When I got my appointment for a MRI-scan of my messed up knee in early August, it’s a good thing I didn’t get overly enthusiastic and booked a holiday, as I said I might. Due to a opening in the schedule, that MRI took place two weeks ago, and today, I got the results.
The doctor had some good news and some bad news. The good news is that nothing’s wrong with my meniscus. The bad news is that they’ll have to amputate nevertheless. Nah. Just kidding. The cartilage in my knee’s a bit messed up, and it will be thoroughly cleansed on July 21st. Which means surgery, by the way.
What if your cat gets killed in the road, and you decide to bury it in an old and Indian (Native American if you’re so inclined) burial ground. What if it returns the next day, almost brand spanking new but totally different just the same? What if it wasn’t your cat, but your kid?
That’s what Pet Sematary pretty much boils down to.
Books don’t easily scare the bejeebus out of me, and this one was no exception. The most frightening part about this book is how Stephen King can create such likable characters, and then throw so much shit at them. That’s evil, dude.
There were quite a few novels by King which I didn’t hold in high regard which turned out to be anything ranging from quite alright to pretty damn fine: Tommyknockers, Cujo, Firestarter, The Dark Half … Pet Sematary. I don’t know where I got those crazy idea’s from, but come to think of it, I can’t recall any book by King I really didn’t like. Sure, some left me quite indifferent (The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, Cycle of the Werewolf) but even the ones I had to fight my way through (Lisey’s Story) had their good bits. Good on me for still having a couple left to read.
Book read
Stephen King — Pet Sematary
First line
Louis Creed, who had lost his father at three and who had never known a grandfather, never expected to find a father as he entered his middle age, but that was exactly what happened … although he called this man a friend, as a grown man must do when he finds the man who should have been his father relatively late in life.
Apparently, every movie becomes an instant classic once you cut a trailer to Clint Mansell’s Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. Lastest example: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
My new favorite word of the year is ‘Toeterturk’, named after the habit of Turkish people to go driving around while honking their horn when Turkey wins in the European Championship.
If you visit the Windows update website with Internet Explorer 8 beta 1, you’re treated as if you’re just another lepper that doesn’t use Internet Explorer.
The European Soccer Championship is just like Christmas: the day it’s over the decorations are instantly gone.
There’s a strong indication that there’s ice on Mars.
Firefox 3 was downloaded over 8.2 million times on download day. Still waiting on the official confirmation of the world record though.
Last wednesday, Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street Band played the Amsterdam Arena. And I was there, for my first Springsteen concert. What a mighty fine gig it was. Sure, it probably wasn’t the best gig I’ve ever seen, but man, that energy, that showmanship, that set list—although my two alltime favorite tracks (“Thunder Road” and “Point Blank”) weren’t played, other favorites like “The River”, “Spirit in the Night”, “Because the Night”, “Prove it all Night”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Badlands” totally made up for that.
The Arena is infamous for it’s acoustic qualities. Every time a concert is announced there, fans automatically scream bloody murder about the reverb that totally ruins the sound. The general consensus seems to be that as long as you’re on the field and not somewhere up in the seats, the sound should be alright. I was going in prepared for the worst, but from where I was standing (somewhere near the center spot, when the stage was on the goal line) I did not hear that dreaded echo. In fact, I thought the sound was quite decent.
The only I’m still not quite sure about is whether or not I totally dig stadium concerts. Sure, the atmosphere and roaring cheers of a decently filled stadium—it was far from being sold out, as a large section of the second ring was closed—are thrilling. But having to wade through half a football field of people to get a much needed refreshment… not so thrilling. And then you have to wade your way back again. Also, the time of year didn’t really help: being just three days before the longest day of the year, it didn’t get really dark at all until the encores, so we only got to really enjoy the (sparse) light show for the last few songs.
An incomplete recording surfaced last night. The quality of the recording is all over the place, but one of my highlights of the show came out good: download Because the Night (live in Amsterdam, 2008-07-18)
Seen Live: Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, on July 18th, 2008 at the Amsterdam Arena. Set List: Out in the Streets / Radio Nowhere / Lonesome Day / Promised Land / Spirit in the Night / The River / Gypsy Biker / Prove it all Night / Darkness on the Edge of Town / Darlington County / Because the Night / She’s the One / Living in the Future / Mary’s Place / I’m on Fire / Backstreets / The Rising / Last to Die /Long Walk Home / Badlands // Girls in their Summer Clothes / Summertime Blues / Stand on it / Seven Nights to Rock / Born to Run / Bobby Jean / Dancing in the Dark / American Land
As of about fifteen minutes ago, it’s Firefox 3 Download Day 2008. Just ignore the hype of trying to set the Guinness World Record for most downloaded software in 24 hours and do yourself a solid favor: get your copy this very minute (or the very first minute you can, as, predictably, their servers seem a bit swamped at the moment). Especially if you still use Internet Explorer. You owe yourself something better than that. Get Opera for all I care, just get rid of that worthless excuse for a browser.
Firefox 3 is “more secure, easier to use and more personal” than Firefox 2 (their lingo), and also has several improvements for developers (like me) and regular people (like you) alike (it’s faster and uses less memory). I’ve been using Firefox 3 at home since beta 3, and I can’t recommend it enough. Especially the Awesomebar is totally awesome. Haven’t seen any of these fellows either.
On a side note: strangely enough, I seem to be more stoked about Firefox 3 being released than that match against Romania. And remember: every time you wear something orange, God kills a fluffy baby fox. Please, think of the cute, adorable, little fluffy baby foxes.
Update: The Netherlands: 2 – Romania: 0, and a very, very dull game indeed. Downloads seem to work. Get to it.
