What A World, What A Worrrrrrrlllld...

  Fun times at the theatre. Up til Sunday, the movie we're showing ran great, provided we did things a certain way. Well, I guess the film got melted on Monday, and it happened to me last night as well. Fun times, I guess. I'll be happy to see Mystic River go off to the Red Tag bin. Back to Warner Brothers with ye, vile print...

  But that means... Oh no... The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre...

  Just thought I'd let you know, I've added a few more pictures of me to my [personal gallery]. Recent shots of me having fun times with good alcohol and interesting people. Gotta thank Justin for letting me use his digital camera to help advance my website.

  Oh yeah. Because of that, this gallery has been updated, too.

  April Fools Day tomorrow. Good times. To prank movie-goers, or not to prank movie-goers... That is the question...

Posted by Eric @ 4:38pm, 03-31-04

Fear Of A Passionate Planet

  For those of you who came for the pictures, [they're here]. And now for something, completely different...

  Friday, April 2nd, 2004 is a day that I am terrified of. That day kicks off what will be a very interesting two weeks in my life, maybe testing the very moral foundations that I stand on to their greatest extent.

  Friday, we begin showing The Passion of the Christ at the Rowland.

  It's not the movie itself I'm afraid of. Far from it. After all, it's only a movie. But it's the people coming to see this movie that I'm afraid of. You see, around here in Central Pennsylvania, we have ALOT of religious folk of MANY denominations. I myself was adopted by Lutherans, a Protestant sect of Christianity.

  We've got Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Polish Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican Catholic, Baptist... Hell, we even have our own population of Jehova's Witnesses, though they're not the door-knocking type, and I'm guessing aren't too enthused about this flick, either.

  Point is, we have ALOT of Jesus loving folk around here. And with the Rowland's near-century-long tradition, they will come in droves to the theatre of their youth to test their own faith and witness the brutal truth of the time in which Jesus of Nazareth lived.

  And I will be the Atheist among them for the entire ride.

  How do you tell people who were raised to love Jesus that you don't believe in God, but you instead believe in the Human Race and it's own potential for growth beyond it's current limitations? They don't want to hear that. They want to hear that you love Jesus too, and that you know Jesus loves you.

  They can't buy the fact that I just can't bring myself to believe in any sort of God-like figure of any kind, regardless of religion. They don't understand that, while I feel the Bible is a good story with alot of ways we should live our lives and lessons we should learn, I think it's just a story and nothing more. I don't want my soul to be saved. I want to do what I can while I have the time on this planet to do something at all to contribute to the continuation of our species.

  But no, they'll want to talk shop with me. And I'll have to think of a way to be as polite as possible in explaining why I don't want to talk about this movie the way they do. And I hate doing that. I have this nice-guy reputation to keep up, and it's hard when I have to be nice about something I think is a sham and a crutch for weak minded people.

  My last week of sanity is dominated by Mystic River, a film I don't really have a desire to see. I've watched good chunks of it, but it just doesn't suit my fancy. Massachusetts thugs? OK. Kudos to Sean Penn, though, who earned his Oscar with a good performance. Brat Packer makes good, I guess. Now, if only we could get [uncle willie] an Oscar...

Posted by Eric @ 5:16pm, 03-29-04


I Feel Like A Newborn...

  While this update may seem short due to lack of actual text, there is a great deal of new content at the Ranch this fine day. The [eric In pictures] gallery is up, and has lots of new pics of me, hot off of the hard drive and served up with a side of self-depreciation. Heh.

Posted by Eric @ 7:35am, 03-29-04

Shut Up And Play 3, April 17 2004

  The meeting is over, the linup is finalized, and now all that remains is promotion! Rock on! Shut Up And Play 3 is on, and is happening April 17th, 2004 at the Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg, PA. The show starts at 5pm and the lineup is as follows...

@ 5pm - Vocalist Lacey Danko
@ 6pm - Accoustic Fun with Hollow Bodys
@ 7pm - Bad Idea (Yes, they're together again)
@ 8pm - the one and only Tempered Edge
@ 9pm - fellow projectionist Chris Culp and Shoot The Stars
@ 10pm Chester Hill rockers Calosity
@ 11pm - At Hope's End, formerly 969
@ 11pm - Hardcore heroes Forever Means Goodbye

  So come on down and rock out with the best bands Central PA has to offer! The cover charge is only $5, and the money goes to help with theatre restoration costs. It's for a good cause, and it's good tunes! Come on down!

Posted by Eric @ 3:13pm, 03-26-04

Tone Deaf

  Neat! Justin has had me running Karaoke every Tuesday and Thursday since last week. It's a nifty little job, really, and falls in line with everything I've been doing lately. All of my jobs, with the exception of firefighting, have involved entertainment in one aspect or another. Now I'm letting folks entertain themselves at the same time. Things continue to get better...

  There's a meeting tonight about Shut Up And Play 3. I'm assuming that the final order of appearing bands will be determined, and I'm going to pitch some goofy radio spots to everyone for promoting the show. I'll have to get ahold of Laura up at The Buzz, too, I'd like to co-write the spots with her...

  Not often I post three good-vibe entries in a row, is it...

  Oh yeah! Before I forget! I updated my [galleries] (finally!) with all of my most recent [fark.com entries], and have started a [picture gallery] of myself, because people are weird and want to see that sort of thing, I guess...

Posted by Eric @ 2:35pm, 03-24-04

More Power, Mr. Scott...

  Finally. Things are picking up. Life is getting itself in order at last. Things are happening at a good pace, and soon, I'll be back on top of my game. It's about damn time, too.

  Justin has me getting used to the system at the Avenue, and I'll be filling in for him a few nights a week as he needs me. We've also spent a few late nights hanging paintings and cooking up new wing recipies and coming up with a late night snack menu to serve during live bands and karaoke. I might start DJing soon, and we're talking about taking the Avenue digital. And that's just one thing I have going on!

  The band is picking up as well. We just did a show Saturday night at Pete N Mel's, and we have another coming up at the Rowland Theatre on April 17th. There's talk of more shows at Pete N Mel's, and we're working on splitting some shows with a few friends at Electric Avenue. More info is available on the Band Website.

  There are other things going on for me right now that are pretty sweet, but need not be mentioned here at the Ranch just yet. I'm just happy they're happening. I've finally hit a good patch, and hopefully, I can keep it going...

Posted by Eric @ 1:54pm, 03-23-04

Brand New Me

  So it's not the most flattering picture in the world. But blame Justin's flash. Bright as heck in that little booth. Anyway, this is me, sans locks the night after I got the chop. The hair's not right, I'd just got done doing a song, and was rocking (geeking) out. But yes, this is your fearfull leader as he is currently. Fearful in itself, isn't it...

Posted by Eric @ 4:10am, 03-22-04

Let Me Love You... To Death...

  Sometimes, being me really, really sucks. Things have been hammering me in the head, and the heart, lately from every conceivable direction. It's driving me up a wall, accross the ceiling, down the other wall and through the floor.

  I really dont' know what to say about it. I mean, I want to say something, but I can't for the life of me drum up the words to convey it to you all. I want to go into great detail, but I cant. I just can't bring myself to do it. I have no clue what's going on, and the details aren't quite set in stone yet.

  Why does the left side of my brain hurt?

Posted by Eric @ 10:23am, 03-21-04

|\/|@£ƒ|_||\|©+10|\|

  Suddenly, something doesn't quite compute. I can't quite explain it, but it is worth noting. When I know more, so will you, if I ever do know more at all...

Posted by Eric @ 5:32am, 03-19-04

Happy Days Are Here Again

  I'm starting to wonder if the last 24 hours have been nothing more than a dream. It's almost too good to be true. But you know what? It is. It's all really happening. I've pinched myself, slammed my head off of the computer tower, and I don't seem to be waking up. I'm not dreaming. It's finally here. The day I've longed for for ten years...

  I can't even begin to describe the feeling inside of me. It's like everything wrong that's happened to me in the last 5 years has just gone away. Poof. Vanished. It's unreal.

  Today, I return to where it all began. Almost ten years later, I return to the very windowsill where I first fell in love. Today, everything comes full circle, and a new chapter in my life can begin. Sportsman Road, West Decatur. High noon.

  And so, it all begins... Again...

Posted by Eric @ 9:32am, 03-18-04

Faith And Begorah

  They say the luck of the Irish is like no other. Well, today, I can say that this is very much the truth.

  Many many huge thanks to Corrinna, who brought me news today that has pretty much made my heart go into overdive...

  Jill is single. Stay tuned, folks, this could get good...

Posted by Eric @ 2:20pm, 03-17-04


Erin Go Bragh

  Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! This is the Ranch's official favorite holiday, so grab a pint o' the sauce, tip it back, and party down!

  What the hell did Microsoft do to my counter? Bastards...

  To the person who most recently signed my guestbook: Yes, someone does need to grow up. But it's not me, that's for sure. I grew up the hard way...

  Don't you just love these random tidbit entries?

  Good god, I have such a sappy crush on Selena. Good thing is, I let her know last night by singing Aerosmith's "Angel" to her. She's such a sweetheart... *sigh*

  Show this Saturday at Pete N Mel's. Should be good times. We rocked the joint last time, so we're expecting a crowd increase this time around. Now, if only Erina would get off of her high horse and come check out a show... Heh. But what can you do when a girl lets her musical tastes be determined by the guy she's dating?

  A cheap shot? Maybe. But guess what: It's my blog, and I can! So :P

  Anyway, it's lunchtime for me. Time to cook up some of my all-time second favorite food: Chicken! Rock on!

Posted by Eric @ 12:13pm, 03-17-04

System Failure

  I get it now. Finally, I've put the pieces together. And you know what? I don't like it. No sir, I don't like it. But then again, I don't really much care, either. Frankly, it's all in vain. There's no way that I'm going to let it bring me down.

  It's just a tool to rub things in my face. It's there simply to distract, tease, and otherwise talk down to me. And you know what? It's not working. In fact, it's making me stronger, and only reinforcing that which I hold true even more than it has in the past.

  Go ahead. Gloat. Gloat all you want. It doesn't make a lick of difference. In all honesty, it's childish. It's like when one girl sleeps with another girl's boyfriend just to spite her, only to end up being called a slut and looked down upon by pretty much everyone. Sure, the original relationship is destroyed. But the character of the destroyer is tarnished for all time.

  Still naive after all these years... Sad...

Posted by Eric @ 7:26am, 03-14-04

You Know Who You Are...

  Time for a wee bit of fun. The following lyrics are from the song "The Outsider" by A Perfect Circle. A hearty handshake and a pat on the back to the Ranch reader who can Shoot Me An Email with the correct answer to this question: Who from Eric's past do these lyrics resemble the most?

Lying to yourself again
Suicidal imbecile
Think about it, put it on the faultline
What'll it take to get it through to you precious
Over this, why do you
Wanna throw it away like this
Such a mess, well I don't wanna watch you
Disconnect and self destruct one bullet at a time
What's your rush now, everyone will have his day to die
Medicated, drama queen, picture perfect, no more legiments
Narcisistic, drama queen, craving fame and all it's decadance

Posted by Eric @ 10:00am, 03-10-04


Ye Of Little Faith

  Look down there. You know, down to the right, in the subsection known as "Friends' Blogs." See those? I put those there to lend a little exposure to their newly started Blogs. I did this in the hopes that they'd take to the blogging process and update it at least semi-regularly.

  Forget that idea. Jade, better known to me as Tatts and owner of the Wiccan Ink blog, made two entries last August and gave up. Allen doesn't update his unless I hound him. Same with Angela, though she's getting better with it, and it's understandable that she doesn't have time with school and taking care of her daughter. [erina]? Forget that. She's off in la-la land and too agenda driven to even care.

  Which pretty much leaves me on my own, the only dedicated blogger out of the bunch. I guess I'm the only one who sees any importance in getting their thoughts, gripes, and other such nonsense across to the world. Not like the world reads it, but hey, you never know...

  Oh. By the way, before I forget, happy birthday to Erin. Yes, that Erin. LOL Happy Birthday, Princess...

Posted by Eric @ 9:42am, 03-10-04

Passion And Purgatory

  I am so sick of it. If I hear another nice, happy faced church-going woman call me and ask me when we're getting this god-damned movie, I swear I'm going to lose the contents of my stomach all over the next customer's popcorn with extra butter.

  Now, matters get worse. The other projectionist is leaving. And right when we're supposed to be getting this film. Great. Now it's all on me.

  And people wonder why I hate religion. It's because I'm constantly surrounded by zealots trying to tell me that Jesus wants to save my soul. For the final time, my soul can't be saved, so quit trying. Now they have this movie to make their efforts all the more bold...

  Someone please... Crucify me and put a bullet in my head...

Posted by Eric @ 3:31am, 03-08-04

*burp*

  Ahhh yes, the first time the Ranch has used a sound effect for an entry title! Not really groundbreaking history, but a fun side note none the less...

  Recently, I've met someone quite awesome. Her name is Crystal, and she's from St. Marys, a little up north from my current location in Central PA. And let me tell you, this girl RULES! First and foremost, she's a regular person, just like me (OK, so I'm not THAT regular). She's smart, funny, hella pretty and way hot! I found her at random on Yahoo, and we've been spending a great deal of time talking both on the machine and over the phone.

  I'm really starting to like this girl. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "Looks like Eric's falling victim to his hopeless romantic nature again. Great." Well, that may be the case, but it's not as bad as you think. Things are all good. We both share the title of musician, and even though our musical tastes vary greatly (she's into rap, I'm a metal head), we've still found some middle ground to stand on.

  So where's it going? Forward is all I can say at this point. It's just starting, after all. We'll see. But for now, I'm really enjoying her company and conversation.

  Oh yeah. And her perfume bottle. He he he he he...

Posted by Eric @ 5:17pm, 03-04-04

Gee Thanks, Liza...

  Yeah, sarcasm in the house on that one. I suppose I should be greatful to Liza for giving me this computer, which allows me to communicate with everyone (except her). I can do my web editing, and in general, what I need to do with regards to the net.

  But it almost came at a terrible price. When I first got it, it was in the habit of eating hard drives, rendering their partitions with severely corrupted file systems. This got to its worst point when one of the drives turned out to be my music storage drive, where I keep over 2500 songs. If it weren't for me learning how to do Data Recovery on the fly, I'd be redownloading all my music right now.

  After I fixed that problem (thank the maker for Linux!), things went well. It hasn't eaten a file system in months. And then, I got broadband. You'ld figure I'd be creaming my jeans, right? Well, that died in a hurry. Turns out Liza's old computer doesn't like my network card or settings, so whenever I want to watch/listen to streaming media, or if I want to pull a bunch of data over the network, it decides it needs to reboot without asking me.

  I swear, that girl cursed my geekdom when she gave me this machine and then prompty left me.

  So I'm downloading Linux yet again, hoping to fix this problem. Linux likes all the hardware I have in this machine, including the network card. My only obstacle prior to broadband was the modem, which Linux doesn't like. Now, with the cable connection and network, I can go full-time Linux (other than photo or web editing, for now).

  Here's hoping that Linux is the cure for the Liza Curse...

Posted by Eric @ 1:33pm, 03-02-04