8 Is A Magic Number

8 Things I am Passionate About:
1. Sports
2. Music
3. Movies
4. My Family
5. My Friends
6. Seeing others happy
7. Making people laugh
8. trying to find that perfect outfit for every occasion

8 Words or Phrases I Say Often:
1. Bellevue Square mariner Team Store this is Allen how may I help you?
2. You bet.
3. Really? REALLY?
4. That's what she said (thanks Mark.)
5. She's cute.
6. No we don't sell any Seahawks stuff.
7. I'm updating my Twitter.
8. No really she's cute.

8 Things I want to do before I Die:
1. Get married
2. Be happy
3. Figure everything out
4. Tie my tie right the first time
5. Lose myself in myself
6. Finally make sense of why I do the things I do.
7. Make you smile just by walking into a room.
8. Stop saying stupid overly romanticized things like "I want to make you smile just by walking into a room."

8 Things I Have Learned From my Past:
1. If a girl will talk to me and feign interest in me, she clearly wants me.
2. Sometimes, you don't have to be funny.
3. I have a grumpy face, and I share it with people A LOT.
4. Hugs aren't bad.
5. There is more to life than cheering for your favorite sports team.
6. Always keep some sunshine on your face.
7. Richard Pryor was a genius.
8. I am an idiot for thinking #1.

8 Places I Would Love to Go or See:
1. My grandparents on Christmas day
2. 1986
3. The arms of someone who loves me.
4. Safeco Field
5. Candlestick Park
6. My happy place
7. the temple
8. My childhood home

8 Things I Currently Need or Want:
1. My friends to be happy
2. Acceptance
3. Change
4. Growth
5. Control
6. Happiness
7. Strength
8. Attention

I know a good Bargain when I see one

Okay so this deserves a bit of a back story. About two weeks ago I was walking home and I pass by my favorite mom n' pop video store here in Seattle Scarecrow Video and I noticed in their window a flier that said "Huge DVD blow out sale" with a list of prices and whatnot. Quite honestly they had me at Huge DVD blowout sale. So I go in and look around to see if there is anything I want and can't live without. I wound up buying a total of 8 movies. The first three Harry Potter movies, the first 3 Saw movies, Made and Swingers. Now of these movies I will be honest and tell you I have only seen 4 of them, the first Saw and Harry Potter movie and then Made and Swingers. Still the deal was too insane for me to NOT buy them. 8 movies... $22. After tax. I decided I was gonna come back on payday and buy some of the movies I saw on sale for $30 that were regualrly $59 that were still out of my price range pre payday.

So it's the day before payday and I look into Scarecrow's windows to make sure the movies I want are still there when what do I see in their window? Why yes it is another flier. This time it reads "Even BIGGER DVD sale! All DVDs $4 or less! starting this Saturday!". Okay so I now know how I am spending my Saturday morning. There is ZERO way I am passing up this deal. There is one problem though - I lack any type of self control. My only solution was to bring someone in on my trip to the center of my wallet. I wound up recruiting Kurt to join me partially because he loves a sale perhaps more than I do, and partially because he knows my financial situation and wouldn't let me get in over my head.

Well Saturday comes and it would appear I wasn't the only one to see the flier and have the idea to come wait for the store to open to insure I get the movies I wanted. I get there right as it's opening and there are at least a dozen middle aged men there with all sorts of packaging materials from large bags to oversized boxes. Not surprisingly there isn't a woman in sight except for the ones working there. So it's pretty much a mad dash to the used DVD sections to try and get what I want and wouldn't you know it plenty of other people wanted just want I wanted (3 DVD box sets of 9 James Bond movies a piece AKA the best bargain there) and I missed out on all of them. Still I am determined to get some good movies. Before getting there I set my budget at $40 before taxes, meaning that if I assumed everything was $4 then I could get 10 items. I was content with this plan and I stuck to it until one fatal sentence was over heard by Kurt... "Pretty almost all the single DVDs are ringing up as $1, though not all of them so don't assume". I was pretty much lost from that moment on. Crap I haven't seen, and have no intention of ever seeing is now in my hand under the guise of "eh it's only $1." I went from 10 tops to just stopping once my arm felt like it was gonna fall off from holding them. one hour looking at the same 7 shelves of overstuffed used DVDs later and I came away with 26 movies which I will list later.

Anyway now with DVDs in hand I decide it's time to check out and I make my way to the counter and the wonderful young woman behind the counter takes my cases and heads to the back. I immediately felt sorry for all employees of Scarecrow video today. See the way they do it is they put empty cases on the shelves for you to bring to the front and then they go back get the disc and put it in the case. Now this isn't that big of a deal if you have one or two movies, but when 26 is deemed a SMALL stack of movies this suddenly became a daunting and annoying process. 20 minutes of looking in the back she finally found all my movies and took me to a register to check out. Now Kurt remembered the lady's dictation that some of them were $4 and not $1, so we devised a plan thanks to the intelligent plan of the old gentleman buying handfuls of used porn in front of us in line. We had them tell us how much everything rang up as so we could decide if the movie was worth it. My girl was okay with this and quite cheery through the whole process, Kurt was less lucky and it would appear his lady was definitely on the rag as she constantly lamented how much this sucked and how he should just grab the ones he knows he wants so she doesn't have to do her job.

So anyway my lovely and wonderful scarecrow rental associate, let's call her sally, makes two separate piles of DVDs for me, one pile is the $1 you might as well buy it it's so danged cheap pile, and the other is the $4 let's think about this before we go spending our life savings on this stuff pile. Thankfully I only wound up with 5 or so in the $4 pile and with a grand total after tax of $47 I was allowed by Kurt to make my purchase (he later told me $51 would have been too much over for his liking). In the middle of checking out a customer that was clearly impatient and ignorant to the intricate workings of a line cut in front of me to ask a rather simple question, and much to Sally's credit she helped him without making me feel like I was being ignored in order to appease captain jerkface. I loved Sally and I wish more retail workers were like her.

Alright so I will now be providing you with a list of the movies I bought along with their original sticker price and a ()'d price showing how much I paid for it, simply because I REALLY like bragging about how much money I saved.

1.Blade Runner $7.99 ($1)
2. The Waterhorse $9.99 ($1)
3. Eddie Murphy's Delrious $10.99 ($1)
4. Borat $9.99 ($1)
5. Saw IV $9.99 ($1)
6. Goldeneye $8.99 ($1)
7. Deja Vu 7.99 ($1)
8. Eragon 7.99 ($1)
9. Charlie And the Chocolate Factory $9.99 ($1)
10. The Ten $9.99 ($1)
11. TMNT $11.99 ($1)
12. Alvin and the Chipmunks $9.99 ($1)
13. Fastlane: The Complete Series $34.99 ($4)
14. Bee Movie $10.99 ($1)
15. The Italian Job $5.99 ($1)
16. The Others $6.99 ($1)
17. Cloverfield $9.99 ($1)
18. The Game Plan $7.99 ($1)
19. Reign Over Me $9.99 ($1)
20. Open Season $9.99 ($1)
21. 24 Season One $17.99 ($4)
22. American Gangster $12.99 ($4)
23. I Am Legend $14.99 ($4)
24. Man With the Golden Gun $8.99 ($1)
25. AVP Requim $12.99 ($4)
26. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie For Theater For DVD $13.99 ($4)

My soundtrack of Summer

Okay so I have so many blog ideas, and so many half written blog posts that will never see the light of day, and so what do I do? Come up with another one. And this will make 3 in a row of music related posts. What can I say? Clearly music on some level dominates my life.

Anyway, recently I joined a group of friends in a CD exchange program. The way it works it every so often you are given a theme and some loose rules for your playlist. You then make a CD and share it with everyone else in the group. It's a great way to get new music and to meet new people. The first theme I had was the theme of Summer. And below you will find a listing of all 21 tracks I put on my Summer playlist and a brief writeup as to why that song made the cut.

1. Another Brick in the Wall (part II) - Pink Floyd
Alright so if anyone doesn't see the connection to the Summer you deserve nothing but death. I can not remember a single Summer from 6th grade on where this song wasn't blared all through the last week of school to ring in the end of school and the beginging of the awesomeness that is Summer. I couldn't think of a better opening track.

2. Heart of Hearts - !!!
So there is really no reason for the inclusion of this song other than I saw them in concert at Bumbershoot this year and I fell in love with them.

3. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff And the Fresh Prince
Alright so while it is true I have never experience summer in Philly which is most definitely the subject of this song, it still transcends into the heart and experiences of all the summers of our youths.

4. M79 - Vampire Weekend
I'm not sure why this song makes me think of summer but my guess is it has something to do with the warm and cheery horns and strings throughout this song. Throw in lyrics about playing in the park and you've got yourself a picture perfect summer song.

5. Raspberry Swirl - Tori Amos
I make no qualms about it - I am a straight guy that loves Tori Amos. And while her haunting melodies on Crucify are more my style the playful nature of Raspberry swirl can't help but remind me of Summers gone past. It also doesn't hurt that my friend Jes introduced me to Tori over one Summer many moons ago.

6. Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy - The Tams
If there ever were a song that captured the essence of a youthful and successful Summer, this would be it. You most certainly will never fail to have a great summer if you follow those three simple steps - be young, be foolish, and be happy.

7. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
We've all had that wonderful Summer romance that begins in June and ends in September. It seems almost to be as sure as death and taxes. For me, this song symbolizes everything about a good Summer love should be about. It doesn't hurt that it was predominately featured in the quintessential Summer Love movie "Say Anything...".

8. My Drive Thru - N.E.R.D.
You can thank my love of this song on Converse. It was featured in one of their commercials and now I can't get enough of it. (can you tell this is the point I kinda got tired of writing this?)

9. Rollercoaster - MC Chris
Amusement parks are fun during the summer.

10. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
How could I not include the one song I heard approximately 9 million times this summer? And that doesn't include the times it played on my ipod. This song was EVERYWHERE!

11. LDN - Lily Allen
Despite being a depressing song if you listen to the words the happy fun beat and sound was enough to make me think of summer.

12. Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows Everywhere - Leslie Gore
Oh come on this one is a given for why it got included!

13. The Outdoor type - The Lemonheads
Every single Summer without fail I go camping. I hate camping. Like I loathe it and everything it stand for, and yet I go. Why do I go? Some girl with zero interest in me that's why. This song is an ode to those mistakes.

14. Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett and Summer go together like Margarita's and Salt, like Cheesebuergers and Paradise. Like Pina Coladas and another thing he sings about in that song.

15. Travelin' Thru - Dolly Parton
Everyone (but me it seems) travels over the Summer. Dolly's song from that one transexual movie TransAmerica is the perfect ode to that right of passage.

16. Let the Drummer Kick - Citizen Cope
The perfect Summer cruising song.

17. Val Kilmer - Bowling For Soup
Movies are big buisness over the Summer and quite honestly, I just couldn't resist including a song that talks about a supersoaker filled with pee.

18. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
Seattle looks like hell on earth 9 months out of the year unless you are one of those freaks that love overcast weather and rain. There is a reason we are the suicide capitol of the world. This is my ode to those 3 months when it doesn't look like butt outside and you can actually love the fresh air.

19. In This Diary - The Ataris
Just a great song about capturing all the memories from one Summer, kinda what the entire purpose of this playlist is. Plus I love The Ataris.

20. Take Me Out To the Ballgame - The Andrews Sisters
Baseball = Summer that's just simple fact. Especially because I work for the local baseball team I will forever be attached to this wonderful sport.

21. August is Over - We the Kings
I will be honest here - I picked this one for the title. I could have gone with that Green Day song but let's be honest here Summer ends in August.

Anyway that's my list I hope you enjoyed a look into my mind. Now let's see yours.

Just to let you know I'm alive

I have about a million half written blogs that I promise will eventually see the light of day if I ever can get back into the mood of writing them but this one is just to tell you my faithful one reader that I am still breathing and thinking weird things. that is all.

It's that time of year again

Bumbershoot. I go every year and every single year I enjoy myself. This year is a little different for me though as for the most part I am a paying attendee. In previous years I have managed to get in for free by volunteering usually ushering at the Charlotte Martin comedy stage. However due to an over abundance of acts I actually want to see outside of the comedy world I decided I needed to pay this time. So as with previous years I have decided that I am going to blog about each day separately and this time I'm even going to include my schedule in case any of my readers (all none of you) would care to track me down and enjoy a show with me. So without further adieu here is my Saturday schedule.

12:30 - 1:30 @ the Fisher Green Stage - The Staxx Brothers

So I'm not gonna lie, I was looking for something early in the day that I would enjoy in order to kill time before my comedy show of the day. I generally do find myself at the Fisher Green stage due to it's proximity to the Charlotte Martin so I tend to check there first. Well I found these guys and started listening to their Myspace page and well I was hooked. They are the perfect blend of funk, soul, hip hop, and the best of all they are local. They are very reminiscent of the Roots except with more singing. I would strongly recommend these guys to anyone with an interest in something funky and fun.


2:00 - 3:00 @ the Intiman Theater - Hannibal Buress, Karen Kilgriff, & Doug Benson
Alright well yet another Allen Bumbershoot tradition is see Doug Benson Perform. He seems to ALWAYS be on the comedy lineup somewhere, and there is a reason for that - THE DUDE IS FUNNY. I honestly am not too familiar with the other two comedians but I can say this much I have never not been satisified with any of the comedy shows I have seen at Bumbershoot they always bring the funny. I will admit that Doug is a little dirty at times but it's also a 2 o'clock show which means there will be kids in the audience which means he MIGHT clean it up. Either way it will be funny. Also Doug has a new CD out so the chances of him signing it is so very high (much like Doug will be) it's ridiculous.

5:00 - 6:00 (though I will leave early) @ EMP Sky Church - PWRFL Power
Alright well this guy doesn't have a picture but that doesn't mean you won't love the heck out of him. If you loved the Juno Soundtrack you will love this guy. I'll probably only be able to catch the first half of this show but it should still be worth it.

5:45 - 6:45 @ Fisher Green Stage - Estelle

Alright well I fell in love with Estelle after hearing her collaborate with Kanye West for her hit single "American Girl" and let me tell you the rest of her album is just as good. If you love R&B and Soul check her out.

7:30 - 8:45 @ Memorial Stadium - Band of Horses


So I found out about these guys thanks in a large part to another Bumbershoot performer I will be talking about in my Sunday or Monday preview, Greg Behrendt. Seriously I love these guys.

9:15 - 10:45 @ Memorial Stadium - Beck

If you people need me to tell you why you should see BECK I really don't think we should be friends. It's BECK for goodness sake! Just GO!!!

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

I absolutely love these things if for no other reason than it gives me an oppertunity to showcase my insanely random iTunes collection. Anyway here are the details on how it's done in case you are unfamiliar with the details of the "Let's play with your iTunes under the guise of being clever" games as found on Facebook and MySpace.

How to do it:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on Shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Be honest.

(note to be fair to myself I added another half dozen songs right before starting this so I could have something new on it. Granted I had just over 7,000 songs to begin with but still I wanted to see if one of the new songs would show up.)

OPENING CREDITS
La Di Da Di - Slick Rick The Ruler (Live Version)

WAKING UP
Baby - Angie Stone

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Kiwi - Maroon 5

FALLING IN LOVE
Autographs and Apologies - Motion City Soundtrack

FIGHT SONG
My Tourniquet - Evanesence

BREAKING UP
Instinct Blues - The White Stripes

PROM
Never - Jahiem

LIFE IS GOOD
Carbon Monoxide - Regina Spektor

DRIVING
Your Girl - Mariah Carey

MENTAL BREAKDOWN
Bouncing Around the Room - Phish (Actually makes sense, interesting)

FLASHBACK
The Lady In My Life - Michael Jackson

GETTING BACK TOGETHER
Just Lose It - Eminem (Edited Version)

WEDDING
Irresistible- Jessica Simpson Feat. Lil' Bow Wow (Remix)

FINAL BATTLE
So High - John Legend (Nothing says battle like a soulful Piano Ballad about being happy)

DEATH SCENE
Jimmy Newtron Theme - Bowling For Soup (Okay the last one was a bullseye compared the sense this one makes)

FUNERAL SONG
I Don't Want To Say Goodbye - Teddy Thompson

END CREDITS
Moan - Cute Is What We Aim For

So in conclusion I start my life with classic Rap and end it with Pop Punk. If that isn't an interesting journey I don't know what is

Let's get it started

Okay so I used to blog all the time on my myspace page but then I stopped once I stopped using myspace every day and moved to Facebook (are you my friend? You totally should be!) But now I kinda want to start doing it again and I figured what better way to get started than by revisiting one of my favorite blog posts from my old blog and seeing if that gets me motivated. So without further ado here is the story of Allen and his Indian friend.

Okay so I've been going to school on Capitol Hill since I moved here and I know what it's like. I realize it's a highly gay neighborhood and I realize that as an incredibly attractive young verile man I would be hit on eventually. I just didn't think that when it would happen would be so... creepy. So I'll set the story because I love setting stories. It's 9:00 tonight and I am waiting for my bus. it's a half hour late and I'm getting cold and cranky.

Then a rather nice short fat Indian man walks up to me and starts making polite conversation about how the bus is late.
No big deal, I've done that before.
Granted I haven't gotten as close as he is to me while doing so but maybe he's just talking close because of his accent and he wants me to understand what he is talking about.
Ummm why is he asking about if I have a girlfriend or boyfriend?
What's that?
a Massage?
Oh a free massage any time I feel lonely.
I suddenly don't like where this is going.
Nah man I'm good I have plenty of friends to keep me company so I don't get lonely.
What's that?
Yeah I know sometimes it's nice to have Indian friends.
I just don't do massages man.
Yeah I'm sure you do it pretty soft but I just don't do it.
I'm plenty relaxed.
What's that?
Okay why are you holding my hand?
No seriously you can let go any time now.
Yes we went over this Indians make good friends.
I get it.
What's that?
Mouth massage?
ON MY WHAT?!?!?!?!?!
Okay clearly something got lost in the translation here because you most certainly did not just ask me what it sounded like you asked.
Nope you actually meant that.
No see dude, I don't exactly swing that way.
I'm flattered, really I am but I have strict no mustache rule that I can't go back on.
Gay clubs?
No I have no idea where they are in this area because, and I can't stress this enough I am straight.
Though this is Capitol Hill so I am sure there are about a billion of them around here somewhere.
Yeah Sam it's been a real treat meeting you but I really must be going.

Yeah NOT FUN.