As I drove home this past Saturday, public radio promulgating in the background, I suddenly desired something different. The usually informative world perspective seemed somehow stale. For the first time in many weeks, I hit the FM button on my Kenwood deck...
It had been a exquisite evening. We hit up the Sushi Den, and thanks to Susan's clout a table was landed in five minutes flat. It was christened a "Birthday Miracle", in honor of Susan's 30 something'th holiday. The party dined in splendor.
The DJ cackled on and on, but the intermittent alt-rock was enough to appease my mindless search for something, anything. As I backed my car up against the curb, the sound slowly creeped into my brain. What was I hearing?
We inched from Sushi Den to its sister establishment just one block down. A modern atmosphere mingled with the urban hip. After a few drinks we headed back to our homebase.
I snapped open my laptop, lyric fragments bouncing around in my mind. Google. Search. Result found... the Flobots. Their sound is unique, and their style will get you. Resistance is futile. The Flobots are going to blow up
Check out the Flobot's website
Do it.
With the arrival of the nicest Saturday of the new year, spring has officially sprung in Boulder. I can personally attest to this because 1) Whole Foods was completely sold out of hamburger buns, and 2) the BPD was out in full force. I saw two people pulled over on my way back home from WF, then I got pulled over for an having a busted left brake light.
Indeed, I did have a broken light. I also had an expired insurance card. Many thanks to Officer Joanna Law for letting me off the hook on the insurance blunder and only busting me on the brake light. I regularly hear people complaining about the BPD, but in my experience they have been nothing but professional and often quite forgiving.
Getting to the point of this post, I recently came across a great video that I have seen quite a few times and I figured it would make a nice post.
Enter Carl Sagan. If you don't know who Carl Sagan is, then you should probably find out.
Have you ever contemplated the vast scale of the universe and found yourself absolutely awe struck at how overwhelming it is? Carl Sagan provides a compelling narrative that everything we know and love is but a blip on the cosmic scale.
April 1st is always one of my favorite days of the year. It allows my juvenile tendencies to take control for a short time with a justifiable excuse built right in. This year, it somehow slipped right by me. It took Gmail's "new" feature, Gmail Custom Time, to make me realize what day it was.
When Kym announced a trip to OfficeMax to remedy her broken mouse with Jess in tow, it only took me a moment to spring into action. Armed with clear tape and a license to prank, I descended upon the east office with a mischievous glint in my eye. I taped over the laser sensors on the bottom of their mouses (mice?), making the mice completely useless. I removed all of the ink sections from all of the pens in their immediate reach. To cap it all off, I taped down each of their phone receiver buttons, which means that whenever they picked up the phone NOTHING happened.
After a short wait the intended victims returned. It was truly glorious. Shouts to borrow mouse batteries and confusion over non-working peripherals ran rampant, all while I choked back laughter at my desk. "What's wrong with my phone?," echoed through the office. "MATT WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PENS?!" I got them, and I got them good.
Alas, this tale has not reached its finish. While I sat back comfortably in my chair, contemplating my incredible pranking skills, there were plans in motion. Plans to take me down...
The first tip was a call from a woman named Michelle. I don't know anyone named Michelle, but I took it anyway. She wanted to know if the free fridge I had posted on Craig's List was still available. I stumbled at first, my mind racing as she quoted my name and number off the webpage. Then it hit me. I'd been punked. Supremely punked. Someone had put up a fake Craig's List post with my name and phone number. Check it out:
I let Michelle in on my new revelation. I calmly explained the trickery that had transpired. Michelle, as well as every single other caller, had two responses. First, they were incredibly disappointed that there was no free fridge. Secondly, they were quite upset that anyone would do such a thing to me. It was so strange, but at the same time it was somehow cathartic.
The day ended with me taking a very late lunch. The result was my cube getting vandalized. Frakking with someone's cube is awesome, but I have to admit I was slightly disappointed by this turn of events. I was expecting much more. The Craig's List prank raised the bar so high, I'm not sure what could have lived up to it. But they tried. Check it out:
As they all stood around enjoying their little bit of trickery, I had an evil stroke of genius. I picked up a cup full of water and threw it all over Kym. She stood in shock as the others ran away in fear. I chased Jess and Kelleeanne out into the hallway and proceeded to lock them out there. Good times. I finally managed to get Jess with water at the very end of the day, much to Kym's amusement. And Kelleeanne, well, she escaped the wrath. But make no mistake, there is bound to be more tomfoolery in the near future.
