Dabysan in Hammersmith Palais

QotD: Traveling Companions

What gadgets do you travel with when you’re going on a relaxing vacation? Do the gadgets you choose to bring tend to help you relax or keep you so plugged in that it’s hard to unwind?
Sponsored by: Sponsored by My LifeScoop: Bringing You Tips for a Connected LifeStyle

Awesome. Another banal, sponsored QOTD. Normally I'd wait for something better, or at the very least for something that isn't shilling some Web site I don't care about, but I've got a kind of wacky schedule this week, and I don't want to default on the Comment War that I am just on the verge of staging a comeback in.

As it happens, I am in San Francisco for work and about to head to Portland for vacation and I've got all my gadgets with me. Whatever I can carry is my motto. I had my computer and phone on my honeymoon and yet still didn't have any trouble at all ignoring them all day to lie on the beach. Maybe I'm just a relaxation savant.

QotD: Reincarnation

What would you like to come back as in your next life?

As a yogi, I'm not entirely comfortable spouting off a flippant answer to this question, but as a blogger whose main currency is flippancy, I don't feel all that interested in delving into a serious discussion of karmic doctrine. So I'm kind of in a bind here.

I suppose as long as I come back as someone who appreciates the true superiority of pie, I'll be just fine.

100 Favorite Movies

I've wanted to get in on the 100 Favorite craze that's been sweeping the voxosphere of late, but have felt daunted every time I opened iTunes to start the painful process of separating the wheat from the ... not quite as good wheat. Because I have seen considerably fewer movies than I have heard songs, I figured a 100 favorite movies list might be easier. Here are my caveats:

1) I am composing this in my Vox window, as I think of it, and cannot be bothered to get off my couch to look at my DVD collection.

2) It's too late to copy edit, so I may misspell the names of some of my favorite films. (I'm also not ruling out the possibility that I will repeat myself, or leave out things that I have sworn are the best things ever set to celluloid).

3) It is entirely possible -- nay likely -- that I will give up at some point between now and 100 movies and just post what I have.

4) The only order these are in is the order in which I think of them.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, Fistful of Dollars, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket, Tampopo, Cyrano de Bergerac (Gerard Depardieu version), The Three Musketeers (Michael York Version), The Four Musketeers, Henry V (Branagh), Big Trouble in Little China, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Paths of Glory, Crimson Tide, Oceans 11 (George Clooney Version), Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, LA Confidential, His Girl Friday, A Christmas Carol (Alastair Sim - the ONLY version worth watching), Miracle on 34th St., Rocky, Rocky III, Dazed and Confused, Miller's Crossing, Godfather, Godfather II, Goodfellas, Monthy Python and the Holy Grail, A Fish Called Wanda, Bloodsport, Enter the Dragon, Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior, Wedding Crashers, The Wedding Singer, Ben Hur, Gladiator, The Duelists, Play it Again Sam, Animal House, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Life of Brian, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, X-Men 2, The Dark Knight Returns, Spiderman 2, Iron Man, Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The Hunt For Red October, Das Boot, Trading Places, 48 Hours, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Conan the Barbarian, Two Mules for Sister Sarah, The Usual Suspects, Tombstone, The Decline of Western Civilization (Part 1), Hoop Dreams, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, In the Name of the Father, Last of the Mohicans, Bloody Sunday, This is England, Clerks, Gandhi, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Raising Arizona, Midnight Run, The Blues Brothers, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, The Karate Kid, Superbad, The Killing, The Princess Bride, Kill Bill Volume 1, Kill Bill Volume 2, Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli), Akira, Troy, Elizabeth, Time Bandits, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Out of Sight and oh, let's say Spartacus.

That's 100. At least 50 or so ought to be right. I can't promise I'll stand by it tomorrow.   

QotD: BFF Forever?

Who was your best friend when you were a kid? Are you still in touch with that person?

I was always a best friend kind of kid. I tended to bond with one friend and radiate my social circle out from that friend. Because I moved around a lot, I went through a good number of best friends. Here are some of the most significant best friends I had through age 18:

1. Ian - Ian and I were friends literally from the crib. We drifted apart at around age seven or so, but got back together at around 11-12 when we were both budding juvenile delinquents. He's a doctor now and lives a few states away. We're not that close, but still keep in touch from time to time.

2. Doran - Doran lived behind me when I was in middle school, and was notable for having much better musical taste than me. My heavy metal records got no play at his house, where I was forced to listen to a who's who of 1980s hardcore (Minor Threat, Black Flag, TSOL, DRI, DI, Circle Jerks, etc, etc.) I just noticed that he is on Facebook, but haven't spoken to him in decades.

3. Tony - Tony was my best friend and partner in crime through high school. We made all manner of really questionable decisions. I don't know what he's up to these days, and I'm not all that keen to find out.

QotD: The Art of Communication

Do you prefer communicating via phone, text message or email? Does using a certain one change your behavior? (I.e. Is it easier to flirt via text than over the phone? Are you more business like in email etc.?)
Sponsored by Sprint, bringing you the first wireless 4G network from a national carrier.

Sweet lord Vox, I know times are tight, but sponsored QOTDs? What's the world coming to? It's one thing to be lame, it's another to be lame for money. Anyway, my answers in order are yes, no, I'm married and maybe.

I would also like to take this time to apologize to my Vox readership for what can only be described as a shameful performance over the past few weeks, even by my low standards. I've been spending a lot of my Internet time over at Bloody Elbow, which is just like Vox, only if Vox were about mixed martial arts...and had readers.

Anyway, consider this my vow to do better. I'm heading to Iowa this weekend for some family visiting, but plan to come back with a renewed sense of purpose.

QotD: May Day

When's the last time you asked someone for help? Did you get it?

That's alright QOTD, you go ahead and take this week off. I fly out to LA tomorrow, so I'm not much in the mood to compose an interesting answer to a good question anyway. The last time I asked for help was probably sometime today from CarrieNation, and I'm sure I got it. Hope that's illuminating.