Geoffrey Long
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Danger! Danger!

May Day! May Day!

All right, that was admittedly super-lame. But it does bring into question just how a holiday focused around celebrating rebirth, springtime, and poles wrapped in strands of flowers and other whatnot came to signify danger in maritime lingo...? It seems like a bit of a stretch, unless the manly-man sailor in charge of penning the naval lexicon suffered a traumatic experience with a crown of posies at a young, impressionable age. Hmmm.

Right now, the only major danger I'm in concerns my credit card and those spiffy new iPods they just released. I can't buy one, I can't. I have the car problem to deal with, and rent, and so on and so forth. But wow. And the new top-of-the-line is six times the size of my dinky little 5GB, and slimmer to boot.

Maybe I'll make myself an impossible deal: if I can hit my new target weight, I'll buy one. The trouble is, this whole getting-into-shape-for-the-summer schtick is already getting expensive. I got hooked on watching an episode of The X-Files while working out in the mornings, which is great except that each season on DVD is $130. There are nine seasons. Ouch. That said, once I plow through the rest of them (I'm currently on season six, and season seven is meant to be released this month), I'll need something else to do while exercising, and I'm seriously eyeballing the idea of going cross-country hike-jogging for my cardio work. For which a sleeker, lighter, roomier iPod would be ideal. Hmm.

Final bit of dorky news: X-Men 2: X-Men United comes out tomorrow. I shouldn't be this stoked. This isn't even the incarnation that I really enjoy (I got hooked on Ultimate X-Men about two years ago, thank you Bill Coughlan), but I'm still jazzed. There's a shirt at the local comic shop that I'm so tempted to get and wear to the premiere: it's just a navy blue T-shirt with the X logo on the breast. Nice, subtle, cool. But still dorky. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to be that dorky.

So, yeah. X-Men 2, and then Finding Nemo, and then The Matrix Reloaded, followed by Bad Boys 2 and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's going to be a good summer. Pass the popcorn.

Comments

Silly English speaker. It's French: "M'aidez! M'aidez!"

Now, see, I took French, and it's conceivable that "M'aidez" could be an abbreviation of "Aidez moi", but since it came from YOU, I'm going to wait for confirmation from somebody else. Your credibility around here right now has you perfectly qualified for the conveniently recently-vacated position of Iraqi Information Minister, sir.

Why *ever* would you doubt my veracity? ;-)

In all seriousness, the most accepted origin (these things always get a bit murky, depending on whom you ask) is that it's a shortening of the original phrase, "venez m'aider" (which does mean that my conjugation *was* off in my original entry -- mea culpa).

For reference, here's the Word Detective entry: http://www.word-detective.com/back-n.html#mayhem

ooh, I know a summer chock full of great movies. Saw Xmen last night, very cool. I definitely want to see everything on your list AND Pirates of the Caribbean (which I know will be soooo cheesy but Orlando Bloom AND Johnny Depp? hot damn.)

See, Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp is one of those weird actor combinations that leave me scratching my head, not unlike Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson in Anger Management. It's just odd, like pickles and ice cream. Other combinations make sense: Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, for example, is perfectly acceptable. But some combinations... ::shrug:: That's not to say that they can't work, though -- much like my roommate's bizarre discovery that his salsa goes well with Fig Newtons (I wasn't there when the initial discovery was made, so don't ask for details), sometimes it's a pleasant surprise.

It is indeed "m'aider". he lieth not.

droooll... want... iPod...

Hey, I'll sell you my 5GB on the down-low.

Droooll... want... bigger... iPod...

Okay, I give. I want a G4, damnitt! The specially engineered media systems one that comes with dvdrw AND Avid Xpress already loaded! I want it so bad I can smell it, especially now that my pos pentium II generic pc has begun hard drive meltdown again. *sigh* at least it hasn't caught on fire yet.

OK, here's what you do. Insure the one you have, and when it bites the dust, put the insurance money towards the G4. Either that or create a small video consulting firm out of your garage and write off the purchase as tax-deductible. C'mon, Shannon, you're dating a lawyer -- surely, he can figure out a way to make this fly! ;)

And when your machine kicks my machine's tail, I will be officially annoyed. :)

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