The Weekend Edition

Another great Alaskan weekend has flown by, with this one being a bit more diverse than other ones I've went through so far. What went down this weekend?

• A random dude wading in Westchester Lagoon finding my beloved driver and giving it back
• Driving to Ninilchik Friday night on 3 hours of sleep, powered by americano and the best summer mix ever
• Staying there with parents in an awesome motorhome
• Going halibut fishing and being ridiculously successful (or prolific at least)
• Getting back to Anchorage from Ninilchik in 2 hours and 45 minutes - booyah
• Partying downtown with a mish mash of the Crewnit
• Finishing off season 3 of How I Met Your Mother with Amy
• Seeing 21 at Bear Tooth
• Bstar Glac proving that it still stands head and shoulders above the rest of TV

A somewhat lighter weekend than usual due to the fishing trip, but a good one no less. The primary focus this week will be on the trip itself.

View from campground we were staying at in Ninilchik

The trip was the big event from the weekend, and it was really nice having a change of pace in there. As much fun as it is to do the same thing every weekend, every once in a while doing something like this fishing trip is a very good. Considering it was Father's Day weekend (Happy Father's Day Dad!), it felt as if I absolutely had to go on this trip and I'm really glad I did. Especially because I had my first motorhoming experience, and I have to admit, it's awesome.

Me pulling in a ridiculously large Skate (fish)

The trip was alternately really relaxing and really tiring, as it was nice being out on the boat (despite my first foray into feeling seasick) but good god, pulling up 20 fish or so is TIRING! I can't even imagine how tough it would have been if I had actually gotten a single one worth writing home about, as we likely did not get anything bigger than 30 pounds. Still, it wasn't a trip for food - it was a trip to have fun and spend time with family.

My parents and I in front of our haul - light day, but fun

I really like fishing, I must admit, but I never get to do it anymore. I'm very glad I went, as even though the day started out pretty much dreadful (huge swells, rain, cold!) it ended up getting very nice out and I put my sea legs on fairly well after an initial inauspicious beginning. It was kind of tough making the whole thing work with my current vegan diet (although the concept of a vegan going fishing may boggle the mind), but I made it happen (thank you PB&J and Soy Crisps! You are life savers!).

Now that I've done it, I'm looking forward to making more outdoors events happen, from more fishing to BBQing to camping to hikes, gotta make it happen. We only have a short time of summer in AK, so I have to make the most of it while I have it.

The Weekend Edition

To wrap up my ode to Alaska that has taken place over the past few posts...thanks Alaska. Thanks a lot. I'm not going to say you ruined my weekend, but I am going to say you significantly altered my weekend. It was still a good weekend, but one that was hampered greatly by 17 inches of snow being dumped upon the greater Anchorage area and quickly followed by the rapid melting of said 17 inches.

For those wondering what exactly that is like, it is not good. It makes driving interesting and even though I get bored bored while driving, I'm definitely not looking for this kind of excitement. However, I'm not one to let Mother Nature bring my chi down, regardless of how evil she is being. Oh no, no I am not. Here's your weekend edition.

• Deciding on a Foosball Table (for the most part)
• Getting my camera (Booyah! See above post)
• Finally catching Lost (explosions, and Benjamin Linus, and smoke monsters! oh my!)
• Going out to Koots with Amy, Chris Sharpe, and Nick
• Dancing like an idiot and getting owned at Foosball
• Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay
• Bad Movie Night
• Snow City with Brian
• Bstar ruling...ho hum
• Finishing Season One of How I Met Your Mother (more on this later)
• Suite 100 with my parents
• Rocking out with Amy

So it was a good weekend, but one that was forced to take place almost entirely inside when it was originally planned to feature the Heart Run and a hike at a nearby mountain. Oh yeah, and it was also planned to have nice weather. Thanks for ruining plans Alaska!

Anyways, what am I going to elaborate on this week?


Well, this weekend's highlight had to be the bad movie night. Although less good than previous successes (but really, what night can top two times ago - Sleepaway Camp AND Surf School? Nothing. That is the only answer) it was still a fairly successful one. Really, the keys to any bad movie night are fairly simple:

• Good mix of people
• Alcohol (or sugar/caffeine if underage)
• Movies must try to be good - cannot try to be bad
• Must include one Uwe Boll movie
• Must mix genres (although horror movies from the 80's are seemingly always good picks)

We had a strong mix, with Colver, Lorna, Amy, Brian, and myself being involved (stalwart Kim is off in the Carribbean having the time of her life - damn her!), plenty of drinks, we had Dungeon Siege to cover our Uwe Boll base (you haven't seen someone phone it in until you've seen Ray Liotta phone it in), and we had a fine mix of genres that all thought they were great (Dungeon Siege, Ski School 2, Bounty Huntress, and I Know Who Killed Me). On top of that, we had the unnecessary but wholly welcome addition of a Manhattan Pizza (amazing pizza).

It was a great time, however we made two huge mistakes - we started with Dungeon Siege which was over two hours long (total rookie mistake) and we Lorna somehow managed to pick a Skinemax movie for the third consecutive bad movie night (we knew it, but we thought we could make it work...again). They definitely brought the night down a bit, but we made it work great anyways. It was a great time like always, and any night I get to spend with my great friends is always one well worth spending. Especially when we're impersonating episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is always great.

It's more than a feeling

As per usual, the weekend ruled. It was very eventful, and I had a lot of fun. Similar to last weekend, instead of going into storytelling mode (which seemingly ends up making it sound pretty boring) I'm going to give a Cliff's Notes version, followed up by expanding a bit on some subjects. So why did this weekend rule?

• Battlestar Galactica rocked
• Red Robin - predictably delicious, but I don't know why
• Pool at Anchorage Billiards Palace
• Breakfast with parents at Snow City
• Playing basketball with Colver
• Finishing two books
• Best Pad Thai ever - made by yours truly
• Tons and tons of food at McGinley's
• The crazy run down the corridor from Bernie's to Sub Zero with Jason and Jon
• Dancing like an idiot at Platinum Jaxx
• Slow Mo Rollers
• McDonalds at 3 am
• Proof that I will not in fact collapse into an insular shell when Amy moves

Now THAT is a bulleted list! 13 bullets, how about that? It was a great weekend, and those are just the base details. Now one thing is missing from that, and that was one of the best two hour rock sessions in the history of Rock Band. Given that we were missing our lead singer Amy and that we had an overabundance of people (in the rock rotation were myself, Jon, Jason, Hannah, and Julie), the whole situation was set up to be a failure of rock. The odds on us properly managing the situation with no one getting bored and everyone having maximum fun was definitely on the low side.

Jon on guitar, Jason on drums and vocals (mic hanging like a boxing announcer), myself on bass

However, we proved once again that we are in fact supreme rock gods, as we took the difficulties the situation provided and ran with them. We innovated, as instead of having set positions throughout the night, everyone was alternating. I played drums, bass, guitar and sang, - and well! I beat two songs on hard on drums, which isn't bad because I never play them. We tried three person bands - with Jason singing and drumming on "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer and myself playing lead guitar and doing vocals on "Sabotage" by Beastie Boys (over 90% on guitar AND vocals, with the levels being expert and medium respectively). Plus, Hannah totally rocked the vocals with a rousing rendition of "El Scorcho" by Weezer - Rivers Cuomo, eat your heart out.

Myself rocking the guitar and vocals on "Sabotage"

On top of that, we went on Xbox Live and challenged people to rock offs, with Jason and myself taking wins on drums and guitar respectively, although Jon lost his matchups as I believe he may have been playing Slash and Eddie Van Halen on Xbox Live. We represented our current band (the Rusty Doorknobs) very well online though, as we rocked very hard.

Rock Band is really an abnormal video game. It's the type of game that is massively entertaining for everyone, and it is pretty much the best way to prepare for a great night on the town. Who doesn't want to go out feeling like a rock star, really? It's a great sensation, and last night it worked incredibly well as it put everyone in a great mood - during an especially tight performance of Boston's classic "More than a Feeling" you could literally feel the mood, it was as if there was a buzz in the air from the fun generated by this game. Afterwards, I looked around grinning, and then someone chimed in with "man, this is going to be a good night."

It was, and I can at least partially thank the geniuses at Harmonix for that. I think at this point I can safely say that Rock Band is one of my favorite games ever, and I'm sure there are a few people who were playing last night that would certainly agree with me on that.

It's complicated being a Wizard

Myself dressed as Harry Potter, on stage at P.TM

Friday night was a doubly exciting evening. First up was Portugal. The Man playing their Anchorage CD release show at Club Oasis, and then immediately afterwards was the incredible release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Was there a single thought in my mind that this could be a remotely bad night? Nope. It was predestined that this night would be absolutely wonderful. It was, and then some. Real quick, did I mention I was spending this entire night dressed as Harry Potter? How could this night not rock.

Myself, Brian, and Kim before the show

To start, I will identify the key players. My crew: Brian, Kim, Drea, Amy. The band: Portugal. The Man. The Wizard: Harry Potter. The evening began with Brian and I going to pick up Drea over at her place, giving us time to get our ridiculouslessness on while Drea got ready. We watched some Rock of Love and made some bizarre jokes, while Drea was taking her sweet time (although in girl time it was like 45 seconds). After she was FINALLY ready we went to Sicily's to have a pitcher or two before the show. Down point of the night: Sicily's wisened up and raised the price of pitchers from $4 to $8. I poured one out for my homies. After that, we went to meet up with Kim and then head to the concert.

Now we got to the show right as Portugal was supposed to start, and there was an opener just about to start up. 10:30 already and the book release was starting up at midnight. Choices, choices, do we go at Midnight or stay for the whole show? Little did we know, the night had an idea for our posse that was not like our original plan, and that was entirely fine. Brian and I went upstairs as the opener started up to go play some darts and get another drink, slightly dismayed because of the delay to Portugal starting, but ready for some fun.

As we walked up to the bar, I recognize one of the guys from the band and go over to start chatting. Soon there after, Brian, he, and I are having a drink together: Two jager bombs and a Gin and Tonic. Delicious! We talked about the two times I'd seen them before, what they'd been up to since they got back to Alaska, and how the whole band was generally amused by the fact that the guy dressed as Harry Potter had seen them live before. The band was excellent to talk to, and I even had a pow wow with most of them that started in the bathroom. Which sounds really weird when I type it...but it wasn't. I had no problem talking to them either, which is oddI always have a terrible problem with talking to bands!

Kim, Brian (mildly drunk), and Amy

No less, it was great chatting with them, but after a while Brian and I went to go play some darts and hang out with Kim and the recently arrived Amy. Point to make, and this is a key one. Ladies love Harry Potter. In fact, everyone loves Harry Potter. I received everything from guys yelling "Harry Potter!" and then motioning me over to talk about the new book to girls who really, really like Harry Potter. You know. Let's just say I've never had more girls come up to talk to me or ask me to dance in my entire life. It was pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. Ladies Love Cool Harry. If I was a rapper, that'd totally be my name (LL Cool H).

Portugal. The Man rocking on stage with my ripped arm dominating the picture

After being at the concert for an hour, believe it or not, a band that I wanted to see did play. It's hard to believe after all that time, but Portugal. The Man did indeed play and they rocked the house, ripping through a 15 or 16 song set (I don't actually remember how many, but that's what the bassist told me they'd be doing) and having plenty of time to lay it down and be funky as well. Loved the set, they played all of my favorites, and I quite enjoyed their new expanded lineup. There were something like 7 or 8 people playing on stage! Way more than the 5 and 4 I saw them with before.

Of course, it wasn't all fantastic. There was still really...we'll say attractive...girl that came over to talk to me during the beginning and I pretty much thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but this devil woman shoved me out of the way and told me she was standing there. Now if you've ever been to a concert before, you probably realize that there is no such thing as "your" spot. You have your spot for as long as you have it, no more, no less. There's no dibs system. There's no anything. It's a fluid situation and you stake a claim for as long as you can. No less, her shove combined with the show starting and the aforementioned fluid nature of the audience led to super hot girl being swept to the front, which she spent most of the night up there with some other guy, who could have been me. Sad panda! Rejected by that Slytherin girl Pansy Parkinson, whom I will now eternally imagine "spot" girl as.

He really is the man...that Portugal

A highlight of the night had to be when Portugal had 4 songs left and they actually announced "Alright everybody, we have four songs left and we wanted to send out a special thanks to Harry Potter. We know he's had a pretty busy week and we really appreciate him coming out." I feel as if, coming out of the show, as I was really a memorable part of the concert experience for everyone there. That fills me with a pretty large bit of warmth if I do say so myself. After the set, I went up on stage, talked to the drummer, and was hooked up with a most excellent wand. Now it wasn't quite a holly and phoenix feather wand, or even the Elder Wand, but it was a drumstick from P.TM, so it was pretty cool. Thanks Portugal!

Like I said...LL Cool H

So before going to get our books, we all had to go out and dance our little feet off. I had to laydown the special moves I learned at Hogwarts, most of which involved casting spells on girls while I danced with them and tossing my "robe" all around the place. It was sort of like the dice dance from Knocked Up, except probably 450x more amusing. I had an amazing time dancing, although the girl who kept grabbing me to dance with her and telling me her boyfriend was watching us was alternately really cool and fantastically creepy. After probably an hour of making my wonderfully large presence felt, we left to go snag our book and close our night in the best way humanly imaginable. With the final book of the classic Harry Potter series in our hands.

Of course Brian, Kim, and I were all mildly intoxicated at this point, so going into Border's to get our books was going to be...suspicious and as hard to do as breaking into 12 Grimmauld Place is in the 7th book, but you know what? We pulled it off with ease. We had our books, and as you can see...we were pretty stoked. Afterwards, we all went to Taco Bell, and went back to my place to celebrate a wonderful night of fun and to clutch our treasure, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, tightly to our chests and dream wonderful dreams of Wizardry throughout the night. The next day would be reading throughout, and I could hardly wait. Also, throughout the night everyone was taking pictures. They are on my MySpace if you so desire to see them. They're pretty ridiculously fantastic if I do say so myself.

The Weeks End

Mattimeo, Scotty G, and Myself at Humpy's

I love weekends. Everyone does of course, but I really, really love weekends. Nothing makes me happier than the feeling of getting off work on a Friday and knowing it's going to be a good weekend. Yesterday was no exception. I got off work, went and picked up my comics (sweet, sweet comics), and rolled back to my place to meet up with Matt. Matt came over and tempted me with Taco King, the delicious "great food made fast" Mexican restaurant that is far and away Anchorage's second best of its variety. That's right, it is the second best, behind Benny's Taco Wagon. Mmmmm Benny's. No less, great start to the evening, having a stellar meal. We followed that up with going to see Knocked Up, Judd Apatow's new comedy starring the genius that is Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl. It was extremely funny and often touching, an overall very good movie, but it wasn't the "best comedy in 20 years" like some critics are saying. So far, so good on the evening. Three great things already, and the night has barely even begun!

Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. (Judging...always judging) and myself

After the movie, I received a call from a friend who was wondering if we were going to go out for the evening, which of course we were, so I informed her that we were going to be headed out after a little while to come downtown. I got off the phone and quickly lit up the Bat-signal, as my posse and myself quickly assembled at my place for the kick off to the evening. Two delicious and large Vodka Crans later, I was ready to roll, as were everyone else. We decided to lead off the evening at Humpy's, as that was the place our friend already was at.

Lorna and Sam enjoying a brew

Now Humpy's is a beguiling place. Whenever you think of Humpy's, you always think, "that's a very nice bar," but when you really sit down and think of it, you can never really come up with a really awesome time you had there. My second fantastic time ever at Humpy's was last night. This leads into a theory I came up with about the bar, and I am convinced it is a very sound one. Anyone that has ever been to Humpy's knows the layout, but for those who haven't been, it has a huge bar, a mini-stage with a dancefloor in front of it, and then a ton of tables and booths for sitting. That's pretty much it. If you aren't sitting and you aren't dancing, you generally are standing around like an idiot. But last night, we got a table and had an amazing time. So here is the theory - if you have a table, Humpy's is amazing. If you don't, it is pretty lame. It is nearly impossible to get a table there too, so this tends to be a problem. Which is why I've had a lot of fun there twice ever.

Everyone was in a very festive mood, I bought some drinks, Matt bought some drinks, Colver did, Sam did, Joe did, everyone was buying drinks! Plus, it was our friend Amy's (Pictured to the left with Scott Gomez) birthday, and we adopted her into our ragtag group after her friends bailed on her. On top of that, NHL star Scott Gomez was at the bar, and we had a grand time pestering him to take pictures with us, as you can see.

We stayed there at Humpy's for a good while, staying in our area drinking and reminiscing and chatting and having a generally very good time. That's the funny thing about going out to the bars. When you tell the story about the night, there is no way you can really convey how much fun you had. Everyone that was there knows because they were there, but to explain to anyone else it is pretty much a lost cause. Which is why I am dedicating this post to it. Back to the regularly scheduled post. A little after 1, we decided to move on to the next bar, and we headed over to Bernie's Bungalow. Bernie's is an awesome bar. A very strange one, but an awesome one no less. It is commonly known as a gay bar, but for a gay bar it quite often has a lot of hot girls in it. It has a very nice inside bar area, but what makes it really shine is the outside area that is only open during the summer. It's just a giant outside area with tons of sitting room and is simply the one place in a downtown bar you can go to really stretch out and relax. It is absolutely incomparable, there is no remotely similar bar in the whole of Anchorage. Colver and Sam are the two in the photo above.

Matt and myself again

The evening continued on with pool and more drinks, until I was distracted by some older women I met when I went to the bathroom. I don't want to go into detail about what I announced, as to save some face, but let's just say the words "cougar" and "hunting" were used in some fashion by yours truly. Oh dear, the things alcohol makes you do. Anyways, so the thing that I ended up finding the most interesting about the women was that one claimed to be Bev Doolittle, which was really amusing and interesting to me for two reasons; she's my Mom's favorite artist, and I could not stop thinking "Why in god's name is Bev Doolittle talking to me?" Turns out Bev Doolittle is 60 and looks nothing like this woman, as you can see in my photographic proof, but at the time her deception was absolutely riveting to me and I drank in her words with much attention paid. I had to think later though, I wonder how many people "Bev" tried her charade on before she found someone that was actually impressed with it. After discussing with my friends about Doolittle and realizing I was the only person who knew who she was, I decided officially that this number had to be at least a thousand. Give or take nothing.

The real deal, Bev Doolittle

Myself, "Bev", and sketchball guy in the pic who may or may not be her husband...

Sadly, "Bev" and her "publicist" ended up departing, leaving my friends and myself to our devices to head home and end the night. Sam, Amy, Matt, and I went back to my place, made some popcorn, had some chips and salsa, and passed out into the terrible slumber only recently intoxicated people can really sleep. The day was June 1st, and it was a truly great kickoff to what I hope will be an awesome summer. I'll drink to that.