let's go with Navajo." And it was correct. Bill and Adam ended up winning the game. I was displeased at the time. I think it's hilarious now.