Hopeful Sinner - A Charlie Terrell Site

Lookie. Lookie. Something looks different.

The newly redesigned Hopeful Sinner is up. I didn't keep track of exactly how long I worked on it. Maybe it was two weeks. The content was already created which made things a lot easier.

The hardest part was the Message Board. For some reason, I thought it would be the Lyric section because there were so many lyrics to code. But in the end, it was the darned Message Board (in the first links, it was the Massage Board). I found a nice open-source one from phpbb.com. Once I figured out how all the php stuff worked, it was just a matter of coming up with a theme to fit it.

Life Lesson #422: It is never as simple as a "matter of coming up with."

Never the less, it is done, and it was an interesting experience. It is always good to create.

Now go check things out, see what is.

  ¶ 3:04 PM

  On more days than I'd like, I think I'm Enzo the Baker. I always end up in situations where I'm having to be somebody I'm not with plenty of chances that I'll get hurt. And most often, it is when I'm trying to do something nice or right. I usually don't have flowers with me though. Maybe that's something I should try to work on... having flowers with me.

  ¶ 2:37 AM

  The only way Good Charlotte could suck more is if they formed a tribute band to themselves.

  ¶ 11:08 PM

  Eight miles high and about to fall.

  ¶ 11:59 AM

  I didn't know you could do that.

Jesus.

Witch.

The God damned dead afloat and roaming.

I told you so. And you know I did.

We've all seen it before, but this is the last time around.

Angels with swords again.

Descents and bottoms found.

Feel that?

I know you do. I know.

The way home isn't far off.

Just don't bother looking up anymore.

Sever.

Dart lightly to fond, forever sleep.

  ¶ 3:46 AM

  Frank Zappa was right. We are dumb all over.

  ¶ 10:51 PM

  Why is everything yellow?

I've begun work on a new website for www.hopefulsinner.com. Things are going well like expected. But also expected are little tiny problems that show up only because Venus is at A and Mars is at B which leaves Jason at C. No? Not it? You probably won't believe the problems occur because a republican is in office either. Well, you tell me why then.

The front page design was decided a long time ago. It just needed to be put into practice. So that's what I thought I did, slicing what needed to be sliced, sizing the tables, typing in text, creating a menu, and even setting up a random quote thingy. Everything looked just how it was supposed to look. So when I went to see what the front page looked like in Internet Explorer, I found the quotes not working, one image just missing, and for some unknown reason, the background was yellow.

When I started on the page, the background was red. I changed it to white. I ended up with yellow. Why? Who knows.

I re-cut and paste the quotes, I double checked the red/white tags, and redid the image that was missing. The yellow just went away.

It is now time for sleep and the chasing of yellow sheep.

  ¶ 4:25 AM

  Car and Driver Magazine called the new Ford Thunderbird "an esoteric gospel for the unsaved." They went on to elaborate: "What does that mean? We're not really sure."

  ¶ 3:36 AM

  Barbie dolls do not inspire little girls to try for unrealistic/unhealthy bodies just like Superman does not inspire little boys to tie towels around their necks and pretend to fly.

Men do not wear towels around their necks because men wearing towels around their neck are not on the cover of magazines, on sitcoms, in movies, or attached to the arm of rich women.

  ¶ 3:18 AM

  The new Devil's Advocate is up. I'm very pleased with the responses I've received about the look and design. There has even been a few good things said about the content. That doesn't hurt.

In case you don't know, Devil's Advocate is an online zine done by my friend Jon Holley and I. Click the link to the right to check things out. While there, you may notice this blog is also there. Of course, you could be there reading this blog. And let's not forget this blog is also at Under the Moon, my personal site. That makes this blog both here and there.

Coming next week... the blog goes under, above, and slightly to the left.

Today, I was at Walmart. I hate Walmart. If you've been to Walmart, then you should understand. If you've been to Walmart and like the place... well, that's for another post. I want to talk about the Cleavage and the Four Year Old.

Believe it or not, I was in line to buy a bible for my dad, a large print, compact KJV bible for a Christmas present. And the 20-something check out woman had some very nice cleavage. Cleavage, again for those who don't understand the rules, is something you catch quickly, then look away to think about what you just saw. You can not stare at cleavage. It's like the sun, but worse if you're caught staring.

I should have been paying more attention to other things going on in Walmart. While staring off to think of the magnificent cleavage, I noticed a little boy, no older than four, at an empty register. He had a small box in his hands, something you could fit two decks of cards in. Maybe they could have been Yugio cards or something Japanese parents don't understand. The little boy picked up the laser scanner thing and ran it over the box.

I paid for my bible, thought again of the amazing cleavage, and was walking toward the exit. I noticed the boy again. He two dollars and some change. He placed the money atop the cash register and was bagging his own purchase. I turned and kept going, thoughts going back and forth between the boy and the slap-yo-momma cleavage. It wasn't until I got outside that I realized what exactly the boy was doing. I thought about going back in to see how things go, but that would mean going back in Walmart. Walmart is like X-rays. It's bad enough you have to do it and even worse if you keep doing it over and over.

No matter what the outcome, I can say that the little boy definitely knew the value of a dollar. Nothing wrong with that. He was paying for his purchase. And the shapely cashier, named Ann, Annie, or Andrea, who I bought a bible from, had the most spectacular, staggering, stunning cleavage, which almost makes up for having to go into Walmart in the first place... almost.

  ¶ 1:02 AM

  This stuff only happens to me. I'm doing some research on suicide notes (not for me, but for a story... and curiosity), and I found a "suicide note" generator (http://www.porkjerky.com/suicide.htm). I plugged in my name and got this:

Dear Ungrateful World;

Although everyone on Earth has failed to give me even half the accolades and adulation that should go with me, Jason, being the 3rd coming of christ, I will still fulfill my destiny. For you insolent pukes, I will shed my blood to once again open the gates of heaven.

Start erecting statues, singing songs, scoring touchdowns and doing other shit for my glory, because you fuckers owe me big,

Jesus Christ III
a.k.a. Jason

P.S. I cemented/superglued all my orifices shut, so you coroner pricks can't steal my fillings or sex up my corpse.

  ¶ 12:39 AM

  Strom Thurman has a 78 year old daughter. Her mom was black and a maid that worked for his family. Maybe the whole segregation thing was just so he wouldn't have to pay child support.

  ¶ 5:02 PM

  Will the person who keeps sending me e-mail with nude pictures of Alan Alda please stop.

  ¶ 2:46 AM

  SomaFM: Listener Supported, Commercial Free Internet Radio

You need to check this site out. I often work with music in the background. Their Boot Liquor channel is amazing. It's songs you listen to while drinking. But because of the holiday, check out their Christmas channel. Where else can you hear Ella Fitzgerald doing "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer" and Red Peters doing "Holy Shit, It's Christmas."

  ¶ 3:43 AM

  I finally found some time to search for a XMMS skin. XMMS is Winamp for Linux. It can use the same Winamp skins. The one I settled on for tonight is of Penguins washing ashore with sandy rocks in the background. It's very nice, grays and tans.

Under the EQ there's a message that says, "We live like Penguins in the desert."

  ¶ 4:26 AM

  Shame on you Bobby Brown.

A friend and I were having a conversation about a story of mine tonight. I told him how I almost ended the story and received a cringing "ewww." It was not a reaction I expected from him. Normally the extremes I sometimes -- he might replaced "sometimes" with "often" -- go to don't bother him. But tonight when I said "coffin birth," he gave pause, issued an "ewww," and pondered what was wrong with me.

For those who don't know, coffin birth is when a deceased woman gives birth. It happens when muscles relax and gas builds up... well, let's just say it happens when it happens.

The "coffin birth" probably won't make it into the finished version of the story. I shared an early draft. The response was better than I expected. I tried comedy in the story. Now I'm just going to rework the story a bit, go a different path that doesn't take away from the comedy. Hopefully, I'll add to it. Comedy is hard for me in my writings.

  ¶ 2:46 AM

  Don't ever wish on a fallen star. It might just be an angel who also wanted something different.

  ¶ 2:51 AM

  Bridget Fonda and Danny Elfman are married.

I usually get Tim Burton and Danny Elfman mixed up.

I would love to see a remake of Single White Female directed by Tim Burton. I also want Tim Burton to explore horror, not just spooky, dark, and odd.

  ¶ 7:59 PM

  It is cold. Of course it could be colder. It could always be worse. But it is cold. I forgot a long sleeve shirt or a jacket tonight. So at just about two in the morning, I was sitting in my 20 degree car, which -- god love her -- started up just fine.

My car, named Lilith, is a 1984 Ford LTD, black with cloth top. Believe it or not, but I actually have a shot at putting a 302 engine (thingy that goes voom voom really loud and make car go zoom zoom really fast) in it. There's enough room under the hood even though she looks small. I also have a good sized trunk that can fit a good sized body in it with room to spare. Not that I've done such a thing.

I wonder if we're going to get snow for Christmas. We rarely get snow in Alabama. And when we do, it just seems to float on by to somewhere else. In the past, we've had a good day of a few inches. There was that one blizzard in '93 that gave us a lot more than a few inches. But when we've had a few inches, we almost always loose power and have lots of issues, icings, road closures, fallen trees, panicked peoples, and so on.

I'd love for a few inches of snow and power at the same time. I just don't think Alabama can pull that off. We'll see. Like the March Blizzard of '93, we've had some surprises.

  ¶ 2:44 AM

  Take a moment and think about how different your life would be now if the tribbles were carnivorous.

  ¶ 2:42 AM

  Place underwear in washer. Set the washer for the appropriate load. Start washer so the water begins to fill up. Grab box of Bounce Fabric Softener Sheets and place once sheet in washer. Close the lid and turn away. Quickly realize that you are in fact a complete idiot. Turn back to washer. Don't bother with stopping it. Open the lid and reach in side. Spend two to five minutes fishing around for a postcard sized, thin sheet. Then add Tide.

This is how I do my wash. Please do the same so I won't be the only one.

  ¶ 4:32 PM

  Late last night, I caught part of a movie called The Legend of 1900, starring Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs) and that guy from the movie Heavy. Heavy, by the way, is really worth checking out. I'm sad I don't remember the guys name. Let me look it up... IMDB to the rescue, Pruitt Taylor Vince. Heavy also stared Liv Tyler. Pruitt Taylor Vince plays a guy in Heavy who isn't, well, the best looking man and is kind of slightly retarded -- to me at least, he might not have been slightly retarded and just had some issues. He falls in love with Liv Tyler, who has always been sweet the man, kind and all that. It's a great movie, and I don't want to give too much away. And besides, this post is going to be about The Legend of 1900.

Okay, Tim Roth plays a guy who's born on an ocean liner and named 1900. He can play the piano really well. Almost too well for his own good. He lives on the ocean liner and never leaves. Pruitt Taylor Vince plays a musician who befriends him. There are some amazing scenes in the movie. I came across the movie fliping and the first thing I saw was Pruitt Taylor Vince stumbling about as the ship rolled on the sea. Tim Roth convinced him to take the brakes off his piano and sit next to him. As the ship did it's thing, they road the piano about the ballroom while Tim played.

The Jazz in the movie is very nice. There's even a piano duel with Jelly Roll Morton and Tom Roth's 1900. The movie came out in 1998, and it saddens me because I'm just now finding out about this movie. It's just beautiful, and I just done mean the flappers either.

Some of the reviews of the movie seemed a bit heavy on the movie being a metaphor for life. One guy actually gave the movie a bad review because he thought it was a metaphor for cinema itself. So what if it is? Metaphors only work if the story can stand without the metaphor being noticed. And also, sometimes a poem really is about a tree or a forked road, not the many choices that life gives us. What I saw last night, could very well just be the story of a piano player living his life on a ship at sea. After that, it could be the metaphor for a lot of things. And this movie would tend, I think, more toward having allegory than metaphor.

It would be hard to mention Tim Roth without pointing out Reservoir Dogs. Reservoir Dogs is Tarantino's best. And Tim Roth is amazing in it. It isn't exactly a companion piece to The Legend of 1900 though. Reservoir Dogs is a love it or hate it movie. One day I'll do a longer post on it. My lunch has arrived, and I need to eat. So one last thing... "Why I got to be Mr. Pink?"

  ¶ 12:19 PM