When only a Suffering Bastard will do

It's very early Tuesday, which signals one less day I can spend with Ginger before she rolls down to Springfield. Soon, I'll be able to claim a real destination when the urge to haul out of town strikes, but I'll certainly miss the lass. I mean, how many women would thank you for going to a zombie movie with her? That's just rad.

To send our plucky political prodigy off to that pit of hissing vipers, er, heart of Illinois democracy, we're planning an 8 p.m. gathering this Wednesday at the 42nd happiest place on Earth. To those of you who know the lady or have expressed interest in meeting her (you know who you are): We'll see you there. Hopefully, my car will not explode in the process.

On a less personal note, the new Demons & Wizards album will be in stores when I wake up. If I could stop listening to Terror Train, I could go to bed and be properly prepared. Rumor has it that if Hansi can sneak out of the Blind Guardian album sessions for a bit, he and Jon hope to do some live shows in the US this winter. News like that always takes the sting out of life's standard menu of frustration and disappointment.

Dust and discs

While the family's out roasting at Taste of Chicago, I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon at home. My primary goal is re-organizing my CD collection into proper alphabetical order. I haven't done it since before Christmas, so you can imagine how long it takes to sort 3,000+ compact discs. Not to mention all the dust.

On the plus side, I'm finally paring down the alarmingly sizeable Dream Theater wing... I really don't like them enough to own so much of their catalogue. I blame James LaBrie and his glammy Canadian vocals. I love prog metal, but my taste is generally heavier and/or weirder. I prefer to make room for the upcoming Opeth record. Speaking of which, some clown played the track "The Grand Conjuration" on Sirius satellite radio the other day and now this low-quality mp3 is floating around. It's a little different, what with the keyboards, a new whispery vocal approach by Åkerfeldt and chugga-chugga riffs, but still first-class.

Saw "Batman Begins" yesterday... eh, it was OK. The back-story was somewhat interesting, but the drama seemed contrived and the action scenes were a bit bland. Sort of like "The Hulk," it would have been better had someone decided if it should be a summer popcorn adventure or a serious psychological study. Definitely not enough Scarecrow, a waste of the coolest Batman villain ever. It's better than the post-Burton Batflicks, but most movies not starring Rob Schneider are.

Zombie attack

I'm feeling hot, tired, bloated and irritated. I'm either pregnant or at work.

On Tuesday night, a bunch of my pals and associates drove up to Milwaukee to watch baseball. Not able to participate in the fabulous ADD, I instead attended a preview screening of George A. Romero's "Land of the Dead." In case I've never made it clear to you, Romero's "Dead" Trilogy is my favorite movie series ever. I was waiting for this one like most people were waiting for "Revenge of the Sith." Guess what? I liked it better than "Sith." Even better, I got to write this review. I'll be happy to expand on any point made with minimal prompting.

Yep, it almost makes up for getting rear-ended, waiting more than an hour for a cop to appear and missing the Eels show on Wednesday. A casual dinner in Elmhurst and a few cold Zywiecs were no substitute. I mean, is this not the greatest song you've heard in forever?

Dammit.

Oh, boy. I got the blog fever too. Mine will suck the worst.

Self-deprecating? Self-defeating, even? Bah! I just have nothing of interest to say right now. In fact, I'm going to bed. Something of note will be posted tomorrow. In the meantime, listen to this song from the upcoming Antimatter album. It's pretty awesome: Antimatter - Legions.mp3