A True B-Rated Movie Plot and Coldplay

Same stuff, over the past two weeks; I put in close to one hundred hours at work. At least I'm getting used to the morning drive and the price of gas has dropped significantly over the past month.

We axed someone at work who, over the past several weeks, started showing signs of insanity and loose screws. He often shared his thoughts of paranoia, claiming that the world is out to get him, and spent his breaks researching on historic wars and borrowing audio books from the public library to justify his claim that he is the center of terrorists' intentions of world domination. During a meeting with management over his poor performance, he stated that his work is the result of the injustices thrown at him. Loony claimed that he was fired by one of his past employers, who happens to be from the middle east, after the movie "Sum of All Fears" was released. One of the actors in the film happens to share the same last name as Loony. He thinks that all people from the middle east have a secret agenda to go after everyone that shares the same last name as this unknown B-rate actor because they didn't like the way their people were portrayed. He also talked about how the Khmer Rogue is after him and that the FBI planted microphones in his apartment. Where cuckoo got these ideas, I have no idea.

I first met him about three months ago when I was still working in Palo Alto. The company wanted me to train him for two days before he started his regular hours. At first I thought he was kind of weird and tried to let it all slide, but after a couple of hours I couldn't help but think, "This fucker has a fake smile and that crazy killer look in his eye...". A month later when I transferred to Burlingame, he happened to be working in the same office and when he saw me again he just kept to himself. I later learned that he thought I was some sort of spy for the CIA and that the company sent him to Palo Alto for me to check out and continued my investigation when I transferred to Burlingame.

Well he's out now, but the day he was let go he made mention of a journal that he keeps and a list of names of people that have done him wrong over the years. He says he will get revenge someday. In some ways I feel sorry that this guy has a psychosomatic illness and is emotionally unstable... on the other hand he fits the description of a Rambo knife wielding madman.

Sounds like a movie.



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x&y
Originally uploaded by lokeliko.

Maybe my expectations are too high. Coldplay's new CD, X&Y, comes out this Tuesday. I already got a copy from work and all I can say is that its the same Coldplay formula that we all know. There are some standout tracks but there's nothing new- the opening track "Square One" reminds me of "Politik" from "A Rush of Blood to the Head", which in turn reminds me of "Don't Panic" from "Parachutes". Even the first single, "Speed of Sound", sounds like "Clocks" revisited and several songs sound like "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face". There are a few new things like the use of an organ on one of the songs and they kind of copy the dream pop sound of My Bloody Valentine on a few tracks, but nothing impressive that has the staying power like the first time I heard "Yellow", "Trouble" and "Shiver". Maybe I need to give this more of a chance, some of the songs are starting to grow on me, but I never had to wait for a song to grow on me from the first two albums. Don't get me wrong, this CD is awesome, but I expected so much more. Chris Martin's voice is definitely better in this one though. There were moments in "A Rush of Blood..." when I thought his voice would crack or sounded like he was just one note off from being tone deaf, but he seems pretty solid here. But lyrically, the content is closer to "Politik" than "Yellow". I thought this would be my "CD of the Summer".

Silent Alarm from Bloc Party just might be it instead.