skulls.

My mom and I have been seeing each other on a weekly basis lately, partly because I'm leaving for Italy in a week and a half, partly because she's more willing to come into the city -- probably influenced by the former. On our way back from the High we somehow got into a conversation about Il Purgatorio (because Dante is not usually very far from mind). About three sentences in my mom laughed, shook her head and said, "You and death."

What does that mean? Do I seem death-obsessed? I don't even think I'm morbidly-inclined. Although about 25% of my t-shirt collection does sport some kind death/skull/angel imagery (and I keep buyinig more). And I have three story ideas involvinig pre- and post-apocolyptic conditions. Do I talk about death a lot? I really hope not.

Off topic: Made a new mix CD of loud stuff. Some old, some new, hopefully nothing I repeat too often (I've been accused of being a "repeat offender" when it comes to CDs). There are 18 tracks with 5 rocks song sets separated by "breathers," all of which are hip-hop. This is the kind of CD Joey might like but Erica would hate.

loud. (v042807)

1. "March of the Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails (iTunes)
2. "Slaughterd" by Pantera (Last.fm)
3. "More Human than Human (Meet Bambi in the King's Harem Mix)" by White Zombie (iTunes)
4. "Shame" by Stabbing Westward (iTunes)
5. "Rapture" by Deftones (iTunes)
6. "Aliens (Hearing Aid Remix)" by Cassettes Won't Listen (IGN)
7. "Reckoning" by Unloco (Amazon)
8. "Assassin" by Muse (iTunes)
9. "Compagna Teresa" by Il teatro degli orrori (MySpace)
10. "Cold Sweat" by New End Original (iTunes)
11. "Bodies" by Smashing Pumpkins (iTunes)
12. "Hello New World" by Clipse (iTunes)
13. "Introduce the Metric System in Time" by The Hives (iTunes)
14. "The Shape of Punk to Come" by Refused (iTunes)
15. "1997 (Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's ...)" by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (iTunes)
16. "The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (of Control)" by Thursday (iTunes)
17. "Throw It On Me" by Timbaland featuring The Hives (iTunes)
18. "Tasmanian Pain Coaster" by El-P with Cedric (of The Mars Volta) (iTunes)

in un mese.

My name is Nick Campbell. I am going to Italy.Il mio nome è Nick Campbell. Vado in Italia.

why tv is awesome, pt 2

I don't think this episode was on recently but I used this in conversation with Katie the other day:

why tv is awesome, pt 1.

I have been diseased since Monday night which affords me the opportunity to watch even more TV than I already watch. Now I catch Frasier in the morning and the block of TBS with King of Queens and Seinfeld, Scrubs at seven then it's prime time ... you get the idea. Some may wonder how I can watch so much and still feel like an intelligent person, how I sleep with myself at night. It's all for moments like this:

Also in Italian.

nick campbell is going green.

Well, sort of.

As far as emissions go, I can't really get much more "green." My vehicle produces a bit of methane but I feel it's negligible. I could probably produce less trash and start recycling but that habit would never form with the daunting task of having to carry my recycling a mile and a half to the Whole Foods on Ponce. Many would be the times I'd say, "screw it" and toss the milk jug back into the trash can.

By going green I'm going to affect the fuel of my sole vehicle. Nick Campbell, gorger of Swiss Cake Rolls and plunderer of fast food, is going to start eating healthier. I hear you snicker a little bit and, believe me, even I'm snickering. But something has to change.

I waste a lot of my days. I go to school and work because of my innate sense of obligation but my free time, time for stuff I want to do, is wasted on Final Fantasy XII and watching TV. My motivation to get out of the house is only to ward off "cabin fever" and, even then, I'm good after a couple hours. My panic attacks have been more numerous (nothing severe or dibilitating ... just commanding more of my attention) and I feel sick a lot more often. Something's got to give and there are a few suggestions that a change in diet can at least help.

I'm not saying that eating some leafy greens with Cadbury is going to unburden me of self-imposed pressure but it can't hurt. If the healthy diet does nothing else I will be physically healthier. And that's good, right? I'm not expecting a full turnaround. Baby steps. Hopefully just acting on my diet will be a nice jolt. Maybe it'll even help with those methane emissions.

earn your way out of a friend's list.

I rarely update my MySpace page anymore. Just yesterday I updated my television preferences which listed Arrested Development as one of my favorite still-running TV shows. The only reason I still go is to check messages essentially (I'm not even subscribed to anyone's blog -- and never have been).

Bulletins will sometimes attract my attention and I almost always pay the price, being witness to a lot of personal surveys of people I know too well from past surveys, posts for events I'll never go to (not that I'm uninterested ... just not motivated), and, the worst, the evolution of chain letters. For these I'm pleased to see the two options at the bottom of each bulletin:

You can send a private message to the one posting the bulletin, celebrating/thanking them for the information/joy they brought into your life or ...

... you can erase them forever so they can never ruin your MySpace experience again.

A little extreme but I like it. Well done, Tom.

the swiss invade lichtenstein!

BBC News: Swiss in Liechtenstein 'invasion'

Troop: We've been walking for hours. Where the heck are we?
Officer: Fall in line, soldier.
T: Fall in line? The exercise was supposed to end like two hours ago. It's cold ...
O: What are you? A wuss? You're the defender of mother Switzerland's freedom! Cowboy up!
T: I don't recognize any of this.
O: Never been outside the country?
T: Of course I have. I've been to Austria, Italy, Germany ...
O: Apparently never Lichtenstein.
T: Lichten ... we're in freaking Lichtenstein?
O: About a kilometer and a half inside.
T: We're going to get in so much trouble.
O: Don't worry. I have a plan.
T: What's that?
O: We're going to take it.
T: Take what?
O: We're going to take Lichtenstein!
T: Take Lichtenstein? We're barely qualified to take a bath. Look at our party here.
O: What about it?
T: Dietzinger left to take a whiz half an hour ago, Stussi stopped somewhere to make a sandwich and three other guys hurt themselves picking their nose.
O: Really? Picking their noses?
T: They had to lie down.
O: They just need a leader!
T: No!
O: Someone they can believe in!
T: That's false!
O: Some motivation!
T: We're not taking Lichtenstein!
O: I don't appreciate your negativity.

if my life were a (more interesting) script.

EXT. SYMPHONY HALL - NIGHT

The elegant facade of the symphony hall, complete with rotating spotlights and a red carpet in front, do not quite match the patrons flooding from its doors after a show. Instead of upper-class, middle-aged couples dressed in tuxedos and gowns, we see throngs of twenty-somethings barely wearing an undershirt between their frail frames and the world. One of those twenty-somethings is NICK, a young man cutting a dashing figure in a sea of aesthetic ignorance. He passes a large banner for the Campus MovieFest just as people start to take it down. Nick pulls out his iPod and starts clicking through the menus. Running after him is JAMIE, another young man whose film was just shown at the event.

Jamie (O.S.)

Nick! Wait up for a second!

With one earbud in, Nick turns around as Jamie approaches.

Nick

What's up, buddy?

Jamie

What are you doing?

Nick

Trying to figure out why my iPod insists on always playing Paul van Dyk.

Jamie

Well, we're all going out to drink away the pain. You want to come?

Nick

Nah, I think I'll pass. I'm going to see Katie up at ...

Jamie

Nick, do you want to make movies?

Nick

Well, yeah. It's why I went back to school.

Jamie

So do we. You passed on working on this thing with us and that's fine I guess but it couldn't hurt to hang out with some people that want to make stuff. And we don't bite. It's like easy networking.

Nick

Where are you guys going?

Jamie

Right by your house actually. Meeting up at a friend's off Corley and maybe to Johnny's.

Nick

Corley? Where the heck is that?

Jamie

I don't know. It's a street right by your house, I think.

Nick

I'm pretty sure you made that up.

Jamie

I'm pretty sure I didn't. I'll take it from your changing the subject that you're not into it.

Nick

I'm going to visit Katie at the Vortex first but after that I'll give you a call.

Jamie

All right. Have a good night.

Nick

Take it easy, brother.

Jamie walks away and Nick slips his earbud into the other ear. He walks away in the other direction.

int. vortex midtown - night

Nick walks in to a bar that used to be a familiar haunt but is now strange. He sees ARTIE the famous bartender with whom he's decently aquainted and gives him a wave.

artie

Get bent.

Nick retracts his hand slowly.

He walks around to the dining area where three poker tables are set up. At the far side he sees an old friend he (and most people) call STABLER sitting next to someone who, from afar, looks like someone Nick knows very well.

Nick

(to himself)

Nathan's here?

Nick mosies on over to the table, gives a wave to Stabler and drops a hand on the shoulder of Stabler's fellow poker player.

Nick

Hey, man, what's uh ...

The man seated turns. This is NOT NATHAN.

Nick

(looking straight ahead instead of at Not Nathan; muttering)

Oh, g ... you are not who I wanted to talk to.

not nathan

Excuse me?

Nick

Stabler, why did you let me tap a stranger?

Stabler

It happened way too fast, man. Besides, how do I know who you know and don't know.

(beat)

Who'd you think it was?

Not Nathan

Do I really not know you?

Nick

I thought it was Nathan.

Stabler

Nathan? Well, I mean, I guess a little bit from far away.

Not Nathan

Who's Nathan?

Nick

I guess that's what I'll tell myself so that I don't feel so incredibly awkward.

Not Nathan

Is Nathan at least good looking? I'd like to be mistaken for someone that's good looking.

Stabler

Besides, isn't that Nathan over there making out with your girlfriend?

Nick

(spinning around quickly)

The what?

Stabler

Psych.

if my life were a script.

I've noticed over the past few months that my posts (especially after reading my MySpace blog) are a lot less personal. Whether that's good or bad is up to you I suppose. The reason why I've written less about myself and more about Italian television schedules is that the mundanity of my "work-and-school, work-and-school" life has not really inspired me to "write home" (so to speak). Don't believe my life can be that uninteresting?

Last night I went to watch a buddy's short film screening at the Atlanta Symphony Hall. After:

EXT. SYMPHONY HALL - NIGHT

The elegant facade of the symphony hall, complete with rotating spotlights and a red carpet in front, do not quite match the patrons flooding from its doors after a show. Instead of upper-class, middle-aged couples dressed in tuxedos and gowns, we see throngs of twenty-somethings barely wearing an undershirt between their frail frames and the world. One of those twenty-somethings is NICK, slightly more dressed up for the occasion but not by much. He passes a large banner for the Campus MovieFest just as people start to take it down. Nick pulls out his iPod and starts clicking through the menus.

Nick (V.O.)

Food.

He puts the ear buds in and we HEAR his MUSIC as he starts down Peachtree Street, a major road along which the symphony hall sits.

Nick (v.o.)

Food, food, food. All right. We'll head up to the Vortex and grab a bite. Sitting by myself and eating. I guess I can watch Katie zip around and unintentionally ignore me.

As he stops at a corner to wait on a light he looks up at the large office building in front of him.

Nick (V.O.)

Hi, Colony Square.

His eyes slide up the building until they reach the top where there is a small protrusion, almost like a shack or a small penthouse. He shakes his head vigorously and crosses the street with the light change.

Nick (V.O.)

Food.

The MUSIC goes OUT ON THE RIGHT SIDE. Nick is deeply troubled by this and plays with the iPod's headphone connection trying to get it right. The SOUND goes IN AND OUT until Nick gets frustrated.

Nick (V.O.)

(sighs)

Great. An awesome pair of headphones already gone. It's been two months!

Nick shuts the iPod off, wraps the headphones and slips the device into his back pocket. We HEAR the sounds of STREET NOISE now as he walks away.

int. vortex midtown - night

Nick walks in to a bar that used to be a familiar haunt but is now strange. He sees the famous bartender with whom he's decently aquainted and gives him a wave only for it not to be returned. Nick retracts his hand slowly.

He walks arond to the dining area where three poker tables are set up. At the far side he sees an old friend he (and most people) call STABLER sitting next to someone who, from afar, looks like someone Nick knows very well.

Nick (V.O.)

Nathan.

Nick mosies on over to the table, gives a wave to Stabler and drops a hand on the shoulder of Stabler's fellow poker player. He turns to Nick.

Nick (V.O.)

Aaa!

This is not the man Nick thought it was.

Nick

(trying to play it cool)

What's up, man?

not nathan

Not much.

Not Nathan holds out his hand for a half-shake/half-low-five. Nick complies with the stranger.

Not Nathan

Just trying to get to the final table, you know?

Nick

Right, right.

Nick looks at the cards being dealt for a moment then, as he doesn't know the person he just slapped hands with, loses interest quickly.

Nick (V.O.)

I can't eat here now.

tivu.

So many of my fellow students in my film classes use films as their points of reference. They are usually amazed by how many films I haven't seen, so amazed I've started to feel like I need to pad my DVD collection a little more and to Netflix all kinds of classic movies I end up not watching and sending back. I make myself feel better by saying I watch more than my share of TV. Sure, I have trouble naming Howard Hawks films but I can recite lines from just about every episode of The State, rank series finales (M*A*S*H and Mad About You float to the top ... seriously), and remember what two actors has shows that opened both the early-90s version of ABC's TGIF and its resurrection in the late-90s (The Olsen Twins with Full House and Two of a Kind).

It seems natural, then, that I would seek out some Italian television in order to help me with my listening and speaking of the foreign language. In my search I came across the FOXTV Italia site. Some highlights of programming available on FOX:

• Happy days
• Malcom (Malcolm in the Middle)
• Sabrina vita di strega (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)*
• Settimo Cielo (Seventh Heaven)**
• Streghe (Charmed)**
• Tru Calling
• Willy, il principe di Bel Air (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air)***

Apparently we're torturing the world with American refuse. I mean porting Tru Calling is just punishment. I think Eliza Dushku is hot but those pouty, shiny lips couldn't save that stinker. Sorry, Italy.

* Aired on ABC in United States.
** Aired on WB in United States.
*** Aired on NBC in United States.

out of the loop.

I am the only one I know that wasn't familiar with Jason Swinks. Katie and Jonathan know him from the bar scene, the Dog People know him through his adoption of a pup through them and I'm getting a ton of bulletins on MySpace about his funeral today at 2pm. He seemed like a nice enough guy, tons of people who cared about him. I guess he was just one of the in-town characters people loved and, since I stay inside all the time, I just don't know him? I blame Final Fantasy XII. Read up on a very popular, very missed young man: Obituary: Jason Swinks.

More in Mourning:
A Bad Weekend for Rednecks, Good Ole Boys, and Girls Raised In The South (GRITS)
Jason Swinks's MySpace profile
Memorial at Star Bar after the 2pm service.

underdog, live action. no, seriously.

During a marathon blog posting session a year and a half ago, I mentioned the rights for Underdog being picked up for a live-action picture. That's right: a live-action Underdog motion picture. Well, it'll be here in August.

In case you were wondering, yes, the dog speaks. Another stellar effort by the movie industry.

Il trailer di Underdog, il supercane! [Cineblog]
Underdog [IMDb]
Underdog Trailer [Apple Trailers]

nick campbell is (with parameters) number one!

Oh, how long I've waited for this. I've been on the internet for many years now but, with my relatively generic name, it's been somewhat difficult to make it to the top of a search engine list. Now, finally, I've done it.

Though my own webpage doesn't even come into the top ten, this blog comes in at number one, finally beating the "My Hero" Project by Nick Campbell of Juneau, Alaskam [sic]. Take THAT kid in a big baseball cap writing about his hero Martin Luther King, Jr!

Okay, so you have to type in «"Nick Campbell" Atlanta» to pull it up in Google but there it is. Here's a screenshot for you.

Screenshot of great Google search results. 1024x671, 120KB

It's one of the highest accolades for a person who spends most of his internet existence talking about himself.

for when your friends can't decide what they want.

Via Lifehacker I have found a solution for my problem of wanting to stuff my face with uncertainty of what I want to stuff it with.* Enter the Wheel of Food, a Wheel of Fortune type randomizer that selects restaurants based on ZIP code. Great for when you don't really feel like anything but you have nothing to eat at the house. And, if you're a gambler, great for randomly selecting a Valentine's Day restaurant (McDonald's is included after all).

I spun it and landed on Food Studio. If you insist, Wheel. If you insist.

* The man explaining the validity of "dangling preposition" is a linguistic professor. So suck it.

justice in the lust list.

At the risk of sounding jealous and petty, I have to express some serious disappointment in Creative Loafing's "Lust List". My displeasure with the list is nothing new. Almost every year I look at the "hottest" service professionals in Atlanta and think, "Wha?"

I'm starting my campaign here. Nick Campbell is in the service industry. Nick Campbell is moderately attractive (at least interesting-looking). Nick Campbell is at the very least a conversation piece. I'm a great candidate and my answers to the mundane questions would be better. I mean, best celebrity chef Rachel Ray? Why not just say Emeril? BAM!

So, for next year, do Atlanta a favor and think Nick Campbell when casting your vote for the Lust List. It's the right thing to do. I don't think Kenny will mind.

alla faccia tua!

My Italian class (which has become an exercise in how long an uncomfortable silence can last before the teacher or a knoweledgeable student intercedes) has taught me many things this semester but, possibly, one of the best is how to play the card game Scopa.

I was told this was a children's game, like how I used to play Go Fish or War ... but this is way more fun and, frankly, speaks to how much we believe American children are idiots. The first time I played Scopa I was surprised by how many ways you can score points (sadly, my only reference point of comparison is the time Joey and Chandler played Cups on Friends). But once you get all the relatively complex rules (complex compared to "you have any 7s? No? I'll go fish then.") it's pretty awesome. I've taught just about everyone I've hung out with in the past couple weeks how to play. And I have to tell you:

I am a master.

You should practice.

go slow.

I sat at Lindbergh Center Station, waiting on a southbound train when a soft-spoken man with a duffel bag approached me.

He: The board up there says next Lindbergh train in 11 minutes ... where's the Airport train?
Me: Sometimes the trains don't register on the board. The next Airport train could be here in two minutes or twenty minutes.
He: Oh.

He walked around for a while but I plugged my headphones back into my ears if for nothing else but to avoid any crazy ranting (he seemed the type). He waved me down again, however, and I removed my earbuds.

He: Do you happen to have sixty cents? I'm on my way down to Grady and was hoping I could stop into McDonald's for a cheeseburger.
Me: I think I have a quarter.

I pulled the wad of shelving pins from my back pocket, sifted past my house key and plucked the quarter from the mess. He was grateful and I awaited the usual "God bless you" response. Instead, he looked at me, thanked me and:

He: Don't go so fast. Go slow.

As the southbound train arrived and breezed by me, he reiterated his words, walking away backward. "Go slow. Go slow."

Me: I'll try.

What kind of portent have I been issued?

sympathy for the omnislash.

Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII

Lest some horrendous external event comes to rain disaster in late December, my Christmas is hardly ever ruined. My mom demands a Christmas list from me every year (even though now I'm far past the age where I should be making them) and my parents rarely go off book. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome my new ADIDAS shoes, my new soccer ball, numerous DVDs and, of course, my new video iPod. Cadbury also made out like a bandit with all kinds of chew toys, hay, treats and a slicker brush (which he tries to eat). My brother Josh, however, always has the most interesting Christmases of all.

You may notice the picture of Cloud Strife here (I know, this is yet another post making reference to a Final Fantasy game). The picture is there as a comparative tool. Josh has two unwavering interests: weaponry and video games. Josh's "poison" of choice (so to speak) is swords and he usually has some sort of ridiculous blade waiting for him beneath the great seasonal evergreen: one year he got a Braveheart replica sword and in another he received a naginata (the Japanese halberd featured in the poorly edited story I wrote, Christmas with Gouki). This year, his two loves were combined with the Buster Sword, the giant weapon Cloud has tipped on his shoulder. The replica has to be at least twenty or thirty pounds and four feet long (complete with materia slots). My parents got it off (where else?) Amazon. Without further ado, I give you motion picture of Josh holding a giant sword.

Josh carrying his Buster Sword replica, 320x240, 624KB (Quicktime)

nyc: don't block the box.

There's really too much to say about New York. I came out of Penn Station and was amazed. TV does not lie to you about the grandness of this city. Nothing I hate about Atlanta exists here: trains come every couple minutes, there are plenty of places to eat that aren't bars or $15/plate or chain restaurants, and you can walk to places. This city has an identity; Atlanta is trying to steal its own from others. This city functions; Atlanta is held together by paste and socially/environmentally-apathetic developers. This city is beautiful; Atlanta tries really hard.

But what would Katie love about this place? Sure, she would like the art, the scene, the not having to travel by car everywhere. But she would be in hysterics every couple of blocks on a major thoroughfare like 5th or 6th Ave. In each intersection is a painted area designating the boundaries of its interior: the box in which the two streets meet each other. Above each of these boxes is a sign that says, "Don't block the box - Fine + 2 points." She would have to be carried I think.

regali.

Cadbury demands you check out his wish list at Gifthat. He expects something from each and every one of you.

You can also check out my (lamer) Amazon wish list.