Johnny Rockstar

Bored? Have a decent internet connection? Want to entertain yourself by watching the trailers for some movies that I want to see? Well great! Here you go.

Be Kind Rewind
Why I want to see it:
The premise may sound incredibly stupid, but it looks like Mos Def and Jack Black pull it off perfectly. Best of all, it’s not just Jack Black being Jack Black. He’s actually acting again.

Best line in the trailer:
“I will shoot you and I know robot karate.”

Howl's Moving Castle
Why I want to see it:
When was the last time you saw a new animated movie that wasn’t CGI? Plus it’s a freaking moving castle! How can you pass that up.

Best clip in the trailer:
The walking castle. Duh.

I Am Legend
Why I want to see it:
Because The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price is one of my all time favorite survival horror movies, and I think Will Smith will do it justice.

Best clip in the trailer:
Will Smith walking through Time’s Square overrun with chest-high weeds.

The Darjeeling Limited
Why I want to see it:
You mean besides the fact it's Wes Anderson? I guess it's because it looks like Anderson is back on his A game. Don't get me wrong The Life Aquatic was good and all, but it certainly wasn't his best. This very well could be on par with early films.

Best quote from trailer:
“What'd he say?"
"He says the train is lost."
"How can the train be lost? It's on rails."

What are you looking forward to seeing?

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

You may not be able to see me, but trust me when I say, right now I’m doing the I Just Won $100 Dance. I know what you’re thinking: How does one do the I Just Won $100 Dance? I’m glad you asked. First you have to win $100. Talk to me again after you complete step one.

I’m a regular participant in the woot.com Photoshop contest, but so far I haven’t had any luck getting so much as an honorable mention. But this week, BAM! First place. The object was to merge woot! with another business. You can see my award winning entry here in all of its glory… and in case there is any confusion, I go by the name of pigmann.

Larger View of the 1st Place Image

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’m a nerd. It’s true, I can admit it. But, and I may be biased here, I think I also happen to be one hell of a cool nerd. I drink, I have a girlfriend and I generally refrain from truly geeky activities such as arguing over who shot first, Han or Greebo (the answer is of course Han); I’m not physically awkward; and I don’t wear high-water pants.

That said, there are times in my life when I have to look at myself and say, “Johnny, you are one huge geek.” I had one of those moments last weekend when I came out of the comic book store with a bag containing not just a few new comics, but also sleeves and boards to protect those comics and others I had at home. As a child I read comics but it wasn’t a nerdy thing to do because A. I was a little boy and 2. when I finished reading a comic I didn’t carefully slip it into a plastic sleeve before putting it in it’s proper place on the shelf. This is of course a shame, because had I had the foresight to take care of them properly, I would currently be in possession of a couple of noteworthy (read worth money) issues. But who’s to say I wouldn’t have pawned them for video game money by now anyway.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I sort of stopped buying video games a while back; mostly I just rent them now. They’re expensive and when I get a new one I tend to get addicted and do nothing but sit in front of the Xbox until it’s beaten.

However, I am going to buy the Orange Box when it comes out, and if you have a 360, I suggest you do to. Not just because it’s 5 full games in one box, not just because Half Life 2 rocks the hizzy, not just because Portal looks so incredibly innovative that I might be able to get Kathryn to play it, but because the Orange Box also includes Team Fortress 2, and I think we can have some wicked awesome long-distance game nights with this one. I call dibs on the engineer… or the sniper… or the spy… no, probably the engineer.

When Halo 3 comes out, I’m probably not going to buy it, but I’ve been looking forward to the Orange Box for months. On October 9th, I’ll be spending my lunch hour at the store if you know what I mean. Games like Halo are great, but I prefer my multiplayers where everybody on the team can have a specific job and work together.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here’s something that’s interesting. In the post below I mentioned that I signed my name next to a massive lunch bill. It was a fun experience, but also in some ways scary. Let me explain.

Monday I was in charge of taking a group of about 14 Germans to lunch at Red Lobster. We had a nice leisurely meal and when the check arrived (almost $400) I handed the waitress a corporate credit card with somebody else’s name on it. I added an extra tip for their trouble and signed my own name—my own name, as in not the name on the credit card. The signature on the bill didn’t just look a little different from the one on the card; it was a completely different name. But nobody thought to ask me about it. At no point was I asked to show my ID.

After lunch we went to Starbucks. Same thing. Large bill, credit card that wasn’t mine, signature that didn’t match and no questions asked. Of course, I had permission to be using the card, but they didn’t know that.

A few weeks ago I made a 250-dollar purchase on my own credit card, and was never asked to show ID. That worries me. I rarely sign my name on digital card readers in stores anymore. I either scribble lines like a child who hasn’t yet learned to write, or I write a single random word like “hello.” Many places don’t even require a signature anymore if the total is under a set amount. Casey once told me that he’s made no-questions-asked purchases with Amelia’s debit card, and her face is on it. I thought we were living in an identity theft conscious age. Does this stuff worry anybody else?

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I’ve been way to busy to put up anything new lately. In fact, last night was the first night in 12 days that I slept in my own (more importantly, new) bed. That’s because my days have been split between Memphis, Batesville and Heber Springs, working massive overtime at Life Plus University.

It was interesting to be behind the scenes and see everything that goes into putting on a conference and taking care of 40 German people, many of which spoke little English. A few behind the scenes tidbits that I was included in were: being one of the few people to know that the houseboat lost both engines and we were temporarily stranded in the middle of the lake; standing on top of said houseboat during a rainstorm helping to cover thousands of dollars worth of karaoke equipment with trash bags; searching the office for the preferred large coffee straws and Splenda; helping to organize the Life Plus Olympics (series of team building games) and tallying the scores; making a last minute trip to McDonalds to order 35 double cheeseburgers, dumping them into a plastic tub and later disposing of the uneaten ones; and my favorite--signing my name to a not-quite, but almost 400 dollar lunch bill on the company credit card.

It was hard, exhausting work, but a lot of fun. I was so worn out that when I had the day off yesterday to recuperate, I slept through most of it and was still able to sleep fairly soundly through the night.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Let's play a little game. It's called where are you sleeping tonight. I'll go first.

CLICK FOR BIGGIE SIZE

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)