Present and accounted for

A few months ago I received a gmail from Pete Dulin, editor and publisher of local e-mag Present Magazine.

He wanted to interview littl ol' me for a feature he was working on for the June issue about local bloggers. I figured he was doing a best-of/worst-of thing and needed a worst of, so I did the interview.

Fast forward to today, I get another gmail letting me know the June issue has been published (you can download the PDF doc here).

Present is a really cool publication. Pete and his writers do a great job covering the local scene, and since I learned about it I've developed a habit of printing it out and taking it to the bathroom at work for a few hours... but I digress.

The point is, the June edition has several entertaining interviews of local bloggers along with a nice column about the sociological place of blogs within the greater human condition.

And I was surprised to see Three O'Clock in the Morning listed among some really great blogs like Death's Door, Tony's Kansas City and NctrnlinKC.

So do yourself a favor. Go download the magazine and read how much of a jackass I made of myself.

PS- JD, don't get too bent out of shape on this one, it was a Kansas City article, so you really don't qualify. Feel free to submit a post to the KGB carnival, tho.

tagged: Kansas City, blog, magazine, culture, present

This thing's got legs

The Kansas Guild of Bloggers is really starting to pick up steam. Thanks to everyone for submitting posts and helping spread the word.

I also want to welcome two Kansas bloggers who have recently "joined" the group: Big Simon in Independence and Melissa in Hayes.

Now on to business. Choose your favorite Kansas-related post from the past week and submit for this week's KGB Carnival. I'll post the submissions (and some posts that I come across on my own) on Monday, June 5.

And don't forget to mention this call for entries on your blog and include the submit link.

Thanks. Check back Monday for the roundup.

tagged: Kansas, blog, blogger, carnival, KGB

YouTube Tuesday: I'm just dealing with a lot of crap right now...

Seth Green and the rest of the crew at Robot Chicken are comic geniuses. If you need any further proof, check out this brutal Star Wars send-up.

The Evil Emperor, playing the part of an arsehole CEO, learns of the destruction of the Death Star.

"That thing wasn't even fully paid off yet! Do you have any idea what this will do to my credit!"

tagged: movies, YouTube, video, Star Wars, Palpatine, Robot Chicken, humor

KGB Carnival for May 29

Another great week in Kansas Blogging with some great posts submitted by KGB operatives. Let's jump right in...

• Dan goes after Kris Kobach with Kris Kobach Sold His Soul for Right-Wing Street Cred posted at Gone Mild.
  
  
• Simon Takes the Scenic Route at Big Simon.
  
  
• Joshua Rosenau is Back from New York at Thoughts from Kansas.
  
  
• John B. is also out and about and presets Travelogue II posted at Blog Meridian.
  
  
• Eric Gruber is working it out during The Summer of Steak at Grubesteak.com.
  
  
• Paul Decelles posts some amazing pictures and commentary about A Hidden Gem at theforcethat.
  
  
• j.d. examines a different kind of space with Cowley Co. College students punished over myspace blog? posted at evolution.

And this week's Honorary KGB blogger goes to...

• Melissa at Space and Time represents Kansas' west side with an interview of the baby sitter that wasn't hired.

Well, there you have it. Travel seems to be a theme today, which is appropriated given the holiday.

So get off of the Internet and go out and enjoy the day.

Cheers!

tagged: Kansas, blog, blogger, carnival, KGB, travel, Clinton Lake, baby sitter, Amazon

Swimwear

With the summer beach season quickly approaching, I've decided it's time for some new swimwear. I'm considering this little number, though it might be a bit too "speedo" for me.

What do you think?




tagged: swimsuit, thong, speedo, nude, naked, fashion, humor

Amelie Friday, back by popular demand

All of the avid readers of this blog (well okay, one of the few readers of this blog) are demanding (well, casually inquiring) that Amelie Friday make its triumphant return to Three O'Clock in the Morning.

Well, far be it from me to disappoint (actually, that's what I do best, but do let's proceed).

Here's how it works: I list three things I like and three things I dislike from the previous week. Then, you add your own list in the comments.

Here’s my list for this week:

Things I Like

• Three-day weekends (who doesn't like that???)
• Dinner and drinks on the corporate card
• Boulevard Wheat on the deck at O'Dowd's on a sunny afternoon

Things I Dislike

• When the week-old bag of stinking, rotting, fermented grass clippings breaks open all over my legs as I'm bringing it to the curb the night before trash day.
• corporate reorgs (who doesn't hate that??)
• Having high expectations dashed by mediocre novel writing

Okay, that’s my list for this week. Add your own list of likes/dislikes in the comments section. Or better yet, post them on your blog and let me know so I can link to them. Let's make this a regular thing.

Have a great weekend.

tagged: Amelie, Blogger, corporate, Boulevard Wheat, O'Dowd's, Da Vinci Code

West Side represent, yo

Quick, tie a string around your index finger.

This string is there to remind you to submit a blog post for the Kansas Guild of Bloggers Carnival that will be posted on Monday, May 29.

Here are a few quick guidelines:

• Participating bloggers should be either living in Kansas or should at some time have lived in Kansas.
• Or, participating bloggers should have at some point traveled through, around, or over Kansas.
• Or, participating bloggers should have something to say that would be relevant to people living in Kansas.

That should about cover everyone.

One thing I would like to see more of is bloggers from western Kansas. Recent KGB carnivals have been pretty east-Kansas heavy, so if you know anyone from the West Side, tell them they better represent, yo.

And it always helps when you mention this call for entries on your blog. Feel free to include the submit link as well.

Thanks. Check back Monday for the roundup.

tagged: Kansas, blog, blogger, carnival, KGB

Book Report: Welcome to two years ago

I picked up a copy of an obscure little novel the other day to help pass the time during a long weekend trip to a high school graduation ceremony.

You may or may not have heard of The Da Vinci Code, a quick little read that swept the nation a couple of years ago. The fact that I just picked it up last weekend pretty much makes me the last person in the known universe to read it.

My initial thought after reading the first few chapters was "Hey, they should make a movie out of this."

But seriously, I gotta say, 50 chapters in, I don't get what all the hubbub is about. Sure, it's a good yarn, but I haven't read anything that I would consider controversial.

So the fictional account of the quest for the Holy Grail attacks Christianity. You would think Christianity would be used to this by now. There have only been, what, a dozen or so Holy Grail movies? None of which were as good as the opus by Monty Python.

But then again, it's not like Catholics are lining up to burn embassies over this, so no biggie.

My biggest disappointment is in Dan Brown's writing style. This is the first of Brown's books that I've read. The plot is rife with twists and turns, but the structure the narrative is a bit clipped and full of literary gimmicks.

There are lots of four-paragraph flashbacks, for instance. And did you notice how Brown sets up a really tough situation only to have a character resolve it simply by having flash of intuition?

"Langdon had no idea how they were going to figure out the secret combination. Then suddenly it came to him. The combination was his social security number in reverse."

See what I mean? I dunno, just seems a bit too easy to me.

But still it's a passable novel if not a classic. I'm looking forward to finishing the read, then seeing the movie in a couple of years when it's out on DVD or aired on HBO.

tagged: books, Da Vinci Code, movie, Dan Brown, writing, controversy, culture

"So I nearly got killed today"

Okay, I'm about a month slow in finding this story (thanks Andrew at J4TR), but I still wanted to ask this question:

How much you wanna bet the 'shooter' in this scenario was doing the Robert De Niro Taxi Driver "You talkin' to me" routine in his bathroom mirror --- with LIVE FREAKIN' AMMUNITION!!!

The Anti-Otter was damn lucky to come away with only a splattering of drywall shrapnel.

I think this incident lends support to my theory: Guns don't kill people, jackass numbskulls do.

tagged: gun, shooting, Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver, culture

Axl to grind

Speaking of 90's has-beens, I almost missed this story out of New York.

It seems Axl Rose, the sole remaining original member of Guns N' Roses, got his ass kicked by fashion force Tommy Hilfiger in a New York nightclub last weekend.

Ostensibly, the brawl was about Rose moving the drink of Hilfiger's main squeeze. But according to the NYPost, there's more to the story (isn't that always the case?)

"...the combatants have been at odds since Rose started dating Diane O'Connor, the ex-wife of Hilfiger's adopted brother, denim designer Michael H.

One source even went so far as to claim that the Hilfiger brothers had made a "pact" to pummel Rose on sight."

Rose tried to laugh off the incident. But if I were him, I'd be super embarrassed at getting the beat down from glorified tailor. What could be worse than being Tommy' Hilfiger's bitch?

The way I see it, his only recourse is to pull a Tony Soprano and pick a fight with the biggest, baddest bloke at fashion week (assuming he can a big, bad bloke at fashion week).

tagged: Axl Rose, Tommy Hilfiger, New York, has beens, fight, pop+culture, Guns N' Roses