Convenience is being able to use your debit card.
Convenience is the do-it-yourself checkout stands at stores so that I don't have to wait in long lines or price checks.
Convenience is having your favorite beloved Ohio State Buckeyes fly out to your state for their bowl game like 8 out of ten years or something ridiculous like that.
In the words of TMac the wise, though, "There is nothing convenient about a 40% service charge."
I recently purchased tickets to an event through Ticketmaster, a company which I have long dispised for outrageous extra charges and holding close to a monopoly on the events ticketing market space. Unfortunately it was the only way to get them so I had to bite. The price of the tickets was $25 x 2 seats so I figure $50 plus maybe a 10% convenience fee or something.
After I "submit"ed my order Ticketmaster was kind enough to flash the total purchace price on my monitor. Of $78.XX.
W
T
F
The "convenience fee" alone was $8 per ticket. Then there was a $4.50 facilities fee per seat or some nonsense like that, then some other bs tax/charge on top of that. Essentially what it said is that you're gonna pay what we ask and like it. Now I'll agree that getting to see a good, storied NFL franchise (the Steelers, not the Cardinals...are you kidding me?) for less than $40 is cheap no matter where you go so even with all the nonsense it's still a reasonable deal. What's crap is that they tell you it costs one price while conveniently forgetting to fully disclose the additional costs prior to submitting your order.
Yeah yeah fine print. Whatever.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thinking outside the box
I don't tend to dive into politics too much on my blog, partly because I hate politics (although I still vote, if for no other reason so that I can complain later), and partly because it causes the kind of bitching in the blogosphere that I'd just as soon avoid. Although I'm a registered independent, I do enjoy Bill Mahr's commentary and comedy. It doesn't matter if I agree with the causes he tends to favor/champion - what I like about him is that his arguments seem to pretty factually based if not somewhat biased (isn't bias a pre-requisite for modern political rhetoric, though?). In any case here's what he said in his latest comedy special that had me clapping my hands heartily...
"Because we did have an election about this, remember? The people said, "No, I think this war is over. We don't like it."...But, George Bush, all by himself, the decider. Just spit-balling, you know, thinking outside the box. You know what? Thinking outside the box is for smart people. The box is for you. You need the box. Stay inside the box."
Freakin' brilliant!!! Even without the political context, his idea is mostly true! If only I could have made this happen during high school...
"Because we did have an election about this, remember? The people said, "No, I think this war is over. We don't like it."...But, George Bush, all by himself, the decider. Just spit-balling, you know, thinking outside the box. You know what? Thinking outside the box is for smart people. The box is for you. You need the box. Stay inside the box."
Freakin' brilliant!!! Even without the political context, his idea is mostly true! If only I could have made this happen during high school...
Catching up
(*Warning* The contents of this email are being written after only about two hours sleep)
It's been nearly a month since the last blog post, and it was an AnimeExpo con post at that. I know I've been rather neglectful of my blogging...uh...duties? I clearly haven't been writing - we're getting back on that horse today - and I've barely been reading, so to my few-but-faithful fans out there I do apologize! What's been keeping me away from you all???
- Post-convention stress syndrome. After I got back from the convention I was simply tired and poor. I'm glad I went to the convention for fun since fun was definitely had! Just the same, what I thought would be less stressful trip since I didn't have to work the con or worry about setting alarms or wake up calls or anything like that turned out to be even more stressful than a con I volunteer at. Turns out that trying to coordinate room arrangements for a small group and meal schedules/dietary needs for a somewhat larger group isn't really all that cool. Oh well. I still may organize the lodging and transportation for a group next year but I don't know that I'll be participating in the group activities.
Prior to leaving I had some brake work done so that we'd have a safe trip. I also noticed that the engine wasn't turning over as quickly and the battery was about due to be replaced. The battery still had some life left, but they recommended I replace the springs and some other hardware on the brake system in addition to the needed parts. I passed.
It's funny what a 720 mile round trip through Death Valley during the hottest week of the year will do to a car. And my bank account. There were no problems during the trip, but by the time we got back the battery was shot (we accidently left the dome light on for a few hours when the car wasn't running - brilliant!) and the springs had warped rendering the rear brakes basically useless. Anywho, all worked well enough to get us home and get me to the car place to take care of the rest of the brake hardware. Then I still had to get back to the office and catch up on the backlog of...
- Work. July is my second least-favorite work month of the year due to employee appraisals being due and the annual budgeting process. On top of those normal duties, we also had to interview for three expansion positions and work towards completing a major volume expansion for my department. That last project will be a labor of love for the next two calendar months, and depending on how everything goes October could be a relative nightmare.
Seriously. Any thoughts, prayers, juju, and positive vibes you can send my way during that time will really be appreciated. There's a pretty significant amount at stake for myself, my boss, my VP, and the credit union with this expansion project. So with the increased stress I need a stress-releiver which has been taking the form of ...
- Games. The Ragnarok Online anniversary event was going on during June/July so much leveling was going on. I'm not the power-leveler like some of my friends are but I still did as much as my schedule, my fatigue, and my sanity would allow for. Who knows...one day I might even finish a character! I've also been developing/implimenting a guild event for our game that will run the course of ten weeks. Multiple updates are necessary each week so that's definitely taking up some time. Nothing outrageous, but time nonetheless. It hasn't been as successful as I'd hoped but I've still got a few participants and if nothing else folks from other guilds have taken notice and asked to join our guild or have me do a similar event for them. I thought I might have the time to do so since my evenings/weekends were mostly free until I stumbled upon...
- Girlfriend 2007. Or rather she stumbled upon me. On July 1st I received an email from an old acquaintance from the high school youth group at church. We didn't really talk all that much back then but I still remembered who she was. Turns out she had a crush on me since that time, but when she saw me with my now-ex-wife she reasonably figured that I wasn't exactly available any more. 'Course now that's different and as "circumstance" would have it our paths crossed yet again. We talked for a while, went out a few times, and we've hit it off smashingly well so far. It's rather hard to believe that it's basically been a month already since that first contact but it's been all kinds of fun! Her name is Abby, she's a graphics designer, loves to read, enjoys action/sci-fi movies, and has a PS2. She even challenged me to a game of Tetris the first time I was over there! And she really enjoyed the new Die Hard movie. I give her two thumbs up. :-D
So that's been life for the past month or so. I don't know if I'll be posting as much as I used to over the next few months but I'll do my best to throw some thoughts up here as they come up. I still enjoy blogging and sharing my random idiocracies!
Until next time...
It's been nearly a month since the last blog post, and it was an AnimeExpo con post at that. I know I've been rather neglectful of my blogging...uh...duties? I clearly haven't been writing - we're getting back on that horse today - and I've barely been reading, so to my few-but-faithful fans out there I do apologize! What's been keeping me away from you all???
- Post-convention stress syndrome. After I got back from the convention I was simply tired and poor. I'm glad I went to the convention for fun since fun was definitely had! Just the same, what I thought would be less stressful trip since I didn't have to work the con or worry about setting alarms or wake up calls or anything like that turned out to be even more stressful than a con I volunteer at. Turns out that trying to coordinate room arrangements for a small group and meal schedules/dietary needs for a somewhat larger group isn't really all that cool. Oh well. I still may organize the lodging and transportation for a group next year but I don't know that I'll be participating in the group activities.
Prior to leaving I had some brake work done so that we'd have a safe trip. I also noticed that the engine wasn't turning over as quickly and the battery was about due to be replaced. The battery still had some life left, but they recommended I replace the springs and some other hardware on the brake system in addition to the needed parts. I passed.
It's funny what a 720 mile round trip through Death Valley during the hottest week of the year will do to a car. And my bank account. There were no problems during the trip, but by the time we got back the battery was shot (we accidently left the dome light on for a few hours when the car wasn't running - brilliant!) and the springs had warped rendering the rear brakes basically useless. Anywho, all worked well enough to get us home and get me to the car place to take care of the rest of the brake hardware. Then I still had to get back to the office and catch up on the backlog of...
- Work. July is my second least-favorite work month of the year due to employee appraisals being due and the annual budgeting process. On top of those normal duties, we also had to interview for three expansion positions and work towards completing a major volume expansion for my department. That last project will be a labor of love for the next two calendar months, and depending on how everything goes October could be a relative nightmare.
Seriously. Any thoughts, prayers, juju, and positive vibes you can send my way during that time will really be appreciated. There's a pretty significant amount at stake for myself, my boss, my VP, and the credit union with this expansion project. So with the increased stress I need a stress-releiver which has been taking the form of ...
- Games. The Ragnarok Online anniversary event was going on during June/July so much leveling was going on. I'm not the power-leveler like some of my friends are but I still did as much as my schedule, my fatigue, and my sanity would allow for. Who knows...one day I might even finish a character! I've also been developing/implimenting a guild event for our game that will run the course of ten weeks. Multiple updates are necessary each week so that's definitely taking up some time. Nothing outrageous, but time nonetheless. It hasn't been as successful as I'd hoped but I've still got a few participants and if nothing else folks from other guilds have taken notice and asked to join our guild or have me do a similar event for them. I thought I might have the time to do so since my evenings/weekends were mostly free until I stumbled upon...
- Girlfriend 2007. Or rather she stumbled upon me. On July 1st I received an email from an old acquaintance from the high school youth group at church. We didn't really talk all that much back then but I still remembered who she was. Turns out she had a crush on me since that time, but when she saw me with my now-ex-wife she reasonably figured that I wasn't exactly available any more. 'Course now that's different and as "circumstance" would have it our paths crossed yet again. We talked for a while, went out a few times, and we've hit it off smashingly well so far. It's rather hard to believe that it's basically been a month already since that first contact but it's been all kinds of fun! Her name is Abby, she's a graphics designer, loves to read, enjoys action/sci-fi movies, and has a PS2. She even challenged me to a game of Tetris the first time I was over there! And she really enjoyed the new Die Hard movie. I give her two thumbs up. :-D
So that's been life for the past month or so. I don't know if I'll be posting as much as I used to over the next few months but I'll do my best to throw some thoughts up here as they come up. I still enjoy blogging and sharing my random idiocracies!
Until next time...
Thursday, July 05, 2007
LineCon - Day 4
Day 4 began with Ganon leaving early (that is, before 11) for the convention hall to sign up for the Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament.
"Hey, what character do you normally play?"
"Ganon."
Hmm...go figure. Anywho, we all took our time, then shoved off for the con at some later point. G, Telly and I went shopping for a bit, then we noticed that it was pretty near the starting time for the Transformers movie (yes, the new one). Telly had some more shopping to to do G and I went to find the end of the line.
We never found it, though. By the time we got out there the line was about a half mile long, in the sun. Freakin' LineCon. We were so sick of long lines in the sun that we didn't feel like another, especially on the last day, so we went to eat. Telly joined us shortly afterwards, then it was back to the convention to watch Ganon tear it up in the tourney.
And tear it up he did. He was a bit nervous because another of the tournament players is the guy he lost to in the finals previously. Other than that foe, though, he was very confident. People were pretty surprised by him at first because the character Ganon in the game is something of a 2nd tier character - the pro's usually use different people - but he handled his business very well and garnered compliments from the entire crowd - he was basically coronated as the "best Ganon I've ever seen." In the end his nemesis was defeated and he had to go up against a Jigglypuff. The match was neck and neck for a good while until Jiggly snuck in wicked, unexpected blow that knocked Ganon flying off the screen for the win. Still, 2nd place out of 128 is pretty damn good and he got a nice little truckload of stuff, including .hack//G.U. Special Edition. I <3 .hack!!!
After that was done the convention was basically done as well. We met up w/Drax's crew and grubbed for a while, then went back to our rooms for a bit to relax. Watched some anime, had some pizza. After a few hours we went back to Drax's room to meet up with them again, then mobbed over to Outback. The strange thing is that when I saw Drax again I nearly didn't recognize her and Hom as this was the first time since Friday afternoon I didn't see them cosplaying.
After dinner we started walking back and I randomly interjected my honking sound. It's kinda like a tricycle horn, but without the horn. Apparently, this is one of the funniest sounds known to mankind - so much so that they saw fit to conclude their convention video with it. I'm told that the two girls nearly spontaneously combusted from laughing so hard after I left.
I still suspect that little sound byte is gonna end up on YouTube somewhere. If it really is that funny then girls all across the world could be walking around with beet-red faces and laughing hysterically. Not sure if that's good or bad to be laughed at like that, but it was definitely fun at the time
A couple of thoughts/bits of funniness...
- AX is fun, but good lord to they need to get their shiz together. The registration line was completely fouled up within two hours of it opening, and they had a "critical network failure" to boot.
- Communication from AX in general needs to be dramatically improved. Many times the vol's were left to fend for themselves, make decisions on how to handle crowds, route traffic, give explanations to people on why things were sucking at that moment, PR/spin control, etc. It's a *really* bad idea to leave that to volunteers or cheaply-paid staff. Yes, staff costs more. I guarantee, though, that those 44,000+ attendees would pay ten more dollars each for their badges. Given that next year's con will likely top 50k people, that's over $500k more in revenue just from the registration alone. Even if half of that goes to the extra expenses that's still $250k more to pay for extra staff. That's at least 5 more f/t staff, each of which could handle a team of 15 vols. And that's just from a simple increase in badge cost.
- The Long Beach CC area was not prepared for us at all. They've handled bigger cons and they've handled fan/otaku cons before, but they've never held an otaku con of this magnitude before. By the end of the con I heard the staff of multiple establishments saying they don't want us back.
- What kind of hotel kicks people out of their lobby?
- On the phone - "Why don't you come over to my room? I want to show you something." All the people who were listening on the phone raised their eyebrows.
- Overheard: "I was supposed to get sex with that last piece of candy!"
"That can still be arranged!"
To my knowledge, no sex was had from that piece of candy.
- Two of the times I went to ride the trolley/bus back to our hotel, the drivers were talking to one of the passengers who was also standing in front of the line that they are supposedly legally required to stand behind. I don't like my drivers talking to passengers. I prefer them to...oh, I don't know...focus on driving?
- Butt Seks will get you laughed at by everyone in line, as well as thrown out of the con.
- You don't have to have a beer belly to know your beer.
- Said our server at the Yard House - "I was just standing there and I was really hot!" Yes, honey...yes you were. And are. Hot.
- Outback has someone on staff in the back to carefully grow, peel, roast, and grind your coffee beans whenever someone orders coffee. Very carefully. And if you're lucky, they'll even brew it for you!
Next year's AX will be in the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is great news as far as the sun is concerned - all lines should be inside. It's terrible news from a logistics perspective - there aren't really any hotels close to the con (the closest one is about a quarter mile away and that's fairly small...the big ones are about a half-mile away or more) which makes cosplay a wee bit more difficult, and it really hurts the nightlife as the area around the con isn't conducive to just hanging out. Dodging bullets, maybe, but not hanging out.
"Hey, what character do you normally play?"
"Ganon."
Hmm...go figure. Anywho, we all took our time, then shoved off for the con at some later point. G, Telly and I went shopping for a bit, then we noticed that it was pretty near the starting time for the Transformers movie (yes, the new one). Telly had some more shopping to to do G and I went to find the end of the line.
We never found it, though. By the time we got out there the line was about a half mile long, in the sun. Freakin' LineCon. We were so sick of long lines in the sun that we didn't feel like another, especially on the last day, so we went to eat. Telly joined us shortly afterwards, then it was back to the convention to watch Ganon tear it up in the tourney.
And tear it up he did. He was a bit nervous because another of the tournament players is the guy he lost to in the finals previously. Other than that foe, though, he was very confident. People were pretty surprised by him at first because the character Ganon in the game is something of a 2nd tier character - the pro's usually use different people - but he handled his business very well and garnered compliments from the entire crowd - he was basically coronated as the "best Ganon I've ever seen." In the end his nemesis was defeated and he had to go up against a Jigglypuff. The match was neck and neck for a good while until Jiggly snuck in wicked, unexpected blow that knocked Ganon flying off the screen for the win. Still, 2nd place out of 128 is pretty damn good and he got a nice little truckload of stuff, including .hack//G.U. Special Edition. I <3 .hack!!!
After that was done the convention was basically done as well. We met up w/Drax's crew and grubbed for a while, then went back to our rooms for a bit to relax. Watched some anime, had some pizza. After a few hours we went back to Drax's room to meet up with them again, then mobbed over to Outback. The strange thing is that when I saw Drax again I nearly didn't recognize her and Hom as this was the first time since Friday afternoon I didn't see them cosplaying.
After dinner we started walking back and I randomly interjected my honking sound. It's kinda like a tricycle horn, but without the horn. Apparently, this is one of the funniest sounds known to mankind - so much so that they saw fit to conclude their convention video with it. I'm told that the two girls nearly spontaneously combusted from laughing so hard after I left.
I still suspect that little sound byte is gonna end up on YouTube somewhere. If it really is that funny then girls all across the world could be walking around with beet-red faces and laughing hysterically. Not sure if that's good or bad to be laughed at like that, but it was definitely fun at the time
A couple of thoughts/bits of funniness...
- AX is fun, but good lord to they need to get their shiz together. The registration line was completely fouled up within two hours of it opening, and they had a "critical network failure" to boot.
- Communication from AX in general needs to be dramatically improved. Many times the vol's were left to fend for themselves, make decisions on how to handle crowds, route traffic, give explanations to people on why things were sucking at that moment, PR/spin control, etc. It's a *really* bad idea to leave that to volunteers or cheaply-paid staff. Yes, staff costs more. I guarantee, though, that those 44,000+ attendees would pay ten more dollars each for their badges. Given that next year's con will likely top 50k people, that's over $500k more in revenue just from the registration alone. Even if half of that goes to the extra expenses that's still $250k more to pay for extra staff. That's at least 5 more f/t staff, each of which could handle a team of 15 vols. And that's just from a simple increase in badge cost.
- The Long Beach CC area was not prepared for us at all. They've handled bigger cons and they've handled fan/otaku cons before, but they've never held an otaku con of this magnitude before. By the end of the con I heard the staff of multiple establishments saying they don't want us back.
- What kind of hotel kicks people out of their lobby?
- On the phone - "Why don't you come over to my room? I want to show you something." All the people who were listening on the phone raised their eyebrows.
- Overheard: "I was supposed to get sex with that last piece of candy!"
"That can still be arranged!"
To my knowledge, no sex was had from that piece of candy.
- Two of the times I went to ride the trolley/bus back to our hotel, the drivers were talking to one of the passengers who was also standing in front of the line that they are supposedly legally required to stand behind. I don't like my drivers talking to passengers. I prefer them to...oh, I don't know...focus on driving?
- Butt Seks will get you laughed at by everyone in line, as well as thrown out of the con.
- You don't have to have a beer belly to know your beer.
- Said our server at the Yard House - "I was just standing there and I was really hot!" Yes, honey...yes you were. And are. Hot.
- Outback has someone on staff in the back to carefully grow, peel, roast, and grind your coffee beans whenever someone orders coffee. Very carefully. And if you're lucky, they'll even brew it for you!
Next year's AX will be in the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is great news as far as the sun is concerned - all lines should be inside. It's terrible news from a logistics perspective - there aren't really any hotels close to the con (the closest one is about a quarter mile away and that's fairly small...the big ones are about a half-mile away or more) which makes cosplay a wee bit more difficult, and it really hurts the nightlife as the area around the con isn't conducive to just hanging out. Dodging bullets, maybe, but not hanging out.
Anime Expo - Day 3
The day started off slow. We didn't make it out of the hotel room until about 11:15. Telly found a magical burst of speed and got to the bus stop before us, thereby getting to the con before us (us beeing G, Ganon, and myself). Once we all finally met up we rather immediately split up again. They went into the exhibit hall, and I went to fetch Jynx and Claire.
Claire's not really a fan girl - she plays RO with her husband but aparently isn't so much into the anime stuff itself - and she's with child as well, so I very much applaud her for making the trip! It was great to meet up with a couple more folks before the "big meeting."
I introduced those two back to the regular crew, walked around the exhibit hall some, then we slowly started making our way to the lagoon for the big RO meeting. At first Genesis and a few private server newbs were the only folks there. Then more and more started showing up until when you looked around the only thing you could see were RO players and cosplayers. In fact there were so many of us on the small island out there (connected by bridges...no, we didn't have to swim!!!) that three AX access control staffers had to come out just to see what was going on!
Soon afterwards the pictures started by class. Lots of priestly types and magic users. A few sins. A few archer classes. Only two swordie classes. A few monsters, including a really cute Alice holding a myst case and a really cute little Munak as well. While the pictures are going on we're all meeting people from other guilds. Killer Tomatoes, Dragon's Ire, and Sairai were all represented. KT had one of the larger groups there, but Genesis' following was probably the 2nd largest. We also had some server pictures done and that's when we realized that Chaos - who was bragging earlier in the con that they were going to have about 100 people at the meeting - was outnumbered 3:1 by Loki!!! LOKI FOR THE WIN, BISH!!!
We went to some pub/brewery that had - and I'm not kidding - over 100 different beers on tap for lunch, then started making our way back to the con. Half of us went to get tickets for the masquerade. The other half went to get ice cream at Cold Stone. When we saw the Cold Stone line with about 30 total people in it standing out the door in the sun, though, we figured that was a bad idea. Back to the air conditioning and exhibit hall!!! :-D I bought some fine line markers and a sketch book just to doodle around just to prove to myself that I'm not an artist. I'm not terrible, but I don't think I can do originals very well to save my life. I draw a mean kunai, though!!!
Everyone in the group but me went to the masquerade and had a good time. Afterwards G and Ganon headed back to the room. I was watching the new Hellsing Ultimate (which was pretty cool stuff!) and then met up w/Draxie's crew and Telly in her room for wine and hangin' out.
From there we pretty much just hung out in various places until two am when the dance ended. Telly really likes the dances. The rest of us are pretty /eh about them.
A word of note - Draxie's crew kicks ass. They cosplay VERY well and make their own stuff to boot! In fact, Draxie's HP costume was so good that a Gravity representative (not a GM) gave her an ArchAngeling plushie and evil wing ears!!! The most anyone else got was a stuffed poring! Besides all that, they're just fun to hang out with as long as you can handle the occasional yaoi pose that they force you into (ask Telly for details...I think he liked it a little too much).
Okay, off we go for Day 4!
Claire's not really a fan girl - she plays RO with her husband but aparently isn't so much into the anime stuff itself - and she's with child as well, so I very much applaud her for making the trip! It was great to meet up with a couple more folks before the "big meeting."
I introduced those two back to the regular crew, walked around the exhibit hall some, then we slowly started making our way to the lagoon for the big RO meeting. At first Genesis and a few private server newbs were the only folks there. Then more and more started showing up until when you looked around the only thing you could see were RO players and cosplayers. In fact there were so many of us on the small island out there (connected by bridges...no, we didn't have to swim!!!) that three AX access control staffers had to come out just to see what was going on!
Soon afterwards the pictures started by class. Lots of priestly types and magic users. A few sins. A few archer classes. Only two swordie classes. A few monsters, including a really cute Alice holding a myst case and a really cute little Munak as well. While the pictures are going on we're all meeting people from other guilds. Killer Tomatoes, Dragon's Ire, and Sairai were all represented. KT had one of the larger groups there, but Genesis' following was probably the 2nd largest. We also had some server pictures done and that's when we realized that Chaos - who was bragging earlier in the con that they were going to have about 100 people at the meeting - was outnumbered 3:1 by Loki!!! LOKI FOR THE WIN, BISH!!!
We went to some pub/brewery that had - and I'm not kidding - over 100 different beers on tap for lunch, then started making our way back to the con. Half of us went to get tickets for the masquerade. The other half went to get ice cream at Cold Stone. When we saw the Cold Stone line with about 30 total people in it standing out the door in the sun, though, we figured that was a bad idea. Back to the air conditioning and exhibit hall!!! :-D I bought some fine line markers and a sketch book just to doodle around just to prove to myself that I'm not an artist. I'm not terrible, but I don't think I can do originals very well to save my life. I draw a mean kunai, though!!!
Everyone in the group but me went to the masquerade and had a good time. Afterwards G and Ganon headed back to the room. I was watching the new Hellsing Ultimate (which was pretty cool stuff!) and then met up w/Draxie's crew and Telly in her room for wine and hangin' out.
From there we pretty much just hung out in various places until two am when the dance ended. Telly really likes the dances. The rest of us are pretty /eh about them.
A word of note - Draxie's crew kicks ass. They cosplay VERY well and make their own stuff to boot! In fact, Draxie's HP costume was so good that a Gravity representative (not a GM) gave her an ArchAngeling plushie and evil wing ears!!! The most anyone else got was a stuffed poring! Besides all that, they're just fun to hang out with as long as you can handle the occasional yaoi pose that they force you into (ask Telly for details...I think he liked it a little too much).
Okay, off we go for Day 4!
Anime Expo - Day 2
It started off with us arriving at the con around 10:30 am or so and...well, I have no idea what Telly and G did at that point. We split up and I got in line to get into the exhibit hall. Which was...about a half mile long. The difference is that this line was constantly moving so it went pretty quickly.
The hall itself is amazing. I've watched it get bigger and bigger each year, and this year's is the biggest by far. Bandai and Copic are right up front, with Geneon and ADV not too far behind them. Geneon is pimping it's Ultimate Hellsing, ADV has some anime set in Russia with a French title that they're promoting heavily, and Bandai is it's own normal jugernaut. Funimation has a large booth, but strangely it's pretty much off to the side and out of the way - very strange for such a large company.
The exhibit hall is absolutely packed with people...so much so that it's not convenient at all to browse people's wares. I push through the masses though, going isle by isle (there's about 20 isles) and systematically check it out. Sort of. I had to stop for an occasional picture or backtrack to check out a few new items. There are basically four types of booths there - large producers, anime/manga sales, gundam/toy sales, and culture sales (clothes, weapons, music, etc). The quantity of booth babes at this convention is significantly reduced over previous years, as is the quality. Eh. Oh well.
Sgt. Frog is being sold all over the place, as is Mario stuff. Other big sellers are Final Fantasy, Deathnote, Naruto, and Bleach. DragonBall Z isn't nearly as well merchandised this year as in past years (thankfully). .hack//Roots is pretty well cosplayed this day and .hack//G.U. looks pretty damn cool. Player Killers FTW!!!
It took me about three hours to work through only three quarters of the exhibit hall before I got a call from Telly saying we were all meeting up for grub at the California Pizza Kitchen. There were fifteen of us, including Draxie, Chong, Hom, Tessa, RK, Vodon, Amy, G, Ganon, Myself, and some other folks that we really didn't know but were friends of Vodon. And Telly paid for us all!!!! /slur /slur /omg /slur /slur
I went back to finish the exhibit hall and bought all four of the Final Fantasy Master Weapon works statues that just came out this week; Telly and the rest of the crew did...I have no idea. After I was done in the hall and it closed we met up to watch a Ramen eating contest, proceeded to grub at Rock Bottom, had some drinks, headed back to the convention hall to discuss more Deathnote philosophy and theory (damn those shinigami!!!), and then headed back to the room.
Before we got to the room, though, we tried to catch a free shuttle back to our hotel. We couldn't because it was too full and was the last shuttle of the evening, but the last guy on the bus had the door shut on his arm and the driver just took off like that, arm stuck outside, waving away. It looked like he was giving turn signals with his hand. About ten seconds later she finally realized what happend and let him get his arm inside.
We laughed. A LOT!
K, that's all for now. On to day 3!!!
The hall itself is amazing. I've watched it get bigger and bigger each year, and this year's is the biggest by far. Bandai and Copic are right up front, with Geneon and ADV not too far behind them. Geneon is pimping it's Ultimate Hellsing, ADV has some anime set in Russia with a French title that they're promoting heavily, and Bandai is it's own normal jugernaut. Funimation has a large booth, but strangely it's pretty much off to the side and out of the way - very strange for such a large company.
The exhibit hall is absolutely packed with people...so much so that it's not convenient at all to browse people's wares. I push through the masses though, going isle by isle (there's about 20 isles) and systematically check it out. Sort of. I had to stop for an occasional picture or backtrack to check out a few new items. There are basically four types of booths there - large producers, anime/manga sales, gundam/toy sales, and culture sales (clothes, weapons, music, etc). The quantity of booth babes at this convention is significantly reduced over previous years, as is the quality. Eh. Oh well.
Sgt. Frog is being sold all over the place, as is Mario stuff. Other big sellers are Final Fantasy, Deathnote, Naruto, and Bleach. DragonBall Z isn't nearly as well merchandised this year as in past years (thankfully). .hack//Roots is pretty well cosplayed this day and .hack//G.U. looks pretty damn cool. Player Killers FTW!!!
It took me about three hours to work through only three quarters of the exhibit hall before I got a call from Telly saying we were all meeting up for grub at the California Pizza Kitchen. There were fifteen of us, including Draxie, Chong, Hom, Tessa, RK, Vodon, Amy, G, Ganon, Myself, and some other folks that we really didn't know but were friends of Vodon. And Telly paid for us all!!!! /slur /slur /omg /slur /slur
I went back to finish the exhibit hall and bought all four of the Final Fantasy Master Weapon works statues that just came out this week; Telly and the rest of the crew did...I have no idea. After I was done in the hall and it closed we met up to watch a Ramen eating contest, proceeded to grub at Rock Bottom, had some drinks, headed back to the convention hall to discuss more Deathnote philosophy and theory (damn those shinigami!!!), and then headed back to the room.
Before we got to the room, though, we tried to catch a free shuttle back to our hotel. We couldn't because it was too full and was the last shuttle of the evening, but the last guy on the bus had the door shut on his arm and the driver just took off like that, arm stuck outside, waving away. It looked like he was giving turn signals with his hand. About ten seconds later she finally realized what happend and let him get his arm inside.
We laughed. A LOT!
K, that's all for now. On to day 3!!!
Friday, June 29, 2007
It doesn't get any better than this, baby (errr...wait...yes it does)!!!
We rolled into town about 9:30, found our hotel with some difficulty (which is pretty nice and has a fantastic freakin' view, as expected from the earlier pics). We couldn't check in yet because it was too early, but we immediately caught the free shuttle from the hotel to the con and sought out the line for registration. Up the stairs we went because that's where we saw the line, which was between a quarter and half mile long at this point (about 9:50 or so?). We ask one of the attendants if this is the line for registration and he lets us know that we're definitely in the wrong spot. In fact, we need to go back down the stairs and walk towards the performing arts center, about a quarter mile down the street.
Okay, cool. Quarter mile, no problem. But he was waving his arms like you would when you tell your receiver to go deeper for a pass and laughing at us. This was our first clue that we were screwed. We had no idea just how badly yet, though.
So we find the performing arts center and there is someone dividing a line into two lines - pre-registered folks, and not. "Hey, where's the end of this line?"
"Keep walking that way. You should see it. Eventually." Uh oh.....
So we keep walking down that same street and see the line loop around the aquarium, then back to the street. Keep going about 5 more blocks down the street, plus the two that went inland, and we're at about a half-mile. We finally see what we think is the end of the line at the corner of a parking lot, only to realize that the line then starts to snake back through the parking lot.
If any of you have been to Disney and waited through their queues, you know what I mean. You work through this queue only to turn the corner and see...another queue. Except this was about 1.5 miles in length. Litterally. And it's only 10:15 at this point. Registration barely started fifteen minutes ago. And we're in the sun with no sun protection. WHEEEE!!!
Oh, and did I mention there is no food or eateries on the street at all? Or even within a half-mile?
After three hours we'd worked our way to the point where we split into two lines. It took us another 2 hours and 45 minutes to work through the second line. Nearly six hours in line for day one. Neet. All we had energy for after that was food, and checking into the hotel. We never made it inside the con.
Registration was so screwed that they had to postpone a concert for two hours because people could register fast enough to get their tickets, and even then they were still GIVING tickets away right before hand because people were too tired to enjoy it. Sadly, this was supposed to be one of the headlines of the convention but they screwed the pooch bigtime.
Now, we still had fun. There was about ten of us that met up and we were laughing and people watching, etc. I made a little Black Ops trip to get some drinks for us. Folks were chatting on their DS's. Good times were defintely had. It just wasn't nearly as good as it would have been if we weren't tired and hungry and burnt and needing showers and ankle replacement surgery after standing on cement for nearly six hours.
Okay, cool. Quarter mile, no problem. But he was waving his arms like you would when you tell your receiver to go deeper for a pass and laughing at us. This was our first clue that we were screwed. We had no idea just how badly yet, though.
So we find the performing arts center and there is someone dividing a line into two lines - pre-registered folks, and not. "Hey, where's the end of this line?"
"Keep walking that way. You should see it. Eventually." Uh oh.....
So we keep walking down that same street and see the line loop around the aquarium, then back to the street. Keep going about 5 more blocks down the street, plus the two that went inland, and we're at about a half-mile. We finally see what we think is the end of the line at the corner of a parking lot, only to realize that the line then starts to snake back through the parking lot.
If any of you have been to Disney and waited through their queues, you know what I mean. You work through this queue only to turn the corner and see...another queue. Except this was about 1.5 miles in length. Litterally. And it's only 10:15 at this point. Registration barely started fifteen minutes ago. And we're in the sun with no sun protection. WHEEEE!!!
Oh, and did I mention there is no food or eateries on the street at all? Or even within a half-mile?
After three hours we'd worked our way to the point where we split into two lines. It took us another 2 hours and 45 minutes to work through the second line. Nearly six hours in line for day one. Neet. All we had energy for after that was food, and checking into the hotel. We never made it inside the con.
Registration was so screwed that they had to postpone a concert for two hours because people could register fast enough to get their tickets, and even then they were still GIVING tickets away right before hand because people were too tired to enjoy it. Sadly, this was supposed to be one of the headlines of the convention but they screwed the pooch bigtime.
Now, we still had fun. There was about ten of us that met up and we were laughing and people watching, etc. I made a little Black Ops trip to get some drinks for us. Folks were chatting on their DS's. Good times were defintely had. It just wasn't nearly as good as it would have been if we weren't tired and hungry and burnt and needing showers and ankle replacement surgery after standing on cement for nearly six hours.
He's off again
Off to Long Beach! I'm pretty sure I'll have net access over there but I'm not sure. I'll try to post updates as I'm able.
Take care, everyone! And if you happen to be heading out on vacation while I'm away, please have a good time and come back safely!!!
Until next time...
Take care, everyone! And if you happen to be heading out on vacation while I'm away, please have a good time and come back safely!!!
Until next time...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Just Cause
When I went to pick up my friend from the airport today one of the automated messages that was playing is this:
"The airport chapel is located in Terminal 4, 2nd floor."
Hmmm...what are they trying to say to us? Is there some reason we *should* be praying at the airport that we don't know about?
:-)
"The airport chapel is located in Terminal 4, 2nd floor."
Hmmm...what are they trying to say to us? Is there some reason we *should* be praying at the airport that we don't know about?
:-)
Transform your marketing, please
When I recently first watch The Island I noticed that director Michael Bay flashed quite a few logos - many of them GM products - in his film. Kinda turned me off, actually. I want to watch a movie, not an elaborate advertisement. If I see one or two logos in an unintrusive manner, sure, no problem. But the advertising in The Island felt very intentional, very deliberate, very labored to me.
Now with Transformers the cross-promotional machine between GM and Michael Bay is in full swing and it already makes me cringe. I actually may not even see the movie in the theaters because of it. The idea of me paying $10+ to watch advertising for two hours...ugh.
Now with Transformers the cross-promotional machine between GM and Michael Bay is in full swing and it already makes me cringe. I actually may not even see the movie in the theaters because of it. The idea of me paying $10+ to watch advertising for two hours...ugh.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
On an island
Every month I have 1on1 sessions with each of my staff. One hour off the phones and away from the office to chat about all sorts of stuff...a little leisure, a little business, a little randomness. These little sessions are vital to the successful management of my team, and are reminiscent of what I loved about teaching - just being with the students, talking with them, teaching them, and learning from them.
One of my employees today at the end of our time started commenting how she and her husband swap supervisor stories over dinner, and that based on how she spoke of me, her husband thought I was a pretty good one. She agreed. I smiled. She came from a team that technically had a supervisor, but there wasn't much supervision. By and large the prisoners were left to fend for themselves so for her to offer me such a compliment doesn't carry a great deal of weight - the standard I was being measured against isn't terribly high. Nonetheless, I was grateful. It's always nice to get sincere praise from an honest critic.
She then went on to comment about how it must feel kinda lonely sometimes since I can be friendly with the staff but can't really be their friend. Now I can certainly be friends with them away from work, individually. Heck, I've been friends with many of my bosses so I know it can be done. But I know what she meant, and she's right. They call it a captain's chair instead of a captain's loveseat for a reason - there's room enough for one. If we go out as a group after work for drinks and such, I'm still management. Friendly, but not friends. And on occasion, it definitely feels like you're on an island.
I remember being part of the crew, one of the rank and files. I loved being part of the closing staff because there was something good about closing up the shop and walking out at the end of the day, machines off, day done, balanced out. One shift started the day out, but we brought it home, cleaning up messes as needed. I liked putting the day to rest with the team. But now, even if I close, it's not like that any more. If I want to go out for drinks after a day well done and shoot the shit, I can't really do that with my staff. It would have to be with other management. I can hang out with my team, sure. But I'm still their manager if I do that, still on an island.
I may never be a rank and file again...I like leading, and I do think it's probably where I belong. There's something to be said, though, for being part of a hard working, highly functioning, tightly knit crew.
One of my employees today at the end of our time started commenting how she and her husband swap supervisor stories over dinner, and that based on how she spoke of me, her husband thought I was a pretty good one. She agreed. I smiled. She came from a team that technically had a supervisor, but there wasn't much supervision. By and large the prisoners were left to fend for themselves so for her to offer me such a compliment doesn't carry a great deal of weight - the standard I was being measured against isn't terribly high. Nonetheless, I was grateful. It's always nice to get sincere praise from an honest critic.
She then went on to comment about how it must feel kinda lonely sometimes since I can be friendly with the staff but can't really be their friend. Now I can certainly be friends with them away from work, individually. Heck, I've been friends with many of my bosses so I know it can be done. But I know what she meant, and she's right. They call it a captain's chair instead of a captain's loveseat for a reason - there's room enough for one. If we go out as a group after work for drinks and such, I'm still management. Friendly, but not friends. And on occasion, it definitely feels like you're on an island.
I remember being part of the crew, one of the rank and files. I loved being part of the closing staff because there was something good about closing up the shop and walking out at the end of the day, machines off, day done, balanced out. One shift started the day out, but we brought it home, cleaning up messes as needed. I liked putting the day to rest with the team. But now, even if I close, it's not like that any more. If I want to go out for drinks after a day well done and shoot the shit, I can't really do that with my staff. It would have to be with other management. I can hang out with my team, sure. But I'm still their manager if I do that, still on an island.
I may never be a rank and file again...I like leading, and I do think it's probably where I belong. There's something to be said, though, for being part of a hard working, highly functioning, tightly knit crew.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Honk if you want to be on TV
I'd like to be interviewed on a nationally televised major morning show or late show. I think it'd be kinda neat to have someone ask me questions, to which my answers are broadcast to millions of people. Just think about if...folks everywhere listening to what you have to say! I dig it.
The problem with this is I'm just a normal guy. No inventions, no fame, no infamy (yet). So I figure my best shot is to get onto David Letterman (which would be my preferred show, btw...I think Letterman is a very interesting man, and Paul Schaffer is freakin awesome) in his Stupid Human Tricks bit. How, you ask? No, not with my jig which - trust me on this - is a sight to behold. No, it would be for my honk.
That's right. I honk. Like a clown nose or bike horn. Except I don't have a squeaker installed in my throat (contrary to my boss' opinion). It's au naturale, baby!
Then, when I get on Letterman I'm going to ask him if he'd have me back to interview me as a regularly scheduled guest. I may be a regular guy, but I've got a feeling I would be one of the more memorable interviews he's ever had. Goodness knows that would be one of my most interesting memories ever.
The problem with this is I'm just a normal guy. No inventions, no fame, no infamy (yet). So I figure my best shot is to get onto David Letterman (which would be my preferred show, btw...I think Letterman is a very interesting man, and Paul Schaffer is freakin awesome) in his Stupid Human Tricks bit. How, you ask? No, not with my jig which - trust me on this - is a sight to behold. No, it would be for my honk.
That's right. I honk. Like a clown nose or bike horn. Except I don't have a squeaker installed in my throat (contrary to my boss' opinion). It's au naturale, baby!
Then, when I get on Letterman I'm going to ask him if he'd have me back to interview me as a regularly scheduled guest. I may be a regular guy, but I've got a feeling I would be one of the more memorable interviews he's ever had. Goodness knows that would be one of my most interesting memories ever.
I'll enjoy it while it lasts
Finally back in first place. It might never happen again this year (I still think we're a year away from the post season).
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 44 | 32 | .579 | - |
| San Diego | 42 | 32 | .568 | 1.0 |
| LA Dodgers | 42 | 33 | .560 | 1.5 |
| Colorado | 38 | 38 | .500 | 6.0 |
| San Francisco | 32 | 42 | .432 | 11.0 |
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Forgive me
A good buddy of mine of mine got 4th row clubhouse box tickets to the Diamondbacks game today. Great seats, fun game. A couple of you even got a picture. Rarely do I get seats that good for anything so it was definitely a neat experience...they even serve you your concessions/food! Of course, they do charge you a 19% service charge on top of the already-inflated prices so I don't know if it's truly "service," but it's still neat.
Half way through the game, though, my buddy turns to me and says, "Not that I'm keeping score, but these tickets beat the crap out of any free tickets you've ever given me." He goes on to tell me that he and his wife joke about how bad the tickets were/are when he comes home from events I take him to, and further expounds on multiple instances where the tickets were too high or at a bad angle or too far from the glass or whatever.
Wow. Invite me to something cool only to rip on me. I'm sorry I wasted your time with tickets you wouldn't have bought or used yourself.
You know what...I don't have a six-figure income from a Fortune 100 company. I don't drive a luxury sports car or a gigantic black-and-chrome SUV. I don't have a big screen HDTV with surround sound and all the latest gadgets. And I don't have clients or partners that give me 4th row home plate tickets to games. The best I usually get is upper-bowl stuff. Either that's what the company gives me or that's what I can afford. I never had a lot growing up and I learned to live fairly simply. Digital cable and high-speed internet are about as luxurious as it gets for me, and I'm quite okay with that. Whatever I do have, though, I offer freely to my friends. Now the free stuff (emphasis on FREE) that I get tickets for is laughable? If what I have to share doesn't meet people's standards then they can...well, I'm sure you can finish that sentence creatively, with all such endings likely being appropriate.
Forgive me if what I can offer starts to no longer be good enough any more. I'll be enjoying it just the same. The World Series looks the same to me from the upper deck or behind home plate.
Half way through the game, though, my buddy turns to me and says, "Not that I'm keeping score, but these tickets beat the crap out of any free tickets you've ever given me." He goes on to tell me that he and his wife joke about how bad the tickets were/are when he comes home from events I take him to, and further expounds on multiple instances where the tickets were too high or at a bad angle or too far from the glass or whatever.
Wow. Invite me to something cool only to rip on me. I'm sorry I wasted your time with tickets you wouldn't have bought or used yourself.
You know what...I don't have a six-figure income from a Fortune 100 company. I don't drive a luxury sports car or a gigantic black-and-chrome SUV. I don't have a big screen HDTV with surround sound and all the latest gadgets. And I don't have clients or partners that give me 4th row home plate tickets to games. The best I usually get is upper-bowl stuff. Either that's what the company gives me or that's what I can afford. I never had a lot growing up and I learned to live fairly simply. Digital cable and high-speed internet are about as luxurious as it gets for me, and I'm quite okay with that. Whatever I do have, though, I offer freely to my friends. Now the free stuff (emphasis on FREE) that I get tickets for is laughable? If what I have to share doesn't meet people's standards then they can...well, I'm sure you can finish that sentence creatively, with all such endings likely being appropriate.
Forgive me if what I can offer starts to no longer be good enough any more. I'll be enjoying it just the same. The World Series looks the same to me from the upper deck or behind home plate.
I'm not the only one
I love the fact that I'm not the only one that has sent text messages while drunk!!!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Return to the beach
This coming Friday, I'll be here. Long Beach harbor for AnimeExpo 2007! Bring on the freaks n' geeks!!! This will be the first time I've been to a convention in over three years where I wasn't working, and only the second time ever. Verrrry much looking forward to it especially after last week's long hours. This week could be a rough one, too, but it shouldnt' be as long as the last one. No eleven hour work days this time...there better not be, at least!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Vindication
Dateline, 1997 - I'm working in the call center taking my calls, serving the members, and listening to my bosses shout "We need you on the phones! Watch your Work time!" Ahh...there it is. Work time. The time you spend on After Call Work. Time NOT spent taking calls. Some people abused it, many didn't. Yet the combination of abusers and inexperienced formal call center management resulted in the chanting of that mantra, ad nauseum, ad infinitum. One day during a meeting there was some time at the end and management opened it up to the staff. "So what's going on in the center? Anything we need to know about?"
I decide to say something (note: the odds of my "saying something" turning out well for me up to that point of my life had NOT been good unless I was rebuking my Nemesis, yet for some reason I decided to throw the odds out the window in this instance), and it comes out like this - "I know we need to focus on taking the calls as efficiently as possible, but sometimes I get so sick of hearing 'Watch your Work time!' that I just wanna throw a shoe at your office window." Now I'm not sure where that falls on the Things You Shouldn't Say to Your Boss in Your First Six Months list, but I'm pretty sure it's in the top 20. And needless to say, things didn't go overly well after that.
Fast forward to 2007. My old boss is now my peer, but in a different call center within the company. We're in call center management training and the question comes up, "What do you do when you're busier than expected and you're not meeting your service objectives?" Of course the response about getting your agents on the phones was interjected, and was swiftly met with a firm, "No!" As she started listing off the steps to take, out of the top 5, tracking your agents down and ensuring they were actively servicing a phone call came 4th. I have no idea what the first three were, though, because I was too damn busy laughing at my old supervisor/peer across the way (who was also laughing, mind you) as we reminisced about all the times people were shouted at to get on the phones.
After ten years, vindication is mine!
(For what it's worth, I pledged to myself that if I ever found myself in her shoes, I'd never harp on Work time like they did. In two years, I've said it five times.)
I decide to say something (note: the odds of my "saying something" turning out well for me up to that point of my life had NOT been good unless I was rebuking my Nemesis, yet for some reason I decided to throw the odds out the window in this instance), and it comes out like this - "I know we need to focus on taking the calls as efficiently as possible, but sometimes I get so sick of hearing 'Watch your Work time!' that I just wanna throw a shoe at your office window." Now I'm not sure where that falls on the Things You Shouldn't Say to Your Boss in Your First Six Months list, but I'm pretty sure it's in the top 20. And needless to say, things didn't go overly well after that.
Fast forward to 2007. My old boss is now my peer, but in a different call center within the company. We're in call center management training and the question comes up, "What do you do when you're busier than expected and you're not meeting your service objectives?" Of course the response about getting your agents on the phones was interjected, and was swiftly met with a firm, "No!" As she started listing off the steps to take, out of the top 5, tracking your agents down and ensuring they were actively servicing a phone call came 4th. I have no idea what the first three were, though, because I was too damn busy laughing at my old supervisor/peer across the way (who was also laughing, mind you) as we reminisced about all the times people were shouted at to get on the phones.
After ten years, vindication is mine!
(For what it's worth, I pledged to myself that if I ever found myself in her shoes, I'd never harp on Work time like they did. In two years, I've said it five times.)
What a long day....
As in, the longest day of the year. Booooo!
That means too much sun and heat!
Of course, that makes tomorrow one of the greatest days of the year, because tomorrow the days start to get shorter. Yaaaaay!
And THAT's when the fangs come out! :-[
That means too much sun and heat!
Of course, that makes tomorrow one of the greatest days of the year, because tomorrow the days start to get shorter. Yaaaaay!
And THAT's when the fangs come out! :-[
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
I don't think I've ever done this on my blog
He couldve tuned in, tuned in
But he tuned out
A bad time, nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out
He got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up, set him down on his knee
A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings, hey, look at me now
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh, power, oh
Hes.. flying
Whole
High.. wide, oh
He floated back down cause he wanted to share
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
By faceless men, well, fuckers
He still stands
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
The love he receives is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly
High.. flying
Oh, oh
High.. flying
Pearl Jam
"Given to Fly"
aka The Ballad of Alexander
But he tuned out
A bad time, nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out
He got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up, set him down on his knee
A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings, hey, look at me now
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh, power, oh
Hes.. flying
Whole
High.. wide, oh
He floated back down cause he wanted to share
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
By faceless men, well, fuckers
He still stands
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
The love he receives is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly
High.. flying
Oh, oh
High.. flying
Pearl Jam
"Given to Fly"
aka The Ballad of Alexander
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