Rantings, Writings, Gripings and Such


Here's where I write, get weirdly creative, get stuff off my chest, talk about life and what have you. Check back often for new updates.

Non-Blog Stuff

This is all the stuff that showed up on this page before I started blogging, and occasional stuff that's too big to reasonably fit on the blog. Most recent stuff on top.

"The Mourning Glory"
Hey, guess what? I started a novel. It's all science-fictiony. Want to try it out? Jump on in and give it a go.

The Best Man Toast
Printed copy of the best man toast I gave at the my friend Aaron's wedding in September, 2006.

One Night in Serenity
A link over to the Nice Guy site, and to an essay I wrote on my amazing journey to my first Hollywood premiere and after-party.

'Twas the Week Before Christmas
Another Nice Guy "Rant Shack" link, this one to a Nice Guy Christmas tale told in verse.

My One Great Entrance
George Costanza longed for one. As it turns out, I actually had one. Thanks to a girl named Jennifer.

We Were the Gang at Lyon's
The rewriting of a Billy Joel classic, now telling the tale of two decades of a group of friends...mine.

A Journey to Ireland
This links to my travel journal of my trip to Ireland in March of 2003. Lots of pretty pictures, too.

The Accidental Hooker
A little cautionary tale about what not to do when you're running from the Phoenix police

The Racqui Debacle
Just like the fruit of the same name...dates can go bad

Wheelchair Life
Or at least my take on it when I was in a crappy mood in 2003 on night and wrote this... I'm better now. Thanks for asking.

Can you spare some change for...a guy who doesn't need your change?!!

The day I found it was possible to shake one's moneymaker while just sitting still

VH1 Behind The Music: The Lounge Axe
I had a weird creative idea one day when I was looking at a bunch of photos that I'd scanned of me and friends of mine. I noticed that if you put some of them together, it kind of looked like we're in a band. Then I thought it might be fun to see if I could put a series of otherwise unrelated pictures together and make them into a story. What follows is the story of the greatest band that never lived. Hope you enjoy.

The Nice Guy
Did I mention I write an online comic strip? I do. Click the link to check out the adventures of Jeff, the quintessential"nice guy", his pals Frank and "Peg", and his great unrequited love, Becki. Just a little slice of life/humor comic you might enjoy. Check it you, and make me and artist/co-creator Tim Watts very happy guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael O'Blogger

Here's where you'll find links to entries on my blog, not including general site update postings and stuff like that. Again, the most recent stuff is at the top of the list, so if you want to go in order, start at the bottom and work your way up (just like life...).

Horribly Free! Again!
Hey, Dr. Horrible is free again! I had to share!

"The Dark Knight" - Above and Beyond
My review of "The Dark Knight". Uh, AWESOME?

Dr. Horrible - All Three Acts - Free This Weekend Only
Of course, by the time you read this, it'll be too late...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Only from the mind of Joss Whedon could come a super-villain love story musical starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. Oh, and a girl, too, I should probably point out. Gotta love.

Kings Flashback - The Return of J-Will!
In the second home game of the 2000 season, Jason Williams is back from his suspension and in uniform for the first time. Think some magic will happen? Have you MET Jason Williams, fool?

Cough. Cough. Cough.
Northern California is STILL on fire. And it's 108. Magical combination for the air quality

Top of the World (Wide Web)
It's official - I'm the #1 Michael O'Connell on the net!

Kings Flashback - Kings 2000 Home Opener!
The tough road series is over, and Kings fans rejoice as their boys return for the home opener at Arco Arena!

Kings Flashback - Kings at T-Wolves
The 2000 Kings continue their road trip with a stop in Minnesota...on a very sad night

Weirdest weather report I'VE seen lately...
Strange things happen to the weather report when half the state of California is on fire...

Hulk...uh...Mike not sure WHAT Hulk does...
My review of Marvel's second attempt to reboot the Hulk franchise

Kings Flashback - Kings at Detroit
More 2000 Kings ball action as Chris Webber heads back to his hometown with his royal brothers to take care of business

The 100th Post!
My milestone 100th blog post! As is tradition when bloggers hit that mark, I present 100 facts about myself. Make a sandwich...this could take a while

Kings Flashback - Kings & Cavs, Double O.T.
More game analysis as the Kings season-starting road trip takes them to Cleveland for a big showdown

Kings Flashback - My Early Sportswriting Days
Beginning a series of Kings game analysis pieces I wrote back at the start of the 2000/2001 season for a planned Kings page that never came together. Relive the magic of the Sacramento season opener!

Wait...we actually DID get cheated?!!
Big news in Sacramento sports as a long-held conspiracy theory about the Kings/Lakers 2002 Western Conference Finals maybe gets a little validation.

The Indy 4 Review
My review of Indianna Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Warning - movie nerd rage ahead

"Handlebars" - The OConnellMD Remix
Planning ahead for my future rap album, I started with this me-centric rewrite of the Flobots tune

John Adams
My review of the amazing HBO historical mini-series...and modern America

Indy Watch
My nervous thoughts about the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones film, hours before its showing at Cannes and the inevitable first reviews

Joss is back!! Next year...
The news on my man Joss Whedon's unexpected return to television!

Dr. O's House of "T"
One tee shirt turned into the official tee shirt store of MichaelOConnell.com

Only funny if you've seen "Sarah Marshall"...
The first of my tee shirts designed on Zazzle.com, a gag from the big summer '08 comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

America Feels the Need. The Need...for Iron
Me gloating about Iron Man kicking Speed Racer's brightly-colored ass at the box office. You'd think I made the film or something...

I'm Not a Violent Person. However...
...there ARE a few people, listed here, that I may have to smack...

Iron Man - Pure (Red and) Gold
My review is this summer's Iron Man...and why the future looks bright for geeks like me

Spoilers Bad! Common Sense Good!
Find out what "spoilers" are and why, if you use them, you will go to Hell.

Summer Movies - The Score So Far
My quick review on the first three summer movies of '08 that I saw - Street Kings, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Harold and Kumar 2

"The Wire" - Unplugged
My thoughts on the remarkable HBO series after I finished all five seasons

Floating Thoughts
Just some random things in my head, on life, shaving, the Dakotas, lunar exploration and Steve Guttenberg

The "Un-Vacation"
How I took a week off...and yet still went to work every day.

My Entire DVD Collection. Seriously.
My intro to the new addition of my master DVD collection list to the site

Just a Gorram Coincidence?
Hey, did Firefly creator Joss Whedon actually rip off the Nice Guy? Sweet!!! You be the judge...

The Grate T ypo Contesst
My open invite for folks to edit me from afar...and score a big prize!

Life Before Cable - The ABC Sunday Night Movie
A look back at just about our ONLY option to see movies back in the day after they left theaters. Nostalgic clip links included

You Might Be As Old As Me If...
A lengthy checklist of facts and memories that, if you share them with me, MIGHT make you feel as old as I did when writing them

Wild Turkey
A slightly creepy but true tale of cops and turkeys

The SacTown Summer Movie Nights Begin!
The breakdown, for all my Sac folks, of all the big summer movies of 2008, their release dates, and links to all their trailers - and the call to mount up and see some flicks!

Random Memory Theater, Part 1: The "Runnig" Men
Learn the shocking true tale of my criminal past, and how some bad deeds can go unpunished - and yet can reward the wrong guy!

Friday Night Thoughts
Just some thoughts as I chilled on a Friday night after a very hard week Learn why you should get a My Yahoo page, and why you need to spend more time at Snopes.com

10 Random Things I Learned from George Lucas (in the past 10 years)
Meesa thinkin Lucas oughtta diiiieee?

Danielle vs. the Ninjas
The epic tale of my niece's broken collar bone, and the fierce ninja battle that gave it to her

The War is Over! Long Live the Blu-Ray!
The day HD-DVD went down, and Blu-ray was crowned the high-def movie king

The Indy Trailer's Here! The Indy Trailer's Here!
Some thoughts on Dr. Jones the day the trailer for the 4th film finally hit the net

Super Bowl '08 - Mission Park Style!
Talking 'bout Super Bowl Sunday with the gang here in Sac

"Fun" with Netflix
Back with Netflix and griping already

Mission Park - The First 20 Years
Intro to my "Mission Park Journey" photo music video that shows the history of my long-time group of friends

Let the Journey Continue!
My attempts to help save "Journeyman" on NBC, yet another one of the shows that I totally dug that got the ax early

Cloverfield Night
Thoughts after getting back from opening night of "Cloverfield"

Dear "Me" (Part 1)
A letter written by me (now) to me (then, on the day of my high school graduation), where I give myself a few hints of what's coming in the future

Back on the Netflix Teat
Thanks to a jones to check out one particular TV series, I become a slave to the big NF again

FQA (Frequent Questions Answered) About Nicole
Some 4-1-1 on my site assistant, Nicole

The Blackout Blog - Epilogue
The final word after the storms passed - and I finally got my juice, and my home, back

The Blackout Blog - Day 3
The lights are STILL out? Wow...

The Blackout Blog - Day 2
The powerless fun continues

The Blackout Blog
The beginning of my writing during the great Sac Blackout of January 2008

Attack of the Fonts
Me getting giddy after a big font sale. I'm easy to please...

2007 - The Year in Review
My recap of my life in 2007 - the ups, the downs, all that

Top 10 Things You Really Don't Want to Hear at Midnight on New Year's Eve
At lease I don't...

My Day in a Haiku - 12/29/07
Pretty much just what it sounds like

Dear Hollywood
A graphical message to Tinseltown

The Missing Brest
How does one amazing writer/director just disappear from Hollywood all together? I set out to solve the mystery

Dumped
A tale of love, loss, and gravity, and how all of them have things to teach us

Kill Mr. Bill
Just me screwing around with my graphics software

Guy Stuff I Don't Get (Part One)
While I am a guy? Sometimes, I just don't get us...

Munchies for Nothing
Learn more than you need to know about my lame non-cooking kitchen life, and about a nice surprise with a grocery delivery

The Home Fires Burning
My thoughts on the 2007 San Diego fires, as they were still burning

Radio Symmetry
Some thoughts on a night of harmonic radial convergence

...But I Love Her.
Sometimes the best lessons in life can be learned on television. Here's one of my favorite examples

My Rules
Someone asked me my life rules...so here (most of) them are.

And the Nominees Are...
Props to my cousin Ryan and his acting troupe, nominated for Elly Awards!

A Gift is a Wish Your Id Makes
Me talking about my Amazon Wish List (and why you should have one)

Occupational Maneuvers in the Dark
The tale of my challenges to enjoy my overtime...due to people who just don't know when to leave the lights off

The Play's the Thing, Baby
My giddy thoughts after getting Branagh's "Hamlet" on DVD after ten years of waiting

Weddinz a Comin'
Some brief thoughts on some upcoming weddings of people I know

I Own the Most Annoying Lamp EVER
And here I explain why

In Other News...Where IS the News?
My lament on the state of today's TV "news" channels

Minor Flats
Yes, wheelchair tires take air. And if they don't have any in them, it can make for a very annoying Saturday

When Irish Guys are Blogging
The first blog entry

 

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