Tag Archives: tv

9047 – sun

I was feeling particularly creaky this morning – got up an hour earlier than expected – So, BHK turned on the ol’ recorder, wand we checked out what was sitting on the magnetic circle, patiently waiting for us to view and delete.

The Soup ! Woo hoo!

Invader Zim Halloween Special… groovy!

Some werewolf thing… feeble, at best.. we watched for about 15 minutes, and then purged it.

And then, BHK found the shimmering diamond amongst my recordings of good eats and house…. Namely, Legally Blonde, the Musical on MTV. I was surprised to discover that there’s an Internet Broadway Database, kin to the Internet Movie Database.

She near to squealed with joy! Clapping her hands and exclaiming hooray, we sat down to watch it… I enjoyed watching her watch the show, more than the show itself, which was entertaining… I liked the bit about the Sorority being the Greek chorus, and the animal training of her dog was well done, especially for a stage production.

It was 3 hours long, dear journal. Thank goodness for high-speed commercial skipping. Without the breaks, I’d guess it was more like 100 minutes.

After tube-time, we spent a few moments doing e-mail, and whatnot we realized that the kitties were three meals from consuming us in our sleep so it was off to the store to pick up food-type reinforcements for the boys.

Though we thought only to grab some kitty-kibble and dash, once inside, we were sidetracked by a few things… namely peppermint candy cane flavored Hershey’s kisses and the holiday display. By the time we got out, supper time was upon us and there was a chinese food joint across the street that I’d never tried. Problem solved.

We got home, laid out a picnic blanket in the living room, set down the food and watched our remaining Ugly Betty (more Broadway – Wicked, this time.) and a Ramsey’s kitchen Nightmares from the UK. while we folded laundry.

A downright pleasant day, all told.

1 year ago – St. Aug pix

2 years ago – newt on keyboard, herm mending, two things meme, smackers, moving out, more oilman pix, godray/talkers, newt pix

3 years ago – newt switch, hollywood pd, database shuffle, texas chainsaw w bunnies, patriot act, patriotism

4 years ago – Frankie still around, locusts, lj pops, back heal pic, cool linkies, meanie babble

5 years ago – verb, palm cave art, Halloween candy gone.

6 years ago – RAW, Haiku, Tolkien, dead links

7 years agoSmitten, David Duke, Movies, FLIFF Geotarget

9024 – sun

No Zombie Fluxx yet! ack! We’ll be picking it up next weekend, hopefully. I’d like to have it in time for Halloween!

Went grocery shopping and then to get a Wii, but they were sold out – I nearly picked up a copy of Portal to tide me over, and may next time if the Wii isn’t in stock- I hadn’t seen any portal reviews on the new Orange box (Half-Life2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 (multi player), and Portal, plus previous releases of HL2 and HL2:episode one) I think it’ll be worth picking up, possibly just for portal alone – TF2 looks pretty fun as well – I really like the “Incredibles meets First Person Shooter” school of art. I’ll likely download it from Steam rather than pay for it at Target, unless the price is significantly different.

Post-shopping, we swung by the in-laws to watch The Natural with them and Louise. Not a bad movie… not as good as I remembered it, but maybe I was tired, too.

We went home, went up to our “treehouse” for a late supper of leftover Chinese food for me, and fresh cheddar on whole wheat crackers for BHK – watched the first episode of Journeyman – slow rolling but got better at the end. Quantum Leap redux – seemingly uncontrolled time travel, following a person to set things right, can bring items back and forth through time. He also seems to return to his home time, unlike Sam.

We also watched the Simpsons – corn maze / police dog episode. Poor to fair writing. I think the best part of the treehouse is just curling up with BHK and the boys for solid snuggles and comfort – especially nice at the end of the day.

It’s a good thing I gobbled up what I did – our fridge is now officially *full*. I don’t think anything else could be put in there, without knocking something over.

I wish I had Plastic Man or Mr. Fantastic’s stretchy abilities… I really don’t like running up and down stairs to the treehouse with stuff or just to see what’s going on once I’m settled in and comfy.

stetecheyes

1 year ago – mostly pics and video, gaming w/danny, election rigging

2 years ago – monster name, break dancing Dr. Zaius, Tarot meme, friday 5, 3 in a row picture

3 years ago – palm doodles, gray pumpkin ‘shop, dollhouse murders, flashtub

4 years ago – Halloween

5 years ago – moon pie contest, luck theory, work issues

6 years ago – love song, nap-coma, Cosquilloso, por supuesto, admirer poll, 28

7 years ago – membrane keyboard, ladies man, R.A.Wilson, donations, dogma Geotarget

9020 – thurs

Busy day at work – they had me before I even sat down – doing a lot of quick database fixes. a few items got confused, fortunately, we’re all good about keeping proper backups to all triggers, tables and such before doing any fiddling.


This is National Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day. Ah well, I missed it! Maybe next year. Probably not. I wouldn’t mind getting a Plush version of a Water Bear. (also known as Moss Piglets)


Tasty Junk food treat – Kellogg’s Cereal Straws– I’m a bit more partial to the Froot Loops version over Cocoa Crispies, but both were snacky-good. The first think BHK said to me was that “Matt is totally going to review these, and you’re going to have wanted ’em, so I beat him to the punch”…. and they are yummy, even without milk.


The Office was one of the better episodes in a long time… funny, and bittersweet, too. Ugly Betty is just ludicrously goofy as well.


Moment of lyric – via – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNO56xNlZo

Well, I’d like to visit the moon
On a rocket ship high in the air
Yes, I’d like to visit the moon
But I don’t think I’d like to live there
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I might like it for one afternoon
I don’t want to live on the moon

I’d like to travel under the sea
I could meet all the fish everywhere
Yes, I’d travel under the sea
But I don’t think I’d like to live there
I might stay for a day there if I had my wish
But there’s not much to do when your friends are all fish
And an oyster and clam aren’t real family
So I don’t want to live in the sea

I’d like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar
Go back in time and meet a dinosaur
There’s so many strange places I’d like to be
But none of them permanently

So if I should visit the moon
Well, I’ll dance on a moonbeam and then
I will make a wish on a star
And I’ll wish I was home once again
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I may go I’ll be coming home soon
‘Cause I don’t want to live on the moon
No, I don’t want to live on the moon


Video games may reduce gender gap in spatial ability


Jimmy Carter: I Don’t Think It. I Know It Certainly. The Bush Administration Tortures.


1 year ago – YOP, pictures of neighborhood life, tussionex,

2 years ago – mopey, monkey-children in danger on bikes, herm boo-boo ankle, M*A*S*H during bloodwork

3 years ago – mr skelly, grocer, cheap CDs, eye of the storm, mass e-mail, Trolley, Dad’s Home,Reefer man, Herc/Xena ‘toon, Halloween clip art, Doom, Giant ape,subterranean hawk men dance, Hats, bro, context, walkabout pictures

4 years ago – Bewitched name revelation, surgery dream, pumpkin stencils, Joker Poll,Bro shenanigans, misc cool linkies, dia de los muertos, book of sand

5 years ago – PB&J otter, saw Ray Iglesias, worldwar, magic pebble, Made a DanHeroclix, Hot shower, Beekeeping, Zombie – alert, boogie man poll

6 years ago – Jiffy-pop monkeys, chimera / tantivy, evil news, haiku, bus ride, brain edibility probe, DB wrecks work surfing at IMT

7 years ago – Morning walkies, back when I worked the noon-8 shift, grumps, worddetective, post 509, god’s wheel, million monkeys, missed debates Geotarget

9016 – Sun

Went to Game night yesterday at the Clampets – met some nice folks and chitty chatted… didn’t do a lot of gaming.

A pair of CPAs, Clare- a Teacher of chemistry at the Naval academy, a network cable guy (Eric) in addition to Brent (travel agent), Alison (Pampered Chef Home sales), Nick (not sure what he does) A pretty fascinating study in “nice people who don’t share any of my opinions on things”. A pretty conservative, heavily church-going bunch, but very kind and tolerant. I think that Amy would like Nick, and that Kev would really dig Clare, if I was of a match-making bent. The game we played was a “get to know you” sort of thing, where you have cards, and try to figure out what a person say if asked questions like “Where’d you last get groceries” / “How often do you Vacuum a month” / “How many Piercings do you Have” / “Favorite Politician”.

It was a little shocking to me to hear otherwise similar to myself types say that they thought George Bush was their favorite politician, without a shred of sarcasm or irony. I’ll do better to pretend I’m in bizarro-world next time I make my guesses.

Picked up lots of goodies for Bugah and Em for the co-birthday celebration next weekend – Em got Moon Sand, Aqua Dots and a little robot-kitten – Bugah got a Wave-style skateboard, and a 4-up Nerf rocket launcher. I think that they’ll be pleased. Plus, I want to play with the Moon Sand and Nerf Gun. BHK picked up some glow in the dark filler Aqua Dots too, so I imagine she’ll be “helping” Em make some neat designs as well.

Tonight, we did a more game-oriented game night (One long game of Apples to Apples, and a quick game of Aquarius – Chris won both!) with the in-laws and Louise, after Pizza and watching When Harry Met Sally and a Carol Burnett show blooper reel/retrospective. Strange that there was no mention of Lyle Waggoner.

1 year ago – haircut reviews, felix woos whoopee, BHK off to VT with TM, JLU good, the hoff says KITT was gay / how to woo hoff, motorcycle bear, pictures

2 years agoHBO/Rome torrent issues, lj portal, medical Friday 5, local graffiti pics Dose

 3 years agomet some VIPs, mooks, pente, Kiwanis, free stuff, Everything you can think of is true

4 years ago land art, land shark, MOND, vamp hint, Nice weather, pesky people, squids, space, sea and starburst fruit chews.

5 years agogps, Cheney scary face, bro bawl out, star wars gangsta rap

6 years agohubris, birfdaze, AOE2-Con, religious words as verbs, on working local outwards

7 years agoRay Ig & Robbo, Salty dog pub Geotarget

9013 thurs 10-4 good buddy! hammer down! Rabbit Ears!

I wonder if the Sputnik Cafe is doing anything special for the 50th anniversary ? Oh, I guess so! Will I be attending? At $50, I guess not! Especially on a “school night”.


BHK and I had a nice supper of leftover lasagna with an opener of apples, toasted pita and hummus. Good stuff – I ate far too much, but I couldn’t resist!

Caught the new Ugly Betty and Kitchen Nightmares… I have to confess that I enjoy Betty more than the USA’s Kitchen. I tend to think that Kitchen is a bit too scripted, too “pro wrestling” – Ugly Betty is just ridiculous, and I rather dig that – plus the whole Spanish Soap vibe is still pretty strong. If I were to guest star on a show, I could do a lot worse.


125 things about Scotto, continued:

036. owns a lot of mugs. I could drink coffee in a different mug every day for a few months, I think.
037. doesn’t drink that much coffee.
038. consumes a lot of liquids, about a gallon of water during the course of a work day.
039. wonders how the kitties would react to a 10 gallon fish tank.
040. loves folk art and stories of all stripes, new stuff from the wild west to ancient cave-dweller type goodness.
041. pretty well informed about weird stuff and trivia
042. Not as big a fan of Tolkien-esque fantasy as he might be… prefers more character-based tales of almost any genre – setting is flavor, but equally likes westerns, “big space” sci-fi, espionage, superhero, and period pieces.
043. I really like The Prisoner tv series, but could do without the ending. I think some series just do better first season and closing, rather than keeping itself ongoing. Lost is a good example of that.
044. still prefers the company of most kids to most adults.
045. Pete Hutter is my favorite Character on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. He’s got at least two of my favorite quotes –

“Forget about it? You mean… rip it from my memory like a picture from a book? A picture of a small boy… kind of shy… with big ears who only wanted to be liked. And the laughing faces of his classmates, mocking him because he forgot to wear his pants to school? Is that what you mean?”

and

“Pride comes before a fall, Pete.” , “So does an ounce of lead in a brainpan.”

046. absolutely adores BHK.


1 year ago – green couch in the woods, newt sniffy twizzlers, podtropolis, JLA pilot, venture bros, pics that make me smile, scorcese sesame street, Mick Foley not Mark Foley

2 years ago – new nvidia, bk in md, peer-to-peer good, chicken juggling bear, evil dictator, Dynamite mag, halloween recipes, smile poll, death test, Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung, Odysseus’s House found

3 years ago – I prefer Orks to Eldar, corn craving, Tentacle-boy loves laundry palm doodle

4 years ago – famous funerals, locusts good to eat – pelicans bad, Tickle me Elmo fur coat, mind flayers

5 years ago – Bad dog dreams, 2250 on vanity search (now about 16,500), shoes

6 years ago – magic toenails, submarines, posting politeness, big brain fixmeup, lovely chat about goetta, eyes

7 years ago – Naughty Newt, Tight funds, DT rumor almost gets started again, Newt’s b-day minus 1 Geotarget

9004 thur

OK, enough of this mess – I’ve gone to the doctor – the muscle aches have mercifully abated, but it’s even harder to constrict my throat than before… head is pounding, and I’ve been laying down so much that my back was starting to really hurt. Now I’m on Amoxicillin 500mg 3x a day for a week… that should slap this bug on the butt.


9/27-11/8
BHK picked up our pottery! Her mug is amazing… I must put pictures up of how it turned out – the green and purple tones are perfect. I’m also very pleased at how well my little volcano board / icehouse stash box turned out, too! The colors got a lot more vivid, post-firing.


On the way home, spied a new neighborhood kitten – maybe 2-3 weeks old… the mama was right around the side of the house, but it took all my might (in my already weakened state) to say no to a pickup of a little black and white tuxedo before we spotted her.


Today is my Brother’s 35th birthday. We’re sending him a copy of Fluke, which I think that he’ll enjoy quite a bit. I wanted to send him some pin-up type goodies too, but that may or may not get his whole shipment confiscated.


Watched the season Premieres of My Name is Earl, Ugly Betty and The Office. Also watcher the mockumentary Werner Herzog – Incident at Loch Ness… not so great.

Also saw the Bionic Woman… I have a long-time fondness for the old one, and this new one by comparison was pretty weak.

Personal Biases against –

  • I don’t like nanobots as a plot device. Boring.
  • Too much pseudo-Matrix type combat
  • Terrible dialogue
  • inclusion of obligatory hacker-character
  • “Pleasantly goofy” factor is gone

Possible Pluses –

  • I like the “Prototype Bionic Loon” part
  • Maybe Bigfoot? Unlikely.
  • No Lee Majors Crossovers. Probably. Though I’d be for it if he wore a red track suit and a cheesy 70s moustache.

I’m pretty impressed with LJ’s new snapshot link (Third part of this entry ) – it works especially well with wikipedia links. Interesting that you can see “similar searches” … not sure where current hurricane conditions in the Atlantic have to do with hello kitty, but who can say why a person clicks somewhere? It works especially well with art/scan communities that post links for dial-up folks… just hover and peek – spares a lot of lj-cut effort.


1 year ago – 2 nights/28 days, Legion, CW merger of WB and CBS?, cracking walnuts, Gilmore girls, FL/MD walkabouts, Citgo Venezuelan

2 years ago – bro 33 skipout, condo, newspaper poll, 3 irritations, 3 pleasures, $-boost

3 years ago – Post Jeanne patio-pix, leftover reptile-ness, free-flow, Greek/roman souls, more Rice rant, Warhammer PC game, 3 week power outages

4 years ago – flyme & prop2 on the way out, planet-eating star, Levi-Strauss no longer in the US, wedding spite, metamorphosis

5 years ago – gravity / electromagnetism effects, dial tones, headlines, PG freaky looking, Seattle whores, fires and ladders, brain as symbiotic parasite, Issues with the Finn, dead net, friday 5, WC, cloud and rain,The Gnome

6 years ago – Velveteen Rabbit, neoteric , lighthouse walkies, WS-41st sonnet, dream, warning myself

7 years ago – squids!, work, last meals, hidden post, bro 28 Geotarget

8998 – Fri

Last Palindromic number until 9009, Which isn’t really that far off.. a week or two, give or take.


Long day at work… lots of time compression due to projects, budget, etc. I’ve got some good teammates and I feel confident that it’ll all work out solidly.


Noisy alphabet icon origin


Saw a chipmunk yesterday on the way to work with BHK… first time in the city. That little guy could *run*…. unlike the groundhogs around here, which pretty much just shamble.


Here comes the Equinox.. First Day of Autumn is on Sunday, and the leaves here already beginning to turn.


GORDON Ramsay made a spectacle out of his testicles by burning them on a stove.

He said: “The other day I was standing too close to the stove when I was cooking.

“I was wearing these cotton trousers and underneath I was going commando, suddenly, I felt this searing heat. I went, ‘F**k me, b*****ks to that,’ and for once I was spot on. My balls were burning.”

The 40-year-old then rushed straight to a private London clinic where an ultrasound scan was performed.

“I burnt my right b*****k and I’m in absolute agony,” he added, “You wouldn’t believe how much this hurts,”

 

 

Gordon continued: “I went to the hospital because of the excruciating pain. People think I went in for a knee injury, but that’s bulls**t.”


Via JenlemenA Little Ritual for Letting Go of Fear and Other Things That Weigh You Down


Moment of Lyric – This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb – burn with a weak heart
(So I) guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It’s ok I know nothing’s wrong . . nothing

Hi yo I got plenty of time
Hi yo you got light in your eyes
And you’re standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up + say goodnight . . . say goodnight

Home – is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there
I come home – -she lifted up her wings
Guess that this must be the place
I can’t tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time Before we were born
If someone asks, this where I’ll be . . . where I’ll be

Hi yo We drift in and out
Hi yo sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I’m just an animal looking for a home
Share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me till I’m dead
Eyes that light up, eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head Ah ooh


1 year ago – Chipped my tooth, Columbo / Flint, weatherman vs cockroach

2 years ago – bad dreams, adesertbutterfly.com, 2nd life pics, current tunes

3 years ago – register to vote, shaft soundtrack, free cliffs notes, wasabi, ghoul, word association, tv guide humor

4 years ago – Grand Prix more important than cool sidewalks, Chemical explosion, prop shoots herself in the foot, movies, Mooch-Frankie

5 years ago – super glue, isidore gains strength, marble-magnets, dumb copy protection

6 years ago – maunder, sub rosa, code link, nimda, freedoms, cej, og piper char background

7 years ago – suzy’s hearing, purple throat potion, fall guy Geotarget 

8997 – Thurs

Overslept – quick post while BHK gets ready. I feel bad – I wasn’t ready when my ride came to get me to the train.

Yummy, simple meals lately. Stir-fry broccoli w/tofu and carrot over brown rice day before yesterday and garden burgers with fried potatoes last night. Good stick to your ribs type stuff.

Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares – USA is a bit different than the UK version. I anticipate a physical fight in one of these, given our continent’s “Wild West” proclivities. You just can’t bawl some people out like he does.

Good synopsis here.


Game ideas developing in my head – Giants and Dwarfs, Pumpkin, and Rabbit, Fox, Bear (Brier Patch) – all are in the most germ-like beginnings.

Giants and Dwarfs is an “ants vs elephant” or Ogre “Big tank(s) vs many infantry” type theme.

Pumpkin is a multi-player maze game through a pumpkin patch. Possibly Team oriented, or every man for himself. (or both.) I like the idea of using eeore’s chessboard wedges for each player. Complexity seems to go up per increment/player.

RFB is a variation on King’s Table. (Hunter vs hunted) – Added theme of a Brier patch, and Uncle Remus.


Fun Quiz… I’m especially partial to the program that assembles the blueprint parts together!

Your home is a

Gamer’s Hideout

Your kitchen is stocked with chips, dips, and assorted caffeinated beverages. There’s a pantry with emergency backup caffeinated beverages. You also have some breakfast cereals in there, but you haven’t had breakfast since last Spring. Your master bedroom has blankets printed with images of Mario and Link. Your study includes unread copies of various gamer magazines, each purchased for the free demo CDs.

Your home also includes a roost for griffons. You’ve never actually seen a griffon, but you keep the roost ready anyway. Your guests enjoy your collection of every console and associated game ever made. Except the Intellivision — those controllers drive them NUTS. Outside is the moat that protects your home from goblin invaders and extended family.

Below is a snippet of the blueprints:

Find YOUR Dream Home!

We do have a moat, actually – and our pantry is similar.


1 year ago – Hump-day, shh-pirates,

2 years ago – rita – schools closed, buses don’t run, caramel creams, hamster ball gun, cork soakers, political test, poopdeck, hurricane news, browardnoaa, beauty products made from executed chinese prisoners, lj interests meme, big bunny

3 years ago – sema photo, Prisoner / Columbo, Brazil / slavery, mirrors, sneaky work pic

4 years ago – Button Men, Cully, on the bridge, jeb, weight loss, scampi, ready for ‘ween

5 years ago – mst, ipod, hubzilla, cancer research, newton screen saver, cool paper models, riker vs riaa, palm doodle

6 years ago – annus mirabilis, phoons, nice weather, burger king, WHAT IS GRIMACE poll

7 years ago – UAS, Hodey-ohten-doten-day, 7 deadly sins, other employees burnout at acim, registered sex offender counts Geotarget

8943 – Thursday

Emily arrived safe and sound about an hour ago… she’s all tucked in – BHK and I will be turning in for the night shortly, too. Until tomorrow, dear journal, here’s some stuff.


METEORS THIS SUNDAY! Can’t Forget!


The Red Line has resumed normal service after a suspicious package closed the Dupont Circle, Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park stations for several hours.

Metro Transit Police bomb technicians X-rayed the box, then safely disrupted it with a water cannon. The box contained paper and cardboard. The train was taken to a nearby rail yard for further investigation.


Sad to hear that Dresden Files was canned – I was digging it. It didn’t look like it was too expensive to produce, but who knows what was going on under the hood.

Ah, well… The nice thing about one less good tv show is that it’s one less tv show, period. More time for me to focus on other things.


Found this on the Icehouse list –

A new video of SLorpedo: The Mixed Reality Game Of
Naval Warfare is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWw0_X7b79Y

SLorpedo is a mixed reality version of the icehouse
game torpedo played in both real life and Second Life.

The new video shows real life footage of the
installation, a video of SLorpedo footage captured in
Second Life is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd-MoN9d_Nw

Mixing Icehouse and Second Life? I’m lucky that I’ve got BHK and the lads to intervene or I’d be wasting hours fiddling with that. (If it were 2 years or so ago, I’d probably be in there right now, working on the code and looking at what was what.) I haven’t tried Regular ol’ Torpedo yet, but it looks like fun.


Speaking of Doodles (last entry) and Pyramids, here are some more random doodles drawn on the bus. I’m fiddling wit hthe idea of a multi-tiered gameboard – some standard chase-game variant like monopoly or sorry, with different abilities or events on each level. also thinking about a Rock/Paper/Scissors element to the nests/trees, as far as landing and capture are concerned – big beats middle, middle beats little, little beats big. I’d like to finish it in time for this year’s Ice Game Design Competition, but I doubt I’ll make it. Maybe next year!

pyra doodle

Heck, have a recent Newtcam pic, too, dear journal!

Allez-oop! He was playing while BHK and Pye napped.

newtcamallezoop


1 year ago – looking forward to Autumn, man who knew too much, pumpkins, que sera sera, florida health inspection resource,

2 years ago – teacher memories, bro, shogun warriors (including great mazinga), 1970s Spanish Adult Movie Posters, Pic of Danny and I as heroclix fight an oncoming zombie and lobster-man menace.

3 years ago – Alabama, chatty-newt, spiky moods, war ellies, world audit, hijabs, olympic torrents, fake beheading.

4 years ago – vampire monkey dream, programming, puzzle pirates, nicotini, quizzes and kama sutra safe sex, blunt truth, mehndi designs

5 years ago – istockphoto, emergency day at work early-arrive (I wonder what’d happen if Sappho and Kev were out at the same time, now?), escape from alcatraz w/bro, misc meter quizzes, looking for cave/sea piccies

6 years ago – scud, agon, evil news, Wally out of the loop (he’s still awaiting trial for some of his crimes), Thai din din, colon contents, just finding out about bubba-Ho tep

7 years ago – geophagyGeotarget Geotarget

8920 – Wednesday

This entry brought to you by:
A freaky rusted gizmoI saw in the marshes of Washington DC.
DSCN5855

Dan should be getting his river rocks in the mail by the end of the week. (We’ll ship the webcam and LoTR Risk by then, too.)

Enjoyed watching The Soup recap of 2007 with BHK over a late supper last night.. we were both pretty stuffed, and retired shortly after our meal. I’m impressed that they had so much fun, dopey stuff. Tonight’s dinner at the Macaroni Grill was nice, save for the hornet sting I got on my finger, brushing it off of BHK.

Check out this link, which takes a specified address and gives you the walking score for that address. The score assess the number of and distance to common destinations (restaurants, theaters, etc.). Pretty nifty stuff! (my current house gets a rating of 38 out of 100, or “not very walkable”… I disagree! I can carry groceries , go get food and whatnot within a mile of home. My old place got a rating of 83 out of 100… much more available within hoofing-it distance.)

Received this in the mail Tuesday night, not too long after posting the day’s entry. It’s in regards to Sunday’s entry, here.

My name is Josh S. Talley and I manage The Compleat Strategist in Falls Church, Va. Your journal entry was brought to my attention by my boss (one of the owners) after being brought to his attention by a Looney Labs representative. First off I would like to apologize to you and your friends for the lack of customer service you received (or didn’t as the case may be). I would also like you to revisit us sometime soon if possible. Second please let me assure you that my employee’s behavior is and always will be unacceptable to me. Third we can always try to order something if you don’t see it on the shelf and are happy to do so. We have many days that are activity days, but I have always stressed that the customer is to take priority and that product knowledge is a good thing to all my employees. I am working on rectifying the situation you experienced with the one employee and am truly sorry about your visit. I think you will find that we are a nice little store if you visit again. Granted we are not as nice as some stores, but considering the lack of “gaming” space and floor space in general, I feel we’ve done well. Please come visit again and as an apology for your first impression of the new Strategist, I’d like to extend a discount on any purchases when we next meet. I work any day but Wednesdays and Sunday, but will most likely be working those days soon in addition, heh.

Sorry again and looking forward to another visit, hopefully,

-Josh S. Talley
Manager of The Compleat Strategist in Falls Church, Va.

My reply-

Thank you for your speedy response. I appreciate your concern and desire to make things right. (I hope you don’t fire the sales guy on my account… hopefully he can be salvaged with a little customer service training.) We were pretty frustrated by the lack of salesmanship and pro-activity, given that we were actively curious and asked multiple questions about items on hand.

He wasn’t obnoxiously rude, he just didn’t attend to us and it felt like we were more an annoyance than a customer. I understand that a lot of your business likely comes from your events, but hopefully it wouldn’t preclude sales to new arrivals.

I really liked the size of your stock, and would be happy to try again in the near future… we’re still looking to pick up ice towers and treehouse (we’re pretty big fans of the looney labs catalog and love to support local businesses) , as well as a few other games. A discount would be greatly appreciated!

May I reprint your letter in my livejournal? I think it would please a lot of the folks that read it to know that you are interested in running a quality establishment.

Again, many thanks for your courteous reply. I have many fond memories of the Strategist in Florida, and would really like to have another one so close by to get my gaming loot from.

His last answer –

Hello again Scott, please feel free to insert my letter into your livejournal entries. I read through the comments and would love to see more people come check us out and get a good experience from their visit. You are correct though, customers come first, no matter what. I have stressed this numerous times and some get it, some don’t, but what can I do? I can lead a horse to water, but can’t make it swim…heh. j/k Oh and I am pretty sure that we can order the Classic Deluxe Illuminati box set from SJ Games, just let us know. As for Brawl and any Cheapass Games we have to special order those, Cosmic Encounter was supposed to be reprinted, but I haven’t seen it yet. Playing with Pyramids I would have to check on but would be happy to do so. Anyways, please come see us again anytime.

1 year ago – morning breaks doodle, sleepy, heat of the moment, training a tech, sailboat doodle, stop motion space invaders, voice pdf files, deaths

2 years ago – bro court, autostitch of an alley no longer there, graffiti pics, harry potter, zombie game, bards tale ends, mimiced, Reverse Polish Notation, top40

3 years ago – manatee trip pictures, Miami travel shots

4 years ago – Aol gives up on netscape, random poster form the past, I get fan mail from desert butterfly, reading list retreat

5 years ago – princess sultanas circle, hug meme, joy machine, angry corn ghosts burn police cars, hydrogen fuel cars, got tested for diabetes (none here!),baseball bat poll, Bush & Women’s rights, spooky patent office logo

6 years ago – evil news, arriviste, clochard & myopic, gilligan’s lessons,contraception myths, Leisa’s 2 months pregnant, zeppelins, tuck in thoughts

7 years ago – xanadu, sleep study prep, name meaning Geotarget

8919 Tuesday

24 generations =16,777,216 ancestors. I guess I won’t be taking my family tree that far!

I’m drinking way too much soda pop and coffee type stuff. Maybe it’s time to go on a Soda Sabbatical.

Crazy early morning wake up today… I had trouble getting out of bed again… it’s too comfy cozy under the covers with the kitties and BHK.

Dear Fox news. You’ve confirmed my thoughts about you again and again, but this is totally ridiculous. (via ecto – warning, justifiably foul language in the text) – Fox news making a claim that Fred Rogers was evil. Not as a joke, or ironically. Fox news should recognise evil… it sees it in the mirror every day. Reporting like that is beyond just evil.. they live in a world of lies and madness.

From the link –

It’s a disgusting, vile little piece and it’s very likely that you won’t be able to get through all of it. To summarize. Fox News’ argument for Mr. Rogers being “evil” goes like this: he told two entire generations of children that they were “special just the way they are.” Then, in what can only be described as a despicable lie, the Fox News anchors claim that that’s precisely where Mr. Rogers left off. He never taught children anything except to merely exist in a static state of selfish self-entitlement. And that’s why my entire generation is comprised entirely of rapists, murderers, welfare recipients and drug addicts.

There are a lot of reasons to be offended by this, but the biggest reason is that Fred Rogers was the kindest, most inspiring and most loving man to have lived in the last 100 years. His love for children and his passion for their education and well-being were absolute and unhypocritical. Watch this clip from Mr. Rogers’ testimony to the US Senate in 1969 to increase funding for PBS. If you disagree with Mr. Rogers politically, that’s okay, but there is no mistaking the sincerity of his passion for child development.

In other news, millions of years ago there were human-sized penguins.

Giant penguins. Is there anything not awesome about the phrase “giant penguins”?

1 year ago – defective materials, algo march 2, control freak, McCain on Lieberman, Michigan fairy doors, random flickr

2 years ago – Kev day, pictures of train station/toys/etc, mr moonlight

3 years ago – mind flayer doodle, travel plans, blue ink, Warriors…., phone posts

4 years ago – odd dreams, Gary hart, pizza box solar oven, hunting for Bambi hoax, walnut walks with a belly dancer

5 years ago – CHiPs, Spreading rumors

6 years ago – Music Mystery Solved, exegesis, evil news, Earhart’s wreck perhaps found, I discover Google image search, sea creature poll, why poop is brown

7 years ago – Scheduled Departure time set in stone, something at Archie McPhee no longer there, sitcom nudity-logic Geotarget

8915 – Saturday

Nice restful day out and about. We took a little trip to College Park and actually drove past the heart of Looney Labs, in fact. (Saw the address in the phone book, and did a quick scan while in the area) Had we realised that the place wasn’t just a house, and was actually a office up above a home, I think we might have stuck our noses inside to say hello. They’re not too far off, so maybe another road trip is in the cards?

geekWe went to two comic book stores… the “Collector’s Crypt” and a Liberty Books and Games – “We’re a libertarian bookstore and sell comics from disorganised piles” – The stores were pretty messy… Liberty’s, fortunately had a few games right by the front door, including a trusty, if dusty deck of Chrononauts – just fine, as it’s wrapped in plastic (and was the primary reason we went there in the first place). Funny thing about that store was that all the libertarian stuff was neatly organized… though I suspect that was in part due to a lack of interest by the patrons. The comic books, vintage paperbacks and whatnot else were stacked more than a little haphazardly throughout the place. Standard stereotypical comic shop, not bad, but far from good – Plus was that the proprietor was more than happy to help us locate what we were looking for.

Upon leaving, we chanced upon a local Smoothie King. In comic book guy’s voice – Worst Smoothies Ever. I don’t know what was going on, but bleagh. The iced and blended tush-sweat from a llama… with a hint of blueberry. Something very wrong with those drinks… like picking a scab, I had to keep tasting it to figure out the worst aspect of the drink. Is it the metallic aftertaste? The vaguely compost-like banana? The brownish-color of our sludgy slurry? Oh, for a glass of water or kerosene to wash away the filth! Perhaps I exaggerate… but not by much.

At the Crypt, there was a lot of interesting stuff in a space smaller than my closet at home… however the hat-trick of:

  • no air conditioning
  • poor lighting / too dark to read covers
  • sort of creepy-skeevy proprietor

caused us to toddle out fairly swiftly. All other fears aside, no A/C in a tiny room filled with dusty books is just a recipe for a moldy sneeze fit. Crypt is indeed a good moniker for the place. Though it was disturbing that foodstuff (twist-tied bags of trail mix and malted milk balls) was stored in places that would give him some heath code violations, the proprietor (looking akin to the unshaven Spaulding Clown of House of 1000 corpses fate) was watching “Beyond Westworld” on a bootleg DVD, (it seems that the bulk of his business is out of print or third-generation gray-market copies of Japanese / Mexican Wrestler / TV pilots). BHK picked up some Andy Griffith Show trading cards to calm herself after tasting the horrid smoothies. Additionally, they carried no Treehouse /

We hit the grocer on the way home in the hopes that we can make some decent smoothies sometime tomorrow to finish counterbalancing the effects. Yogurt ahoy!

Well, enough of those parenthetical statements… perhaps I’ll take a page from Ldy’s writing, and incorporate footnotes. Nah.

1 year ago – rip webmonkey, skipping dragon*con, personal growth post recap, newt on porch pic

2 years ago – mp, kev, $, Rs, the love god mp3, update info about me, tag cloud, allergy

3 years ago – construction webbing, fonts, celebs, web cam fights crime

4 years ago – braced, zombie pumpkin fights, insanity script, insurance stupidity

5 years ago – dream about graypumpkin at the paint store, little people, domed 3d displays,great ape project, 28 things quiz, sue the teacher trend, mental comfort

6 years ago – cool mini or not, vatic, cool things about moving, smoothies, misc news, age poll, counter testing, chocolate bees, Victorian Sex Cry Generator, what’s for supper, coloring book concept germ

7 years ago – Newtcam’s own page posted Geotarget

8914 – Friday the 13th!

It was beautiful, foggy morning on the way to the train station. (not my image, but cool, nonetheless). Lots of mist hanging, especially over the water.

Saw Fantastic Four – Silver Surfer after work with BHK, and it was a fun little bit of entertainment.


Cool! The DC Train maps are now on google!(via dcist)


We’re not going to Salem this weekend. Instead, I think we’re just going to cool our collective jets, and regroup a bit.


I’ve been watching season 6 of The Shield on my commute to and from work lately… and the writing is still quite good. I think the child molester subplot was a bit transparent, but aside from that, it has been interesting seeing what’s going on with Vic’s crew. It sounds like they’re already wrapping up season seven, now, even though the sixth was supposed to be the final one.

After I whittle that one down my travel show is going to be The Riches, I think. Never did catch up with that on the Tivo upstairs, and BHK seems to have lost interest.


Positive thing about summer. Local corn. The best I’ve ever had, anywhere. Seriously, it’s amazing.

I’m really loving the local corn crop.
mousecorn

By the way, to my anonymous commenter: Not everyone in the world is racist. Not everyone in the world is sexist. “All [insert skin color / gender / geographic point of origin / religious belief / sexual preference / whatever here] stick together” is untrue. Sure, there are a lot of ’em, but humans lack cooperation on that level. Not to say that *a lot* might. Special interest groups, Armies, and the like. If you could get *any* group of people of that size to really work together, the world would be a different place – and probably a scary one, since I don’t tend to agree with any one group’s agenda.


Atheists can cuss by taking someone else’s lord’s name in vain. It’s not like snarling “Random Chance!” or “Darwin!” is nearly as good as Jesus Christ come to think of it… blurting “Vishnu”, “Zeus” or “Zoroaster” is sort of dorky sounding too. David and Abraham are in too much usage to be any good, either. Solomon?

Maybe I’ll just stick to Comic Book / Cartoon Exclamations… Merciful Rao! Sufferin’ Sappho/Succotash! Leapin’ Lizards! Sweet Christmas! Good Grief! Great Hera! By Crom!

I am guilty of saying “My Stars” – not due to Henry McCoy, but Samantha Stevens.

By the Vishanti is too cumbersome. Imperious Rex is just dopey. Dumber than saying Spoooon! in fact.

I do like to say Zoroaster, though. It’s a fun name. Zoroaster. Say it with me, dear journal. Zoroaster. Zarathustra, in the native.

If we were to ever get a gray kitten, I’d like to name him Zoroaster. (That is not to say that we’re getting a gray kitten any time soon.)


Regarding this article about faith and democratic candidates … I can’t get the phrase “Pillory Hillary” out of my head.


1 year ago – pirate quiz, pirates w/Dan, 61 questions, walkabout pics, bus stop self portrait, newtcam silly pic

2 years ago – bro visit, good exp games, Karl Rove a rat, mood settings, big ol’ Locust

3 years ago – perspective via work, kitty-bot, rain, diseases

4 years ago – Movies w/ danny, LED-suit, Lupin quiz, dinosaur haiku, new tv, LXG, html tests, ghoulishness

5 years ago – Ian McCracken, zork 404, branleur, got my bike

6 years ago – evil news, longueur, spoliation, space fungus, superstition poll, fri-13 reasoning, I’m Neutral Good

7 years ago – Traditional trolls, Catholics handy in a pinch Geotarget

8833 – Friday –

Dawn rises on a new day. I crashed hard last night and was a clumsy oaf this morning… it seemed like only 7 out of 8 cylinders was firing for the first two hours of wakefulness. BHK was good about taking up my slack, however.

There was a little bit o’ hustle first thing this morning at work – some folks are out due to nascar being in town, and others are heading to the 400th anniversary of Jamestown near Williamsburg . Apparently the Queen of England is there right now, before she’s off to the Kentucky Derby.

Speaking of the Kentucky Derby, BHK and I both are enjoying Ace of Cakes… the pilot episode had them making a cake for the big Maryland horse race. I don’t much care for the people’s personalities, but looking at the local color of the scenery and landmarks is a nifty thing… plus the architecture of both the local buildings and the cakes is pretty fascinating to observe. So far, my favorites are the University of Maryland Terp and the Taj Mahal cakes, though the Scrabble cake was pretty dang neat, too.

I’m slowly but surely turning BHK onto Good Eats with Alton Brown, too. She pointed out that he certainly has a fondness for deep frying – and on that same note, she made some awesome falafel for lunch (with Cathy and Lyn) yesterday. Partially to thank Lyn for the legal help regarding the condo board issues we’ve been having.

Blood donation –

Appointments are recommended and can be made by calling 1-800-GIVE BLOOD or 1-800-448-3256. Or the Chapter Directly 301 934 2066

I need exercise. I want some fresh air. I’d like to do good some works. I want to avoid bending in the middle for the time being, and not get sunburn.

I wouldn’t mind a replay of last weekend… a day with just bhk, and a day with friends and family.

Maybe we can go geocaching this weekend?

I miss George as a radio station; random access of assorted good tunes is a lot better than 24/7 gospel, at least to me. My only complaint about the place was that there was no visible rhyme or reason between songs at all.

Congratulations on Cath555’s engagement! I look forward to hearing how things continue and develop as time goes by.

Tomorrow is Free comic book day, and I want to go get me some. Green alien head, hopefully, if not, someplace local that will shower me with pretty four-color paper comics and toys available just for the asking.

Maybe they’ll have a Zombie lawyer in the loose hero / horrorclix bin.

Quick aside, the heartbeat sensor in the new Volvos both piss me off and make me say keeno! (I’d love to see alternate usage for the thing like “don’t drive angry!” for high heart rates) Remember! A heartbeat sensor won’t protect you from Zombies, Mummies or other undead that are lacking a heartbeat!

Hmm, will it detect ghosts that do the lub-dub noise? Recordings? Beat boxers? I think that bears investigation on my part.

Aardvark’s Video’s Comics & Games
300 Clubhouse Drive
Lusby, MD 20657
View Map via: Google Maps : MapQuest : Yahoo Maps : Driving Directions

Maybe we’ll see you there, dear journal.

1 year ago – pizza hut pondering, inc. PamM, Brent Ashland, and Steve Jacoby, carrageenan, southerner, wayward son, pictures of golden morning, sniffy newt,

2 years ago – enzyte, fishbone, newton at kittenwar, bro lesson, interview meme

3 years ago – crazy-face pic, rainy-day pictures, jb finds me a local house on ebay (only 3.8 Mil!)

4 years ago – Mayah talk, D&C 2 months into another kidlet, icepacks, thinking about 5/5

5 years ago – Kazaa lite, passing osbournes along, gamelan music

6 years ago – mushy, ullage, purple cow, backdating implementedGeotargetVisitor Map

8799 – fo’ fi’

3d movie entrance - day with robinsonwent to see meet the robinsons in 3-d – it was great! I think that BHK and I were the only adults in the theatre without a kid in tow… I highly recommend catching both it and the chip and dale / donald duck cartoon in 3-d at the beginning. (the Donald Duck was a Stereoscopic movie from the 50’s- 3D like the old sterogram style viewmaster reels.) Picture on the right is a cute little entrance folks made for the movie – 3-d glasses and large letters 3 and D on either side of the door.


text update – rewind – Another day at work, or another 7 hours, anyhow!

Was told by JD that there might be snow flurries this weekend on Saturday? So much for any roto-tilling or lying down of mulch I might’ve had planned. Hm, that sounds pretty darn domestic. Maybe I can get some studying in for my driving permit. I think that my back is in good enough shape to do so. It’s been over a decade since I’ve done any sort of parallel parking or a 3-point turn, but hopefully it’ll come back to me quickly.

The crew at my current gig is pretty sweet. Everyone seems to get along quite well, and is personable. JD and RD are brothers (25 and 17, respectively) and are very cool. KP digs the icanhascheezburger type sites like I do, and is worried a bit about the CDC’s Cancun hemorrhagic fever warning. DL is an old-school tech – knows his stuff and is on top of his game. KB is my immediate supervisor, and seems to be an amazingly kindhearted lady… Scouting, family oriented. JM got moved to the DB admin gig I was looking to, but I have no hard feelings about that. He knows his stuff, and has been here for 8 months, so they know him. Some recent rough patches in his life… lost his sister last weekend, has been sick, and lost his mother fairly recently as well. I hope the clouds part for him soon. SP is the Network head here, and she has her old painted character figurine from the D&D days… her kids are embarrassed for her, but I think that’s pretty spiffy. She also has 2 orange cats and a black one, so there’s plenty of critter talk there. KE is the sheriff’s sister in law, and is friendly and cracks the occasional joke here and there. WL is in the CAP, and I may join him at local meetings. GIS staff is also nifty, though I haven’t learned all the names over there yet. There are a few people I wave hello to when I pass them in the hall, but I have no idea who they are form the Dept of Aging and the Substance Abuse folks.

A? in the State’s Attorney office looks like Peewee Herman. No, Really.

Bake sale by the SO today – I wonder if the goodies will be as tasty as the Methodist stuff from last week. We still have about 1/8 of a pound cake that we got last go ‘round that will be hard to beat. It’s not too shabby to see Officers wearing bunny ears.

The plant life out here is shucking petals like crazy. It looks like someone spilled a massive pile of packing material and frosted flakes along the sidewalks and gutters… the wind from behind trailing cars or the occasional random breeze makes it fly up and whirl quite prettily. I pity folks with hay fever, however, as the trees are really sexing it up. Speaking of plant-sex, lots of fat, fuzzy little bumblebees are traversing the clover in our side yard lately. I really wouldn’t mind starting a hive out back, just to get some polish on my api-skills. Buzz buzz buzz. A little honeysuckle might be nice to add to the wildflowers around the fence out back, too. Mmm… I do like honey, like all stereotypical bears. (Actually, I’m pretty keen on Berries and pic-a-nic baskets, too, Boo-boo. Fish, not so much – Salmon are safe from me. I prefer Veggie Sushi)

Update – D’oh! I missed getting anything at the bake sale. It only ran from 8:30 to 11am, and I was in meetings or off site during that time. Fortunately, RD brought in doughnuts, so my pastry craving was sated. What will we do with BHK? No cake for her. Perhaps she’ll settle for me making a tasty din-din supplemented with an ice cream sammich for dessert.

BHK and I played the karaoke ps2 American Idol game last night… a lot of fun, more than I’d expected. Apparently, my skills are in the Tom Jones / Kim Karnes / Duran Duran / Everly Brothers arena, while BHK is more of a Billy Joel / Build me up, buttercup sort of singer. I blame my scratchy voice and poorer scores on remaining cough, but that’s just an excuse. BHK is superb at the thing, and I’m just pretty good. We’ll see what practice brings. Perhaps we’ll have a karaoke-off with Tina, Jimmy and Amanda for Easter.

On that note, we’re due for some egg-coloring in the next day or three, and egg salad or deviled eggs shortly thereafter.

Given that there might be flurries on Saturday (mid-20s to mid 40s Fahrenheit forecast), perhaps I’ll skip the sunrise Service on Sunday at the beach. Bay winds after a possible snow seem a bit too brisk for me.

I’m carbo-loading for lunch today. Toasted cheese bagel, some baked ritz-chips and a chocolate pudding snack pack. For the love of the children, why did I skip vegetables? I’ll make a point of getting some apples or grapes for next week.

The region I work in is near an area called Plum Point, but there are no plum trees. Pear, apple and cherry abound, not to mention fields of corn, soybean and tobacco (though tobacco is being phased out, even though it’s a big portion of Maryland history, down to the Calvert County flag). Also, there’s an area called Sam Hill… so now I can ask “What in Sam Hill?” with hope of an actual answer.


Here’s what new TV is on my PSP – US version of the office, Season one.


1 year ago – zombie horde counterstrike, pyramid house, bugs bunny, tmbg, devo, tom delay, top40,

2 years ago – Badge shape pref poll, flickery power, Jasmine, stupid comic deaths, Dr Who episode 2, KANG KANG KANG KANG!, Monkey awe, hukilau, driver 8 pic, 23/5 bibliomancy

3 years ago – Itchies, chocolate dodge, Miami fires, sweetalyssm.com goes down due toa hack. (sadly, never to return), palm-doodle entry, Denny’s lunch

4 years ago – hung out with ldy & grrwoo, JKG wants me, prep for TAG

5 years ago – Freedom Force, Poem tag, new tech, THE poll.

6 years ago – morning walk, goals, online people, people that didn’t want my help, kindness triage, cartoon stereotypes, Hey, The Dusty Miller, hair color pollGeotargetVisitor Map

Listen to this article Listen to this article