Full Throttle

The Quicking

I'm hunched over a small keyboard on a small chair in my small office. Being the only one in the office, projects completed and calls made, I exist only to man the phones for a brief amount of time while I await the return of my boss. In this lull, this eye of the storm if you will, I turn to a solace I have not turned to in a long time. Like a sorrowful, dejected lover returning home with flowers and profuse words of apology, so I return to helm this fully armed and operational battlestation.

Only a paragraph in and already a Star Wars reference. I still got it.

There is not much to elaborate on why this blog sat silent and motionless, hemorrhaging the few readers it had. I am sure by know this blog is wandering in the vast desert void of all life, a lonely desolate existence. We'll see what we can accomplish on that front. Current status? Summer is here and I believe that is all the status needed. Wonderful, blissful summer. Full-time employment followed summer, so now I work for the University of Alaska Anchorage in the office of New Student Orientation. It's a combination of freshman babysitter, secretary and cinematographer. Yes, once again I managed to find work that included in some function my favorite activity. Chalk it up to luck or fate or just plain awesomeness.

"Cinematographer" essentially means figure out how to make a professional grade video for incoming freshmen to view on a minuscule budget, working with a huge university system that appears to never have heard about the concept of moving pictures. The only department that has reasonable aptitude in this category is Athletics. Not even the men who get paid to deal with technology can help me create a work of art and so we turn to the sports jocks to assist. Incredible, isn't it? No, not really. It's actually boring so let us turn to other matters.

College Republicans has taken flight in a manner that my wildest dreams would have never dreamed. I am now the Vice-Chair of the Alaska Federation of College Republicans. Not bad for wanting to start a small club of conservative students some three months ago. Now we have plans, members, funding, fancy spreadsheets and lots and lots of phone calls. The Young Republicans are even throwing us a party at a nice, upscale club called Platinum Jaxx. Many politicians and party officials will be there and the party's official reason for existence is to introduce the UAA College Republicans. I'm incredibly excited for the UAA Chapter. We are going to be a very active club, a big presence on campus. We have a large-scale recruitment drive in the works for the Fall semester, including barbecue socials, tables, speakers, Seawolf game appearances and more. This next semester will be a veritable cornucopia of busy and awesome wedged together.

One reason for this plethora of fun is that I'm moving, again. Sometime in July (I hope), several friends and I are going to be moving into a large house for rent near the campus. It's going to kick some serious ass. I have already deemed the residence the Mansion of Awesome. Nearby neighbors will see nothing but an emitting glow of cool from the plot of land. It's a big wooded plot and pets are allowed, meaning I can finally have a dog. I am trying to obtain an old barbecue, because what is a party house without some BBQ in the backyard during the game? It is a house of lies, is what.

Been following the Republican candidate debates? I worry greatly about our chances at the big house, it seems that even if we put a favorable candidate in, we still gain a fairly liberal president. McCain and Guiliani do not have strong stances on critical conservative issues and Romney simply swapped on a lot of important issues as soon as he announced his run. Who is our next Reagan? Tancredo? Brownback? There are rumors of a purported champion by the name of Fred Thompson but can he really win the candidacy? We shall see...

I suppose I should put together a resemble semblance of a project together this morning so time to get going. If you are reading this entry on my Facebook, be sure to actually come visit the blog. It's been redesigned to look much better, thank God.

The Fair: Conclusion!

I am finally done with the Fair work. Overall, pretty fun. I got to meet lots of cool entertainment types from some pretty big bands and saw first hand how it all roughly works. Plus the pay wasn't bad at all, $8/hour with overtime. Hopefully I made a pretty good bundle. The idea is that this will fund my PSP repair and possible expansion of my PSP library. It also will create a stockpile of potential resources to exploit when the inveitable, delightful Wii launch steamrolls into everyone's pocketbooks.

Turned out one of the clown chicks I was doing the sound for really liked me. Even my boss said so. They were a couple of sweet gals, gave me a big box of cookies and a card for doing almost all of their shoes and all their barking for them. They were pretty happy with that, even joking around that the reason I got sick was from all those "hot makeout sessions", since they had a similar disorder of the health. If that's not a hit-on I don't know what is.

Speaking of sick, my voice is absoulty gone in all sense of the word. I have been rendered mute, as weird as it is, applying that adjective to me. In Biology class today, the professor called upon me only to have me attempt to explain my current predicament in the delicate langauge of waving hands around wildly. Been running a fever today too. Just wonderful modifiers applied to my daily routine. I need a steam bath desperatly to cure me, I have complete and total faith in the healing powers of steam. It has knocked out every cold ever.

I should have taken a tougher Biology course, this one is mind-numbingly stupid. A tougher Biology course would have meant taking an additional Chemistry class and both of their respective labs, creating a rather complex and hetic schedule. So I'm cramming it all in next semester. Public Speaking appears to be extremely easy, the teacher is rather... simplistic in her expectations. Classmates appear to be all pretty cool as well, which means (hopefully) very few speeches that cause you to desire tearing your ears out.

I think I really want to focus on Cellular Biology as my education focus, it's fascinating. And the more I think about it, the more I want to swap my Spanish major for a PoliSci and simply take it as a minor. Oh well, I'll make that call when I end up at Michigan (or where ever the hell my money supply takes me). I'm out,

- Maddog

and this is how it should be done

House of the Undead Series, Part Three

So I got a call on Monday evening, from Suzy Pendergrast (Caitie's mom and in charge of booking acts for the State Fair), asking if I wanted to work as a stagehand Tuesday through Thursday with Ted Nugent's show. Next then I knew, I'm employed the entire Fair, I'm a sound tech for two gypsy chicks, watching security drag drunken brawler after brawler out of a concert towards cops, moving with the Stage Manager to disrupt a drunk running on stage and helping Ted Nugent's crew tear down a show while dozens of fans clamor for Uncle Teddy.

Yea, it was crazy. Basically, I'm now a stage hand for the main stage where every concert is. I help every concert setup before the shows and tear down after the shows. Then the Entertainment Cooradinater heard I was a sound tech in a previous life and had me run a show that involved two clown gypsy-like females. I guess they liked how I did it, because they asked me to run all their shows. So now I run over there every few hours and do a simple play n' fade job. It's pretty boring but the gals think I'm doing some kind of incredible task. Whatever.

I also was a hand during the Ted concert and wow. That was a show. The first hour was pretty cool, The Nuge was jamming onstage while everyone milled around getting beers. Then it got interesting. As the evening wore on and people were on their fifth or thirtieth beers, they got rowdy. Really, really rowdy. I should have known it got bad when six cops stood outside the concert ready to handle anyone ejected by security.

Well, it wasn't too long before the first guy tried running on stage. He was tackled by security and dragged out. Then it got worse. More and more people started fighting or trying to run onstage. Security was way over-taxed, so the Stage Manager and I stood near the stage, ready to bring guys down who charged onstage. Man, I wanted to wade into the pile of drunks and security guys. It was against every instinct to stand there and do nothing.

Then a guy ran onstage, grabbed Ted's hand in a quick shake and run off. He ran right into the Stage Manager, in front of me, who tackled him. I was close behind in case the guy ran off again and loving it. It was so awesome. I love that stuff. Afterwards, the Stage Manager (Scott) and the Entertainment guy (Tom) said they could tell I was "chomping at the bits" to wade in there and that "Caleb needs to be a bouncer, he's bigger then all the guys on security".

After the show, Tom had me check the fences for people climbing over while they loaded up Ted. We broke the stage down, constantly being asked by fans if we could "get Ted to sign this shirt" or whatever other piece of crap they thrusted at us. Once we packed everything else up, got Ted's techies heading towards their hotel and helped the house sound crew finish the stage tear-down, Scott gave all us stagehands free Ted shirts. He's a pretty cool guy.

This job is pretty awesome, for I have passes to go anywhere in the Fair. I get to go all the concerts free of charge (although I'm not a big fan of Josh Gracin or Jays of Clays, but the War concert should be cool) and be backstage whenever I want. Still, I wish I managed to get a security job at the Sluicebox or concert security.

 

I also went hiking in the pouring rain for two days over the Johnson Pass and it was awesome. I loved it. I'm a wilderness buff and that kind of stuff I just eat up. Here's a few shots of the Awesomeness doing his awesome things.

Well, that's my life, as awesome as it is. Other random stuff happened, like my birthday, which was also awesome. Emily gave me an awesome book, the Alphabet of Manliness, and I got the cool traditional birthday cookies from the Morrisons. Also netted Wall Street Journal subscription, which is a totally badass paper that should be read at all times.   

Speaking of reading, I'm reading a stack of books currently. I'll get the titles up in a bit but the list includes two World War II books, two books on economics, a fiction thriller and three on the Civil War. In addition to all this, I want to add American Gods to my must-read list. 

College classes start Monday! Expectations!

- Maddog

ill sh-- a wolf from my ass

The Comeback Tour, Part Once

I return to you now, at the turn of the tide. After a long journey filled with lumber, construction, rivers, canoes, birthdays and plenty of Wall Street Journals, I have returned to fulfill my rightful place amongst the people, as their king. You may approach the throne.

Well, some things to report. First off, we have completed the task of constructing a garage. Now all my dad needs to do is finishing Tyvek-ing it, put the siding and shingles on then focus on interior work. A few photos were snapped in the midst of our labors.   

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am the one who is beautiful. So the garage was created and erected (tee-hee) in a grand fashion and everyone was happy. Directly afterwards, Pops, his Pops and I loaded canoes and embarked on a four-day trip down the Little Sue River. Fish were caught and eaten (very delicious) and rain was endured (very bad). We had a blast, returning with fish and stories.

After that I plunged into my summer class, 3d Animation, with most vigor. In three days I've propelled myself four weeks ahead of the material and soon I shall be finished. It's most fun and I highly recommend viewing my beautiful movies. I shall present links with this very objective in mind in a later post.

I must cut now my communications. A trip is needed and I shall undertake it. When I return, expect continuity.

Live forever apes,

- Maddog

listening to the rain

Standing up

Today we raised some walls around the garage. By tomorrow all the walls should be standing, letting us put the rafters on top on Wednesday. I've got some pictures that I'll get up here soon enough, hopefully. Tired, dirty, lots of work that can get pretty boring. Some basketball, not much.

Nothing else really to say. If the J is reading this, then have an awesome time in England (she's in England, you know). She'll probably meet some handsome, rich English guy over there. As they play polo and she falls for his sophisticated ways, he'll reveal he's a Duke Baron Von Prince and she'll become the Queen of Genovoavoialistaan.

Night,
- Maddog
i'm so pretty

Check-in

A quick daily post. Work continued on the garage today with an Uncle, a Grandfather, a Father and a Cousin. Pour's tomorrow at 9:00 due to some complications. Soon we'll have our concrete wall and then we'll frame. Lumber arrives tomorrow as well as the concrete so busy day. Nothing else to report. I'm out for dinner, a shower and beautiful sleep.

Later,
- Maddog
the radio played

The Wall Twice

I'm really tired. Good twelve hour day devoted to something which I'll never really see, building a garage alongside my father (a delightful experience) for his house. The wall is up or a good chunk of it. Currently my father has left to fetch relatives of the airport, using my cellphone since he refuses to get one for himself and the family, upon which they should arrive at 1:00 am here or so. Tomorrow we pour the concrete into the retaining wall, with Friday and Saturday devoted to framing. Lots of work up ahead.

I'm too tired to put anything meaningful into this blog post so you'll have to read it for the sole purpose of finding out about my very influental life, rife with pertient details. Read and memorize, spread the word amongst the people. Maddog's life is worthy of consumption and rote memorization.

Die whenever,
- Maddog
i can't wait for you to knock me up

Fall Semester and Work

My last bit of classes are finally registered and I'm ready to go for the Fall Semester, which starts August 28th. My new schedule looks like this:

BIOL 103 - Intro to Bio. Lab - Monday - 9:00-11:45am
ENG 213 - Writing in Natural, Soc. Sciences - Monday & Wednesday - 4:00-5:15
MATH 105 - Adv. Algebra - Tuesday & Thursday - 9:00-10:15am
BIO 102 - Intro to Bio. -  Wednesday - 9:00-11:45am
COMM 241 - Public Speaking - Thursday - 2:30-5:15

Tuesday is a pretty light day, which is awesome but Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are all very, very long. I dropped Spanish for a Biology class, this allowed me to stay at Mat-Su and forego the long hour drive to Anchorage. When I get to Hillsdale I'll probably pick Spanish back up and start over again. Boring classes, through and through. None of these are even interesting to me.

Heavy workload for tomorrow and Wednesday, as we are building a concrete retaining wall along the garage edge. The quadlock foam molds arrive today and we get them in place with bracing tomorrow. Pump truck and concrete arrives Wednesday, there we'll pour it all. In addition to all this, we gotta clean the downstairs (which is a construction work-zone) for relatives which are arriving Wednesday at midnight. Busy time, I don't know if I'll get posts up. I hope I can, I want to keep my streak going on. Matt's swinging by Tuesday and Wednesday to help us out in the construction phase, here's hoping it all goes smoothly.

Stay sexy,
- Maddog
i've been workin' on the railroad

Bronze Gods

  Bronze Gods 
  Originally uploaded by The Maddog.

Matt and I finished the road trip to Seward. It was pretty awesome, both the trip and watching the Mount Marathon Race. Incredible how those guys would go from 0 to 3,000 feet and back again in around 45 minutes. Just amazing. I took a bunch of pictures, you can find them by clicking on the picture to go to my Flickr account, they are all contained there. This picture is my favorite, we stopped at a pretty cool place and shot some photos.

Overall, we had a blast. The race was a lot of fun to watch. We got in around 11 at night in Seward, so we also got to watch some fireworks and grill hotdogs on the tailgate of my truck for some dinner. I cooked flapjacks in the morning and we watched the local town parade. I also found out that the Alaska State Defense Force, who has recently contacted me due to paperwork problems, has an awesome, awesome boat. I really hope I get assigned on that thing after training.

Afterward, we booked out of town, stopping at a restaurant on the way back. I had the best salad ever. Man, that thing kicked butt. After Matt hit on the waitress, we plugged out there and I drove us all home. We also watched some Venture Bros.

That show totally rocks as well. More on it later. Well, I'm out. Catch this bronze god later.

His Sexiness,
- The Maddog
big pimpin'

System is downright sexy!

I'm packing to go on this epic journey, we live in six hours. I'll be gone the 4th, getting home some time around the 5th, so I've got a little post made up that'll go online on the 4th since I won't be here to keep up my strak of updates. Lots of pictures and stuff coming, so hold on to your horses. Because there isn't much this post, I'll instead do some youtubing (what will we do when youtube finally collaspes).

Here's an AMV some dude made using Strong Bad's "System is Down" song and Azumanga Daioh, which I've been informed is some sort of japanese animation, most likely involving screaming girls with large eyes.