Alyssa's Blog

I've decided to be extra frugal for the rest of this month and for most of July. Why, you ask? Well it's always a good idea to be a little frugal but I really need to save up for Comic-Con July 23rd - 27th in San Diego (I've also been spending too much lately). My pass is totally free due to having an awesome boyfriend and getting a press pass. He already got a hotel room too. I do plan on buying some of the many exclusive toys that will be for sale. There will probably be a few other things to catch my eye and lets not forget that I need to eat while I'm there.

The weekend before that is a Vegas trip. Hotel has been paid for by somethingawful.com but I once again need to eat, and we plan on seeing some shows. I am so gonna see Penn and Teller again!

So how am I going to be extra frugal this month? I have some ideas. First off, I need to force myself to walk to work every day. No more sleeping till the last possible minute to drive 3 minutes to work. By doing this I will look great in a swim suit for my trips and I will save money on gas. This will also force me to pack a lunch everyday because I won't be able to drive home for lunch breaks like I usually do. I just need to not give in when the coworkers all go out.

I am also going to try this thing called cooking that I've been avoiding. I can actually cook well if there is a recipe in front of me, I'm just too lazy to do so. I'm dusting off an old cook book with quick and easy recipes and stocking up on ingredients. I'm going to start with soup recipes since they all share a number of ingredients, which also last a long while in the pantry. With this list combined with stuff I already have I saw that I can make New England Clam Chowder, Cheddar Cheese Soup, North Country Corn Chowder, Chicken and Orzo.

Lentils
Chick Peas

Spices:
Cayenne Pepper
Bay Leaves
Nutmeg
Old Bay Seasoning
Worcestershire Sauce

Dairy:
Kraft Singles (not part of a soup recipe but I like em on sammiches).
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Milk
Whole Milk or Light Cream

Vegetables:
Celery
Medium Onions
Potatoes
Scallions
Red Bell Pepper
Frozen Corn
Garlic

Pasta:
Orzo Pasta

Canned Section:
Canned Clams
Clam juice

Meat:
Boneless Chicken Breast

If this works out then I'll know what's good to keep on hand all the time too. Also, I will be getting my stimulus check sometime next month, just not sure if it will come in time for trips. It's still very good to save.

Yesterday June 9th, Democrat Dennis Kucinich presented Impeachment Articles to the House of Representatives against George W. Bush.

This site includes video from the C-SPAN coverage. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_presents_Bush_impeachment_articles_0609.html 

The boyfriend is in London for a week. Before he left yesterday, we had ourselves a fun weekend. Thursday we went and saw DETHKLOK. Now, I really don't like death metal too much. Most songs sound the same to me. That's actually part of why I like Dethklok and Metalocalypse.. the show started out making fun of metal. It's gotten more serious about it though. There were some opening bands I didn't care for. One being Chimaira. I remember my high school boyfriend liked them so that turned me off to it more. Haha. Apparently Dethklok saved Chimaira by bringing them on tour. A cartoon saved them.. Dethklok was great! You get to watch cartoons play and sing in music videos while the real band played. It was kinda funny watching Brendon Small belt out lyrics with this deep voice, when he is a kinda small man. He created the show, does voices and plays guitar. He also created Home Movies.

I was thinking that perhaps the reason I didn't care for the other metal bands was because I didn't get to watch cartoons? During Dethklok, random mosh pits formed throughout the venue. It was the same venue I saw MSI in a couple weeks prior.

On Saturday we went to the Sex and the City showing and party at the Arclight in Hollywood. I worried that we would be over dressed and that everyone else would just be casual in jeans. But when we arrived, there were a lot of women dressed up fancy drinking Cosmos. I was one of the very few that had a guy with me so I felt special. It was fun watching the movie with a martini. After that we walked to a little restaurant.

Now I know Sex and the City is girly and the thought of it makes most men flinch, but I fuckin saw DETHKLOCK on Friday, I'm entitled to girlyness on occasion ;) I've also seen most testosterone fueled films that have come out so far this summer and am looking forward to more.

Death metal and Sex and the City.. great combination for a weekend.

Last night I'm sure neighbors could hear my crazy laughter as I blew shit up in GTA4. I'm not all that far though because I've hardly had time to play. It took me a few tries to take this guy out in a car chase. I'd loaded up on ammo and armor before because I'd get shot at by his friend but I was running out of money to buy more so the final time I just went for it without shooting at all. I fucked up my car and ended up taking him out with a shitty cab. He and his car burst into flames and he ran around on fire before dying. Vehicle after vehicle ended up plowing into the wreckage only to blow up and cause their drivers to run around on fire, screaming in pain. An ambulance arrived at the end. Niko just stood there on the phone with his back to the scene. I thought the explosions would never end.. I really love moments like that in this game.

Anyhow, I posted my interview with The Birthday Massacre's bassist, O.E. on TurkeyWithSound.com. It was a lot of fun and O.E. was really cool. He remembered me from another show all because of Turkey. Thanks, Turkey. As for the show itself, it was great! I didn't get to be up front with my camera cause for some lame reason they told photographers to stand behind the pit area. I could see alright, just my shots were all generic and a lot of them blurry. I put those up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyssatucker/sets/72157605284088522/detail/

London After Midnight went on first. I didn't care for them at all but I took pics to test out the lighting anyway. They were a very generic goth band that hardly moved around the stage at all aside from some head banging from the guitarist and bassist. That was pretty much it. The Birthday Massacre are always full of energy what with 6 people up on stage. You would have thought they were the headliners, but not this time. This time it was Mindless Self Indulgence. I had so much fun dancing to them this time. Usually I try to get a spot up front but as the years go on, I stay back. I was in the small pit for the whole night moshing and dancing. I was pretty much dead by the end of it. I thought MSI were losing their touch and wasn't blown away by the album as I have been with all their others but they are redeeming themselves with that show. Part of me wanted to just take off and see them the next night in Vegas with my friends that were going but I didn't. Their new album is now starting to grow on me. So many of the songs were dance worthy. I'm just not sure it works as a whole. I don't know. It was a lot of fun though.

Those that know me today might not know how much I used to be into the punk scene. In high school I would go to punk shows a few times a month seeing greats like Circle Jerks, Subhumans, D.I., The Adicts, The Dickies, The Skulls, Angry Samoans, and many that I was too drunk at the time to remember. I would wear my jean jacket and bust out fishnets and look all sorts of crazy. I'd mosh and get covered in bruises. Often I'd see drunks passed out or puking, and there was that memorable night where someone got the shit beat out of them at a T.S.O.L show which contributed to the band's shows being considered as too violent and they were monitored in the future. But overall, the shows were bringing everyone together. If you fell in a pit, someone would pick you up. I'd feel like we were all looking out for each other and would talk to anyone.

One of my favorite bands to see was The Adicts. I've seen a lot of bands but they still sit up there as one of the best live acts I've seen. I miss seeing them and need to get back into that. You'll probably never see them in the rock and roll hall of fame even though I think they deserve to be there as much, if not more than The Clash or The Police. They could be yet they choose to remain underground so they don't lose their die hard following of Droogs. They are probably one of the oldest bands with it's original lineup still intact every since the late 70's.

Anyhow, my friend Gnatty who would accompany me to the majority of those shows is seen in the documentary Punk's Not Dead with her nephew, Tadd at an Adicts show. She finally found a clip of it. They are within the first minute where they talk about the clown band.. I thought it was pretty cool.

Went and saw Flight of the Conchords again last night. That's twice this week! They were doing a free show at Amoeba Records. We were lucky to get in since not everyone did.  They played "Inner City Pressure", "Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)", "Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenoceros", "Prince of Parties", "Mutha'uckers", "Albi", "Bowies in Space" and an encore of "Robots". I think that's it.

I started to feel sick from the stupid hiccup medicine. It really fucked me up yesterday. I just wanted to sit down but toughed it out through the Flight of the Conchords set. Totally worth toughing it out for.

I am so sooo tired right now. I started taking this medication today for hiccups. Yes, HICCUPS. I'm tired of having them all day. It's not a joke. The medication must be making me tired cause I went to bed at 11:30pm like usual and then took a pill this morning and another at lunch as directed. drowsiness is one of the side effects. I just want to cancel my piano lesson and take a nap but I shouldn't. I also have plans to hang out with someone. Wake up!

Birthday was rockin. I'm not posting pics because I think most that read this thing have seen them and I'm tired. I went to Disneyland on Saturday, California Adventure on Sunday. Met up with my dad a few times. He took me to a nice restaurant in Seal Beach on Sunday. On Monday I saw Patton Oswalt live with surprise appearances by Flight of the Conchords, and Janeane Garofalo. All that made this the best birthday ever. Yet I'm too tired to elaborate. I'd take a nap but I'm at work and that wouldn't look good.

These next few months are looking fun like last month. It's my birthday month! Saturday I'm going to Disneyland. I haven't been in years and my friend Gnatty is paying my way. Jennifer is getting us a hotel room. Probably at the Disneyland Hotel. Parents are coming down so there will be dinner with them and presents. Yes, I'm greedy! Then on my actual birthday (the 21st) I'm seeing PATTON OSWALT for the second time. Yes, he's funny.

Next weekend I'm going to San Diego for Jennifer's birthday. Drinking, BBQ, swimming and whatever. That Sunday I head back up for RoMak's birthday dinner at Hooters. Just so you know, RoMak likes the boys so that makes this Hooters visit extra silly. Then there's all these RoMak and the Space Pirates record release parties coming up. Yes, they finally finished their first full length album Attack of the Has Been Andriods.

Ahh, too much cool stuff coming up I feel like a jerk naming it all. Now my friend Brian has asked me to help interview MC Chris. My favorite music artist! I've met MC Chris a number of times but now I get an interview at Warped tour. Brian also invited me to this:

Kids In the Hall
Fri, May 9, 2008 08:00 PM
Orpheum Theatre
Los Angeles, CA

Yayness!

I feel selfish for even saying this for some reason but I've been wanting ME time. I get people asking me what I'm doing all the time and feel bad when I tell them I just want to be alone that night (and the whole week). They think there's something wrong but really, there isn't. I'm just tired of going out all the time. While the events are fun, I don't feel rested anymore. Not to mention it's taking a toll on my bank account to even step out the door especially since I've made the dumb decision of living by myself in an overpriced apartment.

That being said, I'm booked up till next month. A friend is coming to visit this weekend. I had a different friend here last weekend for zombie related fun. The weekend after this is a birthday party, the weekend after that is MY birthday weekend. A friend of mine wants to take me to Disneyland and another wants me to drive down to San Diego for a BBQ.. this is the first year where I have friends trying to plan my birthday for me. It's weird. The weekend after my birthday is my friend Jennifer's birthday weekend. Lets not forget all the random stuff that I'm not listing here.. I wish there were 2 of me. How perfect that I'm listening to Freezepop's song about cloning right now.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm tired but when I get home I gotta prepare for my friend's arrival. We're going to a show tonight.

Um yea. So month recap. Saw theSTART a few times as I said I would. I only really took pics at their last show. Here are some favorites: