And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

(Drum roll, please, Anton...)

Our top story:

JAM gets a new job
Friends and Family Amazed

It was announced today that Jonathan A. Mazur (alias JAM to some) had, after months and months of searching found gainful employment (like, they're paying him money and everything) at a local area computer consulting firm. When asked for comment, he expressed his profound gratitude for all those who assisted in his job search. His lovely wife, on the other hand, was heard to remark, "It's about@#$%in' time..."

Hello. So, that's my big news. Which I've actually had for a week now (I started on Monday). I wanted to make sure things went okay before I said anything (who knows, they could have chased me out of the building or something). But fortunately, that didn't happen.

So what am I doing? Pretty much the same thing I was doing... (Yeah, I realize that doesn't help most of you...) My title is Senior Systems Analyst. "Senior" -- 'cause I don't have enough reasons to feel old...

Anyway, just wanted y'all to know. I also wanted to say "thank you" to the many people who helped out with job leads, tips, offers to circulate my resume, and general comments to raise morale and make sure I was okay. So, thanks.

The blog will continue (I mean, come on, it's never been that much about the job search, right?). So we'll talk again. Oh, lookee here, MDFA tells me I'm not the only one who has a new job...

A very full weekend...

Oh, I have so much to tell y'all... But I'm trying to do things in order, so...

A lot happened last weekend... Friday we attempted (and largely failed) to finish up MLW's short-term game. But one more session should take care of it. Then very tired, went to sleep.

Saturday, I got up crazy early (for a Saturday, anyway) to go to Six Flags America with MDFA. It was just the two of us -- what amazing patience she has to spend the whole day with me yammering on and on and on... We had fun -- they have MANY rollercoasters -- though a misunderstanding of what the Penguin's Blizard River Ride was, nearly cost me the day with some severe, spinning-induced vertigo. (JAM can't do the spinning). The fine folks at Six Flags, or should I say the many 12 year olds who work there for minimum wage or so, also goofed and gave me a "premium" season pass instead of a regular one, so we'll definitely be going back and bringing friends. Which is probably why we decided we didn't need to go on EVERY rollercoaster. We tried Batwing (once we found it -- it's practically in a different park), which was pretty darn neat. And Superman: Ride of Steel, which was very fast. And several of the others. Anyway, nice day - I really enjoyed it a lot.

Then on Sunday, it was pretty much get up early again (at least for a Sunday), as we spent the day volunteering at the ADSW Expo. Once again dealt with the large quantity of incompetence on the part of NVCC, though slightly less than last year. And once again, MLW and I managed to find a few things to add to the Deco collection. (Though we managed to keep it below $100...)

Admittedly, none of the above is as exciting or funny as this bit (sent in by originalWebb), but it was still my weekend. Many more exciting announcements forthcoming very soon!

Updates, dial-up rant, and Herowear...

Geez, I don't even remember what I last told you folks... Did I talk about last week? I know I told you about part of Tuesday in the Monkey entry (I find it highly amusing that because I said the word "monkey" so many times, the google ad sense generator is now listing ads for exotic pets and monkeys...) Later that day, though, I received a call from that one company I've been going back and forth with (the "take you to lunch" people... still hungry, for the record...) So anyway, last Wednesday I had lunch with The Shark, said "hi" to one or two people back at CPI (which, after six months, looks exactly the same, except for Lori's Tiki bar...), went to a job fair in another part of Crystal City, and then capped off the day with a trip to Costco (nothing like buying in bulk on a budget...)

Later in the week, MLW & I headed up to NJ (and NY) effectively for her godmother's grandson's first communion (the relationship is actually more complicated than that, but that will suffice... if I were following Ethiopian protocol, I'd have simply said "cousin..."). Saw my family on Friday and managed to catch up with my curmudgeonly friend Greg (who seemed in high spirits) this time ('cause last time we were supposed to get together he went and broke his collar bone to get out of it). And then drove back. Oy. (For the truly bored, I think MLW put up pics on flickr.)

Oh, in a related minor update, you -- yes, you -- can now see Casa del Tiburon in all its photogenic glory.

Now, you'll excuse the brief rant, but OMG is dial-up killing me. The past 48 hours have been horrible. First Gmail was lagging -- and hey, I LOVE me my gmail, but not when it takes 4 minutes to open a message. Then for the past day or so, a certain internet giant that I shall not name [*cough*AOL*cough*], has been taking many minutes to connect, and then giving me blazing speeds of 16K or 19K baud... (I think right now I have a teeth-rattling 21K... but who can tell with things moving this fast, really... For the non-technical, yes, that was sarcasm.) It's enough (one would think... and yet...) to make me finally get off my ass and call Comcast to find out about high speed access (that I can't afford...)

Okay, enough of that...

Now that I've griped, let me gush for a minute. I recently ordered two performance tees -- basically fancy-schmancy athletic wear -- from the fine folks at PureHero.com. As the name might imply, PureHero produces athletic "performance apparel" and they have the Marvel license, so one can get workout clothes with Spidey's logo on them (and so on). I have to say, I got two of their tees (Spiderman and Fantastic Four, if you're curious) a couple weeks ago and they have rapidly become my favorite tees. The material is quick drying too, so it occurred to me it would be perfect to wear to a water or amusement park... Their stuff is cut large, so being a petite fellow, I find it a little loose, but since America keeps getting bigger (it's all the growth hormones in the milk, I tells ya...) I guess that makes sense for them. Anyway, they seem like great folks, they make good merchandise, and hey, maybe I can get free swag for endorsing them... (yeah, that'll happen...) But, hey, don't take my word for it, take the word of a complete stranger to me, Dave of Dave's Long Box (which I mentioned in my FCBD entry). He's on hiatus this week, but read down to his post on "Why Gambit Sucks..."-- funny. And more importantly, buy PureHero stuff. X-Men designs now available for pre-order...

There. Update. Check. Rant. Check. Pimping. Check. I think I'm done for today.

Save the Internet!

Look folks, I rarely (I think) get political on this thing, but there are some issues that merit it, and one of them is the very medium through which I'm communicating with you. Hence...

I probably can't explain it as well as they do, but suffice to say, that the powers that be are trying to limit our surfing options to sites that pay them money. For a truly bizarre attempt at an explanation, I encourage you to check out this video from Ask a Ninja.

So, hey, sign up. Get involved. Send your congressperson an email. It doesn't take much effort.

And just so you don't think I've completely changed, I'm sure I'll be back with the normal randomness come the weekend...

"Monkeys."

It's a phrase MDFA and I use to refer to work-related stupidity. Got started because of an incredibly stupid (IMO) "morale boosting" promotion her company did. I started asking if monkeys were in charge of the budget. And it eventually got shortened down to one of us shaking our head and the other saying, "Monkeys." (So, yes, it was with a mixture of delight and a feeling of having our idea stolen, that we have received the commercials for Careerbuilder.com).

Anyway, the interview I had scheduled for today -- well, they never sent a follow up email. So I got up this morning and called. And got a series of voicemails. So I got ready, shaved, etc. I called again. I say to the receptionist, "Yeah, hi, I'm calling because I'm supposed to be coming in for any interview at 11. I don't know who I spoke to last Friday, because she called while I was in my car..."

"Oh, you must mean, Ms. _____ in HR. Hang on, I'll transfer you."

Six or seven rings later, I'm on the phone with Ms. ___'s voicemail. So I explain that I never received the email, but I had figured out where they were and would be there at 11 unless I heard from them. So I'm tying my tie (Full Windsor, for anyone who cares... it's the only one I know how to tie) and the phone rings. It's Ms. ____. Seems the hiring manager got called to an out of town meeting. We need to reschedule. Ms. ____ was stuck in traffic and couldn't get anyone there to get my # for her (she didn't sound happy about that). But she didn't have the hiring manager's schedule, so... yep, they'll have to get back to me...

Hence... Monkeys. [shakes head]

In honor of that and thanks to a seriously dated email from ND, we give you the monkey links above for your enjoyment.

And stretching this metaphor to the breaking point, since monkeys were used in the early days of space travel (and the bad Tim Burton remake of Planet of the Apes), I thought I would give you this well-researched piece that WPE sent my way this a.m. on none other than the semi-mythological Space Pen.

In terms of personal accomplishments, I finally finished writing MG back today, so it wasn't a total wash...

Casa del Tiburon

(Excuse my malformed Spanish). So yesterday, MLW, MDFA, and I went over to The Shark's McMansion. And Mansion-ish it is. Good taste prevents me from telling you how much it cost (and with real estate prices down here, what would it mean, anyway...?) I will say there's a walk-in closet bigger than the office I'm typing this from, and their master bath is bigger than the one we had at the Bellagio. (Yes, the Bellagio...)

So anyway, The Shark was having a combination 6th b-day party for his too cute daughter and housewarming party (I think they moved just before I left CPI, so that would be about October?) Anyway, a nice time was had by all (certainly the kids, if the screaming level was anything to go by), though there was a lot of food being pushed. I had no idea the people were such food pushers. It was like Extreme Hospitality! But seriously, nice party, and MLW got to watch the Derby (on the plasma screen... again, I say, "Must be nice to have money...")

What else? Well, a few things on ye old job search front this week. I'm sending likely my last volley to the company that had me to 3 interviews and seems to have forgotten about me since, (though, hey, people get busy. Who knows?) Then, while out on errands on Friday, I got a call about some association I applied for a position with I don't even remember how far back (checks log -- week of March 26th, apparently) who now want to bring me in for an interview on Tuesday (Whatever...) And then I have yet another career fair in shiny Crystal City on Wednesday (after which I may have lunch with some of the miscreants I used to work with). So that's what's up on the job front.

And in the interest of not just leaving you with what I did with my Saturday (oh, did I mention we saw Mission Impossible III after the party? We did. Pretty good. In spite of Tom Cruise...), I figured I would share with you a couple of the links I'd been accumulating... For some reason Hasbro keeps feeling the need to frak with Monopoly. Haven't they done enough with the NASCAR edition or whatever?

And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out this bit of George Lucas news -- not to be confused with this other one everyone keeps sending me (Huge, in particular, seemed very excited about the fact that Greedo did not shoot first... which we all know...)

Last, but by no means least, we have this reasonably hot of the press tidbit from MDFA, who wanted to make sure we all knew what our dear Mr. T was up to these days...

Stay cool, folks, I'll be back.

Hey Kids, do you know what tomorrow is?!

Free Comic Book Day!!!
And in honor of this fine celebration of an American art form, I give you a few links, that have something to do with well, comics...

The new Superman Returns trailer, for instance.

Some (finally confirmed) news on the much turned-around Iron Man movie, I believe sent in by SQ.

Apparently, Angelina "Most Beautiful" Jolie is going to be in the sequel to Sin City (cleverly named Sin City 2).

And I came across this fellow's blog about comics in my travels; it seems pretty entertaining.

So, go out, get a free comic. Read. Enjoy. Repeat as needed.

Snakes on a Plane?

Okay, so clearly I'm out of the loop. And I knew that. But still, it's not like I'm not on the web nearly every day. So how did I completely miss this one. I had to find out about it during the last session of my spycraft game (several weeks back, and yes, sadly, it's taken me this long to post about it...) I dunno. Must be slipping.

On the off-chance you're as behind the curve as myself, please check out this story, as well as this VERY FUNNY "audition reel" by this guy that does a spot-on Christopher Walken, Joe Pesci, and Beaker.

Sign me up. Samuel L. Jackson. Snakes. A plane. What more does a movie need?

Happy Cinco de Mayo! More tomorrow, folks.

I have so much...

...stored up to post, and seemingly no time to type it in.

So instead of what I was going to tell you about today, I'm simply going to share these two bits on one of my favorite shows, Veronica Mars:

The first being about the second season's DVD release schedule.

And the second and more important being a request that you vote for it in E! Online's "Watch with Kristin's" annual Save Our Show poll.

I promise more and equally eclectic stuff tomorrow.