Here is a picture of me holding up several Youngblood comic books.
This information is incredibly boring unless I tell the slightly less-boring story of how I got them.
Surely you sometimes delve into the incredibly humorous My Religious Blog. Well -- Matsby, the guy who does it, hosted a cold cereal party this last Saturday. If you check the link in the previous sentence you'll see that one of the prizes at this party was this Youngblood collection that I'm now holding in the above picture. I only knew about the little get-together because I follow the guy on Twitter. Doing nothing else, I dragged Joe and his new iPhone (which told us how to get there (see the previous post for the harsh reality of this fact)) over there and won some free Rob Liefeld comics (even though Matsby said that Liefeld is an atrocious artist).
The point is, I got free stuff by going to a party thrown by a guy I don't really know at all and it was only slightly weird since the other people there were pretty much his married friends.
After that, I got onto Twitter, and whined about how I lost it. Lo and behold, the company that I won the hat from actually heard my whines and messaged me that they wanted to send me ANOTHER podgineer hat. How nuts is that? They must have done a Twitter search for their own handle names and came across me complaining.
Anyway, the moral is: get on Twitter and follow me!
I've always said that one day robots will rule the earth, and it's not JUST because my whole life I've engorged myself on movies with that same premise. Recently I Googled myself and came across this:
My name popped up on this site BEFORE it popped up for this blog that you're reading right now. This particular site seems to be a place where people send mp3s to their phones as ringtones. Strangely, VERY STRANGELY, "beeMP3" is offering the DVD commentary of Pretty in Pink that Maria, Monica and I did a couple of years ago. Yeah, that's right. IF YOU WANT, your ringtone could be the three of us talking about Pretty in Freaking Pink for 45 minutes.
I guarantee that no human being bothered to find this mp3 online somewhere, converted it into a ringtone and then made an accessible web link to it. Wanna know who did? Robots.
Yeah, not robots that look like The Terminator or R2-D2 or anything, but robots without bodies -- spritual robots in a sense. In a less dramatic sense, programs. They're gonna rule the earth just like in all those sci-fi movies. And they're not even waiting to strike. It's not a matter of when they achieve consciousness. They're not going to take us over. We're simply going to give everything to them.
A couple of days ago I was talking to Stephanie about what she did that day. She said that she was feeling lazy, so she watched tv and Return to Me was on. This made her happy because if it wasn't on tv, she wouldn't have watched it. She enjoyed it, but actually said to me that she wouldn't go out and rent it.
Have you noticed this phenomenon? Here's an even more extreme one and it's all about me. Every time the movie X-Men is on FX, I always start watching it. It's not like I wouldn't go rent it... because I OWN it and NEVER watch the version I own -- the version that's clearer, that I can fast-forward and has no commercials.
I have two explanations for this phenomenon.
1) I enjoy watching broadcasts rather than personal viewings because there's a thrill in knowing that many other people are having the same experience at the same time. It's community pride and cultural consciousness. This also explains why I prefer to listen to the radio in my car instead of cds (and because my cd player's been broken for the past six years).
2) Human beings have been conditioned to enjoy being told what to do.
I believed in explanation 1 for a very long time, but it didn't quite seem so believable. Now I'm thinking the sad truth is actually number 2. Steph couldn't get enjoyment out of choosing Return to Me from the thousands of movies she could have watched. Tv had to tell her to watch it. And me... I'm far far worse.
Actually, "worse" is a pretty negative word. I never actually said this was a bad thing. In fact, The Robocalypse will be totally sweet. I can't wait. Seriously, this is totally my thing.
Jon Madsen Jon Madsen Jon Madsen Jon Madsen Jon Madsen Jon Madsen Jon Madsen is awesome. I only said all that because I'm still mad that the Google robots aren't finding this blog when someone searches for "Jon Madsen." Maybe it'll help slightly.
This was three years in the making. Actually, we played basketball one afternoon with some video cameras, waited three years and then put it together into a movie where we make constant fun of ourselves.
If you've got nothing to blog about today, we wouldn't be offended if you embedded it on your blog. Joe would love it especially. It's his birthday, after all.
This past weekend and most of the week was the semiannual (biannual? Which is the one that's every two years?) Madsen Family Whatever. This year we decided on Disneyland and had my normal brother Andy organize it. Actually he's pretty normal except that he's unnaturally obsessed with Disneyland.
I rode down with Mom and the stepdad to Vegas where the family set up Winter Quarters for one night. My sister lives in Vegas in a brand new beautiful house that she and her husband just finished moving into at 4:00 that same morning. Here's a shot off the loft balcony where I slept. Yeah, long time exposure. Turned out pretty cool.
My mom and dad's theoretical 50th anniversary would have happened this past weekend so we got Mom a big cake. She actually ate that whole thing.
Here is a picture of some of my family on the walk to Disneyland from our hotel (seen in the background; resembles a riverboat). It sorta looks like we're crossing the plains.
We went over to the park at like 7:30 am in order to have that tiny window of time to ride the rides at our leisure before half of the country's population (and many Japanese people) show up. Our first choice? Splash Mountain.
There were so few people there that early that we had the opportunity to ride it again immediately. I and some of my nieces and nephews took that opportunity. In order for some of my smallish nephews to ride, they made me take the "fatty" seat in the back. Then the ride operator was totally like, hang on to your hat! I was like, I just rode this and my hat did fine. Whatev. Turns out the back seat makes your hat fly off, because that's what happened to me. My cool "podgineer" hat? Gone. Hey! I thought it was cool anyway.
Here's a picture that I took of the picture I was too cheap to buy of my nieces, nephews and I just before my hat fell off.
Here is a Kodak "picture spot." Kodak was awfully nice to point out what signs I ought to be taking pictures of.
We rode Big Thunder Mountain several times, because it was only shut down half the time. Most of the rest of my family rode it at night, which I hear is a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I only rode it twice; both times in the middle of the day.
I'm always on the lookout for places of business with names that look like they'd be in a Simpsons episode.
Speaking of Simpsons, whenever someone says "Matterhorn," I automatically think "Murderhorn."
Here is another picture opportunity sponsored by Kodak. My camera actually is a Kodak. I wonder if camera owners of different brands are as welcome at these "picture spots." I was hoping to find more, but I really only saw two picture spots the whole time.
Here's probably the most hilarious video you'll see all day. It's of Space Mountain (which was seriously closed 75% of the time for some dumb reason and I only got to ride it the once). If you've ever been on it, you might be able to see the appeal in the video. If you never have, you'll wonder why it's the most popular ride at Disneyland. Its appeal is that it actually strips away the sense of sight. That's why it's got the longest wait. Could the same sensation be achieved on Big Thunder Mountain or Matterhorn if the eyes were closed? I dunno. I wouldn't willingly do it. I need to be compelled to have that kind of fun. Perhaps the music helps.
So on the second day, we met for dinner outside the park, but 15 minutes before that happened I ran to Space Mountain (through the Disney Parade!) real quick to get a fastpass there. I barely made it in time to discover they had already booked Space Mountain for the rest of the day! Sheesh. Just close your eyes on some other ride, people.
I ended both days in the magic kingdom by riding Haunted Mansion (while most of the rest of the fam were on Big Thunder Mountain). The second time I was totally alone. Love that ride. It got me so pumped for Halloween.
I didn't take my camera to California Adventure because by that time I was almost out of battery. California Screamin' would have been awesome to take video of, though. Soarin' is plenty fun, but it doesn't hold a candle to The Tower of Terror, which was probably my favorite new thing that I did on the whole trip. Word of advice though: when you go to California Adventure, do the Toy Story ride first. You get to shoot stuff at targets and it's 3-D and you get to keep score with the person next to you and everyone else if you want. The ride doesn't offer fastpasses, so if you go late, it's like an hour wait. Oh! Also the rapids ride is wicked fun with a surprisingly short wait. Maybe because it was a frigid 70 degrees out while we were there. Seriously. Vegas and L.A. were wicked cool over the past week.
So after all that, on the way home I hiked Angel's Landing in Zion's with my other brother. We're sort of the odd couple. We shared the hotel room the whole time. I'm sloppy and lazy while he's meticulous. I think he's more extreme. I mean, the guy makes his hotel bed for cryin' out loud.
Here's the warning sign in front of Angel's Landing.
People who've hiked Angel's Landing know the thrill. The thrill is you could die. They've got chains staked into the rock to hold onto as you ascend. It gets pretty steep and there's like a 500 foot drop on both sides of the trail. We talked to the Zion's shuttle driver and asked how many people die on the thing. He said a couple a year, but it's always because they went off the trail and not the hazards of the trail itself.
Here I am showing how bald I can be sometimes and also how far up we are. That's the Mississippi river up at the top of the photo.
Here's a picture of my brother in his usual pose of, "Here, take a picture of me!"
Here is my brother approaching summit.
Here is a picture of my brother taking a beautiful picture.
Here's an awesome picture. Also, my brother's in it.
Here's a squirrel I met. Our Zion's shuttle driver told us not to feed the squirrels because it brings out aggression in them. I named this squirrel "Tub Gluttonous."
Here I am. I hadn't been in too many pictures so far, really so... here I am. Since I'd lost my hat, my brother lent me one of his Eurotrash dew rags, which I'm sporting.
Here's me again, but showing my Klingon Che Guevara t-shirt. My beard, glasses, hair and rag make me look similar. Like some kind of leftist revolutionary.
We didn't notice how cool these switchbacks looked until on the way down. On the way up, they just sucked.
Yep, so that was the big Madsen trip! Honestly, it was funner than I thought it would be. I actually really enjoyed Disneyland. Possibly even more than Magic Mountain.
I'm just about to leave on my family trip to Disneylalnd. Figured I'd better write something just in case my Matterhorn bobsled flies off the track or I go completely nuts while dealing with so much family at once. Btw, suggestions for a fun Disneyland experience? Please text me. I hear that Captain EO doesn't play there anymore. I'm not sure what else to even do there.
Speaking optimistically, I've hit it pretty lucky over the past week (with the exception of failing to successfully call-out a would-be employer about not paying me). For one thing, I actually managed a tax return. This was awfully nice of the U.S. government considering that back in April I actually came to the conclusion that I actually owed. I found it particularly weird (and enraging!) at the time since I didn't really earn anything last year. So not only did I get a check, but in a separate letter I got a statement saying there was a mistake in my tax return and the result was a refund (with the option to complain). I made fun of all those people who thought everything would automatically change for the better once Obama got into office. I guess the joke's on me!
In a related luck story I lost my wallet yesterday. On the bright side I figured it would solve all my financial problems. On the negative side -- well, the exact opposite. Fortunately I found it in the last place I looked which was on the passenger side of my car in the space between the seat and door. Why it was on that side, and why it didn't fall out when my passengers from Wednesday got out of the car, I'll never know. That reminds me, I could use a new wallet. The plastic picture holders in there are really wearing out.
Also I lucked out the other day while walking home from the mall with Cousin Jen. We went a little too northy in our initial approach, so the obvious solution was to cut through West High. Fun, but scary. I immediately went back to my high school self -- constantly worried about getting in trouble. I don't know what they'd even do to us. I suppose they could call the cops on us for trespassing, but like they'd bother, right? They'd probably just put us in high school jail for an hour or so. I was so hoping they'd ask what class we were supposed to be in. That'd be so sweet and would make me feel oh so good.
I've tried mentioning on Facebook, but I'll mention it here: I need blue nail polish. It's related to this year's 14th of July celebration -- which should be stupendous this year! We need a few more celebrations for that evening. Since the 14th of July is primarily dictated by the people, I'm open to suggestions. Since the day falls on Bastille Day we may have a Perrier drinking contest (but obviously we'll change the labels to read "Freedom Water").
I don't drink blood to survive, but my sleeping habits are now almost totally vampiric. It's gonna be a long summer.
