Friday, February 29, 2008

Bonus!

Yay! Leap Day!!
I think it would be kinda neat to not have Leap Days, though, and instead, every century or so, have an additional month thrown into the mix. Call it Smarch, or Additionary or something.

This being the end of the month, I figure I'll do my monthly add-up of the posts (not sure if I'll do this through the whole year. I don't know that anyone besides me really finds it all that interesting...)

2/1 - 132
2/3 - 159
2/5 - 170
2/7 - 309
2/9 - 418
2/11 - 643
2/13 - 769
2/15 - 621
2/17 - 141
2/19 - 745
2/21 - 130
2/23 - 361
2/25 - 428
2/27 - 422
total in Feb (not including this post) - 5,448.
Which means, excluding this post here, my total wordcount for the year is 9,875. Hrm.

Also, movie update!

"The Waterboy" - I think that I became stupider watching this. In fact, I think having it exist in the universe is a constant drain on the intelligence on all of us. It's like an intelligence black hole. It just sucks the brain-power out of any living being that stumbles upon it.

"Enemy of the State" - wasn't bad, considering it was a Brukheimer (sp?) film. And it was oddly prophetic. Um. In it's way. *glances nervously at Big Brother*

"The Faculty" - I'd seen this before, but I was assigned to screen it for work (that's actually why I watched the other movies, too) and I can't complain. This is pretty underrated little flick. I mean, it's got Lilith (from "Fraiser"), the T-1000 (from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"), Frodo, and even Jon Stewart! All in a late-90s-hipster-ironic take on the Body Snatcher mythos. Tentacles up!

"Annie" - First movie of the month that I watched at home. We own this on DVD, and Irina just decided one day to put it in the DVD player, and there we go. It had been a while since I'd seen it. I totally forgot that Tim Curry was in this. Heh. Rooster.

"Big Top Pee Wee" - Watched at home, but we got it from the library. Man. This movie just was ...not very good. Especially in comparison to the awesomeness of Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

"Eragon" - Yay, dragons! This was totally Lord of the Rings: Lite Version, but I... um. Kinda liked it. Yeah, it was derivative, and unoriginal, and predictable, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I doubt seriously that they'll end up making the sequel, which kinda sucks, but, if they do make it, I'll totally rent it.

"Mystery, Alaska" - Watched at work. I've seen this one before, too, but again, can't complain.

"Live Free or Die Hard" - In the next Die Hard movie, I hope that scientists capture John McClane and study him in order to figure out why the laws of physics don't apply to any area he's around.

Now that I've gotten the month-end duties out of the way...well, I was going to make my blog entry, but I surprisingly don't have anything to talk about. I had stuff all set up originally (I'm pretty certain that I was going to blog about 2/29 and ...something else...) but [shrug] I guess I'll simply say that I hope everyone had a great Leap Day, and I'll see ya'll in two days.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

And now you know... the rest of the story

Heh. I'm not sure where that quote comes from, but it's amusing me nonetheless.

I should warn any viewers that I am currently semi-delusional from a sickness and a pulled chest muscle that is resulting in a fair amount of pain and a lot of lack of sleep. Not quite UTP@, but certainly not in a normal frame of mind. [/disclaimer]

So, remember about a billion years ago, when I started a story on my blog about some teenagers who dabble in black magic, and end up summoning a demon named Bocal-Sha? Remember how I didn't finish it?

Well, here's some closure, of a sort:

Part 1 was actually almost self-contained, and pretty damn interesting, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, the second part was not as great, and I sorta lost focus and the intensity from the beginning.
ANyway, here's what I had originally planned on having happen:
Anthony (the narrator) was going to hook up with Bocal-Sha (eww. Not in that way!) who was going to have him perform tasks that would increasingly become more and more ...deadly. The tasks would start out small - a petty theft here, some vandalism there - only to graduate on to the bad stuff - arson of a neighbor's house, and maybe even eventually a murder.
The payoff would be that as Anthony was doing these 'favors' for the demon, his personal life would be improving - he'd become more popular, get elected student body president, etc.
Long story short (too late!), even though Anthony would not have a moral objection to doing things for Bocal-Sha, Craig would, and the two would eventually clash over Anthony's actions, with Craig wanting to turn Anthony in for his crimes.

Throughout the story, it would never really be clear whether the demon actually existed. Craig would even raise this point to Anthony, who would begin to wonder himself if he was, in fact, creating the demon in his mind.

The final confrontation between Anthony, Craig, and Bocal-Sha would end with Anthony having a gun and knowing that there was "only one way to end this.", and pulling the trigger - leaving it unclear whether he shot himself, the demon, or his friend.

But, as I said, I never got around to finishing the tale, so, you know... um... heh. Obviously endings = not my strong suit.
The point is, in case anyone was still wondering about "Thy Master's Bidding", now you know how it would've all gone down, had I actually written it.

Monday, February 25, 2008

A Lizard Tale

When I got home from work today, the girls wanted to go out in the back (Saren has discovered that there is a feral cat living [occasionally] beneath our porch, and has decided that she is going to capture it.), so we all went out there.

Harper and Irina played on the swing set, I started sweeping the porch, and Saren went over to the side of the porch to see if she could see the cat.

A few minutes later, Saren announced that she had 'found a lizard'. !!

The next thing I know, my oldest daughter had a small brownish lizard in the palm of her hand.

I quickly came inside and got Steph's camera, then went back out and took a picture of the animal.
Lizard on her arm

We were laughing about it as it crawled up her arm and onto her shoulder... and then not laughing so much as it made its way into her hair. Ack!

Holding her hair back out of the lizard's path, Saren was able to grab a hold of it and get it back in her hand. She said, "It's shaking!" (Probably from fear, but maybe the cold?) And then, as she was getting ready to put it back on the ground, she said, "Eww!" and dropped what I thought was the whole animal. But when I glanced closer, I could see that it was just the tail. Still squirming.

The body and the tail had separated [I just looked it up, and it was most likely a Cope's Leopard Lizard, since the site I saw stated that 'when threatened, it will exhibit "freeze" behavior, and is capable of caudal autonomy(tail separation).] Nifty! Saren had dropped both parts of the lizard, but I had only seen the tail fall.
When we looked down, though, we could eventually see both the lizard body (sitting on the side wall of the porch, noticeably breathing, but not moving away from us) and the tail (in the dirt, twitching nonstop).

Saren had read that sometimes certain lizards lose their tails when frightened, which I had read before too. Here was proof that those texts were telling the truth!

Steph was still inside on the computer, so I picked up the twitchy-tail, and brought it in to show her. She took some video of it on her camera, although we haven't uploaded any of it, so I'm not sure how well it turned out and here's a picture of it.
Discarded Lizard Tail

Eventually we returned the tail to the dirt and said good-bye to the little reptile.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sunday, busy Sunday

(potentially) Lots going on tomorrow.

The Life Learners have set up an 'archaeological' dig - I don't know all the details, but evidentially, there will be a paleontologist leading the group on a simple dig throuhg part of the Nevada desert tomorrow, looking for fossils. "Dinosaur Dave" is the guys name, which makes me suspect that the event will be catered toward the younger crowd, but I'm still looking forward to going. Doing stuff outside is of the good.
It isn't clear whether we'll be attending, though, because Harper and Saren have both come down with flu-like symptoms (and I've been keeping the sickness at bay myself), plus, it starts at 10am, which for the girls, is the equivalent of, like, 4am for most people.

Also taking place tomorrow - from 11am - 1pm - is a funeral for Mr. Koker, who was the man who owned the television station back in 1995 when I first got hired there. He passed away this past Sunday, from a heart attack. He had been battling cancer the past year as well. The Kokers are really great people, and I am saddened for their loss. I don't know if I'll be attending the services, since we might be out doing the dig at that time.

One of Steph's aunts is having dinner at her house tomorrow night, and has invited us to join in, so that's taking place as well.

There's also the Academy Awards, which, interestingly, I don't really have much interest in this year.

And tomorrow is the tin anniversary for Steph and I. (Or, "diamond" if you want to go by modern tradition...[what does that even mean?]) It was ten years ago (tomorrow) that we became husband and wife in the eyes of the law. Hooray!
Ten years! Man, that's quite nearly 1/3rd of my life! I guess to celebrate we can go dig up ancient bones, or attend a funeral, or have dinner with extended family, or watch an overlong award ceremony on television.
It is remarkable, though, how quickly a decade with Steph has past. And how it has been, without a doubt, the best portion of my life.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Do you realize how fast you were going?

Cross-posted on the WD

There are certain songs that, when you hear them while driving, cause an involuntary reaction of speeding up. They're called "Drive Fast Songs". (Or something less lame, if someone has a better suggestion)

Here are links to some youtube videos of the ones that cause me to generally break the speed limit:

"Mrs Robinson" by the Lemonheads.

"Song 2" by Blur. (Woohoo!!)

"You Could Be Mine" by Guns n' Roses (Added bonus - Terminator 2 related video!! [cool])

"Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine (and, actually, pretty much anything by RATM)

And, of course, Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55". (Yeah, I know. [eyeroll])

So, what song(s) cause you to put the pedal to the metal?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Roger: Rebirth

Previously

Since the vessel was Tynokian in design, I was unable to operate any of it. The ship would only respond to the DNA of Ator, or another Tynokian being.

It was unknown whether her demise would impact the ship's communication with her, or if the crash had damaged the ship's AI. There was one way to find out, though.

I grabbed one of Ator's limbs and pulled it out briskly. It detached from her body with a slightly liquid sloop sound. With her arm in mine, I approached the secondary computer screen (the primary monitor had been demolished in the wreckage). I lay the appendage on top of the screen and applied a small amount of pressure, hoping that the arm/computer connection would be established.

Three seconds passed, and there was a slight hum. I moved Ator's digits in a complex pattern on various sections of the computer, trying to boost the amount of power that was going to that part of the ship.
The entire pod that the computer monitor sat upon glowed dimly, faded, glowed brighter, then went dark completely.

I tried again, and was rewarded with the computer display remaining on, although at a low intensity. If I were truly human, I would no doubt be unable to see anything beyond the front of my face.
As it was, I had enough light to see one of the many reflective surfaces inside the vessel, and I noticed that my forehead had a rather deep scar across it. It was not, I assumed, unattractive - the thought that it "added character" came to mind - but what was startling was that I had not had the scar when we had begun the voyage.

How did I know that?

My memory retrieval was still at perilously low levels, and it was odd how bits of things were crystal clear to me, and other things - such as my primary mission - were complete blanks.

I knew, for example, that I was created on the planet known as Tynok, which was some 34 light years away from Earth. I knew that the Tynokians and the Earthlings were engaged in a conflict, and that I was created to resemble an Earthling. My image, and some of my history, was stolen from a real life Earthling named Roger Hobbs that the Tynokians had captured. I did not know what had become of the real Roger Hobbs, nor whether I was supposed to replace him. I knew that my true body was more or less a powerful computer and robot, with the outer appearance of Roger Hobbs on the outside being composed of skin, muscle, hair. The Earthling DNA-shell was comprised of the DNA of Roger Hobbs, and also bits of nanotechnology, which allowed my 'body' to heal itself over a period of time. (Which meant that the damage to my forehead [and arm] had happened when we had crashed, and the nanotech had not had enough time to fully heal my forehead, resulting in the scar)
I knew that there had been five ships - each one of them carrying a Tynokian pilot and an "Earthling" such as myself - on their way to Earth...for some reason. I knew some of Earth's history: The Earthlings had arrived near Tynok years earlier after receiving signals from there, and had attempted to colonize the planet. Apparently their planet was close to becoming uninhabitable, and they had fled. ...which again raised the question - if the planet was deserted, why had we flown here? What was the mission to Earth for?

My main objective at this time was to make contact - either with one of the others, or with Command Central.
I moved Ator's arm again, and had the computer determine where exactly we had landed. Going over the flight logs, it appeared that when we left Tynok, things were fine. Once we hit hyperjump, however, things went wrong. The life support had shut down - as had I - and when the ship(s) had emerged from the jump, we were in freefall. Calculating the trajectory, it appeared that we were on Earth, and should be approximately 1.1 kilometers underground.

I removed the side door and stepped aside as dirt poured into the vessel. I then began the tedious job of digging my way upward, leaving the ship behind me.

Forty three minutes later, covered in dirt from head to toe, I emerged aboveground, and took my first look at this new bizarre planet.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Let's get digital

One year from today is the date that all full power tv stations in the US have to broadcast completely in digital, shutting down all analog broadcasts.
Which means, unless we take advantage of the coupons being offered by the gov't, to get a converter box, our television will no longer pick up signals. Boo.

We most likely will, but I'm irritated that we have to.

Change is bad!

Re: Roger - don't worry. I'll be coming back to it. I would've done so today, but we weren't here for most of the day, and I'm too tired to really write anything right now. (Obviously!) Today we drove to Calico Basin near Red Rock and found a letterbox, and then stopped at the Sahara West Library, and had dinner at Black Bear Diner. Overall, a very good weekend day.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Roger

Diagnostic System Check:

Visual Data Input - 68.33% - [compensate for low light level? y/n]
Aural Data Input - 100%
Tactile Data Input - 84.81% - [sensoral input compromised in left arm]
Memory Retrieval - 14.48% [CRITICAL LEVEL]
Mission Overview - ERROR [base status]
Command Center Communication - Inoperable... No Signal Detected ...

Something was wrong. The journey had been a success - I could detect that I was in fact on Earth - however, this was not how the arrival should have been. The vessel's emergency lights were not operating. The life support system was not operating. Which meant that Ator was...not operating. I called out.
"Ator?"
No response. I listened to the silence of the vessel for a moment. It was evident that no living thing was aboard the ship. Only my own machinery was producing noise within the range that I could pick up. Had Ator left the vessel? How long had I been down? What had caused the darkness...?

Speaking of the surrounding darkness, my system diagnostic overlay was still requiring a response on whether to compensate for the low light level. I confirmed, and instantaneously my optical nodes switched to infra-red.

I swiveled my head to take in my environment.

It was evident that the vessel had crash landed. This explained quite a bit. My injuries and memory loss, the darkness, Ator...

Ator's lifeless body lay nearby. A piece of the vessel had penetrated her skull. Four of her eyes starred vacantly. The other four were no longer visible.

I took stock of my own injuries - my left arm was not responding to the rest of my body. Looking over, I saw that it was currently pinned beneath part of the vessel. It appeared to be part of the hyperdrive, in fact. I sent the command to the arm to move, but it failed. I leaned over and pushed the hyperdrive with my right arm. It budged slightly.
I scanned my files on hyperdrives and calculated that the weight of the machinery here on Earth would be approximately 997.9012 kilograms, give or take a few with the damage it had acquired in the crash. I was strong, but I could not get enough leverage to move such a heavy weight.

I do not eat, so if I could not free myself from under the hyperdrive, I did not have to fear starving to death. I considered shutting down until rescue arrived - the other four ships should have... The other four ships? Where were they? Had they had similar trouble in landing safely? Had the Earthlings countered our fleet before we could surprise them? I simply did not have enough memory of how I had gotten in this situation to assess what had taken place, nor what exactly to do next. Most alarming was the lack of communication with command center. Perhaps no rescue was coming. Could it be that the war was over... and we had lost?

I began to pound the hyperdrive with my free hand. Repeatedly punching the drive was ...therapeutic, in a way. The rhythmic pounding filled the vessel, and reminded me vaguely of my creation in the Tynokian factory...

Soon, the vessel's hyperdrive was damaged enough that I could free my arm. I did a quick diagnostic check on it, and determined that it would heal in a few Earth-week's time. Although it would be optimal to replace it completely once my mission was accomplished.
Of course, with the hyperdrive destroyed, the pilot dead, and the home base not being in communication...I was stranded. On Earth.

I proceeded to head toward the exit of the vessel. Looking out the window, all I could see was darkness. Upon closer inspection, the vessel was enveloped in dirt. Ator and I were underground.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Plot points, panhandlers, and purple coins

A few days back, I got an award. My blog, this here collection of my thoughts and viewpoints, was given an "E for Excellent" by my wife, because she believes that I am a writer who deserves it.
For whatever reason, the first (and strongest, and most constant) reaction to the words of encouragement has been, "Yeah. Right." Or just plain cynicism and/or denial.

But. There is another reaction that has been slowly coming to be the dominant one, and that is, "Well, even if I don't see it, other people might, and ...you know, maybe I should just get over myself and write."

I haven't yet, but that's part of what I'm blogging about today. I have a story idea (yes, another one) that has been stirring in my brain for a little while now (Wednesdays, when I'm on the bus, seem to be the days that I get the most thinking/tinkering done.) The story has changed over the past 3 Wednesdays pretty radically.
And it occurred to me today, that the thing that has me stuck is that I'm trying to (still, all in my mind) get the story to work around certain plot points, rather than just letting it flow naturally. I'm like, "Okay. I need X and Z to happen... how can I make it get there from A and B?... Well, what if I get there from C and D? No... what about trying to go from A and E?" and so on.
The bad thing about doing things this way is, obviously, it keeps me from actually writing. So long as I'm still trying to get it perfect in my mind, I'm too scared to get it out on paper (or screen), so I've got that excuse to lean on.
The other bad thing is that it's just frustrating to know that I really want these plot points to happen and I can't figure out a logical way of doing it. Work better, brain!!

Anyway, the point of this section is twofold. Or three. Or ten. The point is this:
My wife is awesome, and I thank her for being who she is, and for loving who I am.
And I will write again.
(okay, that was only two points. I'm UTP@, so that's my excuse for any ......incoherency.)

Moving on.

About a year ago, I was walking to the bus stop near work and was approached by a man wearing a fast-food uniform. He asked me for some money, after explaining that he was a manager at said restaurant, and that he only needed money because he was on his way to work and his car had broken down.
The story seemed suspicious at the time, but I didn't have any cash anyway, so I couldn't help him out.

However, several weeks later, I was approached by the same man...wearing a different uniform, but giving the same sob story. "My car broke down, and I'm on my way to work. Do you have any change?"

Jump to today. One of my coworkers was approached by a guy claiming to work at the Fatburger up the road, and his car had broken down...

Now. Either this guy has the worst luck possible when it comes to cars (and keeping a job), or (and I thought this idea up when I was telling Steph about it) he's living his own personal Groundhog Day! So everyday he is on his way to work when his car breaks down and he needs to get some money. (Why his job location would change each time isn't clear, but the Universe is a strange place.) either way, I wish the guy well and hope he is able to get whatever it is he needs.

Last point!

The wind outside has been superbly powerful tonight. Gusts have been up near 50mph, and it's rather creepy sounding.
Earlier this evening I was playing Super Mario Galaxy (for the first time in about two weeks. I'm nearly done with the whole game, but want to complete it...completely for ...um. completion's sake.) The galaxy I was on was "Purple Coins on the Summit", wherein the goal is to travel around the world collecting purple coins, of which there are 100.
(I've attempted this galaxy before, and died with 99. Frustrating! That long jump off the summit top was where I failed the previous time)
So, I'm going along, and I actually did the long jump off the summit, and I have 92 of the 100 coins... and the power goes out in the house.

Mama mia!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

The heat is on

Well, no. It's off.

Let's back up some, shall we?

Yesterday we got the majority of the living room floor tiled, and the television and the computer and the sofa all set back up to resemble an actual living area. (Major freaking YAY!)
But, for whatever reason, the Universe decided that we were having too much good things in our life at the time, and decide to pitch a curve ball.

Our heater would not shut off. Despite turning the thermostat down. Or up. Or off. The vent would continue to blow air. Eventually, though, we noticed that it was not heated air, but cool.
Interestingly, if we switched the thermostat to 'cool', the air conditioner would kick on (in addition to the continually running 'heater' air). So, basically, the heater's fan was stuck on, even if it wasn't blowing hot air.

I called the air conditioning repair company, and they had someone come out to fix our heater, within about two hours of when I called.
About ten minutes, and two hundred dollars later, the problem was fixed.

For about ten minutes.

The heater fan kicked back on, and again stayed there. Bah!

I called the company again. The repairman called back and told me he'd be there shortly (he was on another call, but it was just a few streets down). Guy came back, went back up to the roof and replaced the faulty part (it was called the relay switch). Fortunately, he didn't charge us for the second visit. He did, however, inform us that while the relay switch was part of the problem, it was quite possible that another part of our thermostat looked old, and could need replacing soon. I forget what that piece was called, but it was another 167-ish dollars, and we didn't have that type of money [still don't] and since the heater was working again, we said, "Okay, thanks! See ya later!"

Today, while I was at work, the heater would again not shut off it's constant blowing of air. Lovely.
I left work early, came home, and got the necessary information to go to the payday loan place, and then proceeded to get 300 dollars lent to me. (Payday is Friday, so I'll pay it back [with interest, of course] then.)
I then called the heating repair company and told them to come out and fix the problem. Again.

Only this time the dispatcher said, "We'll have someone out there tomorrow between 8am and 10."
Um. Tomorrow?
"Today would be a lot better."
"I'm sorry sir. I'll put you on standby, which means that if an appointment is canceled or doesn't show, you'll be the first person we call, but otherwise the soonest we can get to you is tomorrow morning."
"Fine."

At that point, I went outside to the fusebox, and, through trial and error, found the fuse that controls the AC/heater. It's off now, and has been since around 2, when I called the company. (They've not yet called, so it's most likely not going to happen today. [sigh])

Fortunately, the temps during the day have been high enough that we don't need a heater. At night it still gets chilly enough that we turn it on (which is what got us in trouble to begin with), so tonight may be ...uncomfortable. But, we'll survive. And when the guy arrives tomorrow, we know exactly (sorta) what part needs replacing, and we have the cash to pay for it, so we should be back in business by 10am.

In other, non-heater-related news, today is "How are you doing on your New Year's Resolution?" day. I'm doing great on my "blog every other day" one (which really is, I think, harder than blogging every single day). We won't discuss the "exercise more frequently" resolution, because that's just...no.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Little boxes, little boxes

When you stop and think about how much of the average American's time is spent in front of a box (like a computer screen or a television) or in a box (like a cubicle where work is done, or the vehicles that resemble boxes) or trying to categorize things into boxes (which candidate do you vote for?)... well, it's kinda depressing. So, you know, I guess that's why most people don't think about it.
It really is easier to ignore it. Or just accept it numbly.

This entry is not turning out the way I wanted. Well...no, I guess that's not entirely accurate, because I didn't know how I wanted it to turn out. I spent the last ten minutes staring at the computer screen, trying to decide what I was going to blog about, and that got me thinking about how I had just wasted ten minutes of my life, staring at a box. And how I stare at boxes a lot. And while that could be a good thing or a bad thing, it's just... a thing that is, I guess.

But, really, I didn't want this post to be all negative. Things are pretty good around here, for the most part. We are just about done with the living room floor (YAY!) which means that we will soon be able to go back to living there instead of all cramped in Harper's bedroom. We opted to go with the peel-and-stick tiles for the living room floor instead of staining the concrete. It looks pretty good, and I think overall the application will be much easier than staining would've been. But the point is that the living room will be liveable again, which will be a huge improvement.

Also, the weather has taken an upswing, and we are back in the 60s during the day (with lows in the 40s) so the heater can be turned off, and we can go outside and experience the greatness that is springtime (um. in winter. Crazy Vegas weather.).
Seriously, the last two weeks of February are generally the time that Vegas has the best weather in the world. The February-trees will be blooming soon.

And, as Steph mentioned in her post yesterday, the taxes are done, so we should be getting our refund in about 2 weeks. And while the fact remains that the money has more or less already been spent (you're welcome, CapitalOne), it will still be a relief to receive it.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Shiny pictures like crack

46 episodes of Lost remain, and I am totally in for the ride, no matter where it goes.

My as-yet-to-be-disproved half-baked theory of the moment? The Island grants immortality to people who live there. Obviously not pure immortality, as we have seen many people die there, but I think if you could survive on the island and avoid being shot or stabbed or devoured by a polar bear or smokey or drown... you'd live to a ripe old age of...oh, forever. You know, like Jacob.

This kinda explains why The Others can't breed, too. The Island (or Nature, or Fate...or something) would want balance, and if you are going to live forever, it doesn't make sense for you to be able to procreate. Ya know?

In other tv news, having 'favorites' on Survivor for this season was a brilliant move. We "know" half the players from the get-go, which certainly helps in having people to root for (or against). Micronesia looks to be a beautiful location, too, so I think that this should be a fun go-round. Unlike China, which was beatiful, but had some of the most unlikeable players ever. At least this time around we have Yau-Man, and Ozzy. Yay!

I've been catching up (slowly) on Dead Like Me the past few weeks. The first 3 or 4 episodes were fun, but not really all that amazing. But now, they are starting to pick up, and I can see the real potential of the series start to shine through.

I've come up with a theory (it's too far out there to be remotely accurate, but it does have a sort of P@-logic to it...) for John Connor's continued existence, even if Skynet is defeated, but I don't know that anyone is interested in hearing it.

And lastly, Weeds? That's some good shit.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Imagine my disappointment

No superpowers!! Today is Super Tuesday. And, yet, I'm still a mere mortal! What up wit dat, yo?

Perhaps my powers just haven't kicked in yet? (Although, man, they better hurry. It's almost 8pm, and I go to sleep in another 2 hours...)
Or maybe I got a power and didn't realize it? Like, the power to communicate with frogs or something. I mean, I didn't see any frogs today, so how could I have put the ability to the test? Also, that would be a rather weak power.

Upon watching the news, I see that Super Tuesday has something more to do with politics than heroism. Hmph. So I guess that means that the politicians get the super powers today. OBAMA-MAN!! The power to instill hope in a completely broken system!! (And probably communicate with frogs)

Additionally, today is Pancake Day. Mmm. Pancakes.

Now, if this were a fair and just universe, the two would be combined, and a super-powered pancake would be elected for President.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Well, gosh.

Outcome of Buffy Bowl (um...9? 8? I have no idea anymore):

Evil (The Mayor) was defeated by a near-death Willow completing the spell that destroyed the box of Garnok.
Surprisingly, there was no death in the game. Nobody died on either side! Oz wolfed out a few times, and Faith got a few good jabs in on Buffy, but otherwise it was pretty quiet in Sunnydale. The only real thing to note about this year is that it was the first time that Harper participated.

As for the Superbowl ads... the FedEx one with the giant pigeons and the Thriller-dancing lizards were the only spots that I remember being amused by.

But despite the game being low-key, and the ads being less than stellar, the whole day was not a wash. The Buffy game was fun, and Steph made some really yummy salsa & chicken legs.
But I really do hope that I win next year's battle...

Friday, February 01, 2008

Blogging with Irina

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I did have things typed here, where I was transcribing the interview between Irina and myself while she sat on my lap at the computer. She then backspaced over all of it, wrote the above, ordered me away from the computer completely, opened a new window, tried to google "adyfo kyhulpp;oa9da" (which prompted google to hilariously ask, "Did you mean adyfo khulloa9da?"), tried to bookmark the page, and eventually grew tired of being online and gave me my seat back.

I think overall she had a good birthday. When we asked her yesterday what she wanted for it, her response was, "I want to sleep."
She's wise beyond her years. :)

Happy Birthday, little Bean.