Today seemed like a normal day. Woke up (still in pain from the kidney stone, dammit), checked my email. Nothing significant until I hit my YouTube folder. What the hell!?!? Why is my NIN/Rick Astley mashup getting so much traffic!?!?!

One word: Digg.

And to think, this was a throwaway mashup! I should go make videos for the better ones (Billy Joel vs Jay-Z, Cure vs Commodores).

Gotta say, that was a cool way to wake up. Thanks to everyone for the hits and comments.

Thanks, Kevin Rose!

The burn marks from the Moxi Box. Read on…

I’m still alive. I have a roof over my head. I have food available to eat, and clean water to drink. In the grand picture of life, I am ok, but I think what I have gone through in the last week allows me a few minutes to complain…

Sunday
I drank nearly three quarts of liquids between Saturday night and Sunday (early) morning, but no liquid came out. All I had was extreme pain. After rolling around on the bathroom, bedroom and hallway floors in agony, Nora had to drive me to the hospital (for the second time). Classic moments from the hospital trip include:

* Me yelling at the nurse that I had no intentions of filling out forms again. I was just there less than two weeks ago. It’s 2009. You have a computer in front of you. Pull up the fucking file!

* I was on my second 1000ml bag of IV drip before I finally “went”. UGH!

* The x-ray tech, the nurse and the doctor all said the same thing: “We normally can’t see a kidney stone on a normal x-ray, but we can see yours.” Great…what do I win?

Wednesday
Around 2:10am, I awoke to the smell of burning electronics. I immediately jumped up, and started frantically walking around the bedroom, trying to find the source. Nora noticed the Moxi (crap TiVo clone from Charter) was not displaying the time on the front as usual. I hit the reset button, and heard “sizzle”. Bad. I went to touch it, and nearly burned my hand. I yanked the power cord, and moved the unit into the kitchen, allowing the unit to cool down. I will now summarize the next 17 hours:

* Run down to Charter Glendale, and complain on how their shit DVR started to catch fire. I also mention that I was actually supposed to be in San Francisco at the time, so I am lucky I was home, or else my entire apartment would have gone up in flames. Do they care? No. I get a one-day credit for the Moxi box not being used. I lose three years of DVR recordings, and had the risk of my entire apartment burning to the ground, and I get about nine bucks. Damn, Charter. Don’t hurt yourself now trying to please the customer.

* I get handed a temporary non-DVR HD box, and a slightly hollow apology. I come home, and of course the box doesn’t work. I then head back to Charter Glendale, and proceed to wait nearly an hour in their damn office lobby, before being told a tech would bring me a replacement Moxi.

* The tech shows up with a Moxi…the wrong kind. After he comes back with the right one, and sets it up, he leaves, and I plug in my 1TB external hard drive from my old Moxi. The new Moxi doesn’t recognize it. Great…I just lost three YEARS of DVR recordings! Does Charter care? No.

* The new box doesn’t pick up the channels I pay for! What the hell!

I am screwed. The day is wasted. I am tired, and the stone hurts.

Thursday
I get a bill in my mail. The first hospital bill (remember, I have gone twice to the hospital in the last two weeks due to the extreme pain of the 7mm kidney stone). How much you ask, dear blog reader, is the bill? A few dollars shy of $8,000! Fuck! For the money I am having to shell out for this damn stone, when it ever does pass, it better come with winning lotto numbers written on it! Two cat scans, some blood work, and fluid, is $8,000? Fuck.

Friday (tomorrow)
This shitty Moxi goes back again. If I can’t get my three YEARS of DVR recordings, why bother using a shit box that won’t even let me watch all the channels I pay for!?!? Then, at Noon, I am off to San Diego (hopefully) for the Depeche Mode show. As far as I know, it is still on.

Poor Dave. Cancer, torn leg muscle, and a vocal injury. He’s got about as much luck as I do lately.

(no picture - piece of crap isn’t worth promoting)

Charter had a DVR, and Moxi was it’s name-o.

Crappy DVR. Reboots when it feels like it. Flags content incorrectly. Buggy. Hated it.

Around 2am this morning, I woke up to the smell of burning electronics. The damn thing caught fire! Circuits inside the box literally were smoking!

I will not even start on all the TV recordings lost (1 TB external hard drive is now a brick, containing TV shows I legally recorded, paid $150/month to have, and yet now CAN’T HAVE!?!?!?).

I will say that it’s a good thing Depeche Mode cancelled their Shoreline show, or else I could have come home to a burnt out shell of a former apartment!

I hate Moxi.

Off to replace this crap!

On Thursday, I had an accident in the Burbank Mall parking lot. I have no idea if that triggered what is happening now, or if the events are unrelated, but I am having a sequel to my initial kidney stone from last year.

Friday morning, I woke up with screaming pain. I could tell almost immediately that it was another kidney stone. Dammit! The pain lasted all day. I was trying to “man up”, and just work through the pain, but - damn. It was just insane.

Saturday. Wake up, and I was only slightly constipated (hey - don’t complain - this is a full disclosure blog - you will get details like that!). Yay. False alarm? Seemed like it. Went upon the daily routine.

Sunday morning, 4am. Woke up starving…and in extreme pain. Fuck. Spent most of the day drinking water and lemonade, eating (with, sadly, no food leaving my body - bloat!), and in agony. By mid afternoon, I was lying in the shower, spraying scalding hot water on my abdomen (kidneys). It was the only thing slightly easing the pain. By 8pm, it was too much. Unlike the previous kidney stone, I needed medical attention.

I checked in around 8pm, Sunday night. I was asked my pain level (1 to 10). It was a 5…and growing!

After waiting over an hour in extreme pain (my pain level was around 9), I finally got some pain meds. I say finally because of all my fun allergies. Thanks Mom for being allergic to most pain meds, and passing that along to me! Another 20 minutes, and I was finally starting to relax, though the I.V. hurt.

I guess we have finally hit the future. No x-rays here. A fancy catscan machine (Toshiba!?!).

After waiting for close to another hour, we finally got the results. “You have a kidney stone”. Duh! I know! Remember? I said that when I walked in! A 7mm stone (slightly bigger than a quarter inch) is currently trying to make it’s way down, but was lodged. Fun.

Thanks to my new friend Vicodin, I am typing this blog up. Sadly, thanks to my new friend, I am typing this. The explanation: The meds they gave me in the hospital were great, and got rid of my pain. That, sadly, is not what the doctor gave me to take at home. The Vicodin got me to sleep, but I woke up at 4am (again!) in screaming pain. Another round in a hot shower, and now I’m doing somewhat ok (at 5:06am).

I’m going to be a bit hit or miss online for the next few days. I will report when this thing finally passes, and I can hopefully be in a pain-free world again.

Fuck. Getting one of these damn things sucked. Now another one? UGH!

A few notes on the last picture. I grabbed the first shirt I could find to put on to go to the hospital. Figures it was Mode. And, as for the candy…it was on sale. $1 a pack. I’ll have treats for months. Hey - I deserve it. I’m friggin’ giving birth here!

So I went to the Burbank Mall on Thursday. I’m leaving Bed, Bath And Beyond and heading back to my car. I see a puddle, and thought nothing of it. Sadly, my Adidas sandals did not agree with the oil and water mixture of the puddle…

I slipped with my left foot, and ended up landing on my right knee. As I was falling, I could tell my right knee would end up nailing the pavement hard, so I tried to instead lean into my right fist, and have that soak up most of the fall. Sadly, I forgot I was holding my car keys in my right hand.

It’s a few days after. My right knee/leg is sprained, and my fingers are bruised. Even typing hurts.

Grrr…..

Stupid puddle!

Ok, so I put out the call on the official DM Forum, the Depeche-Mode fan forum, my Twitter and my Facebook accounts to all the Depeche Mode fans. Let’s hit Twitter with a LOT of #depechemode related traffic. Not “spam” per se, but let’s all type a lot about #depechemode.

And you know what? While we did not make the Trending Topics on Twitter, we all got DAMN close! According to hashtags.org, while we did not crack the “Top 10″, we did peak at a very respectable #17! Not bad for very little preparation, and doing minimal promotion. Imagine what would have happened if I had promoted the event on DM’s official Facebook profile (over 800k people)!

So, say you were one of the people who participated today (and there were a good size number of you all). Say you want to keep doing this. Well, it is easy to keep doing this…

EVERY time you send a “tweet” on Twitter, include #depechemode. You can type it #DepecheMode, or #depechemode. Just make sure you do not type a space between “depeche” and “mode” (#depeche mode - that is wrong!), and make sure there are spaces between what you type and #depechemode (I love Shake The Disease #depechemode). Also, for the most effect, DON’T mention the other Trending Topics in your tweet! A few people did that today, and all that essentially does is waste your tweet.

I might organize another Twitter Blitz soon. In the meantime, thanks to all who helped out on the experiment, and keep tweeting #depechemode!

Hey Depeche Mode fans. I am looking to conduct an experiment, and I need your help…

This is something that I, as a fan, am doing, and not something officially related to my “9-to-5″ job.

I want to see if we, the Depeche Mode “masses”, can take over Twitter.

I don’t want to spam Twitter, but I do want to see if we all can talk about Depeche Mode enough to make #DepecheMode a “trending topic“.

So, here goes.

Monday morning, starting at 9am EST (eastern time), I want you all to log into your Twitter accounts and spend THE DAY “twittering” about Depeche Mode. Don’t spam, but just talk about Depeche Mode…a lot! Link to recent videos of the Tour Of The Universe on YouTube. Link to your favorite music videos (all available in the video area of depechemode.com). Put a link to your favorite songs on iTunes or Amazon. Just make sure you spend the day (and I mean the full day) “twittering” about Depeche Mode.

What’s the point?

First, I want to see just how much the “masses” can affect Twitter. If this works, I want to conduct a test afterwards to affect the Singles charts. Second, there’s something in this for you. For your time, and your “twittering”, I will reward you…but ONLY if #DepecheMode appears as a “trending topic” on Twitter. If I see that happen (find me on AIM to alert me - username “bratmix”), I will pick five random people on the list, and send them a Depeche Mode prize (promo CD, stickers, et cetera).

I want to see if we can really cause a trending topic to happen. And I want to do it without blatant spamming! I just want you to talk about #DepecheMode a lot.

Examples of what to “Tweet”:
#DepecheMode lead singer Dave Gahan is hot!
I love Shake The Disease by #DepecheMode
I’m watching Waiting For The Night from #DepecheMode new tour footage (tinyurl link)

Remember, starting at 9am EST on Monday, July 6th (and for the day, or until #DepecheMode is a “trending topic”), start Tweeting! Let’s get #DepecheMode noticed!

“Tweet” this to all your Depeche Mode friends on Twitter:

BRAT wants to do a #DepecheMode tweet test, and he needs our help: http://tinyurl.com/ms4p87

One of the things I do for one of my clients is to go and police YouTube. Basically, I go through YouTube every few days, and search for the latest uploads. If items are taken from officially released home videos, from their web site, or are literally just CD rips with a still image, I yank them. Simple. Boring. Life.

While searching, I stumbled upon this one girl, who made a few funny little clips about Depeche Mode. A small video blog. I don’t know…maybe it’s just me, but I found the videos funny. Lots of fans make fan videos, or sing along to songs, but I thought that these videos were just cute…and didn’t scare me like a lot of the fan clips do! So…I decided to reward the person with a DM Prize Package(tm)!

After a few emails back and forth, I got her mailing address, and sent her the new Sounds Of The Universe box set, as well as some other DM goodies lying around in my garage. The video is linked below.

Side Note #1
I actually do this more often than you would expect. I usually don’t talk about it, but I sort of have to mention it now since there is a video on YouTube, “outing” my charitable ways.

Side Note #2
Want to be a winner like Katrina? Soon, I will be re-introducing the goodies giveaway on depechemode.com. Watch the DM site for further updates…

Side Note #3
Some random pics of my garage, and DM goodies just waiting to find a new home…

View Katrina “Unboxing” Her DM Prize Package:
View View on YouTube

Nora, upon seeing the artwork for Depeche Mode’s Sounds Of The Universe, said it looked like a fondue set.

I guess that’s all I needed to get me going…

www.fondueoftheuniverse.com

A cheap fondue set, Testers model paint, some black spray paint, and a grey posterboard.

I have officially lost it.

In celebration of frying my last few overworked brain cells, my new theme song…

Napoleon XIV
“They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” (play mp3)

And if you’re truly adventurous, below is the original b-side of the 7 inch release. It is literally the entire song, backwards. Note the Italian sounding vocals at the end…errr…beginning…uhh…

Napoleon XIV
“!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” (play mp3)

Now if you will excuse me, I am off to moderate YouTube trolls and MySpace spam.

AN ALERT FOR ALL DRUNK ASS, INCONSIDERATE, CLOSET-GAY, ED HARDY-WEARING, DOUCHEBAG BASTARDS (AND TUPPERWARE BREASTED, I-CAN-SEE-YOUR-RELIGION, DRIPPING WITH “THE AIDS”, TRAMP-STAMPED WOMEN)

Stop coming to concerts that I attend.

Seriously.

I am trying to hear a quiet part of the Nine Inch Nails show. Do you honestly think I give a fraction of a FUCKING FUCK about your life? I did not pay hard-earned money to hear you whine to your friends about shit. I did not drive hours on end to hear you and your drunk friends screaming “WOOOO!”, followed by “What is this song? I’ve never heard it.”

FUCK OFF!

Here - enjoy what I have all over my NIN recording from last night:

douche
Live, Irvine, California, May 20th, 2009 (play mp3)